cabiness42

If Costa Rica wins Group D and Mexico is runner-up in Group A, there is the potential for a Costa Rica-Mexico quarterfinal.

Costa Rica wins 1-0, England eliminated.

If Alexei's "slump" involves him hitting .277, then I'll take it.

Costa Rica seems to be more in their element when not playing in a blizzard.

Wow, CR just got screwed out of a PK. Blatant foul in the box not called. EDIT: And then they got one anyway, 1-0 CR.

I think Costa Rica can lock it down against Italy and manage a draw.

Hard to top that 45K/9 ratio.

Uruguay gets on the board first vs England.

Karma for breaking Jim McMahon

Time for a name change. Tonight's starting LF: Christopher Jose De Aza

The big difference is that Viking, Aztec, Spartan, etc. were never derogatory terms, whereas Redskin is/was. Nobody is saying that you can't have a Native American mascot (Braves, Indians), you just can't use a derogatory word for it.

I'd like to see a 0-0 draw. Mexico advances out of the group stage by scoring one goal in three matches.

Well, Seminole is a specific term referring to an enumerable group of people. That group of people deserves every right to determine what are and aren't appropriate uses of their name. Sioux, Pueblo, Hopi, etc. tribes don't get a say in whether or not it's OK to use the Seminole name, even if the costume/rituals of the mascot aren't obviously different. 'Redskin' is a generic term referring to all Native Americans. If even a substantial minority of them have a problem with the name then it's an issue that needs to be addressed. If you call someone a Midwestern Hick then as a Hoosier I can get offended. If you call someone a FIB I don't get offended because I'm not from Illinois.

The actual word 'redskin' carries a negative connotation whereas 'Indians' and 'Braves' do not. 'Seminoles' and 'Blackhawks' are named for specific tribes/people. There was actually a serious PC backlash against the name 'Seminoles' about a 15 or so years ago but then the Seminole tribe in Florida told everybody that they fully approve of the nickname and that everybody else had not right 'being offended' on their behalf, so that one is pretty much settled. As for the Fighting Irish, well the liberals are never going to go to bat for white Catholics, so that name will probably be around forever.

At least for Spain it is.

Go Green?!?

The USPTO is full of career employees and only the director is a political appointee. If you want to argue that the court's decision is based in politics that is possible, but the USPTO has been pretty consistent in its decisions across administrations.

Now 3-2 NED, but at the rate this game is going, it won't still be 3-2 by the time I finish posting this.

Going to be over in another week anyway.

I wonder if there's a way to connect the Redskins to the league as a means of challenging league-wide trademarks.

I'm one who generally thinks that our society has gotten too PC, but I'm on the PC side on this one. Good job by USPTO. No need for this name to exist any more.

Yeah, there would be pretty long odds on any Cubs player ever winning American League Rookie of the Year.

No, not even close. It's not about whether or not ownership is willing to part with an extra $500K. It's about how this negotiation impacts another current negotiation (de Oca) and setting a precedent for future negotiations. Why should Rodon feel like he's entitled to be paid over slot when nobody else in the first round is getting it?

Well now all Mexico has to do is pack it in again to get another 0-0 against Croatia and it's off to Round 2.

As bad as they were in the hex, they still only gave up 9 goals in 10 games. Of course, they only scored 7, so it's not surprising that they've had a 1-0 game followed by a game that is scoreless with under 20' left.