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| Knocking not recommended... |
You reach a point in the season where the specific reasons that any one thing happened matters far, far, far less than the sum of the things that keep happening.
Or, to go with a spin on the popular phrasing, your local team bears a striking resemblance to their results.
Also, I just watched Houston Dynamo FC wrap up a 1-0 win over Los Angeles FC – and on the road to boot. I see the red card (but also didn’t see it) and I didn’t see the one goal, but, 1) funny result! and 2) I whistle past the idea that LAFC has the blues below...maybe that’s me being guilty of getting stuck on the “LAFC is good” narrative instead of really engaging with what I’m looking at. Again, why futz with how much the numbers “love” a given team? Why turn one’s back on the empirical evidence?
Very much related, there’s this annoying tic in soccer commentary, and sport commentary generally, that refuses to engage (sorry for the verb repeat) with the very obvious premise that both the opposition and venue make every game unique for your local team. The discussion carries on as if they play [MLS Opponent], like there isn't a massive difference between, say, playing Nashville in Nashville versus playing Colorado...pretty much anywhere. Sorry to bang on about that, but I’ve become obsessed with this argument in recent years, and with a Teddy Kaczynski level of intensity, only without the letter bombs. This is my grand theory of most things, people...
At any rate, I’ve stripped down my weekly review formula to match what I tend to get for readership on these posts. So, rather than indulge in fancy writing and grand theories, the content that below amounts to a series of exercises in word association as I watch either games or highlights. I note which is which next to each header, The Mothership’s game summary is embedded in every final score, etc. And I’m barely editing the phrasing and readability can go to hell. Oh, and careful readers will notice I didn’t touch on every game below. I did that in the interest in time and sanity. Right, let’s get into it.
Or, to go with a spin on the popular phrasing, your local team bears a striking resemblance to their results.
Also, I just watched Houston Dynamo FC wrap up a 1-0 win over Los Angeles FC – and on the road to boot. I see the red card (but also didn’t see it) and I didn’t see the one goal, but, 1) funny result! and 2) I whistle past the idea that LAFC has the blues below...maybe that’s me being guilty of getting stuck on the “LAFC is good” narrative instead of really engaging with what I’m looking at. Again, why futz with how much the numbers “love” a given team? Why turn one’s back on the empirical evidence?
Very much related, there’s this annoying tic in soccer commentary, and sport commentary generally, that refuses to engage (sorry for the verb repeat) with the very obvious premise that both the opposition and venue make every game unique for your local team. The discussion carries on as if they play [MLS Opponent], like there isn't a massive difference between, say, playing Nashville in Nashville versus playing Colorado...pretty much anywhere. Sorry to bang on about that, but I’ve become obsessed with this argument in recent years, and with a Teddy Kaczynski level of intensity, only without the letter bombs. This is my grand theory of most things, people...
At any rate, I’ve stripped down my weekly review formula to match what I tend to get for readership on these posts. So, rather than indulge in fancy writing and grand theories, the content that below amounts to a series of exercises in word association as I watch either games or highlights. I note which is which next to each header, The Mothership’s game summary is embedded in every final score, etc. And I’m barely editing the phrasing and readability can go to hell. Oh, and careful readers will notice I didn’t touch on every game below. I did that in the interest in time and sanity. Right, let’s get into it.
