Archive for June, 2009

All the attention the last few days, even with the passing of the King of Pop, who I initially thought had just faked his death and was hiding out in Argentina with his mistress….. too soon ?Anyway– all the attention since the boys beat Spain has been a little odd. It is almost like what happens in a real footballing nation. It is really, really strange when people like YAHOO’s Dan Wetzel are writing columns about the US Men’s National Team. Fascinating.Pretty… Read more

Remember the Alamo !! And…Don’t Tread on Me. Finally, the imposing logo of US Soccer has been rewarded with a victory that merits the suggestion the logo carries with it. The United States finally gave the American Outlaws, Sam’s Army, and many more of their die-hard fans the game and the win they spent countless hours trying to convince their football buddies they were capable of producing. They played a style that warranted the logo’s warning as well– with… Read more

Victory!!!!! First loss for The Red Fury in THREE YEARS. First loss for the Red Fury to non-European opposition in TEN YEARS. One of the greatest teams ever assembled falls to 14 guys playing their absolute guts out. The best to me of all was the final goal– a bit of pure arrogance from Ramos, who seemed to have such little fear of the American attack, even down a goal, that he tried to settle a ball in his own six and begin yet another Spanish assault on the… Read more

And then they do. 3-0. And they advance to the next round. After two dismal performances. They are through. In a group with Brazil and Italy– the Italians are on a plane home. And the Yanks are not. And in other news, Paris Hilton is the new ambassador to UNICEF. (Sorry– but Jen Chang had that coming after suggesting, and being right— that the sequence of events that was required for our boys to advance was about as likely as Paris taking on a humanitarian hero… Read more

That was the single worst half of soccer the Yanks have played in this World Cup cycle. Conor Casey was not the answer, but apparently a coach who for whatever reason does not fear his job security does not care. I hope there was a bit of passion in the locker room, and a discussion that the “long ball” prayer strategy is not going to be effective against Selecao. The United States needs players who can take the ball on their feet to the other team. The logical… Read more

Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!…..And I will give you a second chance, a way out of a dire situation in your home country… and you will give me….A boot in the face. That’s about how I feel about Teaneck, New Jersey native Giuseppe Rossi’s brace which crushed the inner soul of many American… Read more

Several things to address, and apparently, autographs for the boys to sign in Pretoria before the Yanks take the pitch tomorrow in the first match of the long-awaited Confederations Cup, which the U.S. team admittedly concedes is the last real shot at top-flight world competition before next year’s World Cup. The fact that it gives the Yanks a chance to get acclimated to the weather, stadiums, new pitches, and travel schedule in South Africa a year before the… Read more

Bob Bradley is in a boatload of trouble. If the United States loses this home fixture in front of a near capacity crowd at Soldier Field, qualifying becomes extraordinarily dicey for the World’s 14th ranked side. With only two more home fixtures in qualifying, a loss tonight essentially means the U.S. will scoreboard watch until the end of 2009 and hope Honduras, Mexico, or Costa Rica drop three points at home. Granted, the Yanks will have two of those fixtures on… Read more

Two small things of note this morning:a) If you are headed to Chicago for the game– there will be a supporter party thrown by The American Outlaws tonight @ the Small Bar on Division street.Consider this a “shameless plug” for the Outlaws if you haven’t yet heard about them– they are the “other” Sam’s Army, but not in the second-fiddle negative way. Membership is fifteen a year and comes with a free t-shirt, and many of us are outright cotton whores, which is… Read more

What? Did something bad happen last night ? It isn’t like the National Team began the most important month of soccer they have until next year’s World Cup by losing so soundly that a defeat Saturday actually makes qualifying quite difficult and the Costa Rican National Team makes you quiver about playing Brazil in two weeks, is it ? Good. In the name of a fit Brian Ching, I assure you I almost panicked for a moment there. In all seriousness, who better to turn to… Read more

The unfortunate defeat of Stacy Nelson and the Florida Gators in the Woman’s College World Series means that ESPN has moved the US game tonight from ESPN to ESPN 2. There will be a pre-game show starting at 9:30 PM on ESPN 2 and kickoff from San Jose, Costa Rica is scheduled for 10:06 PM… Read more

Congratulations to Deuce– no one has worked harder and deserves their spot in Europa more. His two goal games against Manchester City and against Chelsea in Fulham’s 2-0 win proved to be very critical indeed, as the Cottagers secured passage into Europe’s second biggest championship. His play has earned him extremely high praise from Roy Hodgson, who notes his speed, awareness, and defensive tenacity have all improved since he arrived from across the pond, and… Read more