Gary Grigsby Jr

Christ-follower, Conservative, LU Alumnus

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@AmazonMGMStudio no, the "modern" audience doesn't exist. You're just gonna repeat what happened to star wars and star trek. @martingero is essential as is @BaronDestructo #savestargate #STARGᐰTE

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@dial_the_gate @BaronDestructo In the middle of my back swing!

[Joe Pompliano @JoePompliano]

So to recap what happened with the USMNT:

• Balogun received a bogus red card
• VAR protocol isn't followed (no slow-mo)
• Trump calls Infantino to ask about the process
• US Soccer lawyers preapre & submit an appeal

FIFA's independent 18-person disciplinary committee then met, approved the appeal, and told Balogun he could play in Monday's match against Belgium.

That's what everyone is complaining about?

All rules were followed, and that same process is open to every other country. The only difference is everyone knows the red card was a mistake to begin with.

[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.

[Ellen Carmichael @ellencarmichael]

The most interesting part of the red card saga isn't the ruling. It's how differently Americans and Europeans process the idea that they might have been wronged.

Europeans are fundamentally different from Americans in one particular way: they expect life to be aggravating and at times unfair. It's just a fact of moving through the world. I joke that in Europe, the customer is always wrong. You didn't read the fine print. The only pharmacy in town is closed every other Tuesday for three hours, and even if the times weren't posted, that's still your problem. Too bad if you want the bill, because the waiter's on his union-mandated half-hour smoke break, and you're just going to have to wait.

To quote the great Mark Knopfler: sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug. There's something freeing in that. Things are less in your control, so there's less angst in managing your expectations.

In America, things couldn't be more different. We simply can't accept a wrong left unrighted.

The flight attendant sneezed handing you a drink on your one-hour flight? 15,000 frequent flyer miles. Didn't like your appetizer? A replacement is on the way, and the whole course comes off the bill. There's a reason our interstates are lined with trial lawyer billboards.

Europeans have turned complaining into a continental pastime with no expectation that the universe owes them a remedy for their grief. You gripe about the train being late, your friends nod solemnly and everyone goes back to their apéro. In America, we launch a full-blown investigation of the train system, sue the government (and its contractors) that allowed for the tardiness and hold a Congressional hearing on the state of national infrastructure.

So to an objective observer, the red card shouldn't have happened, and VAR was a travesty. To Americans, our star player shouldn't be unfairly banned from a match we couldn't afford to lose for a card he so obviously didn't deserve.

Who cares that FIFA used a little-used reversal to fix it. Who cares that other people are mad about it. We. Were. Wronged. It was unjust. It must be corrected. We would accept nothing less.

Europeans waxing poetic about the sanctity of the game are, of course, talking about a governing body whose last tournament host was decided via confirmed cash bribes — one that imposed dress codes on women, shrugged off widespread allegations of modern slavery and reconfigured the entire tournament calendar to suit the host country. Which is exactly the point. If you've made peace with all of that, at least enough to watch the tournament four years later, a probationary suspension isn't actually a scandal.

Maybe that's the real divide. Over millennia, Europeans have made peace with being the bug. Americans have never once considered it, and apparently, we're not about to start now.

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@NYCMayor Or could just build a proper power source not that renewable crap. #nuclear #coal #oil #gas

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@AmazonMGMStudio @PrimeVideo give us @martingero and @BaronDestructo #stargate #savestargate

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

I would like to thank #paraguay's best performers the ref and the #VAR official for taking away a legitimate goal from #Germany in the 104' minute @FIFAcom @FIFAWorldCup

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@BaronDestructo The runabout

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@WorldCupMedia You have to call it soccer till the next one.

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@AmazonMGMStudio "My depth is immaterial to this conversation." --Teal'c #savestargate #stargate @AmazonMGMStudio @PrimeVideo

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@japan_nobunaga All the fast food restaurants have a secret menu...

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@kilmeade #dingdongthewankerisgone

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@AmazonMGMStudio @PrimeVideo keep your sheep detectives, give us #Stargate by @martingero & @BaronDestructo #savestargate

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

Starmer is gone! #resignation #dingdongthewankerisgone

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@AmazonMGMStudio Master bratac and General Hammond were everyone's dad #savestargate

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@AmazonMGMStudio His name is Teal'c. Thats T E A L apostrophe C. #savestargate

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@AmazonMGMStudio @PrimeVideo uncancel @martingero's #stargate new audiences don't exist without old ones shepherding it to you. Ask starwars they know. #savestargate

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@itsrosesm Negative 22

[Gary Grigsby Jr @GrigsBear]

@SenWarren America's mother-in-law/Karen knows best! #dumocrats #gonefullcommie