Maybe Don't Spy On Your Rival
The latest from Paris...
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Have we learned anything from the 2007 New England Patriots? It’s probably not in your team’s best interest to fly a drone over your rival’s practice before you’re about to play them…
Yesterday, it was reported that the Canadian women’s national soccer team was caught spying on New Zealand’s women’s national soccer team using a drone during practice in Saint-Étienne on July 22nd.
According to the New Zealand Olympic Committee, they immediately reported the incident to police, who identified and detained the Canadian women’s soccer team support staff member who was operating the drone.
The support staff member was identified as Canadian team soccer analyst, Joseph Lombardi.
Of course, the Canadian team released an “Ooopsies!” statement following the news:
“The Canadian Olympic Committee stands for fair-play and we are shocked and disappointed. We offer our heartfelt apologies to New Zealand Football, to all the players affected and to the New Zealand Olympic Committee.”
It gets worse…
Just hours ago, the Canadian Olympic Committee released a statement confirming that a second #spygate incident occurred on July 19th…
They also added that Jasmine Mander, an assistant coach who Lombardi reports to, was identified as being involved in the scandal.
As you might imagine, the Canadian Olympic Committee has sent both staff members home and noted that Head Coach, Bev Priestman, will remove herself from coaching the upcoming match against New Zealand tomorrow.
I’m sorry, but what was the team thinking?!
Drones as your method of spying in 2024???? What about just creating a fake Instagram account that looks like you’re a fan of New Zealand’s soccer team and trying to DM your way into some intel…
Drones just feel like something a YouTuber uses when filming a vlog that is way too stylized or what is used in a highly-produced wedding video.
What makes this story even sillier is the fact that New Zealand isn’t even supposed to make it out of the group stage and Canada is good! Why do you need to spy on your rival who you will likely beat anyway????
What! Is! The! Point!
What I do know is that there is a 100000 percent chance I will be turning into this chaos when Canada plays New Zealand in the opening game of the women’s tournament tomorrow…
What Paying Subscribers Got
We’re just days away from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony and already have some drama on our hands…
Last Friday, the Japanese Gymnastics Association announced that Shoko Miyata, the captain of Japan’s women’s gymnastics team, has withdrawn from the Olympic games after allegedly being caught smoking and drinking.
🏅Other Pointless Olympics Gossip🏅
Celine Dion is set to make her comeback during the upcoming opening ceremony after being diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome in 2022. (via Variety)
Go, Coco! Coco Gauff will be a flag bearer alongside LeBron James for Team USA. Gauff will be the youngest American to carry the flag in U.S. Olympic history. (via ESPN)
Have you *seen* the Floating Olympic Village that Olympic surfers are staying on in Tahiti?! Do they have a casino??? Is there a magician??? I have so many questions! (via Front Office Sports)
Not really gossip, but have you seen Glossier’s on-the-court partnership in action supporting the women’s USA Basketball team? (via Instagram)
🏅The Social Media Olympics🏅
Welcome to a *new* Olympics series where I’ll be sharing content I love from Olympic athletes competing in the Paris 2024 Games.
If there’s a TikTok/Reel/Tweet from an athlete that you loved, send it to me over email (theimpersonalfoul at gmail dot com) or DMs!
Thank you so much for everyone’s submissions!
My favorite #content today is courtesy of my brother, Graham, who shared this unboxing video from Mackenzie Arnold, an Australian soccer player.
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I have so many questions about this dress…Are they supposed to play tennis in it??? Go out to eat??? Go clubbing? It’s very unclear and I would like to speak to whoever designed this to get some answers…
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Stupid, stupid own goal (see what I did there??) on the part of Canada.
The Canadians did it!! I really thought that would never be a sentence I’d read!!