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F1 Review: 2023 Singapore Grand Prix

The story around Marina Bay was Red Bull this weekend, as they genuinely struggled for the first time, coming away without a victory for the first time this season and Max Verstappen missing out on a podium for the first time this season.

When you look the end of a historic run, there was no shortage of drama throughout the weekend. The practice sessions were relatively quiet, but qualifying left everyone on the edge of their seats.

As time was winding down on the Q1, Lance Stroll lost control of his Aston Martin and hit the wall at high speed, demolishing his car. The good news is he was able to get out and walk himself to the medical car, although he did not participate in the race on Sunday. The one who’s qualifying was impacted the most was Oscar Piastri, who was putting in a quality lap but wound up missing Q2.

Two of the five drivers that were eliminated in Q2 were in a Red Bull, giving us our first Q3 of the season without either Sergio Perez or Verstappen. In the end it was Carlos Sainz who ended up on pole with George Russell alongside.

During the race we saw Yuki Tsunoda wound up with a DNF as he pulled off the track early with a puncture he felt would prevent him from getting back to the pit lane. Esteban Ocon and Valteri Botas also failed to see the checkered flag. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton both pit for a fresh set of medium tires during the Virtual Safety Car that came out when Ocon’s day ended, and it looked to be the perfect strategic move as they had significantly more pace than the rest of the field down the stretch.

Unfortunately, that pace got the better of George Russell in the end and he found himself in the barriers, taking him from a podium spot to a DNF. He and Hamilton found themselves pushing harder than they expected thanks to some ingenious driving by Sainz, who kept allowing Lando Norris to just get into DRS range, which allowed him to hold off both Mercedes, and prevent them from mounting a chase for the front. The strategy worked as Sainz finished on the top step of the podium, while Norris finished second, and Hamilton third.

Fernando Alonso was the last of all drivers to cross the finish line, meaning he falls out of third place in the Drivers Championship, as Hamilton now has a ten point lead there. Ferrari took home a first and fourth place in the race, slowly closing the gap on Mercedes, now only twenty four points back for second in the Constructors Championship.

Week 2 DFS Plays

Joe Burrow ranked the 50/50 bracket last week, but ended up in the money in the tournament bracket. Here are my lineups this week.

Tournament:

50/50:

USMNT vs. Uzbekistan Friendly: Player Ratings

Welp, Berhalter ball is back, y’all. After some promising performances under interim coach Anthony Hudson, and some downright exciting ones under BJ Callahan, who probably should have been offered the full-time gig, the team was back under the stewardship of World Cup coach, Gregg Berhalter. The results were about what one who pays attention would expect. The 3-0 scoreline in favor of the US, the least they should probably have expected, flattered the hosts. An early goal by Tim Weah started the US off hot, but instead of putting their stamp on the game, the scrappy Uzbeks had several opportunities to level the score before a couple of late tallies secured the win for the home side. Let’s see how our individual performers did. As always, we’ll use a 1-10 rating system with half points when I can’t make up my damn mind.

GK Matt Turner – 7.5

The US and Nottingham Forest number 1 didn’t have a ton to do, but was sharp when called into action, stopping two breakaways as well as a clever effort at the near post that certainly would have gone in if not for his intervention. Importantly as well, Turner was solid with the ball at his feet. He’ll never look comfortable in that role, but his control was good and his passes were accurate. Was cleanly beaten by one clean strike that rattled the crossbar, but not sure any keeper in the world was getting anything on that.

LB Jedi Robinson – 6.0

Typical workmanlike performance from the first choice left back. Plenty of marauding runs up the left flank that ultimately were let down by his poor final ball. On a night where most of the US defenders didn’t close down on attackers well, Robinson was pretty responsible on that front and kept his side clean. One of these days the hope is he’ll really put it together and be a threat. Tonight wasn’t that night, but he was certainly solid enough.

LCB Tim Ream – 4.0

Woof. The usually dependable captain had a nightmare of a first half. Got caught in possession that led to a breakaway which was ultimately thwarted by Turner. Made several poor passes to the wrong point in the Berhalter triangle which led to turnovers. Didn’t close on the shooter on the aforementioned shot off the woodwork. He improved to his usual standard in the second half with timely interceptions, aerial dominance in defense, and better passing, but by then he’d dug himself such a hole that short of scoring a goal, this was the best rating he would get.

RCB Chris Richards – 6.0

The criminally underappreciated – both by USMNT fans and at Crystal Palace – Richards cuts a hulking figure in defense but plays with a comfortable grace that belies his physical presence. Where Ream was calamitous early, Richards was calm and collected throughout. Could probably have been rated higher but was a complete non-factor on set pieces at the other end. Some of that is poor delivery, but it’s an area where he should be involved.

RB Sergino Dest – 5.5

Another one of the defensive crew who didn’t close down well enough early on. Also committed a poor foul in a dangerous area that a good right back wouldn’t commit. As always, he was active on the wing and willingly incisive in the attack. The final product, much like his left sided counterpart, just too often lets him down. One spectacular run near the end could and should have ended in a goal if not for a shanked finish. Certainly not awful from Dest today, but not particularly great either.

DCM Luca De La Torre – N/A

Went off injured early with what appears to have been a broken nose. Tough luck for the dude because this was the ideal opportunity for him to showcase his ability in the Tyler Adams role, but it wasn’t to be.

LM Yunus Musah – 6.5

I think we’re just beginning to see the blossoming of this young fella into the player he can become. Committed on defense, increasingly aggressive on offense, it seems to be coming together. Stop me if I sound like a broken record, but plenty of good moments with serious potential ended with a pass that narrowly missed connecting, or an errant shot attempt, but overall, he’s done well here and shown the world he’s ready to make his mark. AC Milan will be delighted they have him.

RM Weston McKennie – 6.5

Delightful bit of individual skill to set up Weah’s opener. Good in possession and reliable in tracking back on offense. On an afternoon where the US attack sputtered more than hummed, most promising US endeavors in the Uzbekistan end involved him. We’ll see if he truly gets a second run in the Juventus side this season, but he seems to be in solid form. One knock on him, and we saw it today, if some of the play around him isn’t good, he’s not really the type to create much individually. Oh well, not everyone is Messi.

LAM Christian Pulisic – 5.5

Well, he bagged a goal on a penalty kick late on. That’s about it. He wasn’t necessarily poor today, but Berhalter ball just doesn’t suit him. Uzbekistan, while far from a powerhouse, isn’t a lousy side by any stretch, but you would have expected Pulisic to make his mark on the game. And he just didn’t. Had one decent opportunity in the second half but his tame header from six yards was easily saved. The penalty was well-taken, so there’s that at least.

RAM Tim Weah – 6.0

His goal in the fourth minute was a thing of beauty. Set up by McKennie, he lashed a beautiful bullet into the far post side netting to start the US off on a good note. Then it was like someone replaced his Energizer batteries with some shitty knock off brand. It’s not that he quit trying. He’s always enterprising, but today his first touch was atrocious, and he never took it upon himself to run at anyone in the 18-yard box. I guess it’s a testament to his quality that he can have a mostly anonymous match and still muster a moment of brilliance, but when you start off like that, it leaves fans hoping for more.

ST Folarin Balogun – 6.0

The US has never had a striker like Balogun. Today wasn’t his best day, but on multiple occasions he showcased how he can be an absolute nightmare for opposing defenses. Was a little unlucky to head off the post from six yards with the goal gaping in front of him and didn’t hit his shot particularly well after some nifty footwork allowed him to create space amongst multiple defenders, but he sure is exciting to watch. Subbed off at the break for Pepi.

The Subs

Tanner Tessman – 3.0

Came on for De La Torre midway through the first half. Best that can be said about him today is that he didn’t get sent off. An awful back pass led to a breakaway that was kept out by Turner. Multiple errant passes that should have been easy completions led to Uzbeki counterattacks. Frustratingly to me, Tessman is huge yet absent in set pieces both on offense and defense. You’d think he could use that size to become a problem. He did showcase some talent today, with a couple of pinpoint 50-yard floating passes, and that’s great. But when you’re playing in a CDM role, you can’t be turning the ball over like he did. Poor, but maybe there’s some potential?

Ricardo Pepi – 5.5

Scored a nice goal with a powerful shot from the top of the box with the goalie partially screened. Other than that, he was entirely anonymous. I’ve said this before, but you don’t need your center forward to be sublimely skillful. You just need him to smash goals in when the opportunity presents itself. I guess he did that once today but for a guy who played 45 minutes, the hope is his name is mentioned by the announcers more than three times. On the plus side, he’s a willing helper when defending from the front.

Brenden Aaronson – 6.0

Set up Pepi’s goal with a nicely weighted pass in traffic. Hustled relentlessly to help on defense. And honestly, I’m never happy when his name is announced but he played fairly well the final 25 minutes or so today. He’s just… not very good. He can’t get a cross past the first defender. Despite his work rate and plus speed, he’s just not willing to run at defenders in the box, and I don’t freaking get it. More on why that’s important later, but in fairness to BA there was more good than bad today.

Mark McKenzie – 6.0

Another guy I’m not personally high on, but he was solid in relief of Richards today. One notable contribution was bailing out Tessman after a brutal back pass with some alert reactions. Responsible in distribution. A non-factor on offense but that’s fine when you’re solid on D.

Kristoffer Lund – N/A

First cap for the recently committed dual national. He didn’t trip over the furniture in his brief time on the pitch and didn’t look out of place, but there’s not enough of a sample size from today’s ten minutes or so to drop an accurate rating.

Malik Tillman – 7.0

Only on for the last ten minutes, and maybe it’s a coincidence but the US looked like a completely different team after he came on. Maybe it was a formation change as well, but Tillman looks capable of being a menace. His most telling play was winning the penalty in stoppage time with a darting run into the box, right at a tired defender, drawing a clear foul on a clever hip and head fake that sent the defender in the wrong direction. This was exactly the blueprint of what Aaronson needs to do when coming on late. Tillman deserves a longer look next game to see if what we saw these ten minutes translates over a longer period. Nicely done, sir.

Let us know on Twitter (I refuse to call it X) @thestainsports if you think we got it wrong here. As always, thanks for reading.

USMNT Notes: Takeaways From the Gold Cup QF Against Canada

The Gold Cup is always an interesting one for the USMNT as they can’t very well field a full strength roster, but against fairly winnowy competition it does usually offer a good look at some talent that’s trying to crack the first team. Here are some things we noticed from Sunday’s game.

Strategy: After outclassing lesser opponents St. Kitts & Nevis and Trinidad & Tobago, the USMNT was largely held in check by a tougher, yet still inferior-to-them Canada side. Disappointingly, the team departed from its free-flowing creative style earlier in the tournament, back to Berhalter ball – a bummer of a development in what figures to be one of BJ Callahan’s last matches in charge. No real overlapping movements up front. Dozens of unnecessary back passes to Matt Turner. An overreliance on crossing the ball to Jesus Ferreira who is shit in the air. The USMNT still figures to beat Panama in the semis, but nothing is ever guaranteed.

This was also the first time that Callahan seemed out of touch with his substitutions. Yes, bringing on Brandon “El Guapo” Vazquez for Gressell late on worked out well, but the Cincinnatti striker was always going to come on. It wasn’t some kind of strategical masterpiece. Then there was replacing the center back pairing of Miles Robinson and Jalen Neal with Aaron Long and Matt Miazga. Not that Neal and Robinson reminded anyone of Franz Beckenbauer but they were generally in the right places, and apart from Robinson being unable to maintain responsibility for his hands (a skill he’ll hopefully develop), Canada had no real chances from open play while they were both still on. Meanwhile, a clearly exhausted Bryan Reynolds was left out there to die in extra time despite a fit DeAndre Yedlin being available – something that certainly contributed to Canada’s short-lived go-ahead goal. It just wasn’t a good showing from BJ, tactically or managerially.

Notable Names:

Jesus Ferreira. We weren’t expecting another hat trick, but this was a downer for him. He offers nothing in hold up play. He’s feckless in the air. And he needs service against decent defenses. That’s not to say he played awful. He didn’t. He’s a willing defender from the front. He worked his way into a couple of decent spots only to have shots either blocked or scuffed. But we’re starting to see why he’s at best a third or fourth option for the US up front right now.

DeJuan Jones. If you didn’t know, now you do. The New England Revolution defender was a revelation at left back, defending well, marauding up the field at every opportunity, and feathering an inch-perfect 40 yard cross onto the dome of Vazquez for the opener. Beyond just that, he played all 120 minutes and didn’t seem at all worse for wear. One game is one game, but he’s one to watch for the future. After decades of paucity at the position, the US is strong at left back for the forseeable future.

Brendan Aaronson. What!? He didn’t even play, moron! Yes, I know this. But I’ve been screaming that in addition to terrorizing defenders in possession with his relentless pursuit, he needs to run at people. Especially late. See Jacob Shaffelburg, the speedy Canadian winger who scored the go-ahead goal in added time. With fresh legs, and Bryan Reynolds far in the dust, he only had to beat Ferreira to a loose ball and then Miazga one on one. He sprinted right at the lumbersome Miazga, forcing Miazga to either maintain space or risk a possible red card foul, and ripped a fine shot that Matt Turner could only dream of saving. THIS is how Aaronson needs to play and use his speed, not running into blind alleys over and over again. Take notes, kid.

Miazga. I know I’m hard on the guy, and I probably shouldn’t be. He’s a fine MLS center back and fairly good in the air. He nearly scored off a corner kick, only for the finger tips of the excellent Dayne St. Clair to deny him in goal. He’s just… slow. And doesn’t position well enough to make up for his lack of speed. Tim Ream? Also slower than molasses in January. But he is always, and I mean ALWAYS, in the right spot, so he can get away with it. This is the difference between an international quality center back and a guy who plays fairly well in MLS. The US is pretty deep at center back, even if Ream eventually retires, with the excellent Chris Richards, Scottish Premiership best defender Cam Carter-Vickers, Berhalter cast-off John Brooks, MLS defender of the year Walker Zimmerman, and the aforementioned Neal. But in games like today when all of a sudden you have Miazga paired with the awful Aaron Long, the boat starts taking water rapidly. And it did.

Vazquez. He’s not nearly as skillful as Ferreira, and doesn’t cross well – something Ferreira can and will do if asked to. In fact, he does little well outside of finishing in front of goal, and hold-up play. And that’s enough. You don’t need your center forward to have skills like Messi. You just need a guy who can smash the ball in the goal. He scored one, could have had a second, and forces defenses to collapse on him in the middle. Yes, he blasted his shootout penalty a good 10 feet over the bar, but that was probably more of him being too amped up in front of his hometown crowd. Folarin Balogun should be the first choice at center forward whenever he’s healthy and not club-tied, but Vazquez really needs to be the number 2, especially with the team all but certain to revert back to dour Berhalter ball.

Matt Turner. It’s time to start mentioning his name alongside the best goalies in the world. I read a stat on Twitter (too lazy to fact check) that said he has now saved 14 of 29 penalties taken against him. If accurate, that’s an absurd rate on a play in which the striker should be nearly certain to score. Beyond that, his play with the ball at his feet – which was once an adventure – is now a strength. His passing is firm and accurate, and it was his perfectly placed long ball into the Canadian box that caused the chaos leading to the US’ own-goal equalizer.

Cade Cowell. Probably should have started ahead of Alex Zendejas, who is better suited as a fleet-footed late sub. Cowell tries to get too cute on his final product nearly every time he has the ball in an attacking position, be it a pass or shot. But he’s relentless, and another one to watch for the future. He’s unlikely to Wally Pipp Christian Pulisic on the left attacking flank but if he tightens up his final pass, he is capable of stepping in with no drop off in quality of play from that position.

Djordje Mihailovic & James Sands. That should put it to bed, right? These guys are pretty good MLS players, or in Djordje’s case, Eriedivisie. And I don’t care what anyone says, while Ajax and Alkmaar are good teams, virtually all others in that league get boatraced by 2/3 of MLS clubs. These guys are just not good enough to warrant regular national team consideration. And that’s ok. Not everyone can be.

Reynolds. Add right back to the list of positions the US is deep at. Watching his play these last couple of weeks just reignites the fury I have for Berhalter using Shaq Moore in the World Cup. Sergino Dest and Joe Scally should be the unquestioned top choices at right back, but Reynolds at this juncture is the unquestioned number three with remaining upside.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours? Let us know on Twitter @TheStainSports. Thanks for reading.

The Dodgers Must Fire Dave Roberts

Call this emotional. Call it recency bias. Call it whatever you want. Just don’t call it wrong.

Dave Roberts has been the Dodgers’ manager since 2016. Since then, they have won one World Series – the Covid-shortened 2020 season. This in spite of the fact that the team has wielded a star-studded roster with one of the game’s largest payrolls since then.

Sure, one championship is one more than most other teams have in that time frame. But considering the resources the team has, and how it has spent them over the years to make sure the team is competitive, just one title seems far short of what would be expected.

One could argue, it’s not all his fault. To a degree, they could support it. Sure, he hasn’t any idea how to manage a pitching staff, but he isn’t the one that assembled a roster that required the likes of Billy McKinney and the corpse of Albert Pujols getting key at bats. But at the end of the day, despite imperfections dotting the roster, it comes down to this. Did you win the whole thing? If not, well, why not?

Roberts isn’t without his redeeming qualities. He’s a nice fella. Keeps the clubhouse loose. Makes sure guys get enough playing time to stay involved. Faces the media.

But wow. A blind rhinoceros could handle a pitching staff, and especially a bullpen, better.

Over the 162 game slog of the regular season, his ineptness is generally obscured by a combination of indifference and success in spite of it. After all, about 100 of those games are coming against teams more interested in losing than they are in winning. If you make an absurd bullpen call against the Oakland A’s, it’s unlikely to cost you.

That luxury, however, doesn’t exist in the playoffs. There are no Oakland A’s, Colorado Rockies, et al in the postseason. Decisions matter. And while you can accuse me of cherry picking, the list is too long for that argument to hold water. Whether it’s leaving Kershaw in to die against the Astros when it was clear as day they knew what was coming; or going to Kershaw against the Nationals out of the bullpen, instead of Kenta Maeda who’d been dominant out of it, or Adam Kolarek who was acquired specifically to face hitters like Juan Soto; or leaving Joe Kelly in for a second inning when his ERA after one inning was somewhat close to a billion; or whether it was pulling a cruising and dominant Rich Hill against the Red Sox; or keeping a clearly injured Blake Treinen on the roster over battle-tested veteran Craig Kimbrel, who wasn’t nearly as bad during the season as Dodger fan casuals will have you believe, against the Padres. If there’s a big pitching decision to be made, he’s going to blow it. Every time.

But what about 2020, you say? If you need a reminder, this is the postseason where Julio Urias was utterly unhittable, and closed out the championship in style. Now, I have no firsthand knowledge of this, but I would bet my bottom dollar that there was a conversation had between Roberts and the front office that went something like this.

FO: Any big spot, you’re going to Julio

DR: But…

FO: No buts. You’re doing it.

DR: But Kenley… Kershaw can pitch in relief!!!!

FO: It’s Julio, or you’re fired.

So I digress, there is no need to belabor this point. But tonight, it came to a head.

No, it isn’t his fault that the front office has assembled a bullpen consisting of guys like Shelby Miller and Phil Bickford, while cycling through guys like Andre Jackson, Jake Reed, Dylan Covey, Zack Burdi, and Tayler Scott. It’s not his fault that instead of World Series hero Dylan Floro, they have Alex Vesia, who was so bad he was demoted to the minors a few weeks ago. It’s not his fault that Andrew Friedman got crunk as fuck one night and decided to make Noah Syndergaard an offer resembling one given to a pitcher who could get outs at the big league level. None of that is his fault.

What is his fault is not making the most of the resources he does have – primarily reclamation project turned top three reliever in baseball, Evan Phillips. Sure, there’s arguments to be made that your best reliever needs to be used to get the opposition’s toughest part of their lineup out. I get it. But in the playoffs last season, Phillips was used as early as the fifth inning. Good thing the opposition’s best hitters never come up again after the fifth inning, right?

Time and time again, he’s gone to Phillips way too early and left the likes of Brusdar Graterol to invariably fail in big situations.

Tonight it was the 8th inning, and it wasn’t even the Reds’ best hitters. Fortunately, he’d already used the calamitous Graterol earlier in the game, but going to Phillips in the 8th left Caleb Ferguson, who has struggled badly with his command, for the 9th. Even that is forgiveable, if he’d realized after the second of Ferguson’s four consecutive walk/HBPs, that he needed to make a change. Nope. About 15 pitches too late, he finally went to Shelby Miller, probably the third best option he had remaining at the time which is infuriating on its own level, to predictably give up the game-winning hit.

Back to the slog of the regular season. In years past, this gets papered over. It’s one game, and yes, Roberts is so bad at his job that he makes people yearn for the days of Don Mattingly, but this isn’t the same Dodger team as in recent years. Stars have departed, replaced by rookies who are going through their understandable ups and downs. This isn’t a team that is going to win 100+ games. This is a team that is, perhaps luckily, 9 games over .500 after 61 games. Not awful, perhaps even decent, but gone are the days of running away with the NL West. This team is nowhere near guaranteed to make the postseason, so these winnable games that are pissed away on an otherwise innocuous night in Ohio are going to matter.

Despite the tone of this article, I’m not even mad. I saw it coming as early as the 6th inning. I’m just realistic. I’m ok with this team being probably 25 games worse this season than last season, if it means making a run at Ohtani next offseason. But the trade off is, you have to win the games you have in the bag.

And the truth is, if you have a blithering idiot as your manager, it’s just not going to happen. For all of Roberts’ likability as a person, he’s an all-time bad manager. It’s time for the Dodgers to decide if they’re serious about winning, or if one title is enough for the next 20 plus years.

Pride Night: Dodgers Bungle it Shamefully

How do you screw up Pride Night? How, with billions of dollars at your disposal and thousands of people on your payroll do you screw up any night, for that matter? But especially this one. Pride Night is important.

For as long as there have been sports, the LGBT+ community has been excluded. Shunned. Ridiculed. Especially in baseball. To date, there has never been an openly gay active MLB player. Some came out after retirement, notably Glenn Burke. But how many people do you think gave up on their baseball dream at a young age because they knew they’d be an outcast due to their sexuality? Could we have had more Mike Trouts? Ken Griffey Jrs.? Dwight Goodens? We’ll never know, but odds are the sport and its fans have likely missed out on generational superstars due to institutional homophobia.

If that is ever going to change, the sport and its teams need to execute events like Pride Night correctly. Unequivocal inclusion is the message, and anything short of spotless execution is going to dilute it.

Here’s a summary of how it went down.

The Dodgers announce their Pride Night and the participating organizations. So far so good? This is where it all started going to shit. One of the organizations invited by the Dodgers was the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a charitable organization of men who dress in drag as nuns. Nobody will dispute the group’s good works, but the problem is, they openly mock Catholics. They claim not to, but they sell dildos in the shape of Jesus on the cross on their website. Read that sentence again.

This is problematic because a large part of the Dodgers fanbase is Latino, their primary religious affiliation, Catholicism. As you can imagine, there was some blowback. The Dodgers were caught off guard, not because Catholics took offense but because nobody had bothered to do any background research on any of the invited organizations. Also getting in on the blowback were people like Florida Senator Marco Rubio, an anthropomorphized pile of excrement if there ever was one.

Then the Dodgers compounded their error by… capitulating to the blowback. They uninvited the Sisters and whoa boy. If the ballclub thought the blowback to inviting the Sisters was bad, they had no idea what they were in for. Prominent California democrats condemned the team for giving in to right wing pressure. Other invited LGBT+ organizations withdrew from the event. Social media went crazy.

And if you don’t think Social media matters, well, why do you think every big league team in every big league sport has an active Twitter account. And wow, did the Twitter warriors go nuts on the Dodgers. Now, it’s true that probably 95% of the people most outraged didn’t actually care one bit what happened. They’re not really “allies.” They have likely never donated a penny to an LGBTQ+ cause, or stood up for an LGBTQ+ person being bullied. They lack the ability to care about anything other than how many likes and retweets they get, how much clout they can acquire, how much attention they can manufacture for themselves. They lack the intellectual capacity to process nuance. They’re honestly good for little. But what they can do is amplify a message. And did they ever amplify it.

Fast forward to Monday, May 22nd, the Dodgers once again flip flopped and reinvited the Sisters to Pride Night, reigniting the slobbering, flop sweating rage of the right wing bigotry machine. And probably, and less vocally, a whole lot of Catholics.

This is where the nuance comes in, and the aforementioned useless clout addicts of the Twitterverse. Not a lot of people outside of the Catholic faith are going to have a ton of sympathy for Catholics. The church has a long history of sexual scandal, pedophelia, homophobia and very public opposition to marriage equality. So when an organization engages in anti-catholic behavior, the sentiment is generally, “so what, fuck ’em.” Well, isn’t that inclusion for you.

Again, more nuance. While all of the warts on the Catholic church on that front were earned, the tides have indeed shifted. President Joe Biden is a lifelong devout Catholic, and the most pro-trans president in history. And while there remains a long way to go with the Vatican, Pope Francis has taken a publicly conciliatory tone toward homosexuality. So I maintain, you are either for inclusion and equality for all, or you’re either a piece of shit or a brainless twit who derives self worth only from online engagement.

Here is how it should have gone down.

All organizations invited should have been thoroughly vetted.

Once they fucked that up, they should have stuck to their guns, and released a public statement along the lines of this. “It has come to our attention that there are some concerns regarding of Pride Night’s organizations sentiment toward Catholics. While we don’t condone actions that denigrate anyone’s faith, we continue to believe in the importance of what the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence do for the LGBTQ+ community and look forward to their participation in this important event.”

Then, when people critized that, they could have followed up with a statement that says, “We continue to hear concerns. While we don’t disregard any of them, the Dodgers remain committed to making baseball and Dodger Stadium a safe and welcome place for all. We believe all people should be treated equally, and if you are not of that same mind, then you are welcome not to attend Pride Night.”

But they didn’t.

All it would have taken is for one low level intern to do some basic research and say, “Hey Boss? They sell Jesus on the cross dildos. Is that…problematic?”

Hopefully other organizations learn from the Dodgers’ failure.

Book Review: Power Players by Chris Cillizza

You read that correctly, we at The Stain now do book reviews. The only caveat is that they have to be about sports in some way shape or form.

So let’s get into it. Power Players examines how sports and politics have intertwined when it comes to the American Presidency. Chris Cillizza is a political commentator, probably best known for his time at CNN. His penchant for pissing people on both sides of the political aisle off, and leaning into his boldest and most absurdist political takes with full committment should make this book, at the very least, interesting.

A couple of things gave me pause before I started reading. First, most books come rife with testimonials prominently available, either on the cover or first pages. The cover testimonial, “… a fun read for politicos and sports fans alike,” comes from none other than Cillizza’s former CNN colleague, Jake Tapper. Look, if you have to rely on a former work buddy for your cover kudos, is that really a good sign? And was calling the book “a fun read” really the best you could solicit? It sounds a lot like something you might say about the shower while you were leaving a hotel review on Yelp. “Yeah, it got me clean enough but the water never quite got as hot as I wanted, and shower head made this strange high-pitched whirring noise on the massage setting. But the water pressure was good!”

Second, there has been no shortage of books authored by those in the journalistic world in the wake of the Trump presidency. Not that I can blame anyone for chasing a buck, but if that’s your primary motivation in the endeavor, how much effort is really going into it? In fact, Cillizza himself sort of notes this exact thing in the Jimmy Carter chapter, saying, “Nowadays, of course, it’s a rite of passage. Leave the White House, srite a dishy book about its inner workings – with you as the hero – and then cash in.” In fairness, he’s talking about aides in that reference but it certainly applies to journalists as well.

But anyway, all that stuff would just be judging the book by something other than its contents.

Let’s start with the criticisms.

From the get go, Power Players reads a little bit like a text book. For something that is supposed to be a fun read, there are somewhat substantial stretches where you feel like you might have to do a homework assignment once you’re done with the chapter. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, and if you’re the type to prioritize getting educated rather than entertained, it might even be a selling point for you. I, on the other hand, had hoped for a little more of the fun I was promised by Jake Tapper.

Additionally, Cillizza makes the somewhat understandable choice to go chronologically with his profiled presidents, starting with Eisenhower and ending with Biden. However, while sticking to that timeline, Cillizza jumps around quite a bit with tidbits and “fun facts” about other presidents outside of the one he’s talking about in a particular chapter. It seems unnecessary, seeing as there’s an upcoming chapter about the other dude, and takes away from the book’s flow.

The choice to start with Eisenhower was also a strange one to me. Didn’t sports exist before 1953? I mean, Eisenhower was a war hero and viewed universally in a positive light, so it makes sense on that level. And while I’m not sure anyone really cares about the tiddlywinks exploits of Millard Fillmore, surely there was a president of some consequence before Dwight that played… I don’t know, anything? Lacrosse is reported to be the oldest sport in America, having been played since the 1600s according to Wikipedia. Are you telling me that no president between 1776 and 1953 was a fan?

Finally, and this ties in to how few presidents ultimately were featured in this book, but due to the paucity of material, in order to fill a chapter, Cillizza tends to go on too long with certain stories. There’s only so hard that you need to drive the point of home that Eisenhower was mad about golf. Or that Jimmy Carter allegedly insisted on approving use of the White House tennis court himself, and how that shaped public perception of him. Meanwhile, there’s plenty of plenty of opportunities for anecdote that left me wanting. Gerald Ford was a remarkable athlete with a storied history of achievement. Surely there were a few more yarns that could have been woven into his chapter, rather than repeating too often that his critics painted him as a numbskull who took too many blows to the head in football. And of course, Trump. It’s understandable and even entertaining that Cillizza would work in some of Trump’s more absurd assertions of his own prowess, and give us the unnecessary reminder of how avid a golfer he was. But I feel there were some missed opportunities, both in the story of his USFL failures / inability to secure an NFL franchise, and his involvement in pro wrestling and Wrestlemania. Both items are touched upon but they are legitimately interesting stories and I’d love to have read more than a couple of pages on each. And the note about Trump eschewing exercise due to his belief that the human body carried a finite amount of energy like a battery, though well-known, is nevertheless always a hilarious memory.

Now, if it sounds like I’m beating up on the book a little bit… it’s because I am. But it’s certainly not all bad. There’s plenty of good stuff, and I don’t regret reading it. I learned some pretty interesting stuff – stuff I wouldn’t have expected to be true. Stuff like Richard Nixon was good friends with Jackie Robinson. Stuff like George W. Bush actually warmed up for his iconic first pitch at Yankee Stadium, because he didn’t want a repeat of a poorly thrown first pitch like the one nobody remembers from earlier that season. And there’s other good stuff like this in there, that I won’t bullet for you here as this isn’t supposed to be some kind of spoiler alert.

I’m just trying to help you make a decision on whether or not you should spend your money on this book.

The Verdict: So, should you? Personally, I wouldn’t. It’s $30. But if this subject matter is your thing, I wouldn’t blame you if you did. What do book reviews use these days, a four star system? If so, I’d give it probably 2.5 stars out of four. While there are certainly fun and educational parts of the book, it does seem like the research done, if any, was mostly surface level stuff you could find just about anywhere online. It doesn’t seem like any interviews were original – and there’s something that feels a little wrong about using mostly the investigative toil of others to publish something. It also seems like there was indeed an element of trying to capitalize and squeeze one last dime out of Donald Trump’s clown car of a presidency. If I’m going to cough up $30, I just want a little more for my money, ya know?

Don’t Call Someone a Fing C at Work

ESPN reporter Marly Rivera has been fired after calling a fellow reporter a “fucking cunt,” while, for lack of a better word, on the clock.

As is per the usual in today’s outrage climate, social media was immediately ablaze with takes such as “white men say worse all the time and don’t get in trouble,” and also with people celebrating her dismissal because, well, some people are pieces of shit who revel in the misfortune of others.

What if I told you there is a middle ground? In fact, there’s really only one ground. If any of us, regardless of what our job is, called someone a “fucking cunt” whilst at our job and representing our company, the prevailing likelihood is that we would be fired. No muss, no fuss, no social media outrage. Just, “you called someone what, exactly? Yeah, you’re gone. Can’t do that.”

The last 27 seconds of Marly Rivera’s career lmfao pic.twitter.com/IIfb22CNjQ

— Emily Nyman (@EmSheDoesIt) April 27, 2023

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Never mind that the fellow reporter Rivera called a fucking cunt is married to MLB’s Vice President of Communications, John Blundell, which absolutely, positively, 100% played a role. You can’t do it.

Rivera, made the double-sided statement on her own behalf that she “fully accepts responsibility,” but also that “there were extenuating circumstances,” which is, of course, hogwash. You either take responsibility or you don’t.

Let’s also address the other elephant in the room. Yes, it has absolutely been harder for women and people of color to get a job in professional sports media, let alone a woman of color. Is that wrong? 100%. Discrimination needs to be eliminated in it’s entirety. That too comes with it’s own other side that nobody wants to to acknowledge.

If we are going to preach 100% equality, then we also need to accept that with it comes 100% responsibility. To imply that Rivera should get cut slack here because she’s a woman of color is antithetical to the notion of equality. Not to make apples to asparagus comparisons here, but what if it had been Rivera who uttered derogatory homophobic slurs on a hot mic instead of Thom Brenneman? Would any punishment resulting from that also be because she’s a woman of color?

This should be a learning experience for Rivera, as these types of things should be for anyone who as ever said something stupid at work and suffered the consequences. Or even those who have gotten away with it. You can’t say things like this in the course of your employment, even if the target of your ire may deserve it, and expect to keep your job.

ESPN did the correct thing by firing Rivera. That said, I do hope she gets another crack at a job in baseball. Second chances are a thing, after all.

2023 NFL Mock Draft

There are plenty of great mock draft simulators out there, for this I used Pro Football Network to make it easy to copy into this post. The big ones here for me is the number three QB, I don’t see a world where Anthony Richardson slips all the way to Detroit at 18, but I really feel the Colts need to go with a more ready QB hence me giving them Will Levis, and then the slip just based on need. If the top four play out this way, expect a trade soon after by a team to come up and get Richardson. The other one that slipped here that I don’t expect to slip as far once the draft starts is Bijan Robinson. Robinson in the best RB prospect in years, which is the only reason he is being considered in the first round, much less possibly the first half of the first round. He slipped to the Cowboys here and would be an ideal fit for them given the Tony Pollard injury and the fact the Cowboys are best when the running game is on.

ROUND 1

1. Bryce Young, QB, Alabama
2. C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State
3. Will Anderson Jr., EDGE, Alabama
4. Will Levis, QB, Kentucky
5. Tyree Wilson, EDGE, Texas Tech
6. Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia
7. Paris Johnson Jr., OT, Ohio State
8. Myles Murphy, EDGE, Clemson
9. Broderick Jones, OT, Georgia
10. Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon
11. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State
12. Jordan Addison, WR, USC
13. Peter Skoronski, OT, Northwestern
14. Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois
15. Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame
16. Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State
17. Lukas Van Ness, EDGE, Iowa
18. Anthony Richardson, QB, Florida
19. Cam Smith, CB, South Carolina
20. Kelee Ringo, CB, Georgia
21. Quentin Johnston, WR, TCU
22. Bryan Bresee, DT, Clemson
23. Brian Branch, S, Alabama
24. Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah
25. Deonte Banks, CB, Maryland
26. Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas
27. Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College
28. Isaiah Foskey, EDGE, Notre Dame
29. Nolan Smith, EDGE, Georgia
30. Trenton Simpson, LB, Clemson
31. Darnell Wright, OT, Tennessee

Player Ratings – USA vs. Mexico, International Friendly

Setting the stage: If you’ve read our site before, and judging by our analytics you haven’t, you know how this works. But anyway, we use a half point system because it’s more fun, generally talk shit about the ineptness of the manager’s strategy, etc. etc.

A couple of important things to note about this game; we aren’t in a FIFA window so clubs were not required to release their players for international duty. Save for Sergino Dest, players were indeed not granted their releases to play in this game. As a result, you will see some newer faces and if you follow MLS, some familiar faces who might not otherwise crack an international roster.

We’re currently about 30 minutes from kick off here so we have a few minutes to share some early thoughts. Primarily this. Expect a dumpster fire. A bunch of guys who don’t normally play together, playing together under an interim manager who has never had any measurable success at any of his stops. Fun times to come! *cracks beer*

10 minutes to kick off: So one thing is already pissing me off. This game is being streamed on HBO Max, which sucks because it just took me about 13 minutes to reset my password since I haven’t used the stupid service in forever, and quite frankly forgot that I was paying for it.

Recap: Well, nobody was expecting a clinic tonight, were they? It wasn’t ugly soccer — you’ll see a lot worse. In fact, considering the lineup trotted out, the team acquitted itself reasonably well. Still, you’d have liked to see the team a little bit more interested in, you know, scoring some more goals before Mexico took the lead. The US pressed Mexico into a couple of turnovers that led to promising counters in the first half, perhaps getting a little unfortunate for Jordan Morris not to score. But as we saw so often during the Gregg Berhalter era, possession in the opponent’s third too often ended up in a pass back to the goalie. A criminally bad turnover by Aaron Long, really capping off a criminally bad performance by a criminally bad player, let to Mexico’s opener. The US didn’t capitulate, continued to press, and despite Mexico clattering the woodwork with a shot that could have put the game to bed, got a deserved equalizer late on through Jesus Ferreira.

The Players:

GK, Sean Johnson – 4.5: Johnson didn’t have a lot to do outside of the goal, and there wasn’t a ton he could do about it. Came out smartly for a few crosses. Did make a halfway decent save low to his left on De La Rosa in the second half. Was beaten cleanly on a couple of close calls where a better keeper may have gotten a hand to it. Where he was nearly exposed most on multiple occasions was his inability to play with the ball at his feet. Multiple shanked clearances, wayward or underhit passes, and general discomfort is not what you want to see. It’s not a big deal because he’s about 14th on the US goalie depth chart, but for that reason he probably shouldn’t have been the guy tonight anyway.

LB, Sergino Dest – 5.5: Dest switched sides for this one from his customary right back position. In general, he looked ok. Didn’t get beaten on the wing by anyone, and generally made it difficult for Julian Araujo and company to provide useful service from his wing. Committed a couple of fouls that led to free kicks in the attacking zone for Mexico, but that happens. What we really missed from Dest were his marauding runs up the wing on the counter. He was entirely non-existent on offense in the first half, and that’s where he’s at his best. And when he finally did charge ahead, he beat three Mexican defenders and released Jordan Morris for the US equalizer. We needed more of that. Disappointing.

LCB, Aaron Long – 1.5: Maybe one day we’ll see what the fuss was ever about. To be fair, he had one nice cover to erase a Mexican counterattack in the first half, but apart from that, his few clearances were undecisive and his passing at the back was, if not erratic, inaccurate. Most glaring, he was entirely to blame for the turnover that led to Mexico’s opener. Yes, Acosta played him into a difficult spot but there was no reason to let Antuna win that ball from him. He’s quite simply terrible. Hopefully this is his last game in the shirt. Off for Miazga in the 70th minute.

RCB, Walker Zimmerman – 6.5: Won every arial challenge in his radius, and in general bailed out his central defensive partner fairly well. Any time Mexico got close to scoring while he was out there had nothing to do with him. Biggest contribution was a critical late clearance out of the six yard box as Mexico chased a winner. But much like Dest, he didn’t provide anything on offense. While he doesn’t blaze up and down the field like Dest, he usually manages to provide some positive passing from the back. For some reason, he decided to play a bunch of entirely unnecessary, unpressured long balls today. They weren’t necessarily awful, but why play them when a better option exists? Still, more good than bad, as usual, from the dependable World Cup veteran.

RB, DeAndre Yedlin – 5.5: Yedlin still has blazing speed, even though he’s on the wrong side of 30 with a lot of miles on his tires. In general, the veteran defender looked at home in the squad, snuffing out attacks with his speed, and creating space on the attack by surging up the wing. However, he seems entirely uninterested in doing anything enterprising in the final third, electing usually to play an unnecessary back pass. And he’s always good for a few unnecessary fouls that lead to free kicks in dangerous situations. Certainly not awful, but he could have been better.

LM, Cade Cowell – 2.5: I’m not sure I heard his name called in the first half. Had a couple of opportunities early in the second half to create something off of a turnover but barrelled headlong into cul de sacs. What a crushing disappointment from one of the more promising youngsters in the US squad. Off for Alan Sonora in the 64th.

CDM, Kellyn Acosta – 2.0: Dreadful. The veteran is usually trusty, if not particularly impactful. The fact that the US had very few free kicks or corners throughout this game really limited the impact Acosta could have, as he’s the best deliverer of deadball situations. But usually he’s a fairly responsible defensive presence. The US would have been better off playing with ten men today. Couldn’t keep possession. Couldn’t make a tackle.

CM, James Sands – 6.5: Well well well. Anyone who knows me knows that I laugh at James Sands. I never got the appeal of him in MLS, and his Scottish loan was hilariously disastrous. Why even put him in the squad when better options like… well, me, exist. But, let’s be honest, he was the architect of every positive attacking play the US had in the first half. Frequently made himself available in space, and sprayed about half a dozen inch-perfect cross-field passes to set up promising opportunities. Also slid comfortably into a center back role as the US reconfigured to chase the equalizer, including a crucial challenge in stoppage time to prevent a golden chance for Mexico to snatch a late winner. His first touch still lets him down too frequently, but this was something to build on. I’m always happy to be proven wron

RM, Jordan Morris – 5.5: Morris always runs his ass off, and generally gets in space as a result of it. He’s been on an absolute tear for Seattle in MLS as their center forward. Looked decent on the wing for the US tonight, but as is the case with just about everyone on this squad, the final product is generally a let down. He had about ten chances, no exaggeration, to put a useful ball into the box for someone to latch onto. It wasn’t until his 11th, a lovely ball in on Ferreira’s equalizer, that he got it right. It was a nice assist. He should have had about three of them.

CAM, Jesus Ferreira – 4.5: You can always count on Ferreira to run tirelessly, and he’s an easy guy to cheer for. One of his several dozen full steam runs into the attacking third was finally rewarded with the equalizing goal, a reflexive finish off a nice Jordan Morris cross that took a slight late deflection. Other than that, his passes were consistently astray, his first touch was awful, and he simply doesn’t look the part of a number 10 / false 9. He’ll never have to be ashamed of the effort level, and seems to get stronger as the game goes along, but he always leaves you wanting more.

F, Brandon Vazquez – 1.0: Was he even on the field? He seemed entirely uninterested in doing anything at all. Off for Aidan Morris in the 64th minute, which was about 54 minutes too late.

The Subs

Alan Sonora – 5.5: Didn’t have a ton of opportunities to leave his mark on the game but the US had a different complexion to them once he came on. Hard not to give him a lot of credit for that.

Aidan Morris – N/A: Minimal impact, apart from a nearly costly turnover.

Matt Miazga – N/A: Minimal impact.

Paxton Pomykal – N/A: Thank Christ we only saw him for the final few minutes. He’s abysmal.

Caleb Wylie – N/A: Would have liked to see him for more than just the last few minutes. With the helium this kid gets from the pundits, we should have had the opportunity to see him play.