Even if Schurrle isn’t working out, he is a quality, experienced player in his physical prime. Shinji is also top quality. I was surprised to hear Pulisic got the nod, but I would imagine he will continue to from now on...well until he gets sold to Barcelona.

You know else couldn’t turn down a publicity stunt and was beloved by the right wing? Jesus.

Ah, so the trust is setup to where they basically can’t cash out on the value of the Lakers? Now the last Kobe farewell max deal makes more sense. When a team’s owner is reliant upon the cash returns of the team their priorities are not always winning in the long term.

Interestingly, that sounds quite a bit like Jordan. MJ became a better 3pt and outside shooter towards the end but as clutch as he was, it wasn’t going to overcome his lack of range. And he didn’t take 3s when his team needed it.

I would put him squarely in th top 10 worldwide. He is scoring an absurd number of goals given where he is played at Arsenal. He doesn’t play as a traditional central striker or false 9 where most top scorers play. Of course he can play from those slots but he plays more of midfield role and does as much creating as…

“Loves those behind him”

My simplified assessment of why Liverpool has struggled against those teams is because the counter press is highly susceptible to the counter attack which almost every bottom feeder specializes in. When you combine that with the weak center back situation, this happens.

To be fair, Arsenal are the biggest of the minnows.

Well now I’m hungry.

Except he basically is if he is dictating the offensive strategy. He is back seat coaching.

That is complete BS.

Shaqzam?

The concept of “market price” doesn’t work like this. Market price is always singular in time. Cousins was worth that at that exact moment in time in that specific environment. The same home selling for $500k in 2006 would not have sold for $500k in the low liquidity environment of 2008-09.

Things must have been even more dysfunctional at Man U than they seemed. I was less shocked by Falcao’s lack of production than by Angel di Maria’s. It is more common for a striker to take some time to find a fit than a midfielder.

How do we make them see? They aren’t as dumb as you might think...they just don’t give a damn if it all burns. In fact, to varying degrees they actually want it to burn. It was the ultimate protest vote for the hillbillies.

I somehow got grouped with a coworker of a friend in a charity golf outing. About halfway through and a few beers in, this white guy felt comfortable enough to start commenting on black people. Pretty much out of the blue. The usual stuff like “no respect for themselves”, “black male irresponsibility”, “welfare moms”…

Keep it coming. I wasn’t overly interested in history when I was younger. That was likely a combination of my immaturity, a crappy approach to teaching history, and bad teachers. It now intrigues me as an amateur history buff. I regret not taking it seriously in my youth.

I like this new trend of history nerd snark comments. It is refreshing to know that people actually paid attention in class... And that they now spend their time commenting on Deadspin.

Absolutely. For many players, some combination of their exceptional talent and lack of years of service means their individual salary is capped well below their actual market value. This inevitably inflates the lower level guys who to varying degrees are then over paid with the proceeds.

Stabmaster Arson gives that +1 kazoo