The second round of African qualifying for the 2023 FIBA World Cup (this is men’s basketball) is underway, and over this past week’s games South Sudan won twice, lost once, and finds itself now just a win or two away (in the next round of games, in February) from locking up a World Cup berth. This came to our attention because Kur Kuath, who played for Shaka Smart last year at Marquette, posted video and pictures of the team’s return to the nation’s capital of Juba on Instagram:
As Smart said, “This is awesome!”
South Sudan, though. Let’s talk about South Sudan.
I knew South Sudan was a pretty new country. From the looks of things, it gained its independence in 2011, making it either the youngest or second-youngest nation in the world, depending how you classify Bougainville (which I guess is trying to become independent from Papua New Guinea, who knew).
What I didn’t realize was that South Sudan’s independence wasn’t directly tied to the genocide in Darfur. That, I’m seeing, was separate. Evidently South Sudan’s independence came about as part of the “peace” following the second Sudanese civil war, which mostly predated the Darfur genocide (a genocide which is ongoing). Also, there was another civil war, this time confined to South Sudan (don’t worry, conflict in regular Sudan is ongoing), post-2011. It more or less ended in February of 2020.
Anyway, I’d always associated South Sudan with Darfur, assuming the genocidal civil war we heard so much about fifteen years ago had led to the creation of a new country. Nope. Separate civil wars. Pretty horrifying. The Darfur situation has not exactly ended, either.
Kur Kuath left what’s now South Sudan when he was a baby for Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, and from there his family fled to Egypt, where they received refugee status which got them to Utah when Kuath was three. Now, he plays for the South Sudanese national team but it appears he still lives in Utah. He doesn’t seem to have signed anywhere yet for the upcoming basketball season.
One of the things about sports is that they’re always happening, all over the globe, and the connections between things we see and the things we don’t see happen quietly, in games like Kur Kuath and his South Sudanese teammates beating Egypt in a FIBA World Cup qualifier. That game? The most inconsequential to us, on par with a tennis match in a filler event in Jakarta on the professional tour. But not to all those folks at the airport. What a scene.
Did Joe Kelly Allow a Home Run?
Allegedly. First one that didn’t come amidst a successful save and wasn’t completely meaningless because the batter’s going to Hell anyway since May of last year, though, so I’m not worried. It’s no secret that the season hasn’t gone as Joe Kelly planned, but he’s doing the thing he does where he makes a team’s fans lean really hard into hating on him and then comes back one season later and makes them adore. A tale as old as Joe Kelly himself (and Joe Kelly is eternal).
Milk History All Over the Place
In addition to the TMK Creamery news, there was a big dairy development here earlier when Fargo got her first ever piece of mac and cheese as it fell to the floor during the pot-to-plate transfer. It remains to be seen how her intestines will handle even this tiny dose of a protein that isn’t rabbit, but for the moment, her chin is resting on my lap as she patiently asks for more. She will be getting no more. This is what hope looks like.
A Burnley Blowout
The lads got the win yesterday, beating Millwall 2-0 and moving to third in the table. Still a little off the pace that would one hundred percent definitely get this team promoted, but not off it by much and the vibes are great again after struggling for a week or two in there. Quick turnaround and then it’s West Brom on Friday. Get your hype pants ready.
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Viewing schedule:
3:00 PM EDT: Blackburn Rovers @ Blackpool (ESPN+)
As a Burnley man, I believe it’s my duty to watch any rivalry game in Lancashire that’s available to me (and wait fervently for fire and brimstone to erupt from the center of the pitch).
7:07 PM EDT: Cubs @ Blue Jays (MLB TV)
One of the great things about the Cubs right now is they almost always have at least one good-vibes guy popping off. Franmil Reyes, Christopher Morel, Willson Contreras, etc. Just a bunch of guys capable of playing vibezilla on any given night.
8:10 PM EDT: Royals @ White Sox (MLB TV, second screen)
Unlikely we see Joe Kelly here, but maybe if there are extra innings. A guy can dream.
Re: Sudan basketball team. That IS cool.