For those of you who aren’t friends with any white girls on facebook, this week was The Lychee and Dog Meat Festival, commonly referred to as “Yulin Dog Meat Festival.”  The festival is an annual celebration held in Yulin, Guangxi, China, during the summer solstice in which festival goers eat dog meat and lychees, among other tasty treats. The festival spans over a week, during which about 15,000 dogs are consumed.

Of course, this ended up being one of the top topics for people to get outraged over this week.  The hashtag #StopYulin2015 began trending and an online petition to end the festival has garnered over 4 million signatures.

Sometimes, cultural relativism rears it’s ugly head when western society should stand up for greater values.  Obvious examples are female genital mutilation in some African cultures and other human rights violations.  However, I find it hard to argue that eating dog meat is inherently “bad.”  Dog meat is a well established part of the Chinese diet in some parts of the nation.  Asian society has devoured dogs long before your friend Rachel decided that she was “gluten sensitive.”   Nearly 10 million dogs are eaten each year in China.  Meanwhile,  we in America slaughter over 100 million pigs each year though some studies have shown that pigs may be as intelligent as dogs, if not more so.  By the way, pigs are cute too.

Others have argued that the dogs served at the festival are mistreated before slaughter.  “Dear Morons: Stopping the #YulinDogMeatFestival is less to do with them being dogs & more to do with them being tortured and skinned alive,” Ricky Gervais wrote on Twitter last week.  Well Mr. Gervais, sometimes it’s best to not think too much about where your food comes from (also, the British version of The Office is my favorite show ever, please do a third season).  Here are a few links for those of you who are curious and brave enough to read about how your veal, beef, chicken, and eggs are produced.  Or you could take David Foster Wallace’s advice and Consider the Lobster.  If you want to skip those links, the short of it is that you’re lucky you weren’t born as a factory farm animal.

The international outrage has caused a backlash in Yulin.  I can hardly blame them.  If 4 million Hindus send a petition to my local BBQ joint I may have some strong words for those cow loving fucks.

I love dogs (even though mine can sometimes be a real pain in the ass).  Though I won’t go out of my way to eat one, I don’t think it’s our job as the worlds moral police force to decide other people shouldn’t eat dogs either.  If you want to actually make a difference for your furry friends here in America, consider supporting your local SPCA chapter.  Each year, approximately 2.7 million animals are euthanized in the U.S., including 1.2 million dogs and 1.4 million cats.  Meanwhile, puppy mills continue to contribute to our overpopulation problem by mass neglecting their animals for profit.

Or you could just write a few more angry posts along with pictures of sad puppies on your facebook to feel better about yourself, Rachel.

The juiciest sports chatter of the day has to be that superstar QB Aaron Rodgers’s relationship with sex symbol Olivia Munn is ‘on the rocks’.  For those of you who are new to sports gossip, the reason this is interesting to talk about is because Aaron Rodgers most likely never loved Olivia Munn in the first place.  Because he’s not into women.

While it’s not 100% proven that Aaron Rodgers is gay, there are still many stone cold facts that lead any reasonably intelligent human to believe he is.  Let’s quickly review everything we learned in 2013…

• Rodgers had an openly gay roommate for several years

• His relationship with this roommate was more than the typical ‘close friendship’ (for example, he was the first person Rodgers sought out and hugged after winning the Super Bowl)

• This roommate moved back to California in the summer of 2013, told everyone he had just gone through a rough breakup, and sent cryptic tweets to Rodgers, mentioning that “Silence always comes with an expiration date…”

• Sources claimed that their breakup was precipitated by Rodgers backing out of a planned NFL outing that summer.

Rodgers denies everything, but that could also mean he’s just like the hundreds of other gay professional athletes that opt to stay in the closet rather than have their private lives under the extreme scrutiny of the insufferable masses across America.  With what we absolutely do know right now, I think it’s safe to say that it’s ‘more probable than not’ that…

Some people may wonder, if the rumors are true, what could Munn possibly have to gain from being Aaron Rodgers’s beard.  That’s a valid question.  I don’t know much about Munn myself, but one of my ex-girlfriends who is a huge Packers fan says that she is really into experimental sex and dating someone like Rodgers makes it easy for her to get double teamed and have a lot of group sex.  That makes sense.  Oh yeah and obviously there is the insane amount of branding opportunities this gives her.  That’s pretty clutch for a C-List actress…

Now let me be clear.  I have no beefs with what Rodgers decides to do in his private life.  It’s 2015; acceptance is in and bashing is out.  Does that mean we’re gonna refrain from gossiping about the best quarterback in the NFL?  Fuck no.

So on to the latest news…  After one year of dating, it looks like the two have had “too many fights to count”, and that Munn “freaks out and flies off the handle for no reason and gets really jealous.”  Yikes.  Even if Rodgers was really into Munn (which he could possibly be, but we’re assuming he’s not…), that spells breakup all over it.  Also, apparently Munn made Rodgers come visit her on set of X-Men: Apocalypse.  Bad move Olivia…  Your boyfriend is a superstar quarterback.  You can’t tell him what to do.  Unless she has some dynamite blackmail material, it looks like she’s well on her way back to irrelevance.  What a blown opportunity…

By the way, I don’t want to get into the habit of bringing up Deadspin on every single post, but I do need to point out how much of a pussy Tim Marchman was in his coverage of the Rodgers outing.  Really?  He said on a radio show that he’s not gay so therefore it’s definitely not true?  God what a chickenshit take.  That’s like a reporter in the 90s saying Bill Clinton never had any side pieces because that’s what he said in a nation address.  Also, it’s quite ironic that Marchman made that post on New Year’s Eve of 2013.  Yeah, Deadspin thinks it’s inappropriate to gossip about Aaron Rodgers in the same year that they had no problem with ruining Manti Te’o’s life…  Fuck them.

PS – Did anybody catch this tweet from Rodgers’s (alleged) ex-boyfriend after the NFC Championship game last January?

Boom roasted.

PPS – Now that Rodgers is supposed to have more control over play calling this year, do you think we’re gonna see a lot less shotgun and more plays from under center?  Just curious.

You know how Larry David feels about daytime sex?  Well that’s almost the same way I feel about daytime gambling.  Nothing like some good wins while the sun is still up to put some pep in your step for the rest of the day…  Hopefully you followed my picks yesterday because they were fire.  Over 7.5 units won, and would’ve been a lot more without three soul crushing extra-inning defeats.  On to today’s picks…

COPA AMERICA: Peru (-120) vs Bolivia (+350), draw (+230)

Gotta take Peru here.  They’ve been one of the biggest surprises of the tournament, holding their own and winning 2nd in the hardest group.  They would’ve gone unbeaten in group stage if it weren’t for a heroic Neymar injury time goal in the first game.  Bolivia is probably the worst team in the knockout round.  They’re in because of a victory over mighty Ecuador that would’ve been a draw if it weren’t for a missed PK.  They also just got shellacked 5-0 by Chile in their last game.  The dream ends tonight for them.  Remember, 5x units for these games as they’re only once per night.

Now baseball…

White Sox (+158) at Tigers (-173)

I hate this line but fuck the White Sox.  They are terrible and the Tigers are good right now.

Orioles (+117) at Red Sox (-127)

The only time Boston is possibly a good bet is when Eduardo Rodriguez pitches for them, which he’s doing this afternoon, but Boston’s still gotta be concerned with losing a third of their lineup last night.

Athletics (-138) at Rangers (+128)

Colby Lewis doesn’t have the greatest stuff at his old age, but he’s still great at cranking out wins for Texas when they need them the most.  Take him with plus money to salvage a series sweep at home.

Mets (-120) at Brewers (+110)

Take deGrom to prevent a sweep at the hands of the second worst team in baseball.

Dodgers (+130) at Cubs (-140)

They can keep pricing Lester like an ace, but it’s been about a full year now since he’s shown us anything above #2 quality pitching.  The Dodgers clinch a series split here.

Diamondbacks (-102) at Rockies (-108)

Take the Rockies at home in a day game, and over 10.5 runs (-110).

Braves (+135) at Nationals (-150)

After another extra inning loss to Washington last night, are the Braves ever going to stop getting their souls crushed by this team?  Yes, and hopefully today with their young phenom Wisler on the mound.

Reds (+145) at Pirates (-160)

Taking A.J. Burnett against the Reds and their garbage veteran DeSclafani.

Cardinals (-115) at Marlins (+105)

As much as I hate the Cards, its rarely prudent to bet against them.

Yankees (+142) at Astros (-157)

Dallas Keuchel pitching for Houston.  The Yankees are throwing out Adam Warren, the righty arm that can sometimes be troubling for the Astros.  Also take Under 7 runs (+115).

Last night, Deadspin soccer writer Billy Haisley was drooling over a goal that Japan’s Mizuho Sakaguchi scored in the Women’s World Cup.  He posted the following video and said “this is just, wow.”

Eh…  It was okay.  I mean, the strike was kind of cool I guess.  But Sakaguchi was still wide open at the top of the box with plenty of time to tee up a shot.  It definitely doesn’t scream out “this is just, wow.”  If that’s the best the Women’s World Cup has to offer, consider me unimpressed.

I really don’t understand why Billy and his Deadpsin colleagues are trying so hard to make this tournament a big deal.  I get the whole ‘taking pride in your country’ aspect of it.  That’s legit.  However, if you want to support soccer in your country, you should have a tiny bit of love for your nation’s domestic league.  And this leads me to the crux of my confusion.  Deadspin wants to build up this tournament as some great sporting spectacle we should all be in awe of.  They say it’s great soccer.  Yet, at the same time, they (and Billy especially) say the MLS sucks.

One of their favorite tags is a series of posts where they ridicule the quality of play in the MLS and go to whatever lengths they can to tarnish the reputation of the league.  Now, if that Japan goal above is really the best the WWC has to offer, and Deadspin claims the MLS is lot worse to watch, then MLS highlights must really blow…  To confirm this, I went ahead and googled last week’s MLS Goal of the Week.  I’m really glad I did, because this is the gem that came up…

Holy shit.  That was actually pretty fucking awesome!  This dude shoots from the same spot as the Japanese woman, but he’s closely guarded, and strikes with twice as much power from a volley.  Damn…

I guess that settles it.  Billy Haisley either has a fetish that makes him think Japanese women’s soccer players are way better than they actually are, or he doesn’t know what good soccer is.  Or maybe there’s a third possibility?  Maybe he is just really entertained by poor quality soccer.  If so, he must’ve loved these lowlights from the game last night…

If you all followed my afternoon gambling picks today, then you must be happy to feel a fair amount richer right now than you were this morning.  If Houston can pull off a win in LA (they’re currently tied 1-1 in the 9th), then you’d be a lot richer than you were this morning.  Here’s my picks to help you extend that dopamine rush throughout the rest of the night.

COPA AMERICA: Chile (-140) vs Uruguay (+450), tie (+265)

If you like soccer at all and you haven’t been watching Copa America, well, you should start watching.  It’s pretty sick.  Awesome South American’s like Messi, Neymar, and James Rodriguez putting it all out on the line for country pride.  You could possibly say that it’s a more entertaining soccer tournament than the Women’s World Cup, but more on that later tonight…

The knockout rounds start tonight, and an interesting quirk this tournament has is that the quarterfinals and semifinals will go straight to PKs if both teams are tied after 90 minutes.  That’s right.  No overtime.  Straight to nail biting penalty kicks.  For degenerate gamblers like us, this could actually present real good value to take underdogs in two way moneylines (Uruguay is +220 for that), but we’re not doing that tonight.

Gotta go with Chile all the way here.  Uruguay is a great team, but they’ve been looking lost without Suarez on attack (he is still suspended from international play because of the biting incident last summer).  Chile, on the other hand, was the only team that consistently dominated during the group stage.  Alexis Sanchez tore up the EPL with Arsenal this year and he hasn’t slowed down one bit with Chile, helping them to win their group with a combined score of 10-3 over three games.  And during that whole time, Chile had been partying like rock stars, breaking laws, and still having all their home fans yelling at the courts to leave the team alone.  How cool is that?  Oh yeah, Chile is the host nation too.  Lay the wood with this team.

BTW – for soccer picks, I like my unit size to be 4x the amount as baseball because of the volume discrepancy in number of games.

On to baseball…

Reds (+163) at Pirates (-178)

Gerrit Cole at home.  And Cincinnati is a terrible road team.  Done.

Braves (+145) at Nationals (-160)

Take Shelby Miller with plus money against a division rival.

Cardinals (-122) at Marlins (+112)

Cheap price for the Cards.  Jaime Garcia’s legit.  Take them

Orioles (+135) at Red Sox (-150)

For some reason Clay Buckholz is priced like a real #1 pitcher.  But he shouldn’t be.  He sucks.  And so do the Red Sox.  Until Vegas starts adjusting their prices, fade Boston every day.

Dodgers (-114) at Cubs (+104)

Take the Dodgers to salvage a sweep after two very close losses.

Athletics (+115) at Rangers (-125)

Texas is a solid home team against a very mediocre opponent tonight.

Diamondbacks (+115) at Rockies (-125)

Take the D-Backs with plus money in this toss up, as well as over 10.5 runs (-130) at Coors Field with two poor pitchers on the mound tonight.

Royals (-102) at Mariners (-108)

Danny Duffy is coming off the DL for Kansas City tonight and apparently he’s been fire in his rehab starts after making some mechanical adjustments.  Seattle’s also trotting out Elias, giving KC a lefty arm they can crush.

Padres (+113) at Giants (-123)

Nori Aoki, the Giants’ leading hitter, just got diagnosed with a fibula fracture and is out for awhile.  With Hunter Pence also on the DL, San Francisco could have some issues on offense.  Ian Kennedy’s been real good for the Padres lately, and the Giants are rolling out their worst starter in Vogelsong.

Rumor has it that John Elway is generally disliked by anyone who works with him, and that’s easy to believe.  He gave Baltimore the finger on his first day as an NFL player, made Dan Reeves a scapegoat for his own putrid Super Bowl performances, and even fired the entire coaching staff of his Arena League football team because of a poor record in their inaugural season.

However, love him or hate him, you’ve really got to respect the power moves he’s pulled in Denver’s front office.  Kicking Tebow to the curb was great.  Giving John Fox’s staff the same across-the-board axing treatment he mastered in the arena league was another nice touch and necessary move.  And apparently he completes the trifecta with news coming out yesterday that he shopped Peyton Manning to the Texans.

Both teams immediately denied the reports.  Of course.  But it’s probably true.  When Peyton Manning was forced to restructure his contract, he made the Broncos put in a no-trade clause.  It makes a lot of sense, too.  The Broncos are apparently high on Brock Osweiler, and the Texans are only held back from serious Super Bowl contention by mediocre quarterback play.

Amazing move by John Elway.  I can just imagine him telling Peyton, “Hey man, you think you’re a Golden God?  You think you’re invincible?  Well guess what bro…  You’re not.  You’re nothing compared to me.  I’m your boss.  I own this city (and it’s so much cooler than Indianapolis).  You wish you could go out on top like I did, but you keep choking away all your playoff games so you can’t.  Now take a pay cut or I’m shipping you off to Houston.”  Honestly who else in sports could get away with doing that right now?  Awesome.

By the way, if I were the Broncos, I’d make Peyton fake an injury for the first half of the season so he can be in good form for the playoffs for once.  He’s still a legend when he’s healthy, but it’s also clear he can’t make it through a full season anymore.  They need to pull a Roger Clemens on him.  Rest him in the fall with a fake injury, run him out starting the week of Thanksgiving, and cruise to a Super Bowl the same way they cruise to 6-1 starts every year.  That being said, if anyone has the balls and shrewdness to pull this off, it’s John Elway.  Watch out for some shady injury news in training camp this August…

One of my favorite things about baseball is all the daytime games they have on weekdays.  Not only are these games great ways to get some quick thrills on lazy summer days, they are also easier to handicap than typical games.  Most of these games precede travel to whatever the next city a team is playing in, and usually the players for these traveling teams just want to get the games over with as quickly as possible so they can get on the road and start lining up their the next side pieces they have on the docket.  Besides the standard baseball analysis before picking a game, you want to ask yourself the following questions…

-Is one team typically a lot more disciplined and focused than the other?

-Was the home team a heavy favorite in the series, but is currently losing or tied in the series split leading up to this game?

-Is the home team traveling the next day?

Bet double units on these games…

Detroit (+190) at Cleveland (-210)

Detroit has dished out two straight blowout losses to Cleveland at Progressive Field, so expect their division rivals to come out focused on trying to somewhat salvage themselves from an embarrassing series.  Cleveland is laying heavy juice because Verlander was scratched from this start due to a sore back.  I would’ve preferred Verlander was starting because he’s hurt and doesn’t really seem into baseball this year, but Buck Farmer serves just fine as a replacement to fade.  His only outing this year was a five inning, seven run shellacking against the Angels in May.  He struggled in the majors last year and has been underwhelming in the minors as well.  The pick is Cleveland.

Blue Jays (even) at Rays (-110)

You can answer ‘yes’ for Tampa Bay in all three questions above.  Also Nathan Karns is starting for them and he’s been sick this year.  Definitely taking Tampa here.

Phillies (+110) at Yankees (-120)

Philadelphia’s getting a steeper price than usual because Hamels is starting for them.  He was scratched from his last start because of injury, but I expect him to fight through anything that is ailing him so he can help hurry up the trade negotiations that will get him the fuck out of Philly and to a team playing meaningful baseball for once.  It’s hard to fade him, but I gotta take the Yankees here who have to be trying their hardest to save themselves from a humiliating home sweep to the worst team in baseball.

White Sox (-140) at Twins (+130)

Yes, Chris Sale is the truth.  He’s had 26 strikeouts and two earned runs over the past two games, but both were against teams that suck against lefty pitchers (Tampa Bay and Texas).  Minnesota is a top ten team against lefty pitching, Phil Hughes has been good at home this year, and I like the aspect of Minnesota needing this game for the series and Chicago being in ‘getaway day’ mode.

Astros (+110) at Angels (-120)

The Angels are one of my favorite teams to fade, and I’m loving that Houston is getting plus money for the third straight game this series.  Lance McCullers is one of the best rookie pitchers in the majors this year, and Matt Shoemaker has been LA’s worst starter.  Pick the division leaders at plus money.

Here are today’s tips for putting your bookie one step closer to the poor house…

Reds (+136) at Pirates (-151)

Josh Smith is making his MLB debut for the Reds tonight, and normally that means good betting value as pitchers tend to perform well their first few games while teams are still trying to figure them out.  Smith’s minor league performances are supposed to be impressive, with a very low walk rate that should fare well for him as he adjusts to the majors.  However, the Reds’ bats have been awful on the road, and I don’t expect that to be any better against Locke tonight.  The best line here looks to be Under 8 runs (-125).

Braves (+150) at Nationals (-170)

This is a big series for the Braves.  They’ve lost a lot of close games to the Nationals this year in which they’ve given up big leads, including this big comeback that ended up galvanizing the Nats and their play has improved from “sucking” to “playing above average but still inconsistent”.  Alex Wood pitches for Atlanta and he’s been really good.  Strasburg pitches for Washington in his first game off of injury, and he was garbage before going to the DL anyway.  Take the Braves with plus money as well as Over 7.5 runs (-110).  You’ll win at least one, probably two.

Phillies (+215) at Yankees (-245)

I think I speak for many people when I say fuck Michael Pineda.  His performance last night was a disaster.  The Yankees still hung eight and made a game out of it, but still fell short by three and wiped out all our earnings last night.  I kind of want to pass on this game, but scared money makes no money.  Fade the Phillies on the road trying to win three straight.  O’Sullivan pitches for Philly with a putrid 6.75 road ERA.  The Phillies are decent against lefties so I expect them to put up runs on CC, but not nearly as much as the Yankees will and not any against the Yankees bullpen in late innings.  The pick is New York and Over 9.5 runs (even).

Cardinals (-138) at Marlins (+128)

The Marlins have been good at home lately, so I’m tempted to take them at plus money in this matchup between rookies (Carlos Martinez vs. Jose Urena).  But Martinez has been fire this year and the Cards are the best in the majors against righties.

Tigers (-110) at Indians (even)

Great pitching matchup with David Price vs. Danny Salazar.  I know yesterday I said the Tigers have been crushing righties lately, but Salazar is no ordinary righty.  He and Kluber have been aces 1a and 1b this year keeping the Indians above water and I expect that to continue tonight.  Take the Indians and Under 7 runs (-120).

Orioles (+102) at Red Sox (-112)

I know it’s just +102, but I don’t know how the Orioles with Jimenez on the mound could be even the slightest of underdogs against this garbage Red Sox team.

Blue Jays (+143) at Rays (-158)

R.A. Dickey (who used to be good but is now mediocre) vs Chris Archer (who is on pace for the Cy Young).  I said yesterday the Rays would win 2/3 in this series.  Easy pick tonight with their ace on the mound.

Dodgers (-120) at Cubs (+110)

I told y’all yesterday that the Cubs and their lefty bats at home were a sneaky good pick to upset Clayton Kershaw.  Well, the Cubs had rough luck with Wada having to leave in the 3rd, but we still nailed this pick…  Tonight, I’m picking Greinke in this revenge game.

Athletics (-134) at Rangers (+124)

Chi Chi Gonzalez has been one of the best pitchers for the Rangers this year, yet somehow he’s an underdog at home against the A’s?  Take Texas.

White Sox (-108) at Twins (-102)

Pelfrey has been awesome for the Twins this year, and Samardzija has been awesome for about 1/4 starts and horrible the rest for the White Sox.  The Twins are the pick here, but you can hedge by taking Under 8 runs (-120).  If the White Sox wins, the under will hit.  If the Twins win, you can still win both pretty easily with the horrible offense the White Sox have been rolling out lately.

Diamondbacks (-122) at Rockies (+112)

Chase Anderson has been on fire lately, giving up two runs over 13 innings in his previous two starts.  Kyle Kendrick has yet to win at home for Colorado, and I don’t expect that to happen against this surging Arizona lineup full of fly ball hitters.  The Diamondbacks will finally get back to .500.

Astros (+110) at Angels (-120)

I said yesterday the Angels only win when Pujols carries their lineup with home runs.  Yesterday he hit two homers for three RBIs and they still almost lost.  Continue to fade the Angels against the division leaders.

Royals (-118) at Mariners (+108)

Jeremy Guthrie for KC vs. the southpaw Mike Montgomery for Seattle.  The Royals have a top five offense against lefties.  The Mariners are the worst offense against righties and might be without Nelson Cruz tonight.  Kansas City wins and Seattle scores Under 3.5 runs (-125).

Padres (+185) at Giants (-210)

The Giants are the much better team and Bumgarner has been great lately, but Despaigne has the Giants’ number and the price looks appealing in this low scoring game.  Padres and Under 6.5 runs (-115).

Happy gambling!!

I don’t know how to handle Deadspin these days.  Over the past ten years, it has established itself as the best sports blog on the internet and become a breath of fresh air for thousands of sports fans who tired of the sensationalism and manufactured stories that ESPN has shoved down everyone’s throats.  In recent times, however, the quality of their content has been in a freefall.  When A.J. Daulerio was running the show, his writers were funny and entertaining.  Now, the writers are so full of snark and petulance that I find myself hate-reading half their stories.  They’ve fallen victim to themselves, and it’s becoming embarrassing to follow.

Yes, I still read it every day.  And yes, I still enjoy many of their stories, but not nearly as many as I used to.  Following that site now feels a lot like sticking around with a girlfriend you’re not really attracted to anymore.  You still tell her you love her and will try to have sex with her every night, but in reality you’re ready to bounce as soon as you know of a new and better broad that is available.

Just take a look at their homepage from this time 24 hours ago, a point the site hit an all-time low I never thought it could reach.  In order of posting time from earliest to latest, here are the stories they had…

Hey Deadspin – stop posting Jezebel links. Your followers are sports fans, not radical feminists. None of us want to read Jezebel. Also, don’t call our fathers pieces of shits on Father’s Day.

The only post of the day I have no complaints for. Solid highlight.

Holy shit. Nobody cares!!! Every single day this site is blasting us with multiple posts about the Women’s World Cup. Before the tournament started, they wrote previews about each individual team. They’re writing way more about this tournament than they did for the real World Cup last summer. These stories aren’t getting clicks (I asked about it in an email to them), and the readers are frustrated, yet they’re still shoving this content down our throats for what has now been three weeks. It’s the most embarrassing thing Deadspin has ever done.

Here, Greg Howard writes a snarky title about Bellator’s plans following the Slice-Shamrock fight, but he actually praises their ideas in his piece. Well, that’s confusing… I’m surprised they were covering this fight in the first place. 2008 is long past, so pretty much every sports fan has long since realized MMA is terrible to watch. Is MMA supposed to be more exciting when it’s between two men with a combined age of nearly 100? Doubtful.

Again. Nobody cares… What’s ironic is that their soccer writers have carried on an extreme anti-MLS agenda for years, yet they continue to hammer this tournament into our faces. They criticize the quality of play of a professional men’s league that includes some Euro transplants that are among the best soccer players ever to play (albeit past their primes but still), but they try their hardest to force us to watch this tournament consisting of slower, less agile, and weaker players. There’s also a confederation cup in South America going on that they are doing their best to ignore. Messi, Neymar, James Rodriguez. Ever heard of those dudes? Yeah, they’re way more entertaining to watch than these women, considering they’re the best players in the world and all…

A link to a 3,000 word essay that I have no idea is supposed to be about.

Are you kidding me? Gross!! Just what I want to see on Father’s Day – a paragraph about some father’s circumcision against a backdrop of someone cutting cucumber. What did they honestly think they were going to accomplish with this?

Fuck Deadspin.

Want to take money from your bookie tonight?  Check out some of these baseball lines…

Phillies (+250) at Yankees (-300)

It’s tough to lay down so much juice for a team that doesn’t seem to warrant the top tier price it’s getting tonight, but the Yankees are at home with their best pitcher on the mound, and it’s the Phillies…  Put it this way – if the Yankees and Phillies are in a five game series, each at Yankee stadium and each featuring Michael Pineda vs. Kevin Correia, do the Phillies win at least two of them?  Absolutely not.  Therefore -300 is more than fair.  Lay the juice and take the Yankees.

Blue Jays (+110) at Rays (-120)

The Blue Jays have been on fire, especially on offense.  However, they’ve been fairly pedestrian on the road.  The Rays have been one of the sharpest and most focused team in the majors this year, and expect them to take at least two in this homestand against a surging division rival.  Plan to bet all three games this series on the Rays, starting with Andriese on the mound tonight.

Dodgers (-190) at Cubs (+170)

The Dodgers are the heavy favorites tonight with Clayton Kershaw on the mound.  However, Kershaw’s been shaky over the past month, most recently getting lit up by the Texas Rangers at home (with one key hit coming from Wandy Rodriguez, an AL pitcher that never bats).  The Dodgers have also had a very poor June – splitting a series with Colorado, getting swept at home by St. Louis, losing 3 of 4 to Texas (with the one win coming off a fluky walkoff balk), and losing 2 of 3 to the Giants.  The Cubs are one of the best offenses in the majors against lefties, and they are in a hitters park.  Wada has also been great for them this year.  Take the home team with plus heavy money.

Tigers (+125) at Indians (-135)

The Indians always get steep prices at home because of their talent in the starting rotation (Bauer is starting tonight).  However, the Tigers have been crushing right handed pitching lately, evidenced by their trouncing of Tanaka in New York yesterday.  Take the Tigers at plus money.

White Sox (+134) at Twins (-144)

The White Sox are rolling out John Danks tonight.  He is horrible this year, as well as the rest of his counterparts on offense.  Take the Twins at home.

Astros (+114) at Angels (-124)

The Angels are good when Albert Pujols hits a multi-RBI home run.  That doesn’t happen often though, and they’ve been tending to lose when it doesn’t.  Take the division leaders with plus money.

Royals (+135) at Mariners (-150)

The Royals are coming off a disappointing home series loss to the lowly Red Sox.  The Mariners have Felix Hernandez at home.  Take Seattle.