Yeah, names and taxes are the same, great take my dude!

For one, we learned that Ferrante’s collection of “autobiographical” essays coming out next month should be labeled as fiction, at least partially.

The biographical information about an author helps those seeking deep examinations of that author’s work, since what individuals produce - whether written, musical, visual, etc. - is inevitably shaped by individual circumstance. Knowing the identity of one who creates isn’t just a trivial factoid of barely-relevant…

Right, it isn’t his fault, it’s Kim’s fault for not having more security. She’s about as high profile as it gets, and she’s a perfect target for weirdos like the ones Jodi Foster and countless other famous women have dealt with. One security guard simply isn’t enough especially if she’s sharing him with two of her…

The “fan” was trespassing. Pagan is a professional athlete with a history in boxing, and he had time to size up the interloper. In a similar situation, a security guard engaged in a lengthy chase broke a leg. I have no issue whatsoever with what Pagan did to end the sideshow quickly and decisively. I would also not…

go away

So if the fan was going to stab him, according to you, he’s just supposed to stand there and accept his fate since security wasn’t close enough?

Monica Seles

Not arguing with his stance, but just want to make sure i’m clear on this:

I was at a wedding once, and some old timer told me he knew the bride’s family because he went to USMA with her grandfather.

These are all valid criticisms, but fixing all of them would not raise the level of MLS play or esteem dramatically (if at all). Imagining that some structural and business-culture reforms would make MLS resemble the best leagues in Europe is like imagining that the only thing keeping a 9-year-old from being an NFL…

I lived through the desert of the collapse of the first NASL and then various random leagues until the start of MLS in 1996. “Still being here” is way more important than “running a proper league.”

MLS’s glittery signings of faded star players don’t fully distract from American soccer’s rotten core.

I mean, it’s kind of striking how the folks that advocate the same silliness that Billy does -- pro/rel, uncapped spending, etc. -- are small time nobodies running dysfunctional clubs and leagues. Yet the people who actually succeed in American soccer (and who often come from great success in other American sports)…

Maybe we can hear about the problems from the “free-for-all” league, the NASL, that have appeared over the last week. I especially want to hear about the Oklahoma club that has different owners fighting over the ownership of the grass turf they put over the artificial turf at a high school football field to play…

The critique of MLS and American soccer is typically stupid and beyond the point. The notion that MLS owners have somehow placed shackles on American soccer might be the silliest thing ever written on this site.

An American manager took us to a World Cup quarterfinal.

A debate moderator is not supposed to inject themselves into the conversation. There is a difference between being a debate moderator and being a journalist.