bukie

Someone take Lalas mic away from him. Just stop talking already.

Is there any evidence that Trump actually contacted FIFA other than "Trump said so"?

I havent seen an actual source on that tweet.

The only other time this ever happened is when FIFA lifted 2 games of suspension against Cristiano Ronaldo so he wouldn't be suspended for the first two group stage games in this World Cup. Difference here is this change actually makes the team better.

I suppose I forgot that FIFA can just ignore rules when they feel like it.

Looked like their strategy was to counter and score quickly, but they just could never get possession in a dangerous place.

Here's how I'd rate the remaining 16 teams: Favorites: 1. France - Dominated in every game so far, hard to see how anyone will slow them down. 2. Spain - Bores teams to death, but improving every match. 3. Argentina - Dominated a weak group and beat a lively Cabo Verde team in knockouts. 4. England - Alternating very good and middling efforts, need to be on it to win the next one. Contenders: 5. Brazil - Only had brief moments of looking really good so far, but when they're on they're on. 6. Colombia - Quietly efficient, look better than most others. 7. Morocco - Had the better of Brazil and Netherlands in their matches, haven't been able to really put an opponent away, though. 8. Mexico - Haven't really been challenged yet with a weak group and a weak knockout opponent, but have steamrolled everyone. 9. USA - Have dominated play in all 4 matches against overmatched opponents, even in one game with their B team and one game down a man. 10. Norway - Fun team, Haaland can do it all, a little concerned about their ability to stop a good opponent, which they'll get a chance at next round. Should be better than they've been: 11. Portugal - Didn't look good at all until they subbed out Ronaldo, let's see if they bench him against Spain. 12. Belgium - The golden generation should probably already be out, but Senegal fell asleep for 10 minutes. Continue to look slow and only really looked like the better squad against New Zealand. Still here, but would be surprised if they're still here next week: 13. Switzerland - Somehow tied a terrible Qatar team, but won their group and beat a weak Algeria team. Fortunate to not be playing a favorite next round either, so they could sneak into the quarters. 14. Egypt - Couldn't put away Australia or Iran in situations where they'd have improved their standing if they did. Still playing, though. 15. Canada - Drew with Bosnia, couldn't hang with Switzerland, struggled to put away a weak South Africa team, and now get the best African team. I'd be really surprised if they win. 16. Paraguay - As long as they score first, they have a chance. If they don't score first, they'll probably lose 5-0.

Australia makes it all the way to pens, and then subs out their goalkeeper, Patrick Beach, who had been playing spectacularly. They then chose to have 2 central defenders that had never taken PKs before to take PKs. Result: both missed, and the new GK didn't get a touch on any of Egypt's 4 makes.

Australia level with Egypt after 60 minutes. Maybe that US's group wasn't so easy after all.

FIFA Peace Prize finally pays off.

Same question, new week.

So you're suggesting the Cubs take a flyer on Corbin Burnes for a late October start, then...

I'm taking a short break from glazing the offense to complaining about the All-Star game voting in the NL OF, as none of the best 3 NL OF were among the top 6 vote getters, so the fans were way off this year. PCA, Corbin Carroll and James Wood should be the starting OF.

While I appreciate all the pitching concerns, I feel like it's necessary to balance it out by glazing the offense (and defense) a bit... - The Cubs offensive fWAR is 2nd in baseball behind the Dodgers, and significantly above the 3rd place Pirates. - The offense leads the majors in walk rate and is 5th in ISO power (behind Yankees, Dodgers, Nats and White Sox) - They're up to 7th in the majors in HR, because they have the most in the majors since June 15th - Their defense is so good they've lapped the field in Fangraphs' analysis, such that as a result only 6 teams count as above average defensively such that it adds value to their analysis. - On an individual level, here are the season fWAR totals for each of the 6 finalists for NL OF All star voting: Andy Pages, LAD - 2.8 Juan Soto, NYM - 2.6 Michael Harris II, ATL - 2.1 Brandon Marsh, PHI - 2.0 Teoscar Hernandez, LAD - 1.0 Ronald Acuna, ATL - 0.9 PCA has accumulated 3.3 fWAR since June 1.

[citation needed]

No that's not a thing. The only change possible would be FIFA extending the suspension if they deemed it necessary but that definitely shouldn't happen.

My takeaway: The USMNT was significantly higher quality than their World Cup knockout round opponent, even when they were down a man.

https://bsky.app/profile/andre-carlisle.bsky.social/post/3mpmw6sdtes2e

I mean, they drew with a terrible Curacao team.

Group F is already eliminated (Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia), and Group E will be eliminated here if Mexico wins (Germany, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Curacao)

Don't forget that the ownership treats it like a small market team, refusing to play the luxury tax games that almost every other team plays successfully, instead content to hope for 9th or 10th in the league so they get a playoff game or two.

Biggest blowout of the knockout round so far, Norway maintained control for the whole last 4 minutes.

The US scored 5 minutes into that match and forced Paraguay to chase, which exposed them badly. Since then, they've been mostly able to stay ahead or level at worst and muck up games enough to get a point.

Cowards 1 for 4 so far in the knockout round.