Steve Sirk

@stevesirk.bsky.social

Author of soccer books. Regional Emmy Award winner. Never learned to type with more than two index fingers and my left thumb for the spacebar.

By beating Cruz Azul 2-0 to win Campeones Cup, Messi has leveled up his game to that of the 2021 Columbus Crew. This is big news that should definitely overshadow everything and guarantee the Ballon d'Or for him. #Crew96

Santi Rodriguez is the 24th player to score in his competitive #Crew96 debut (all competitions.) At the 22nd minute, he was the fastest starter to accomplish the feat. (Was Steven Lenhart 26th minute vs RSL in USOC.) Six subs under 22 mins.

Little League World Series was on at the restaurant and one of the kids named his favorite athlete as Michael Jordan. GTFOH. I tried to relate. That would be akin to asking me that when I was 11 and me saying, like, Norm Van Brocklin.

After allowing goals at 90+3 and 90+5 to lose 3-2 in Nashville, tonight is the 2nd time in #Crew96 history they've entered second-half stoppage time with a lead and then lost in stoppage time. The first: 3-2 loss 9/15/07 at KC. Eddie Johnson PK 90+3 then Scott Sealy at 90+4.

Hear me out MLS… * 29 teams make playoffs. * TRIPLE elimination. * Miami advances directly to MLS Cup Final and visiting team can only dress 18 minus their seed. So, like, the 11 seed can only dress 7 players in Miami if they make the final, Regular season matters!

A whole lot of stuff had to happen for the Knicks to win but if you are the Spurs you will be thinking about this moment in particular for a very long time. At this moment, there are like 50 ways you can win the game and maybe one or two ways you can lose.

De'Aaron Fox breaking into the open floor chasing a loose ball with no one between him and the Knicks basket. 14.1 seconds left, Spurs up 1.

It's tough because I normally root for the more tortured fan base.... but New York sports fans are so insufferable and the Knicks finally winning after 53 years would be so overbearingly obnoxious. But the world needs some joy right now, and the Knicks are unquestionably providing lots of it.

This Cavs team is so unenjoyable. They are capable of doing great things for stretches but are equally capable of being the worst team you’ve ever seen. You can neither trust nor enjoy anything with them. Even up 22 with 7+ left in the game.

The synthesis and sharing of hard-won acquired knowledge is the job. Philadelphians had 43 years to conduct dozens of in-depth interviews and do years of newspaper and magazine research in order to tell this specific story. Philly fans should thank the midwestern guy for doing it.

Luke Epplin@lukeepplin.bsky.social · 5mo ago

I had someone recently tell me that non-natives of Philadelphia should not be writing about Philadelphia, and out of all the cliches that have penetrated mass culture from MFA programs, "write what you know" is the most toxic, especially for nonfiction writers.

Points: PHI 92, NYI 91, #CBJ 90, WSH 89, NJD 83 Real W-L-T hockey records w/o loser points: NYI 39-31-9, 87 pts WSH 38-33-8, 84 pts NJD 36-38-5, 77 pts PHI 31-35-13, 75 pts CBJ 32-38-9, 73 pts Loser points make the NHL standings meaningless for determining who is any good.

Arfsten's 61st minute goal (after #Crew96 conceded in 60th) was the 9th time in club history the Crew answered a conceded goal by scoring within the next "game minute." The first since Federico Huguain on 5/17/14 at Portland.

Feels good to hear that first Underwood-shouts-like-it's-a-no-doubt-about-it-long-gone-homer-but-the-ball-is-caught-like-30-feet-in-front-of-the-warning-track. It's officially baseball season now.

Tonight was the 18th stoppage-time game-losing goal in #Crew96 history. It's the third 1-0 stoppage time game-loser in club history. All at home. 6/12/11: Cristian Nazarit 91+ vs CHI 9/24/11: Chad Barrett 93+ vs LAG 3/14/26: Hany Mukhtar 94+ vs NSH