Russ Posey

[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.

[History Calendar @HistoryCalendar]

The birth years of Continental Congress members if the United States Declaration of Independence had been signed in 2026.

[Berwyn Choobs @sabatonfan69]

Goalkeeper reveal is one of the funniest things I’ve seen recently

[Russ Posey @russposey]

Mind blown

[Russ Posey @russposey]

Easy to root for Block. Class act.

[Kyle Porter @KylePorterNS]

The good stuff. Maybe the best stuff.

[Russ Posey @russposey]

@wnallen guaranteed you will learn a lot about energy infrastructure (incl. windfarms)

[Ed Elson @edels0n]

Our energy grids weren’t built for this 👇

[Bryan Bischof fka Dr. Donut @BEBischof]

too real

[DaVinci @BiancoDavinci]

Real sounds of musical instruments used in ancient times.

[Jonah Goldberg @JonahDispatch]

I laughed pretty hard.

[Pat Croce @pat_croce]

I took my daily dose of chemo at Everest! Don’t allow anything to dilute your zest for living life to its best!

[BaseballHistoryNut @nut_history]

Baseball stats are crazy. This Shohei Ohtani and Babe Ruth stats after 674 career games and 455 innings pitched is absolutely insane.

[I am Ken @Ikennect]

I'm not sure he will get the job, but should🤣

[BabelColour @StuartHumphryes]

Photographed in colour 115 years ago, this truly astounding autochrome plate is like a Rembrandt painting, with a mastful understanding of light & shade. It depicts a pawnbroker evaluating jewellery, and was photographed by Dr W. Simon in 1910. It is original colour, not colourised.

[Russ Posey @russposey]

@glennsteinke Just another day at 7 Oaks

[Dov Kleiman @NFL_DovKleiman]

51 years ago today we had the first quarterback ejection during a game in NFL History.

Vikings' Fran Tarkenton scores a TD and is tripped by Patriots CB Ron Bolton. Fran then fires the ball at Bolton's head.

Both players were ejected after a big fight.

[FOX Sports: NFL @NFLonFOX]

"If that doesn't show you what type of team we are, I don't know what does."

A stunned @JalenHurts joined Pam Oliver after the @Eagles' emotional win at home over the Rams!

[Darren Rovell @darrenrovell]

Happy 80th Birthday, Steve Martin.

Some say his greatest work was for Nike.

“The Popcorn Tape” commercial on Jan. 30, 1994 during the Super Bowl.

Martin’s contract stipulated the ad could only run once.

[Russ Posey @russposey]

Notes to myself https://t.co/nMgNMw4CWz

[Russ Posey @russposey]

1000%

[Cinema Tweets @CinemaTweets1]

The moment Christian Bale appeared on screen in the opening seconds of The Fighter, I knew he would win an Oscar. Words don’t do Bale justice- his acting here is not human. I think Christian Bale is one of the most talented actors film has ever seen. He can truly play anything.

[Cinema Tweets @CinemaTweets1]

The moment Christian Bale appeared on screen in the opening seconds of The Fighter, I knew he would win an Oscar. Words don’t do Bale justice- his acting here is not human. I think Christian Bale is one of the most talented actors film has ever seen. He can truly play anything.