Mike Beckstrand
@beckstrand.bsky.social
Research Methodologist @ UMN, CLA.
Saint Paulite, YIMBY urbanist, ebiker, dad.
MNUFC fan & MLS sicko. COYL. he/him.
Saint Paulite, YIMBY urbanist, ebiker, dad.
MNUFC fan & MLS sicko. COYL. he/him.
In sum, MLS is "Prioritizing the exponential financialization of the sport at the direct cost of fan experience: enshittification. It’s taking American soccer, something built on communities, built by fans creating unique atmospheres, and it’s sucking the blood out of it...and repackaging it."
Father, forgive me, for I have spent the morning ranting about MLS and the enshittification of soccer
wburdine.substack.com/p/mls-change...
wburdine.substack.com/p/mls-change...
MLS Changes the Calendar
Whither the fan?
wburdine.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:41 PM
In sum, MLS is "Prioritizing the exponential financialization of the sport at the direct cost of fan experience: enshittification. It’s taking American soccer, something built on communities, built by fans creating unique atmospheres, and it’s sucking the blood out of it...and repackaging it."
Reposted by Mike Beckstrand
Every case i see for “mls growth” prioritizes wealth at the expense of fans. Bigger franchises fees, more money, more subscriptions, more private equity.
Nothing involved with growing the game apparently involves actual fans who make the game unique.
Nothing involved with growing the game apparently involves actual fans who make the game unique.
November 14, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Every case i see for “mls growth” prioritizes wealth at the expense of fans. Bigger franchises fees, more money, more subscriptions, more private equity.
Nothing involved with growing the game apparently involves actual fans who make the game unique.
Nothing involved with growing the game apparently involves actual fans who make the game unique.
Reposted by Mike Beckstrand
WE call ourselves smug, Y’ALL don’t get to call us smug! But this paragraph is gonna have me fist-pumping all damn day:
(archive today version: archive.is/OcaC9 )
(archive today version: archive.is/OcaC9 )
November 13, 2025 at 2:54 PM
WE call ourselves smug, Y’ALL don’t get to call us smug! But this paragraph is gonna have me fist-pumping all damn day:
(archive today version: archive.is/OcaC9 )
(archive today version: archive.is/OcaC9 )
Once again, Jamelle Bouie is "the exception the proves the rule" that the NYT has capitulated.
Honest reporting doesn't save for the Opinion section: "this isn’t an ordinary moment. The president is openly lawless...This extraordinary reality calls for something different."
Gift link in reply.
Honest reporting doesn't save for the Opinion section: "this isn’t an ordinary moment. The president is openly lawless...This extraordinary reality calls for something different."
Gift link in reply.
Opinion | Democrats Sure Taught Trump a Lesson
www.nytimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Once again, Jamelle Bouie is "the exception the proves the rule" that the NYT has capitulated.
Honest reporting doesn't save for the Opinion section: "this isn’t an ordinary moment. The president is openly lawless...This extraordinary reality calls for something different."
Gift link in reply.
Honest reporting doesn't save for the Opinion section: "this isn’t an ordinary moment. The president is openly lawless...This extraordinary reality calls for something different."
Gift link in reply.
"Will we sober up at some point after Son puts a hat trick up against us in the Conference Finals? Sure, but hey man, the darkness comes for us all and I’m gonna ride this rocket into the sun!"
Grateful for the rocket fuel this past Saturday. Truly Champagne (of Beers) stuff.
#COYL
Grateful for the rocket fuel this past Saturday. Truly Champagne (of Beers) stuff.
#COYL
I broke down and I talked about Minnesota United and how f*cking dumb fun they are and how outside pundits don't get it. open.substack.com/pub/wburdine...
Champagne of Beers Soccer
We need to talk about the Loons
open.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:19 AM
"Will we sober up at some point after Son puts a hat trick up against us in the Conference Finals? Sure, but hey man, the darkness comes for us all and I’m gonna ride this rocket into the sun!"
Grateful for the rocket fuel this past Saturday. Truly Champagne (of Beers) stuff.
#COYL
Grateful for the rocket fuel this past Saturday. Truly Champagne (of Beers) stuff.
#COYL
The never ending fight of the Loons against all odds brought me joy.
And against Seattle, to boot!
#MNUFC #COYL #MLSCupPlayoffs
And against Seattle, to boot!
#MNUFC #COYL #MLSCupPlayoffs
a man in a blue suit is laughing with his mouth wide open
Alt: a man in a blue suit is laughing with his mouth wide open. luthen rael from the star wars series andor
media.tenor.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:35 AM
The never ending fight of the Loons against all odds brought me joy.
And against Seattle, to boot!
#MNUFC #COYL #MLSCupPlayoffs
And against Seattle, to boot!
#MNUFC #COYL #MLSCupPlayoffs
Reposted by Mike Beckstrand
This match had everything! Nightmare beginning, red card, Sounders flopping like salmon, set pieces, more fucking set pieces, goalkeeper sub, Gene and Duggan (??) making pens, post and crossbar knocking balls in and out, goalkeeper scoring, shit talking by both sides, Loons sending Sea home! #MNUFC
a man on a snl show says " la 's hottest club the dmv this place has everything "
Alt: Stefan says " la 's hottest club the dmv this place has everything "
media.tenor.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:49 PM
This match had everything! Nightmare beginning, red card, Sounders flopping like salmon, set pieces, more fucking set pieces, goalkeeper sub, Gene and Duggan (??) making pens, post and crossbar knocking balls in and out, goalkeeper scoring, shit talking by both sides, Loons sending Sea home! #MNUFC
Inside of me there are two wolves.
Or: somehow my job of late is doing both of these things.
Or: somehow my job of late is doing both of these things.
A thing about AI in higher ed right now is that half of us are scrambling to deal with the implosion of our information environment that broke reading/writing/source verification, while the other half is trying to achieve a massive institutional buy-in of the very thing that's causing the implosion
November 7, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Inside of me there are two wolves.
Or: somehow my job of late is doing both of these things.
Or: somehow my job of late is doing both of these things.
This new package slaps.
Do you teach #rstats? Do your students complain about how lame and old-fashioned dplyr is? Don't worry: I have the solution for you: github.com/hadley/genzp....
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
GitHub - hadley/genzplyr: dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap
dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap. Contribute to hadley/genzplyr development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:40 AM
This new package slaps.
Fantastic explanation of St. Paul's #RankedChoiceVoting reallocation process inside.
eg: "...voted for Chen first, Hilborn second, Dullinger third & Koahly fourth. Their ballot would effectively “transfer” from Chen to Hilborn, then from Hilborn to Dullinger, finally from Dullinger to Kaohly."
eg: "...voted for Chen first, Hilborn second, Dullinger third & Koahly fourth. Their ballot would effectively “transfer” from Chen to Hilborn, then from Hilborn to Dullinger, finally from Dullinger to Kaohly."
How Koahly Her surpassed Melvin Carter to win the mayor's race, even after landing just 34% of all precincts on the first ballot. Key take-aways: she gained 10 percentage points as other challengers fell, and split downtown. www.twincities.com/2025/11/05/r...
Ranked choice voting: How Kaohly Her surpassed Melvin Carter
Carter won 66% of the city’s precincts and was the top vote-getter with 41% of the vote, but still lost the race after ballot reallocation.
www.twincities.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Fantastic explanation of St. Paul's #RankedChoiceVoting reallocation process inside.
eg: "...voted for Chen first, Hilborn second, Dullinger third & Koahly fourth. Their ballot would effectively “transfer” from Chen to Hilborn, then from Hilborn to Dullinger, finally from Dullinger to Kaohly."
eg: "...voted for Chen first, Hilborn second, Dullinger third & Koahly fourth. Their ballot would effectively “transfer” from Chen to Hilborn, then from Hilborn to Dullinger, finally from Dullinger to Kaohly."
🧵 Ranked Choice Voting is Wonderful Even When my Preferred Candidate Loses: a thread (and meta-level takeaway from the St. Paul Mayoral election ...that also applies across the river to that other place they call Minneapolis)
November 5, 2025 at 8:01 PM
🧵 Ranked Choice Voting is Wonderful Even When my Preferred Candidate Loses: a thread (and meta-level takeaway from the St. Paul Mayoral election ...that also applies across the river to that other place they call Minneapolis)
Appreciate the new speed from Ramsey county in tabulating RCV!
St Paul will have a new mayor.
St Paul will have a new mayor.
November 5, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Appreciate the new speed from Ramsey county in tabulating RCV!
St Paul will have a new mayor.
St Paul will have a new mayor.
As I wait for St Paul to finish counting, huge shoutout to my home for nearly a decade, Syracuse NY for finally electing it's first black mayor!
Go 'cuse
Go 'cuse
Sharon Owens elected mayor of Syracuse
Owens, the city’s deputy mayor under current Mayor Ben Walsh, is the second woman and first Black mayor-elect in Syracuse.
dailyorange.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:37 AM
As I wait for St Paul to finish counting, huge shoutout to my home for nearly a decade, Syracuse NY for finally electing it's first black mayor!
Go 'cuse
Go 'cuse
November 4, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Mike Beckstrand
Chicago Fire starting quick with their When Playing Out of the Back Goes Wrong submission
#MLSCupPlayoffs #WPIOOTBGW
#MLSCupPlayoffs #WPIOOTBGW
November 1, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Chicago Fire starting quick with their When Playing Out of the Back Goes Wrong submission
#MLSCupPlayoffs #WPIOOTBGW
#MLSCupPlayoffs #WPIOOTBGW
Agree with this thorough summary!
Being able to share saved me from writing more to some folk in my circles, too, so cheers to that.
Being able to share saved me from writing more to some folk in my circles, too, so cheers to that.
OK. I don't know why I did this, but I wrote up my run down of what I see as the condition of Saint Paul and then why I choose to support Mayor Carter
leaflet.pub/ab326e22-655...
leaflet.pub/ab326e22-655...
Thoughts on the Saint Paul Mayoral Race
I originally wrote this to get some thoughts down and then thought, why the hell does anyone care what I think? And I don't know if anyone cares about my thoughts but I wrote them anyway.
leaflet.pub
November 1, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Agree with this thorough summary!
Being able to share saved me from writing more to some folk in my circles, too, so cheers to that.
Being able to share saved me from writing more to some folk in my circles, too, so cheers to that.
Reposted by Mike Beckstrand
I love how Rep. Joe Neguse reframed this question.
October 31, 2025 at 8:19 AM
I love how Rep. Joe Neguse reframed this question.
Reposted by Mike Beckstrand
SHORT VERSION: I’m voting yes on both ballot questions & @melvincarter.bsky.social for Mayor.
LONG VERSION: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
LONG VERSION: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
October 29, 2025 at 11:25 PM
SHORT VERSION: I’m voting yes on both ballot questions & @melvincarter.bsky.social for Mayor.
LONG VERSION: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
LONG VERSION: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Reposted by Mike Beckstrand
October 29, 2025 at 1:00 PM
"(PRO) responded to two written questions on the situation, saying “level of force was not enough to warrant a foul, and (Hlongwane) had a clear opportunity to shoot on goal. The contact did not rise to the level of a penalty kick and red card offense.” "
October 28, 2025 at 6:18 PM
"(PRO) responded to two written questions on the situation, saying “level of force was not enough to warrant a foul, and (Hlongwane) had a clear opportunity to shoot on goal. The contact did not rise to the level of a penalty kick and red card offense.” "