Wednesday cannon fodder: desperation plane ride

Hi! It’s still unbelievably smoky here. I didn’t even bike home last night, it was so gross - the morning ride was bad enough, breathing-wise, that I didn’t even want to chance it in the afternoon. Smoke is inconvenient and gross, but considering a good chunk of Oregon is on fire right now, I can’t complain too much - I just hope the stupendous men and women who sign up to be forest fire fighters all come out alive, and get the accolades and praise that they deserve, because that’s a hard-ass, super dangerous job.

USA avoids World Cup qualifying disaster in Honduras on Wood goal | SI.com
Hey guess what? The US isn't very good at soccer!

Syria reach World Cup play-off with Australia after late equaliser in Iran | Football | The Guardian
Another nation fought their way to a draw with a late equalizer, but theirs was and is a much more interesting story.

Boxing tournament planned in Russia to tackle 2018 World Cup hooliganism - ESPN FC
Apparently setting up legal fight clubs is the answer to aggression in the streets. What could go wrong?

Man City and Liverpool join forces to hire private jet to fly stars home ahead of Premier League clash | MusBizusBlog
If I'm late to my job, I get in trouble. Nobody sends a private jet to get me to work on time.

Arsenal's Arsene Wenger wants January transfer window scrapped - Premier League 2017-2018 - Football - Eurosport Australia
This isn't exactly a new viewpoint from Arsene, but still.

Despite the club's spin Arsenal's ambition still must be questioned - ESPN FC
Ivan Gazidis' message was a curious way to analyse a summer that saw Arsenal sign only two players and lose eight first-teamers.