He was bumped into by a clumsy, nonchalant challenge and went down. Not going down would’ve been silly. And, as you point out, they had two chances to make the right call thanks to VAR and made the same call twice. They reviewed the play and it was rightfully upheld. Pepe going down for no reason on Costa’s goal?…

The biggest break Portugal got all match was Spain calling off the dogs. They looked awfully certain the match was over at 3-2 and I’m glad it bit them in the ass. I wonder if Lopetegui would’ve been as conservative.

For the past few years referees have carried a little spray can of spray foam so they can mark the spot of a free kick and also the line the closest defenders must stay behind until the ball is kicked.

Yeah, what she said isn’t anything terrible, but it can also be filed under “Not everyone is a professional, high-fashion, runway model as a teenager, asshole.”

It seems to me that resorts would be proactive about utilizing influencers if they were willing to use them at all. Rather than sitting back and getting approached by @beachbabetravelfitcleaneaterwifey, I’m guessing places that take advantage of social media do some research and reach out to those with a ton of…

1. The one that has reached at least the semis at five of its last nine tournaments and just won a trophy two summers ago with a weaker team.

On the flip side, you could advance the top eight third-place teams for a 32-team knockout stage. I understand that 12 four-team groups and a 32-team knockout means a lot of matches total, but the U.S. can handle that and so can whoever broadcasts the matches (they already have an hour between group matches for no…

Yeah, there are simple ways to get the correct number of teams to the knockout stage and keep groups of four teams. World Cup history includes tournaments in which some third-place teams advanced to the knockouts (1994 was the most recent) so a single-elimination/no-byes bracket would work. They still have that setup…

Canada will be fine for the World Cup. People get the idea that because its such a huge, worldwide event that WC stadiums all seat 80,000, but most are actually in the 35-55,000 range. All stadiums for 2026 must hold at least 40,000.

The three-team groups will be so bad. We’ll see groups with all draws, we’ll see cards determining advancement, we’ll see teams that draw their first match play the second and final group match for a draw in the hope of advancing with two points, we’ll see groups decided after two matches have been played...

It depends on what you mean by “someone else.” Do you mean “someone else” like Anthony Davis or “someone else” like a league average SF/PF? If it’s the latter - very much no.

Can anyone take this guy seriously? Rov-hell no!

Well, it’s not that I’m tremendously confident in any specific CB pairing right now, it’s just that I have the utmost confidence in Pepe and know that you could put me on the pitch next to him and it wouldn’t be that bad. And having Carvalho in front of them certainly doesn’t hurt. I assume Dias will get some time…

The Belgium match made me feel better about the defense, specifically because Fonte played well, and it’s not like if he continued to do so it’d be the craziest thing ever; some players just thrive on international duty. It’s probably best to have him surprisingly in form than rely on a 21-year-old. Pepe’s still a…

Horribly officiated, huh? That’s a new one. As a Portugal “stan,” let me point out that France scored zero goals, which makes it difficult to win. Once their early adrenaline died down, the attack did very little. In extra time, Portugal scored or came close to doing so four times.

Every single-digit number should in the top 20, as should #12.

This is totally a thing. My parents live in a neighborhood built on land owned by someone with a bunch of peacocks, and the very large housing development left what is essentially a peacock sanctuary in the middle. A peacock just laid eggs in the family garden. Their dachshund proudly walked into the house with a…

The Warriors don’t get enough credit as a team or individuals for the fact that they’ve got a bunch of stars with strong personalities who also don’t insist on being the man 24/7, aren’t afraid to go sell a superstar like KD on being a part of a special group, and seem to genuinely like each other enough to want to…

Oh jeez, I just realized he looks like he could be Paul Ryan’s nephew or something. Look at that smirk.

While I agree, it doesn’t seem like she’s strayed far from DA on this one: an art gallery director who also has a dirty-looking shadow beard and is *handsome.