"Frankly It's More Difficult To NOT Make The Playoffs," Argues Toronto Fan

TORONTO - TFC fan Gavin Williams stated, “Frankly it’s more difficult to NOT make the playoffs,” as he attempted to make some sense out of another abysmal season.

More L’s than are in the Maple Leafs.

“If you look at the total number of teams in each conference it’s ridiculous. The sign of an exceptional team is achieving something that is beyond the ordinary,” stated Williams while stoned. “And going to the playoffs? That’s chump change. NINE teams are going to make the playoffs. But being the 16th out of 16 teams in the east and only one of six that don’t make the playoffs? That is an exceptional team. Exceptionally bad, but still exceptional.”

Sources say that Williams has been coping with a lost season since the season began as TFC only won 1 out of their first 9 games.

“It’s all over, but could it be even MORE over! I think so,” stated Williams to his group chat. “We’ve only begun to be shit, but we could take a run at being the worst team in the league and that is something. We are sitting at 8 straight losses, but can we make it 9? I THINK SO!”

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as a disgruntled Williams cheers against TFC getting any more points.

Merritt Paulson Lends Support To Embattled Spanish FA President

Portland, OR - From his offices at Providence Park, Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns owner Merritt Paulson called embattled Spanish FA President Luis Rubiales to lend his support as the President received widespread condemnation for giving Spain midfielder Jennifer Hermoso an unwanted kiss on the lips.

“Well, you know….. Boys will be boys,” stated Paulson to Rubiales. “What you did isn’t really that bad… it isn’t like you sexually assaulted and demeaned players repeatedly over your career across multiple teams and then had all of that information covered up. It’s just a kiss.”

Sources indicate that Paulson said he, “Felt a strange kinship with Rubiales,” as he decried the, “culture war against men and women being men and women,” in an email to new Timbers CEO Heather Davis.

“Look, I think we’ve all been there,” stated Paulson. “and we shouldn’t give in to the reactionaries. Isn’t there room for him to grow? To Live? To kiss other women with permission? I believe in a world where we don’t report things like this and we just let people figure things out.”

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as another scandal will eventually hit Paulson.

American At World Cup Pulls Up Immigration Web Page For The 7th Time

Auckland, New Zealand - Leaving the semifinal game between Spain and Sweden, American soccer fan Phillipa Williams pulled up the New Zealand Immigration page for the 7th time on her trip.

“Well, I suppose I DON’T have to go back,” stated Williams to herself as she added a real estate app to her phone. “I could have my cat sent over and just stay.”

Sources say that Williams spent so much time over in New Zealand and Australia that she now looks back on her time in the United States as her, “old life,” and frequently thinks about not going home.

“I could really just stay here instead of going back to Atlanta,” stated Williams. “What is waiting for me there? A job I don’t like where I won’t be able to take vacation for the next two years because of this trip, an overpriced apartment and absolutely batshit insane healthcare costs?”

Friends say that her contact became more infrequent over this trip as it transitioned from excited and frequent text messages to daily video calls at odd hours to infrequent social media posts about camping with her new friend Bromwyn.

“I could do it,” muttered Williams to herself again. “I could. There’s no real reason why I have to go back. I could just stay.”

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as a tearful Williams recalls the majestic beauty of the North Island during her scheduled 90 minute meeting Teams call on the recent Jira tickets overloads after she returns.

President Biden Proposes $1 Trillion “Haaland-to-MLS” Legislation

WASHINGTON – In a surprise press conference at the White House today, President Biden – flanked by Major League Soccer (MLS) Commissioner Don Garber and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen – announced that his administration was proposing new $1 trillion dollar federal legislation designed to facilitate the immediate signing of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland to an MLS contract.

Under the terms of the proposed legislation, $1 trillion dollars from the U.S. treasury would be earmarked for payments necessary to facilitate Haaland’s transfer to an as-yet unidentified MLS team. Yellen outlined the legislation as providing $250 billion to Manchester City to immediately terminate Haaland’s current contract thus making Haaland a free agent able to sign with MLS, $100 billion to the English Premier League to approve that termination, $500 billion to pay for a new MLS contract for Haaland, with the remaining $150 billion to be allocated to “unspecified additional considerations” necessary to cement the deal. Yellen would not elaborate to whom the “unspecified additional considerations” would be paid, although they did indicate that the Treasury Department was going to create a slush fund to buy $250K RVs for 4 Supreme Court justices

During the press conference, Fox News personality Peter Doocy asked Biden why the deal wouldn’t “blow up” the already-inflated U.S. national debt, and pay “foreigners” to “take away American jobs.” Yellen stepped in with a chart indicating that the deal was projected by the Treasury Department to actually reduce the deficit, by, among other things “providing shovel-ready working class jobs, to building Macaranã-sized [the São Paulo stadium with a seating capacity of 200,000] facilities in every MLS city,” “increasing AppleTV’s subscriber base to an estimated 4 billion,” and “beefing up U.S. and state tax revenues as the result of hyper-inflated SeatGeek ticket resales.”

Haaland, who broke the Premier League’s single season goals record last year, is currently on pace to score 120 goals in the just-commenced 2023-24 38-game Premier League season. Biden indicated that scientists and the United States’ Sandia National Labs, using the latest supercomputing technology, project that if Haaland were to come to MLS, he would break Carlos Vela’s single-season goal record of 34 by his 4th MLS game, and Chris Wondoloski’s all-time goal scoring record of 171 midway through his first season. Garber noted that, “We think Haaland has a chance to bring over the ‘Barstool Sports’ fans, who claim that what soccer needs is more scoring, to MLS. With Haaland’s projected 10 goals-per-game scoring pace, those fans will no doubt flock to MLS.”

When the Nutmeg News pointed out to Biden that the projected benefits to the U.S. economy from this legislation might hit a snag given that Vancouver Whitecaps hold Haaland’s MLS “discovery rights,” Garber stepped up to the podium, and said, with a wink “I’ve ‘discovered’ that that rule doesn’t apply in this situation.”

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as Tucker Carlson interviews Geoff Cameron about his feelings on the Haaland-to-MLS legislation and his own gubernatorial run on the “woke is broke” philosophy in Texas.

Gregg Berhalter Announces Hiring Of Vlatko Andonovski As Assistant Coach

CHICAGO – In a surprise announcement at U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) headquarters this morning, U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) head coach Gregg Berhalter announced the hiring of a new “assistant coach for in-game strategy” for his coaching team – Vlatko Andonovski, last seen leading the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) at the World Cup (WWC) in Australia/New Zealand this year.

“I’ve watched with interest all of the [USWNT]’s games this year,” said Berhalter, “and after seeing how Vlatko saved his substitutions only for emergency situations, mixed things up by playing his star players out of their natural positions, and made sure the team gave playing time to well-known veterans who were part of the advertising promotions for the World Cup, I knew he and I had similar coaching philosophies.” “Now that [Andonovski] is available,” Berhalter continued, “I made it my highest priority to get him on-board before he was snatched up by some other team.”

Berhalter and Andonovski will now begin preparations for selecting, training, and fielding the USMNT for the next Men’s World Cup, scheduled to be held jointly in Canada, the United States, and Mexico in 2026. Although Berhalter noted that it was too early to predict how Andonovski’s strategic insights would impact the USMNT in 2026, he did mention that Andonovski had already suggested several changes under consideration, including: 1) no substitutions except for compound bone fractures or major organ failure; 2) switching Christian Pulisic to a central defender role; and 3) starting USMNT veteran and Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who will be 42 years old in 2026.

USSF officials were said to be pleased with the latest announcement. Said one official, “Gregg and Vlatko both got second in their group, and then got eliminated in the first knockout game. This is the sort of consistency that [USSF] is looking for from our national team coaches.”

Andonovski’s hiring is also seen as addressing another concern that has plagued the USMNT for many years – that hiring decisions are based not on sporting merit, but on the insular and incestuous nature of USSF, where old friends and family members are favored for key positions. “We think that Vlatko’s hiring will finally put to rest the idea that you have to know someone, or be related to someone, to get a good job with the National Team,” the Nutmeg News was told by USSF spokesperson Zlatka Andonovski.

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as Andonovski calls Geoff Cameron about a possible return to National Team action.

 



Telemundo Announces Partnership With Duolingo In An Effort To Give English Language Fans An Escape From Carli Lloyd And Alexi Lalas Commentary

Spanish language television network Telemundo announced a partnership with language learning application Duolingo to offer a Spanish language credit for any English speaking fans watching in hope that it will encourage an escape from the mind numbing stupidity of Carli Lloyd and Alexi Lalas.

“No one should live this way,” stated one anonymous executive. “We show that the average person has a decline of 30 points from their overall IQ if they watch either of them speak for longer than one minute. That’s enough to take you from High Average to Below average. Just from watching them in a studio say literally anything. Studies even show a further decline into abject stupidity if the average person actually reads anything they write online.”

Publicly, Telemundo indicate that they are just trying to help people learn Spanish and watch futbol; but privately executives express displeasure at what they hear coming from the broadcast centers of the United States teams.

“We just do not understand why anyone would want to listen to these people and find ways to hate your own team? Aren’t you supposed to be a fan of the country of your team? Or is this an American thing to find every reason to hate these women. It’s very confusing.”

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as fans try to use a streak freeze when they forget to watch a match until the next morning.

Writers Guild Starts Investigation Into Scriptwriters For Leagues Cup Games

LOS ANGELES - Following accusations of possible scabs, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) initiated an investigation into the scriptwriters for Leagues Cup games.

Solidarity!

“We take strike breaking and scabs very seriously,” stated one official with the WGA. “However, we are confident that the body of work we have seen this far would indicate scabs, more than talented writers, crossing the picket line.”

Sources say that the WGA picked up on the narrative after looking at the current results.

“Yes, you can see the heavy hand here,” stated one insider, “but honestly…. having him score the freekick to win the game? That’s more than a little bit ON THE NOSE.”

For their part, Leagues Cup officials denied the charge stating that the games would shake out as they would.

However, those in the know claim that the Leagues Cup reached out to writers with Succession for a way to really mix things up in the knock out round.

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as writers from the second season of Heroes return their calls.

Highland Park Man Wearing Barcelona Kit Surprised They Built Soccer Stadium In Frisco Just For This Game

Frisco, TX - Sitting on the sideline passing popcorn to his Messi clad children, Barcelona kit wearing David Hughes stated to his wife that he was surprised they built a soccer stadium out in Frisco just for this Messi game.

Just a short commute from the stockyards.

“Seems a bit wasteful to build this thing for just one game,” stated Hughes, “But what do I know, that’s probably why these tickets were a thousand dollars a piece.”

Hughes started following Barcelona when they were the best team in the world and his passion for following the best team in the world has allowed him to watch every Manchester City game over the past year.

“It’s really a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch him play,” stated Hughes. “Well, this is actually the fourth game we’ve gotten to see him play as we saw a few games in Paris when we were there a few years ago.”

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as Hughes considers flying the family out to the next Messi away game for some more local soccer.

New Healthcare Service Funds Patient Coverage By Selling Messi Tickets

NEW YORK - BALON, a new health care service, announced that they would be funding their operation and covering patient deductibles by selling bulk Lionel Messi tickets on the secondary market as they took inspiration from recent events in the news to offer another form of health care coverage in the United States.

“Good news, Doctor. We can close him up now that the Stubhub listings were purchased.”

“We are providing gap coverage that will allow people in the United States to purchase policies that are backstopped by the Messi ticket fund,” stated BALON public relations officer Stacey Harbottle.

Sources with the organization say that they are able to raise millions of dollars by bulk purchasing tickets for away games in which Messi will play and selling them on the secondary market.

“We will be helping the uninsured AND ticketless fan to be able to cover roughly 42% of their upcoming surgeries,” stated Harbottle. “ And our prescription drug coverage offers a flat $10 copay with low coinsurance costs for non-elective surgeries. We feel that we are filling a gap for many people who don’t have good health insurance but also don’t want to owe $150,000 because they had to get a gall bladder removed and very clearly can’t afford to pay the luxury ticket prices to see Lionel Messi play.”

With fans priced out of the Messi ticket bonanza, the sick can rely on the fact that their emergency events will help some anonymous person be able to attend a once in a lifetime game to watch Messi in Chicago, Nashville and beyond.

“I was concerned that my current insurance wouldn’t cover my scheduled c-section,” stated Sandra Evans. “However, with BALON my bill should be reduced from $214,000 to $23,000 split across 26 easy payments with interest over 1 year and Jerry Stevens from Des Moines will be able to see Lionel Messi play for $1600! It’s a win win!”

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as Twitter users claim this still offers a better medical solution than socialized medicine.

"Good, I'm Glad The US Lost," Proclaims Your Patriotic Dad

Dallas, TX - Speaking about the USWNT loss, your dad proclaimed, “Good, I’m glad the US lost,” as he muttered horrible comments about Megan Rapinoe to your sister who, for some reason, decided to avoid coming out to your parents, again, for the 4th (and final) college trip home.

After waking up, having his coffee, and looking at his phone your dad proceeded to stretch and say, “What a bunch of whiny liberal babies,” before sitting down to endlessly scroll Fox News and google, “progress of Hunter Biden case.”

Sources say that your mom just stared off into the back yard and tried to remember the last time your dad said anything about their relationship before switching off emotionally to play level 954,321 of Candy Crush.

“Go Woke, Go Broke,” muttered your dad as he texts you unbidden memes from across the room that contained rants about transgender people, the Barbie movie, and for some unknown reason Hagar the Horrible.

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as your dad wonders aloud why everyone has plans this Thanksgiving.

"This Is Just Absolutely Awful Without Promotion Relegation," States Cross Armed Man Not Celebrating Last Gasp Championship Win By Ballard FC

Tukwila, WA - Promotion/Relegation advocate Charles Stewart was, reportedly, the only fan in attendance at the USL-2 Final not celebrating as Ballard FC won the championship on a last gasp goal as he stated, “This is just absolutely awful without promotion relegation,” to a overjoyed fan jumping up and down to his left.

Sources indicate that Stewart attended the game out of spite as he attempted to see why anyone would go see, “an inferior product that has no central part of hope contained within it and just needs to be completely scrapped, rebuilt and started over,” as he constantly muttered against the league structure while at the game to the people just trying to enjoy themselves.

“No one cares because there is no reason to invest in this team,” stated Stewart to a fan holding a flare and yelling out loud. “Without a vertical pyramid that rewards success to the next level, why should any fan come out to watch this inferior product.”

Sources say that Stewart begrudgingly bought one beer which he disdainfully called, “overwrought and too hoppy,” before watching the game unfold while picking apart every single nuance as being, “symptomatic of the toadying nature of the soccer fan towards their federation which perversely maintains the corporate structure that prevents TRUE competition from flourishing.”

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as Stewart goes home to bemoan the game to his 432 followers that he curated by being constantly miserable about all things domestic soccer.

USWNT Fan Worried That Team Is Regressing To USMNT Results

Omaha, NE - USWNT superfan Jasmine Williams stated that she was intensely worried that the women’s team is regressing to USMNT results as she stated, “I didn’t start watching them because they were going to extremely satisfied pulling off scoreless draws against Portugal.”

Sources say that Williams grew up during the era of the supremacy of the United States women and she has grown increasingly concerned that the team hasn’t won with a massive scoreline yet in this World Cup.”

“I remember when the USWNT beat Nigeria 7-1 in 1999 and they basically stopped playing,” stated Williams. “I remember when the US beat Japan 5-2 in the FINAL in 2015. And now they look like they are excited to get a scoreless draw? I didn’t start watching this team because they put 9 players behind the ball and would be thrilled to tell the story about not getting a handball call against Germany. What in the name of Clint Mathis is going on here?”

Sources say that Williams has decided to blame the coaching staff before any other possibility as she stated, “No one can touch us,” despite not actually watching any other international games for the past 4 years. “I expect that we will continue to be the best at the world, not have the world catch up to us,” stated Williams on her Twitter feed.

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as Williams transitions from blaming the coaches to blaming the Gen Z players.