Thursday Freedom Kicks: Washington Spirit, MLS is Back, and barbecue

A good grilling weekend

Good morning, friends. There has been some nice soccer played out in Utah, and many of us are coming into a three day weekend. I’m not particularly enthused about the original intention of the holiday, but I am always excited to have an extra day to grill. I think I’m going to do a whole chicken either today or tomorrow, and then maybe some ribs on Sunday.

If you’ve never done ribs on the grill, they’re one of the easiest ways to get into BBQ’ing, as they don’t take nearly as long as a pork butt or a brisket, and basically any temperature between 225 and 400 will still get you a tasty meal.

Now I’m hungry.

To the links:

Washington Spirit can’t contain NC Courage in 2-0 NWSL Challenge Cup defeat - Black And Red United

The Spirit played well in the first half, but the buzzsaw that is the North Carolina Courage get the results that they often do. The Spirit didn’t have to win this game, as everyone gets through to the next round, but it will help prepare them for the tough teams in the knockout stage.

Away from the NWSL Challenge Cup, Mallory Pugh hits the reset button – The Athletic

After a whirlwind last year, Mallory Pugh is attempting to rejuvenate her career after being traded from the Washington Spirit.

Atlanta United sign former Tigres winger Jurgen Damm, waive Luiz Fernando - Dirty South Soccer

Fringe Mexican national teamer Jurgen Damm will join the Five Stripes in August, but I am also sad to see Luiz Fernando get waived. Fernando signed with the Richmond Kickers at age 18, signed with Atlanta United 2 after three years, and then made the MLS team. It was a nice success story for a USL graduate, and I hope he lands somewhere soon.

At this point, MLS has to be at least considering something like what happened to the Orlando Pride and making contingencies if not all of the teams are able to compete in the tournament.

Restarting after so much time is going to lead to some injuries, even with people working out on their own. Jonathan Dos Santos is one of those people who won’t feature in the MLS is Back Tournament.

MLS announces revised 2020 transfer windows due to impact of COVID-19 | MLSsoccer.com

There will be a two day transfer window Monday and Tuesday next week, and then the main transfer window will be open from August 12 through October to give teams maximum flexibility as all the leagues across the world figure out their transfers.

Yesterday, Richmond took down another Confederate monument, this time the first one by the city instead of citizens. I am glad to see my city continue to make progress, but this is just the window dressing. Hopefully all of our localities can do the real, hard work necessary to make our country truly just.

That’s all I have today, what’s up?