We are so fortunate to have Mbappé, Messi, Haaland, and Kane all playing super well at the same tournament.

The level of play is so insanely high, honestly higher than any other sport on the planet, and yet there are still four or five players who seem to be able to will themselves scoring opportunities on a semi-regular basis.

The baseline level of speed at every position on most World Cup teams is off the charts.

I have enjoyed the what's-in-your-seatbag discourse today. Sort of besides the point but my whole perspective on this changed when I finally gave up riding my beloved Vittoria Corsa Pros and switching to Conti GP5000's. Way less interesting feedback but now I basically never puncture.

The moral center of our government is fundamentally broken and there still are tens of millions of Americans, who stood by because they felt like one or two of their pet social issues were forcefully addressed, who will realize this too late.

The fact that Birthright Citizenship required a tie-breaking shootout for sanity and the Constitution to prevail is staggering.

thomas simply couldn't join the opinion, this corrupt, misanthropic bigot had to throw in his two cents and put his bigotry into the record

"Clark has ceased to be a mere basketball player. She’s become a mirror of a divided country—one that can’t seem to see eye-to-eye even when we’re all watching the same thing." Once again, sadly, it's not really about sports. www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...

FIFA sucks and Trump sucks but the World Cup is still the best sporting event on the planet.

What a day of soccer this has been

That keeper gets free drinks for life in Paraguay

In a now deleted reply to this post, this person said she has family that live 64 miles away and it's not feasible to visit them on a bike. Everyone knows NO ONE suggests that bikes can do everything that cars (or airlines or container ships) can do. I have no patience for such bad-faith discourse.

Paraguay has 3 million fewer residents than Los Angeles County.

One benefit to screen shooting over QT'ing (there are many) is that the absolute dumbest posts can live forever that way.

Come on. The world's richest man bragged about feeding USAID to the wood chipper and DOGE kids have admitted under oath that they had no clue what they were cutting and journalists have documented tons of young lives directly lost from the carnage. The disinformation campaigns are pathetic.

One thing I've learned over the years is that conservative folks who complain the loudest about "socialism" are totally fine with the government subsidizing things they like or benefit from.

Whether it's taxes on large, heavy or inefficient vehicles, congestion pricing, free-market parking fees or higher gas taxes, I'm always amazed how many folks stridently oppose making motorists pay more of the external costs of their choices—mostly because they think it's already so costly to drive.

It's not hard to feel two things at once. I'm loving the sporting action at the World Cup, enjoying a quality US side and happy to see foreign visitors enjoy the texture of American culture (when it's real)...and sick at Trump's ugly political interference in sport and FIFA's compliance and greed.

I don't want to hear another word about how much white European visitors are enjoying ranch dressing while team officials, Africa's top referee, and now one of the world's most celebrated fans are turned away from the World Cup. The USA is an utterly unfit host — it's as simple as that

Bemused by Americans who don't follow soccer moaning over the rules. Every sport has rules that seem odd to outsiders. Baseball has a million rules that make no objective sense. Why is it 3 strikes and 4 balls? Why are fouls strikes until the last one? Why can you only tag up after a ball is caught?

Man, the Iranian squad has been treated so unfairly at every turn...but they nonetheless were offside.

It is crazy to me that everyone on Fox is mispronouncing Cape Verde It is Cape Vurd, not Cape Ver-day.

The weird and polarizing discourse around Caitlin Clark has been on my mind for a while and this piece does a really thoughtful job contextualizing the situation in a way that is deeper than a binary sociopolitical argument, which is something many Caitlin Clark conversations devolve into.

My tiny contribution to shrimp discourse.

In 2000, I wrote a story about freshwater shimp for Charleston magazine. There are like 80 different shrimp species and only a few that live in freshwater. I accompanied a prominent local chef to a local operation where a pond was drained so the shrimp could be harvested for a weeklong shrimp menu.

This shit is not hard.

NBC has clearly figured out how to build a Time Machine back to 2002. The network recently confirmed that the TDF broadcast team will include Lance, Bruyneel, Wiggins, Bob Roll, Phil Liggett.

One of the biggest adjustments I've had to a new freelance lifestyle is riding-related, since I no longer get 120-miles a week commuting. This week I've started doing fitness rides at like 6:30pm—first time I've done this in 25 years. It's not ideal, but my life is always better when I ride.

Somebody could win a Pulitzer getting to the bottom of that account Freddy on X.

I grew up in a leafy NYC suburb and so sadly I have a lot of old friends on Facebook who are moaning about the elections like anti-American communists are taking over the city. As I read their posts it mostly seems like they're against taxing wealthy people and rhetoric calling out Israel's actions.

I still find it quite funny that taxing billionaires to help fund health care and education is considered far left in 2026.

The elections in New York are an inspiration that maybe Los Angeles will have that kind of leadership by 2035 or something.

Ghana has roughly the same population as California.

One great thing about sports is you can choose your own villains to root against and no one can do a fucking thing to stop you.

The Reflecting Pool is a Rorschach Test of one's sanity.

Never got to see Jackie Robinson or Wilt or Jim Brown. But I have been able to see Joe Montana and MJ and Gretzky and Vos and of course Messi. It is such a lovely thing to watch athletes who have such transcendent talents.

It will be seven years, on June 24th, that my 20-year-old daughter Robyn lost their life doing bicycle messenger work in New York City, when a for-hire driver blocked the bicycle lane and the speeding distracted driver of a box truck knocked them to the ground and then crushed them into the road.

Bluesky can't match the golden years of Twitter, when the platform was a mostly civil town square where everyone could interact, but when I peek at X now it's quite striking how it has become a cesspool full of misinformation, bigotry, conspiracy theories, bots, and hostility. Broken beyond repair.

This is a really nicely reported story on Alex Freeman's journey to the World Cup. The fact that he's the son of an NFL great is widely known but this piece explores how his mom, dad, stepdad and a host family all helped him find a path to the top. www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Folks in the AI industry prefer to use the word "ingested" but that is just code to acknowledging that they have stolen the work of writers like me without attribution or compensation.

Thrilling finale at the Tour de Suisse. Bike racing remains undefeated.

One thing I find super interesting....there is a persistent narrative that the Iranian squad is not allowed to stay in the US...but I know for a fact that they are staying at a Marriott less than a mile from my house...with a massive police perimeter.

Del Toro has the talent to win a grand tour for sure.

The US actually has amazing regional food, culture and landscapes. It's not In N Out, Walmart, Buc-ees, or Texas Roadhouse. Rural Red State Republicans are desperate for validation. Would love more content that highlights foreign soccer fans enjoying the best of our culture.

I am so happy about the Knicks. Caring a lot about sports can break your heart but sometimes it gives you a gift that makes it all seem worthwhile.

Del Toro really has some grace on the bike.

US soccer fans are basically a notch below Knick fans. Like they've never even sniffed a quarterfinal match at the World Cup.

At least Rubio can stay awake for a big game.

Holy shit the US squad looks very fluid and confident.

Twitter is presently throttling propaganda where European creators enjoy big box stores and fast casual dining and Buc-ees and free soda refills and large plates of meat and marvel at how safe and clean small-town America is.