Chris Parry

Retired sportswriter. Williston Northampton and Texas Tech grad. Newcastle United, Astros and Cowboys fan. Lover of US national teams.

[Chris Parry @ChrisParry903]

This will be final post from @CParryETFS. Will still post about sports occasionally, but now as a freelance sports journalist. Thanks to everyone!

What a run, what memories for 'retiring' Tyler Paper sports writer - https://t.co/RGkYKw9iec https://t.co/MJOZSbjjJJ

[Dave Johnson @davejsports]

I have been watching football for 50 years and I guess you think someone was a professional referee is stupid.
Former Premier League and FIFA referee Mark Clattenburg explicitly stated that VAR should not have prompted an escalation to a red card. Analyzing the play, Clattenburg and other analysts noted:Lack of Intensity: A red card for "serious foul play" requires excessive force, speed, or malice. Balogun's challenge lacked all three. Accidental Coming-Together: Balogun was competing for position and running naturally when his foot was deflected, causing him to land awkwardly on Tarik Muharemović's ankle. The "Slow-Motion" Trap: Live play showed an accidental tangling of feet, but under tight slow-motion loops at the pitchside monitor, the point of contact was magnified, making it look far worse than it was.
But I am sure you are right all the time and the rest of the world is wrong

[JT @jltho]

To all the Europeans clutching their pearls over this after spending the last several days Eurosplaining the sport to us, let me explain it to you.

Even if Balogun deserved a red (he didn’t), the referee misused VAR under FIFA’s own rules. That resulted in a red card that couldn’t be appealed.

FIFA then correctly used Article 27 to review and suspend the ban because the initial VAR error led to an unappealable decision.

[Caleb Adams @itscalebadams]

This narrative that the World Cup is rigged for the US just doesn’t add up:

- Placed on the side of the bracket with Germany, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and France
- Refereeing across all 4 US matches has not been favorable to the US
- Were given a red in a knockout match with 30 minutes left to play

This is the supposed “corruption” in favor of the US?

The real investigation needs to be made on the preferential treatment of Argentina.

[Justin Dean 🇺🇸 @JustinJDean]

@CNN Oh shut the heck up. Seriously. What did y’all do, sit around and brainstorm “what’s something bad we can say about this freaking awesome fireworks show?”

[✍️ 🇦🇱 @10blended]

England team trying to leave Mexico if they win tonight

[Jeremy Schaap @JeremySchaap]

On Balogun, via ESPN's @MarkOgden_ , here's former Premier League ref Andy Davies:

"In my postmatch review, I spoke about not only the decision being incorrect, but the VAR process not aligning to protocol, as only slo-mo and still pictures were presented to the referee when asked to review the situation at the screen," Davies said. "Real-time footage should have been considered by the referee, and this was not the case.

"In my opinion, FIFA has reviewed the incident internally and felt that either the judgment to send off Balogun was incorrect, or the correct process to do so via VAR was not followed. But either way, this outcome feels like a pivot from FIFA using a regulation to add credibility to their reasoning. The decision lacks transparency and a credible rationale as to why a red card has effectively been overturned."

To summarize, Davies says the call was wrong and the wrong procedure was used to make it. That's 0 for 2.

But FIFA owes it to everyone--the USMNT, its fans, Belgium, everyone else--to explain the process.

[Max Schoening @mschoening]

I was born in Germany, I grew up in Spain, I’ve lived in the US for 15 years, and I’ve been a US citizen for about a year.

I never really understood patriotism until I became American.

Usually, when people move to other countries they are expats. A German in Spain for example. When people move to America they become American.

It’s the greatest country on earth and an experiment worth fighting for.

Happy 4th of July. 🎆

[Christine Brennan @cbrennansports]

Caitlin Clark is 2nd in the WNBA in assists per game and T-4th in points per game.

A year ago, her fellow players ranked her as the 9th best guard in the league.

This year, they dropped her to 11th.

This really is one of the most interesting stories I’ve ever covered.

[Riley Gaines @Riley_Gaines_]

If Will Thomas didn't swim against the women, he still would have come in 462nd place, and nobody would know his name.

See how that works?

[TobyWrites @tobyasky]

How many red cards can we count here boss?

[USMNT_STAN @StanUsmnt]

England is about to learn what CONCACAF is all about.

-Hotel being attacked all night so you can’t sleep
-Atrocious home job officiating
-100,000 fans on top of you throwing stuff
-Slurs being yelled at you all game
-The most egregious time wasting you can imagine.

Welcome…

[Warren Sharp @SharpFootball]

the player Balogun fouled played the entire rest of the game without so much as a limp

accidentally fouling a player but not injuring him is not what the FIFA Founding Fathers intended for a red card

the ref was a hack but FIFA can & needs to right this wrong

[Taylor Twellman @TaylorTwellman]

And this wasn’t even a foul or a yellow. It’s exponentially worse than Balogun’s.

[Kristen Waggoner @KristenWaggoner]

Today you will read many sympathetic media stories about B.P.J., the male athlete who challenged WV’s law and lost at SCOTUS.

I’m guessing none will mention that B.P.J. defeated 470+ girls 1,400+ times (including a state title) and sexually harassed our client Adaleia (pictured) in the girls’ locker room. Sadly, Adaleia stopped playing the school sports she loved due to B.P.J.’s ongoing presence in girls’ sports and spaces.

But we’ll probably be lucky if those girls get even a passing mention—let alone a front-page photo.

This has been the pattern on this issue from far too many institutions of power. Boys’ feelings are the focus. Girls’ safety, fairness, and opportunity take a back seat.


I’m so thankful today that the Supreme Court reversed that pattern, acknowledged the reality of biological sex, and remembered the girls.

[Clay Travis @ClayTravis]

“Transgender girls and women” are boys and men @espn. They are not barred from playing any sports. They just have to play against their own gender, as has been the case for all of our lives until a few years ago when far left wing morons started arguing boys were girls.

[Chris Parry @ChrisParry903]

@KirkHerbstreit Many play in English Premier League. Those games are on NBC/USA/Peacock each week beginning in August when season begins. Spanish and German leagues on ESPN/ESPN+ and French/Italy league on Paramount+

[11 Yanks @11Yanks]

We're used to this in CONCACAF. Happens every time we play away. Not just Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and others. Welcome to CONCACAF.

[HeHateMe @_HeHateMee_]

In the past 3 years an opponent has committed a flagrant foul on:

Paige Bueckers 0 times

Angel Reese 4 times

Caitlin Clark 10 times

29% of all flagrant fouls in the entire league have been committed on Caitlin Clark over the past 3 seasons. 🤔

[Christine Brennan @cbrennansports]

As controversy swirls over Alyssa Thomas’ one-game suspension, I reached out to WNBPA exec. director Terri Jackson, asking this:

“Is it punishable to put your fist in another player’s throat, or is it not?”

Players’ union spokesman: “The WNBPA respectfully declines comment.”

[Mike Crispi @MikeCrispi]

Biden is going to be the first President in modern US History to not raise the sufficient funds to build a Presidential Library.

Yet he got "81 million votes" they say.