Wednesday Freedom Kicks: Local commentary in limbo, Spirit hire a new GM, and the USMNT play in the mud

Another sunny Wednesday folks. Sarah recapped yesterday’s news quite well last evening, so if you haven’t checked it out, you should definitely do that. Yesterday was the wild day. Today is, as of the time of writing, simply echoing yesterday’s excitement. As such, I’ll be a little more freeform in today’s write-up.

With MLS’ deal with Apple TV, local broadcasts are currently set to disappear in 2023. D.C. United appears to understand our interest in keeping Dave Johnson and company around. Whether that’s for pre- and post-game coverage or radio broadcasting that we can tune into using Apple TV, time will tell. There is no acceptable reason to no longer hear, “It’s in the net!”

Washington Spirit hiring Mark Krikorian as GM: The highest paid coach in women’s college soccer (with FSU) is joining the Spirit as GM and president of soccer operations. If the Spirit can’t win this season, then I hope Krikorian helps them pursue a record-breaking season for draws. We’re currently on pace to break that record.

El Salvador 1-1 United States: Imagine you’re 12 years old playing a rainy match in the mud with your parents cheering you on from the sidelines. You don’t know who’s winning because you can’t see anything. You can’t see anything because mud covers you from head to toe. This was the USMNT match last night, and it was glorious.

In more somber news, the Maryland Bobcats lost a player today. No one should have to perish at such a young age.

The league has introduced a 2022 Unity kit for all teams. This apparently stretches to jackets.

Daniel Suárez made history on Sunday by becoming the first Mexican to win in the NASCAR Cup Series. He’s only the fifth international winner in the series, joining names like Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya. As a NASCAR fan eager to see the sport grow internationally, this has me excited. To focused fans, his success is not a surprise. The surprise is how long it took for him to enter victory lane. Suárez rose through the ranks quickly, winning the Xfinity Series (NASCAR’s second tier) championship in 2016. The years following have seen a lot of almosts, but he finally took the checkered flag last weekend at Watkins Glen to hopefully open the floodgates for more victories. His Trackhouse Racing teammate, Ross Chastain, is probably the hottest driver in NASCAR this year. And if the name “Trackhouse Racing” is triggering some faint memory, that’s because the team famously announced Pitbull as an owner last year. All in all, I’m stoked to see this young team with these eager drivers make waves in the sport that’s long been craving some fresh faces.

If any more groundbreaking news has made its way since reading this, kick it to the comments below!