inessentials

Books. (I would give the same answer for any room.)

Reviewed a couple times on live feed and there was no clear angle (IMO) but plausible that it went off her chest, not arm.

Bethune laid off that ball for an outside run at least three times today, but Rodman was the first to be in place for it.

Bethune knew.

Look at all those movies out there not being musicals. Stupid movies. You could’ve been a musical!

A lot of NWSL teams have looked really rusty coming out of the break. That first half from the Spirit was something else.

Bethune celebrating before Rodman even winds up is all of us. #WashingtonSpirit

Nice, long, calm chat with the referee. #NWSL

Spirit 532 press is #beating Portland #up because their WBs take Portland’s FBs and they mark player for player in midfield with 2 strikers for their 2 CBs. It’s just a terrible matchup for the way Portland want to build.

Washington Spirit dominating but not finishing left that window for Portland. Spirit are going to come out ANGRY after the break.

Also, Bethune feels so back. So, so back.

Would also like have a nice chat with this ref.

put that S where it belongs in your own mind, please and thank you

SAINT OF THE NARROW STREETS might be Bill's best yet. One of the best books I've read this year.

Deadline is today. No extensions!

Today I’ve watched SAHARA (Bogart!), THE NAKED GUN (Leeson!), and ACE (Sethupathi!), so I’m ready to write a think piece for The Atlantic on masculinity.

I'm supposed to be on medical rest and this game messed that up completely. My heartrate still hasn't dropped.

This. Sport.

A Copa América Femenina Final for the history books.

This is an INSTANT CLASSIC! One of the greatest international women’s soccer games ever:
Norway 🇳🇴 - USA 🇺🇸, 1991
USA 🇺🇸 - Germany 🇩🇪, 1999
Germany 🇩🇪 - Sweden 🇸🇪, 2003
Japan 🇯🇵 - USA 🇺🇸 , 2011
Canada 🇨🇦 - USA 🇺🇸, 2012
COLOMBIA 🇨🇴 - BRAZIL 🇧🇷, 2025 (right now)

Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe. (It's also excellent on how fiction writing, sex work, and pro wrestling all involve creative artifice. It's great.)

Ref gives advantage to Ludmilla. Which means it was a foul. If it's a foul, it's a DOGSO. So even after the advantage, you have to give the card. Come on, NWSL. Be better.

I don't know if they'll win against Seattle tonight, but this Angel City team would win a track meet against any starting XI in the NWSL.

Did that get reviewed? Chawinga looked off. #NWSL

Schupansky is very good. #GothamFC

Flint is playing like the NWSL MVP conversation is open, and honestly she's not wrong.

Kansas City has won 15 of its last 17 regular-season matches dating back to last October (L2), the first team in NWSL history to record 15 wins in a span of 17 league matches.

Eleven of those 15 wins, including the 4-2 victory over Louisville on June 14, have been by a margin of at least two goals.

I put this together after the last set of games. All players she's called in and played (I think). My guess as to where Hayes has them now (not my choices). Bracketed are out, obviously (with Rodman still listed as out). Bold are 23-player squad if needed to play a tournament tomorrow.

Yes and no. I think no true, established ten for the last cycle. (Heaps doesn’t play like one, Rose often hurt, DeMelo never held, etc.). Cat seems to me to be the immediate future. Rose on limited minutes. Bethune and Shaw scraping for a spot, with Sentnor currently ahead based on versatility.

I don’t see her higher than third on depth chart at any one position (if everyone in pool currently were available). But if squad were 26 (as WC might be), she makes it for that reason.

Klingenberg kicks a soccer ball.

Klingenberg

more like mellow drama

Kansas City Current acquire Ally Sentnor from Utah Royals: Sources

In the new, player-friendly NWSL, the rich get richer (KC) and the poor get poorer (Utah).

Is this good for Sentnor? Not sure. She goes from being the focal point of a bad attack to a piece in a good attack.

She's not like-for-like with DiBernardo. But maybe a better path into the USWNT as a 10?