NIAGARA FALLS, NY – Yay. It’s Monday. and happy 250th birthday to America. Something about America’s age bothers me. People like to say we’re a young country, and we are, but we’re still older than most of Europe. Italy wasn’t really Italy till about 100 years ago, roughly the same for Germany. Pretty much swaths of Europe, once you get east of France, are younger than us. So stop trying to make this look like kids’ play.
With that, I do my patriotic duty to MTM and the country with today’s topics. We will talk about the Mets’ weekend review, the Rangers’ NHL draft, and the latest soccer controversy in the World Cup.
New York Mets’ Week
The Mets played the Braves in a four-game series, and then they’ll face the Royals and the Red Sox before the All-Star break. That will cap off 90 games for them. Their record is terrible right now—they stand 13 games under .500 and a stunning 16 games out of first. They need to get to .500 just to get to the Wild Card.
This past week, they went 2-2, losing two against the Blue Jays and then splitting with the Braves. They actually have a game tonight against the Braves, hopefully they can earn a split. I haven’t written off this team yet because it’s a long season, but the window is closing for them.
Rangers NHL Draft
The Rangers entered the 2026 NHL Draft with a clear plan, and by all accounts, they executed it beautifully. In a weak forward class, New York wisely pivoted to addressing a long-standing organizational need: left-handed defense. The result is a draft haul that could reshape the blue line for years to come.
The crown jewel is Alberts Smits, selected 5th overall. Described as a potential Miro Heiskanen-caliber defender, Smits is an elite skater with a booming shot who could eventually become the partner Adam Fox has long needed. The Rangers followed that up with Ben MacBeath in the second round—a 6’3″ mobile defender who was widely considered a steal at 64th overall.
While the front office leaned heavily into defense, the most electrifying pick came in the third round. Tomas Chrenko is a small but highly skilled forward whose production in Slovakia’s pro league and heroics at the World Juniors have drawn comparisons to past Rangers gems like Igor Shesterkin and Pavel Buchnevich. The Rangers also took intriguing swings on goalie Danai Shaiikov and overage defenseman Ivan Patrikhayev, who was incredibly productive in the KHL as a teenager.
The only real critique is the lack of forward depth early on, but the front office’s clear emphasis on drafting plus-level skaters addresses a decade-long weakness.
Overall, this class feels different. For the first time in years, no mental gymnastics are required to like it. With Smits, MacBeath, and Chrenko leading the way, the Rangers have added at least three legitimate NHL prospects.
GREAT NEW FOR #METS FANS:#Trump just called Manfred. The Mets are now 15 games over .500!!! #lgm #mlb #RobManfred #lfgm pic.twitter.com/exqSkP0vq7
— Meet The Matts (@MeetTheMatts) July 6, 2026
World Cup Update
One of the hosts, Canada, is out after losing 3-1 to Morocco. They played really well for 80 minutes, down by one goal, and then they fell apart. But it was a really good effort. Mexico lost to England in a wild and thrilling game, 3-2. I was really disappointed. Mexico, as a host with all the advantages, just didn’t quite get the substitutions right later on when England got a man sent off. And Cape Verde are the darlings of the tournament after pushing Argentina to the brink. Not to me tuon the guy that scored the goal of the tournament then ran to the stands to celebrate with his girl.
But the real talk has been the USA and the highly unprecedented action by FIFA to postpone a suspension on USA forward Florian Balogun.
The current administration is claiming they made a call. Supposedly, US Soccer appealed it, but the thing is, there is no history of an interim appeal. There’s no procedural structure for it. Usually people just have to eat the horrible call. This has been around since about 2002, so it is really wild. Some people are happy. I am very unhappy because I don’t care about the legality of it—the morality of it is horrible. It sends a horrible message to other teams playing, especially Belgium, who will have to play the US.
We’ll find out tonight if all of this was worth it. But I mean, if rules can be broken to get a US player back on the field who was fairly caught and called for the game, then what’s the point of the rules?
Come back tomorrow for The Big Aristotle.
— Out Of Context Football (@nocontextfooty) July 6, 2026
