Scott Kuhn

Every day I'm one day closer to deleting this account.

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

@AvonandsomerRob The number 1 selling beer in Belgium is Jupiler...at 5.2% ABV.

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

Americans on Tuesday.

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

This has to be the dumbest post I have ever read. So basically other nations know their place and act accordingly.

[Bernardo Santos 🇵🇹 @bres_santos]

The funniest thing about the way americans consume the world cup is that you can tell they genuinely think they are one of the favorites to win.

Other small teams usually know their limitations and set their expectations realistically, because they have football culture.

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

Well, to be fair, we suck at Cricket.

[Coach West @coachwwest]

Something funny I keep reading today

“The USA doesn’t win anything on the international stage.”

All-time Olympic gold medals:

🇺🇸 USA: 1,236
Soviet Union: 473
🇩🇪 Germany: 372
🇨🇳 China: 330
🇬🇧 Great Britain: 321

The United States has more gold medals than the next three combined.

Find a new argument #USA

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

@CKrullemans Hardly. He is just reporting what his response was. The decision was made by an impartial disciplinary board. So once again, does FIFA not know their rules and how to apply them?

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

Can we now just shutup about this and play the game? May the best team win.

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

"To the American mind, justice is served by getting the call right, regardless of process. To the European mind, justice is served by respecting process, regardless of the result."

Getting it right is the only real justice. But good post.

[The Heretical Liberal 🇨🇦 @Rob_ThaBuilder]

Regardless of where you stand on Balogun-Gate, the whole reaction to both sides highlights some very key differences in the American vs European mindset.

In the American mind, "getting it right" is the most important thing. Thats how justice is served, is by getting to the correct result based on the play on the field.

The European mind is different though. They have an instinct towards bureaucracy and are obsessed with process. The Process must be respected. Respecting process is more important than the specifics of what happened on the field.

And thats why you get this wild take thats fairly common where a Euro will say something like "He didnt deserve the red card, but once it was given it cannot be overturned!".

To the American mind, justice is served by getting the call right, regardless of process. To the European mind, justice is served by respecting process, regardless of the result.

Its a fascinating look into the psyche of both, and if I'm permitted a little armchair psychoanalysis of both groups, id say the reason lies in their history. The Europeans spent centuries as the peasant class of Europe, essentially being forced to accept whatever shit the aristocracy piled up on them. There was no "appeals" process, they took what they had too, because there was no other option. In this environment, a certain "acceptance of one's fate" or immunity to overt injustice likely seeped into the national psyches. No one had success by "fighting the power", the power imbalance was simply too great. What eventually saved them though, was process. Rules-based orders were the only thing that gave them a semblance of power vs the aristorcracies of their upper classes. And so they came to revere Process as the Ultimate Good and working OUTSIDE process as the Ultimate Evil.

The Americans, on the other hand, never developed their national psyche in the world of Kings and Aristocrats. Class was far less rigid in the new world, and risk-taking WAS highly rewarded there. "Fighting the power" to "do what was right" WAS greatly rewarded during the American Revolution when a few great men "fought the power" and were gifted with what would become the most powerful, prosperous country on Earth. And so a certain disdain against "process" took hold, a general feeling that "process" was only as good as long as it provided fair and just outcomes. As opposed to the European model, where "process " was the only thing that had given them anything close TO "fair and just outcomes".

So in that context, the massive gap between both sides makes sense

Or maybe this is all nonsense and its just anti-American, pro-Euro tribalism, who knows 🤷🏼‍♂️

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

The FIFA discplinary committee nations that made the decision to suspend the suspension.

​United Arab Emirates Colombia
​Austria Brazil Czechia Ecuador
​Honduras ​Italy ​Mexico Paraguay
​Saudi Arabia ​Singapore Tahiti
​Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago
​Tunisia ​Vietnam

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

I mean, did the player in this fictional scenario deserve the suspension?

[Ed Krassenstein @EdKrassen]

Imagine if Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever had convinced FIFA to unsuspend a player on his team prior to their match against the U.S.

People would be furious!

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

You'd think being a freelance writer one would know what the word "interference" actually means.

[Rachel Kryshak @RachelKryshak]

To be clear: Whether it is or isn’t a red to Balogun is now irrelevant. Government interference is a violation of FIFA Article 2 & 15, and the punishment is disqualification and suspension. Nepal was suspended.

This is an admission of the violation.

[RBe @RBPundit]

"THE US CHEATED!!!!!"

"How?"

"THEY GOT A RED CARD SUSPENSION OVERTURNED!!!"

"Was the red card legit?"

"NO! BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT!!!!!"

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

False

[The Purple Pimpernel @Eyeswideopen69]

As a European, I don’t want my team to win by cheating.

Guess things are different in the United States.

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

Someone should tell @Ryanair to focus more on customer service.

[Ryanair Italia @Ryanair_IT]

non vedo l’ora che gli USA vengano eliminati da una squadra che non saprebbero nemmeno indicare sulla mappa

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

The irony is she is doing exactly what VAR and the referee did that was against FIfA regulations. Using a still image to make the call

[LolaElise @LoEl81]

Just a reminder that this is what the USA supporters are saying wasn’t even a foul.

Is it intentional? No
Is it endangering an opponent?
100% Yes

[Mark Valorian @markvalorian]

A critical element that the "rulebook purists" arguing Balogun deserved a red card are conveniently overlooking:

BALOGUN was the one who was challenged from behind.

The Bosnian player played *through* Balogun from behind and placed himself in the path of Balogun's natural step.

When he begins taking that step, Balogun has no idea the Bosnian player would even be in front of him. In that sense, you can't really even consider his move a "challenge." It was simply a step that incidentally landed in the same place the opponent's foot did.

In fact, the reason Balogun's step came down so hard is *because* the Bosnian player challenged into him and knocked him off balance.

This is not "reckless" or "excessive force" by any stretch of the imagination.

The red card was *obviously* unjustified from the outset. The only thing FIFA got wrong here is not immediately suspending the red card after the match.

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

Proof that soccer has lost its way with VAR. 50/50 ball and Harry Cain gets a penalty and a yellow card. #FIFA you have lost all control.

[Will Cain @willcain]

Such a spectacle to see all these euro soccer journalists and federations climb atop a moral high horse to say the integrity of the game demands that an incorrect call, enforced by an incorrect application of VAR, deprive the U.S. of a full squad.

[Scott Kuhn @ScottisnotaScot]

@nirave @JGreenbergSez "We just don't like cheating"

[Jonathan Greenberg @JGreenbergSez]

A huge cultural difference between international soccer and American sports cultures. Americans are used to our athletes saying they prefer to beat an opponent at full strength. International soccer culture - the same culture that produces players pretending to be injured - is fine whinging about a guy being suspended for something he didn’t even do to their team.