Samurai Bucky

The one thing that is different is that Messi didn't have to pay to go to Barca. Barca paid for him to be there. In the US, if you are selected to be part of a team (select, academy, regional select) requires money to be paid by a third party. This almost always falls on the parent. The entirety of this video is very good, but I copied it to a point to discuss the main difference between Barca and US "academies" (go to 10:10 if it doesn't take you to the direct point in the video): Speaking of Landon -- here is a video where he talks about "privilege". There are some interesting points there, too.

Late to the party tonight. We were at a bar (trivia actually) and I was very frustrated by what I saw. We also sucked at trivia probably because we were watching the Brewers on one TV and Soccer on the other. The pregame narrative seemed to focus on Belgium's shape and tact vs. the "Athleticism" of the US. I guess athleticism means running hard with no real plan? When they would put pressure on in the back, they didn't break down when they reached the person with the ball. It would be an easy touch for the Belgium player and the US player was out of the play. The shape was abysmal, too. I have no idea what the centerbacks were doing when the US was attacking. The third goal was really crappy by the keeper, but what do you expect when there is a ball over the top and your two center backs get their doors blown off? And the first two goals allowed. I guess marking grass is the name of the game instead of marking a player. I was also frustrated that when the US actually tried to work the ball up the field, there were a bunch of weak, crappy one-touches where they were trying to do a 1-2 from 30 yards without their hips squared? Oh well. Haaland has a vlog where he is buying Stetson hats and cowboy boots. Maybe Norway is the team I am pulling for. Or maybe not.

Aha! That is why I am drawn to baseball! No mention of Cricket, though. How about hurling? Wait... not THAT hurling...

It was just a good game all around. The referees did a good job of keeping things under control. I was thinking it was going to be another France v. Paraguay matchup with Mexico being the bullies. That isn't what happened, though. Yes -- there were a little physical, but not like other teams... I mean "sides." Hopefully, the US stays disciplined tonight. They are probably more athletic, but they need to be smart, too.

Nothing the correct rum won’t solve…

18? That is cool. Hopefully I will get to that number one day.

I should also mention that I thought that the racing former baseball players (similar to the racing sausages) was pretty weak sauce

Two years ago, We were there for all three games. It was OK. I do like how they have a lot of the pitching and hitting stats as far as speed and exit velocity posted around the park. The fans are very polite and are involved in the game as well. we sat in the lower bowl for all of the games. We were told not to sit up in the upper deck because the air-conditioning doesn’t work as well up there. I'm glad I went

Vaughn and Frelick should have known all of the pictures were going to be soft.

Please do not trade for Freddie. Trade for Skubal or Joe Ryan

The director sucks. I want to watch the at bat!!!!

When Bauers pitches, they can use the Ohtani rule

BP fastball

I was surprised when he responded to my text. 😉

It was painful. As much as we complain about our announcers, I think we are spoiled. At least our announcers sound like they’re having fun and want to be there.