[teejers1]

I relayed your thoughts and will not post his response, except for one quote:

"I did not say 'Acosta instead of Aaronsen'  [his quotes].  I said Aaronson did not start and instead Acosta started, but I didn't write 'instead of' - my point was who was in the lineup vs. who was not in the lineup."

No problem, Teejers. I have a thick skin, don't mind the exchange, just was surprised at your friend's immature tone.

Regarding this specific issue of "Acosta instead of Aaronsen", these are the exact sentences that your friend wrote, with no edits:

***

NOT starting:  the FOAS ["Future of American Soccer"], 23 year old Christian Pulisic, our best player.  Starting instead:  27 year old Farm alum J-Mo, who has not started a real game since getting injured (again) last February (he’s now missed two of the last three MLS seasons with injuries) and hasn’t started for the USMNT since 2017.  

NOT starting: 20 year old Brendan Aaronson, one of our most dynamic young players, who currently plays in Austria and has Bundesliga and EPL teams trying to buy him.  Starting instead:  26 year old MLS player Kellyn Acosta.  

***

So in the first paragraph he states that Pulisic is not starting, and that Morris is starting. They both play the exact same position (left wing) so logically he is criticizing that the less accomplished player is taking the more accomplished player's specific place in the lineup.

Immediately thereafter he follows with a second paragraph using the identical format as the preceding, stating that a highly regarded player is not starting and that an MLS journeyman is starting. The most reasonable conclusion is that the author is making the same statement re the second set of players as he was about the first set of players immediately above, i.e. that Acosta is starting in place of Aaronsen.

You are a lawyer (I think) - what does "Starting Instead" mean? a reasonable person would interpret this as one player taking another's place in the lineup, especially since it follows a preceding example where one player indisputably took another player's exact place on the field. Either your friend doesn't know who plays where or he worded his rant very poorly, such that the most logical interpretation wasn't the author's intended one.

If I said "Tom isn't coming to the meeting today. Coming instead: Bob" would you honesty interpret that as being materially different from "Bob is coming to the meeting today instead of Tom?" Come on.

Anyhow, none of this adds anything to the discussion, but since you passed along this additional argument I felt compelled to reply. No need to send this to your friend, probably best to put this to bed now.

Agreed.  FWIW, I see my colleague's point about playing better players; however, I think the "instead" rejoinder is parsing awfully thinly, and that a fair and common-sensical reading of the complaint was one for the other.

[teejers1]

I relayed your thoughts and will not post his response, except for one quote:

"I did not say 'Acosta instead of Aaronsen'  [his quotes].  I said Aaronson did not start and instead Acosta started, but I didn't write 'instead of' - my point was who was in the lineup vs. who was not in the lineup."

No problem, Teejers. I have a thick skin, don't mind the exchange, just was surprised at your friend's immature tone.

Regarding this specific issue of "Acosta instead of Aaronsen", these are the exact sentences that your friend wrote, with no edits:

***

NOT starting:  the FOAS ["Future of American Soccer"], 23 year old Christian Pulisic, our best player.  Starting instead:  27 year old Farm alum J-Mo, who has not started a real game since getting injured (again) last February (he’s now missed two of the last three MLS seasons with injuries) and hasn’t started for the USMNT since 2017.  

NOT starting: 20 year old Brendan Aaronson, one of our most dynamic young players, who currently plays in Austria and has Bundesliga and EPL teams trying to buy him.  Starting instead:  26 year old MLS player Kellyn Acosta.  

***

So in the first paragraph he states that Pulisic is not starting, and that Morris is starting. They both play the exact same position (left wing) so logically he is criticizing that the less accomplished player is taking the more accomplished player's specific place in the lineup.

Immediately thereafter he follows with a second paragraph using the identical format as the preceding, stating that a highly regarded player is not starting and that an MLS journeyman is starting. The most reasonable conclusion is that the author is making the same statement re the second set of players as he was about the first set of players immediately above, i.e. that Acosta is starting in place of Aaronsen.

You are a lawyer (I think) - what does "Starting Instead" mean? a reasonable person would interpret this as one player taking another's place in the lineup, especially since it follows a preceding example where one player indisputably took another player's exact place on the field. Either your friend doesn't know who plays where or he worded his rant very poorly, such that the most logical interpretation wasn't the author's intended one.

If I said "Tom isn't coming to the meeting today. Coming instead: Bob" would you honesty interpret that as being materially different from "Bob is coming to the meeting today instead of Tom?" Come on.

Anyhow, none of this adds anything to the discussion, but since you passed along this additional argument I felt compelled to reply. No need to send this to your friend, probably best to put this to bed now.

Agreed.  FWIW, I see my colleague's point about playing better players; however, I think the "instead" rejoinder is parsing awfully thinly, and that a fair and common-sensical reading of the complaint was one for the other.