Under 20’s
If you haven’t already, I highly suggest you give the US Under-20 team a look at their World Cup taking place in New Zealand. The stars & stripes are entering the knockout stage of the tournament as they face Serbia tonight. Games are airing on Fox Sports 1 so check your local listings for the time. With the drastic time difference, the matches are being played in the middle of the night here in the US of A.
USWNT
While the US Women’s World Cup match versus Sweden was a snoozefest, their next match is Tuesday versus Nigeria, who will look to play spoiler as their chances of advancing to knockout stage are minimal. The USWNT on the other hand sits atop the group and would advance with even just a draw. Naturally, winning the group is of grave interest to our ladies so let’s root them on.
Who Cares About Stephen A. Smith
People need to really relax when it comes to this Stephen A. Smith business. For those who are not aware, ESPN personality, Stephen A. Smith, made a wisecrack the other day about women’s soccer that fell flat. Naturally, the social justice warriors came running out of the woodwork in full force as they attempted to make a big hullabaloo out of nothing. Check out this link to see what Stephen A. had to say.
While I am no Stephen A. Smith fan by any stretch of the imagination, you social justice warriors who called for his firing are just ridiculous. Folks, let’s gain our composure and put things into perspective, can we please? In reality, his comments weren’t that big of a deal and should be dismissed accordingly. What he said wasn’t funny, wasn’t insightful but it also wasn’t inflammatory. An attempted joke may go on deaf ears but it doesn’t necessitate a firing or suspension. Hey, keyboard protesters, go find something else to complain about. Move on, nothing to see here.
Who Cares About Keith Olbermann
One more bullet point under the “FIRED” section… Talk show host, Keith Olbermann, demanded that United States Soccer Federation President, Sunil Gulati, be FIRED for his supposed mishandling of the Hope Solo domestic abuse case. Olbermann also believes that Solo should be suspended from the ongoing Women’s World Cup, and USWNT coach, Jill Ellis, should be given the boot as well. You didn’t see what Olbermann had to say? Well, here yah go!
Does anyone else find it hilarious that Olbermann is calling for people to get fired?? Olbermann of all people? He must have forgotten his little drunken mishap that the social justice warriors deemed was “offensive” and worthy of termination. Here is a little reminder. I personally don’t think anyone should be fired for silly tweets like that but I also don’t think Sunil Gulati or anyone from USSF owes Olbermann anything.
Who Cares About Richard Blumenthal
Piggy backing off of Olbermann, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also expressed his displeasure with the USSF’s handling of the domestic abuse case. When US Senators and sports blowhards are piping up so emphatically about women soccer players, I guess we can officially announce that soccer has made it to the big time in America, huh?! See, wasn’t it much better when our sport just flew under the radar? Now, we have to deal with the rigmarole that comes with being a top tier sport in America. With that being the case, let’s stop pretending our sport is the poor little engine that could, shall we?
Predictions & Fantasy Lineup
Week 15 of Major League Soccer action is right around the corner but it is an abbreviated slate of action, with only five matches to be played. Considering the circumstances, this may be my one and only shot at scoring a perfect 100% on my predictions. Let’s see if I can pull off the improbable, yes? For the second week in a row I correctly predicted 7 of 13 matches, keeping me ahead of the “experts” over at MLSSoccer.com. Don’t believe me? See for yourself…
Let’s see how this week goes:
Montreal @ NYCFC – NYCFC WIN
LA Galaxy @ Columbus – Columbus WIN
Chicago @ New England – TIE
FCD @ Seattle – Seattle WIN
DCU @ Orlando – TIE
Lastly, as usual, below is my fantasy lineup for week 15. What do you think of the lineup? How is your fantasy squad doing? Remember, for those of you playing MLS Fantasy, this week you have unlimited transfers so make sure you improve your squad. Even though this will be a low scoring affair with such few games being played it will be fun nonetheless. Good luck to all!
