Author Archive for Neil W. Blackmon
TYAC USMNT Olympic Qualifying Position Breakdown: Am I Being Too Forward ?
Neil W. Blackmon Caleb Porter’s U-23 side, the January camp edition, fell 4-0 to the Klinsmann Camp Cupcake edition of the USMNT this weekend, and while conceding four goals to the senior side may cause some alarm among those anxiously monitoring this group’s progress, it’s the lack of goals that was somewhat surprising to those [...]
2011 Yanks Are Coming Best of US Soccer Award Winners: Part Three
First, let us be among many, but hopefully not the last, to wish all our readers a Happy New Year. We wish you blessings, good fortune and health in 2012. We begin a comprehensive look at the Men’s U-23 Olympic Team this week, and we’re very excited about those pieces given our background as a [...]
2011 Yanks Are Coming Best of US Soccer Awards: Part Two
Part I of the 2nd Annual Yanks Are Coming Best of US Soccer Awards featured 2011′s US Soccer disappointments, frustrations, and best hairdo. The second portion of our awards focuses on the promise of youth, goalkeepers, and the goals scored in what was a thrilling year in American soccer. Again, a list of the finalists [...]
2011 Yanks Are Coming Awards Winners: Part One
First, we’d like to wish our own holiday wishes to our readers and new visitors. Thanks for making 2011 a special year at The Yanks Are Coming, and we hope to provide more solid coverage, analysis and unique perspectives on both the USMNT and USWNT in 2012. Soccer has always had a place at Christmas- [...]
2nd Annual The Yanks Are Coming US Soccer Awards
Loyal Readers, It’s that time of year again. Sparing you the cliches about how it seems like we just handed these things out a few weeks ago, it is indeed time to cap a rollercoaster year for US Soccer with our website’s awards. First, a few notes about the hardware up for [...]
MLS Intriguing Subplot Number Two: Is It Now or Never For the LA Galaxy, and When Did Bruce Arena become a Celtics Fan?
This is the sixth piece of a seven-part series highlighting the most intriguing subplots of the 2011 MLS campaign. Our other MLS preview pieces are linked below: Number 7: Omar Bravo: Next Designated Player to Fail, or is Sporting KC the place for a revival? MLS Eastern Conference Preview: Five Most Intriguing Sides Number Six: [...]
A Dickensian Summer For US Soccer Ended Today With The Appointment of Jurgen Klinsmann, and one last plot twist: Hope.
By Neil W. Blackmon It finally ended today. Not a five year era—no—that was Thursday’s news. No—it ended. The summer that wouldn’t end. The summer that reminded us how great we can be; how fleeting success is; how far we have to go. The summer of everything ended this afternoon at what can only fairly [...]
Bob Bradley: A Eulogy: In the End, Hard Work Not Enough To Overcome His Limitations
By Neil W. Blackmon “It’s disappointing to hear because I think he’s done a fine job. Always a diligent, hard worker.” – Sir Alex Ferguson “There is no other sport like football. It is beautiful and it imitates life because it is a game of failure. Americans have baseball, and it is beautiful and there [...]
Voices in the TYAC Crowd: Why the US Loss to Japan May Have a Silver Lining
EDITOR’S NOTE: What follows is a Special Contribution to The Yanks Are Coming from reader and US fan Cameron James Siggs, Esq. We thank him sincerely for his fine contribution. First, a confession. I’m a soccer guy, and I have been forever. Never really played past grade school, but I did letter in Girls’ Soccer [...]
2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup: What US Women Did In Dresden, In A Word: Unforgettable
By Neil W. Blackmon Let’s just get the disclaimer right out of the way, shall we? What follows won’t do today justice. I would hope that’s obvious. Some moments in life are too sensory, too “I wish I could have been there or seen that” for the written word. In the age of youtube and [...]
