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Eric Betts

@ericjbetts.bsky.social

62 followers 182 following 79 posts

ericbettswrites.com

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Everything about this person screams "Killed in the Battle of Geonosis."

Mexx Merrdink's Transfrmarkt page.

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Reposted by Eric Betts

Jason Davis @davisjason.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Hot take: Some soccer fan billionaire eating a few million dollars a year to support local soccer coverage across America would have a much bigger impact on the future of the sport than subsidizing the salary of a fancy USMNT manager

Reposted by Eric Betts

Josh Levin @joshuablevin.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Thank you @defector.com for publishing my epic on the history of football's hideout play (aka the sleeper play, aka the lurking along the sidelines play), a story that spans from the 1860s to the 2020s and involves my grandfather, Johnny Manziel, and Amos Alonzo Stagg defector.com/how-one-tric...

How One Trick Play Tells The History Of Football | Defector

When I called up my grandfather Irwin Miller last fall, I asked him if he felt his age. “Uh, no, probably 94,” he said, laughing as he shaved off three years. “The body feels 97, the head doesn’t, tha...

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Speaking of vacuous death cults blinded by the devotion they've oversold to the world: www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo named in new coach Jorge Jesus' first squad

Cristiano Ronaldo is named in the first squad selected by new Portugal coach Jorge Jesus for their upcoming Nations League games.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The tragic irony of Annie Dillard dying is there is maybe no one I would rather hear distill the experience of whatever is waiting for us after death.

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...

Fantasy football scores of Colston Loveland and DeAndre Swift.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Looking for more Legend of Zelda? I wrote a book about how Zelda works as a franchise that's out next April. It's about what these games provide for players, how they do it, and how they answer the questions facing all franchises. Preorder it here or somewhere else! bookshop.org/p/books/lege...

Reposted by Eric Betts

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I wrote a book! It's out next April from Bloomsbury! It's called Legendary: The Many Lives of The Legend of Zelda! It's a cultural and personal history of Nintendo's greatest series! It talks about innovation, canon, joy and more! Preorder it here or somewhere else! bookshop.org/p/books/lege...

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I wrote a book! It's out next April from Bloomsbury! It's called Legendary: The Many Lives of The Legend of Zelda! It's a cultural and personal history of Nintendo's greatest series! It talks about innovation, canon, joy and more! Preorder it here or somewhere else! bookshop.org/p/books/lege...

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

I hope Labaron Philon does a bit where he says, "Yeah?" every time someone calls LeBron's name.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

I say this every time but I swear I have literally never seen Lautaro Martinez have a good game. I am his own personal jinx.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Well, at least I don't have to write about it.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Is Gio still playing?

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

We even underhit the touchback kickoff.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Feels like the coaching special sauce was aligning a squad of incredibly inconsistent players into all having pretty good days at the same time twice in a row.

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Reposted by Eric Betts

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The Belgium joke from Douglas Adams's Life, the Universe, and Everything.

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Nine-year-old: So why is Balogun back? Me:

static.klipy.com

Elmo's Long Exasperated Sigh

ALT: Elmo's Long Exasperated Sigh

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Rafa Marquez would have scored by now.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Harry goes for the defender's face every single time there's a high ball.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

It's cute how the rest of Norway remembered at the end to include Haaland in their "Defense!" huddle.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Rene Higuita and Carles Puyol in the same box is arguably too much hair.

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Everyone but Messi on this Argentina team deserves to go home and we should just give him to CV for the rest of the tournament.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

"Is he real?" - The five-year-old, pointing at Messi

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Truly criminal that FIFA has managed to schedule this thing so that neither the US nor England were likely to play on July 4.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The Belgium joke from Douglas Adams's Life, the Universe, and Everything.

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Is he trying to recruit LeBron to the Warriors?

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Shot of John Terry celebrating is some reality TV-level ragebaiting production.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

I think commercials would actually be preferable to hearing Livin' on a Prayer during these breaks.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

This is like if the entire first act of the play consisted of reading aloud the specs of the gun that's hanging over the mantel.

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Rooting for the draw because Yan Diomande vs Erling Haaland would be like the ideal hypothetical scenario for running penalties.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Morocco needed to bring Amir Richardson to sub in as soon as Weghorst came on.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Tahp bins.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

How much does dynamic pricing add on to the cost of tickets for extra time?

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

They should sit George Weah and Antonio Freeman between Gregg and Claudio for the Round of 32 game.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Whose job do you think it is to explain to Ed Norton that these are all the backups?

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

McKennie jumping out of the way of that is the play of the game.

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Hope one of those NFL teams they've been meeting with have gifted us some red QB DO NOT TOUCH jerseys for Adams and Richards to wear in practice.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

I am the World Cup champion of stepping out of the room just before a goal is scored.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

They should not send small point guards to these things because then you don't get the "Whoa, look at how big that guy is" moment.

Darius Garland with US Soccer.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Today my five year old said "She's four-and-a-half, so she's four and she's five." I never had any idea she had been spending time on the Arsenal message boards.

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Gonna tell people this was the World Cup.

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Reposted by Eric Betts

Michael Caley @michaelcaley.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

for people who are only just now catching up on Gio Reyna doing a "can't hear the haters" celebration, I think this Slate piece is the best one stop catch-up slate.com/culture/2023...

The Explosive Family Drama Blowing Up U.S. Soccer

How a star player’s playing time, a “leadership summit,” and decades-old allegations of violence came to a head.

Reposted by Eric Betts

Leander **BUY THE LONG GAME** Schaerlaeckens @leanderalphabet.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

So. Hey. Yeah. About all that.

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

My kid is just constantly making the wildest of suppositions off of very small data samples. So it's just like watching in a bar somewhere.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

I'm going to rank all 1248 World Cup players by how funny it would be for them to be seen eating at a Waffle House.

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

They're allowed to show commercials during the hydration breaks only if every single break they just play the Secret Tournament.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Ted Cruz hearing someone else was bringing bad vibes to a sporting event.

static.klipy.com

Bane: I Was Born In It (Batman Quote)

Alt: Bane: I Was Born In It (Batman Quote)

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

This one's for you @stefanfatsis.bsky.social

Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

There should be laws against letting Arsenal and the Thunder play on the same day.

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Eric Betts @ericjbetts.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Finally had time to spend with @leanderalphabet.bsky.social's unsurprisingly excellent The Long Game and zipped through it in two days. Surely at the top of books about the soccer in this country, no qualifiers needed.

The Long Game book cover.