Photo: Earl Gardner
Philadelphia Union
Ilsinho might be the Union’s most important player – super-sub or not.
Cory Burke’s saga comes to a temporary end: the Jamaican forward has been loaned to reigning Jamaican National Premiere League champion Portmore United.
Auston Trusty and Mark McKenzie still have upside despite rough seasons.
MLS
The dumbest MLS-fueled feud over Iron Front flags was escalated when league brass suspended several Timbers Army supporters for waving the banned symbol at a recent match. Glad the league has chosen to ban people waving anti-Nazi flags and not, you know, actual Nazis who threaten people at games.
(Don Garber should probably read up on the Streisand Effect.)
NWSL
NWSL enters a new era with U.S. Soccer Federation.
Christen Press is NWSL player of the month.
U.S. Soccer
Ajax left back is happy to debut with the senior national team, but he hasn’t ruled out playing for the Netherlands.
Why Alfredo Morales deserves his return to the U.S. national team.
MLS continues to prove that it all the Pride Nights, Don’t Cross the Line campaigns, etc. are only there because their focus groups tell them they can monetize these viewpoints.
.
If a company going to take public stances on issues to sell tickets, it shouldn’t be surprised when the customers become angry when the company doesn’t live up to those values because it is suddenly concerned those values could affect the bottom line.
100%. It’s all marketing. To crack down on one of the league’s most engaged fanbases — the sort of genuine fan base they couldn’t possibly manufacture — is absolutely ridiculous. I can hardly blame MLS because the sort of virtue signalling nonsense in which they’re engaged is ubiquitous corporate behavior everywhere. It’s depressing.
We should fully blame MLS. Just because most Americans tolerate poor behavior from corporations does not mean they should.
Oh, they’re not exonerated in my book. It’s just that they’re sadly not unique.
United States Citizen and declared socialist John Reed visited Europe and the Western Front at some point well into World War One. His local chamber of commerce asked him to come and enlighten them about the war.
.
His speech was one word.
.
“Profits.”
.
His analysis is over-simple. And full disclosure demands saying that he is the only American buried in the Kremlin Wall in Moscow.
.
But creating fiduciary value for shareholders translates to “profits.”
.
A standing committee of the U. S. House of Representatives investigated how the U. S. of A. was drawn into WW1 and sponsored legislation designed to prevent it from happening again. The policy was isolationism, the laws are usually called the Neutrality Laws or Acts, and the committee was informally known as the Nye Committee after its most prominent member, who may have been a congressman from Texas but I need to double check that last.
.
The Nye committee is the direct predecessor of The House Committee on Un-American Activities of the Joseph McCarthy era.
I love these tid bits OSC.
.
It’s always about the money.
.
Isolationism is not nearly as profitable as Imperialism. Just as having access to the world market is more profitable than a small localized portion of a continent.
Sergino Dest plays RB.
correction. RB and LB.
Why do we have to wave anything else but union flags and union colors? No one cares about the flag wavers politics, race, religion, sexuality….. I’m there to cheers for my club and annoy the shit out of the opponents and their fans. The people that bring that crap into the stadium are the ones with issues. Would you guys be cool with an NRA flag at a game or a Star of David flag? You guys never see the other side. I’d be annoyed if I saw those flags. Can’t we just make it about the game for once! For 2 hours we can all just leave the BS at home and be united for the good of team?
Answer. No.
Why? Because society is filled with weak people who make it all about “them”’. Not the club….. but individual opinions. Profits, WW1, the Nye committee….. who cares!!!!! It’s a f’ing soccer news site. You guys need to smoke more weed or find a chick. Wait…. find a dude. My bad.
Antifa are fascist, hate filled people. Whether you hate blacks, Jews, Mexicans, Christian s, liberals/conservatives, gays it’s all hate. Bottom line. Cheers to DG.
I think people would be more sympathetic to this viewpoint if the league didn’t simultaneously look the other way on all the alt-right and neo-nazi groups that openly intimidate other fans at league matches.
Holy shit it’s not about sides.
If you can’t agree that fascism and nazis are bad, that’s a failure on your part. The fact that we even have people that feel the need to show signs to protest those things is terrifying in the 21st century.
But please go on about antifa being fascists and no one ever seeing the “fine people on both sides”.
↑ this
.
Soccer is probably the most politicized sport in the world. The game can absolutely be a release, but it’s not that simple.
–
You might be able to “just leave the BS at home,” but for disenfranchised groups, the threat of hate and violence is real and 24/7. They’re never allowed to leave it at home. It follows them all day, every day. I’m Jewish, but I pass as average white guy so I rarely have to face it head on. Others don’t have that luxury. Before raging about signs, think about why it might be important for people to use open public space like soccer games to fight against things like white supremacy.
–
Last thing: Antifa is literally a portmanteau of Anti-Fascist. They are inherently against fascism. I don’t blame you for not knowing this because the way they are portrayed rarely discloses their actual message. This isn’t a scold at all. I’d just definitely recommend reading up on them and the roots of fascism in Europe.
–
p.s. Not sure if you’re trying to insult people with “find a dude,” but that’s a tired joke.
Steven W.
.
what an excellent adjurnment, coda, denouement, resolution… to this.
.
a friend of mine in Portland, Oregon, while we’re on the subject, who steadfastly believes his point to be irrefutable and is often correct — says…
.
…Period. The end.
.
Unbenonswt to him… O Captain shed a light he may be wishing he could walk back a bit… making his own counterargument about why freedom to organize and express is so important and often happens all around the world in the stands and stadiums in the geo political underpinnings of nations, tribes and the like —in one dumb thought…..with the….’go find a dude.’
Honestly I thought this was an attempt at trolling and not really worthy of a response. Though on the other hand if you keep quiet, you are basically condoning it.
.
Soccer is about inclusion, or so it should be. I don’t see why everyone can’t have a bit of their own space and if it isn’t exactly your thing then do you really need to pay it mind? These things being said, I find no place in the world for racial superiority fantasies, from anyone. I do think going around breaking things and hurting people is the wrong way to combat Fascism. Combining guns and stadiums also seems a really bad idea for some reason.
.
As for historically relevant knowledge, some of us do enjoy it and seek not to limit our horizons but rather to expand them. It’s actually part of what makes this site as great as it is.
.
The “Wait…find a dude.” comment. I mean were you completely trolling here or trying to show someone up? All it really showed was your true depth of ignorance, if there were any doubt from the rest of your rant.
.
Whether you got the attention you wanted, or you truly feel how you’ve expressed yourself here, risking giving a little troll their joy for the day, is a small price to pay versus the damage that might be done by letting such misguided ideas go unopposed.