Sports

FIFA World Cup 2018

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By Emma Joy

This summer 2018, will be the 21st FIFA World Cup. It is an international soccer tournament hosted by Russia. The event takes place from June 14 to July 15. This is the first time the event will be hosted in Eastern Europe and the eleventh time for the continent. The final tournament involves 32 teams, determined from qualifying rounds. 64 total matches will be played in a total of 12 venues, in 11 cities, over the course of the month.

The bidding procedure for countries to register to host the event started in 2009 and after a number of rounds of bidding, Russia became the host country. During the process of bidding there were of bribery form Russia and corruption from the English Football Team.

As part of FIFA’s goal to rebuild infrastructure, Russia was implemented a total of 352.5 billion rubles, half of which is coming from the federal budget. A lot of building goes into hosting the world cup as 12 stadiums need to be built along with hotels and living amenities for players and fans from around the world. 11 of the 12 stadiums can fit between 35,000 and 45,000 people but the twelfth stadium, Luzhniki Stadium, located in Moscow, can seat 80,000 people.

The 32 teams partaking in the event come from all around the world. After qualifying rounds, the teams attending and playing are Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Tunisia, and Uruguay.

Competing initially in eight groups, the teams will need to place first or second in the first tournament involving four teams to move on to the final bracket of 16 teams. Germany and Brazil are the current co-favorites, according to the British bookmaker Paddy Power, which also rates France, Spain and Argentina as serious contenders. Here is the current group seeding:

Group A: Russia, Uruguay, Egypt, Saudi Arabia
Group B: Portugal, Spain, Iran, Morocco
Group C: France, Peru, Denmark, Australia
Group D: Argentina, Croatia, Iceland, Nigeria
Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia
Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea
Group G: Belgium, England, Tunisia, Panama
Group H: Poland, Colombia, Senegal, Japan

http://gennext.broncolor.com/blog/article/fifa-world-cup-2018-russia.html

2018 Tour de France

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By Jack Breagy 

This summer the world famous Tour De France starts on the 7th of July and ends on the 29th of July. The “Tour” as many fans often call it is the most prestigious bicycle race in the world with teams with the best cyclists from around the world. In the Tour the cyclist with the lowest aggregate time across the whole race wins the race, the cyclist who has the best time throughout each of the stages wears the famous yellow jersey. Other notable jerseys worn in the race are the white jersey with red polka dots, which is awarded to the cyclist who is the best in the mountain stages, the white jersey which is awarded to best young cyclist and the green jersey Maillot Very is awarded to the cyclist with the best point total which is based off the consistency of the placing of the cyclist’s position. So yes, a cyclist could possibly not win a single stage, yet win the Tour de France.

The Tour de France is not exclusive to just the country of France. The Tour’s course often goes through neighboring Belgium and the northern Basque regions of Spain. The Tour stretches through mountains, farmland, cities and cobblestone roads.

This year the odds are in favor of the four time champion Chris Froome, who won the past three Tours and the 2013 Tour. Froome races for team Sky. Other cyclists who have odds to win are Richie Porte of the BMC team, Nairo Quintana for the Movistar team and Mikel Landa for who is also riding for the Movistar team. Senior at Columbia High School (CHS) Jacob Sheedy 18’ gives his take on this years race, “I don’t watch that much cycling but I bet that, that guy Chris Froome will win it again...he seems to win it every year the Tour comes around”.

This years Tour de France offers a variety between long racing stretches and rigorous mountain passes. For the most part the second half of the race holds most of the difficult climbing. This race seems to favor another Chris Froome victory which would put him in the elite club of Quintuple Tour de France winners. With the long stretches on flat land the race will favor Froome because his teammates will allow him to draft off him. Then a rested Froome could power through the difficult mountain stretches on his own or with little to few teammates. Quintana also looks to be licking his lips at the prospect of having another difficult section of mountain passes in the race. The young Columbian who once held the white jersey for the best young cyclist in the race and last year the the polka dots for the master of the mountain stages of the race. However, with another teammate who is looking to win the race himself in Mikel Landa the prospect of using his team mates in the earlier rounds does not look good.

Last year the famous and fun cyclist Peter Sagan was disqualified in controversial fashion after he collided with fellow cyclist Mark Cavendish. Cavendish was seriously injured in the crash and shortly after Sagan was disqualified. The cycling community debated the disqualification. This year Sagan is looking to get his revenge on the competition however its looking unlikely to whether he will win the race.

This year's Tour is set to be a thriller, with a possible quintuple in the making and a revenge story on the books, it could be a good time for any person to start watching this great sporting spectacle. Many students like Brendan Lackey 18’, are excited to see the Tour, “I don’t watch that much biking, but when I do, I chose the Tour, the spectacle is too beautiful to miss”. Hopefully this summer more young people will start to watch the race and help give the sport a larger world wide audience.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/07/tour-de-france-finish-paris.html