the mad sports man

 Today it's Turks and Caicos. They have never been to the Olympics an an independent nation. Because the ioc doesn't recognize the territory, they compete for Great Britain (as Turks and Caicos is a British territory).  However they have competed at the Commonwealth Games. First appearance was 1978. They don't appear again until 1998. They've been to every games since. No medals won as of yet. They are located east of Cuba and North of the Hispaniola island (Hispaniola is Haiti on the west and Dominican Republic on the east). Here us ghe flag of Turks and Caicos. 

 Haven't done this in a bit. Today we visit Fiji. Their NOC was created in 1945 and recognized in 1955. First summer Olympics was in 1956 and been to every games since except for 1964 and 1980. First winter games was in 1988 znd been to 1994 and 2002 since. Three medals and all in rugby 7s. First one was the first ever medal won by the mens team, winning gold. They defended the gold in 2020. The womens team won bronze in 2020. No winter medals. First Commonwealth games was in 1938 and been to every games since except for 1990, 1994, and 2010 (they were banned in 2010 for not setting an election date). They have 4g, 7s, 12b for 23 total. First medals won was in 1950, where they won 5. Also most medals won at one games. Here is the flag of Fiji. 

 ....Panama as they beat Paraguay 1-0. They will join France, Jamaica and Brazil in group F. Women's world cup starts July 20th.

 Portugal 🇵🇹 and Haiti 🇭🇹 have won their way into this years womens world cup. Portugal beat Cameroon 🇨🇲 2-1 and Haiti best Chile 🇨🇱 by the same score.  Portugal is now in group E znd Haiti is in group D. Tomorrow Paraguay 🇵🇾 plays Panama 🇵🇦 with the winner being the 32nd and final team to qualify and will be in group F. Stay tuned.

 The NOC was created in 1979 and recognized in 1980. First summer Olympics was 1984 and been in every one since. No winter Olympics yet snd no medals won. Largest country by population to not win an Olympic medal. However, they've done better at the Commonwealth Games. Their first ones was in 1978 in Edmonton and only missed 1982 and 1986. They have 2g, 4s, 2b for 8 total. All of them in shooting. First two medals were in 1990. Both won by Ateequr Rahman and Abdus Satar. The gold was in air pistol pairs and bronze in free pistol pairs. First silver was in 2006 in 10m air pistol pairs by Asif Hossain Khan and Anjar Kumer Singha. Hossain Khan is most successful athlete for Bangladesh- a gold, silver and bronze to his name. Here is their flag. 

 Ghis season had (yesh yeah yeah) 6 teams and 70 games. But we're getting closer to expansion. Highlights include: November 10 Gordie Howe scores goal 545 passing Maurice Richard. November 8, Maple Leaf Gardens install separate penalty boxes after Toronto Bob Pulford and Montreal Terry Harper fight in the penalty box earlier in the season.  (Both teams had to share a penalty box up to this point). January 18, Terry Sawchuk gets shutout 95.  February 8, Sawchuk plays game 804.  March 22, Boston goalie Ed Johnston plays all 70 games. Boston went 18-40-12. #1 draft pick was Claude Gauthier, who ends up playing no NHL games. Playoffs: a rare anymore here. All series went the full 7 games. Semi finals had Toronto beat Montreal 4-3 and Detroit beat Chicago 4-3. Stanley Cup had Toronto beat Detroit 4-3. Toronto wins 3rd Cup in a row and 12th overall. 

 Today we do North Macedonia. Their national Olympic Committee was created in 1992 and recognized in 1993. First appearance at the summer Olympics was 1996 and been to every games since. First winter games was 1998 and been to every games since. Formerly part of Yugoslavia from 1920-1988 and independent participants in 1992. They have only two medals and both in the summer Olympics. First one was a bronze in 2000 by Magomed Ibraginov in wrestling 85kg freestyle division. Second medal was a silver in 2020 by Dejan Georgievski in taekwondo +85kg category. That's it. No Commonwealth Games. Here is their flag.

 Today we visit Guyana. Their NOC was created in 1945 and recognized in 1948. Their first Olympics was the 1948 summer Olympics in London England. Participated in every games since with exception of 1976. Medal tally is one bronze, and it was won by Michael Anthony in 1980 in the mens bantamweight division. In the Commonwealth Games, they have been innall the games except for 1950, 1974 and 1980. Grey have 4g, 6s, 6b for 16 total. Their first two medals was 1930. A silver by Colin Gordon in high jump and a bronze in the coxed 4 rowing. Their first gold was in 1934 by Phil Edwards in the 880 yard dash. They started as British Guiana  ND became independent in 1966.  Here is their flag.

The NOC for Seychelles was created in 1979 and recognized the same year. First summer Olympics appearance was 1980 and have appeared in every one since except in 1988. No winter Olympics appearances yet. No medals won yet either.  Now for their Commonwealth Games appearances. First one was 1990 in Auckland New Zealand. They have been at every one since. They have 3s and 4b for 7 total.  First medal won was a bronze by Rival Cadeau in 1994 (Victoria) in boxing light middleweight division. First silver was 1998 and added a second one. Here is the flag of Seychelles 🇸🇨. 

 Turned out to be a pretty good game. Kansas City Chiefs are super bowl champs after beating Philadelphia Eagles 38-35.  There was a super bowl punt return record od 65 yards by Kadarius Toney. First super bowl that featured: 1. Two starting black quarterbacks in Jalen Hurts (Phi) and Patrick Mahomes (KC). And 2. Brothers facing each other. Travis Kelce (KC) and brother Jason (Phi). Kansas City trailed 24-14 at half time. So thats it for thus season.  Tuesday starts the CFL season with free agent day. 

 What's Niue? Here's Niue 🇳🇺. They are 2400 km, or 1500m northeast of New Zealand and part of the realm of New Zealand. Capital is Alopi. NOC was created in 1976 and still remains unrecognized. First Commonwealth Games were in 2002 in Manchester England. They have one bronze in their medal tally and was won by Duken Tutakitua-Williams in 2022 in the mens boxing heavyweight division. I don't have the flag bearers for 2002 and 2006, but from 2010 is Narita Viliamu in lawn bowls, 2014 was Hina Rerita in lawn bowls, 2018 was Pau Blumski in lawn bowls and 2022 was Travis Tapatue (boxing) and Olivia Buckingham (lawn bowls). Here is hhe flag of Niue. 

 Welcome to Palau. A rather brief Olympics history. Their NOC was created in 1997, recognized in 1999 and made their debut in 2000. No medals as of yet and no winter appearances. Here are their opening ceremony flag bearers. 2000 in Sydney Australia 🇦🇺 was Valerie Pedro. 2004 in Athens Greece 🇬🇷 was John Tarkong. 2008 in Beijing China 🇨🇳 was Elgin Loren Elwais, while Amber Yobeck carried at the closing. 2012 in London Great Britain 🇬🇧 was Rodman Teltull. 2016 in Rio De Janeiro Brazil 🇧🇷 was Florian Skilang Temengul and 2020 in Tokyo Japan 🇯🇵 was Osisang Chilton and Adrian Ililau. Here is the flag of Palau. 

 Time to visit Tonga. It is 1800km (1100 m) north of New Zealand north island. Fiji 🇫🇯 New Caledonia and Vanuatu 🇻🇺 are also nearby. Its NOC was created in 1963 znd recognized in 1984. Tonga made its debut in 1984 and has appeared in every games since. Tonga made its winter debut in 2014 and appeared in 2018. Did not go in 2022 due to nearby eruption. Has one medal overall - a silver by Paea Wolfgram in 1996 in boxing super heavyweight 91kg. Tonga became ghe smallest independent nation to win a medal. No winter medals yet. Best known Tongan is Pita Taufatofua. He was first introduced at the 2016 summer games when he carried the Tongan flag covered in coconut oil and wearing a ta'ovala (a Tongan mat). He carried their flag in 2018 and with Malia Paseka in 2020. At the Commonwealth Games, they first appeared in 1974 and only missed 1978 and 1986.  They have 3 bronzes so far and all in boxing. Paea Wolfgramm in 1994 in super heavyweight, Lomalito Moala in 2010 in the lightwei...

 First Saint Lucia. They first appeared in 1962 and missed 1966, 1974, 1982, 1986 and 1990. Appeared in every other one.  They have 1g, 1s 3b for 5 medals total.  Dominic Johnson won the first ever medal in 2002, winning bronze in pole vault. Levern Spencer won the first gold in high jump in 2018.  Spencer also has two bronze (2010 and 2014). The silver was won by Julien Alfred in the womens 100m in 2022. Most medals at one games is obviously 1. Now the Bahamas. Appeared for the first time in 1954 and have appeared since then except for 1974 and 1986.  They have 11g, 14s, 13b for 38 total. Most medals won at one games was 8 in 2002 (4g 4b). Tom Robinson won the first two medals ever in 1958 winning a gold in the 220 yards dash and silver in the 100 yards dash. So that is Saint Lucia and the Bahamas at the Commonwealth Games. 

 Time for Trinidad and Tobago. They formed their NOC in 1946, had it recognized in 1947 and made their first summer Olympics appearance in 1948. They have made every games since, with the exception of 1960 when they went under the British West Indies flag. They also have made 4 winter Olympics appearances (1994, 1998, 2002 and 2022). They have 3g  5s, 11b for 19 total. All medals won were in the summer games. 15 of the medals were in athletics (3g, 4s, 8b), 3 medals in weightlifting (1s, 2b) and 1 bronze in swimming. First medal won was by Rodney Wilkes, a silver  in weightlifting in 1948 (London). He also won the first ever bronze in 1952 (Helsinki). The first gold was won in 1976 (Montreal) by Hasely Crawford in athletics (mens 100m).  Most medals won at one games was 4 in 2012 in London.  They made their Commonwealth Games debut in 1934 in London.  They have been at every ones since except 1950 and 1986. They have 10g, 21s 24b for 55 total. Most medals a...

 Austria was host nation. 8 games decided the groups. Canada fielded a purpose built national team for the first time and was coached by father David Bauer. Soviet Union won gold winning all 7 games. Sweden, Czechoslovakia and Canada went 5-2. Canada thought they had bronze thinking it was goals differential between the three teams, but it turns out it was goals differential for all seven games. Sweden got the silver and Czechoslovakia with the bronze. First time Canada failed to medal in hockey. Soon - the 1968 tournament in Grenoble, France.