I grew up in basketball family. My Uncle was a successful coach at multiple levels. My cousin coached in the NBA. I played on my high school team and extended by playing career participating in Recreation leagues and YMCA pick-up games until my 48th birthday. I won't talk for now about my pure hatred of the three point line.
What drives me even crazier; college referees who predictably call any defended who throws himself (flops) on the floor a charge of the offensive player. The flop has been automatic in the college game ever since Coach K and his flopping Duke 5 initiated it.
The NCAA needs to get every god darn official into a mandatory in person meeting and explain to these brain dead refs, its almost impossible for the defensive player not to be moving or set when calling the block/charge. If you called a block 100% of the time you'll only be wrong maybe 10% of the time.
Bottom line - STOP THE FLOP

Didn't watch a single second of the World Cup Final this morning. If I was so inclined to turn this pathetic game on, all I need to do was turn on to watch the Penalty Kick portion that decided a major 4-year soccer event. How can any sport loving guy or gal accept an outcome decided by penalty kicks. Hell, I with no soccer ability what so ever probably could score a penalty kick. And this is to decide a once in every four year major soccer sport event. No other major sport would or ever decide a major championship like this. Hell, the NHL in Stanley Cup playoff games plays on until someone wins. Baseball has extra innings, Football has sudden death and Basketball has overtimes. 
Why expect anything else from a sport so lacking in pure scoring action.

Major League Baseball Free Agency has basically done its job for another year, as the prime time players for this year have found their new homes for next year. It was another enormous amount of money outlaid by owners to people like Judge, Correa, DeGrom, Turner and others. But at costs so outlandish and for years that seems asinine at best. I would bet each one of these signed contracts at their end will be huge albatrosses to their teams. Money must be easy for these owners to spend.

 

Thank God the World Cup only comes along every four years. Thankfully, Americans have alternatives in Football, Basketball and Baseball. Throw in Hockey and there shouldn't be an inkling of ever turning on a soccer match, unless one is in desperate need of a sleeping pill.

For 90 minutes, at least without commercial breaks. a soccer ball gets kicked back and forth between an official FIFA regulation soccer field that measures between 100-130 yards long and 50-100 yards wide. It's a game played by extraordinary athletic men, followed faithfully by legions of religiously rabid fans where many times games end by the score of Zero - Zero.

Toss in the constant flopping around on the turf, faking what would appear to be life threatening injuries like an acting award are in their future further adds to this gimmick of a game.

Finally, I get the so called soccer hooligans. You have to be totally bombed out of your mind to sit through 90 minutes without being self medicated. And if and when the ball somehow finds the back of the net, these lunatic fans loose their minds.