Um, you should probably read this, especially if you have any interest in US Soccer or Major League Soccer. Basically, former USMNT player and Fox Soccer analyst Eric Wynalda gets all out of character and speaks his mind and pulls his punches at the recent NSCAA Convention in a lecture cleverly titled “Why Not US.” Go ahead. Don’t be embarrassed. As you’ll soon see, he isn’t.
If you love perms or Didier Drogba, you’ll love the Les Éléphants shirt …
Spain is trying to conquer the world again. This time, they might succeed.
Why hello there.
Welcome to Episode 1 of The Confessional, a pod-like collaboration that we are launching with James Tyler, founder of the immensely entertaining Unprofessional Foul. This is the first test run, complete with words and such, but we’ve also included the scars (dropped calls, verbal gaffes, cover ups, etc.), because good scars keep you grounded when the millions of dollars start rolling in. Actually, that’s probably a lie. But anyway, hopefully you laugh at the scars, or even better, won’t notice them. Maybe you’ll even cry. We did.
Episode 1, BETA, is with Elliott Turner (or is it Tucker, or is it @FakeFutfanatico?), founder of the hilarious and smart Futfanatico.com, and author of An Illustrated Guide to Soccer and Spanish. James and I briefly introduce the pod, and then we get down to pseudo-business with Elliott, discussing his attempt to mock a high school football coach as an adolescent, illegal immigrants, narco checkpoints, and mostly, developments in the soccer media space.
We hope you enjoy. Feel free to shoot over feedback. And if you do the Twitter (and you should), follow all involved. James can be found at @UFJamesT, Elliott at @Futfanatico, and, of course, follow us at @NutmegRadio. It will all be worth your time, or alternatively, a complete waste of your time.
(Quick note: You may hear Turner and Tucker used interchangeably. That’s all Elliott’s fault. He’s devious like that. You can inquire further on the Twitter. Mysterious, we know. We believe Bono once said about Elliott, “He works in mysterious ways.” At least we’re pretty sure he was talking about Elliott.)
And with that, here we go. Episode 1: BETA feat. FUTFANATICO, lead off by an introductory taste of some flavor from the upcoming SEPP BLATTER album. Obviously.
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More: Culture | The Confessional Podcast
We Americans love rankings. We rank players, candidates, movies, schools, entrepreneurs, dogs, horses, etc. We just can’t get enough.
Over the last few years, we’ve also grown to love discussing how several dual, or potentially dual, citizens should fit into the US pool. With this discussion in mind, particularly after today’s conversations about “the immigration problem,” we’ve decided to introduce Americanness rankings, basically measuring how much players love freedom and which players we need to phone tap. Semi-delayed, these ratings come after the US match against Slovenia, and are presented on a scale of 1-10. A “1” means we should seriously look at deportation/imprisonment, and a “10” identifies a player who basically bleeds freedom from his ears.
Let’s get started. Continue Reading »
You know we love the dancing. Sometimes it’s beautiful, other times it’s fantastically awkward, which frankly often holds its own special kind of beauty. Take a look. You be the judge. I promise it doesn’t end with Adebayor having to apologize for something. Or does it … Continue Reading »
More: Celebrations | Culture
On its face, smiling tells a story. But the story told by the reflex, or I suppose decision, to flash the pearly whites can be complex and originate from a wide range of what might seem like incompatible feelings. We smile for a variety of reasons. We smile when we are happy, when we are uncomfortable, to placate, and sometimes when we are simply unsure of what else to say. A smile could just as easily manifest itself as a shrug, a hug, laughter, silence, or even, in the most extreme cases, a roundhouse kick to the side of a disheveled head. Continue Reading »
More: Player Talk | The Game
The Guardian’s Marina Hyde wrote an incisive article framing the slightly absurd aftermath of the Patrice Evra-Luis Suarez incident. If you happened to miss the storm, Evra accused Suarez of racially abusing him at least ten times during last weekend’s Liverpool-Manchester United match. Hyde’s basic point was a simple one: when it comes to the he said-she said, don’t jump to conclusions. But there is one conclusion that is safe to draw from this saga: when two people take diametrically opposing views on whether an incident of this nature happened, not once, but ten times, someone is engaging in high-level, pre-meditated fabrication.
Now, no question, Evra’s allegation is a serious one, but it isn’t the only serious issue raised by the incident. The reaction by the players’ respective clubs should at least raise an eyebrow, if not both. Continue Reading »
More: Discrimination | Outside the Lines
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