Funny

It was a nail-biting match, but the Seattle Sounders came up with a massive upset again MLS Cup favorite LAFC on Tuesday night to claim their third Western Conference championship in four years.

While the Sounders played well, LAFC was its own worst enemy. Its frustration in not being able to break the Sounders down was not only evident on the field, but also in the stands. By the 80th minute, the fans were throwing beer at Sounders players.

As a player, how do you respond to things being thrown on the pitch?

Normal chairs, like the one you and I are sitting in right now, are for suckers. They’re for losers who have never accomplished anything in their lives and probably never will.

Thrones, on the other hand, are for gods and kings.

Thrones are for legends like Diego Maradona.

So, to the surprise of absolutely no one, Maradona coached a league match from a throne on Tuesday, expertly guiding his team, Gimnasia La Plata, to a 4-0 rout of Newell’s Old Boys in Rosario, Argentina. 

The weather in Boulder, Colorado, where The18 is headquartered, has been nothing short of miserable this week. Since a snowstorm blew in on Sunday, the temperature hasn’t gone above freezing, with windchills dipping below zero. Boulder has received 16 inches of snow since Sunday in an unusually cold end to October. (Thanks climate change!)

But soccer stops for no Old Man Winter.

The second division of Germany, the 2. Bundesliga, seems to be one of those leagues that no one really cares about outside of Germany. But after a few weekend incidents, maybe we should be watching it more.

The first incident was a substitute giving up a penalty. You read that right: A substitute for Holstein Kiel gave up a penalty.

Major League Soccer had the usual MLS All-Star Game format in 2019, but the league reintroduced an event in the lead-up to the match: the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

In all honesty, the event was much better than I thought it would be. The competition was much closer than initially expected and some late drama brought it down to the wire.

The life of a goalkeeper is a difficult one. If any other player on the field makes a mistake, they are usually forgiven pretty quickly. Goalkeepers, on the other hand, are expected to be perfect. Even the smallest mistake could ruin a keeper's entire career. Robert Green is a perfect example of this.