NOTE: The headline and first few paragraphs are different than when I first posted this. I swore Alexi Lalas said something that Taylor Twellman said. But my main points stand – Klinsmann is not talking about anything new when there are plenty of new things to discuss. Those of us who have followed soccer in […]
Sixteen years ago, I remember going out on a ledge. At the time, I was working as a sportswriter for this very newspaper. In fact, I was only a few weeks from the end of my full-time employment at 135 Baltimore Street. That job change and the risk I took are not connected. I sat […]
I sat down last night to do something I really didn’t want to do, but felt I had to: order the pay-per-view broadcast of the U.S. soccer team’s World Cup qualifier in Guatemala. The game was only available that way because of the rules which give the home team all television rights. The Guatemalan federation […]
I know why I put “Soccer Dad” on my list – the title and the price. But I don’t think I really knew what I was getting into when I bought it other than it was about soccer. That seemed like enough of a reason for me. But W.D. Wetherell‘s commemoration of his son’s final […]
As is common with the American soccer fan, much attention this pre-season has shifted toward something completely ancillary to the success of the game in the United States. And I worry that unlike screams for single table to make the league “authentic” or promotion and relegation to sate a small few (while killing any real […]
The previous post shows the unbridled joy which people experienced after the U.S. scored to beat Algeria yesterday. People don’t often get that excited about soccer in the U.S., but the nature of the World Cup means that new fans will watch the action because of what’s at stake. With the U.S. headed to the […]
I wrote this for last week’s column, but forgot to post it. I intended to blog a lot during the World Cup, but have just been too distracted. Hopefully I will be better this week. If you see me over the next month or so and I look a little more distracted than usual, I […]
For some reason, the topic of soccer’s popularity draws some people into entrenched opinions more than Sarah Palin, especially those who want to focus on the negative. Soccer fans like me hear how the sport isn’t popular and never will be and ESPN is shoving the World Cup down the throats of an unwilling public […]
The World Cup started yesterday. Most people probably know that. If you’re not into it, that’s OK. Believe it or not, most soccer fans don’t care about your negative opinion of the sport. Just let us enjoy the games, OK? But today is different. Today isn’t about whether you like soccer or not. We play […]