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Registered on:12/4/2012
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Of course.

I dug into primary sources such as journals ans letters a lot when I was in undergrad and grad school. Really helped me understand where the textbooks were lacking. It also destroyed the mythologizing of Good v Evil that we're often taught in high school curriculum.

Had a great professor at Carolina who was willing to kill sacred cows. Even had us contrast some journals and court documents with what a McPherson-written text said, and poke holes in those arguments. Helped to recognize bias and blindspots in authorship. Doris Kearns Goodwin, for example, is a particularly myopic historian.

It's never Right v Wrong. There's always Grey and nuance in every conflict. And sometimes, the side that you more agree with is the one that loses and is humiliated in the textbooks.

re: Say what you will about soccer

Posted by RoyalAir on 7/8/26 at 8:00 am to
quote:

I watch soccer and I see the same concepts of triangulation, ball (puck) movement, breaking plays down into 2v1, defensive coverage concepts, fore check concepts, taking away passing lanes, etc, etc.

It's easy for me to read the play and predict where the ball is going next, where the weakness in coverage is, where to move the ball to create odd man situations, and creating time/space.


Exactly. I am a hockey fan first, and a soccer fan distantly past that. But, knowing how the former works, I can understand how the latter functions with spacing, timing, and mathematical advantage.

Just like you don't have many hockey players go end-to-end to score, you can't do that so well in soccer, either.

Biggest difference is that the goalie in hockey has a bigger advantage than the keeper in soccer does.

Still, I've really enjoyed the WC, and I usually do. But this has likely encouraged me to start watching some Premier League in the fall. Only thing I don't like is that the Euro elitism is very reminiscent of Canadian elitism. We shut the Canucks up for a spell. The Euros are still laughing at us.
quote:

Definitely a foe under Erdogan


Wut.

Turkey is literally a friend under NATO. You don't have to be happy about it - I sure as hell am not, but they're in the NATO club. The Israelis are antagozing a legitimate ally.
Not sure why you're laughing. This isn't even a serious question. Hockey players are elite level athletes.
quote:

Im not sure thats true, and how often is that team actually together? Olympics (and this past one was the first with NHL players in some time
And world championships? They arent playing friendlies every couple of months


It's true, but it's not fully analogous to soccer, re: friendlies, or how club level works.

USA Hockey have the US National Team Development Program, where the best US players are put in one program and academy from the age of 14. They go through junior hockey together, and learn how to play together. So, you can get drafted into the NHL straight from the USNTDP, as if you were playing junior in Canada.

This creates a situation where they learn a system, style, and develop a chemistry before they are pros. So someone like Matthew Tkachuk was playing with Auston Matthews pretty much full time for 4 years before making the NHL together.

Yes, they do international tournaments and stuff, but nothing like international friendlies such as soccer. But when Jack Hughes talks about USA Hockey as being a brotherhood, he's not talking out of his arse. They literally all grew up together. It's paid massive dividends, as shown in Cortina.
quote:

Pulisic is such a non factor. What a waste


I really don't think he earned his spot on the team. He played like he had nothing to prove.

Lalas was right to call him out back in the day. Hate on Alexi all you want, but my guy had heart. He'd kill to have the talent that a Pulisic is supposed to have. But Pulisic is wasting it.
quote:

Pulisic, Tillman, and McKinney couldn't play up to the level of Belgium, but they didn't make major mistakes


Pulisic got bullied off of every ball, and didn't have any strength behind him. He gave up nearly every time he was challenged.

McKinney, I tried to pay attention to him, but he was forgettable for the most part.
quote:

Luna and Berhalter are not the most talented at their positions, but when they put on the USMNT shirt they play with every ounce they have.


Exactly. Give me the right players. Not the most talented.

We needed the Luna that played with a broken nose mentality. It was missing.
quote:

I want more guys like Luna and Berhalter to be the leaders of this team


We desperately missed Luna yesterday, no two ways around it.

Berhalter played great in the time that he was in. Missed his shot by a few inches, but damn, at least he took it.
quote:

Clint Dempsey


I was telling my brother last night I'd gladly trade Pulisic for 2010 Dempsey.

Hell, I'd trade Pulisic for 2002 Clint Mathis.

The leadership and determination that those clubs had is sorely lacking.
quote:

Pulisic is an absolute punk.


He's the white Freddy Adu
quote:

Dest playing his worst game in a while


Moment looks too big for him
quote:

I don’t think there’s a single US fan who would be complaining about Erling Haaland or Mbappe getting a bullshite red card overturned if we were playing them next.


I think this is a very keen distinction for the US sporting fan and the rest of the world.

Gimme your best. Let's see what you got.

But most everyone else appears to want the easy way. Something about that desire for risk and overcoming all obstacles appears to be a distinctly American thought process.
My clumsy statement was clumsy.

We didn't name it soccer. We assumed that naming convention. We just didn't switch when the UK did in the 60s, as it were.
quote:

Like the fact that we call it soccer because when the laws were put into place, the country who started it called it soccer (association football) to differentiate it from the already established sport of rugger (rugby football).


I love Monty Python, but that asshat John Cleese made a condescending video about how the US is dumb for not calling it football. Really pissed me off, because we used the name that his own country did long before we named it soccer.
quote:

Proof that people are mostly chill with each other it's just media elites and government pricks that try to divide us


No doubt. The comments on Sky Sports and ESPN FC on YouTube are full of euro outrage, and hoping that Belgium rights a grievous wrong. Lots and lots if pearl clutching.

Nevermind that Balogun was getting beaten up and clutched all game against Bosnia, and nothing was ever called in his favor. That game was an officiating nightmare.
quote:

They resent the United States as a whole and they resent this World Cup being a resounding success so far. If this were Cape Verde they'd be applauding.


I think there's too much truth in this. To most Europeans who haven't been here for the resounding success that the 26 World Cup has been, the US is a corrupt cesspool ruled by dictatorial fiat. So, the suspension of the red card is seen as blatant corruption and OMG TRUMP.

Had this been Cape Verde, as you mentioned, the decision would have been applauded.

I'm beyond disappointed in Belgium. FIFA changed their tune - which they do when the wind blows the right way. Belgium should relish the opportunity to beat the US's 11 best on the pitch. Their overall mentality facing this is one of weakness. I hope the US wins 3-0, and Balogun is a total red herring.
Beamer is probably next in line based on tenure. 8-4 will save his job, though.
quote:

The real change from soccer to football would be how the plane is for a score. In football the ball just has to break the plane. In soccer entire ball has to cross for a goal. That’d be cool for football. Especially those of us who like defense


The solution for this in football is already part of rugby. The player crossing the plane doesn't matter. The player needs to touch the ball down to the ground in the end zone. That's how you score a try in rugby, and ironically, it's where we get the term touchdown from, anyway.