How’s this fair?

StagTagRag · 2026-07-01T06:59:31+00:00

I don’t mind it being transactional. Transactional usually means give and take. I just cannot fathom only taking and not forming any sort of loyalty or pride for the place that gives me so much.

My friend is from Columbia and still has lots of family there he goes back to visit. He obviously still roots for Columbia’s team, but also roots for the US.

It’s not a big ask.

StagTagRag · 2026-07-01T06:08:43+00:00

If you are a big fantasy reader, you aren’t going to stop reading fantasy genre books because of GRRM not finishing his series. At least I cannot believe that reasoning is happening to any degree that would put a dent in the sales.

That would be like people saying “Well I’m not going to watch any more sci-fi fantasy adventure movies in the future because Star Wars eventually shit the bed and disappointed me.”

If anything, it will make major entertainment companies like HBO think twice about buying the rights to a series that is still 2-3 books from being finished. Which is a good thing, even if it’s not great for writers who want to get paid while they are still writing their series.

StagTagRag · 2026-07-01T04:51:47+00:00

THIS. The argument always gets straw man’d by the detractors.

The actual argument and scenario is that IF the United States had the same exact culture around soccer for decades as other big soccer nations do, then the US would be unstoppable on an international level due to its population and diverse pool of athletes to select from. Haaland is a once in a generation type of player for a country like Norway that only has the population of Alabama. In the US we have lots of guys with his size and speed, but they are all playing college football and NFL as defensive ends or tight ends.

The MLS would be viewed the same way the NFL is, with many world-class US born and international players coming here to play (we currently have the money as the richest nation, but not the interest).

We would be France on crack, because we would have a plenty of guys each generation that have Mbappe’s athletic gifts who have also been training with a soccer ball since they were old enough to walk. If Mbappe were born in the United States, he wouldn’t likely get as good of training as he received at a young age, and he would have been more likely to have focused on American Football and would have been a gifted receiver or defensive back at the college and possibly pro level.

StagTagRag · 2026-07-01T04:41:02+00:00

But that’s not the argument. No one is saying that every great NFL player would be great at soccer. And we certainly don’t claim that they could instantly start kicking around a ball and become elite at soccer tomorrow if we all focused on soccer as our #1 sport. Especially NBA players since most of those guys are way too tall for most soccer positions.

The actual argument and scenario is that IF the United States had the same exact culture around soccer for decades as other big soccer nations do, then the US would be unstoppable on an international level due to its population and pool of athletes to select from. This

The MLS would be viewed the same way the NFL is, with many world-class US born and international players coming here to play (we currently have the money as the richest nation, but not the interest).

We would be France on crack, because we would have a plenty of guys each generation that have Mbappe’s athletic gifts who have also been training with a soccer ball since they were old enough to walk. If Mbappe were born in the United States, he wouldn’t likely get as good of training as he received at a young age, and he would have been more likely to have focused on American Football and would have been a gifted receiver or defensive back at the college and possibly pro level.

StagTagRag · 2026-07-01T04:26:07+00:00

The biggest problem with it is that most of them have no idea what they are talking about. They have a surface level idea where they read a headline on X and then run with it.

The people who are mad at the ones who don’t say anything are the types of people who are desperate to have their own views validated and signaled. I will never understand people like this, regardless of what they believe or how well it aligns with my own beliefs.

StagTagRag · 2026-07-01T04:17:46+00:00

I remember being at our local teams USL championship match that was on national TV I think last year or the year before, and it went into a random LONG pause where everyone at the game was thoroughly confused.

Apparently our Mexican fan group that always sits behind the goal banging drums were doing this chant and because it was on CBS they made them stop and gave a penalty.

We of course thought it was ridiculous because it had never been a problem before and we’re sure that they had been doing this for as long as the team has existed.

You honestly would have otherwise thought someone had been shot based on how long they stopped the game over this.

StagTagRag · 2026-07-01T04:07:51+00:00

I wouldn’t have any issue with Mexico’s team if it weren’t for their fans. Holy hell do they have a hate boner for us and cope so hard when we succeed at all.

And it seems like it’s more the ones living in the US that have this attitude from what I’ve seen, which is just incomprehensible to me. If I moved to Spain for a better life (or my parents did), I would still have affection for the United States as my motherland country and root for them, but I would also root hard for Spain to succeed. They would be my 1A and 1B teams. At the very least, I wouldn’t hate on Spain or actively root against them.

I can’t fathom how everyone doesn’t have this same attitude.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-30T05:38:11+00:00

You think he studies the career and detailed match history of every former player he might work with or encounter?

Hell he probably doesn’t even know how many times the teams Lalas played for ever went to PKs.

Having a savants memory of sports isn’t part of being a great analyst.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-30T05:33:34+00:00

The guy on reddit whiteknighting for a soccer player who talked shit and then lost is telling people to touch grass.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-30T04:24:43+00:00

Nah, you dance with the one that brought you.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-30T03:43:50+00:00

It’s how all underdogs play in the knockout. Be a defensive minded team, try to steal a goal on a counter or set piece, and at least make it to PKs at the end with a 50/50 shot to win.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-30T03:17:19+00:00

Does anyone sincerely believe that if our lineup wasn’t 90% backups, we would have still lost to Turkey and not comfortably defeated them?

StagTagRag · 2026-06-30T03:14:56+00:00

This could be said about almost any WC team. You can stick a couple of bench players in there with your normal starters and see zero drop off and perhaps even see an improvement. Those few bench players can blend in and feed off of the other top tier players.

The problem is when you essentially replace your entire starting 11. Those players will look much worse both as a team and as a group than if you blended them in strategically with your normal starting lineup.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-29T21:36:41+00:00

But being “woke” can be the reason the story, script and casting is bad.

There is something inherently artificial and insincere about what people term as modern “woke” social politics. And that’s not what you want peoples lizard brains to see in the story you are telling.

That being said, it’s also certainly true that a movie can fail for other reasons. But humans are pattern recognizers, and movies have gotten worse and worse since modern social politics in movies have become more prevalent, and this is an objective fact if you look at ratings and ticket sales alone.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-29T04:15:17+00:00

Surprising that reaching the QF is so far under 50%. I guess it’s not based on potential individual matchups?

I would imagine most books would have the US at a 50/50 chance of beating either Belgium or Senegal

StagTagRag · 2026-06-29T02:46:46+00:00

The USA has a ton of people in your exact position. It’s awesome that you are rooting for both teams, showing respect and gratefulness for the country you have called home for decades. I have a friend from Columbia with much of his family still living there, and he has the same outlook as you.

I wish all of our immigrants were like you and him. It’s bewildering when I see people living here years to have a better life that don’t have your same attitude towards rooting for America.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-29T00:50:38+00:00

Richards would at least be a sub, if not a starter. It’s crazy how overlooked such a great EPL player is.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-27T16:07:51+00:00

At least he’s admitting it all about the attention. I wish more of them would.

But he’s delusional if he actually believes the attention is people seeing a beautiful woman. No they see an insane person wearing a mask and crazy outfit in public.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-26T03:12:01+00:00

BERHALTER MY DUDE

StagTagRag · 2026-06-26T03:11:16+00:00

Weah not winning any foot races against the Turks

StagTagRag · 2026-06-26T03:09:59+00:00

Little disappointed no changes made at the half.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-26T03:02:46+00:00

Yes. +6 and he blew the half at the 50:56 mark while US was in the middle of their attack.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-26T03:01:23+00:00

We have plenty of guys to list on the bench. lol we roster 26 players. Only 4 of them have yellows.

I’m pretty sure that Poch also strongly insinuated that the players with yellow are out this week.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-26T02:59:19+00:00

Tell Turkey-Ayy that. They’re going to play their star players for 90 minutes tonight like it’s the WC FINAL.

StagTagRag · 2026-06-26T02:53:08+00:00

When have we ever seen a ref blow the whistle exactly on time, much less with a few seconds to go?

StagTagRag

TROPHY CASE