brazil having fun
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 11 August 2010 01:26 (thirteen years ago) link
what do you know, offside
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 11 August 2010 01:27 (thirteen years ago) link
argh
― iatee, Wednesday, 11 August 2010 01:27 (thirteen years ago) link
charlie davies ca. summer 2009 would have blown right by that brazil d
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 11 August 2010 01:29 (thirteen years ago) link
whats the score?
― Michael B, Wednesday, 11 August 2010 01:42 (thirteen years ago) link
0-2
― iatee, Wednesday, 11 August 2010 01:42 (thirteen years ago) link
mostly cause brazil doesn't seem to particularly care anymore
― iatee, Wednesday, 11 August 2010 01:43 (thirteen years ago) link
and because they keep hitting the posts
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 11 August 2010 01:55 (thirteen years ago) link
77,223
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 11 August 2010 01:57 (thirteen years ago) link
Suggest Ban Permalink
― iatee, Tuesday, August 10, 2010 9:43 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark
most of these kids have fewer than 10 caps, i'm sure they all want to score
― mizzell, Wednesday, 11 August 2010 02:00 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah it might be more the post thing
― iatee, Wednesday, 11 August 2010 02:02 (thirteen years ago) link
why is michael bradley playing forward
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 11 August 2010 02:03 (thirteen years ago) link
sooo...guzan was a bright spot?
― a peach tree (156), Wednesday, 11 August 2010 02:06 (thirteen years ago) link
he didn't actually let in any goals
I liked what I saw of goodson too
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 11 August 2010 02:31 (thirteen years ago) link
I liked what I saw of 18 y.o. Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior
― Jeff LeVine, Wednesday, 11 August 2010 04:32 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsre2UcAOL0
― Jeff LeVine, Wednesday, 11 August 2010 05:12 (thirteen years ago) link
lol at running out spector to showcase him or w/e just to see how he gets turned around
― a peach tree (156), Wednesday, 11 August 2010 05:40 (thirteen years ago) link
Guys I am not a starfucker but I met Freddie Ljungberg last night at the opening of a new soccer bar here in Chicago and I swooned a little bit.
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Friday, 13 August 2010 15:24 (thirteen years ago) link
Also our new gk is a total bro.
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Friday, 13 August 2010 15:25 (thirteen years ago) link
Book review
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41151HA6JCL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
Soccer In A Football WorldDavid Wangerinamazon US UK Google books
This is a history of American soccer and it's really, really good. It traces the game from the earliest days, when it arrived at the same time as it did everywhere else, through all subsequent eras, some successful, others disastrous. It's a straight-up treatment, he's not pushing any particular viewpoint except for a love of the game, and he's amused and heartbroken in all the right places, but mostly just interested in letting you know what happened. It's pretty much all fascinating, and a few nice pictures too. I especially like the way crowd trouble keeps appearing throughout history, it makes me feel the US game was right in step with the rest of us all along.
It's just an excellent piece of writing. He has several different strands to trace - the professional game, national squad, grassroots soccer, big personalities, rival sports - and he balances their attention really well, keeping them all updated together so you get a single narrative without you being totally conscious of how he's doing it.
I especially like the sheer number of different aspects of soccer in the US, not all of which I was aware of - power struggles at national levels, college soccer, the ethnic game, women's football, kids' football, etc etc etc. See also 156's excellent post above. These are (nearly) all strengths imo and it's kind of tragic how you haven't managed to create a sporting culture that blends them all, mostly because there's never been a single, undisputed, competent administrative body. I had never appreciated, especially, that even up until the 50s everything except the supremacy of baseball was up for grabs - even gridiron wasn't much more popular until TV changed the rules totally. Y'know, why couldn't there have been a single structure where New Jersey clubs of scots origin and top college sides competed with tycoon-owned clubs and the best St Louis had to offer, and all the other entities that have been big at one time or another? Instead of all that fannying about trying to create something for television or people who don't really like the game at all.
MLS seems to have mostly sorted that now, and the book ends hopefully - a lot of faith is placed in the bricks-and-mortar development that's taken place recently, and that kind of modest achievement seems the right way to go. But the catch is the lack of any spontaneous soccer culture, and that seems to me to be a huge drawback - if you ever get your inner-city kids spending their youth kicking a ball rather than bouncing it, you will be unstoppable.
I can't really think of any faults to the book at all. I'd've maybe liked a bit more anecdotal stuff about the early players, and the 1930 squad in particular, because that's my thing, but nobody's going to be able to write that now and I can't complain. There is a fair amount anyway, and he keeps it up to the present day - lots of good stuff about the post 1990 stars I'm more familiar with.
Basically, if you like football and you like reading, and you like a bit of history, you'll like this.
― Ismael Klata, Friday, 13 August 2010 21:20 (thirteen years ago) link
if you ever get your inner-city kids spending their youth kicking a ball rather than bouncing it, you will be unstoppable
I posted yesterday in the off-season thread about a change in NCAA (college athletics governing body) rules concerning players signing contracts and receiving compensation from professional clubs but not waiving their eligibility to get a scholarship, play in the college ranks and get a free education. One of the dozens of reasons more kids don't seem to keep playing the game is this sort of catch-22 of pay-to-play coaching, college, and other sports. Aside from the really big stars, American NBA players hone their skills in the college game for the most part, but there's a hell of a lot of them who don't get a pro contract and still have their degrees to fall back on. Same thing with football/gridiron/handegg. So, to a kid that grows up playing basketball or football AND soccer (and there are a lot of them), the path that leads to a free education and the possibility of huge riches is the path they take.
With soccer, the best coaching is not in the college ranks, and the college game has crazy rules about things like substitution, the season is very short, and many players that come out of it are already getting "too old" at 22 or so to compete seriously in the pro game. Many of the top college players fall apart completely, even in MLS. Being able to be affiliated with a pro club from an early age, to get coaching and experience in a pro environment beyond just training, and still having the ability to go to school on a scholarship if things don't work out is going to be a boon to the kids who are 15-16 years old right now, and those who will come after them.
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Friday, 13 August 2010 21:41 (thirteen years ago) link
apologies if that doesn't make sense, the US soccer landscape esp with regards to college is incredibly hard to unpack
imo klinsi gets it here (starts at about 2:00 if you don't want to listen to lalas talk)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y-fZpD_BrE
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Friday, 13 August 2010 21:44 (thirteen years ago) link
The book reckons that you'd never come across kids kicking a ball in the street or elsewhere without it being an adult·supervised activity, though xp. That seems to limit the pool of talent drastically. The Soccernomics book I read a couple of weeks ago pointed out that the really top players mostly come from the poorest backgrounds in the richest countries - your Ronaldos, Rooneys and Drogbas - because they're the ones who have nothing else for entertainment, yet are in a position to get scooped up into a fantastic infrastructure once they prove themselves.
― Ismael Klata, Friday, 13 August 2010 21:49 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, Klinsmann's excellent - that's such an intelligent, strategic view. It's so funny to hear McManaman follow straight up with "that's right, but you also need a goalscorer to get you twenty, thirty goals a season"
― Ismael Klata, Friday, 13 August 2010 21:57 (thirteen years ago) link
thx for the review IK, i'll be sure to pick it up
― a peach tree (156), Friday, 13 August 2010 22:50 (thirteen years ago) link
Whoa, San Jose Earthquakes sign Geovanni of Hull City fame.
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Monday, 16 August 2010 20:05 (thirteen years ago) link
wow. he looked decent w/jozy at times last year
― a peach tree (156), Monday, 16 August 2010 20:39 (thirteen years ago) link
updated player salaries released:
http://www.mlsplayers.org/files/august_12_2010_salary_information__alphabetical.pdf
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Thursday, 19 August 2010 19:48 (thirteen years ago) link
kind of amazing to me that Marquez is on higher wages than Henry, if only slightly
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Thursday, 19 August 2010 19:52 (thirteen years ago) link
Haha, that's exactly where I went first! Also amusing that Henry's bonus seems designed purely to leapfrog back over Marquez. It's pretty awesome that that doc exists.
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 19 August 2010 19:54 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, the players' union is pretty dedicated to showing exactly how badly most of them are getting paid.
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Thursday, 19 August 2010 20:02 (thirteen years ago) link
it was only a couple of years ago the league min for developmental players was like $12K
Red Bulls are starting to get scary good.
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Saturday, 21 August 2010 20:28 (thirteen years ago) link
nice goal by marquez
― Michael B, Saturday, 21 August 2010 20:58 (thirteen years ago) link
god I fucking hate Brian Ching
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Sunday, 22 August 2010 04:13 (thirteen years ago) link
looks like the chicago keeper is a more worthy recipient of your hate
― Michael B, Sunday, 22 August 2010 17:58 (thirteen years ago) link
It wasn't his best night, but he's a rookie and it was only his 4th league appearance. Trust me, if it was the guy they started the season with it'd have been like 6-3 instead of 4-3.
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Sunday, 22 August 2010 21:55 (thirteen years ago) link
i dreamt landon donovan checked groceries at my local qfc, what does this confusing dream mean
― 156, Monday, 23 August 2010 11:16 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/img/music/weezer/waterfront/23.jpg
― mizzell, Monday, 23 August 2010 14:15 (thirteen years ago) link
Makin my morning, thanks dude!
― Jesus doesn't want me for a thundercloud (Laurel), Monday, 23 August 2010 14:22 (thirteen years ago) link
I mean I don't know who that is or anything, but the Metros are giving me a contented glow in general this seas.
― Jesus doesn't want me for a thundercloud (Laurel), Monday, 23 August 2010 14:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Rivers Cuomo of popular rock combo Weezer iirc
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Monday, 23 August 2010 14:47 (thirteen years ago) link
I wondered why there were so many awful sunglasses & gay haircuts in that crowd, decided it couldn't possibly be at a pre-game because o_O
― Jesus doesn't want me for a thundercloud (Laurel), Monday, 23 August 2010 14:53 (thirteen years ago) link
CONCACAF Champions League play last night had some incredibly lolzy refereeing, including a Cbus goal being called back because a player was wearing a jersey w/ no number after going off for treatment for a bloody cut on his head.
From the official MLS blog:
MLS teams are now 0-19-2 in competitive matches in Mexico.
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 25 August 2010 16:11 (thirteen years ago) link
Good thing I hate Cbus.
"Travesty"
http://blog.dispatch.com/crew/2010/08/travesty.shtml
lol, imo
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Wednesday, 25 August 2010 16:18 (thirteen years ago) link
Hey, just wanted to ask this -- the $40 buck premium internet all-access pass thing for MLS seems like an awesome deal. Anyone else have this thing and is it, indeed, awesome? (Well, as awesome as MLS can get, at least...)
― Green Manalishi (Viceroy), Thursday, 26 August 2010 16:27 (thirteen years ago) link
I've purchased it when they drop the price mid-year. It worked pretty well the past couple of seasons, but if I understand right it's gotten better this year, more of an ESPN3-style service with borderline-if-not-HD picture quality, etc. Plus you can watch archived games. The one drawback is that anything on a national broadcast, i.e. games on FSC, Telefutura, or ESPN, are not broadcast live. I think they are in the archive, though.
― Danny Dyer (dan m), Thursday, 26 August 2010 16:38 (thirteen years ago) link
Well they don't show a lot of Toronto FC games on TV so I think I might get it then... Plus I'd get that mid-season price drop! Cool!
― Green Manalishi (Viceroy), Thursday, 26 August 2010 17:01 (thirteen years ago) link
hi, here is the first--and it's gonna be the most indepth, how could it not be--rundown of the 2011 expansion draft, who might be available, protected, and exempt for portland and vancouver:
http://usasoccer.blogspot.com/2010/08/2010-mls-expansion-draft-preview.html
― 156, Saturday, 28 August 2010 21:11 (thirteen years ago) link