Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich manages to be wrong about almost everything

• September 25, 2024

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich now makes videos, like I do.

In fact, his channel, Inequality Media, is very much like Stossel TV. He also reaches people via social media platforms, gets millions of views and covers economic topics.

Reich does almost exactly what I do, except … Reich is repeatedly wrong.

It’s understandable. Despite being frequently introduced as “economist Robert Reich,” Reich has no economics degree. He’s another liberal lawyer. His videos reflect that.

“Inequality Media” is a catchy name. Americans dislike inequality.

But my new video points out that inequality isn’t a conspiracy. It’s simply what happens when people are free.

Taylor Swift’s a billionaire. Should government force you to listen to me sing to make life more fair?

Reich wants to “ban billionaires” like Jeff Bezos. I don’t much like Bezos, but his creation, Amazon, is wonderful. It’s lowered prices so much that it cut America’s core inflation.

Reich claims Amazon is a monopoly. But Amazon is far from a monopoly. It has to compete with Walmart, Target, eBay, Alibaba, etc. Where there are free markets, we have choices. If we buy from Amazon, it’s only because we think it’s cheaper or better.

Reich says it is bad that billionaires “get money from rich relatives.”

But the biggest study of millionaires found few do.

Bezos got some money from his parents, but most of what he needed to grow Amazon he got from investors. Media “experts” sneered at them for years, because at first, Amazon lost so much money.

Capitalism rewards such risk-taking.

Progressives and liberal lawyers like Reich believe rich people take most of America’s wealth and leave little for the poor. Like the Hollywood writers for the movie “Wall Street,” they call our economy “a zero-sum game — somebody wins, somebody loses.”

But that’s just dumb.

Capitalists create new wealth. They don’t take a big slice of the pie and leave us a sliver. If they get rich, it’s because they find ways to bake lots of new pies.

That’s what’s happened in America. Its why today, even poor Americans have access to things European kings only dreamed about.

Capitalists can get rich only by making all of us better off.

Actual economist Dan Mitchell explains, “Billionaires only kept 2.2% of the additional wealth they generated … the rest of us captured almost 98% of the benefits.”

Reich also mocks trade. In one video, he sneers, “Global trade is good for everyone. That’s bunk!”

Of course it’s bunk. Few things are good for everyone.

But trade makes almost everyone richer by allowing us to specialize in what we do best. It’s called comparative advantage.

Reich complains, “What if a country’s comparative advantage comes from people working under … exploitative conditions?”

“Exploitation” would be bad, but people in poor countries aren’t forced to work in factories. They took those jobs because their alternatives were worse. Trade allowed a billion people to lift themselves out of poverty.

Still, trade does take away some Americans’ jobs. Donald Trump complains about other countries “ripping us off and taking our jobs.”

He and Reich don’t understand that trade creates more jobs. It’s why unemployment is low. Companies engaged in global trade created 60% of America’s new jobs.

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Finally, Reich says it’s “rubbish” that President Joe Biden’s huge spending increases caused Inflation. He claims it’s “corporate greed … Mega corporations raise prices to increase their profits.”

That’s just silly. When prices fall, did companies suddenly get less greedy?

My video cites actual economists like Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman, who explains, “Inflation is made in Washington because only Washington can create money. Any other attribution of other groups to inflation is wrong.”

Robert Reich’s videos are wrong about almost everything. It’s sad that colleges pay this fake economist to deliver foolish propaganda to students.

His “progressive” ideas would leave all of us poorer. And less free.

Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom. He is the author of “Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media.”

​ Orange County Register 

Alexander: Will Padres series prepare Dodgers for what’s to come?

• September 25, 2024

LOS ANGELES — Is this somehow good for the Dodgers? Being threatened in the final week of the season, for a change, and playing with something at stake against a team that not only is focused on knocking them from their pedestal but has, in the words of Dave Roberts, “had their way against us” in 2024 … will this actually pay dividends when the truly meaningful games begin?

Or maybe the truly meaningful games have already begun. The early returns Tuesday night weren’t promising.

After the Dodgers’ manager talked about expecting intensity from his team, he received … well, not nearly enough, if you measure intensity by taking advantage of your opportunities. The Dodgers went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position Tuesday night, and their best opportunity of the evening – the ninth inning with no outs, two runners on, one run in and Shohei Ohtani waiting on deck – was snuffed out when the Padres turned Miguel Rojas’ grounder to third into a game-ending triple play, securing San Diego’s 4-2 victory.

A baseball truism: When you don’t score enough runs, you look dead.

So even though the Padres came up empty over the final five innings against the Dodgers’ bullpen, including callup/potential secret weapon Edgardo Henriquez and his 100 mph stuff, they pulled within two games of L.A. in the National League West with Tuesday’s victory, and all of a sudden the possibility of the Dodgers having to play in the best-of-three wild card round was no longer that distant.

During the Dodgers’ run of 11 straight postseasons, 10 of them as division titlists, only two came down to the final week of the season, 2018 and 2021. And there was a school of thought that the Dodgers’ NL Division Series flameouts of the last two seasons, against the Padres in 2022 and Arizona in 2023, came in part because of big leads and no pressure in September and an inability to turn on the intensity switch when the games became meaningful again. (Plus, those extra days off from skipping the wild card round.)

This time they’re already flirting with danger. The Padres’ victory Tuesday night was their eighth in 11 meetings with the Dodgers this season. They’re 41-17 since the All-Star break, the best record in baseball in that span. They’re supremely motivated – little brother usually is, right? – and they play with an edge even under normal circumstances.

And I’m sure a number of players on this roster still remember the night of Game 4 at Petco Park in 2022 when they took down the Dodgers. The two vivid memories of that night: The smile on the face of the late Peter Seidler, the Padres’ controlling owner, as he stepped on the elevator to go to the clubhouse, and a celebration so ear-splitting that the echoes probably still rattle around the Gaslamp Quarter.

These Padres looked spirited, energetic and younger Tuesday night, bolting all over the field to turn apparent hits into outs. They play like they’re on a mission. If they get the Dodgers in a postseason series, this could – no, this will – be a dangerous matchup.

Is this a challenge the Dodgers are prepared to meet? There are way too many variables to predict what might happen, many of them involving starting pitching. But you’d think attention span wouldn’t be as much of an issue as it seemed to be the last two years.

In 2022, the Dodgers finished the regular season 111-51, won the division by 22 games, won 14 of 19 from San Diego during the regular season, yet lost in four. Last season, they were 100-62, won the division by 16 games, won eight of 13 from Arizona during the regular season, and were swept by the Diamondbacks, who rode that momentum to the World Series.

I asked Roberts before Tuesday’s game if this series was a test run for building that edge and that sense of urgency.

“It is,” he said. “Results notwithstanding, I expect us to just come out with some vigor and fight, intensity. When we play these guys, that’s what they bring, and we have to match that intensity.

“I think the talent is similar in both clubhouses, and then it’s kind of, who wants it more.”

Normally, that phrase is one of the hoariest of sports clichés. In this case, with these teams and with the Dodgers’ past history, it fits.

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“This is kind of a mini-postseason for us,” Rojas said. “We got an opportunity tonight; obviously we didn’t get it done. Gotta come back, win tomorrow and win the next day. I feel like that’s the mentality of everybody in this clubhouse: Try to win that series. It’s obviously going to be important for us going forward in October.”

There is this, if you’re a Dodger fan: The last time they were extended in the regular season, 2021, was also the last time they failed to win the division, losing out to the San Francisco Giants on the last day of the regular season in a race in which both teams were desperate to stay out of what was then the wild card game, with its Game 7 atmosphere at the very start of the postseason.

As you might recall, Chris Taylor was the hero in that game, and the Dodgers went on to beat the Giants in the NLDS and reach Game 6 of the NLCS in Atlanta before faltering in defense of their 2020 World Series title.

Given the brevity of the last two Octobers, that seems so long ago. If the Dodgers have learned anything from those failures, now’s the time to display it.

[email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

Beware of the government’s push for a digital currency

• September 25, 2024

The government wants your money.

It will beg, steal or borrow if necessary, but it wants your money any way it can get it.

The government’s schemes to swindle, cheat, scam, and generally defraud taxpayers of their hard-earned dollars have run the gamut from wasteful pork barrel legislation, cronyism and graft to asset forfeiture, costly stimulus packages, and a national security complex that continues to undermine our freedoms while failing to making us any safer.

Americans have also been made to pay through the nose for the government’s endless wars, subsidization of foreign nations, military empire, welfare state, roads to nowhere, bloated workforce, secret agencies, fusion centers, private prisons, biometric databases, invasive technologies, arsenal of weapons, and every other budgetary line item that is contributing to the fast-growing wealth of the corporate elite at the expense of those who are barely making ends meet—that is, we the taxpayers.

This is what comes of those $1.2 trillion spending bills: someone’s got to foot the bill.

Because the government’s voracious appetite for money, power and control has grown out of control, its agents have devised other means of funding its excesses and adding to its largesse through taxes disguised as fines, taxes disguised as fees, and taxes disguised as tolls, tickets and penalties.

No matter how much money the government pulls in, it’s never enough (case in point: the endless stopgap funding deals and constant ratcheting up of the debt ceiling), so the government has to keep introducing new plans to empower its agents to seize Americans’ bank accounts.

Make way for the digital dollar.

Whether it’s the central bank digital currency favored by President Biden, or the cryptocurrency being hawked by former President Trump, the end result will still be a form of digital money that makes it easier to track, control and punish the citizenry.

For instance, weeks before the Biden Administration made headlines with its support for a government-issued digital currency, the FBI and the Justice Department quietly moved ahead with plans for a cryptocurrency enforcement team (translation: digital money cops), a virtual asset exploitation unit tasked with investigating crypto crimes and seizing virtual assets, and a crypto czar to oversee it all.

No surprises here, of course.

This is how the government operates: by giving us tools to make our lives “easier” while, in the process, making it easier for the government to crack down.

Inevitably, a digital currency will become a central part of the government’s surveillance efforts.

As such, digital currency provides the government and its corporate partners with a mode of commerce that can easily be monitored, tracked, tabulated, mined for data, hacked, hijacked and confiscated when convenient.

This push for a digital currency dovetails with the government’s war on cash, which it has been subtly waging for some time now. Much like the war on drugs and the war on terror, this so-called “war on cash” has been sold to the public as a means of fighting terrorists, drug dealers, tax evaders and even COVID-19 germs.

According to economist Steve Forbes, “The real reason for this war on cash—start with the big bills and then work your way down—is an ugly power grab by Big Government. People will have less privacy: Electronic commerce makes it easier for Big Brother to see what we’re doing, thereby making it simpler to bar activities it doesn’t like, such as purchasing salt, sugar, big bottles of soda and Big Macs.”

This is how a cashless society—easily monitored, controlled, manipulated, weaponized and locked down—plays right into the hands of the government (and its corporate partners).

Despite what we know about the government and its history of corruption, bumbling, fumbling and data breaches, not to mention how easily technology can be used against us, the shift to a cashless society is really not a hard sell for a society increasingly dependent on technology for the most mundane aspects of life.

In much the same way that Americans have opted into government surveillance through the convenience of GPS devices and cell phones, digital cash—the means of paying with one’s debit card, credit card or cell phone—is becoming the de facto commerce of the American police state.

So what’s really going on here?

Despite all of the advantages that go along with living in a digital age—namely, convenience—it’s hard to imagine how a cashless world navigated by way of a digital wallet doesn’t signal the beginning of the end for what little privacy we have left and leave us vulnerable to the likes of government thieves, data hackers and an all-knowing, all-seeing Orwellian corpo-governmental state.

First, we’re already witnessing how easy it will be for government agents to manipulate digital wallets for their own gain in order to track your movements, monitor your activities and communications, and ultimately shut you down. For example, civil asset forfeiture schemes are becoming even more profitable for police agencies thanks to devices that allow police to not only determine the balance of any magnetic-stripe card (i.e., debit, credit and gift cards) but also freeze and seize any funds on pre-paid money cards. In fact, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it does not violate the Fourth Amendment for police to scan or swipe your credit card. Expect those numbers to skyrocket once digital money cops show up in full force.

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Second, a government-issued digital currency will give the government the ultimate control of the economy and complete access to the citizenry’s pocketbook.

Third, a digital currency will open Americans—and their bank accounts—up to even greater financial vulnerabilities from hackers and government agents alike.

Bottom line: digital authoritarianism will redefine what it means to be free in almost every aspect of our lives.

We have virtually no control over who accesses our private information, how it is stored, or how it is used. And in terms of our bargaining power over digital privacy rights, we have been reduced to a pitiful, unenviable position in which we can only hope and trust that those in power will treat our information with respect.

At a minimum, we need stricter laws on data privacy and an Electronic Bill of Rights that protects “we the people” from predatory surveillance and data-mining business practices by the government and its corporate partners.

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers lose opener of NL West showdown series with Padres

• September 25, 2024

LOS ANGELES — For the past two months, the Dodgers have largely tried to ignore the San Diego Padres, figuring they just had to take care of their own business and their National League West lead would stay sufficient to claim the division title for the 11th time in 12 years.

They can’t ignore them any longer.

In the opener of the most important September series the Dodgers have played since 2021, the Padres beat the Dodgers, 4-2, Tuesday night, ending the game in spectacular fashion.

The Dodgers threatened in the ninth inning, scoring once and putting the tying runs on base for Miguel Rojas – with Shohei Ohtani on deck. But third baseman Manny Machado handled Rojas’ hard ground ball to his backhand and started a spectacular 5-4-3 triple play to end the game.

“There’s less than a one percent chance that Shohei doesn’t come up to bat,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “And unfortunately that small percentage came into play.

“It’s shocking. … That’s the least likely outcome, obviously looking at how the game is played and how many triple plays are turned in a year. To not get Shohei up is obviously very disappointing.”

Back on July 19, the Padres were no concern of the Dodgers who led them by eight games (and the Arizona Diamondbacks by seven). But the Padres have been the best team in baseball since then, going 41-16 and closing the gap on the Dodgers (who have been no slouches at 36-23 in that time).

But Tuesday’s loss trims the Dodgers’ lead in the division to just two games, matching the smallest it has been since April 25. Their magic number remains four. The Dodgers (93-64) will have to win the next two games against the Padres (91-66) in order to clinch before leaving town for a season-ending weekend series in Colorado – and need to win at least one of the two to avoid leaving town in a tie with the Padres.

The Padres clinched a postseason berth with the win, their eighth in 11 meetings with the Dodgers this season.

“This is kind of a mini-postseason for us – a three-game series where we’ve got to win the series,” Rojas said. “We got an opportunity tonight and we didn’t get it done. We’ve got to come back tomorrow, win tomorrow and win the next day. I feel that’s the mentality of everybody in this clubhouse.”

It was a “mini-postseason” snapshot indeed, reflecting many of the problems that have doomed the Dodgers in recent playoff exits — poor starting pitching and a lack of clutch hitting.

The Dodgers took an early lead when Shohei Ohtani led off the first inning with a ground rule double – his franchise record 95th extra-base hit of the season. He scored his MLB-leading 129th run of the season when Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts fielded Mookie Betts’ routine grounder and threw it away, over the head of first baseman Donovan Solano.

Betts went to third on Teoscar Hernandez’s one-out single. But Betts was caught off third base when Hernandez broke from first base on a double steal.

“It was a called double steal. Will (Smith) was down two strikes and (we were) trying to steal a run,” Roberts said.

An inning later, the Dodgers loaded the bases with two outs but Betts couldn’t check his swing on a 1-and-2 sweeper from Padres right-hander Michael King.

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The litany of wasted opportunities continued in the third inning when Hernandez was doubled off first on a line drive to second base.

“Yeah, there was a lot of them, a lot of situations where we had opportunities to score runs early in the game,” Rojas said. “This is one of those games where it kind of beats you. Early runs can win the game too.”

The Padres’ defense did the Dodgers no favors all night long. Profar made two diving catches in left field, taking hits away from Ohtani in the fifth and Betts in the eighth. And, Jackson Merrill tracked down Betts’ drive at the center field wall in the fifth inning. The Padres turned two double plays in addition to the game-ending triple play.

The Dodgers were 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position heading into the ninth inning and down 4-1 after Landon Knack gave up a two-run home run to Jake Cronenworth in the second inning and two more runs in the fourth. All four Padres runs scored with two outs in the inning.

“We had opportunities,” Roberts said. “The only run we scored tonight, we got gifted from an error. You look at what those guys did tonight, they hit the ball hard all around the diamond and they got two-out hits.”

That wasn’t the Dodgers’ “only run.” Three straight singles in the ninth inning off Padres reliever Robert Suarez brought in a second run and put the tying runs at first and second for Rojas.

Rojas squared to bunt on the first pitch and took a strike. With the Padres anticipating another bunt attempt, Roberts took the bunt play off and let Rojas swing away.

“He was gonna bunt the first pitch, and then he goes down 0-1,” Roberts said. “They set up for the wheel. Bogaerts is in the hole. So you can’t bunt because you’re bunting into an out. With the infield in, Bogaerts out of position, the best chance is to put the ball in play and hopefully find a hole.”

He didn’t find a hole. He found a Gold Glove.

Machado was still playing in on the grass when Rojas hit a ground ball right at him. Machado took two big steps back to third base, stepped on the bag and made a strong throw to second where Cronenworth made the turn. His throw beat Rojas to first base easily.

“I feel like I had an opportunity to get the bunt down early on that at bat, but I couldn’t get the job done there,” Rojas said. “Just because the way they were playing on defense, I think it made sense for me to swing the bat there. I’m totally confident that I can get to a fastball. Unfortunately, I hit it on the ground.

“I think I let the team down on that one.”

According to statistician Sarah Langs, it was the 28th game-ending triple play in MLB history. It was the fourth turned by a team on the same day it clinched a postseason berth — but the first to do both.

“I just don’t think that you’re expecting a triple play,” Roberts said, defending the decision to take the bunt play off. “He hit the ball hard. And I just can’t play the game of — if it gets through then it’s a great play and then if it’s hit right at him, it’s a bad play.

“The game tells you what to do. And in that situation, everyone is playing in, the shortstop is in the 6-hole. There’s just a lot of holes out there. That’s just kind of the way you play baseball.”

​ Orange County Register 

Orange County girls flag football Top 10 rankings, Sept. 24

• September 25, 2024

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GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL

Orange County Top 10 rankings

(Records through Sept. 24)

1. Orange Lutheran (16-0): The Lancers beat Mater Dei 52-6 in their Trinity League opener on Tuesday.

2. Newport Harbor (14-2): The Sailors play Classical Academy in the quarterfinals of the El Toro tournament Saturday.

3. Santa Margarita (9-0): The Eagles face Torrey Pines in the quarterfinals of the El Toro tournament.

4. Aliso Niguel (16-2): The Wolverines are 5-0 in the South Coast League.

5. Cypress (10-2): The Centurions were upset by Foothill 13-12 in league but recovered to reach the quarterfinals of the El Toro tournament. They face Corona del Mar.

6. Esperanza (10-7): The Aztecs are back in the race in the Crestview League but slipped against Rosary 15-12 at the El Toro tournament.

7. Corona del Mar (13-4): The Sea Kings play at Los Alamitos on Wednesday in the Sunset League.

8. Huntington Beach (13-5): The Oilers face Westlake in the quarterfinals of the El Toro tournament.

9. JSerra (12-4): The Lions open the Trinity League against Orange Lutheran on Thursday.

10. Crean Lutheran (10-5): The Saints knocked off Los Alamitos at the El Toro tournament. They play at Esperanza on Wednesday in the Crestview League.

Also considered: Los Alamitos (7-7)

Please send feedback on the girls flag football rankings to Dan Albano at [email protected] or @ocvarsityguy on X and Instagram

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​ Orange County Register 

USC’s Bear Alexander still working to crack the starting lineup

• September 25, 2024

LOS ANGELES — Two months ago, this was a perfect fit.

Two months ago, USC’s Bear Alexander was several months removed from the spring transfer portal will-he won’t-he that new defensive line coach Eric Henderson had no intention of reliving, and neither did anyone else. Alexander acknowledged and understood the importance of keeping his motor and consistency high. He was a barnacle on the walls in Henderson’s office, and Alexander appeared ready for a breakout season.

Two months later, the man who wears No. 90 has yet to start a game for USC this season and he received 21 snaps against Michigan on Saturday. On Monday, he posted a few pictures of himself on Twitter with the caption: “FREE 9-OWE.”

The USC defensive line is much improved. Alexander, who was the Trojans’ leader in quarterback hurries in 2023, has played a backup role behind Vanderbilt transfer Nate Clifton and Wyoming transfer Gavin Meyer. In mid-August, head coach Lincoln Riley made clear fall training camp would be “really, really important” for Alexander after he missed the spring due to injury. Before USC’s first game against LSU, Riley said Alexander was “still very young on the football field” and had a “long ways to go” despite rapid improvement.

And on Tuesday, asked yet again about Alexander’s usage, Riley said the defensive tackle is a contributor and is continuing to improve.

“He played over a third of the game,” Riley said. “So, I mean, people want to act like the guy’s not playing snaps. He’s doing a good job for us out here. He’s getting better.”

“There’s no story there,” Riley continued. “I mean, I know you guys are looking for one. Like, there’s – there’s no story there.”

But there is an active social media conversation. Alexander’s post on Monday morning helped contribute to it and his guardian Tony Jones – who had previously described Alexander and Henderson’s relationship as a “match made in heaven” to the Southern California News Group – continued it. Over the course of two days, Jones has posted eight separate clips of reps from Alexander or other USC defensive tackles against Michigan to his timeline, including a clip of Meyer getting blocked captioned “#91 #oneonone #movement.”

“NO DEFENSIVE TACJLE IS BETTER THAN MY SON, in the NATION,” Jones tweeted Tuesday. “I respect those guys, but damn fool I don’t think they are better than Bear.”

Riley brushed off the social media comments on Tuesday, pointing to emotions running high after a loss.

“Everybody needs to just relax,” Riley said. “Everybody’s going to be fine. I can’t control what parents or what anybody else says. I can control what’s happening in these walls, and I’m perfectly comfortable with where it is.”

Alexander has recorded two pressures and two hurries in 69 snaps in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus, compared to one pressure and one hurry in 86 snaps for Meyer and the same numbers in 96 snaps for Clifton. But USC’s overall level of defensive play is significantly improved.

The junior is in a new system, Riley pointed out, with a new coach in D’Anton Lynn. He has improved and will continue to get better.

And it should be “hard,” Riley emphasized, to carve out time on the defensive line at USC.

“It wasn’t hard last year,” Riley said. “And that’s why we weren’t very good up there.”

“You know what?” he continued. “We’re pretty decent up there. And it’s hard. And the margins are thin. So, sometimes it’s not what somebody’s not doing. It’s competitive and there’s tough decisions to make every week.”

Lake McRee will return

After USC’s Lake McRee was hit low on a pass in the second half and came up limping, shedding tears while sitting on the sideline, it was easy to fear the worst for a tight end who had previously suffered two ACL tears.

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But Riley gave encouraging news for both USC and McRee’s future on Tuesday: he will be out “probably for the next couple of weeks,” the head coach said, but back before the end of the season.

Riley, too, added he didn’t fault the Michigan defender who hit McRee low, but argued such a hit shouldn’t be legal in college football.

“That makes the game no better,” Riley said, “and that’s something that just should not happen in my opinion.”

​ Orange County Register 

LAFC eager to ‘complete the job’ in U.S. Open Cup final against Sporting KC

• September 25, 2024

It’s been more than three weeks since the Los Angeles Football Club won a match.

Wednesday night’s U.S. Open Cup final at BMO Stadium presents a unique opportunity, one the team earned with that late-August victory near the banks of the Green River, at the 4,500-seat Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Washington.

The gutsy 1-0 effort against the Seattle Sounders in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal was a “funny one” for LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Taking place on the host’s training grounds, Lloris was reminded of his experiences throughout a lengthy career in France and England, where all manner of amateur and professional teams squared off each year for domestic glory.

The spirit of the Coupe de France and England’s FA Cup – the oldest soccer tournament in the world – share a lot in common with America’s national tournament.

“There is a lot of magic,” Lloris said this week. “Domestic cups are always important. It doesn’t matter the country. And I hope we can add this one for LAFC.”

To accomplish that, the Black & Gold must deny Sporting Kansas City from becoming the fourth five-time U.S. Open Cup winner. SKC would be the first to achieve that feat since L.A.’s semi-pro Maccabee AC pulled it off in the 1970s and 1980s.

An L.A. team hasn’t lifted the Open Cup since the Galaxy in 2005. Wednesday could be the 11th time since the mid-1950s that a local group carried the day.

Like its more famous European brethren, including Spain’s Copa del Rey, Germany’s DFB-Pokal, the Dutch Cup and so on, the 109th edition of the oldest prize in U.S. soccer has its share of quirks.

LAFC and SKC were among just eight MLS teams in the field, a sizable decrease from the 29-team top flight of American soccer at a time when the federation and MLS kick around the parameters of future participation.

For LAFC’s English midfielder Lewis O’Brien, separating a nation’s top teams from its domestic cup seems like a crazy thing to discuss.

“If that conversation was even brought in England it would be shut out straight away,” said O’Brien, who played every minute of the Open Cup semifinal and got his first taste of the FA Cup with Bradford City in 2018. “I think the person would be sent out of the country that brought the idea up.”

American international and LAFC center back Aaron Long, who finished second to SKC in 2017 as a member of the New York Red Bulls, acknowledged “there’s a ton of MLS teams that really love this tournament and felt like they got short-sided a little bit by not being able to play in it.”

“We felt fortunate,” Long continued. “We wanted to go for it from the beginning. And now we have the chance, so just trying to complete the job.”

For LAFC, the knockout tournament seeded a club record 13-match unbeaten streak starting with a 3-1 victory in Las Vegas on May 8. A pair of decisive results at BMO Stadium over second-division USL Championship foes Loudoun United FC (of Virginia) and New Mexico United then sent them to Seattle’s suburbs in search of an initial Open Cup final appearance.

Meanwhile, Sporting’s presence illustrates another shared aspect of domestic tournaments regardless of their location.

Although Kansas City was officially eliminated from MLS postseason contention last weekend, joining San Jose as the only teams in the league to face that reality so far, for the past few months they found purpose and resolve in the promise of the do-or-die Open Cup.

“Sometimes when you don’t really perform well in the regular season or the league then the domestic cup is really interesting because it’s where you can surpass yourself and it’s a different approach of football,” Lloris said.

Led by head coach Peter Vermes, Kansas City’s Open Cup journey began with its only two wins in seven matches during the month of May. Both came against lower division foes, Omaha and Tulsa. In July, the team defeated FC Dallas to set up a “David and Goliath” semifinal against the USL Championship’s Indy 11.

Both finalists have outscored the opposition 10-2 in their four matches.

Based on LAFC’s current state of play, however, the timing of the final feels fraught.

Adding to the tension of a mediocre run in league play (collecting six of its last 24 potential points, starting with a 5-1 home loss to Columbus in mid-July), LAFC finished second in four straight finals, including in the Leagues Cup a few days prior to bouncing back at Starfire.

“The good thing is we are not at our best in the league right now but it’s like when you play a different competition it can bring you some fresh air,” Lloris said. “That’s probably what we need right now. Also it’s a final. I would say it’s not the best way to prepare for a final in three days. Normally you have a full week to prepare. But we don’t manage the schedule. We take the challenge.”

SPORTING KANSAS CITY AT LAFC

What: U.S. Open Cup, championship match

When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: BMO Stadium

TV/Radio: Apple TV+ – Free710 AM, 980 AM

​ Orange County Register 

This week’s bestsellers at Southern California’s independent bookstores

• September 25, 2024

The SoCal Indie Bestsellers List for the sales week ended Sept. 22 is based on reporting from the independent booksellers of Southern California, the California Independent Booksellers Alliance and IndieBound. For an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.org.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. We Solve Murders: Richard Osman

2. The Life Impossible: Matt Haig

3. Tell Me Everything: Elizabeth Strout

4. The God of the Woods: Liz Moore

5. Creation Lake: Rachel Kushner

6. James: Percival Everett

7. All Fours: Miranda July

8. Colored Television: Danzy Senna

9. Somewhere Beyond the Sea: TJ Klune

10. Here One Moment: Liane Moriarty

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI: Yuval Noah Harari

2. Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty: Hillary Rodham Clinton

3. Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success: Russ Buettner, Susanne Craig

4. Want: Sexual Fantasies by Anonymous: Gillian Anderson

5. The Creative Act: A Way of Being: Rick Rubin

6. Connie: A Memoir: Connie Chung

7. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones: James Clear

8. The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War: Erik Larson

9. Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue: Sonia Purnell

10. I’m Still Here: A Dog’s Purpose Forever: Cathryn Michon, Seth Taylor (Illus.)

MASS MARKET

1. Mistborn: The Final Empire: Brandon Sanderson

2. Dune: Frank Herbert

3. The Shining: Stephen King

4. 1984: George Orwell

5. Animal Farm: George Orwell

6. Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen

7. Hiroshima: John Hersey

8. Ender’s Game: Orson Scott Card

9. American Gods: Neil Gaiman

10. A Game of Thrones: George R. R. Martin

TRADE PAPERBACK FICTION

1. Demon Copperhead: Barbara Kingsolver

2. Fourth Wing: Rebecca Yarros

3. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: Gabrielle Zevin

4. My Brilliant Friend: Elena Ferrante

5. The Bee Sting: Paul Murray

6. A Little Life: Hanya Yanagihara

7. It Ends with Us: Colleen Hoover

8. The Thursday Murder Club: Richard Osman

9. The Fraud: Zadie Smith

10. The Housemaid: Freida McFadden

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​ Orange County Register