There are two critiques of MLS. One is moral - that players are underpaid. One is analytical - that the league is trash soccer.

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)…

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.

Didn’t these guys get worked by Liverpool?

Still The Man.

I knew this was coming! Guess what? It’s NOT! Studying demographics and poll results in rural southern counties and making an educated guess after studying his documented behavior toward people of color is NOT the same as blindly hating black and Latino players and fighting with them! And the only time he’s ever…

There’s a glaring absence of whiteness to the list of players Bumgarner has fought with: Puig, Jesus Guzman, Alex Guerrero, Jose Bautista, Adrian Beltre, Carlos Gomez and Delino Deshields. I’m sure his roots in the Appalachian foothills of rural North Carolina has nothing to do with it.

My son was prone to demanding that we not look at him back when he was a toddler. I guess what I’m saying is maybe Bumgarner was just pooping his pants.

I’m not sure you even understand the sentence you just wrote....racial divide is kinda exactly what they are constantly being blamed for.

I have gotten this at work. It’s so embarrassing. The poor little bastard. Just had one cone in last week.

Show off. This isn’t how things should be done.

I haven’t spoken on this issue I guess I will now.

To the extent you’re just trolling, um, mission accomplished I guess.

Seems like a typical move this season from the 912 & 911. They have made so many questionable moves this season that have resulted in others getting spun/wrecked.

Higher quality version of the video of the last 9 laps. What a damn race.

The thing that really blows my mind about this is that the Chargers knew that Goff and Wentz were going to go 1-2 in some order once the Eagles-Browns trade happened, so they knew who would be available and could have entered into contract negotiations (even if just cursory negotiations) with Bosa at that point and…