Today's Headlines

Just scanning the newswire...

Lionel Messi to Sign With MLS’s Inter Miami, per Report

Wow! I was rooting for him to rejoin Barcelona, only because they were talking about this when I was in that town in March. But this seems fun, and another drawpiece for MLS games.

Someone should write a post about this. Someone on the team who writes about "footy."

Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Has Retrieved Craft of Non-Human Origin

Double-wow! Alien spacecraft has been retrieved and analyzed for many years! Let's make a theme park out of it! This is fascinating. 

Francis casting a vote

Someone who write about science should so a separate post. Maybe someone who posts about things like the Large Hadron Collider. 

Pope Francis is getting a hernia-related surgery in Rome

Yikes! Pope-a Frankie's gonna need some papal ballots. 

Someone should write a post about such matters. Maybe someone who enjoys balloting and who had hernia surgery last year. Wait, that's me. Never mind.

‘Very last warning’ for 82-year-old German convicted of dealing drugs

A German court says it is giving an 82-year-old man a “last warning” to avoid jail after he was found guilty of drug dealing, despite 24 previous convictions.

That's just playing the odds now, right?

Gheorghe: The Blog founder rob Turns 53

Saving the best for last, let's give it up for the man behind the mastery here, the guy who puts the dip in the dipshittery!

Happy Birthday, buddy.

King Leo

Barcelona is, if not the best soccer team on the planet (Bayern Munich and PSG might have an argument), the most entertaining, by some measure. With a front line of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Neymar, they're the stuff of nightmares for opposing defenders and goalkeepers. On occasion, they're so good that they seem to have to invent new ways to entertain themselves and their fans.

Yesterday was just such an occasion. After a tough first half at the Camp Nou in Barcelona against Celta Vigo, Barca began to pull away in the second frame. They already led, 3-1, when they were awarded an 82nd minute penalty kick. Messi, one goal away from his 300th La Liga tally, lined up to take the penalty.

And then this happened:



The cheekiness of the play was remarkable, and made moreso by the reaction of Ray Hudson, the former Newcastle player (and DC United coach) turned impassioned broadcaster. Hudson mixes Shakespeare, Johann Cruyff, and Barcelona's majesty in a gloriously delirious word soup. We need more Ray Hudson in the world.

Here's why Cruyff got the shoutout:



Global reaction to Barca's play was mixed, as you might imagine. Smiling admiration on the one side and concern for a disrespected opponent on the other. I can see both arguments. I just choose to see it Ray Hudson's way.

Joy, formidable.