Troy Rapson

Happiness is a sign of weakness. Fun is for losers.

[Troy Rapson @TRap1680]

Well that would be kind of worrisome

[Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 @cmclymer]

A student pilot successfully landed a small plane after her instructor told her "you know what to do," grabbed his cell phone, opened the cockpit door, and leapt to his death.

https://t.co/Z7APrKL68v

[MK 🇫🇷 @mkliebmann]

Cristiano Ronaldo begged for hamburgers outside McDonalds. He’d never turn pro in America

Messi’s parents were factory workers. He’d never turn pro in America

Lalas went to boarding school. Failed to get into college until his dad made a call to Rutgers. He went pro in America

[The Don of Vaughan @SteveDelDucaFan]

Winner gets Hitler’s secret gold reserve

[Faytuks Network @FaytuksNetwork]

An Iranian security source tells Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen: ‘We have warned that any attack will be met with an immediate response and on a larger scale. If Trump wants oil prices to rise, we welcome that.’

[Harrison Lee @HarrisonCLee]

Thierry and Zlatan saying they wouldn't have become soccer players because of the costs of the American youth system, then seeing Lalas say it's a great system because it makes a lot of money for some people really sums it all up nicely

[Sam Stein @samstein]

MAGA INTERNET cheered the president for helping to get Balogun's red card overturned—but once the U.S. team lost, soccer became “gay" again.

via @willsommer

https://t.co/Ik7ZbO3Kh3

[The Athletic @TheAthletic]

This latest World Cup performance should settle it: America is not built for the beautiful game.

Men's soccer belongs to the world.

We borrow it every few years, @CandaceDBuckner writes.

Read for free: https://t.co/Vq9yXJ48d1

[Troy Rapson @TRap1680]

Vegetables can’t talk. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[MeidasTouch @MeidasTouch]

The individuals releasing statements saying they spoke with McConnell all say they spoke with him for about 20 minutes:

[karlee @kar__lee]

Is Christian Pulisic a player that shows up in the big moments? No. Is he good leader? No. Does he have a charisma? No. Does he at least have good morals? No.

[🍁☘️Canadian Fletchy 🇨🇦 @Darth_Pingu]

BREAKING: They've changed the name

[David Ornside @David_Ornside]

🚨🗣 Egypt's Coach Hossam Hassan couldn't control himself after full-time:

"I will say what's on my mind regardless of the consequence, this was clearly a rigged match and the whole world saw it"

"And I want to say one more thing, if they want them [Argentina] to win so bad, why call everyone to come and participate?"

[BBC Sport @BBCSport]

"It's clear that this tournament has been fixed."

Egypt's Mostafa Zico was not happy with some of the decisions in their game against Argentina.

[Arik Wolk @azwolk]

Haley is kicking Abdul's ass so badly in this debate, this is all his allies have to attack her about #MISen

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

In Germany, a talented 14-year-old earns his club money. In America, his parents pay the club $15,000 a year.

That single inversion explains why "we will not" is the most accurate line ever written about US soccer.

FIFA built a global system for this. Training compensation and solidarity payments send a cut of every transfer fee back to the clubs that developed the player, from age 12 onward. Develop one future pro and your academy gets paid for a decade. Barcelona's La Masia, Ajax, every Bundesliga academy runs on this logic. The kid is the asset.

US Soccer refuses to enforce those rules. When Seattle's Crossfire Premier claimed its $60,000 share of DeAndre Yedlin's transfer to Tottenham, it got nothing. Claims on the Dempsey and Bradley transfers died partly because the federation couldn't even produce the youth training records.

So American clubs earn zero dollars when a kid turns pro. They earn when a kid enrolls. Which makes the parent the customer, and the product is whatever keeps the parent writing checks: travel tournaments, hotel weekends, $500 showcase events, private training at $100 an hour. Elite pathways run $8,000 to $20,000 a year. A comparable academy spot in Italy costs about 120 euros.

Follow the incentive one level deeper and it gets darker. A club dependent on fees can't cut its weakest paying players, so rosters optimize for retention over development. The scouting pool shrinks to families who can afford the cliff, which appears around age 11, exactly when development matters most. The country runs a talent filter sorted by household income instead of ability.

Every four years someone proposes fixing this. The proposal always requires the people profiting from the $15,000 model to vote themselves out of business.

They will not.

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

The Egyptian team was left angered by several refereeing decisions as it exited the World Cup, with star forward Mostafa Ziko saying the trophy is “directed towards Argentina” following Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the reigning champions.

More from @OliverKay ⬇️

https://t.co/sdt1yNJoKx

[River Cracraft Fan Club @CracraftFan]

We need to retire the “Captain America” phrase if these are the two guys we are giving that nickname to

[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

Incredible Egyptian goal is disallowed because of a foul far away, then same situation a few minutes later and goal for Argentina not disallowed! No VAR, nothing? FIFA again looks like a corrupt joke, playing favorites for stars.

[Shams Charania @ShamsCharania]

The Detroit Pistons are trading Caris LeVert and two second-round picks to the Milwaukee Bucks for Taurean Prince and Gary Harris, sources tell ESPN. Pistons will create a trade exception from the deal and savings while Bucks acquire LeVert and pick up assets.

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan speaking to beIN Sports, via France24:

“I told the referee that what was happening wasn’t fair. It’s an undeserved victory for Argentina.

“Once I’m back in my country and at home. I’ll never watch the World Cup again, because there’s no justice in this competition.”

More reaction: https://t.co/eDIk7oFJGD

[FanDuel @FanDuel]

Should the U.S. MOVE ON from Mauricio Pochettino? 😳

#FIFAWorldCup | #USMNT