OPEN THREAD: FIFA Women’s World Cup — England vs United States

/59 Comments/in /by

[NB: Check the byline, thanks! /~Rayne]

I am putting up an open thread because 1) I need a break from all the heavy, and 2) Megan Rapinoe and the U.S. team are goddesses, and 3) a certain Brit needs to eat a shit sandwich.

This guy, specifically:

 

What a massive wanker. This misogynistic prat has no problem when men take pride in their sports:

 

 

Megan Rapinoe didn’t start today; the score is now US 2, England 1.

And the score off the field:

 

Ridiculous. Pay the women.

Have at it.

 

UPDATE — 11:45 p.m. 02-JUL-2019 —

Do you smell something burning?

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59 replies
    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Piers Morgan is a dick, much like Banks and Farage.

      And yea, paying the women 7.5% of the total prize money (26.5 million euros) that’s paid to men’s World Cup competitors (355 million euro) is flagrant discrimination.

    • posaune says:

      Hey Earl,

      Recalling our discussion about Notre Dame, the fire and the fixes, you contributed the highly apt example of La Sagrada Familia’s incompletion.
      Well, guess what?
      Last Friday, a new building permit was issued to project architect Jordi Fauli for Sagrada Familia– after 135 years!
      So . . . they’ve cut through the bureaucracy. Now, let’s see if they build anything!

  3. jaango says:

    Early this morning I wrote a column on ‘click bait’ and thusly, I encountered my long standing Philosophy of Distressed Pessimism. However, I watched this soccer game from the start, and the second half was a “full-on Shout-Out” for their defensive game. As such, it remined me of the old-fashioned Gato Negro Defense, from here in our wonderful Sonoran Desert.

  4. earlofhuntingdon says:

    In the end, the US women outplayed the English, but much of the match was close. The US scored the first goal quickly. England scored an equalizer about four minutes later. The US later went ahead, but an English equalizer was void for offsides. The US goalie made a great save on a penalty kick to keep the US ahead.

    The US women lost some of their focus midway through – it was very hot, the match was stopped at least once for hydration – but they had it at the start and through the finish. The English seemed to be deflated the last fifteen, and started committing frequent fouls, eventually losing a player to a red card.

    The US women did well, and without Megan Rapinoe. That depth will help them in the final against either the Swedes or Dutch. The Swedes, in particular, look very good this year.

    • BobCon says:

      England was catching the US defenders flat footed in the second half and slashing through with simple touches. You could see the frustration on Alyssa Naeher’s face. The US has to fix that in the final, although if they jump out to a lead again, it may not be a big issue.

      The video review offsides call that took away England’s second goal was weak. Technically it was correct, but so close that they should be forgetting about review and just let the play on the field stand.

      I also think the VAR call that led to England’s penalty shot was weak — again, something that was maybe technically correct, but not a serious foul. I suspect the NFL is going to see similar contortions as they start reviewing pass interference calls this fall. These are things that happen all the time in small ways, and opening small calls up to video review is agony. Lots of credit to Naeher, though, for the big save.

      The US was a bit fortunate that England didn’t tie up, although I would guess if it went to penalty kicks the US would win easily.

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        Agreed. The penalty for that shot was marginal: a planted leg and effort to avoid the England player vs. a fair amount of dramatic license on that player’s part. Kudos to the American goalie for reading the shot and a good stop.

    • Ruthie says:

      I watched part of Sweden’s win against Germany – I suspect they’d make a stronger challenge than the Netherlands, but the game would be more exciting.

      Being a late convert to soccer when my husband’s native Spain won the World Cup in 2010, I confess to being a soccer snob. That Spanish national team made me fall in love with the game, and since then I’ve followed the Spanish league. In general, it has players of such high caliber, technically, that I’ve been spoiled. There’s a lot of soccer I don’t bother to watch, time being short and all.

      To my embarrassment, I was surprised to see that while their passing wasn’t as accurate as most of the soccer I watch, their game was fluid, confident, and beautiful (when, as sometimes happens to the best teams, it didn’t break down and become temporarily shambolic). It was a pleasure to watch.

  5. fpo says:

    Piers needs to shut up and/or listen to someone who actually knows what they’re talking about…

    “England were beaten by the better team.
    They were fitter, ruthless and clinical. That is the lesson England have to take.”

    Alex Scott, Ex-England international on BBC One
    [ https://www.bbc.com/sport/live/football/47323603 ]

    The US side’s ability of late to score first and fast, if they can continue, is a wicked advantage. Hoping they draw Sweden!

    And yes, Rayne – welcome relief indeed!

  6. ernesto1581 says:

    So pleased to see you cite Piers Morgan, noted public intellectual, at the top of this entry.

    In the words of Brendan Behan to another pompous imbecile, “Maloney, The Gaelic League is after you — masturbation is a foreign sport!”
    (Not sure that remark is entirely on topic but it leapt to mind unbidden and it seemed a shame to waste.)

    I have loved these women in their various team incarnations since the mid-90’s. They are everything a coach could ask for.

  7. Jenny says:

    Thank you Rayne. It was a nail biting game.
    Great win! I like how Christen Press, sub for Megan Rapinoe scored the first goal. Plus Alex Morgan gave herself a memorable birthday gift by scoring the second goal. Standing ovation to the goalie, Alyssa Naeher. She was focused and stellar. Rapinoe said she will play in the final. Finals are on Sunday. Go USA!

    Sweden and Netherlands tomorrow at 3 PM.
    World Cup Final on Sunday at 11 AM.
    Of course, check you local listings.

  9. punaise says:

    Productivity around the office dropped precipitously during the USA-FRA match and then again today. And that’s a good thing.

    I know it doesn’t work this way, but it seems like the karma-sphere granted the penalty as a make-up for the very marginal offsides call that took away a Brit goal.

    • pete says:

      … And the penalty miss made up for the soft penalty. I’m an England supporter, and of course I wish she’d managed to put that one in too but I’d have said screw VAR and let the ref on the field make the call unaided — for both decisions. Probably England would have gone out on penalties in that case, but at least that’s traditional.

      • bmaz says:

        Hi there. This is, at least, your second handle you have used here. Pick one and stick with it. The commentariat here deserves nothing less than that consistency.

    • Eureka says:

      “Happy Birthday Alex Morgan!”

      Living the time-delay lifestyle here; still fun to watch

    • Eureka says:

      Pretty sure he doesn’t even feel it anymore. The hand, I mean.

      I’m more alarmed by that Mike Davidson post re Superhuman that you tweeted earlier.

      • Rayne says:

        I should have noted that anyone using Gmail should change their settings to Ask before displaying external images – This option also disables dynamic email.

        Might not block the tracking pixels but changing this setting will let users know which emails contain images which may not be visible.

        • Eureka says:

          I had initially interpreted this as impacting _any_ receivers, including non-Gmail users. So was trying to figure out as an email _receiver_, are Gm sender addresses the only ones that use this product (i.e. to take care with Gm senders, like maybe they are sending you a pic of their dog (and you allow images) but also some nasty pixels if they have this other product).

          But from your comment and what I can get in search snippets, does this mean this product only impacts Gmail-to-Gmail for now (aside from the issue that any email could contain any thing/other trackers)? (It was a little confusing because links I can read about it are ‘knowledgeable people talking’, so basics aren’t addressed. Even a limitation to Gmail-as-sender was just implied in the MD post.)

          From a search snippet:
          https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/27/technology/superhuman-email.html

          Jun 27, 2019 · Superhuman, which plugs into your existing email account, works with only Gmail and Google G Suite addresses for now, but the company plans to expand to other providers soon.

          Thanks for the heads-up. I have a headache :|

        • Rayne says:

          On first pass reading about Superhuman I was left with the impression there is something about Google’s toolset in particular — like the integration of Gmail with Google Calendar — which the surveillance uses. I wonder whether this is a quasi-metadata set used by Google for its advertising clients which tells them how often a particular ad has been clicked through or read.

          But if Google Ads are integrated with other email service providers AND they integrate with calendars, one can see it’s not long before the product expands its reach.

        • Eureka says:

          Thanks for sharing your impressions re methodology, Rayne. That makes a lot of sense, and gives me some comfort in how to anticipate next moves.

        • P J Evans says:

          Fortunately, I don’t use any of the calendar add-ons. (I write things down on paper.) I can also usually tell if something is spam, between the subject and the sender, and it gets trashed then. (I’ve saved some of the more amusing 419 letters.)

        • Rayne says:

          Won’t matter if you use the calendar add-ons or not. Once you open a Gmail account you effectively have a Google-wide account. The important security measure to take is to go into Gmail Settings and disable images in incoming emails, approving images only in those you know to be safe or wanted. I can think of three regular emails I get from organizations with images; I have to click Display Images before I can see the content at which point I’m sure the sender has access to information about my interaction with their email content. At least it’s with my consent at that point.

        • P J Evans says:

          All of the spam like that comes into my non-Google account (which I’ve had longer). I send it to their spam filter.

  13. Eureka says:

    There is not a handbasket big enough:

    “Just left the Nats game, and we were greeted by Trump’s tanks rolling through just outside the ballpark @fox5dc @nbcwashington (video)”
    https://twitter.com/eloc8/status/1146238374203863040

    Commenters say these are M2 Bradley IFVs (“not tanks” but that seems potatopotahto). Search reveals a Walmart ad for them (!) and wiki snippet says “Weight:27.6 tonnes (30.4 short tons).”

    Also I’m sure DC cops have nothing better to do at night than escort these around town.

    • Bobby Gladd says:

      Nothing says “support our heroic military” like making them work tomorrow as prop handlers for Donald Trump®’s July 45th “Salute to ME-merica” show.

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      The TrumpDay tank show is practice for when Trump refuses to leave TrumpHouse after losing in 2020.

      The Bradley is an armed and armored scout vehicle large enough for a 4-6 person team, plus crew. It has a different mission than the M1, weighs less than half as much, and is lighter and less costly to operate and transport. But it’s 35% over the 20-ton road limit. Its treads are still punishing on paved roads.

      It looks like a tank, though, to a guy who thinks the army goes to war with WWII Sherman tanks. Close enough for government work.

      Pity about closing to the public the Memorial and much of the Reflecting Pool on their busiest day for a private, ticketed, GOP-only event. Consistent for a president who represents only himself and his shrinking base. I wonder if the port-a-cabins will have gold faucets.

      • Tom says:

        Supposed to be powerful warm in DC tomorrow so it will be a case of mad MAGAs and Englishmen going out in the midday sun!

        • P J Evans says:

          Looking at the Wunderground hour-by-hour forecast for tomorrow afternoon, it’s going to be miserable until after 8pm – the heat index will be in the high 90s (temps in the high 80s, humidity over 60%). Chance of precipitation 30-50%, mostly earlier in the afternoon, but also around 6-7pm.

      • Eureka says:

        Speaking of gold, bmaz rt’d a Kevin Drum commentary the other day with a tank with a gold gun for Trump to ride in, and the only reason I knew it was satire was because *there’s no way Trump could clamber into a tank.*

    • harpie says:

      1] Here is a 7/2/19 photograph of a
      TANK PARKED NEXT TO THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL
      https://twitter.com/andyharnik/status/1146255146533511170
      8:11 PM – 2 Jul 2019

      2] https://twitter.com/CTRSteve/status/1146258446003724289
      8:24 PM – 2 Jul 2019 [Replying to .@andyharnik .@lrozen]

      “What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence? It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling sea coasts, the guns of our war steamers, or the strength of our gallant and disciplined army.

      “These are not our reliance against a resumption of tyranny in our fair land. All of them may be turned against our liberties, without making us stronger or weaker for the struggle.

      Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms.

      “Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, every where.

      Destroy this spirit, and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors”
      – ABRAHAM LINCOLN

      The quote is from a September 11, 1858 Speech at Edwardsville
      http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/liberty.htm

    • harpie says:

      So, Trump isn’t getting the military parade he initially wanted.
      Cheryl Rofer Retweeted:
      https://twitter.com/smotus/status/1146461895047569408
      9:53 AM – 3 Jul 2019

      Very important perspective on Trump’s tank display, from a friend of a friend in the military: [this is what’s stated in the screenshot]:

      “The parade of tanks became a static display of two Abrams put in place via flatbed trucks.
      You have no idea how much pushback was required to achieve this change. It is basically the pentagon telling the president ‘HELL NO’ when they can’t really tell him hell no.
      So, when you see those two tanks sitting there remember someone, probably several someones, risked their careers to prevent tanks from rolling down the streets of DC.
      The symbolism of this should not be underestimated.”

      • Eureka says:

        I’m glad to hear this, that folks mounted Herculean pushback to tamp things down at least this much. I’ve seen pix of at least four or five different tank-like things on flatbeds (see, e.g., the DPRK news service parody twitter bmaz rt’d). I wonder if they’ll all be static.

        I remain nauseous from your comments just upthread with the pix at Lincoln Memorial and contrasted with Lincoln’s words.

        None of us has seen the Memorial like whatever he is going to do to it tomorrow…

        ETA:
        DPRK News Service on Twitter: “Martial Law declared in US Capitol as civil war between Socialist Insurgency and Libertarian Death Cult reaches tragically predictable conclusion: Centrist Mediocrity. (image)”
        https://twitter.com/DPRK_News/status/1146414313420099584

        • Eureka says:

          And they may have won this particular tank battle (pun intended) because the M1 Abrams weigh ~2x more than the Bradleys, as EoH notes above. I am still concerned that he intends to run ‘tank-looking things’ through the streets.

      • e.a.f. says:

        trump has his concentration camps. now he has his version of a military parade, not as good as hitlers were, but its a start.

        if americans don’t get rid of the idiot, they might have to get used to seeing tanks and such around the W.H. in the future.

        Did like the Judge’s response to the lawyer asking if they could put the case regarding the census over until Monday. can’t some one arrest the bastard for child abuse/neglect? There are laws against treating children the way that man does. Its bad enough adults are treated in that manner, but children, omg. Oh, well the Nazi’s had children in concentration camps and killed them, now we will see what America does about it. But we can see how concentration camps get started and how little the general public does about them.

        Hong Kong can get 2 million out to protest in a pop. of approx. 7 1/2 million, the U.S.A. can’t get out a couple of hundred thousand to protest concentration camps or the tanks on 4 July.

        any how Happy 4th of July America. here’s hoping you continue the traditions you once had.

    • harpie says:

      This is a good article from February, 2018:
      The Saddest Parade
      Impromptu displays of military might are a sign of deep national weakness and insecurity.
      FRANZ-STEFAN GADY FEB 07, 2018
      https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/02/military-parades-like-the-one-trump-wants-are-a-sign-of-deep-national-insecurity.html

      […] More importantly for discussing Trump’s plans, however, is the historical distinction between a triumph, a military parade held to mark victory or the end of war, developed and perfected by the ancient Romans, and military processions as part of the ceremonial structures of annual national patriotic holidays. A good modern-day example of the former is the parade of British troops in London after the retaking of the Falkland Islands from Argentina in October 1982, and of the latter the annually held Bastille Day military parade in France. […]

      • P J Evans says:

        We’ve had triumphal parades in the US – at the ends of wars, at least as far back as the Grand Review in DC in June 1865. But the ceremonial stuff – not so much, even for Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

        • Tom says:

          Or why not a parade and campsite for re-enactor groups of the American Revolution, War of 1812, and Civil War? Could have been entertaining and educational.

  14. earlofhuntingdon says:

    EW on twtr responds to Fox and Friends, which asks why people are so ashamed of being Americans while Donald Trump is president. Write in your answers below.

    My suggestion is that the question is off, in a typically Faux Noise way. The answer is that people are not ashamed of being Americans. They are ashamed that Donald Trump speaks for them as president. They are ashamed of his priorities and the gulf between his garbled words and chaotic actions. They are ashamed of his incompetence, ignorance, and gleeful cruelty.

  15. earlofhuntingdon says:

    Nice stat from Ally Maynard:

    U.S. women’s soccer generates more revenue than U.S. men’s games.

    Yet the U.S. Soccer Federation awarded the men’s team $5.4 million in bonuses for losing the 16th round of the World Cup.

    It awarded the women’s team $1.7 million for winning the entire 2015 World Cup Tournament.

    She also notes that Donald’s TrumpDay campaign speech and private, ticketed celebration – using government facilities and spending tens of millions of tax dollars to do it – is probably another Hatch Act violation.

    Washington, DC, is a federal district, controlled by Congress, with limited self-government and little control over its budget. Just as are federal parks and land. Congress should sue Trump and his campaign to recover the extra costs imposed by this last-minute shindig, plus the millions he owes from his inauguration 2 1/2 years ago.

    [https://twitter.com/missmayn]

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      The Hatch Act applies chiefly to federal executive branch employees, but it includes a lot of exceptions: the president, VP, employees confirmed by the Senate, and employees of the Executive Office of the President (about 4,000).

      But who knows who will be given one of those limited access tickets and what they’ll be doing, and what other non-ticketed employees will be doing at this de facto campaign venue in preparation for and following it up.

      It is a legitimate and fruitful topic for congressional investigation. It perfectly illustrates this president’s abuses. Trump already owes DC – hence, the federal government – tens of millions of dollars in unpaid bills from his inauguration. Trump has a documented, fifty-year career spent running away from such debts.

      Further reading:
      [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Office_of_the_President_of_the_United_States]
      [https://apps.americanbar.org/buslaw/committees/CL121000pub/newsletter/200911/knapp.pdf]

      • P J Evans says:

        It’s a campaign event, so it should be paid for by his campaign and by the GOP-T. (The ticketing shenanigans have been going on for decades, in that party. My brother and some friends met something very similar back around 1970.)

  16. Greg Hunter says:

    Fantastic game and Jill Ellis should get credit for the changes she made in spite of Meghan’s injury. Much of the offense has come from that side of the pitch and her changes did not diminish those stats. I am sometimes at a loss on goal celebrations, but Morgan’s was very nuanced considering the time, place and scrutiny. She has been beaten to death at the front, drawing all kinds of calls and many times no calls. She deserved her Tea Party as her play along with Crystal Dunn’s has been unfairly castigated by the “fans” of soccer.

    England played great and I really think that was the final hardest test as the remaining two teams should not come close; however, soccer is like life, not always fair in the result despite the talent and effort.

  17. Shaun Mullen says:

    Down deep, if Donald Trump has a deep, what really wounds him about Megan Rapinoe is that she has worked very hard to become a premier athlete while he has stolen, abused, insulted and assaulted to get where he is. Now Trump may be too much of a sociopathic narcissist to ever understand that. Or despite his fake billions, why he will never have that most precious of commodities — respect.

    For us, the women’s team is a timely reminder of the American ethos amidst Trump’s manifold grotesqueries: The promise of equality, the spirit of reform that yielded Title IX and laid the groundwork for American female soccer supremacy, a close-knit community of different backgrounds and sexual orientations, including lesbian and social activist Rapinoe, who deservedly has become a national hero.

    • Tom says:

      Plus, compared to the vigour, grace, and athleticism displayed by the American women’s soccer team, tootling around on a golf cart from hole to hole is about the sporting equivalent of sorting out your sock & underwear drawer.

  18. earlofhuntingdon says:

    Donald claims that TrumpDay celebrations will cost “very little compared to what it is worth.” We already own the tanks and airplanes.

    An unsurprising claim from a guy who calculates his “net” worth by looking only at his nominal assets – without deducting mortgages, personal, and other debts tied to them. A laugh-out-loud fail in Accounting 101. Wharton should take away this guy’s bachelor’s degree.

    The 2017 estimate for this charade was $92 million, in addition to the routine costs of the 4th of July celebrations on the Mall. Peanuts, though, when compared to the value of praising His Highness.

  19. earlofhuntingdon says:

    Bmaz notes on twtr that President Trump is such a fan of the women’s World Cup team that he is sending his top women to Lyon, France, for Sunday’s final. Who are they? Not Sarah. Not Ivanka, Tiffany, or Melania. Not Kellyanne, Karen, or Stormy. He is sending Karen Dunn Kelley.

    WTF is Karen Dunn Kelley, bmaz asks. She is the current Deputy Secretary of Commerce, reporting to billionaire sleep-a-holic and sometime Commerce Sec’y, Wilbur Ross. She also worked for him in the private sector as a senior manager at his private equity firm. Ross remains Secretary of Commerce, despite his multiple lapses in ethics and judgment, and, most probably, his lying to Congress.

    Accompanying Ms. Kelley on this all-female cast party will be the American ambassador to France, the director of the Peace Corps, an administrator at DHS, an asst. sec’y at the State Dept., a member of the president’s council on sports, fitness, and nutrition, and a co-owner of the Atlanta Dream (presumably, she had good tickets, but can now go on the public’s dime).

    It’s possible Mike Pence was recalled early from his NH trip so that the Air Force could prepare it to take this crew to France. No doubt, Trump, who has probably never met any of these women, will be anxious to hear their report about the team’s victory.

    [https://news.ntd.com/trump-sending-officials-to-womens-world-cup-final_351728.html]

    • Rayne says:

      Come on, earl, lay off the edibles. Pence’s plane was not called back for this. What Pence was scheduled to do was an afternoon jaunt. The plane would have been back in plenty of time to be prepared for a trip leaving on Saturday, four days later.

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      I imagine they’ll fly commercial or on some Air Force Gulfstream variant. Trump would want them on his presidential jets about as much as he wanted Comey to get a lift back to DC on an FBI jet.

  22. e.a.f. says:

    Piers morgan is an idiot with an out of control sense of self importance.

    watched the end of the game today, with the Netherlands wining against Sweden, 1 to 0. great game.

    The American player is amazing! The U.S.A. has a great team. Perhaps they ought to have the team take over for trump and his cabinet. I’m sure they’d do a better job.

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