Matt Harding

[Matt Harding @m__hard3]

@golz_tv Would vote to trade Lalas’ citizenship for Poch’s in a heartbeat

[Pilib De Brún (Phil Brown) @Malachians]

Nail on the head. Every single word @landondonovan

[Cellus! @Marcellushill2]

Nah bro I’m not letting this go. I really need to know how this is ANY DIFFERENT from Balogun’s sending off. Jhon Arias literally steps on the back of his ankle (on accident obviously) and receives a yellow whilst we’re without our striker Monday night for the same challenge.

[𝙋𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙡 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙠 @PistolRick]

So they incorrectly used the review process to incorrectly assess a red card and screw the host country’s best player and it’s kinda just an “aww schucks” thing?

[SethOfficial @UTD_Seth001]

🚨 Zlatan Ibrahimović on the inconsistency of VAR after Folarin Balogun’s red card compared to the earlier Lionel Messi challenge against Algeria:

🗣️ “Now we see the inconsistency. One player is protected, another is exposed. That is the biggest problem in football today.”

“If Balogun’s challenge is a straight red card, then people have every right to ask why similar incidents are judged differently. The rules should not change depending on the name on the back of the shirt.”

“This decision exposes the rigidity of VAR, but also its inconsistency. VAR was introduced to remove controversy, yet too often it creates even bigger arguments.”

“Football cannot have two standards—one for the biggest stars and another for everyone else. Either the law is the law, or it means nothing.”

“The fans don’t ask for perfection. They ask for consistency. They want to know that every player, whether it’s Messi, Balogun or anyone else, is judged by exactly the same standard.”

“When supporters start questioning whether reputation influences decisions, that’s dangerous for the credibility of the game. Trust in officiating disappears.”

“VAR should make football fairer, not make people wonder why identical situations end with completely different outcomes. That’s the conversation everyone will be having after this.”

[RedditCFB @RedditCFB]

Friendly reminder that FIFA golden boy Messi received no punishment after this foul earlier in the tournament.

[DawgProcess (Devon Witherspoon Supporter) @DLock4MVP]

Hasn’t been a red all fucking tournament btw

[TODNewsHub @TODNewsHub]

THE @Commanders AREN'T JUST COMING HOME. THEY'RE BRINGING AN ENTIRE NEW DISTRICT WITH THEM‼️

The draft RFK redevelopment plan covers 180 acres and envisions:

🏟️ A new Commanders stadium
🏠 Up to 6,000 homes
💼 Up to 2 million sf of commercial development
🌳 66 acres of parks and open space
🎓 New recreation, sports, and community facilities
🚴 Miles of new riverfront trails and connections
🚇 Walkable access to Metro

For comparison, many cities would consider a 6,000-home project a once-in-a-generation development.

At RFK, that's just one piece of the vision. 🔥🏙️

#DC #WashingtonDC #DMV #Commanders #RFK

[Nic Agüero @ClawForThatInch]

https://t.co/VamKUyajUO

[Barstool Sports @barstoolsports]

“Saratoga really is a special place” -@stoolpresidente on @wakeupbarstool

[MD @mike_daddino]

Can MLB please investigate this play on Gunnar Henderson!!

[Derby1592 @derby1592]

It’s no longer just a choice between continuing to be crushed by track-enabled CAWs or walking away from the game. One racing jurisdiction now offers a third option that still gives you a fighting chance and by taking advantage of that option you can help players send an important message to the industry before it’s too late.

https://t.co/wqUliSEaGk

[Derby1592 @derby1592]

On this weeks Sport of Kings podcast, I go into a short rant about CAWs and an important choice that players need to make right now. It starts at about the 31 minute mark. For those who don't want to listen to the podcast, I pasted in the transcript for that segment below. I urge you to please read (or listen) to it and thoughtfully consider what I say.

"I want to do something a little different today when talking about the wagering menu at NYRA because NYRA is now fundamentally different from every other racing jurisdiction for one big reason: they are the only major track actually doing something meaningful to manage CAW activity.

NYRA now limits CAW activity in all pools. Not just the win pool or the Pick 5, all pools. CAW teams cannot batch a flood of wagers at the final click. They must get their wagers in at least one minute to post, and two minutes in the win pool.

No other track is doing anything remotely close to this. Most are doing little or nothing to manage CAW access to their pools.

So instead of simply complaining about CAWs, players now have something they’ve never really had before: a choice.

Let me use a poker analogy.

Imagine you walk into a large poker room with tables spread out everywhere. At every table except one sit the best poker players in the world. You can choose to sit at one of those tables, but there’s a catch: you also have to play by a different set of rules than they do.

One rule is that you always have to bet first. They all get to see your bet before making their own decisions.

The second rule is that when they win, the house only takes a tiny rake from the pot, but when you win, the house takes a much larger rake.

Now imagine there’s one special table in a separate room called the NYRA Room. At that table are five regular players just like you, and everyone plays under exactly the same rules.

Which table would you choose?

The NYRA table, of course.

You would have to be either stubborn, foolish, or both to choose one of the other tables because at least in the NYRA room you have a fighting chance. At the other tables, you really don’t.

Well, for the first time, horseplayers now have a similar choice every time they log into their ADW account.

You can choose to play at the NYRA table, where the playing field is at least somewhat level and where you actually have a chance to compete.

Or you can continue to play at tracks that effectively give retail players the finger every single day by allowing CAW teams virtually unrestricted access to the pools.

And make no mistake: NYRA is taking a risk by doing this.

Their handle is down because CAW participation is down. Meanwhile, most other tracks continue catering to the CAW teams and assume the rest of us will keep betting no matter how unfair the environment becomes.

So now all of us have a very important choice to make.

If enough players make the right choice and shift more of their handle to NYRA, we can collectively send a powerful message. NYRA will be rewarded for creating a fairer wagering environment, and other tracks may finally feel pressure to follow suit.

But if players continue supporting tracks that refuse to manage CAW activity, despite all the complaints and outrage, then nothing is going to change.

The game will continue moving toward a future where computers are primarily betting against other computers while retail players slowly disappear.

This summer and fall may prove to be a pivotal moment for the future of horse racing.

We now have a real choice, and how we respond may determine what happens next.

Think of it as our “meteor heading toward Earth” moment.

We can be stubborn and refuse to adapt until we become extinct like the dinosaurs, or we can evolve, change our behavior, and give ourselves a chance not just to survive, but maybe even thrive.

It’s up to all of us.

Please choose wisely.

The future of the game may depend on it."

[David Aragona @HorseToWatch]

T O Elvis was dazzling, and anyone who watched his last race can’t be surprised he just did that.

But hopefully this race serves as a needed inflection point around the lack of regulation of CAW wagering, because that was as egregious as you’ll see.

[Matt Harding @m__hard3]

Pretty bad look when NBC is showing 12/1 on TO Elvis as he goes in the gate, @randy_moss_TV even mentioned his 12/1 odds and then he crosses the wire at 5/1??? We don’t hate the CAWs enough @stoolpresidente

[Garrett Morrison @garrett_TFE]

These two renderings of a potential "reimagined" East Potomac Park appear in a fundraising document distributed by the new "National Garden of American Heroes Foundation."

It's unclear to what degree these (very AI-looking) images represent Tom Fazio's actual plans for the golf course, but I think they reveal some important things about the Trump administration's intentions at East Potomac:

1) The new "championship" golf course would take up most of the island. This would mean losing the perimeter road and bike path, the open space at the southern tip of the island, and perhaps even the famous cherry blossom trees, which feature prominently in an annual festival. These non-golf resources at East Potomac Park are used heavily by D.C. residents.

2) Building a bigger course would also mean reducing the number of available golf holes at the facility, likely from 36 to 18, as well as eliminating a historic, recently restored mini-golf course. Inevitably, this would make golf in D.C. less accessible, especially to beginning golfers.

3) Green fees for East Potomac's Blue Course currently top out at $48. There's no way the number would stay there post-reno.

4) The whole nouveau-riche, water-feature-centric aesthetic shown in the renderings is very much in line with Fazio's past work, but not at all representative of East Potomac's historical character and purpose.

5) The administration and the President himself have been open about their hopes to bring a major championship or Ryder Cup to the renovated East Potomac. I think it would be tremendously difficult to stage a tournament of that scale on this island, even after the reno. It does not appear to me that there's enough room.

[Dale Stark @DaleStarkA10]

Soldiers should know better. You’re only allowed to do this if you’re a member of congress.

[Matt Harding @m__hard3]

@mar5hallhoops Also not his first DWI. Outrageous injustice

[James🔻 @GoodVibePolitik]

Blaming wildlife for consuming food and not the fleets of mega trawlers that are catching metric tons of bycatch and causing widespread destruction to fisheries, salmon included. I know what you are.

[Sara McGee for Texas HD 132 @SaraForTexLege]

If they can automatically register you for WAR, they can automatically register you to VOTE.