Ugh - Get ready for a winter World Cup. What a farce.

First my apologies for being lax in 2015 to publishing some posts. I need to get back to ranting about the beautiful game! Here is a great reason to spew some anger - looks as if the Qatar 2022 World Cup will be held in the winter - click here for article. What???

Granted the reasons for this are obvious. It is too *&$%@# hot in the summer in Qatar! But guess what, we knew that before the nation was selected to host the tournament. I do not need to rehash my feelings towards this selection. From the fact the nation has zero soccer heritage, to the heat, to the ability to handle such a massive sporting event. This has been nothing short of a prime example why clowns like Sepp Blatter is seen as corrupt and a weasel. Qatar 2022 is all about money. The money FIFA hopes to get from the oil rich nation as well as the fat envelopes that most certainly found their way into Sepp and his cronies' pockets. I can only imagine what the clubs are going to say about this brilliant decision.  Holding the World Cup during November and December is going to fall right in the middle of club seasons, Champions League group stage games and countless national cup ties. The major European leagues, other than England, take a break end of the year. So what does the international duty mean for this? Will FIFA expect club seasons to continue minus the international players, as they do during the African Cup of Nations? Ask Manchester City how they felt about now having Yaya during that time....Clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, PSG, Chelsea, Bayern Munich would be fielding their youth teams! Granted that might make the mid-tier clubs happy. But seriously, this is beyond asinine.

If and when this becomes a reality, expect the majority of clubs to not just complain but challenge having to allow their players to go to the World Cup.  The mess that is Qatar 2022 is only getting worse. The sad part is the likes of Platini did not help by voting this in. Alas, Platoche is falling under the bad influence of global football's idiotic management.

Platoch, say it ain't so - Rumors continue to swirl with Qatar 2022 World Cup

The whole Qatar World Cup 2022 debacle continues. And this blog has always contended that it was a catastrophic mistake to allow a tiny nation, with little footballing pedigree, in one of the most inhospitable weather locations to host one of the most important global sporting event. The controversy only gets worse with reports that the president of the UEFA - Michel Platini - is suspected of being illegally swayed by Bin Hammam to vote for Qatar.

My admiration for Platini is also no secret. He was my childhood footy hero. I remember him dominating the 1984 European Cup, scoring a ridiculous amount of goals - 9. Putting away two hat tricks, against Belgium and Yugoslavia. As well as hitting the winning goal versus Portugal in Marseilles in the dying minutes of extra time to go to the finals.



He also has done some wonderful things post playing career - a short lived stint as manager of Les Bleus. Undefeated in qualification for the 1992 Euros, but playing poorly in the tournament. Platini was instrumental in getting France to host the World Cup in 1998 and influential in getting the Euros there in 2016. His efforts with financial fair play have not been perfect but a move in the right direction as have his emphasis on getting greater participation from more nations in the Champions League.

Of course I do not agree with everything he has lobbied for. I do not believe he is right with his ideas around expansion of the Euros, big mistake. Nor his idea of having multiple cities host the Euro championships or even the crazy idea of inviting a non-European nation to the tournament...huh???

The main accuser is the Daily Telegraph - click here for article. Based on the article there is a trail of meetings prior to the final vote for the World Cup where Platini met with Bin Hammam, at a private breakfast. As well as meetings with the then French President - Sarkozy. Does this mean that Platini took a bribe to vote for Qatar? That is a very dangerous leap to make. And one has to judge the source. It is no secret that there is no love lost between the british press and Platini. Yes there seems some sketchiness that Platini's son Laurent was given a job as head of a Burrda a Qatar sports company. But getting someone a job is far from the accusations of large sums of money being given to influence votes. I am sure that every nation that is bidding for the tournament sends representatives to lobby influential voters. So let us not act as if these types of meetings are not happening all the time - just look at any Olympic bid...Socchi anyone?

If there emerges some more nefarious information that comes out about these meetings, then shame on Platini. And if there is more damaging information that comes out, I would be the first to say Platoch would need to step down. However, let's not allow a witch hunt by the British press be accepted as fact.

Regardless of how you look at it, the Qatar World Cup bid remains embroiled in controversy. Something that is never too far away from anything Sepp Blatter is associated with.  I am hoping that somehow the bidding process will become so tainted that Blatter has no choice but to reopen the bidding process. The Qatar World Cup has been a disaster...8 years before the games are even scheduled to be played! There are no shortage of people, myself included, that is looking for any loop hole to find a way to take the tournament out of Qatar and give it to a more legitimate host.

And the drama continues.

Winter World Cup coming...the farce that is the Qatar world cup continues

The latest from the "geniuses" that govern world football is that the World Cup in 2022 that was controversially awarded to Qatar will be played in the...winter. Really? I have ranted about this in the past, and stories such as moving it back to the winter only add to my anger. The very fact the tournament was awarded to the tiny middle eastern nation was a farce to begin with. Why?

• Temperature issues - summer time in Qatar is not conducive to playing 90 minutes of international football and not suffering from heat stroke or worse.
• Host nation pedigree - I realize that the World Cup was award to a nation like South Africa which is better known for rugby than football, they also became the first host to not emerge from the group stages. Care to guess where Qatar is ranked in the current FIFA world rankings? 111th. Even South Africa who I just called out is ranked higher at 67. Farce.
• Other viable candidates - like the United States...got snubbed. Really? Other candidates such as Australia would have been better for the games. When Qatar first announced it was a candidate I did not even give it a second thought, there was no way this tiny nation would get the World Cup, an Olympic game? Sure, that comes down to, in essence, one city being able to host the event.

I blame all those involved, including the likes of Platini and especially that joke of a president Sepp Blatter. We all know why the tournament found its way to Qatar - money. Plain and simple. Who knows how much each federation and their leaders lined their pockets with, but clearly they made off like bandits. Blatter will promote how he has expanded the game and the reach but all he has done is continued to demonstrate what a corrupt and unscrupulous individual he is. I am still holding out hope that somehow the tournament has to be moved to some other venue, similar to what happened in 1986 and the Mexico world cup (it was originally suppose to be in Columbia). Alas I fear the morons that run global football will force a winter world cup, in a nation that does not deserve to host the games to start with.

A complete FARCE

The sun rising in the West? Goal line technology for footy?

I almost fell off my chair when I read this today about the idiot - Blatter - saying goal line technology could be adopted in a few seasons - click here. After being so opposed to the adoption of technology for football what has created this change in heart? Maybe after he made his asinine comments about no racism in soccer...maybe someone smacked him in the head and knocked some sense into the Swiss. One can only hope that more rational decisions are to follow.

Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the FIFA water - Blatter makes another ill advised comment

"There is no racism in the game...just shake hands...after all it is just a game." Just some words from the genius Sepp - see the interview click here.

Let's shake hands later...

Uh okay Sepp, what world are you living in? Racism, unfortunately, still exists in every day life so why would it magically disappear on the pitch? It is absolutely farcical and irresponsible for the leader of the world's game to so flippantly dismiss the issue of racism. I am sure that bananas being thrown at black players, or monkey jokes being bantered around (at their own players!), or the statements thrown about by the likes of Suarez or Terry, most recently, have not made it to Sepp's iPad.

Sepp has once again demonstrated a complete lack of judgement and of common sense: women wearing more revealing outfits to attract more fans, World Cups every 2 years, World Cup in Qatar, dismissing technology to assist the game, bribery scandals and the list goes on. But this is the worst of them all, but the accumulation of them clearly demonstrate that he has no place at the top of FIFA.

I am just one voice in the consistently growing army of voices calling for the Swiss to step down, and he should have done so years ago. I fear that in his world he will flash that smile and pretend that everything is okay. Fortunately the beautiful game is strong enough to survive with him, but just think of how much better it could become without him.

Sepp go away...now.

Shocking! FIFA and Blatter under investigation

I hope, for once, that justice and rational minds prevail. Sepp Blatter, the "leader" of FIFA, was looking to buy...errrr I mean win a 4th term in office (which he claims would be his last, unless he finds some other source of "revenue"). In his quest to continue his reign, he decided that it would be in the best interest to launch an investigation of his primary rival - Mohamed bin Hammam. Nothing like using your position of authority to squash the competition...wonder if Blatter has taken pages from the Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il election playbook. What is dripping with irony is that these charges have now raised the eyebrow towards Blatter's prior indiscretions...and there are many to pick from!

Make sure my "envelope" is at least this thick

So now the entire election will be called into question and most likely delayed. Good. I also hope that the investigations are done properly and that we are finally able to shed some light on the "leadership" of FIFA. Blatter has always had a dark cloud over his head, and for reason. He is a shady character. He has clearly come close to and most likely crossed many ethical lines - his original election was rife with allegations that bribes were offered to secure his passage.

The Swiss has made ridiculous statements such as: "Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball" Uh okay...yet the concept of leveraging technology, like goal line technology, is constantly poopooed by the Swiss. He has also presided over bring the World Cup to Africa - South Africa - that was a great achievement. Seen the World Cup head to Russia, also good, as well as Qatar...uh what? Qatar? Still a questionable move, especially when the Swiss Genius then comes out with the idea of playing the game in the winter since Qatar summers tend to be slightly warm.

So now Blatter finds himself under the scrutiny of his own organization...and let us all hope that they find the truth and hold those responsible accountable. If, as I believe, we discover that Blatter turned a blind eye or had direct involvement with any bribery scandals, then he MUST stand down. And CANNOT be re-elected. It would be an absolute disgrace and will completely discredit FIFA.

Do the right thing FIFA, get to the bottom of this and let us all hope that if the results warrant it, that Blatter does the right thing as well - step down.

News bulletin - Qatar World Cup back to the summer...much to do about nothing

So the fearless leader of FIFA has once again flip flopped and is now saying, as we knew all along, is going to be held in the summer! Wow, how novel the World Cup to be played when it is suppose to be played. The fact we have dragged on this long waffling back and forth as to whether or not the tournament would be moved to the winter has been a monumental waste of time and effort. All this has done is demonstrate how ridiculous the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar is to start with. I have gone over this in prior posts so will not rehash my complaining...but I have to let out another sigh and need to scratch my head once again as to why the World Cup has been awarded to a nation who has little football pedigree and is really not a nation ready to host such an important sporting event.

Then again I guess petro-dollars trumps worthy bids any given day.

Qatar 2022 - let the circus continue!!!

Lalalalala I don't want to listen...

Oh my...more  controversy over the awarding of Qatar 2022. The continues to be buzz around moving the event to the winter and now calls to have more nations host the tournament, that coming from Platini. Blatter has stated that there is a greater than 50% chance the tournament will be held in the winter! He claims that the European leagues already have a winter break so...hey no problem let's stick a major sporting event during that break! Makes perfect sense to me. Clearly there are chinks in the armor when it comes to why Qatar should host the World Cup.

Even Blatter has made another zinger of a statement with regards to how his own organization votes for who gets the World Cup - "But you have a college of voters who vote more with their heart than they vote with their head." Sigh...maybe he should have added: and you have a Swiss who thinks with his wallet and not his brain. Clearly he continues to demonstrate the fact he is not of sane mind to run the  governing body that oversees the most popular sport in the world.

See the Swiss' interview and his typical "dancing" around the issues - click here.

If I were the US or Australia, I would quietly make sure my infrastructure is ready for when FIFA comes crawling back to them to host the 2022 World Cup. Such a farce...Blatter must go.

Qatar 2022 - first World Cup in the Middle East...held over the winter

Sigh, this is getting more surreal by the day...another ramble from Blatter about moving the World Cup to the winter...because the location he wanted to host 2022 is TOO HOT in the summer. Once again this demonstrates that Blatter needs to be removed from power, the World Cup 2022 needs to be given to Australia or the United States and FIFA needs to be revamped. The fact that the head of the world governing body is mentioning a winter World Cup as a possibility is ludicrous.

Blatter misses once again

Many domestic leagues have winter breaks, but they tend to be 1-2 weeks not 2 months...add to this the entire qualifying campaign that would need to be readjusted. Remember the France v Ireland play off games were played in November, tough to ask the winners to then jump into the World Cup competition. All we need to do is look how disruptive the African Cup of Nations is to the domestic games. Those players always come back tired and worn down, a negative impact on their clubs. A winter World Cup would also cut right into the Champions League. does Blatter really want that?

Sigh, just demonstrates to me that Blatter does not really care about the players, fans, managers or the game. What he wants is to pad the coffers of FIFA, his own coffers and attempt to develop his own "legacy." Unfortunately what his legacy will become is one of a self-centered leader who is blinded by his own self importance and desire for self enrichment. Alas it is damaging the beautiful game, I just hope the game is resilient enough to withstand Blatter's pathetic leadership.

Maybe Sepp needs a muzzle...now insulting another group of society...

Ah Sepp...you give us the first African World Cup and now the the first one in the Middle East...of course no homosexuals are really welcome. Nice job Blatter. Love to see the leader of FIFA showing off more insensitivity, for someone who has tried to host World Cups in different regions under the guise of being more "inclusive" then decides to make comments about the stance towards homosexuality in Qatar...demonstrates once again that the Swiss leader of FIFA is a bit of a moron. Shocking.

Qatar 2022, let the surreal continue

It has been over a week since FIFA dropped another bombshell on the world of football - Qatar 2022. I think the arguments over the merit of the Russian victory for 2018 have more to do with how the voting occurred in particular how favorite England was quickly eliminated (the Holland-Belgium bid received 4 first round votes and then only 2 in the next round, clearly voters looked to prevent England from winning) than whether or not Russia deserved the tournament. I realize that the corruption as well as racism has been written about at length, much of which from the English press, but some of this sounds more like sour grapes.

Qatar fans have something to cheer about

However the Qatar 2022 victory still baffles me. While I enjoyed watching Alexi Lalas and Gulati turning pale on the announcement, I remain shocked by the decision of going to Qatar. Like I said in my post, there is nothing NOTHING other than petro-dollars that make sense for bringing a World Cup to a nation the geographic size of the Fakland Islands, who have qualified for as many World Cups as the Fakland Island team has....none. Now there are suggestions to play the tournament in the winter, to avoid the 130F temperatures in Qatar. Winter? Really??? Now maybe that would force the EPL to adopt a winter break, but seriously?? Winter?  Just shocking.

Blatter continues to cover himself in embarrassment, not that he is aware of it. He babbles about bringing football to the Middle East, expanding the reach of football yaddy yaddy yadda. I give him some credit for seeing the marketing potential of moving the tournament to different locations, but how about starting with locations that make sense - Australia anyone? Blatter and FIFA have otherwise lost the plot. They are arguably one of the most powerful NGOs (non government organization) in the world but have acquired this power not because of their leadership but because the product they "govern" sells itself. Imagine how much better the game could be if FIFA were run by a competent leader. A small part of me hopes that in 2 years someone creates and productises a non fossil fuel combustion engine, dries up the petrodollars and forces Qatar to abandon their bid....wishful thinking I realize.

Sepp Blatter once again focused on the wrong problem

Once again Sepp Blatter brings up a topic to distract us from the real issues from the past World Cup. So rather than figuring out to use technology to assist officials we are going to spend our time debating golden goals and eliminating draws. Why am I not surprised. As usual the "brains" behind the FIFA wants everyone to forget the no accorded goal for England versus Germany or the blatant offsides for Tevez against Mexico...amongst a few egregiously bad calls from this past World Cup. Instead let us revisit the golden goal and eliminating draws. Sigh. To me another reason why the Swiss needs to go...but of course that will not happen. So why is this ridiculous?

First, the goal of the idea is good - make the first round games more open. Every manager knows that dropping the full 3 points makes it very difficult to get out of the first round, therefore we all play for the draw and take our chances in the last 2 games. Of course the way Sepp is approaching this...misses the point and of course the unintended consequences are apparent. What this past World Cup has shown us is that while opening round games tend to be cautious affairs, the second and third games are high drama. Look at the USA v Algeria match, on paper that game looked like a non important match. But because of the way the group was working its way out that game was nothing but drama. The Italy versus Slovakia game? Same thing. Even the Spain versus Chile game carried high drama, since the eventual champions had to win that match to continue. Every World Cup group stage will have some groups that are decided after the second game while others will go down to last game drama. That is the nature of the beast. If we wanted high drama...then maybe the World Cup should go to single elimination from the start. Make it like the NCAA basketball tournament. No thanks.


So if draws go right to a penalty shoot out that will do what? According to Sepp it will make it more competitive? Um really. Instead what I can see is more teams playing for draws and hoping they get rewarded in the penalty kick lottery. Just what we need. Penalty kick shoot outs are exciting I will admit, however they are a lottery. They are dramatic since they occur in the knock out stages, when you have teams that are evenly matched - France v RFA in 1982, Holland v Brazil in 1998, England v RFA in 1990 just to name a few. It is not as if you had a squad such as New Zealand playing for the draw and their keeper "wins" the game in PKs. How does that make the World Cup better Sepp? Since the World Cup expanded, why is it surprising that group stage games are not all a replays of Italy v West Germany 1970 match? Fans of footy and of the World Cup, recognize that the beauty of the tournament is due to the entire experience - starting with qualifiers, through World Cup group draws, to the actual games, through the knock out stage and culminating in the final game.


Speaking of France v RFA 1982 or Italy v RFA 1970...know what these two games have in common? Went to extra time where there were 9 combined goals scored in both games! Throw in the golden goal and you would never have had this drama - many would argue these are two of the greatest games ever played. The golden goal rule does not make a team more offensive in style. Teams will continue to play the way they are used to, and if that manner is defensive...the golden goal rule might make it more defensive in mind set.

An example for me, France v Paraguay in 1998, France was without Zidane playing at Lens in a first round of the knock outs where the golden goal rule was in place. Clearly the best player for the South Americans was their keeper - Chilavert. They played accordingly - defensively and looked to counter.



France pushed and looked to win the game in regulation, why? Because they knew that Chilavert was a clear asset in the penalty shoot outs. Once the game went to extra time this only became more evident, golden goal or not. To my eye it only made Paraguay play even more defensive! Forget the counter attack, let us just get to the penalty shoot out. The golden goal is also a lottery - ask Azzurri fans about how they feel about the way the game ended versus South Korea in 2002. I remember a Confederation Cup finals between France and Cameroon where a fortunate bounce off a Titi Henry thigh gave Les Bleus the title. Lottery.

I rather see and extra time the way we have it currently constituted, the penalty shoot out is already a lottery, let us not add another "chance" exercise added to the equation. However typical Sepp, let us not focus on the real issues - making sure we granted goals when they are scored, better calling off sides and giving officials the tools they need to better officiate the matches. That would not be productive now would it Sepp?

Hey Sepp look at the NFL for some guidance

The latest out of the NFL is the league is exploring inserting a chip into the ball in order to ensure proper calls when it comes to first downs and touchdowns. Hmmmm that sounds like a novel idea. I guess that would never make sense for other sports...such as soccer.  Clearly if the FIFA is serious about learning from other leagues before adopting technology then they need to look no further than the NFL. If the technology can tell an official if a ball has crossed a line - which is constantly changing when it comes to first downs - then why can a league not leverage technology to determine if a ball has crossed a fixed line - the goal line! Hopefully Sepp and his band of merry followers are paying attention.

FIFA goal line technology...wait until October

Sigh, once again Sepp Blatter has found a way to push off the whole goal line technology debate for another few months. Not really a surprise. After Sepp gave some lip service that FIFA would review the usage of technology in the game, under pressure from what was an egregious missed called in the Germany v England game, the Swiss has now found a way to stall the actual debate. Should we really be surprised? No. I hope that in October FIFA will actually review and then implement goal line technology - even starting with all the international competitions and then putting in a plan to roll this out to all the domestic leagues. Sepp and his merry band of yes men better not hope that delaying this debate and decision will make it go away.

We can wear sneakers that will work with our iPod to play the right music for the way we are running, but still are not sure if we need simple technology to tell officials if a ball has crossed a line....let us hope this is rectified in October.

Technology to improve the game! Welcome to the 21st Century Sepp...

Shocking but true, the head of the FIFA finally admitted errors in officiating and the fact that...gasp....technology could be leveraged to assist the officials!!!! Wow...shocking to say the least. Of course, short of saying he would, Sepp agreed to reopen the research into using technology to help with such situations as the one we saw in the England v Germany game where a Lampard shot was seen by everyone in the stadium, on television and in the international space station that the shot had crossed the line yet the goal was not given. By no fault of the assistant referee who was standing where they are suppose to - watching for the offside. The on the field official was where he should be, behind Lampard and the play so could have a clear sight line to how the ball ricocheted off the cross bar. Of course if the 4th official had, like 4 years ago in the finals and the Zidane head butt, looked at the monitor and seen the ball fall clearly behind the line could have easily indicated to the on the field official - Goal. But of course because the FIFA remains stuck in the 1800s the goal was not granted and England went on to get corrected 4-1. Those who say, well Germany won by 3 goals so that one would not have mattered are not correct. Had the game been tied 2-2 at half, as it should have been, I think the second half would have been much different. Not sure the three lions would have been pushing so far up the pitch and exposing themselves to the German counters.



So now Blatter has to at least allow the debate continue with regards to video. Should it be used for everything, no. But goal line technology is a no brainer - the situation does not arise every game, but when it does it clearly has a huge impact on the game. Also whether or not a ball has crossed the goal line is black and white, there is no judgment something technology and video could render close to fool proof. FIFA already allows it for youth tournaments so now allow the biggest tournament of them all come into the 21st century. It is a first step in making the beautiful game that much better.

Thierry Henry under investigation...for being competitive

Well the next stage of the Titi hand ball saga, after FIFA rejected the request of Ireland to be included as the 33rd nation in next year's World Cup, is that Sepp Blatter and FIFA will "investigate" the hand of frog. Huh? Are you serious? So what can come of this? What will the investigation resemble? Something like this -

FIFA: "Monsieur Henry on the evening of the World Cup playoff game, in Paris, between France and the Republic of Ireland, it is contended that you illegally handled the ball after a free kick from your teammate Florent Malouda. The ability for you to then control the ball and provide your teammate William Gallas with the tying goal. How do you respond to these horrid accusations?"

Henry: "Yes I handled the ball, but I am not the referee."

FIFA: "Um okay....uh....we are going to give you a retroactive yellow card, if you get another retroactive yellow card from the remaining time of the France v Ireland game, you will be suspended for the next inter-squad scrimmage at Clairefontaine."

Henry: "Um...okay. Uh that match is over so how could I get another retroactive yellow card?"

FIFA: "Good question, maybe you will get one for allowing Adidas to force you to wear a terrible kit..."

This is getting a little ridiculous. What can FIFA really do without making themselves look silly? They have already bungled this whole situation by allowing the idea of replays, allowing an extra team into the World Cup and now investigating the player. All they had to say was - the ruling on the field made by the official is what we stick by, if we want to discuss video or extra officials we will revisit this post World Cup, but for now we have our 32 teams that will be in South Africa next summer. But instead Blatter babbles on and I think does so in order to keep him in the spotlight. Move on Sepp you are allowing this to extend the 15 minutes it was allocated.

Ireland heading to the World Cup...only if the FIFA is completely mad

The latest in the Titi Henry hand ball saga is that Ireland are now lobbying to be allowed an extra spot in next summer's tournament. The fact that Blatter would even give this idea any legs by saying they discussed it is ridiculous. As I have stated in the past Ireland out played the French in Paris, the French goal should have been disallowed for a hand ball...however the referee did not see the transgression and therefore accorded the goal. That is life. There remains a human element to sports - a referee misses a hand ball, an off sides, gives 3 yellow cards to the same player, does not accord a goal that clearly crossed the line...



We see this in all sports - phantom tags in baseball called out, referees giving a team 5 downs, and countless other situations. Video replay is an answer to some of these issues, but at the end of the day part of sport is the fact humans are the judge of the rules and need to make rapid decisions, sometimes with less than perfect information. Teams suffer the consequences both good and bad. This will not and should not change...the human official should be allowed access to better technology in order to have greater access to information, but in the end it will still come down to human judgment. And that is a part of sports.

The need for an other ref on the pitch

I was not able to see the match, but this article gave me reason to call for another ref in professional football once again. As the Platini stated, having a referee behind the goal could and will most likely make these calls easier to make and penalty diving less prevalent. By why just have a ref behind the goal line?? Earlier this summer I was playing in a coed recreational soccer league and guess what? They had 2 refs!!!! Granted no assistant referees managing off sides calls, however, if a coed recreational footie league recognizes the need to have 2 referees how can professional and international level games not have the same amount of officiating? As I have stated in the past, having two on-the-field referees will not only add an other set of eyes to manage the game but allows the refs to be better positioned, one behind the play and one in front of the play. Once again Blatter is showing his complete stubbornness and lack of vision, he floated having the World Cup every 2 years but cannot budge on adding another referee on the pitch or leverage video for certain situations. Ugh.