Country Codes, Cannons, and Chagossians: Don’t Watch This; Watch That, Week 7 goes to the Indian Ocean

Use a website with the .io country code? Things are changing...

On October 3, the British government announced that it was giving up sovereignty over a small tropical atoll in the Indian Ocean known as the Chagos Islands. The islands would be handed over to the neighboring island country of Mauritius, about 1,100 miles off the southeastern coast of Africa. [...]

Since 1968, the UK and U.S have operated a major military base on the Chagos Islands (officially known as the British Indian Ocean Territory) [MNW: perhaps more commonly referred to as Diego Garcia, notorious for allegedly being home to a CIA black site], but the neighboring nation of Mauritius has always disputed British sovereignty over them... It has taken over 50 years, but that dispute has finally been resolved. In return for a 99-year lease for the military base, the islands will become part of Mauritius.

Once this treaty is signed, the British Indian Ocean Territory will cease to exist. Various international bodies will update their records. In particular, the International Standard for Organization (ISO) will remove country code “IO” from its specification. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), which creates and delegates top-level domains, uses this specification to determine which top-level country domains should exist. Once IO is removed, the IANA will refuse to allow any new registrations with a .io domain. It will also automatically begin the process of retiring existing ones. (There is no official count of the number of extant .io domains.)

Here, in case you’re wondering, are the Top-Level Domains (TLDs) for each school—with a shoutout to USC, where the IANA was invented—and whoever’s using them today:

• Illinois (.il): Israel, launched in 1985
• Indiana (.in): India, introduced in 1989
• Iowa (.ia): none, with nerds arguing about it
• Maryland (.md): Moldova, delegated in 1994, but also in use by doctors!
• Michigan (.mi): none, which surprises me for all of Michigan’s lawyers, though you could use .mi.it, which is Milan, Italy.
• Michigan State (.ms): Montserrat, first used in 1997 but more commonly used by Microsoft or “Minecraft Server”. There is currently no “.msu” domain extension.
• Minnesota (.mn): Mongolia, which I would’ve gotten wrong because I would’ve guessed Montenegro. But despite being around since 1993, there are fewer than 10,000 registered .mn domains.
• Nebraska (.unl): not in use, though “.uno” is. Go Mavs. (.ne is in use by Niger, but it’s administered by a state-run telecom company, and Niger’s currently going through some shit, so I wouldn’t hold your breath.)
• Northwestern (.nu): the Pacific island nation of Niue! This is fun: according to TLD-LIST, in January 2022 there were 264,535 domains registered under .nu—that’s 156.6 domains for every one of the 1,689 residents of Niue! That’s because it’s also used in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands because “.nu” means “now” in those languages.
• Ohio State (.osu): nothing, not even .os—the closest is .osaka.
• Oregon (.uo): closest is .uol, for Brazilian web content. Lots of “org”-related things, but that feels like cheating here.
• Penn State (.psu): I consider “.ps” to be close enough here, and that’s for Palestine, which officially received .ps in 2000.
• Purdue (.pu): nothing! What the hell, nerds? Closest is .pub, which isn’t the same at all!
• Rutgers (.ru): lol
• UCLA (.ucla, I guess?): there’s .cal, which isn’t the same at all and is only for use by Google’s Calendar structure.
• USC (.sc): Seychelles. USC briefly used this before the Seychelles claimed it, as was the country’s right guaranteed by IANA.
• Washington (.wa): no .uw exists, nor does .wa.
• wisconsin (.wis): see above—closest we’ll get here is .ws for Samoa, which has had the extension since 1997, when it was known as “Western Samoa”.

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It’s worth noting that the BIOT—I’ll use Diego Garcia from here—was created in part through the explusion of hundreds of islanders, the Chagossians.

Begun in 1968 at the request of the United States, the explusion of the Chagossians has today created a scattered diasporic community from Mauritius to the United Kingdom. A 2023 Human Rights Watch report called the explusion of the Chagossians a “crime against humanity,” and estimates of Chagossians range upward to 10,000 people today.

Many Chagossians have argued they were unfairly excluded from the final negotiations over the islands’ status. While Mauritius can begin resettlement on the Chagos Islands if they would like—essentially a small chain of islands to the northwest—Diego Garcia itself will remain exclusively a US-UK military base.

On that base, the US Navy operates a Morale, Welfare, and Recreation site:

As this is a sports blog and I wanted to find a connection in some way, I looked for athletic fields and courts. Those facilities include not only the lighted turf softball field you see above, but tennis and basketball courts, what looks like a golf course on the way to the airstrip, and a soccer field:

You’ll notice, too, that just to the right of the soccer field are what appear to be a pair of pickleball courts. The scourge that is pickleball has even made it to Diego Garcia, guys.

Excitingly, though, there’s also Cannon Point, home to, well, exactly what the name suggests, from the British colonization of Diego Garcia.

In my mind, the US and British naval installations play one another in some sport, painting the cannon a la Princeton and Rutgers. Or let the Chagossians come back and turn the cannon on them. I’m OK with either.

Thursday Night

Don’t Watch This

Southern Arkansas Muleriders at Oklahoma Baptist Bisons [6pm, Team1]
UTEP Miners at Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (-19.5, O/U 56.5) [7pm, ESPNU]

{WNBA} Minnesota Lynx at New York Liberty [7pm, ESPN]
{MLB} New York Yankees at Kansas City Royals [7:08pm, TBS — NYY leads, 2-1]
{NFL} San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks [7:15pm, Prime]

{WSOC} Nebraska at Rutgers [6:30pm, BTN]
{CPL} York United vs. Pacific [7pm, FS2]
{CONCACAF} St. Vinny and the Grenadines vs. El Salvador [8pm, Paramount+]
{WSOC} #5 Michigan State at Oregon [8:30pm, BTN]
{CONCACAF} Nicaragua vs. Jamaica [9pm, Paramount+/CBS Sports Golazo]
{OFC} New Zealand vs. Tahiti [9pm, FIFA+]

Watch That

Cleveland Guardians vs. Detroit Tigers

{MLB Game 4} 5:08pm | TNT — DET leads, 2-1

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at James Madison Dukes

6:30pm | ESPN2 | JMU -10 | O/U 60.5

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

7pm | CBSSN | LT -4.5 | O/U 49.5

I’d be a lot more inclined to enjoy some playoff baseball if the ALCS came down to the AL Central, and specifically to Detroit vs. Kansas City. Fuck Cleveland, just give me two terrible AL Central crabs who somehow escaped the bucket, all for the reward of getting their doors blown off by the Dodgers or someone.

MTSU-LaTech could be REAL terrible football—the Blue Raiders are under former Vandy coach Derek Mason and only beat Tennessee Tech by 7, while Sonny Cumbie’s Bulldogs held off Nicholls State by 8. LaTech has at least played one-score games with Tulsa and FIU, though, which I guess is more than Middle Tennessee can say? It’s BEAUTIFUL.

Friday Night

Don’t Watch This

#22 Johns Hopkins Bluejays at Gettysburg Bullets [6pm, CCtv]
Lakeland Muskies at Eureka Supplysiders [6pm, YouTube]
UNLV Rebels (-18.5, O/U 66.5) at Utah State Aggies [8pm, CBSSN]
Prairie View A&M Panthers at UA Pine Bluff Golden Lions [8:15pm, ESPN2]

{CONCACAF} Suriname vs. Costa Rica [5pm, Paramount/CBS Sports Golazo]
{USL 1} Tormenta vs. Richmond [6:30pm, ESPN+]
{USL Super} Brooklyn vs. DC Power [6:30pm, ESPN+]
{CONCACAF} Aruba vs. Haiti [7pm, Paramount+]
{CONCACAF} Saint Martin vs. St. Lucia [7pm, Paramount+]
{CONCACAF} Guyana vs. Guatemala [8pm, Paramount+]
{NWSL} Portland Thorns vs. Orlando Pride [9pm, Prime]

Watch That

Harvard Crimson at Cornell Big Red

5pm | ESPN2

Northwestern Wildcats at Maryland Terrapins

7pm | FS1 | MD -10.5 | O/U 45.5

San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers

{MLB Game 5} 7:08pm | FOX | series tied, 2-2

{VB} #11 Purdue at #2 Nebraska (7:30pm, BTN)

#16 Utah Utes at Arizona State Sun Devils

9:30pm | ESPN | Utah -4 | O/U 44.5

You’ll notice lots of national team action in the soccer section—this is one of those delightful international breaks, where club play stops and players fly ungodly distances to play two games for their home nation, usually a poorly-disciplined collection of stars.

It’s amazing, especially when you consider the amazing nicknames of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) teams:

This is pretty much ideal for a Friday night—not enough games to be stupid, but plenty to really give the people what they want: an Ivy appetizer, some prime-time B1G nonsense that’s going to get bumped to FS1 by playoff baseball (and will be bad anyway), and a Pac-12 After Dark (in our hearts) slobberknocker under the lights.

Plus, UNLV-Utah State might just be first to 40. And I’m cool with that, too.

Saturday Morning

Don’t Watch This

South Carolina Gamecocks at #7 Alabama Crimson Tide (-21, O/U 60.5) [11am, ABC]
Clemson Tigers (-20, O/U 60.5) at Wake Forest Demon Deacons [11am, ESPN]
#21 Missouri Tigers (-27.5, O/U 54.5) at?!?!?!? Massachusetts Minutemen [11am, ESPN2]
Washington Huskies at Iowa Hawkeyes (-3, O/U 42.5) [11am, FOX]
wisconsin badgers at Rutgers Scarlet Knights (-2.5, O/U 41.5) [11am, BTN]
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-5, O/U 59.5) at North Carolina Tar Heels [11am, The CW]
Toledo Rockets (-9.5, O/U 44.5) at Buffalo Bulls [11am, ESPNU]
UAB Blazers at Army Black Knights (-26, O/U 54.5) [11am, CBSSN]

{UEFA} Bulgaria vs. Luxembourg [11am, Fox Soccer]
{CONCACAF} Antigua and Barbuda vs. Domincan Republican [12:30pm, Paramount/Golazo]

Watch That

Dartmouth Big Green at Yale Bulldogs

11am | ESPN+

Croatia vs. Scotland

{UEFA Nations League} 11am | FS1

Balls Tate Robotbirds at Kents Tate Golden Flashes

11am | ESPN+ | Balls -7 | O/U 59.5

I’ll be honest: if I’m home, I’m going to catch at least a little of ranked Mizzou going to UMass for a “Maroon Out” in Amherst. I talked earlier this year about the last time various Big Ten programs went on the road to G5 competition, but this feels extreme.

Slow morning. And I mean that not in the sense of “there aren’t going to be any good games,” but more “both Washington-Iowa and wisconsin-Rutgers will be played at the pace of two tortoises dry-humping in a chest freezer.”

Saturday Afternoon

Don’t Watch This

Miami Hydroxide Redhawks (-2.5, O/U 46.5) at Eastern Michigan Eagles [1pm, ESPN+]
#1 Texas Longhorns (-14.5, O/U 50.5) at #18 Oklahoma Sooners [2:30pm, ABC]
Stanford Cardinal at #11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-23, O/U 45.5) [2:30pm, NBC]
Purdue Boilermakers at #23 Illinois Fighting Illini (-21.5, O/U 48.5) [2:30pm, FS1]
Lhvl Crdnls (-7.5, O/U 54.5) at Virginia Cavaliers [2:30pm, ACCN]
Cincinnati Bearcats at UCF Citronauts (-3, O/U 58.5) [2:30pm, ESPN2]
Old Dominion Monarchs at Georgia State Panthers (-1.5, O/U 55.5) [2:30pm, ESPN+]
Akron Zips at Western Michigan Broncos (-9.5, O/U 51.5) [2:30pm, ESPN+]
NIU Huskies at Bowling Green Falcons (-3, O/U 47.5) [2:30pm, ESPN+]
Arizona Wildcats at BYU Cougars (-4, O/U 48.5) [3pm, FOX]
Ohio Bobcats (-3, O/U 48.5) at Central Michigan Chippewas [3pm, ESPNU]
Mississippi State Bulldogs at #5 Georgia Bulldogs (-33.5, O/U 53.5) [3:15pm, SECN]
Southern Miss Golden Iggles at UL Monroe Warhawks (-6.5, O/U 41.5) [4pm, ESPN+]

{UEFA} Poland vs. Portugal [1:45pm, FS2]
{UEFA} Serbia vs. Switzerland [1:45pm, Fubo]
{UEFA} Spain vs. Denmark [1:45pm, Fubo]
{UEFA} Cyprus vs. Romania [1:45pm, Fubo]
{UEFA} Belarus vs. Northern Ireland [1:45pm, Fox Soccer]
{AFCON} Morocco vs. Central African Republic [2pm, beIN]
{CONCACAF} Cayman Islands vs. British Virgin Islands [2:30pm, Paramount+]
{USL Championship} Detroit City FC vs. Indy Eleven [3pm, ESPN+]

NERRRRRDS

Carleton College Knights at St. Olaf Oles

1pm | St. Olaf stream | Battle for the Goat

Please Seek Help

Texas A&M Commerce Lions at Northwestern State Demons

2pm | ESPN+ | 0-11 combined record

San Diego State Aztecs at Wyoming Cowboys

2:30pm | CBSSN | SDSU -2.5 | O/U 42.5 | slow-motion car crash

Watch That

#4 Penn State Nittany Lions at USC Trojans

2:30pm | CBS | PSU -4.5 | O/U 50.5

California Golden Bears at #22 Pittsburgh Panthers

2:30pm | ESPN | Pitt -3 | O/U 58.5

San Jose State Spartans at Colorado State Rams

2:30pm | truTV | SJSU -1.5 | O/U 55.5

GOOD AFTERNOON, IT’S TIME FOR THE GOAT TROPHY:

Wife’s at a conference, so I’m solo parenting most of the weekend—and boy, do I hope she takes a nice long nap on Saturday afternoon. LOOK at this smorgasbord.

Saturday Evening

Don’t Watch This

Florida Gators at #8 Tennessee Volunteers (-15.5, O/U 55.5) [6pm, ESPN]
Air Force Falcons at New Mexico Lobos (-6.5, O/U 54.5) [6pm, truTV]
Washington State Cougars (-3.5, O/U 60.5) at Fresno State Bulldogs [6pm, FS1]
Arkansas State Red Wolves at Texas State Bobcats (-14.5, O/U 64.5) [6pm, ESPN+]
North Texas Mean Green (-6.5, O/U 58.5) at Florida Atlantic Owls [6pm, ESPN2]
UTSA Roadrunners (-5.5, O/U 50.5) at Rice Owls [6pm, ESPN+]
Oregon State Beavers (-3, O/U 53.5) at Nevada Wolf Pack [6:30pm, CBSSN]
Appalachian State Mountaineers at Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (-10.5, O/U 64.5) [6:30pm, ESPN+]
Vanderbilt Commodores at Kentucky Wildcats (-13.5, O/U 44.5) [6:45pm, SECN]
#11 Iowa State Cyclones (-3, O/U 53.5) at West Virginia Mountaineers [7pm, FOX]
Syracuse Orange (-4.5, O/U 53.5) at NC State Wolfpack [7pm, ACCN]

{Soccer} lots, probably

Watch That

#2 Ohio State Buckeyes at #3 Oregon Ducks

6:30pm | NBC | OSU -3 | O/U 53.5

#9 Ole Miss Rebels at #13 LSU Tigers

6:30pm | ABC | Miss -3.5 | O/U 61.5

Marshall Thundering Herd at Georgia Southern Eagles

7pm | ESPNU | Marshall -1.5 | O/U 61.5

I mean, it’s two games that should be (1) good and (2) drunk. Ole Miss at LSU I’m particularly looking forward to, because that’s a special kind of drunk in Death Valley.

The opportunity to learn just how good Ohio State and Oregon are, though, means I’ll be watching a ranked-on-ranked donnybrook in the hopes that it won’t just be verbally fellating Alabama or Georgia the whole time.

I’ve also got my eye on Marshall-Georgia Southern, Wazzu-Fresno, and Oregon State-Nevada, though I think the novelty of Pac-12 teams playing at Mountain West teams is starting to wear off.

It’s late and I’m drunk...

Don’t Watch This

Eastern Washington Eagles at Sacramento State Hornets [8pm, ESPN+]
Minnesota Golden Gophers (-5, O/U 40.5) at UCLA Bruins [8pm, BTN]
#17 Boise State Broncos (-21, O/U 61.5) at Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors [10pm, CBSSN]

{Friendly} USMNT vs. Panama [8pm, Telemundo/Universo/TNT/Peacock/Max?]

Watch That

#18 Kansas State Wildcats at Colorado Buffaloes

9:15pm | ESPN | KSU -4.5 | O/U 56.5

#7 Idaho Vandals at #3 Montana State Bobcats

9:15pm | ESPN2

Oakland Roots vs. Phoenix Rising

{USL Championship} 9pm | ESPN+

It’d really be nice if some of the Big XII teams started holding Colorado’s head under the metaphorical water until the bubbles stopped. Looking at you, Baylor. I hope K-State can do that, though this could just be some of those late-night shenanigans that Deion & Co. have been good for.

Speaking of late-night shenanigans, if you’re not watching the Big Sky, you’re missing out. Between the Bobcats, Vandals, and UC Davis Aggies, there’s good football out that way, and we get a banger of a showdown in Bozeman. It’s a chance at redemption for the Bobcats, who lost in the Kibbie Dome last year, 24-21. They’re undefeated—including a 35-31 win at New Mexico in Week 0—and largely haven’t been tested since. The Vandals, meanwhile, held Oregon to 24 points and lost by just 10, then dropped a two-point game on the road to UC Davis. Tune in and stick to it.

(That is very much in contrast to the PJ Fleck Bowl between jilted Los Angeles lovers and the Rowin’ Gophers. If you’d like to fall asleep to running the ball, I guess this is the one for you.)

Enjoy the games, everybod—

Sunday Morning

Watch That

Wabash Little Giants at Oberlin Yeomen

11am | Oberlin stream

Perfection. Enjoy the games, gang.