I’m working around the clock on something that will change everything, alienate half of you, and blow the minds of the other half, so don’t think I’m neglecting this place, even if actual blocks of text with my name attached have been in short supply lately. I’m here behind the scenes, listening to Annette Hanshaw records in a posture of revolutionary toil.
Thus, in lieu of the substantial essays on horse placentas and the hand of Thierry Henry that you might be expecting, I direct your attention to the following items of note:
- Lost in the France-Ireland-Henry-justice-cruelty-tabloids-dishonor snowball yesterday: We now know who’s playing in the World Cup. Is it weird that when I saw Alaska on this map, my first thought was, “How did they get in?”
- Speaking of the aforementioned France-Ireland-Henry-disgrace-tragedy-chauvinism-handball concatenation: Fredorrarci’s post almost manages to transform it into an event that can be put into perspective and talked about.
- Speaking of reasons to believe that the machinery of the universe is hopelessly fixed against you: Richard’s series on the collapse of publishing and what it means for soccer journalism takes an old topic and manages to say a few new things about it.
- Speaking of Frank Lampard: Who Ate All the Pies is having a debate on who is the best Premier League midfielder of the past decade. Normally I’m not a fan of lists like this, but that’s actually an interesting question. Interesting sub-question: how many of these players would be in the top 20 in the equivalent list from Serie A or La Liga?
- Bonus update link on the France-Ireland-Henry-disillusion-conspiracy-agony cocktail. Barry Glendenning: “It’s difficult to criticize the French for the manner in which they’re handling this, if you’ll pardon the expression.”