Counterpoint: The Rugrats Passover is the culmination of thousands of years of art and culture in one beautiful orange VHS tape.

If there was ever a movie to get the redo treatment, I’d suggest that one because I enjoy the story but that “Asian” character kills the movie.

I’m from a small town in very upstate NY. This was very familiar. Religion isn’t as homogenous or powerful, but it’s a largely white area where the people have not remained economically relevant. I first put “economy has passed them by” but that’s not true. The culture does not value education. Men are to hunt and…

As a Leafs fan...yeah, I hear you.

I’ve been here for years, sometimes starred, sometimes blocked, using a variety of burners and names. Whatever comes next, I’ve appreciated the effort you’ve all put into this platform and this journalism.

I think you hit, obliquely, on the cultural differences that make competing difficult. We have few true academies, a different focus on college, and a system where few higher SES kids play rather than scouting talent.

But did the German foreign-born live/work/play in Germany recently?

Except that Klinsmann is training director and head coach

Long after the fact—that's how I read it too.

Yeah, but it isn’t xenophobic to want US Soccer to have a development strategy for US players, which is what she said. The use of “foreign” is what people glom on to.

I see Bedoya trying to cover himself by making her look worse when he got backlash. I don’t think what she said was xenophobic. Not wise or well-said, certainly. But she’s far from the first or last to criticize Klinsmann’s obsession with fellow Germans who happen to have an American parent but minimal US ties.

I grew up in a house where parental affection was linked to being a Good Kid. The definition of which changed depending on mom’s mood at any given time.

Can't players still get a one-time swap through FIFA?

Mikey is a mediocre player in a mediocre league and a failure on the international scene. Nepotism charges are well deserved.

You shouldn’t be self-loathing. It’s the internet. So many other people will loathe you for free.

Great piece. And I’m jealous of your typing ability because I can’t do it well with ten (usually functional) fingers.

But the fact he hasn’t aged and seems to get younger as the years pass...that creeps me out a little about JL.

Hugs.

I’d quibble on “strong enough” because I’m not sure it’s a strength you can develop, like a few bicep curls, leave home and abuse. But I generally agree with the point. I’m from a pretty small, insular cultural community and leaving was one of the hardest things I had to do, even though I hated it with all my being at…

Upstate NY. My grandparents who were living below poverty rented a place for a month every summer because that’s what they always did. Get out of the city (village, in their case) for the hottest month, have the kids come around, etc. It’s a cultural thing.