The Daily Hilario: Gameday-ish

WHOAH...WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?

Another good night with Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday, another home win to secure the team's claim on third spot in the USL Pro table.  Not bad for an expansion team.  Of course, this being the U-S-and-A, the league table is just the appetizer for THE PLAYOFFS (DUN-DUN-DUN), which begin in about a month.

The Republic dominated play for the first hour, with the visitors barely having even a shot.  Two quick goals in the first looked to be enough, until OKC scored on a lucky break and from that point it was squeaky bum time, backs to the wall, hang on to your hats-time.  The script completely flipped.  But Sacto held on and the sellout crowd chanted M-L-S, M-L-S, M-L-S.  I guess we'll see.

MUCH MUTU ABOUT NOTHING

MLB stadiums ranked by beer | SB Nation
In the least surprising win since Caesar vs. the Gauls, Seattle comes out on top.  Not many stadiums in the world will offer you cask-conditioned ales.  And a bit of Mac & Jack's Amber (only sold on draught) or just about anything from Elysian has gotten me through quite a few Mariners crapfests.

Barcelona sign Thomas Vermaelen | SB Nation
He's got a long ways to go in the Puyol hair department...  By the way, the two defenders Barca signed this summer are 30 (Mathieu) and 28 (Verminator).  How's that La Masia working out lately?  Meanwhile, Arsenal are left with exactly just two established center backs.

Speaking of lack of players... Blackpool could fill only four bench spots in their opener | SB Nation
Which is a marked improvement from when they only had seven players under contract.  They ended up using just one of the subs in their 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest.

FOOTBALL (all times BST):
12.15:  Friendly:  Liverpool vs. Borussia Dortmund
13.30:  Eredivisie, opening weekend:  Ajax Amsterdam vs. Vitesse
15.00:  Charity Shield:  Arsenal vs. Manchester City
19.45:  Friendly:  Ferencváros vs. Chelsea (hey, that's us!)
20.00:  Ligue 1, opening weekend:  Monaco vs. Lorient

TORRES THE DAY!