#USMNT striker Folarin Balogun on his immediate reaction to red card:
“I think it was just important to stay calm. I never want to react out of anger and out of emotion. There’s still lots of people we’re inspiring, little kids, boys and girls who are watching, and we have to show them the correct way to handle things, even when you think it's unjust.”
On shaking ref’s hand postgame:
“As said, you can feel like something, injustice can happen to you. It’s not an excuse to be disrespectful… I'm aware that the World Cup might be the first time a lot of American viewers are tuning in. So it's important just to show people, whether things happen to you, good or bad, just to continue to be yourself.”
World Cup 2026 Conspiracy Theory:
Pulisic’s injury is not real. The USMNT is engaged in duping the media to throw us and Australia off in prepping for match two.
All talk has been about him. Not tactics, mental state, or anything else from the camp.
Pochettino is a genius.
It was two in the morning, the hour when even the bravest samurai retires to his bedroll, yet here, a fortress of light beckoned me from the darkness.
Every castle I have ever known has fallen. Fire, siege, taxes. Eight hundred years of my family learning one lesson: nothing stays open forever.
This house has never closed.
Not for storms. Not for holidays. Not for the hour when even the moon looks tired. I asked the waitress when they lock the doors.
"We don't have locks, hon."
No locks. I own walls, moats, and a sword older than this country, and I have never once said anything that powerful.
Inside, a cook was scraping the grill at 2 a.m. with the calm of a man guarding something. I asked if he was the night watch.
"I'm Darnell."
A trucker two stools down raised his coffee. "Place stayed open during the hurricane," he said. "FEMA's got a whole index about it."
An index. The government of this nation measures disasters by whether THIS HOUSE is still standing. In Japan, we measured a clan's strength by its castle. Same thing. Theirs serves waffles.
I ordered. I ate. I confess what happened next.
I did not want to leave. The night outside was large. The booth was warm. I am a grown warrior, and I sat in a yellow fortress at 3 a.m. feeling protected by hash browns.
A castle does not promise to stand forever. It simply leaves the lights on.
I drive past at night now. Just to check. The lights are always on.
Sentries of the griddle — I see you. Hold the line.
USA. A Mexican restaurant. We had not yet ordered anything, and the food was already arriving.
Chips. Salsa. Unrequested. Free.
I stopped the waiter. "We have not earned these."
"They just come with the table, man."
They come with the TABLE. In my land, hospitality is a debt. Every gift creates an obligation, weighed carefully, returned in the proper season with interest of feeling. Here, the gift arrives before you have even proven you can pay for dinner.
This is not an appetizer. This is a declaration: we trust you. Eat.
I ate with the gravity the moment deserved. And then — I must report this calmly — the basket emptied, and a new one appeared.
"Did we…?"
"Refill," the waiter said. "It's bottomless."
Bottomless. They have wells of salsa. The supply lines of this nation are beyond anything my ancestors imagined.
My friend warned me. "Don't fill up on chips, dude."
Too late. I had accepted three baskets. Honor demanded each one be finished — an unfinished gift is an insult. By the time my actual food arrived, I was a ruined man.
I was not hungry. I was not comfortable. I had been defeated by a courtesy.
Generosity that arrives before the request cannot be repaid. It can only be survived.
I know the rule now. I have made my peace with the basket. One basket. Two at the most.
Who am I deceiving. There is no number of baskets I would refuse. The trust of a nation is in that salsa, and I intend to honor all of it.
One of my favorite recurring things about the World Cup is the unrealistic and mostly baseless optimism US fans and US media have for our team.
I’m a believer, but please stop saying we’re gonna win it all. Let’s win the first one and then the next…
Go USA!
In Game 5 Shai had his 24th playoff game with 30 PTS & 5 AST, which tied Russell Westbrook for the most in Thunder history 👏
Additionally, 16 FT was a playoff career-high and his 17 attempts tied his playoff career-high.
🚨 BEET JUICE LOWERED BLOOD PRESSURE IN OLDER ADULTS IN JUST TWO WEEKS
Scientists found that drinking nitrate-rich beetroot juice twice daily significantly reduced blood pressure in adults in their 60s and 70s.
Researchers say the effect appears linked to changes in mouth bacteria that help the body produce nitric oxide, a molecule that relaxes blood vessels.
The same blood pressure benefits were not seen in younger adults, even though their oral microbiomes also changed.
The study suggests nitrate-rich vegetables like beetroot, spinach, kale, and celery may support healthier aging and cardiovascular function.
Cars, which has become a required canon event for all American youth, was released 20 years ago.
I’m just confused why it’s not back in theaters this summer.
@Pixar owes us an explanation.
#releasethemcqueencut
I wish the media would stop calling this a "tit for tat" between Israel and Iran. It’s not even close.
Israel launched five to seven waves of preemptive strikes, over 330 precision munitions to roll back Iran’s illegal nuclear and missile programs. Trump gave Iran 60 days to negotiate. They didn’t. Israel struck on day 61. The IAEA said just before Israel’s attack that Iran was in breach of its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, the first such censure in nearly 20 years.
🇮🇱 Israel’s Operation:
• Over 100 high-value targets hit • 20 senior IRGC commanders eliminated (including Hossein Salami, IRGC Commander‑in‑Chief; Mohammad Bagheri, Armed Forces chief of staff; Amir Ali Hajizadeh, IRGC Aerospace Force commander; Gholam Ali Rashid, head of Khatam‑al‑Anbiya HQ; Ali Shamkhani, longtime adviser to Khamenei; Esmail Qaani, Quds Force commander) • 9 nuclear scientists killed • Enrichment facilities at Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow struck • Air defense batteries and ballistic missile silos destroyed • Goal: set Iran’s program back a decade
🇮🇷 Iran’s Response (attacking again right now)
• Launched 180 missiles and drones • Over 90% intercepted by Israel and U.S. assets • Fewer than 10 missiles hit Israeli territory • One struck a civilian apartment building in Tel Aviv
This is not an equal exchange. Israel acted with strategic clarity. Iran escalates with indiscriminate attacks.