Brad

Perhaps some of the other discs were ruined and not salvageable.

The Colombians play a rough brand of football at times, perhaps they feel that since they are outmanbed, it’s the only way they can equal the playing field. I just remembered how they treated Neymar in 2014. It’s a bit of a shame because they played a nice game against Poland. In retrospect, all in all, it’s probably better that England went through. Maradona, considering his antics of 1986, is hardly a credible source. This may sound strange but I think Latin Americans — and I lived there when I was growing up and was a Latin American history major — feel this one more because of their history with England. I don’t know they’d feel the same way if some other European country had beaten them.

A quiz: Guess the Manager A little guesswork, but not as hard as it seems. I guessed 7 right.

Andrés Cantor Thinks Everything Sounds Better in Spanish Andrés Cantor calls football games for one of the Spanish networks in the US, Telemundo. His voice is very recognizable and he has been calling World Cup games for forever it seems. Compared to him, other announcers sound tepid; no emotion. He thinks games sound better in Spanish and I agree. I listen to most of the games that way. The interviewer asked him, as follows: “Q. If soccer sounds better in Spanish, what else sounds better in Spanish? A. Everything. Life.” Naturalmente!

I thought so too but he is almost 90.

Thanks for the link. I enjoy his deep dives.

According to Marca, Perez, the Madrid president, and CR’s agent are supposed to be meeting in a day or two to discuss his future. Madrid denied the Mbappé report but I don’t think anyone believes them.

I don’t even know how to respond to a silly comment like that

I guess we will see you when they release you. Hopefully, the authorities don’t subject you to constant listening of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

According to latest news reports, the likelihood of Cavani playing is almost nil. I think Uruguay were going to have a tough time beating France with him. Without him, the odds will be stacked against them.

I’ve actually heard football players make that argument. Darrelle Reavis was in the middle of a heated interview several years ago with a local sports jock, Mike Francesa, and he made the comment before hanging up on him.

We are in the middle of a sports smorgasbord, what with the World Cup moving into its decisive phase, Wimbledon taking place and the Tour de France starting Saturday. I don't fully understand everything about cycling but I do enjoy the spectacle, especially the sprinter stages, not to mention the lovely views of the French countryside.

I'm sure you are more knowledgeable than I am and I agree that it would have been better to have him than not. For what it's worth, the following is from The Guardian's Fiver: "Jordan Henderson even nodded to tradition by botching his penalty in the shootout but before that the dependable midfielder had innovated by collapsing to the ground and appealing for urgent medical assistance after having his chin stroked by Wílmar Barrios: if a Brazilian had done that, we’d be saying ‘stop that, Neymar, you utter git.’"

Again, letting your biases show. The English player was hit in the chest primarily and only incidentally did his his head hit the English player. It was a terrible call. To you it may be a red herring but it gave them a distinct advantage. I'd wager that most refs in these matches don't know the language of either team and he uses his hand signals to make his point. The English were able to sell their points to him and the Colombians didn't have the same advantage. By the way, I'm still waiting for England to score a goal The only one I saw scored was from Colombia. Anyway, at the end of the day, the result won't change and England will count itself as lucky and the Colombians will rue the opportunity they let slip through their fingers.

I think the point is that they didn't miss him greatly; he's not the James of 2014. It's not like Portugal missing Ronaldo or Uruguay missing Cavani, which appears a possibility; he missed training yesterday. I think the point is that they didn't miss him greatly; he's not the James of 2014. It's not like Portugal missing Ronaldo or Uruguay missing Cavani, which appears a possibility; he missed training yesterday.

Someone who understands. Having a ref who was American and spoke English and English only gave the English an unfair advantage, not to mention he did a terrible job. The only goal in this match was scored by Colombia As for James, he isn’t the player he was several years ago. Why do you think Real Madrid sent him to Germany?

That is an amazing story.

Isn’t that part of what makes sports compelling. It provokes discussion.

It seems to me that you used Grace Kelly to take a swipe at the people here and I just don’t agree with your characterization of this place or that it’s not representative of the jazz listening public. How do you know it’s not. If somebody asks me how it is representative, I couldn’t answer the question any more than you can. We simply don’t know, unless you have polling data to the contrary. As far as she goes, it’s a shtick but if that’s how she wishes to perform, who am I to question her choices. It certainly holds no interest for me. We hope that her act will attract viewers to check out jazz but we don’t really know if that will happen, do we? They may just be interested in her and there may no pass through effect. We are left with a lot of questions.

Received my Mingus box yesterday. Unfortunately, the box but not the CDs or book were damaged but I’m sure it will be corrected.

I thought we were having a friendly little debate but I seem to have struck a chord. It all comes with the territory of being a Yankee fan, probably the same kind of banter that goes on between Cubs and Cardinals fans. This kind of banter is pretty common around here and at the end of the day we all have a good laugh. Trust me, I’ve seen far worse than what’s been written here.

It’s not Yankee bashing, not that I care for them, and we can disagree on how the Yankee announcers reacted to the HR but he didn’t come even close to catching it. I’ve seen similar situations where outfielders had it bounce off the pocket and into the stands and this was not one off those situations but if you and other Yankee fans want to see it through Yankee colored glasses, feel free. That’s what you guys usually do anyway.

David, I know you're a fan, but c'mon on. They were whining or moaning, whatever adjective you choose. As far as his coming close to catching the ball, I saw the replay several times and they showed it from different angles but he never had a chance in catching it. It was a mere accident that it hit off his glove. Try to be objective.

Have you emailed Mosaic about their delivery company?

We (myself included) get too hot and bothered by her act but she looks like she’s enjoying herself and life should be fun. Yup.