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Cheboksary Conference To Determine Chuvash Role

CHEBOKSARY, CHUVASHIA REGION - Could Chuvash become another official language of Uralica, pushing the number of Uralican official languages to 32? Could the Chuvash peoples become a Tribe within Uralica? Will Chuvashia even become part of Uralica at all? All these questions and more are being asked by representatives of Uralica and the Chuvash people in a conference in Cheboksary, the chief city of the old region of Chuvashia.

The Chuvash people are a Turkic-speaking people, who speak a language whose closest relatives have long since died out - the Bolgar branch of Turkic has only them as a member, while nearby Turkic cousins Bashkir and Tatar are both Uralian Western Turkic - and they want to keep their language. In the already "ridiculously multilingual" nation of Uralica, whose main commercial languages are English, Russian, and Finnish, but which also has twenty-eight other languages with "official status," this should be a no-brainer. It's hammering out the details that is the issue. Ironically enough, there was a course in Chuvash language already being taught at Uralikan Yliopisto this semester by the Department of Linguistics.

Despite the snag of incorporating Chuvash into the system, Uralican tribal chief Jarkko Salomäki pointed out that they went through the same issues when Hungarian was first incorporated, and that it will only be a matter of time before full incorporation - and the Tribal status that comes with it - is completed.

Unlike the Tatars and Bashkirs, the Chuvash were all for fully incorporating themselves into Uralica, most likely because unlike their Turkic cousins to their immediate east, they are predominantly Christian. On top of this, one hundred four Chuvash already live in Uralica, with all but five living in Kirov (all five of the exceptions live in Syktyvkar, of which two are professors at the aforementioned UY). Another factor is boundaries. The region of Mordovia would become an exclave of Uralica if not for the fact that Chuvashia wanted into Uralica, and most Chuvash leaders knew of this.

It is predicted that the talks over this could go well into October.

Church Of The Resurrection Completed In Pazhga

PAZHGA, MENNOLAND, URALICA - Before today, the largest occupied church in Uralica was the Sikkivukarin Luterilainenkirkko in Syktyvkar. But not anymore. The town of Pazhga, within five minutes' driving distance of Syktyvkar, has been "blessed" with what Uralican Christian leaders are all calling "a great temple of the Lord" - the Church of the Resurrection. It is dually affiliated with the Uralican Evangelical Baptist Church and the Uralican Mennonite Brotherhood, two very close denominations in terms of fellowship, but also plans to house ecumenical Christian services. The beautiful building, complete with stained-glass windows and strikingly Scandinavian architecture very similar to the largest churches in Old Finland, is expected to bring many tourists to Pazhga.

Sports

SiPS A Win Away From Second Straight Bolakliiga Title

SYKTYVKAR, URALICA - SiPS is so close now, they can taste it.

Syktyvkar's Finnish football (soccer) team, Sikkivukarin Palloseura (SiPS for short) had only a single blemish last season, when they drew Mashinostroitel Kirov scoreless in a road match. This season has been a bit tougher for them, as they lost their first-ever Bolakliiga match, against the same Dinamo Arkhangel'sk they defeated in the finals of the Kanslerinkilpi back in March. However, despite losing two this season (their other loss, not surprisingly, was against Dinamo Kirov, who were last year's runners-up), the Siniteräs held out well this season, winning sixteen out of the seventeen other matches, and drawing against Amkar Perm'.

But what matters, according to team manager Teppo Kostamo, is that they have the opportunity to lock up their second consecutive title with a victory, as second-place Gazovik Izhevsk managed only a 2-2 draw against Zavod Ural Solikamsk in their season closer last night. Had they won, SiPS would have had the pressure on them to score four or more goals to win the title by goal differential. Not now.

Their last match goes on Wednesday and is against FK Vorkuta, who sit fifteenth.

In other footie news, the first promotions and relegations in Uralican football (soccer) history were made official today, with two gigantic surprises in store for the Bolakliiga next season. Heavily-favoured teams like CSKA Syktyvkar, Khimik Koryazhma, and Aleks Aleksandrovsk (who play next season as Mashinostroitel Aleksandrovsk) all were stunned by the surge of Hungarian club Trátyi TK of Trakt, and of Transit Sosnogorsk, who clinched first and second in the 16-team Ykkönen. The promotion playoff semis start on Thursday:

(3) Öskölömen Palloklubi vs. (6) Pechorski SK, Öskölömi, Central Uralica

(4) Bumazhnik Solikamsk vs. (5) CSKVC Kirov, Solikamsk, Berezniki-Solikamsk

Going down to the Ykkönen will be an unfortunate Lokomotiv Kotlas, who finished dead-last for the second year in a row, winning only once out of twenty matches. Manager Timo Hentunen was sacked in a press conference yesterday after they finished the season with a 5-0 howler against Telekom Pazhga. Joining them will be Spartak Yoshkar-Ola and FK Ukhta.

Kakkonen Finally Set Up, Kolmonen Still In Progress: Farkas

YEKATERINBURG - In a press conference today, Uralikan Palloliitto Board Chairman Attila Farkas announced this season's structure for the lower divisions of the Uralikan Jalkapalloliiga, the football (soccer) pyramid system of Uralica.

The Kakkonen (third level) will remain fixed as it is - a Western Division and an Eastern Division with 20 teams each. The Kolmonen currently sits at 4 divisions of 24, however if Uralica grows further it could grow to a maximum of eight divisions of 20. When the first full season of Uralican league football starts in February of 2010, it will have a full spread of games from mid-February to early November.