Argentina are expected to overwhelm Iran as one of the tournament favorites gear up for their second game.
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For those about to fanny pack, we salute you.
France defeated Nigeria in the Round of 16! LET'S PARTY!
Whoa there, guy with fanny pack. You might be partying a little TOO hard. Let's just calm down there. Don't want to bust your 'pack zipper. Nothing harshes getting a good 'pack on like a busted zip'. Take a breather. Treat your 'nny with respect, bro.
Nigeria put up a great fight against France for a while. They stopped after France scored. This was the result.
That's a lot of standing around from a lot of green shirts and a pretty embarrassing moment for Joseph Yobo, who's going to be credited with an own goal. Nigeria's response after France scored in the 80th minute has been really, really disappointing.
France have experienced every single variety of non-score in this game, so it's about time they finally found a goal. Paul Pogba, you can do the honors.
This is pretty bad goalkeeping by Nigeria's Vincent Enyeama, and that's a shame. He's been absolutely superb all game and all tournament up until this moment. Les Bleus lead 1-0, and Nigeria need a goal.
Karim Benzema's had a rough game for France, but he should have had a goal to redeem himself in the 70th minute. He probably thought he'd scored. He didn't score.
That's a pretty excellent save by Vincent Enyeama, and how about forward Victor Moses getting back to clear off the line? Nigeria are still holding on to a 0-0 draw.
There's no way any of this will change by October, so the teams should probably just start paying out the bonuses they owe.
We're 81 games in, give or take. The Rays aren't good; the Brewers are excellent. Justin Verlander is Kyle Lohse; Kyle Lohse is Justin Verlander. At least Mike Trout is still the best player in baseball. He keeps us grounded.
It's time to hand out midseason awards for both leagues, starting with the American League. We didn't know anything in March. We didn't know anything after April. We still don't know a lot. But these people below have earned these invented, fictitious awards from a second-rate writer on the Internet, and by gum, I'm going to make sure they get what they've earned.
It would be funny to have this go on for the next 15 seasons, with Trout being the best player in the league by most statistical measures in every season, only to lose the MVP to different Triple Crown winners or players on contending teams. Funny to non-Angels fans, at least. But this is probably the season he breaks through. It's a good thing Garrett Richards's breakthrough season is helping the Angels contend, which means Trout is a more valuable player. Or something.
Trout is hitting .314/.407/.610 (average/OBP/SLG), which would be outstanding for a DH on the 2000 Texas Rangers -- that is, a player at a position where offense is required, in an ultra-high-offense era, in a hitter's ballpark. Except Trout plays center for the 2014 Angels, so he's a player at a position where offense is usually secondary, in an ultra-low-offense era, in a pitcher's ballpark. Also, he runs well and fields well. Also also, he's 22, younger than Billy Hamilton, Wil Myers, and George Springer.
Just for giggles, his line if he were on the 2000 Rangers, translated using Baseball-Reference.com's fun toy:
It's hard to miss how brilliant he's been because of the league and the park. But he's hitting better, running better, and fielding better than most of his peers, and he would have to do just one of those things to be exceptionally valuable. Instead, he's doing all of them, which makes him the most valuable. The most valuable player, as they say.
(His hypothetical career numbers for the 2000 Rockies:)
(He was only 10 in 2000, but I think he could have done that.)
The heart wants to pick Felix Hernandez. The mind knows that Yankee Stadium is hell on pitchers, and that's enough of a tiebreaker for me. Hernandez currently has a slight edge in innings pitched, and he has a substantial edge in FIP (fielding-independent pitching), but the park settles everything.
I wonder if there's a good way to explain just how tough Yankee Stadium is on pitchers, using something both Mariners and Yankees fans can relate to.
The first words from an announcer used to watching games at Safeco: "Punches it." Then it goes five rows deep. Yep, that's right field in Yankee Stadium, alright. For Tanaka to lead the league in ERA (and ERA+) in that stadium is worthy of a statue, not an award.
I still have no idea how he's not a Dodger.
It's a tight match between Tanaka and Jose Abreu, which seems unfair to the players who had to plow through the minor leagues to get rookie eligibility this year, and I'm sure we'll see a spate of similar sentiments in various hot takes this November. They're rookies, though, by definition, and Tanaka is clearly the best.
Let's put it another way, in the history of the Yankees -- 27 championships, a couple dozen Hall of Famers, and a zillion All-Stars -- here are the seasons that were better by adjusted ERA over a full season:
| Player | ERA+ | Year | W | L | ERA |
| Ron Guidry | 208 | 1978 | 25 | 3 | 1.74 |
| Spud Chandler | 198 | 1943 | 20 | 4 | 1.64 |
| Lefty Gomez | 193 | 1937 | 21 | 11 | 2.33 |
| Masahiro Tanaka | 190 | 2014 | 11 | 3 | 2.10 |
The odds are good -- great? -- that Tanaka's ERA will go up by the end of the year. A windy day and a lefty-heavy lineup could wreak havoc on those purty numbers. Until then, though, he gets the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year. This is the third straight year where the Yankees shouldn't be good but are contending, and Tanaka's a huge part of that. I'd listen to arguments for him being the MVP, to be honest.
There are two ways to win the AL Manager of Really Surprising Team of the Year:
Error on the side of the second one. As in, if the Astros finish .500, Bo Porter wins, for example. And the Blue Jays have a strong candidate for the ALMORST award in John Gibbons. They weren't supposed to be good; yet they're in first place.
But when a team starts lapping the field, the manager of the good-now-great team takes it. Lou Piniella won for managing the '01 Mariners, for example. While the A's aren't quite at that level yet, they're clearly the team that's played the best in the AL this season, with no team within six games of them.
Though, I suppose that once you consider the A's are underperforming their Pythagorean record by three games, maybe you could argue that Gibbons should get the advantage. But the A's outscoring their opponents by over 130 runs probably means more than the quirky three-win gap. Almorst, John Gibbons. Almorst.
I don't think those selections are even remotely controversial, which is a shame. Next up, we'll look at the National League. Hopefully there will be a midseason-award knife fight there.
(Spoiler: Mike Trout wins the MVP there, too.)
The U.S. will have their star striker available to some degree against Belgium.
Jozy Altidore is "ready and available" to play for the United States in their World Cup round of 16 clash against Belgium on Tuesday, according to U.S. Soccer. The forward has been sidelined ever since straining his hamstring on June 16 in the Americans' match against Ghana.
It is still unclear what role Altidore will play against Belgium. While he has apparently been cleared, there is no word on whether he will start or come off the bench. He may not even play. All that we know is he's progressed enough to dress for the match.
Altidore returned to U.S. training on Friday with light jogging and has been slowly increasing his work load. The injury looked terrible when he went down in a heap against Ghana, but Jurgen Klinsmann expressed optimism the following day, saying that he thought Altidore would play again this tournament.
Clint Dempsey has started at striker in Altidore's absence and has done pretty well to hold the ball up and occupy defenders, but that work has kept him from getting into scoring positions as often as he usually does. Getting Altidore back would allow Klinsmann to put him back up top to do the dirty work and free Dempsey up to roam into playmaking and finishing spaces.
Nigeria have suffered a serious blow in their bid to upset France, and their midfield will be in some trouble going forward if they manage to win this game. Ogenyi Onazi has been substituted out and has left the match on a stretcher after hurting himself in a challenge with Blaise Matuidi.
Reuben Gabriel has replaced Onazi, a slight surprise, since most expected to see Ramon Azeez come on instead. The injury appeared to be to Onazi's ankle, and it'll be surprising if it's not serious.
Onazi picked up another injury earlier in the match and also left on a stretcher on that occasion, but was allowed to continue. That injury was a lower-body injury as well, also to his ankle area, and it's not clear if the two incidents are related at all.
Both Gabriel and Onazi are defensive midfielders, but Onazi is much more dynamic than the man who replaced him, so Nigeria might look a bit different in attack now.