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The staff of Mother Jones is, once again, rounding up the heroes and monsters of the past year. This is a non-exhaustive and totally subjective list, giving our reporters a chance to write about something that brought joy, discontent, or curiosity. Happy holidays.

Viewers tuning in to Fox Sports to watch this summer’s North America–hosted World Cup will find themselves hearing from one the sport’s loudest and arguably most disliked voices: Alexi Lalas. 

The soccer commentator and former US men’s national team player’s public persona centers on grandstanding nationalism, dumbed-down analysis, and incessantly controversial takes to generate buzz—an “edgelord,” per Politico’s apt description. For any NBA fan, Lalas is the annoying, redheaded younger brother of Stephen A. Smith. Both spray audiences with hot takes and relish the hate they get in return. It’s not creating division for rivalry or sport, it’s creating division for attention. It’s why a simple “Alexi Lalas is bad for US soccer” T-shirt had a viral moment earlier this year, designed in response to his contention that “diversity” has hurt the US men’s soccer team. (The claim was met by Eric Wynalda, another national team legend turned pundit, pointing out Lalas’ own background: His father is an immigrant from Greece, and his legal first name is Panayotis.)

For years, many,

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