Barrett Madden
@barrettmadden.bsky.social
Soccer (NE Revs, USMNT, Americans Abroad), Kayaking, Sailing, Woodworking, Photography
Reposted by Barrett Madden
We lost so much when we lost Grant. Not only was he the greatest American soccer writer but he had the guts and integrity to call out corruption, sexism, and bigotry regardless of what it cost him personally.
Very few people in sports media (or any media) are like this!
Very few people in sports media (or any media) are like this!
I wish Grant Wahl was here rn
December 5, 2025 at 6:42 PM
We lost so much when we lost Grant. Not only was he the greatest American soccer writer but he had the guts and integrity to call out corruption, sexism, and bigotry regardless of what it cost him personally.
Very few people in sports media (or any media) are like this!
Very few people in sports media (or any media) are like this!
Reposted by Barrett Madden
I wish Grant Wahl was here rn
December 5, 2025 at 5:34 PM
I wish Grant Wahl was here rn
Reposted by Barrett Madden
I am begging us in media to stop mealy-mouthed avoidance of bias with phrases like "in a controversial move."
When what we actually mean is "in a move antithetical to every scientific finding and medical recommendation." "A move that will cause both illness and death."
When what we actually mean is "in a move antithetical to every scientific finding and medical recommendation." "A move that will cause both illness and death."
December 5, 2025 at 4:40 PM
I am begging us in media to stop mealy-mouthed avoidance of bias with phrases like "in a controversial move."
When what we actually mean is "in a move antithetical to every scientific finding and medical recommendation." "A move that will cause both illness and death."
When what we actually mean is "in a move antithetical to every scientific finding and medical recommendation." "A move that will cause both illness and death."
Reposted by Barrett Madden
The USPS posting a NINE BILLION DOLLAR LOSS!!! sounds terrible. Certainly worse than if you said "USPS costs thirty dollars per person per year" even though that means the same thing and more accurately describes a government service
December 5, 2025 at 1:31 PM
The USPS posting a NINE BILLION DOLLAR LOSS!!! sounds terrible. Certainly worse than if you said "USPS costs thirty dollars per person per year" even though that means the same thing and more accurately describes a government service
Reposted by Barrett Madden
Since becoming a parent I have not, in fact, understood the parents who say “if you were a parent you’d understand” about vaccine hesitancy. Being in charge of this fragile little miracle has me saying things like “give her all the vaccines. Turn this baby into a pincushion” to doctors
December 5, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Since becoming a parent I have not, in fact, understood the parents who say “if you were a parent you’d understand” about vaccine hesitancy. Being in charge of this fragile little miracle has me saying things like “give her all the vaccines. Turn this baby into a pincushion” to doctors
Reposted by Barrett Madden
Every elected Republican was a united front opposing and criticizing everything Obama did for 8 straight years, even if it was a policy they fundamentally agreed with. Why. In the fuck. Is it asking too much for Democrats to do the same with a legitimate fascist?
Democratic voters are working hard to stop fascism. It would be nice if the leaders of the party joined them.
December 4, 2025 at 3:48 AM
Every elected Republican was a united front opposing and criticizing everything Obama did for 8 straight years, even if it was a policy they fundamentally agreed with. Why. In the fuck. Is it asking too much for Democrats to do the same with a legitimate fascist?
Reposted by Barrett Madden
I am thrilled to announce my book, The Messi Effect, comes out June 9 and is available now for preorder.
This book takes you behind the scenes of Messi in Miami, and into the MLS boardroom as owners debate how to grow in a fast-evolving American soccer landscape.
read.macmillan.com/lp/the-messi...
This book takes you behind the scenes of Messi in Miami, and into the MLS boardroom as owners debate how to grow in a fast-evolving American soccer landscape.
read.macmillan.com/lp/the-messi...
The Messi Effect 9781250364173 - Macmillan
In The Messi Effect, Paul Tenorio, national soccer writer for The Athletic, draws on coveted insider access to bring readers behind Lionel MessiR...
read.macmillan.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:42 PM
I am thrilled to announce my book, The Messi Effect, comes out June 9 and is available now for preorder.
This book takes you behind the scenes of Messi in Miami, and into the MLS boardroom as owners debate how to grow in a fast-evolving American soccer landscape.
read.macmillan.com/lp/the-messi...
This book takes you behind the scenes of Messi in Miami, and into the MLS boardroom as owners debate how to grow in a fast-evolving American soccer landscape.
read.macmillan.com/lp/the-messi...
Reposted by Barrett Madden
Just give Doyle and Wiebe a small budget and complete editorial freedom to make 10 hours of stuff worth watching on Apple TV every week, it would transform MLS overnight
December 4, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Just give Doyle and Wiebe a small budget and complete editorial freedom to make 10 hours of stuff worth watching on Apple TV every week, it would transform MLS overnight
Reposted by Barrett Madden
Our annual surveys are my favorite piece of content we do, and this year was by far the best. We had almost 3,500 responses!
Fans want looser roster rules, are torn on the calendar shift, and are getting tired of Messi mania.
Read here ⤵️
www.sixonefivesoccer.com/2025-mls-fan...
Fans want looser roster rules, are torn on the calendar shift, and are getting tired of Messi mania.
Read here ⤵️
www.sixonefivesoccer.com/2025-mls-fan...
MLS Fan Survey: Supporters weigh in on calendar switch, roster rules, and Lionel Messi
Nearly 3,500 fans from 33 countries gave their opinions on the state of Major League Soccer in our third annual fan survey
www.sixonefivesoccer.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Our annual surveys are my favorite piece of content we do, and this year was by far the best. We had almost 3,500 responses!
Fans want looser roster rules, are torn on the calendar shift, and are getting tired of Messi mania.
Read here ⤵️
www.sixonefivesoccer.com/2025-mls-fan...
Fans want looser roster rules, are torn on the calendar shift, and are getting tired of Messi mania.
Read here ⤵️
www.sixonefivesoccer.com/2025-mls-fan...
Reposted by Barrett Madden
I think you have to be really careful to avoid messaging around “don’t take that shot” or “that’s a bad shot” especially if you want kids to play free.
December 2, 2025 at 2:01 AM
I think you have to be really careful to avoid messaging around “don’t take that shot” or “that’s a bad shot” especially if you want kids to play free.
Reposted by Barrett Madden
📬 Full Time mailbag speed round for the final Meg + Tamerra show of 2025 ⤵️
Thanks to vacation time and the holidays this week is the final time @tamerra-griffin.bsky.social and I are recording together! So send us your end of year questions or the ones you have for 2026!
Keep ‘em quick if you can so we can answer as many as possible 🙏
📧 fulltime at theathletic dot com 📧
Keep ‘em quick if you can so we can answer as many as possible 🙏
📧 fulltime at theathletic dot com 📧
December 1, 2025 at 9:31 PM
📬 Full Time mailbag speed round for the final Meg + Tamerra show of 2025 ⤵️
Reposted by Barrett Madden
Free Newsletter: Two more offseason guides.
This time we look at a Nashville team that needs to be smart about how they use their open DP slot, and a Crew team that's kind of walking a knife's edge.
open.substack.com/pub/tacticsf...
This time we look at a Nashville team that needs to be smart about how they use their open DP slot, and a Crew team that's kind of walking a knife's edge.
open.substack.com/pub/tacticsf...
Offseason Guides: Columbus on the brink and Nashville on the rise
Crew face an offseason of massive questions while the 'Yotes can aim for the top
open.substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Free Newsletter: Two more offseason guides.
This time we look at a Nashville team that needs to be smart about how they use their open DP slot, and a Crew team that's kind of walking a knife's edge.
open.substack.com/pub/tacticsf...
This time we look at a Nashville team that needs to be smart about how they use their open DP slot, and a Crew team that's kind of walking a knife's edge.
open.substack.com/pub/tacticsf...
Reposted by Barrett Madden
Free Newsletter: I'm starting up with offseason guides for all 30 teams!
In today's edition we circle the drain with D.C. United and Atlanta United. 2025 was not kind to them!
tacticsfreezone.substack.com/p/offseason-...
In today's edition we circle the drain with D.C. United and Atlanta United. 2025 was not kind to them!
tacticsfreezone.substack.com/p/offseason-...
Offseason Guides: D.C. United, Atlanta circle the drain
A little something to light the way through a long, dark winter
tacticsfreezone.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Free Newsletter: I'm starting up with offseason guides for all 30 teams!
In today's edition we circle the drain with D.C. United and Atlanta United. 2025 was not kind to them!
tacticsfreezone.substack.com/p/offseason-...
In today's edition we circle the drain with D.C. United and Atlanta United. 2025 was not kind to them!
tacticsfreezone.substack.com/p/offseason-...
Reposted by Barrett Madden
Not only that but it’s actively hard to search for a new thing because of the algorithm pushing me towards things that are essentially in my interest bubble.
November 29, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Not only that but it’s actively hard to search for a new thing because of the algorithm pushing me towards things that are essentially in my interest bubble.
Reposted by Barrett Madden
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 6:44 PM
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Reposted by Barrett Madden
If a phone still works fine, it’s not “device hoarding” to keep using it. It’s common sense.
November 27, 2025 at 3:58 PM
If a phone still works fine, it’s not “device hoarding” to keep using it. It’s common sense.
Reposted by Barrett Madden
Pitch Points: Is Slot at risk, what’s up with Trinity Rodman and is Birmingham’s stadium a fantasy? The world of soccer throws up no shortage of questions. Today, Graham Ruthven endeavors to answer three of them https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/nov/26/arne-slot-trinity-rodman-birmingham-cit
November 26, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Pitch Points: Is Slot at risk, what’s up with Trinity Rodman and is Birmingham’s stadium a fantasy? The world of soccer throws up no shortage of questions. Today, Graham Ruthven endeavors to answer three of them https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/nov/26/arne-slot-trinity-rodman-birmingham-cit
Reposted by Barrett Madden
November 20, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Reposted by Barrett Madden
To everyone saying that people in our military already know not to follow unlawful orders, how do you explain almost 100 civilians murdered on fishing boats in the Caribbean so far?
November 20, 2025 at 5:42 PM
To everyone saying that people in our military already know not to follow unlawful orders, how do you explain almost 100 civilians murdered on fishing boats in the Caribbean so far?
Reposted by Barrett Madden
Sergio Busquets is old and slow. By next month he'll be retired. So how is he still so central to one of the best teams in MLS?
Wrote for The Guardian about trying to measure a famously invisible kind of greatness.
Wrote for The Guardian about trying to measure a famously invisible kind of greatness.
As his career ends in MLS, Sergio Busquets’ small decisions remain perfect
The Spaniard’s style of possession football is not easily defined by stats and data. We tried to do so anyway
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Sergio Busquets is old and slow. By next month he'll be retired. So how is he still so central to one of the best teams in MLS?
Wrote for The Guardian about trying to measure a famously invisible kind of greatness.
Wrote for The Guardian about trying to measure a famously invisible kind of greatness.
Reposted by Barrett Madden
Growing up in LA in the 1970s and 1980s, we routinely had smog alert days when we weren’t allowed to have lunch or recess outside. Your eyes would sting all the time and if I played outside my lungs would burn at the end of the day. It’s vastly better now. But I guess that’s woke?
November 19, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Growing up in LA in the 1970s and 1980s, we routinely had smog alert days when we weren’t allowed to have lunch or recess outside. Your eyes would sting all the time and if I played outside my lungs would burn at the end of the day. It’s vastly better now. But I guess that’s woke?
Reposted by Barrett Madden
abolish ICE is a winning issue
November 19, 2025 at 6:34 PM
abolish ICE is a winning issue
Reposted by Barrett Madden
No lawmaker in Congress should be able to buy, own, and sell individual stocks. Period. Let's make Congressional stock trading illegal.
November 19, 2025 at 4:01 PM
No lawmaker in Congress should be able to buy, own, and sell individual stocks. Period. Let's make Congressional stock trading illegal.
Reposted by Barrett Madden
Pablo kicks so much ass
NEW: Following our @us.theguardian.com investigation, Major League Soccer is reopening its own investigation into Philadelphia Union sporting director Ernst Tanner.
The club says Tanner has since been placed on leave.
Details here: www.theguardian.com/football/202...
The club says Tanner has since been placed on leave.
Details here: www.theguardian.com/football/202...
MLS reopens investigation into Philadelphia Union executive as team places him on leave
Tanner denies the allegations contained in a Guardian investigation into his conduct as Union sporting director, including claims of racist, sexist and homophobic behavior
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Pablo kicks so much ass
Reposted by Barrett Madden
NEW: Following our @us.theguardian.com investigation, Major League Soccer is reopening its own investigation into Philadelphia Union sporting director Ernst Tanner.
The club says Tanner has since been placed on leave.
Details here: www.theguardian.com/football/202...
The club says Tanner has since been placed on leave.
Details here: www.theguardian.com/football/202...
MLS reopens investigation into Philadelphia Union executive as team places him on leave
Tanner denies the allegations contained in a Guardian investigation into his conduct as Union sporting director, including claims of racist, sexist and homophobic behavior
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:56 PM
NEW: Following our @us.theguardian.com investigation, Major League Soccer is reopening its own investigation into Philadelphia Union sporting director Ernst Tanner.
The club says Tanner has since been placed on leave.
Details here: www.theguardian.com/football/202...
The club says Tanner has since been placed on leave.
Details here: www.theguardian.com/football/202...