Author Archive for Jamie Clary
Qatar. Americans Should Remember 1994 and Get Over It.
At the risk of sounding like American-hating, socialist-sympathizing, Hispanic-espousing, nothing-new-to-be-saying Paul Gardner…it’s time for U.S. soccer fans to get over it. This decision that FIFA made on the 2022 World Cup: holding the World Cup in a country that could not qualify on its own, a country without a world-class player from inside its borders, [...]
Rivalries May Not Be Enough For MLS To Expand Into Southeast
What ties together NCAA Division I Soccer, the recent Galaxy/Red Bull game, and the future of MLS as a nationwide league? It’s all impacted by Title IX. Title IX is that rarely criticized federal law from 1972 that seems at first glance so worthy of vocal praise. But in reality, Title IX will prevent MLS [...]
Going on 15: The Increasingly Optimistic Journey of Attending Every MLS Cup
During the inaugural MLS season, I and three friends decided to witness history by attending MLS Cup ’96. At the game, too cold to remove our hands from our drenched pockets, we stomped on the Foxboro Stadium bleachers to applaud as rain streamed down our backs and wind created waves in the puddles on the [...]
San Jose’s Comeback This Weekend a Reminder of the Greatest in MLS History
San Jose?’s come-from-behind win this week was pretty exciting, but it does no?t compare to the greatest comeback in MLS playoff history. It, too, was produced by San Jose as the team ran toward the 2003 championship. Like this year the ?03 playoffs started with a two-game series that counted total goals. After losing the opening game 2-0, the [...]
Book Review: Long Range Goals, Beau Dure on The Business of Major League Soccer
Finding a book that covers the business of soccer is a little like finding ?The Amish Guide to Electronics?. Not many writers understand both aspects of the subject. We need a person who understands business and soccer. Beau Dure does a pretty good job of grasping the game and the business in ?Long Range Goals: The Success [...]
A Book Review: Star-Spangled Soccer by Gary Hopkins
In the 1970s the U.S. had books that explained the rules. Then came the soccer books filled with coaching tips, diagrams of drills and British verbiage. Next a few biographies–Mia and Brandi. Finally, the United States has enough experience to justify a few books on soccer history between our borders. “Star-Spangled Soccer” helps us understand [...]
Going Out On A High Note
A few weeks ago I could have ended my soccer career on a high note. In stoppage time, I scored the tying goal for my over-30 team that was facing relegation. I thought about never playing again. Whatever it is, we all want to leave it on our terms. We want to go voluntarily–quit instead [...]
Who We Hate In The World Cup
A friend of mine said that she would be more excited about the World Cup if she knew who to cheer for among the 32 teams. My response was to tell her cheer for the U.S. and against everybody else. Upon further review, I realize that my directions are too simple. Most soccer fans have [...]
TV And The Growth Of US Soccer
If we listed the ten biggest decisions that put soccer where it is today in the United States, somewhere in the middle would be televising the 1966 World Cup to American audiences. Television’s influence has not slowed down. The golden days of U.S. soccer had been killed before the Great Depression. The American Soccer League [...]
World Cup Refs And The US
Edu’s non-goal was the fourth notable unjustified pull-back by referees to the U.S. in World Cups and qualifiers. During the 1994 World Cup, Alexi Lalas was incorrectly called offside against Columbia, pulling back a goal for the underdogs. Fortunately an OG and Earnie Stewart’s partial volley were enough for the U.S. to upset Columbia. Unfortunately, [...]
