Inside Polish Sports

On Saturday night right after Speedway Kraków's razor-thin loss to Lokomotiv Daugavpils(44-46) I got to interview the home side's young Aussie rider Michael West. We talked about how Michael's journey turning left began at a pretty late age of 16, how he found his footing in Kraków after initially riding for Stal Gorzów's juniors, about the everlasting dangers of Speedway and about his love for Żabka salads!!!(Perhaps they should give him a discount for those...).

In the weekend's non-World Cup news: Lewy's Fire debut postponed due to Canadians apparently imposing a tariff on clean air, the Poland Volleyball boys going 4-for-4 in the Nations League, Tymek Kucharczyk has his head spinning and tyres beating on the oval in Nashville, and Anita Włodarczyk is still hammering 75-metre throws after turning forty.

Follow Michael West:

https://www.facebook.com/michaelwest08/

https://www.instagram.com/michaelwest08/

The fundraiser for Kacper Prokopiak:

https://pomagam.pl/ba4naw

Thank goodness this god forsaken Soccerball tournament is over. And for once I have decided to make an episode about a topic from outside the Polish sporting sphere. I will talk about how I watched the final, how I made fun of it in real time, just how pathetic Argentina and Messi's performances were historically and how this proves why I can't just focus on one sport if its biggest event can turn out to be so boring and frustrating.

The best news: NHL starts its season on September 29th. GO GAVIN MCKENNA!

The Polish-centered weekend review including an interview with Speedway Kraków's Michael West will be uploaded tomorrow.

Link to that famous Rangers/Bruins 1979 brawl as MSG I mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tkx8Tbovdw&pp=ygUZcmFuZ2VycyBicnVpbnMgYnJhd2wgMTk3OQ%3D%3D

I have to channel my inner Steve Carell and scream in horror because the LAST thing FIFA needs to clean its Barn of Augeas is to replace Infantino with Legia owner Dariusz Mioduski. A man respected in the circles and successful with his club may be, but one who could be willing to destroy that legacy and good fortune to be holding the knife for Football's ultimate castration.

In other World Cup news it's unlikely that Szymon Marciniak will become the first ref ever to preside two finals in a row, but he is still the best referee since Pierluigi Collina. Quite the accomplishment for a country which seemed to have given up on international refs of all kind 15 years ago.

Also, how me and Irish Dave were bored to death at the Wisła vs Wrexham friendly, IOC wiping its hands with Russian blood by letting them back in, Krzysztof Ratajski wins his first tournament of note in 3 years and KSW's Mahmed Khalidov echoes that other famous MMAist who have a bad week and should himself be in prison.

Donate to Kacper Prokopiak: https://pomagam.pl/ba4naw

I am frankly surprised that Trump waited this long to become this World Cup's Jorge Videla 1978 analogue(Spoiler Alert: HE FAILED HAHA!). In our recording from last night before the two matches took place Irish Dave and I talk about the ludicrousness of the 48-team format, Ronaldo's farewell, the underdogs that emerged and how no one age remembers the backpass rule(Thank god!).

Also, Iga goes into deeper dire straits after losing early at Wimbledon. Hubert Hurkacz retires in the fifth set after knocking out two seeds. Ola Mirosław retires in Kraków(I missed it because stupid me didn't check the weather). And Ania Lewandowska isn't a happy camper as she moves to Chicago.

Kacper Prokopiak's fundraiser: https://pomagam.pl/ba4naw

In our first ever feature interview my guest is Kacper Prokopiak. The 20-year-old born in Warsaw and raised in Sanok and Oświęcim has fulfilled his Ice Hockey dreams by playing three seasons for Unia(including winning the Polish championship as a rookie), and now he has been given the chance of a lifetime thanks to being drafted by the Elmira Aviators(New York state) in the North American Hockey League.

However, it is far from a cheap endeavour. The total cost of a year-long stay in the U.S. is at least 30,000 zł($8,000), so a crowdfunding campaign has been launched on Pomagam.pl to help Kacper make his dream of playing in America come true. As of the time of posting this episode 122 donors have put in a total of 8,921 zł.

Kacper and I talk about how he fell in love with Hockey, the NHL stars he models himself on and the gratitude he feels for the help and support that he has received.

Donate to Kacper via this link: https://pomagam.pl/ba4naw