This is a fantastic change, IMO. USSF had been talking big around the World Cup about serious reform of the hideous landscape that is developmental soccer here, and this is nothing less than a good step in that direction. Hope to see more unification, more pulling in the same direction.

Henry Bushnell@henrybushnell.bsky.social · 7h ago

U.S. Soccer is on the verge of taking over the U.S. Youth Soccer Association. A significant, historic step toward a re-wiring of America's youth soccer system — but one that comes with many unknowns. News, details, explanations, etc. free to read @theathletic.com:

What? No! Surely this team that was announced in... 2022... was going to launch this time! Santa Barbara may have been the biggest modern-day USL vaporware to exist.

Thank god, this shit sucked ass. All Star Games suck ass. Nobody watches them, nobody cares, they ceased being meaningful awards for judging a player's legacy a generation ago.

The Athletic@theathletic.com · 2d ago

BREAKING: The NFL Pro Bowl is being eliminated. Eighty-eight players will receive the Pro Bowl honor with no alternates, corralling a key aspect of the all-star event that had gotten out of whack in recent years: www.nytimes.com/athletic/754...

This was always going to be the next step. There are no trans players in the WNBA so instead they're going after cis women who are insufficiently feminine for them.

Heartland Signal@heartlandsignal.com · 2d ago

U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) claims the WNBA is "trying not to offend some of their players who ... [are] trying to live a male lifestyle": "They protect the lesbian structure that's inside the WNBA with a male quote-unquote female relationship that are two women."

If you're upset about a city refusing to pony up it's citizens tax dollars for a millionaire's stadium, I have a stadium plan to sell you! www.dsm.city/news_detail_...

You’ve got to understand the WNBA’s dilemma here: on one side are the hardcore, dedicated socially liberal fanbase who supported the league during the dark days when it was barely profitable and on the other side are the people who hate women and don’t think the WNBA should exist.

Jessica Luther@jessicawluther.com · 3d ago

“The WNBA will not institute a league-wide ban on Freedom, according to a source with knowledge of the decision.” They are trying to lose me and it’s going to work the way this is going.

Terrible two days. He'll be remembered for so many things - Rocky Horror of course - but to me, he'll always be Premier Cherdenko struggling to hold it together while delivering the best line in any video game ever.

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 2d ago

Actor Tim Curry has died at 80, TMZ reports

Esther Gonzalez, after fucking over Gotham FC by departing for Saudi Arabia two weeks after mutually terminating her contract for personal matters in Spain, has apparently deleted her Instagram posts with her wife and child in preparation for the move. Fucking gross. CC: @jennatonelli.bsky.social

Love it, one of the better fullbacks in the league, chronically undervalued outside of the club.

The Soccer Times@nysoccertimes.com · 2d ago

Bronx native Tayvon Gray signs a contract extension with New York City FC through 2028-29 with an option for 2029-30. "Everyone knows I'm from New York, so why not keep it rolling? This is my club!"

What an asinine take. You can rightfully blame aggressive drivers and advocate for bike-friendly infrastructure while *also* advocating for safe riding habits. This is what people mean when they talk about the left eating itself sometimes.

Streetsblog NYC@nyc.streetsblog.org · 2d ago

Mayor Mamdani's focus on a helmet paints deadly crashes as the failure of vulnerable road users to protect themselves, rather than as the failure of government to stop completely avoidable carnage. buff.ly/0HIM3RQ

Actually such bad GenAI slop that nobody asked for or cares about that there isn't even a thread for the announcement on r/Games

Wario64@wario64.bsky.social · 3d ago

Like or Die

it’s never been about protecting women’s sports.

Media Matters for America@mmfa.bsky.social · 3d ago

Fox host: WNBA players are “proving that women shouldn't have a league. It's too dramatic.”

This is a great time to tell people that as good as The Witcher 3 game is, the books are the absolute pinnacle of the franchise and are well worth it over anything else, even the game. Also just pretend the show doesn't exist. Even Henry Cavill's dedication couldn't redeem that shitshow.

I'm gonna be soooooo insufferable when FF7 Revelation drops man

Conservatives cut $4 million in funding for the Imagination Library literacy program btw

The Daily Beast@thedailybeast.bsky.social · 3d ago

The unusually gracious tribute from the incendiary president came despite Dolly Parton being one of the few celebrities Trump tried repeatedly to honor—only to have her repeatedly decline him.

This is truly heartbreaking. Dolly Parton was an extraordinary person and an irreplaceable champion of the working class. We are a better country because of her.

Dolly hated fascists and bigots, believed in science and funded vaccines, thought literacy was invaluable and cared for kids, supported LGBTQ+ people aggressively, and above all wanted to help other people regardless of who they were. Any far-right fan of Dolly is a fucking idiot.

Weird of Jed York to do, but he'll be perfectly fine and this is very dramatic. He's not going to face consequences for paying for sex, nobody is going to care next week.

Ben Koo@bkoo.bsky.social · 4d ago

Oh man....Not good at all. I want to say, "Bob Kraft survived something similar", but Kraft's situation happened at a time before bodycam became standard. Early innings, but this might be something he doesn't survive, depending on what else comes out and sticks. www.kron4.com/news/bay-are...

you know, there is precedent for completely deactivating this franchise and restarting it in a couple years with completely new guys

🏈Optimus FF News@news.optimusfantasy.com · 4d ago

🚨🚨🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨🚨🚨 The Browns are naming Deshaun Watson as their starting QB. Shedeur Sanders will be the backup. Per Jordan Schultz.

I place a lot of value on viewpoint diversity (the real one) and on free speech (the real one). It sucks how both concepts have been hijacked to mean “everyone is under a moral obligation to elevate and disseminate discredited claims if today’s political right is into them.”

Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 6d ago

I don’t think a good definition of “viewpoint diversity” is “you must lower your standards specifically for anti-science, anti-truth, bigots, and fascists — a healthy intellectual community needs those voices and they can’t clear the bar otherwise.”

This fucking country

NOTUS@notus.com · 7d ago

A 1-year-old baby appeared in immigration court without legal representation this week in Arizona and received an instruction: File an asylum application before the next hearing or face deportation. https://www.notus.org/immigration/baby-asylum-hearing

That's okay, he gets an overabundance of credit for his play given how absolutely mediocre he was, so it balances out!

Mina Kimes@minakimes.bsky.social · last wk.

(tangentially, Aikman doesn’t get enough credit for how good is he at diagnosing this stuff in real time)

See! The Braves get the bullpen up and the no-no is immediately ruined. It's a clown move, dawg.

CJ Coreschi@cjcoreschi.bsky.social · last wk.

If you're an MLB manager and you even think about pulling your starter during a no-hitter, you deserve to lose that no-hitter and then your job and then be placed into a cannon and fired into the sun.

If you're an MLB manager and you even think about pulling your starter during a no-hitter, you deserve to lose that no-hitter and then your job and then be placed into a cannon and fired into the sun.

But remember kids, only the northern cities matter in the calendar change. Totally ignore how much better it'll be for southern cities.

Jonathan Tannenwald@jtannenwald.bsky.social · last wk.

MLS pushes Saturday’s Austin-Philadelphia kickoff half an hour later, to 9 pm ET, because of the weather forecast. Near 100 at kickoff, daytime high of 107.

They can't. Because the people running the league don't give a single shit about good, healthy soccer. They care about their business, their revenues, etc. They will *always* fuck with the soccer aspect to maximize money. Larry Berg was elected because he thinks the same way.

Matthew De George@sportsdoctormd.bsky.social · last wk.

My main takeaway is, STOP. Larry Berg, take office, listen to soccer people, fire any McKinsey clown who starts a sentence, "you know I played soccer" and just do nothing for 6 months. Get out of the way and let the game grow of its own accord. Just stop

This would never work and MLS will never be taken seriously with suggestions like this - imagine the English Premier League using a system like this. What an affront to the traditional ideas of football.

John Muller@johnspacemuller.com · last wk.

2029 MLS playoff format - Top 20 teams make the playoffs - Double round-robin home and away group stage - Team with the highest point total is champion - Non-playoff teams compete in a "loser's bracket" whose top three finishers replace the bottom three playoff teams next year - No regular season

2029 MLS playoff format - Top 20 teams make the playoffs - Double round-robin home and away group stage - Team with the highest point total is champion - Non-playoff teams compete in a "loser's bracket" whose top three finishers replace the bottom three playoff teams next year - No regular season

Speaking of playoffs, USL flirted with but didn't introduce the idea of "inherited seeds" - meaning if you're an 8-seed and you beat a 1-seed, you become the new 1-seed for the purposes of re-seeding as the playoffs progress. I fucking love that idea.

It was never coming back, the "original plan" was always a lie to keep fans from being too upset while they figured out legally how to never bring it back. They want to be MLS.

Jon Arnold@jonarnoldfc.bsky.social · last wk.

The Mexican federation rolled out a "new sporting model" with the Liga Expansion atop the pyramid of FMF leagues & Liga MX apart under its own governance structure. The main initial takeaway? This guarantees promotion & relegation won't be back in LMX.