Shocking and disastrous, as a way to describe today’s result, would be an understatement when you consider the weight of the mission at hand for Messi and the Albiceleste. The expectations couldn’t be higher in representing a fútbol-obsessed country while living under the omnipresent shadow of Argentine soccer god Diego Armando Maradona.

But what if Argentina’s struggles aren’t the result of Messi’s gameplay but rather a curse stemming from a broken promise after Argentina’s ’86 World Cup victory?

It’s inexplicable that soccer’s brightest star and highest talent continues to struggle on the biggest stage, so let us turn to the supernatural! The following story comes courtesy of a Messi-focused NPR podcast I’ve been listening to in the leadup to the World Cup called “La última copa” or “The Last Cup”:

According to the myth, the players went to visit the Virgin of Copacabana in Tilcara and asked for a blessing. They allegedly made a promise to return to the Virgin and thank her if they won the World Cup title that year. They won, but the promise was ultimately not fulfilled.

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/07/1134750285/argentina-world-cup-curse

I’m sharing this bit of Argentine soccer mythology because it’s an entertaining proposition and, more importantly, to help spread awareness about the podcast.

La última copa / The Last Cup explores the rise of Messi from the point of view of Argentine journalist, Jasmine Garsd, and touches on subjects like belonging, identity, socioeconomics, and the impact of leaving home in pursuit of something better. All while putting into context the urgency behind this year’s World Cup, which very well could be Messi’s last chance at the elusive trophy. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for World Cup content to keep you going in between games. It’s available in Spanish or English.

As for Messi and today’s result, there are still two more group-stage games at the minimum. If the prophecy of the soccer gods is to be fulfilled, today’s loss is merely setting us up for a more incredible closing chapter to his illustrious career.

If not, Argentina may want to really consider sending the ’86 players back to complete their promise.

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[It’s] . . . a shoe, but something that leads you to access to the preorder of a physical shoe that comes in several months, or a virtual shoe that one day opens access to a token gated community of Nike designs so you can vote on [future] colorways for physical shoes.” 

RON FARIS, HEAD OF NIKE’S NEW VIRTUAL STUDIOS DIVISION

Super curious to see how this plays out in terms of adoption for sneaker heads, regular consumers, and resellers. 

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Inspired by PG’s love of muscle cars and complete with flaming swoosh logos and checkered patterns, this sneaker is fully designed with the challenger spirit in mind.

To accompany the release of the shoe on 11/23 on nike.com, Mattel Creations will also be releasing a matching Circle Tracker.

Being a huge #NBA fan, I love it when things I’m passionate about and my work come together.

#MattelProud

Check out PG’s Hot Wheel’s branded ride.

The Hot Wheels Circle Tracker.

A closer look at the kicks.

The post Hot Wheels Teams Up with Paul George to Bring the Sneaker Heat appeared first on jhonyg.com.

“It had everything that I thought we needed for a successful successor show. It had all of the intrigue around the Iron Throne. It had the great houses contending. It had dragons — a lot of dragons — and battles and betrayals.”

George R.R. Martin in an Interview with the New York Times

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Do you just throw out the toys? Sell them? Pass them down to younger sibling or cousin? Well, if none of these are an option for you and you want to reduce materials that end up in landfills, Mattel’s new Playback Program has an answer: just send them back to Mattel where they can be recycled and reused as part of new toys!

The new Playback program is designed to help recover and reuse material from Mattel toys that have served their purpose but have been outgrown. At launch, the program will accept old Barbie®, Matchbox® and MEGA® toys with more brands to follow in the future.

The new program supports the company’s goal to achieve 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials across all products and packaging by 2030.

Mattel

So if you have some extra Mattel toys laying around, why not pack them up and send them back so their life can be extended in new shapes and forms? You can find the instructions and print out a shipping label here.

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