Pepple on soccer

For most folks in the world, it's called football or one of its variants, like futból or Fußball, but for us scruffy Amurricans, it's called soccer (which, as a term, is actually British in origin, coming from the soci—"socky"—in the British phrase association football). Arguably the world's most popular sport, soccer is avidly followed by a huge fraction of the world's population—an estimated 3.5 billion people.

Dr. John Pepple of I Want a New Left, a philosopher and self-described leftist who is now critical of where the left has gone, loves his soccer, and on his blog, when he's not criticizing the left, he's usually talking about soccer. With the World Cup in full swing, Pepple has had a lot to say. In his latest "World Cup Notes," the good professor talks about how some teams that advanced did so thanks to other teams that had been eliminated (like South Korea, whose disappearance allowed Mexico to move forward, prompting many unironic "Thanks, Korea!" cartoons, messages, and celebrations from and by Mexicans).

If you're into soccer/football, check Pepple's blog out, then rage at his commentary when you find yourself disagreeing with his perceptions.