Wednesday Freedom Kicks: Taxi rides to PotW, RFK Stadium is lit, and more

Happy Wednesday! It may be another warm one today, but at least it’s not as warm as RFK last evening. *nudge* *wink* No laugh? Well my wife thinks I’m funny, and that’s all that matters. To the kicks!

Until D.C. United gives us more wins, I’m reveling in the one we just had. The team tweeted this sweet recap so I can revel harder.

Taxi Fountas Player of the Week: Not only did this man finally get D.C. United some representation on MLS’ Team of the Week, he was (most rightfully) named Player of the Week as well. I’m considering uninstalling Uber and Lyft in support of Taxi.

Fire breaks out at RFK Stadium: I told you RFK was hot. It seems some powers that be tried to put RFK out of its misery. I’m a little suspicious of how multiple fires started in an abandoned stadium, so skeptical me expects some less-than-natural causes here.

Bruce Murray deals with mild dementia, suspected CTE: Another sad story of a soccer player and suspected CTE, a cureless brain disease linked with concussions. A Montgomery County native, Washington Stars/Maryland Bays player, and USMNT scoring machine, Bruce Murray was diagnosed with at least 4 concussions during his career 30 years ago; with today’s attention to concussions, 4 may be a fair bit lower than reality. I’ll continue my silent advocacy for those headband-looking soccer helmets.

Memphis 901 legend Tim Howard will be making a local appearance at the Maryland Bobcats camp strangely as an Everton Ambassador. I still think fondly toward his superhuman performance against Belgium.

NASCAR finds itself swimming in more parity that it’s ever seen. With Tyler Reddick’s first win of his career this last weekend, NASCAR now has 13 winners in 18 races, and for the first time ever in this 70+ year sport, this deep into the season, no one has 3 wins.

NASCAR uses a playoff format where, so long as you’re in some extremely reachable position in the points standings, a win will automatically clinch a playoff position. This format exists to really reward winning a race over some more conservative racing strategies that may be satisfied with consistent top 10 finishes. Without boring you with the intricacies of the point system (which, contrary to the popular belief, I am wholeheartedly prepared to defend), only 16 drivers can be in the playoffs. With 13 winners already and 8 races to go before the playoffs, NASCAR is in an interesting position where it’s not out of the realm of possibility to see 17 winners before the playoffs, kicking a winner out of it. To add to that, the regular season champion gets a playoff spot as well, and Ryan Blaney sits in 2nd place without a win. I think we won’t see this wacky winner-gets-knocked-out scenario come to pass, but this season is absolutely wild with competition.

That’s all I have for you today. Get kicking in the comments!

P.S. The team from our nation’s capital won a game on Independence Day. One might say that they provided the best “freedom kicks” of the day.