Football

Well, the usmnt have crossed a major milestone on our path to being a proper soccering nation. Not in a sporting sense -- this was a fairly typical USMNT performance in our modern era on the pitch, considering the expanded field -- but in the "involved in a major corruption controversy" sense. I've felt USSF have been a bit Boy Scout up until now -- we were more likely to be opening an indictment against FIFA a la 2015 than handing over suitcases full of cash -- but we have made it clear that we are willing to pay to win. I'm glad to see that the corruption is necessary but not sufficient (I would prefer it also not be necessary but at least it isn't also sufficient) to win a World Cup, and I'm glad the US crashed out before we set any kind of record as it would be very irritating to have to mention 1930 and 2026 and then explain why neither of them really count when explaining what the "best USMNT performance of all time" is. Hopefully this'll be the last time I see us pull a stunt like this, cuz it was really embarrassing, and I hope someday to see us play el sexto partido in a men's world cup. See y'all at the women's World Cup next year; we're gonna be a lot more trouble in that tournament.