SPORTS FOLDEROL

Lionel Messi  is being paid a LOT of money to play in – and,  presumably, promote – Major League Soccer. That didn’t keep the  eight-times (and reigning) world futbol player of the year to tell it like  it is,  Howard Cosell , referring to MLS as “minor league” in a recent  interview dealing with his plans for 2024. What he meant, of course, was … in comparison to such venerable  circuits as the English Premier League and La Liga, etc., and no one  who knows anything about the planet’s favorite sport is about to  disagree. Messi’s arrived this summer from Paris St. Germaine and  immediately made it look easy, scoring 11 goals in 14 games before  spending the rest of the season nursing assorted injuries. Now, the 39-year-old from Argentina says his plans include helping  his native country prepare for the next World Cup as well as returning  to Inter Miami which already has a sellout of season tickets at  outrageous pr...

Don’t Be Surprised If … ….. The Richmond Kickers have a new coach next year, the ninth in club history that began in 1993 when founder Bobby Lennon was numero uno. He was succeeded (in order) by John Kerr Sr. (1994), Dennis Violet (1995-96), Fred Kohlenstein (1997), Colin Clarke (1998-99), Leigh Cowlishaw (2000-2018), David Bulow (2018-19 and Darren Sawatsky (2019-present). The Kickers were regular-season USL League One winners then reached the semifinal round of the playoffs in 2022 ... and were expected to challenge again this year. However, a 14-game non-winning streak (0-10-4) has left them nearer the bottom of the 12-team third-division league than the top … with two games remaining. Latest misadventure was a 1-0 loss at home Saturday night to defending champion South Georgia Tormenta, beating Richmond for the first time since 2020. A questionable – OK, terrible -- call against former South Georgia forward Ryan Sierakowski led to a penalty kick in the 70th minute for the onl...