alincoln

Its no Rennes v. Krasnodar but I think we could live with it Matchday 1 Man Utd v AC Milan Barcelona v Liverpool Chelsea v Inter Milan Bayern v Arsenal Atletico v Leipzig Chelsea v Madrid Tottenham v Juventus PSG v Dortmund

I have mixed feelings. I do think it would be very interesting to see the best consistently play against the best. The proposed additional watering down of the Champions League will only further reduce the interesting matchups. The talent gulf produced by the massive influx of cash has also created too many bunkering contests in league play which were far rarer in the 90s. It's just not very compelling soccer to watch a Big 6 team try to break through deep banks of 5 and 4 players every other week. The Super League would provide a welcome respite from that style. On the other hand, it's not much of leap from a Super League to a complete abandonment of the national leagues which would destroy soccer history. Dumping a bastardized CL in favor of the Super League doesn't trouble me much.

I would also say that the grandstanding and predictably hyperbolic reaction to the proposed Super League by politicians, administrators, columnists, media figures and social media influencers is so very emblematic of our current environment. The CL has been a cynical money grab ever since it was expanded for the 1999-2000 season. Remember that CL qualification wasn't even a thing before then. European and particularly English football were sold to the highest bidder more than a decade ago and trophies are almost universally bought and paid for. Gary Neville working himself into a lather about the Super League while Chelsea and then City literally purchased the mountaintop of English football with petrodollars is pretty rich. The horse has been out of the barn for a long fucking time Gary. He wasn't waling and gnashing his teeth when the expanded CL killed the relevance of a true hallmark of English football (the FA Cup).

So more rebates they can't afford to their broadcast partners then. UEFA further demonstrating their legendary foresight by voluntarily delegitimizing its own CL within 48 hours of the announcement of the Super League.

The concern in England specifically is that the Super League will reduce the competitiveness of the Premier League. The elimination of CL qualification will cause the Super League teams who aren't in contention for the EPL title to coast through the end of the season. Tonight's Liverpool-Leeds game is (was?) very important to Liverpool due to CL qualification. In the Super League era, it would mean nothing because Liverpool would be in the Super League next season regardless of their league position. This is a hugely significant concern. I do wonder how football would evolve if the best players in the world are constantly playing against each other as would be the case in the Super League.

United fans have tried to get rid of the Glazers ever since they bought the club.

The President of PSG declined the opportunity to become the new President of the ECA. Wonder why?

Exactly. Also, how are they going to ban players for playing in a league that hasn't started playing yet (begins play in 2023-2024)? In any event, the Super League can probably pay off FIFA to address the World Cup issue which leaves UEFA holding only the Euro card.

Also reading that there has been a flurry of cases decided in the past couple years in various European courts with respect to the creation of alternative leagues in other sports that would support the creation of the Super League.

The CL would basically become a glorified Europa League that will presumably include the highest placed non-Super League clubs. The initial Super League plans provide for play-in opportunities for non-permanent members but that doesn't seem workable in practice.

La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1 are no different. Juve has won 9 straight Serie A titles, there has only been 1 La Liga winner outside of the Barca/Madrid duopoly since 2004 and PSG has won 7 of the last 8 Ligue 1 titles. 31 of the last 32 league titles in the Big 5 leagues outside of England have been won by 5 teams (PSG, Bayern, Juve, Madrid/Barca) and 39 of the last 40 CL finalists have come from the Super 12/Bayern. It's already a de facto closed system when it comes to the important trophies. As for the EPL, it has been won once since 1995 by a team outside the Big 6.

I just don't think there is a quick salve that is going to kill the Super League. There are already a bunch of exceptions to the German 50 + 1 rule that allow some owners to maintain voting control (RBL for one). The Super 12 have already invested millions into this plan and have engaged the best law firms and financial advisors in the world to execute its implementation.

Lulz.

A few thoughts assuming that the Super League moves forward: 1. The Super League doesn't strike me as much different than the expanded Champions League beyond the permanent member structure. If the expanded Champions League can fit within the schedule, so can the Super League. The closer the CL gets to a Super League, the more likely a Super League becomes. 2. Bayern and Leipzig will join if the original 12 members can survive the initial legal challenges. Don't care what they say now. Elite teams that don't join will fade into irrelevance and place themselves at a massive economic disadvantage. What is PSG's value if they only play in Ligue 1 and the watered down CL? Hundreds of millions less. It makes sense for them to oppose the Super League now because of German and French football politics, but if the Super League becomes inevitable they will use the foregoing arguments to jump ship. "We didn't have a choice." 3. The EPL really isn't in a position to kick out the 5 clubs that matter in England and Tottenham. Same with Serie A and La Liga. Those threats strike me as complete bluffs. The EPL without the Big 6 is basically the Championship. La Liga is Barca/Madrid. 4. Similarly, the World Cup and the Euros can't disqualify the best players in the world from their international competitions. They would immediately be rendered meaningless. As others have analogized, the new competitions would be akin to the men's Olympic soccer which no one watches or cares about. 5. I would be surprised if the Super League ultimately includes any non-permanent members. You are either a part of the closed system or you are out of it. 6. The leading global football organizations all sold their souls to monied interests a long time ago. It is difficult to conceive of a more corrupt organization than FIFA, a more elitist one than UEFA or a greedier one than the EPL. They allowed the leading teams to be acquired by their peers in greed and corruption and are now SHOCKED that the club owners want to keep all of the pie. What did they expect when they allowed Man United to be acquired through an LBO or Chelsea to be acquired by a Russian mafioso or Liverpool to be acquired by private equity vultures or City to be acquired by a petrostate? 7. The last true outsiders to make the CL final were Porto and Monaco in 2003-2004. All finalists since then come from the 12 other than Bayern, PSG and Dortmund. We are a long, long way from Nottingham Forest beating Malmo in the final of the old European Cup. The irony of the proposal is that small teams may actually be able to win the watered down CL.

Hilton head beaches are not the soft white sand of Gulf Coast Florida and the water is a bit murky (although very warm during summer). The Hilton Head beach does create some nice tide pools when the tide recedes that little kids like to play in. The beach is also perfect for bocce and kicking around a soccer ball. It's also relatively uncrowded (at Sea Pines), particularly if you on the beach in front of the houses as opposed to in front of the resorts.

No problem. Let me know if you need any additional information (restaurant recs, things to do). It's a great option for kids in your age window.

To add a bit more detail, Sea Pines Beach Club and the Marriott Resort just south of there are good options for resorts. We always rent a house on one of bird named streets north of the Beach Club on the east side (beach side).

Sea Pines in Hilton Head is your answer since you just did SW Florida.

The Guardian minute-by-minute mentioned that he was getting hacked: "Pulisic is getting battered here ... and not in a good way. He’s on the deck after being fouled once again."

Can't believe they went with "former pro football player" instead of "former tight end"

Cashed out early

Masters.com is all you need.

Hopefully Rose runs into trouble early and tightens this back up. First round leaderboard is not very compelling for the casual. Looks like A Bay Hill leaderboard

Good start for the Crew in the CONCACAF Champions League. 4-0 win in Nicaragua with a first half brace from USMNT's starting number 9 . . . Gyasi Zardes.