Month: October 2024

Somewhere near Camden Yards, right now, there is a lonely protestor, looking for his or her fellow protestors, hoping he or she doesn't make a wrong turn. It is Baltimore, after all. Today is the big fan protest of the Orioles and owner Peter Angelos, taking place outside Camden Yards before the 4:05 ET first pitch against the Detroit Tigers. The fans are buying the cheapest tickets possible, shooting for nearly 10,000 upper deck seats, presumably leaving the seats that are closer to the field empty. And THAT'LL send a message. We support Baltimore fans' anger with Angelos, who is pretty much pulverizing a once-great franchise into dust. And hey: Kris Benson's pitching today, so maybe if Angelos doesn't sell the team, she can promise that she'll sleep with…

FIFTEEN MINUTES OF INFAMY

Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, The Fiver finally stopped emitting the peals of loud, rich, booming, theatrical, industrial-strength laughter that began when Juventus got themselves knocked out of Big Cup during the week in which the brains of their operation, Andrea Agnelli, revealed plans to reconfigure the very same tournament in ways designed to benefit certain badly-run behemoths. The continuous seven-day guffaw marathon came at a heavy cost to The Fiver, who dislodged two items in its special area, and is now sitting in a tepid puddle. But, on balance, it was still worth it. One hundred million euros for that, yet further away from the dream than ever. What a business!

David Sq…

It’s never just one thing. Football, whatever the cliche may say, is not a simple game. A team is a hugely complex organism: a malfunction in one area can have profound consequences elsewhere. Everything is connected and contingent; nothing is independent. Jürgen Klopp must feel at the moment as though he is engaged in a game of Whac-A-Mole, bashing at problems here and there, and yet also knowing that these moles are related, that a mole in one corner is breeding moles elsewhere.

But let’s begin with the most obvious issue, the great culture war of our time: the Trent Alexander-Arnold Conundrum. Already, it’s one of those issues that has become almost impossible to discuss properly, arguments yielding to meta-arguments as everybody r…

Even the weather seemed to want this match done. By the time the final whistle blew at Old Trafford the skies had already broken open, pounding the turf with English summer rain, gluing Erik ten Hag’s ill-advised houndstooth summer sports jacket to his shoulders, leaving Mikel Arteta squelching across in skintight all-black to punch the air in celebration of a 1-0 win that leaves Arsenal top of the table, right up until the next time they’re not.

This is not the end, as long as we can still say: this is the end. The title race will now tick down into the final week of the season, which is a thing in itself given the might of the Manchester City machine.

Arsenal keep up title pressure as Trossard sinks Manchester UnitedRead more