2018 FIFA World Cup

Renowned physical chemist and UC Berkeley's Aldo De Benedictis Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Phillip Geissler died recently at the age of 48.

The players will be happy to take some time off and relax before the fuss takes off again with club competition, but this is the best time for journalists and fans for one reason: the transfer window.

If I never make it out alive, please tell my family I love them, and by family I mean the Hell Yeah guy on Telegraph Avenue. As for my estate, I bequeath all my holdings to the athletic department, because God knows that debt isn’t going to pay itself off.

While I was in a deli ordering a hot pirozhki to go with a cold vodka, blending in and such, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a breaking news ticker dash across the television screen that read:

As I sit here on the eve of our nation's Independence Day, clutching an American flag and a Russian bootleg version of season seven of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” I am reminded of home.

The World Cup is an athletic tournament held every four years among the globe’s elite soccer teams.The event is being held in Russia but the United States did not receive an invitation — I have assets who suggest that it might be because of Operation ____ in Trinidad and shifting NATO forces along Russia’s western flanks.

Adidas is bringing back (or is trying to bring back) old memories with its designs, but the jersey comparisons in Russia prove “new is always better.”

Home and away jerseys will be differentiated in the list, as it is apparent that creating two good jerseys for the same team is not easy (hard to say why though).

Anyway, America has no team to root for, and so we at the intersection of Byte and Bear have decided to compile a scientific, five-star safety-rated, and most importantly Leonard-approved list of World Cup squads to follow. Here are four teams from the last four groups that you should follow — Costa Rica, Germany, Belgium and Senegal.

There will be no Clint Dempsey, Christian Pulisic or “American Outlaws” chants. No opinions about the men's national team from people who haven’t watched since the last World Cup or lazy think pieces about the future of American men's soccer. There is no consolation prize or solace in “getting them next year.”