Big day in the Big Apple, as NYC Democrats head to the polls to select their candidate in this autumn's mayoral race. Bigfoot Andrew Cuomo, who we last saw resigning from the his position as Governor of New York in disgrace, leads in most pollsters' counts on the eve of the primary. But upstart state legislator Zohran Mamdani has closed to within a hair's breadth of the machine pol.
Mamdani's campaign has been fresh, and inclusive, and people-driven - all the things the Democratic Party claims to want. Cuomo's has been a drab rehash of the same old same old, fronted by a dude who's credibly accused of sexual harassment by 13 women and of falsifying COVID death counts in nursing homes during his time in Albany. Team Cuomo has trotted out Bill Clinton, James Carville, and Harvey Weinstein as endorsers (possibly not one of those), while Mamdani has managed to secure the cross-endorsements of two of his chief rivals in the race (important in NYC's ranked choice voting process) and notably, Kid Mero.
Longer post to follow on this point, but if the institutional party manages to drag Cuomo over the line, the result will validate the significant majority of younger voters who don't think the Dems have anything to offer them. I'm hoping Mamdani (not because I care much about NYC politics, but because I think a Mamdani win would signal possibility more broadly) and fully expecting to be disappointed and (more) disillusioned.
In the meantime, as the NBA season ends and MLB enters the grind portion of the schedule, there's a shitload of footy on offer (possibly too much, if you value player health). Here in the U.S. alone, the newest iteration of the Club World Cup and the CONCACAF Gold Cup are taking place at the same time.
The former features 32 clubs from around the globe, from the bluest of European bloods like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Juventus, to proud South American outfits like River Plate, Boca Juniors, Palmeiras, and Botafogo, to entertaining African sides like Mamelodi Sundowns and Wydad AC, to Asian teams like Urawa Red Diamonds and Ulsan, to MLS' own Inter Miami, LAFC, and Seattle Sounders, and all the way to minnows like Auckland FC (outscored 16-0 through two matches).
Quality has been mixed, as has fan reaction in the U.S. (for me, it's a case of oversaturation), but there have been some notable exceptions. Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal drew Real Madrid. The Brazilian clubs have been phenomenal. And the aforementioned Urawa Red Diamonds fans made a huge impression with their 90 minutes of full-throated support in their club's 2-1 loss to Inter Milan.
The Club World Cup is a transparent money grab in the best (worst) tradition of FIFA. But with some fun sides like Inter Miami and Flamengo moving on to the knockouts, it's a least an entertaining story.
Stay cool out there, my friends. It's a scorcher.
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I'm endeavoring to keep cool by looking at the forecast for where we'll be in Maine next week. Highs in the low 70s sounds pretty good right now.
ReplyDeleteMamdani would likely be a disaster for NYC. DiBlasio is hoping he wins so he won’t be the worst mayor NYC since Lindsay.
ReplyDeleteNYC dems are faced with a choice. A crook/opprtunist (ie politician) who will Do an ok job and keep the city moving and an actual socialist who could run the town into the ground with help from the city council who already has the fiscal acumen of a turnip.
stereotyping of politicians is doing a lot of work in that analysis. cuomo is a proven bad actor. others only aspire to his level of crookedness. if institutional dems wanted someone less lefty than mamdani, brad lander was right there, competent, experienced in how the city works, and more centrist. but they're foisting cuomo on the people. fuck that.
ReplyDeletethis club world cup is new to me. who am i rooting for?
ReplyDeletei'm not even going to think about who to root for in the political arena . . .
oh boy. i see a what club world cup side should a gheorghie root for emergency post coming. round of 16 will be set after thursday. i'll set you up, professor. probably some swarthy italians.
ReplyDeleteRob - didn’t say it was a good choice. Nor did I say this was about the people. The two poles of the Democratic Party are both shoving these shit options down the gullets of NYC voters. Cuomo’s history is beyond the pale. The homophobic campaign he ran for his old man against Koch, the sexual harassment, cronyism, and kickbacks would make Boss Tweed blush even if you don’t blame him for the deaths of grandma and grandpa due to his Covid policies. In the end, nobody wins.
ReplyDeletei have just learned that benfica is from portugal.
ReplyDeleteGetting caught up - Rob, was the gnarly tree root entrance at Reston Ice Rink Trail? I've almost lost it there a few times.
ReplyDeletelake fairfax in reston, just off of wiehle. could be talking about the same place.
ReplyDeletejust looked it up, kenny. that's exactly where it was.
ReplyDeleteauckland city fc, which is basically a semi-pro side, lost to bayern munich and benfica by a combined 16-0 in their first two club world cup matches. they drew against brazilian big boys boca juniors, 1-1, in their swan song. the goalscorer has to grade papers on the flight home, because he's a schoolteacher. could been professor truck.
ReplyDeletemamdani's going to win the primary. now the election gonna get weird - adams running as an independent, curtis sliwa of guardian angels fame is the gop nominee, rumors that cuomo will also run as an independent (though tonight's ass-kicking may deter him). regardless, institutional dems had better get religion about how disconnected they are from a very fired up rank and file.
ReplyDeletehappy nba draft day, gheorghies!
ReplyDelete