Last evening, on Brad Sowinski’s FB podcast “The Rinse,” [FN1] between panelists’ (minus me) and viewers’ comments, a general view was that the World is peachy-keen about the U.S. as host of this year’s World Cup. I asked whether U.S. border cops were hassling teams. 1/10

I was not acculturated to soccer/football in the 1970s. I’m not a fan, but this morning I read that trump had called FIFA’s president to review a “red card” call & one-game suspension of a USMNT player. [FN2] The suspension was set aside. 2/10

The USMNT Argentine coach said this was a “‘normal process.’” However, “FIFA does not have an appeals process for such situations.” [FN3] This will stain any “win” the U.S. might have against Belgium, a match the suspension would have affected. 3/10

Yes, I remember those days when the U.S. was rooked out of a Gold medal in basketball in the 1972 Olympics. The men’s Silver medals never have been picked up. The Soviets cheated then to gain Gold. The full “cheat” was at play in the 1976 Olympics. Soviet fencers were 4/10

accused of using altered weapons that mysteriously disappeared before testing. Hey! trump’s good buddy Putin puts his hand in various competitions to benefit Russia. We used to be the good guys. Now the US coach has to say “‘We’re not the bad guys’” [FN4] 5/10

Belgium’s coach said it best: “‘I didn’t know that at the World Cup the 5th of July is actually the 1st of April. It’s April Fools.’” [FN5] Did you hear the one about the head guy at the U.S. Supreme Court who says he only calls “balls and strikes”? 6/10

trump uses pages of The Constitution each morning in place of a bidet. Maybe he can use the World Cup, if the U.S. wins it, for target practice as he voids his bladder. Or, if the U.S. wins a sullied championship, he can have 7/10

a victory celebration at the White House. He can give the U.S. players those 1972 Olympic Silver medals to the 2026 U.S. World Cup team & hand his sons the 2026 gold. If you think that’s a bad joke ... Seriously? 8/10

Footnotes:
FN1. “The Rinse” streams “live” on FB & YouTube each Sunday at 7:30 pm EST/6:30 pm CST.
FN2. Catherine Bouris, “Trump Inserts Himself Into World Cup Drama,” The Daily Beast, 7/5/26, accessed 7/6/26. 9/10

FN3. Steven Goff, “Mauricio Pochettino defends FIFA's Folarin Balogun decision, says USMNT was 'punished enough',” Yahoo Sports, 7/5/26, accessed 7/6/26.
FN4. Id.
FN5. Id. 10/10