Chicago-Vancouver game postponed due to air quality, new grass at Audi Field, the history of Striker, and more: Friday Freedom Kicks
It’s Friday! Unfortunately, it brings with it some dangerous smoke plumes from Canadian wildfires. Everyone stay safe and indoors as much as you can. Hopefully, things will improve in time for Loudoun United’s home game on Saturday.
Chicago Fire vs. Vancouver postponed due to smoke, air quality; Lewandowski’s MLS debut delayed (The Athletic $)
The smoke was bad enough last night in Chicago for MLS to delay the game between the Fire and Whitecaps. It will be played Tuesday, October 6 instead.
Despite this, the return of MLS was not without its critics (fair, in my opinion):
Donald Trump to attend World Cup final and present trophy (The Independent)
Oh, good. I’m not sure which of the two teams this is more likely to curse.
Here in DC, a new pitch is being installed at Audi Field:
Move over Soccerey Bally: how Striker the dog became a 1994 World Cup hero (The Guardian)
A deep dive into the creation and history of Striker, the soccer dog.
The 10 best matches of an unforgettable World Cup, ranked (Yahoo! Sports)
The World Cup is almost over, but you can already relive all of the excitement with best-of lists!
NYCFC want Christian Pulisic, move ‘dead in the water’ for now (ESPN)
Is anyone actually surprised by this?
Even with another game coming up this weekend, André and I had to hop on the podcast for a quick breakdown of Wednesday’s very frustrating Washington Spirit game:
Finally, here’s your schedule for the weekend. MLS is back, but not for D.C. United just yet. You’ll have to console yourselves with Washington Spirit, Loudoun United, and the final World Cup matches.
| Teams | When | Where | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| France vs. England | Sat., July 18 at 5 p.m. | Miami, FL | Fox |
| Loudoun United vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies | Sat., July 18 at 7 p.m. | Leesburg, VA | ESPN+ |
| Spain vs. Argentina | Sun., July 19 at 3 p.m. | East Rutherford, NJ | Fox |
| Washington Spirit vs. Boston Legacy | Sun., July 19 at 7 p.m. | Pawtucket, RI | Victory+ |
It is refreshingly sane to see MLS postpone the game due the unhealthy air quality. NWSL should have done the same with the Spirit-Gotham game. Utterly reckless.
Loudoun should be ok tomorrow in this regard, but the air will be humid and unstable (thunderstorms).
Thing is, the source of the smoke doesn’t have an off switch
The rain will help, but that’s a lot of API to dampen in a few hours
Any games happening in the radius this weekend are gonna have to make plans
Its a lot of API to dampen, and also smoke/particulate matter makes it more difficult for clouds to actually produce rain. So that instability will be fighting against the cloud microphysics, which could end up stunting the rain potential anyway. And then any rain that does end up forming will be really acidic. Fun times!
On the rugby front this weekend.
And the U-20 men avoid the wooden spoon defeating Uruguay 39-15.
Yeah. The Pulisic rumor always seemed like a non-starter to me. He saw firsthand the narrative about Michael Bradley when he returned to MLS. Why open that can of worm?
As I saw the projected smoke movement, it will be going north. I would think that the Spirit match “should” be at risk.