UnkNuk

You could be right. Certainly, the elite players in MLS can hold their own as demonstrated in the all star game earlier this week against the Mexican League's all-stars. MLS won that game in a shoot-out. But once you get past that layer at the top, I'm not sure if there's a lot of difference between the MLS players and players in lesser leagues.

And now RSL, who are the Whitecaps next opponent on Sunday, have parted ways with their coach. Maybe both teams should have held off until Sunday and they could just have switched coaches.

Wow! I did not see that coming. At least, not at this point. The Caps are, after all, undefeated in MLS in eight straight games. They seem to be on an upswing with a winnable game against RSL coming up on Sunday. Granted, the loss yesterday was embarrassing. But to be the trigger for a firing? Very surprising. I see that someone named Vanni Sartini, Whitecap's "Director of Methodology" (whatever that may mean), is the new coach. Good luck, Vanni. So long Marc.

Chris Hedges had an interesting interview on his show on RT America with a US Army Captain who served in Afghanistan. One tidbit: I knew there were a lot of different ethnic groups in Afghanistan but it never occurred to me that they spoke different languages. The Major recounts instances of going into a village and his Afghan troops would have to use the same interpreters that he did to talk to the villagers. And the villagers looked at both him and the Afghan soldiers as outsiders. On the show this week, Chris Hedges discusses the debacle in Afghanistan with Danny Sjursen, a graduate of West Point Military Academy, former US Army Major and author. He is a combat veteran who served in Iraq and later as an Army Captain in Afghanistan I command of B Troop in Kandahar Province from February 2011 to January 2012.

TSN streams most of the games. Today's games are being streamed. Accessing the games can be a bit tricky. Instructions for logging in are here: https://www.tsn.ca/how-to-login-to-tsn-ca-via-tv-service-provider-1.1158957

Surprisingly (to me at least), the Whitecaps played tonight (Thursday). They were playing their first game in the Canadian Championship and their opponents were Pacific FC, based in Victoria, who play in the Canadian Premier League. More surprisingly (to me at least), the Caps played many of their first team starters, not the reserves as one might think. Even more surprisingly (to me at least), Pacific FC beat the Whitecaps 4-3! And it's a one game series so the Caps are out of the competition. I tuned in in the second half. From what I saw, the Pacific players simply outplayed the Caps players. They were faster and more aggressive. It was an entertaining game and the Victoria fans were certainly enjoying it. About the only good thing about the game (from the Caps pov) was that Ryan Gauld scored two goals and set up the third when he was taken down in the box and the Caps were awarded a penalty kick. So much for the Canadian Championship. Which, if (like me) you're unfamiliar with, you can learn more about here: https://www.canadasoccer.com/events/canadian-championship/

For those who may be interested: There are probably many charities who are trying to help Afghan refugees. UNICEF is just one that I've come across. Apparently, they still have people in Afghanistan trying to help out. A financial donation, however modest, should be helpful. https://secure.unicef.ca/page/88400/donate/1

Noticed that the Liverpool/Chelsea game is going to be on network tv here in Canada. 9:30 am (west coast time) on NBC. (Might be the game to watch since the Man City/Arsenal game is on at 4:30 in the morning !!! and I might not be up that early. And since it's only available on a streaming service, there's no way to simply record it and watch it when I get up. One of life's minor annoyances.)

If so, it's about time they got some talent! City fans have suffered long enough! (For that matter, it's too bad they couldn't have gotten him before Saturday. Might have given them a fighting chance against Arsenal.)

There goes my career as a soccer analyst.

Arsenal scores and wins in their opening round of Carabao Cup action They beat lower division team West Ham (who played many of their younger players) 6-0. Arsenal played many of their starters. Arteta wanted to make sure that Arsenal didn't lose three soccer games in a row. They now move onto the third round against AFC Wimbledon in September.

RIP Don.

Actually, that should be: Caps are unbeaten in eight games. I was getting ahead of myself and including next Saturday's win against RSL.

An entertaining 2-1 victory by the Vancouver Whitecaps over LAFC! The Caps are unbeaten in nine games. And Ryan Gauld's star keeps rising!

This story seems to stem from a comment made an ESPN commentator: "...a comment from ESPN's Adam Schefter on Friday has spiked some fear about Prescott's return. During halftime of the preseason game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Arizona Cardinals, Schefter said this about Prescott, via ProFootballTalk: “He’s not fully back, he may not be back all season long.” Schefter doesn't mean that Prescott won't be playing; he's talking about whether or not he'll be 100 percent healthy this season. And given the injuries Prescott has endured over the last calendar year, it's not an outlandish comment to make." https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl-cowboys-is-it-possible-dak-prescott-wont-be-fully-back-from-injuries-all-season-long-194349217.html Let's keep in mind that there's a big difference between missing a whole season and not being 100% for the season. And even the idea that he won't be 100% is just speculation.

Another day, another hack: More than $90 million in cryptocurrency stolen after a top Japanese exchange is hacked Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid said some of its digital currency wallets have been “compromised.” Elliptic, a blockchain analytics company, said about $97 million in cryptocurrencies have been received by the hackers. It’s the second major crypto heist to take place in little over a week. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/19/liquid-cryptocurrency-exchange-hack.html

Yes, it's in our nature to follow the teaching and upbringing that we receive as children from older people.. But it's possible to overcome that upbringing. Otherwise there would never be changes. And so it would be great if the many young people in Afghanistan could overcome their tribal/religious upbringings and see one another as fellow citizens of one country, tolerant of different viewpoints. For that matter, it would be great if all young people could overcome the barriers between them and recognize all people as fellow citizens of the world. [Insert "Kumbaya My Lord" here.]

Apparently. And Arsenal is having Covid-19 problems as well: Arsenal have confirmed that four senior team players, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazete, Willian and Alex Runarsson have all tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the Premier League encounter with Chelsea on Sunday. The club said that for this reason, Aubameyang and Lacazette missed out on their first game of the season, against Brentford last Friday. Mikel Arteta’s side were beaten 2-0 by the newly-promoted side in their first match of the Premier League season and had to do so without the two forwards. The club have now confirmed that their top stars were prevented by COVID-19 and both Willians and Runarsson have also tested positive. The Gunners are now hoping that Aubameyang and Willian return for the clash against Chelsea while Lacazette and Runarsson have been ruled out. https://dailypost.ng/2021/08/20/epl-top-four-arsenal-players-test-positive-for-covid-19-ahead-of-chelsea-clash/

Big game of the weekend will be Arsenal's bounce-back victory against Chelsea tomorrow.

Vancouver Whitecaps play a real home game for the first time in a long time tonight against LAFC. 7:00 start. Also, the Caps have signed a new defender, Marcus Godinho: TRANSACTION: On August 20, 2021, Whitecaps FC acquired the MLS Discovery Priority to Godinho from CF Montreal in exchange for $50,000 in General Allocation Money – pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate (ITC). Godinho agreed to a contract through 2021 with an option for 2022 and 2023. Marcus Godinho Position: Fullback Height: 5-10 Weight: 160 pounds Date of Birth: June 28, 1997 in Toronto, Ontario Hometown: Toronto, Ontario Citizenship: Canada, Portugal Status: Domestic Youth Clubs: Sporting Toronto, North York Hearts-Azzurri Previous Club: FSV Zwickau https://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/whitecaps-fc-acquire-canadian-fullback-marcus-godinho

Apologies for asking a question that has probably been asked and answered several times.... If those of us who are vaccinated can still 'catch' the virus (even if it doesn't affect us all that dramatically) and spread it, doesn't that give the virus a chance to mutate?

I'm voting for Elias!!!

You could be right. I was thinking the young 'uns might just say: Why are we hating and killing one another just because these old people are telling us to? Given their overwelming numbers, maybe a charismatic young leader could arise and inspire them. (Hopefully in a peaceful direction!)

I was reading Thomas Friedman's column in the NY Times today: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/opinion/afghanistan-us-taliban.html?campaign_id=39&emc=edit_ty_20210820&instance_id=38381&nl=opinion-today&regi_id=56405277&segment_id=66766&te=1&user_id=dc88543b79693b0f05322365a827e237 Learned a couple of interesting facts: "There are 14 ethnic groups recognized in [the Afghani] national anthem — Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Balochis, Turkmens, Nooristanis, Pamiris, Arabs, Gujars, Brahuis, Qizilbash, Aimaq and Pashai. [Afghanistan has] Sunni, Sufi and Shiite Muslims. ... The Taliban represent only one element in [the Afghan] mosaic — Pashtun Sunni Islamism." Also: "...more than 70 percent of Afghanistan’s population is under 25 years old." I found the latter one especially surprising. Wouldn't it be great if the young Afghans could overcome tribal loyalties and unite across a generational bridge?

In regards to the withdrawal, Biden, personally, was in a no-win situation. Or so it seems to me. He withdrew the troops before all the civilians (Americans and Afghan allies) were removed and we have the current debacle and Biden is being roasted for it. But Biden has said they discussed taking all the civilians out before the military left but the Afghan government cautioned against it, saying that such a move would demoralize the Afghan troops. It would make it appear that the US had no confidence in those troops to protect the country and Kabul. So if Biden had gone ahead with the early withdrawal of Americans and Afghan allies, the ensuing collapse of the Afgan military which we have seen would have been blamed (to some degree) on that decision. And Biden would have been roasted for it. Either way, he gets roasted.