From The Sports Desk

[Ecurb]

"Hydration breaks"? One reason to watch soccer is that you get 45 minutes of commercial-free action -- unlike every American sport. I hope greed doesn't take over soccer.

France looks great. They trot our Mbappe, Dembele and Olise in their forward line: three of the top 10 forwards in the world. The American press loves Messi (and he is the GOAT), but Mbappe is better right now.

The three home nations are 5-1-0, although against lesser competition. I can't see them winning against France, or Spain, or Argentina. England could have won against Ghana, but they looked lacking in ideas. I don't fancy Brazil or Germany. I'd love to see nations from federations that have never won do well: the home nations, Japan, Morocco

[tailor STATELY]

Go Scotland ! A link to a meme I generated with ChatGPT https://chatgpt.com/s/m_6a3c4a917cb4...27f8addf2cb063

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

[Danik 2016]

Lol! Not much use it seems: At present Scotland 0 x Brasil 3.

[tailor STATELY]

Final 3:0...Oh well, the aliens will just have to continue their invasion

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

[Sancho]

So the other day my Señora and I went to one of our local hangouts, a Mexican restaurant/sports bar, for a big ole heaping plate of nachos and some baseball. We couldn’t help but to notice all the staff and most of the patrons were wearing red-white-and-green jerseys, and all the TVs in the joint were tuned to the same channel, which was broadcasting a rain delay of the Mexico/England game. Stupidly I asked the barmaid if she would mind changing one of the TVs to the Mariners game.

She looked at me in a way she would look at a half-bright eight-year old and said, “Oh no, senior, dis will no be possible. You wan more salsa?”

I said, “Sure. Hey, Y’all got the soccer game on? Who’s playing?”

She just rolled her eyes and headed back to the kitchen.

[tailor STATELY]

Lol

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

[Danik 2016]

Lololol, Sancho!
You can say for good that you came alive out of the restaurant after that request. Mexicans seem to be very much like Brazilians when it comes to football!!

[MANICHAEAN]

How many officials are there no? One ref, 4 linesman, 3 VAR & 1 in reserve? Seems excessive.

[Sancho]

Jobs program? Strong referee union? Power to the people, baby. Power to the people.

Danik, no doubt about it. The Mexicans are intense futbol fans. They were jumping from their seats, cheering, singing, laughing, cursing, buying rounds of margarita's.

We quickly got with program and wound up having a pretty good time. The margaritas helped. As it turned out Mexico fell to England and a pall was cast over the bar. I tried to buoy the mood by drunkenly proclaiming:

“C’mon amigos, we’ll get ‘em next year!”

To which I was informed the World Cup only happens every 4 years.

“Bah.” Sez I. “Next y’all are going tell me the USA has a team in this thing.”

¡Olé!

[tailor STATELY]

Lol!!!

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

[Danik 2016]

Lol! It's the good time that real.y matters! Nice crônica Sancho!

[MANICHAEAN]

Tonight England v Norway. Any predictions?

[Sancho]

On the basis of skill and cunning I have no clue, Manichaean. I will tell you though, the fan favorite here in the Puget Sound region is Norway. Lotsa Norwegian fishermen settled here a century ago and their descendants still fly the flag of Norway in front of their homes. My next-door neighbor is one such fellow. He’s an octogenarian who’s lived here his whole life, but frequently takes trips to Norway just for fun. I know he’s crazy excited about the game because when I was talking to him about it yesterday, he almost cracked a smile. There was a very slight crinkle at the corner of one eye. I thought — Holy crap I’ve never seen such emotion outa this guy! Get ahold of yourself, man!

[Ecurb]

Odegaard is ill, which doesn't bode well for Norway. A virus seems to be sweeping through the Norwegian camp. If they miss a couple of key players they don't have the depth to replace them.

England v. Argentina in the semis. Another hand of God seems unlikely with the endless video replays, which ruin the drama of the game. Who cares if they "get things right"? (Gamblers care if the games are fixed, and they constitute a major portion of sports fans, which is why the NFL went to Instant Replay, and other sports followed suit.)

I'm rooting against France, but they have the best team.

[MANICHAEAN]

England 1 / Norway 1 Half Time.

Another nail biter.