[Solecismic]

You usually need to win at some point to advance in this format. Because of that +4 in the opener, England didn't have any pressure on it today. Not sure it mattered whether it was 0-1 or 0-0 for the US, so the attacking style today was good to see.

It'll be interesting to see what Iran comes up with on Tuesday, needing a point to eliminate the US and move on. Of course, Wales could come up with a win against England and then a draw eliminates both US and Iran. England looked bored and efficient. Wales just looked tired.

About the armband thing... you're playing in a tournament under the umbrella of an organization that put the tournament in Qatar despite everyone knowing that human rights is a different story in Islamic theocracies. Your participation endorses FIFA's decision.

When I'm watching a sporting event, if it came down to having any interest in armband color because I'm looking for a signal of some sort, I'm already well aware of the issues. But it's like caring about the deck chairs on the Titanic. I would like everyone - gay, straight, combinations of both, neither, women, men, people of all races - to have the same rights everywhere. If I ran the world, they would. It's important. A soccer match can't change that, but it can be an event that brings people together. I won't say that these gestures are meaningless, but they are far, far less important than the fact that people are coming together to watch soccer.

I'm frustrated that FIFA chose money over refusing to help elevate a country where human rights are granted only to a subset of the people. If I thought about it more, maybe I wouldn't watch. But then I'd be missing out on the soccer. Trivial, yes, but so is the armband thing for those on field.

There's a competition out there called Miss America, for those of you too young to remember when it was a major annual television event. We came together to judge the superficial beauty of mostly white, tall, 20-year-old women with what popular culture considered spectacular figures (think of Hot or Not, but with no disagreement). There was a talent portion to make it somehow more competition-like, but everyone made fun of it - the women only had to have some training in putting on a competent display of something - could be flower-arranging, IIRC.

Television ratings were high. It was a mindless, satisfying, easily digested display of men ogling women and women, who made up just as much of the audience, enthusiastically judging as well (evening gowns were very important). Bert Parks would sing, and celebrities wore fancy clothes, and that made it all so legitimate and saccharine.

The key was tying it into states competing against states. The women wore big sashes with their state's name. For those in my generation, so many of us bought into this from childhood. It really was a significant part of our culture at the time.

Like many cultural phenomena, it died out. A new consciousness arose. Pageants felt less legitimate and more exploitative. Honey Boo-Boo happened. Something called the "personal interview" came into being, and we made fun of it because the "right" answer was to say the phrase "world peace" in a hopeful and yet charming manner.

But then it replaced the bathing suit "competition" and the answers were judged in the exact same manner - there's an ideal political mindset out there, and it must be regurgitated. And the audience just disappeared with the snap of a finger. I'm not sure it's even on television any more.

I don't miss it. It is an anachronism, part of our history that I guess makes some people want to make great again, but it wouldn't. In today's world, empathizing far more with women's equality, it would feel too exploitative. But the competition goes on, and apparently, to the delight of the right wing's perpetually-angry talking heads, some states are even choosing winners who are genetically male and identify as women. Which is fascinating, but I'm not sure makes for compelling television.

Some day, perhaps sports will also fall into this anachronistic category of things we once enjoyed, but we cannot feel good about anymore. I think the concussion issue in football could be the impetus here. But that's still a long way off. The point is that if we try and make things that people enjoy as entertainment political, they become insufferable and no longer bring us together at all.