Monday Freedom Kicks: USMNT World Cup opener today, D.C. player moves & more

Nov 21, 2022 - 12:30 PM

Hi there. Man, I forgot when kids go from two naps to one and how much of a ordeal it is, particularly when they’re teething. Good stuff!

USA vs. Wales, 2022 FIFA World Cup: What to watch for (SSFC): 2pm, be there or don’t.

Report: Former Crew winger Pedro Santos to sign with D.C. United (Massive Report): I guess I would have liked this a couple of years ago, not when he’s about to turn 35 in April. Since he was a free agent it remains to be seen how much he signed for, but between this report when he extended with Columbus before 2022 and his salary number on the MLS Players’ Association site, I’d presume this to be a TAM deal of some sort.

Also, this sad note in the latter half of this:

So after last season, Ochoa was asking for (and apparently walked away from) Real Salt Lake’s offers to extend in the neighborhood of $400,000 (he was on an initial homegrown contract of around $100,000). Devil’s in the negotiating details here of course (the team’s known to dither on deals), but there’s maybe a bothsides type thing to consider. Going from Ochoa to Miller would seem to be a step down in performance (Miller started one of the last three years) while a step lateral in potential budget hit could be, well, not great!

Antonio Bustamante (Club Eleven): On a break from playing 2nd division Danish soccer, the D.C. homegrown chats about things to date.

DC sports betting revenue up in October despite year-on-year handle decline (IGaming): In case you’re wondering what kind of business FanDuel at Audi Field is pulling in.

‘We took the sitcom and blew it apart’: how The Young Ones changed comedy forever (Guardian): Holy cow, it’s been 40 years since this came out? I’m so old.

Anyway, go U.S. or something.