skelly

little thoughts from the little brain of a little man

[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.

[Dave Portnoy @stoolpresidente]

I never thought I’d see the day a Euro club was in a full on panic having to play the United States in soccer. You can feel the fear an ocean away

[National Park Service @NatlParkService]

Happy Independence Day 🇺🇸

From battlefields and memorials to parks and protected landscapes, the places cared for by the National Park Service help bring our shared history to life.

[Carolina Hurricanes @Canes]

Twenty years later. Just as iconic.

[Barstool Pack @BarstoolPack]

LOYALTY.

[NC State Men's Basketball @PackMensBball]

HE’S BAAAACK 🔥 @PaulMcneilJr

[Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein]

Paul McNeil tells me that he's withdrawing from the Transfer Portal and will return to NC State next season.

Huge news for Justin Gainey and the Wolfpack.

[Lynyrd Zynyrd @HoopzMcCann]

@paschallutz UHD

[skelly @paschallutz]

1977, 2077, 3277, don’t matter, Steely Dan in 4

[Brian Murphy @murphsturph]

Great stuff here: Wade vs. Wade from my colleagues @wral @HaggertyNews
https://t.co/NF5YPBkEte

[Will Brinson @WillBrinson]

Will Wade's speech at his introductory press conference at LSU is hilariously verbatim from his introductory press conference at NC State.

All we need now is him claiming the #PurplePurge is coming to Baton Rouge.

[Amedeo’s Italian Restaurant @Amedeositalian]

Recent unprecedented events have forced us to make some changes around here. #GoPack

[NCSU Fan Page @NCSUFanPage]

Will Wade after being hired at NC State: “I was told to never go to a program that’s never won a national championship, because odds are, you’re not gonna be the first one.”

Will Wade: proceeds to go to a school that fired him, and NEVER won a national championship.

[skelly @paschallutz]

The entire program is devoid of character

[LSU Basketball @LSUBasketball]

Smiling through it all

[Joe Ovies @joeovies]

NC State will be just fine without Will Wade. Don't believe us? We kept the receipts.

[skelly @paschallutz]

This is really something… in Louisiana of all places too

[Toyloy Brown III @TJ3rd_]

Will Wade is officially back in Baton Rouge

[Carolina Hurricanes @Canes]

Built for Raleigh

[Noah Fleischman @fleischman_noah]

NC State AD Boo Corrigan: "Today is going to be the end of Coach Wade. We're going to go find a coach and then we're going to celebrate the new coach and move forward."

[Seth Davis @SethDavisHoops]

Not only was this answer dishonest, but also condescending to the reporter who asked it. Quite the twofer.

[Mark Andrew Wood @mandrewood]

The ghost of Jimmy V haunted NC State for decades after what happened in his departure.

I cannot wait to see what it does to Will Wade for what is inarguably worse. Enjoy the karma, LSU fans.