— July 13, 2025 —

Today I watched Cole Palmer play soccer. The match, the final of the Club World Cup, was the first professional match that I had viewed. I viewed it because I was confirming, as 12-year-old SWM was attempting to do for a semi-final last Wednesday, that the match could be seen live for free on the internet. Minutes before this final began, Jannik Sinner had defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s final of Wimbledon …

Knowing nothing about Palmer as a person, and not having seen Messi or Ronaldo in matches, I found myself studying Palmer to learn about strategy. It was as if his actions on the field revealed, clearly, his thinking. His thinking was clear, and therefore his actions were clear. — 7:59 PM CT