The Daily Dirt February 13, 2018: A retirement and an unfolding un-retirement

The Winter Olympics are in full swing. I deeply enjoy watching these weird sports that usually don’t get any coverage in the US. The Winter Olympics are great because they’re like a combination of training for war - the biathlon is just shooting a gun on skis - and death defying stunts. A majority of sports can be described as go down something slick and steep and try not to die, or jump off of something steep and slick, do some flips and try not to die. The photo for this article is Chloe Kim - she’s upside down, on purpose, and she won the gold medal. The other sports are curling or involve strapping knives on your feet and either jumping, trying to go really fast, or playing ice soccer. Also, curling is a captivating sport and everyone should watch it.

Aside from the pure spectacle of trying not to die while wearing spandex, there’s always great stories of athletic achievement, overcoming incredible odds, and then teenagers who re-define their sport - putting to shame how I spent my youth.

Anyway, onto the Dirt...

Domestic

The election is over, but the story of how it was won is still being told. The Athletes Council essentially decided the thing once. SocTakes writer Kartik Krishnaiyer has a deep look at what went on behind closed doors. According to Krishnaiyer, the Athletes Council may have swung their votes for Kyle Martino had he gotten the backing of Eric Wynalda. Rather than form a coalition, Wynalda hoped to win the election on his own. However, after the first two rounds of voting for Cordeiro, there were murmurs that the council would switch its vote to Martino. This prompted Don Garber to switch the MLS vote from Kathy Carter to Cordeiro, ensuring that a reform candidate would not take the election.

The USMNT will be in Cary, North Carolina - playing in a 10,000 seat stadium - to take on Paraguay in a friendly in March. Depending on what flavor of US national team is called in, Miguel Almiron may be taking on his teammates Brad Guzan, Darlington Nagbe, and Greg Garza; then again he may be taking on Andrew Carlton, Brandon Vazquez, and Chris Goslin.

FC Dallas brought in a new young DP, signing Santiago Mosquara from Millonarios FC of the Colombia Categoría Primera A. Dallas will be an interesting team to watch this year as the club looks to adjust their roster after missing the playoffs last year. The attacker can play forward, attacking midfield, or winger.

Atlanta United

Bobby Boswell retired, he was a legend - Sam made this video and it went viral so it’s only a matter of time before .

In case you missed it, Sam’s post announcing Bobby B is some of the best American sportswriting you will ever come across.

International

This is happening...

It might be exciting to see Landon Donovan play again but this is feeling like it’s more and more a publicity stunt that is naturally progressing to a cash grab.

Here’s a bit o soccer history from These Football Times about the career of Ricardo Bochini of CA Independiente. Los Diablos Rojos may have given us Ezequiel Barco, but before he came along Bochini was inspiring D10S himself, Diego Maradona.

This is so passive aggressive, I thought it was going to end with “bless his heart.” ‘Olivier Giroud the well-groomed, half-speed Costa, looks an ideal fit.’

Goals and passes and just cool stuff of the day

This is completely mesmerizing

You (men) should read...

About how to wash your damn face.