It's an old joke… an employee walks in to get trained on something new for his job. The trainer asks "what kind of experience do you have?" "Well, I do have a Master's degree." "Then let me clear my calendar." In some circles, a certain pedigree seems to always be better. Always. And in Mexican futbol, that seems to be the case when it comes to anything European. I'll admit it. I was just as…
Tomorrow in Zurich, the FIFA Ethics Committee will hear the case of UEFA President in Absentia Michel Platini, and discuss whether "Hey, how would you like two million bucks?" is a binding and legal contract. Platini himself will be elsewhere; he has stated that the whole thing is a sham, a travesty and a mockery of justice and he has no intention of giving it the dignity of his presence. No doubt the panel will…
This week, the UK is experiencing a once-in-every few-years snowfall. It’s not a great deal of snow; but in a country unaccustomed to getting any, even a little snow is enough to screw up the roads, railways, airports and general infrastructure. The snow has also had a devastating effect on British football with many games being called off due to snow-covered pitches. By coincidence, the past few days also seems to be the time when…
Great trivia question 20 years from now. Chivas takes Jimmy Conrad at #2 Ryan Cochrane to the Revs Angel goes to the Galaxy Cory Gibbs to the Fire Hejduk to KC Seitz to Seattle Cunningham back to Columbus Luke Sassano to LA Galaxy Colorado selects Tyrone Marshall This is the fastest draft in the history of sport. 10 picks in 8 minutes. Revolution drafts Fred. And they're done. Whew. Blink and you missed it.
OK, so before we go any farther I'd simply like to refer everyone to THIS ARTICLE from last May. If you want, skip down about halfway. After you get done being utterly stunned by my clairvoyance, continue reading to the end and you'll pretty much get what the soccersphere is now struggling mightily to put into words. Next time I get one wrong you might want to remember this before you break a finger or…
The World Cup tournament hasn't even begun yet and already South Africa is sick to death of Sepp Blatter: Mail & Guardian, Johannesburg The fog began to lift earlier this year when the nations' media were informed that FIFA intended to closely monitor their work product and if any of them were to print or broadcast any material which they felt cast FIFA "in a bad light" their credentials would be canceled. As it happens,…
Chuck Blazer is nice to enough to respond to my questions, and today I pay him back by calling for the destruction of his organization. CONCACAF is so incompetent, they can't even get the cheap publicity of naming a Player of the Year. So I do it. It's usually kind of fun, but, well, how do YOU feel about CONCACAF right now? There isn't much the US can do about the World Cup debacle that…
The Europeans will be outnumbered in the Round of 16 for the first time ever. And if Chile can squeeze in there will be 10 nonEuropean teams left in the tournament. What is even more bizarre is that the match-ups could have all the Euros facing each other, which means that the 10 other countries will be matched up as well. It's not in the bag for Chile, though, as they will be facing a…
Last year, the Seattle Sounders broke the New York Cosmos' record for single-season attendance in American pro soccer. This season, they may be closing in on a Cosmos attendance mark that might have even more significance. The Cosmos left a lot of memories behind when they folded in 1985. In particular, there were the superstars, the five NASL titles and the attendance figures, which included crowds of up to 77,691. The Cosmos' attendance records included…
Having spent most of the last week watching asphalt roll under my butt and wondering why they don't just charge a couple of bucks for the "Free Continental Breakfast" so that they can afford to include actual food, I haven't had much time to check back on the comments from my last couple of posts. When I first started out doing this blogging thing I never read any of them on the theory that I…