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.
On the sidelines of yesterday’s Chelsea vs. Inter Milan match, Carlo Ancelotti looked like he was in the third hour of a four hour session on the fourth day of a physics conference. His face was dead. Expressionless. Emotionless. It was priceless. My sense is that Ancelotti would make a terrible mime.
The obvious angle here is that Ancelotti’s lack of emotion was passed on to his team. But Chelsea’s performance can hardly be said to have been emotionless. Chelsea certainly created chances on the night. There were a few calls that Chelsea fans will claim were clear penalties. Crazier assertions have been made. Penalties have been called for less. Continue Reading »
Mainstream media outlets in the United States struggle with their portrayal of soccer. Many of these outlets suffer from what I call Palinitis, a chronic sickness characterized by a lack of curiosity, an unwillingness to read, and an eagerness to succumb to humanity’s baser instincts to sell something. This should worry soccer fans.
Luckily, fans of the major American sports are beneficiaries of robust online coverage. Countless full-time journalists, commentators, academics, and bloggers dissect the day’s NFL, NBA, and MLB news. Although new voices covering these leagues are always welcome, the online market for major U.S. sports is arguably already saturated. Continue Reading »
More: Media | Outside the Lines
Not surprisingly, FIFA poured a healthy dose of irrationality on the debate concerning the use of goal-line technology. It is as if Sepp and his honchos are intent on leaving soccer in the Stone Age. How else can the garbage that spews forth from them about “universality” and not wanting to take one of the most important decisions away from the ref be taken seriously? Every other major sport has embraced technology when it comes to getting crucial decisions right. Why is it that soccer thinks it does not owe its fans this little bit of credibility? Continue Reading »
More: The Game | Weekly Review
Followers of U.S. soccer are used to stories of talented youth players failing to make the grade at the professional level. But we rarely ever hear about players who never scratched the surface of their potential because they were never given the opportunity to get out of the starting blocks. Why would we, right? Well, the key to building a more dynamic U.S. player pool may lie in exploring the underbelly of youth soccer. Here’s my take on a piece of U.S. youth soccer based on my experiences.
I grew up in Baltimore City in a neighborhood that was about 95% African-American. No, it wasn’t The Wire, but it wasn’t suburbia either.
Although my neighborhood was always relatively tranquil, the nearby high school that I would have attended was not. The graduation rate was dismal and the school had its share of problems, once suspending 1,200 students in one day. So my parents sacrificed their paychecks and broke out the credit cards. Continue Reading »
More: Player & League Development | The Game
Conflicts of interest and abuses of power are well-documented hallmarks of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s reign. Berlusconi has a stranglehold on Italian media outlets (many of which, he owns) and isn’t shy about manipulating legislation to avoid being tried in court. One has to wonder what role his magical touch has played in the current state of affairs at his club, AC Milan. The Rossoneri, once feared as arguably the best football side in the world, are nothing more than a shadow of their former selves. Continue Reading »
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Football for Change is a feature in which Nutmeg Radio highlights work being done by organizations across the globe using soccer to promote development.
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