so we were partially inspired to go to Black Mountain for our anniversary trip this year because a spot there was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives first stop was said spot, where this chicken parm sausage dog and poutine absolutely ripped

Penciling in a scheduled loss before a truly important game cements Poch’s status as the USMNT’s most College Sports Coach in history

it’s fine

just watching that knocked the wind out of me

and another thing: Türkiye looks like they got their kits off of AliExpress

new Observer podcast episode just dropped for subscribers @nauerbach.com returns to talk to me about the SEC and the Big Ten becoming teammates at the very top, why Auburn is smart to try a version of the Indiana rebuild and how CFB media needs to actually talk more about ball

“I fully intend to honor my commitment to Auburn University.” although Narcisse Ngoy was taken in the second round of the NBA Draft by the LA Clippers, the big man and his agent have confirmed that he’s still set to be a Tiger here’s more on how a unique set of circumstances allowed this to happen

got one more mailbag this week before vacation send me all of your Auburn football and Auburn basketball questions right here (you can ask about other stuff, as usual) thank you for your time

Iraq going “4-year-old on FIFA” mode tonight

ETHICAL RECORD-BREAKING GOAL

Lionel Messi missed that penalty because he was missing the support he could only get in East Alabama

Dusty May is really going to go from the Conference USA to the NBA in 2.5 years

live Cape status

may all your Cabos be Verde

good grief, if Belgium gets grouped with the draw it got

this kinda goes

even though I fell into sportswriting in college, the earliest sign that I probably wanted to do this for a career came when I would do Create-A-School on the PS2 NCAA games and then write the Athlon Sports preview out for each season for my team gotta pick one up every summer and thumb through it

looks like Türkiye’s manager said “give me the Jason Schwartzman from Scott Pilgrim”

good to know “covering your mouth to say something at an opponent” is punished the same as “breaking a dude’s leg” in this World Cup

Türkiye has a midfield worth half a billion and can’t get one past Australia or Paraguay in 115-plus minutes and counting simply cannot relate

I WILL DIE FOR MY COUNTRY PARAGUAY 🇵🇾

the thing is the least inspiring stretches of play through these first two matches would be considered pretty good by usual Americans at the World Cup standards

someone give that referee the Jay Ajayi

this is the most Fake Tough national team I’ve ever seen

this dude’s name legitimately is “Italiano,” Australia isn’t a real place

COUNT IT

“Socceroos” is a fitting nickname, because all these jokers want to do is kick you

if I still collected soccer jerseys, I would have bought Balogun’s Monaco jersey — made by Mizuno! — in record time

inside this week’s mailbag: - how does an aggressive defense work with an Alex Golesh offense? - how much has the talent level changed — and how much of that stayed? - the state of Auburn basketball - Ja’Kobe Tharp’s greatness - a starting XI of Auburn beat writers - much more

cheering for the alma mater tonight

hearing reports of bafana and, possibly, bafana

new Observer episode just dropped @byjustinlee.bsky.social joined me to do The States of the Programs 2026: a team-by-team look through all 17 varsity sports at Auburn — what they did this past school year and where they’re heading subscribers have it in their inboxes and podcast apps now

Auburn basketball hasn’t announced its non-conference schedule yet — but we know all but a few slots now the SEC hasn’t announced the home/away setup yet — but we can project almost all of the rotation now on The Observer: an early look at EVERY 2026-27 opponent we know so far

let’s just check back in with the Braves after the World Cup, shall we

programming note: got a nearly 4,000-word breakdown of Auburn basketball’s 2026-27 schedule coming out on The Observer tomorrow morning I’m also recording this week’s subscribers-only pod with a contributor later today and I’m also looking for mailbag questions! shoot them here

that dude was in Lee County seven days ago

put him in the 2030 World Cup

getting preemptively mad about this 1-0 France win

the Premier League version of 82-0 is the hardest game I've ever played in my life, what do you mean this team lost a match

can’t believe Brendan Sorsby is going to turn down the free and generous gift of Texas Tech helping him beat his gambling problem

per usual, I love the idea of a Marcelo Bielsa team more than the execution of a Marcelo Bielsa team

Imagine being Egyptian and being told Seattle is too hot for you so you need a hydration break

A SELECTION OF TEAMS THAT HAVE BEATEN CABO VERDE: Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Botswana, Comoros A SELECTION OF TEAMS THAT HAVE NEVER BEATEN CABO VERDE: Spain

Spain just got shown up by a 40-year-old Cabo Verdean goalie who plays in the Portuguese second division, so perhaps I was wrong about expansion watering down the World Cup

tonight’s my first start at center back for the Tunisian national team, think it’s going well so far

MY SAMURAI BLUE