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leanderalphabet.bsky.social
Writing a book on the United States men's national soccer team, Viking Penguin (out ~March 2026). Senior sports media + journalism lecturer, Marist University. Soccer contributor, The Guardian + The Ringer. Dutchman + American.
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I don't entirely understand what the story is here. Is it that a wealthy, young woman with most of her prime earning years still ahead of her bought a pricey-but-not-preposterously-so house? Is that it?

submitted 20 hours ago • 6 comments

The Pampered Idiot, by Leonardo Alenza y Nieto, 1807–45, 📸 by @b_smialowski

submitted 2 days ago • 77 comments

The thing preventing more competitive balance in baseball isn't the absence of a salary cap, it's that too many owners don't give a shit.

submitted 7 days ago • 2 comments

Now that a lawsuit standing in the way of domestic leagues like Spain's La Liga playing matches in the United States has been resolved, per @jeffreycarlisle.bsky.social's reporting, this feels even more relevant.

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Happy to report that @thetattooedprof.bsky.social is also funny and engaging offline.

submitted 8 days ago • 2 comments

FIFA president Gianni Infantino says American soccer is held back by a lack of investment. There's truth to that, certainly. But the bigger issue is that the rest of the soccer world, led by FIFA, treats the United States like an ATM. Column @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/football/202...

submitted 9 days ago • 2 comments

We are all Odegaard

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

Love Arsenal's set piece coach telling Declan Rice to bend it round the wall and into the net past the best goalkeeper in the world from 30 yards out. Genius.

submitted 9 days ago • 2 comments

FIFA president Gianni Infantino says American soccer is held back by a lack of investment. There's truth to that, certainly. But the bigger issue is that the rest of the soccer world, led by FIFA, treats the United States like an ATM. Column @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/football/202...

submitted 9 days ago • 2 comments

100%. This is why I don't take attendance. Students there against their will kill the vibes. (Also, I can't be bothered to police adults who don't take their education seriously.) My classes are *very* loose. Because I find that relaxed and comfortable students are more open to learning things.

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

David Brooks, who holds no advance degrees but has nevertheless served as a visiting professor at both Duke and Yale -- solely on the basis of his conservative ideas -- thinks that universities are deeply unfair to conservative thinkers.

submitted 10 days ago • 229 comments

BEACON, NY

submitted 12 days ago • 4 comments

BEACON, NY (This is less than half the turnout.)

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

I envy Henry's ability to see through bullshit. His reporting on soccer is essential.

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

yeah but booker talked for a really long time

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

Is it really that complicated? A creepy Australian came along and figured out that there was a fortune to be made off making and keeping millions of Americans anxious and aggrieved.

submitted 14 days ago • 1 comment

Weak beef. Spoiled by universal healthcare. Clean air and water. Mandatory paid time off. Edible cheese. Strong labor unions. Good wine. Power-sharing coalitions preventing extremism in government. Weak beef.

submitted 14 days ago • 2 comments

We simply had to intentionally destroy the world’s strongest economy while dismantling our scientific and educational infrastructure to ensure that a team with a trans girl would never finish second place in the Mountain West volleyball standings again

submitted 14 days ago • 156 comments

Why can't anyone in the sports ownership class talk like a normal person anymore?

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

At a coffee shop, this middle-aged man and woman have been sitting at the next table for the last hour or so. And literally all they have done is bitch about everything and everyone they know. So many people choose to live like this: prisoners of their grievances, encased in self-made negativity.

submitted 16 days ago • 0 comments

This quote by the victim hit me: "You’re ruining my life by talking about it on your show for nothing but attention." Because I genuinely don't think McAfee and his ilk do this kind of thing for attention anymore. They have the attention. They're just hardwired to amplify the denigration of women.

submitted 16 days ago • 1 comment

Peter Morgan Alonso

submitted 16 days ago • 0 comments

I tried my best to sum up what the hell is going on with Fifa and a suddenly-open spot in the Club World Cup, which could now theoretically be filled by León, Club América, LAFC, or maybe, just maybe, Alajuelense – the reason we're having this convo at all. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

turns out Le Pen was not mightier than Le Sword after all

submitted 17 days ago • 18 comments

I am so hyped for this book I should be on watchlists

submitted 18 days ago • 1 comment

Did the first of ~150 interviews for my upcoming #USMNT book on May 13, 2022. Did the last one today, in a bit of mop-up reporting while @vikingbooks.bsky.social mulls cover ideas. Can genuinely say that I enjoyed every single interview. What a privilege to get to do this work. Stay tuned, etc.

submitted 19 days ago • 2 comments

Did the first of ~150 interviews for my upcoming #USMNT book on May 13, 2022. Did the last one today, in a bit of mop-up reporting while @vikingbooks.bsky.social mulls cover ideas. Can genuinely say that I enjoyed every single interview. What a privilege to get to do this work. Stay tuned, etc.

submitted 19 days ago • 2 comments

The 2026 FIFA World Cup was supposed to bring the United States and Mexico closer together. Instead, U.S. president Donald Trump's saber-rattling with Mexico and Canada has only made an already-complicated mega event more complex. My story @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/football/202...

submitted 21 days ago • 1 comment

The 2026 FIFA World Cup was supposed to bring the United States and Mexico closer together. Instead, U.S. president Donald Trump's saber-rattling with Mexico and Canada has only made an already-complicated mega event more complex. My story @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/football/202...

submitted 21 days ago • 1 comment

Red Bull has botched basically every driver move for more than a decade -- including promoting Max four races into his rookie season. If it weren't him they'd be Alpine with ugly livery.

submitted 21 days ago • 1 comment