Opinion

One of the greatest stories in sports right now belongs to Major League Baseball, where the New York Mets have collapsed throughout August to piss away a spot in the playoffs. The fans at Citi Field in Queens have voiced their displeasure by booing the players, but players have responded by jeering their own fans.

After hitting a home run last Sunday, Javier Báez gave the fans a double thumbs-down gesture when crossing the plate — an action that was repeated by teammates Francisco Lindor and Kevin Pillar.

As the holder of the Nations League, Gold Cup and a new world ranking of 10th, the USMNT approaches World Cup qualifying at its highest level of confidence in five years — since John Brooks destroyed the house that Ecuador built at the Copa América.

But the formula for success in CONCACAF never changes: try to win at home, try to draw away. Get that done and you’re going to Qatar; experiment with the formula like Jürgen Klinsmann and you’ll kill Taylor Twellman.

For whatever reason, little kids don’t seem to be too enthused over the idea of watching 22 people chase around a ball, largely fruitlessly, for an hour and a half. They’re still into being carefree, happy and imaginative rather than screaming at Federico Fernández to “f***ing get rid!” every weekend. They don’t know what they’re missing out on.

But one thing that unites all sons, daughters, nieces and nephews is their love for LEGO, and let’s be honest, that also unites all fathers, mothers, uncles and aunts. 

An unapologetically American league, MLS has always set out to be different from European soccer competitions, and the All-Star Weekend Skills Challenge is no different.

Including such events as the most powerful shot, soccer tennis and an Olympico corner kick challenge, the skills challenge was played from 1998 until 2001 and provided a unique flavor to what can often be a dull All-Star Game.

The competition took a hiatus for nearly two decades before returning in 2019 with noticeably tamer events and even less focus on one position group in particular: goalkeepers.

YouTube soccer thumbnails are one of the greatest art forms to ever grace the internet. Nearly every soccer fan has found themself on their phone at one in the morning watching a “worst ever tackles” or “strangest EVER occurrences on the pitch” compilation.

The videos themselves are quality content, but the real treasure is the hyperbolic thumbnail that made you click on the video in the first place. You don’t remember the time the Lionel Messi got tackled by six players at once???

Here are my personal top 10 favorite YouTube soccer thumbnails.

There’s no disputing the fact that the game’s brightest young talent is heavily localized in South America. If you’re looking for the best young players in FIFA 22 Career Mode, chances are you’ll just send a scout off to Brazil to find a technically gifted phenom that’ll recreate Ronaldinho’s impact at PSG.

But thanks to a historic Copa Libertadores final four that includes three clubs from Brazil — Palmeiras, Atlético Mineiro, Flamengo — and Ecuador’s Barcelona SC, it’s an easy enough exercise to pinpoint the prodigies that’ve shone brightest in 2021.