(07-19-2026 06:37 PM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 06:09 PM)BirdHawkEagle Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 05:52 PM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 05:46 PM)BirdHawkEagle Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 05:28 PM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  And here's the trophy presentation. Trump makes his way with the president of FIFA. Now there are some mixed reactions in the crowd. Of course, the FIFA prez isn't very popular so he's getting some boos.

You should have been a commentator, GC.

I did go to journalism school. I just never finished. (I did get a degree in something else though. lol)

Oh what could have been.

I decided the politics of it all wasn't worth it so I chose another path. The only reason I regret it is because we could use more genuinely conservative voice out there. Otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing.

Interesting. When I got out of the Navy in 1972, I was offered a job in Norfolk at the local newspaper as a sportswriter. I would have loved that job, but the pay was about half what I made in the Navy, and about 1/4 of what I got for a supervisory job in Memphis.

Sometimes I wish I had bitten the bullet and taken it.

(07-19-2026 06:45 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 06:37 PM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 06:09 PM)BirdHawkEagle Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 05:52 PM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 05:46 PM)BirdHawkEagle Wrote:  You should have been a commentator, GC.

I did go to journalism school. I just never finished. (I did get a degree in something else though. lol)

Oh what could have been.

I decided the politics of it all wasn't worth it so I chose another path. The only reason I regret it is because we could use more genuinely conservative voice out there. Otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing.

Interesting. When I got out of the Navy in 1972, I was offered a job in Norfolk at the local newspaper as a sportswriter. I would have loved that job, but the pay was about half what I made in the Navy, and about 1/4 of what I got for a supervisory job in Memphis.

Sometimes I wish I had bitten the bullet and taken it.

Oh, I meant journalism in general, not specifically sports journalism. I will say my last writing job was as a sports reporter/photographer after being a news reporter for a few years. I didn't like it as much as I did when I wrote about sports in college.

(07-19-2026 06:50 PM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 06:45 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 06:37 PM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 06:09 PM)BirdHawkEagle Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 05:52 PM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  I did go to journalism school. I just never finished. (I did get a degree in something else though. lol)

Oh what could have been.

I decided the politics of it all wasn't worth it so I chose another path. The only reason I regret it is because we could use more genuinely conservative voice out there. Otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing.

Interesting. When I got out of the Navy in 1972, I was offered a job in Norfolk at the local newspaper as a sportswriter. I would have loved that job, but the pay was about half what I made in the Navy, and about 1/4 of what I got for a supervisory job in Memphis.

Sometimes I wish I had bitten the bullet and taken it.

Oh, I meant journalism in general, not specifically sports journalism. I will say my last writing job was as a sports reporter/photographer after being a news reporter for a few years. I didn't like it as much as I did when I wrote about sports in college.

Yeah, I knew what you meant. I was just relating my similiar experience.

(07-19-2026 06:51 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 06:50 PM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 06:45 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 06:37 PM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 06:09 PM)BirdHawkEagle Wrote:  Oh what could have been.

I decided the politics of it all wasn't worth it so I chose another path. The only reason I regret it is because we could use more genuinely conservative voice out there. Otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing.

Interesting. When I got out of the Navy in 1972, I was offered a job in Norfolk at the local newspaper as a sportswriter. I would have loved that job, but the pay was about half what I made in the Navy, and about 1/4 of what I got for a supervisory job in Memphis.

Sometimes I wish I had bitten the bullet and taken it.

Oh, I meant journalism in general, not specifically sports journalism. I will say my last writing job was as a sports reporter/photographer after being a news reporter for a few years. I didn't like it as much as I did when I wrote about sports in college.

Yeah, I knew what you meant. I was just relating my similiar experience.

Understood.

What a great WC and a fitting Final. Spain suffocated Argentina to the point Messi was a nonfactor. They just couldn't get him the ball. As a Barca fan, I simply enjoyed the Final and didn't care who won given that Messi already has his WC and half the Spain team are Barca players. Must be wild to win the WC at 19 years old, and Spain has two that just did that. I'm going to miss all the camaraderie this WC brought amongst fans from nations all over the planet. Went to show just how much social media lies to us on a daily basis.

(07-20-2026 07:34 AM)VA49er Wrote:  What a great WC and a fitting Final. Spain suffocated Argentina to the point Messi was a nonfactor. They just couldn't get him the ball. As a Barca fan, I simply enjoyed the Final and didn't care who won given that Messi already has his WC and half the Spain team are Barca players. Must be wild to win the WC at 19 years old, and Spain has two that just did that. I'm going to miss all the camaraderie this WC brought amongst fans from nations all over the planet. Went to show just how much social media lies to us on a daily basis.

Agree with all that. I felt exactly the same all through the match yesterday. Really a fitting final, although it was absolutely one-sided.

It felt like a passing of the torch.

OTOH, I can only get excited about soccer for World Cups. Otherwise, I'm into golf, MLB, college football and basketball, and NASCAR

(07-20-2026 07:51 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(07-20-2026 07:34 AM)VA49er Wrote:  What a great WC and a fitting Final. Spain suffocated Argentina to the point Messi was a nonfactor. They just couldn't get him the ball. As a Barca fan, I simply enjoyed the Final and didn't care who won given that Messi already has his WC and half the Spain team are Barca players. Must be wild to win the WC at 19 years old, and Spain has two that just did that. I'm going to miss all the camaraderie this WC brought amongst fans from nations all over the planet. Went to show just how much social media lies to us on a daily basis.

Agree with all that. I felt exactly the same all through the match yesterday. Really a fitting final, although it was absolutely one-sided.

It felt like a passing of the torch.

OTOH, I can only get excited about soccer for World Cups. Otherwise, I'm into golf, MLB, college football and basketball, and NASCAR

I'm a big Barcelona fan so that keeps me going for my soccer fix. After the match yesterday, I found myself watching nearly the entire Yankees/Dodgers game. I can't remember the last time I watched that much of a baseball game and I grew up playing baseball. I've pretty much given up on college sports, given the current state of affairs. I'll watch on occasion, just tired of having to learn a new team every season due to constant transfers.

Soccer-depression now. What to watch? Wait until pre-season football and college starts?

It was nice having a game almost every day to look forward to.

(07-20-2026 08:45 AM)MonarchManiac Wrote:  Soccer-depression now. What to watch? Wait until pre-season football and college starts?

It was nice having a game almost every day to look forward to.

Baseball is still on.

I love the Fifa games and I actually have warmed up to the game. I've noticed that even thought they don't score hardly at all one does get excited with "ya mero"-almost scoring. I think this Fifa tourney has made fans in the US and perhaps in our younger crowd, if so, then I predict that the US with it's population will have a whole slew of potential players for the tourney and will be like we were with hockey where we are the favorites and have winning teams in international competition.

I was rooting for Argentina even though my family roots come from Spain, only because of the way the Spanish president comported himself during the Iran conflict. In the first few minutes of the game I knew that Spain would win, I'm only surprised that they were only able to score one goal. They are very good and if it had been the US playing against them they would have scored 10 goals on us. Both their offense and defense were stifling and you could see Argentina tired at the end while Spain was still going hard.

I wished that the Fifa tournament was at least every two years as I liked it that much. Fans from other nations loved us and that's good news too.

(07-20-2026 09:06 AM)olliebaba Wrote:  I love the Fifa games and I actually have warmed up to the game. I've noticed that even thought they don't score hardly at all one does get excited with "ya mero"-almost scoring. I think this Fifa tourney has made fans in the US and perhaps in our younger crowd, if so, then I predict that the US with it's population will have a whole slew of potential players for the tourney and will be like we were with hockey where we are the favorites and have winning teams in international competition.

I was rooting for Argentina even though my family roots come from Spain, only because of the way the Spanish president comported himself during the Iran conflict. In the first few minutes of the game I knew that Spain would win, I'm only surprised that they were only able to score one goal. They are very good and if it had been the US playing against them they would have scored 10 goals on us. Both their offense and defense were stifling and you could see Argentina tired at the end while Spain was still going hard.

I wished that the Fifa tournament was at least every two years as I liked it that much. Fans from other nations loved us and that's good news too.

I agree with all of that, Ollie. I had similar reactions. And Spain only allowed one goal the entire tournament. They were just dominant throughout.

Anyone else catch that wild-asss game for 3rd place?

That was Crazytown and entertaining as hell.

(07-20-2026 12:00 PM)JMUDunk Wrote:  Anyone else catch that wild-asss game for 3rd place?

That was Crazytown and entertaining as hell.

Yep, it's what a soccer match looks like when teams decide to play no defense. Heck, France didn't even start caring at all until the second half mainly because they didn't want to get further embarrassed. England heavily rotated its squad for that match. Basically, neither team wanted to be on the field.

Bring on the Euros!! The best soccer on the planet without those borish South American teams.

And I’m not even being sarcastic in saying that.

(07-20-2026 09:22 PM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  Bring on the Euros!! The best soccer on the planet without those borish South American teams.

And I’m not even being sarcastic in saying that.

I can root for England to win it all, too. lol

I do like France and Germany since they're also ancestral homelands, but my all-time favorite soccer team is Liverpool FC.

(07-20-2026 09:22 PM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  Bring on the Euros!! The best soccer on the planet without those borish South American teams.

And I’m not even being sarcastic in saying that.

Euros are good but I still like to watch the Copa America. When all the teams are playing physical, it can be quite entertaining.

(07-20-2026 09:06 AM)olliebaba Wrote:  I love the Fifa games and I actually have warmed up to the game. I've noticed that even thought they don't score hardly at all one does get excited with "ya mero"-almost scoring. I think this Fifa tourney has made fans in the US and perhaps in our younger crowd, if so, then I predict that the US with it's population will have a whole slew of potential players for the tourney and will be like we were with hockey where we are the favorites and have winning teams in international competition.

I was rooting for Argentina even though my family roots come from Spain, only because of the way the Spanish president comported himself during the Iran conflict. In the first few minutes of the game I knew that Spain would win, I'm only surprised that they were only able to score one goal. They are very good and if it had been the US playing against them they would have scored 10 goals on us. Both their offense and defense were stifling and you could see Argentina tired at the end while Spain was still going hard.

I wished that the Fifa tournament was at least every two years as I liked it that much. Fans from other nations loved us and that's good news too.

I like the four year cycle is it builds a lot of interest and every 2 years is too frequent I think we’d get burned out. There’s Euros and Copa America and the Gold cup (basically the US-Mexico invitational) that are in the off cycle 2 years though.

I hope so vis a vis soccer interest here. Our biggest problem is our youth training here.

Every other euro and South American country has a soccer pyramid of hundreds or even thousands of clubs with youth development academies funded by the club so free for the players. Each club gets a “sell on” fee for players they develop to help finance the academy. Obviously they also have ticket or tv revenue generated by the players they develop to defeat the cost. Hence the clubs are incentivized to produce the best players with the most skill to maximize revenue/defeat cost.

In the us the vast majority of development academies are pay to play. To the academies are actually incentivized to just maximize membership rather than develop players. The parents who pay are the real “customers” not the players. Games still focus on developing the biggest/strongest at the age group rather than developing skills. MLS has free academies but that’s only like 32 in a country of 350mm competing with hundreds or thousands of free academies churning out tens of elite players, while the us has 0

(07-19-2026 03:16 PM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  Well, that's something I'm glad I muted. lol I really don't care for halftime shows these days, even those during the World Cup Final.

I'd say I'm getting old, but it's not because of that. I deliberately missed the "Wardrobe Malfunction" in 2004 as well. I only found out about it after Super Bowl XXXVIII ended.

What are you, 44?

And possibly the best part of the WC was Torres from Spain wearing a red “Make Spain Great Again” hat during the parade. Nice middle finger to the Spanish government and sure to make American libtards rage.

(07-21-2026 08:44 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(07-19-2026 03:16 PM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  Well, that's something I'm glad I muted. lol I really don't care for halftime shows these days, even those during the World Cup Final.

I'd say I'm getting old, but it's not because of that. I deliberately missed the "Wardrobe Malfunction" in 2004 as well. I only found out about it after Super Bowl XXXVIII ended.

What are you, 44?

Yes, I am. lol But I've been turning off halftime shows I don't like since I was 18.