It's been a busy week news-wise. Here are a few of my observations (not likely to be popular) on some of the most notable headlines.

     1. The U.S. men's soccer team should have declined the red card reversal. During the World Cup game between the USA and Bosnia-Herzegovina, star scorer Folarin Balogun got a "red card" for "serious foul play" from a referee after a collision with B-H player Tarik Muharemovic, resulting in a one-game suspension. This call was widely criticized, both because a red card typically requires intentional conduct (Balogun wasn't even facing Muharemovic, whose ankle he stepped on) and because the red card was issued after a slow-motion review, contrary to FIFA play protocol. However, the day before the U.S. was to play Belgium in the round of 16, it was announced that FIFA had withdrawn the red card — the first time such an action had been taken in more than 60 years. We were also told that President Donald Trump had called FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Trump insisted that he only asked for a review but put no pressure on FIFA. Even assuming that's true, it was a bad look.

The team should have declined the penalty reversal.

As a host of this year's World Cup, and given Trump's global power, it made the team look like sour grapes — an accusation the men didn't deserve. Belgium filed an appeal, which was denied, so they came into the game loaded for bear and soundly defeated the USA 4-1. The U.S. team did not play their best, and it's reasonable to wonder whether the brouhaha and bad press affected their performance. (The nasty social media post by the Belgian team after their victory — "Overturn this" — only served to reinforce the point.)

There's no question that Balogun's absence would have put the team at a disadvantage against Belgium. In addition, if the red card was a bad call, as many claimed,........

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