Pirlo in talks with New York City FC, adds to MLS retirement image

                                        

                                               Photo courtesy of funmozar.com

                      

Thirty-six year old Italian international, Andrea Pirlo, has reportedly been in talks with New York FC.  According to NBC Sports, deal negotiations are far from complete, but New York City FC have been interested in signing Pirlo for months.  Pirlo also posted a picture on Twitter of him at a New York Yankees baseball game yesterday, which adds to the speculation.

The MLS seems to be trying to sustain their perception as a retirement league.  Since MLS teams have trouble recruiting international stars at the peak of their careers, they seem to be settling on signing them when their careers are about to end.  It seems as though more and more players are turning to the MLS near the end of their careers: Thierry Henry, David Beckham, Kaka, David Villa, Jermain Defoe, Tim Cahill, Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, and now maybe Andrea Pirlo.  

If I was a mid-30's superstar, I would love to end my career in the MLS too.  Loads of cash, people drooling over the sight of me, and much less pressure from coaches and fans.  I still can’t get over how there was a “David Beckham Cam” when he sat on the bench his first game for the Los Angeles Galaxy.  The game coverage was a split screen of David’s face, and the game action.  If the MLS wants to get rid of the reputation of being a retirement league, teams need to start recruiting promising young internationals and stop trying to sign old timers that want an easy way to fill their pockets and end their careers.  

FIFA Movie Flops, Grosses $918 in Opening Weekend

United Passions, a film based on the rise of FIFA to international prominence, broke the record for lowest grossing box office opening in the history of U.S. film, making a whopping $918 on a $27 million dollar budget. $918. 

The real story here is Sam Neill, who plays former FIFA President Joao Havelange in United Passions. Neill starred in the original Jurassic Park, and was left out of the newest Jurassic installment, Jurassic World, which, oh yeah, just broke the record for biggest U.S. box office opening of all-time. Meanwhile, Neill gets to star in the worst U.S. opening of all-time. If you think your life sucks right now, just be glad you aren't Sam Neill. 

But seriously, has any movie ever been released at a worse time than this film? With all that's been going on with FIFA recently, you would think that, you know, maybe they would push back the release date? Releasing the movie now is the equivalent of releasing a fishing charter into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean during a Category 5 hurricane hoping that the boat and everyone in it comes back in one piece. 

Not even kidding, I'm pretty sure a porno starring the actual 83 year old Sepp Blatter would have grossed more money than this film.

Here's the trailer if anyone actually wants to see how terrible this movie is.