The MLS Files Ex-LA Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit has revealed that the evil geniuses behind Major League Soccer are deliberately keeping a lid on soccerball to avoid damaging true American sports. Comments made to Reuters about a Major League Soccer conspiracy have had some onlookers questioning the state of the former Dutch international's mental health. Click to continue reading...

Due to popular demand, I'm going to milk this thing for all its worth, and then when people get bored or I really miss the mark I'll try and come up with some sort of intelligent analysis or something.

Number 2. Conspicuous Use of the Term 'Football.'

"Football" is one of the North American Football Fan's favourite words, because it serves multiple social uses. Click to continue reading...

Here's an interesting article that Tony Cascarino has written on the use of video replay in soccer. Tony makes some interesting points, but I disagree with the basic idea. Video replay can help to get certain calls right, and makes more sense in American sports where there are a lot of built in breaks in the game. Click to continue reading...

As United gets ready to face their next opponent in the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League, here's some information about the Honduran champion, CD Marathon. The team is on their way to Honduras today and will face Marathon on Wednesday. Following a home loss to Saprissa last week, the Black-and-Red will look to earn crucial road points against a tough opponent. Click to continue reading...

In order for Soccer to find the success it seeks in the U.S., it must make changes to the traditional rules without changing the integrity of the sport.  Soccer can be that viable alternative for sports fans in the U.S. if it plays with Amercian rules and also markets the game to U.S. sports fans [. Click to continue reading...

  The recent press reports linking Arsenal and other Premier League clubs to 14 year old  attacking midfielder Charles Renken whose sterling play for the US U-17 team in the Bradenton Invitational last year caught many eyes is terrifying from my perspective as an American football fan. Despite the success Arsenal has had in developing young [. Click to continue reading...

In the interests of not breaking my blogging streak, up comes this post.

But in all honesty, I haven't a thing to say.

Amunt Valencia?!?

Today, it's away to Almeria, Unai 'Dances with Wolves' Emery's former squad.

It's important for two reasons. Well, three.

One, it's a league game.

Click to continue reading...

My vacation is ending. I'm not laughing

Maybe these will help.

This one is weird, - but true.

The main character of the Get Fuzzy comic strip is a rugby fan - it shows.

And the following were e-mailed to me a couple of months back and I've been looking for an excuse to blog them ever since:

After a visit to the doctor, the local team's striker dropped in to his local pub for a quick one.

Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

If you are a fantasy sports junkie, this might be a tough time a year for you. With fantasy (American) football and fantasy EPL joining the mix, it could be easy for you slack on your fantasy MLS team.

Click to continue reading...

The Olympic gold medal men's match is once again set. The two foes are familiar faces on this stage, Argentina and Nigeria. Perhaps it's Argentina's turn to pull even in today's rematch in Beijing; because 12 years ago in Athens...Georgia that is...Nigeria won their first and only international trophy in the form of Olympic gold. Click to continue reading...

Well, it's been a few months and I've kind of forgotten about this blog. I find myself unmotivated to blog and the fact that the summer in world football is slow does not help. Last week the Argentine league began. The English Premier League started its new season this weekend. So, things are now in full swing. Click to continue reading...

Matt Reis challenges Brian Ching in tonight's final/From AP The ultimate grudge match in North American football continued tonight as Houston and New England faced off in a major cup final for the third time in as many years. However this match is different in two ways from the get go: Instead of a CONCACAF based [. Click to continue reading...

We can finally count on a bit more space in US newspapers to cover MLS and Olympic soccer now that the mystery of American football star Brett Favre's future has been solved. Instead of playing for the Green Bay Packers (or some other team), it seems he has been disguised as Americana singer Shawn Mullins. Click to continue reading...

This article comes to us courtesy of Argentine site Facetas Deportivas. It details the travel plans of FC Dallas's assistant coach John Ellinger who has one mission: To bring back players and hopefully "El Burrito" Ortega is one of them. With the pending transfers of Juan Toja and Kenny Cooper, FC Dallas will have some big holes to fill. Click to continue reading...

Is American football "hate" of soccer overblown?

One of the comments on my piece helped shed some light on the issue for me. In fact, the comment suggested that it is not in fact American football haters, but bitter soccer fans, that are at the center of the problem.

I admit it, as I re-read my article, I did come across sounding pretty damned sanctimonious. Click to continue reading...

Sunday's SuperLiga match was a bit of a change of pace. Instead of the usual Home Depot Center, we gathered at Titan Stadium to take in the action. Back in the day, going to Titan Stadium was a bit of a welcomed change of scenery from the Rose Bowl. Instead of the cavernous American football stadium, we got a to spend time in a cozy little stadium where we were all close to the action. Click to continue reading...

This was an interesting piece of news that Michel Platini proposed that Europeans clubs create a salary cap that would limit their wages to somewhere between 55-65% of their income. This is only a beginning and would have a long way to go before it would be adopted, but the potential could have huge ramifications throughout Europe. Click to continue reading...

The second running of the North American SuperLiga is set to kick off tonight at 8:00PM EST when D.C. United take on CD Guadalajara at RFK Stadium. The other Group A match begins a couple of hours later as Houston Dynamo kick start their run for the million dollar prize against Atlante at Robertson Stadium in Houston. Click to continue reading...

It's not quite the pre-season, but more like the season before the pre-season. We affectionately call it the 'Pre-preseason', that dead zone when transfers take place, rumors abound and general silliness prevails.

There's no football on the telly, no basketball, American football or ice hockey to keep us entertained.

Click to continue reading...

The death of high school soccer? Perhaps, but that may not be a bad thing. Soccer is different from other American sports. No one in American football has to worry about falling behind the curve because other countries are taking nine-year-olds into professional development in that sport. Also the maturity level needed is very different. Click to continue reading...

Oh the offside rule, you old devil you. The cause of so much heartache and pain, joy and jubilation. The casual American football observer, seems to have some problem with the offside rule.
I've heard on occasion, that the offside rule makes the modern game of football less offensively minded, more confusing, etc. Click to continue reading...

To those who say "diving" is rampant in football:

Look, diving in football is a sub culture that is respected by almost no one. If you were to flick on FSC or Setanta to watch Newcastle vs. Chelsea on 5 May- you would notice that every time Drogba gets the ball, he is booed enormously - a legacy of his diving history. Click to continue reading...

If any of us had to guess who the potential Canadian cities are that would be likely to become the home of a new MLS team I'm sure we'd all go with Montreal or Vancouver, right?

Well the National Post reports that there is some interest in bringing Major League Soccer to Ottawa. The owner of the NHL's Ottawa Senators has spoke with Major League Soccer about bringing soccer into Ottawa.

Click to continue reading...

The border war is set to begin in an hour and the streets in this corner of Germany are empty. The sounds of blowing horns and music from the public viewing area situated at the brewery on the hill are floating across the town on this balmy June evening. The tension and expectation are palpable. No matter the result, the opening whistle will be orgasmic. Click to continue reading...

I must say, as fanatically executed conceits go, it's hard to top a full-scale recreation of Euro 2008 from an alternate reality in which England made the tournament. It's a dangerous concept: it very nearly tempted me to compose a detailed Wikipedia entry from the universe in which the United States, rather than Brazil, develops a singularly gorgeous national style of football to match its obsession with the game, and goes on to win five World Cups. Click to continue reading...

Toronto FC were thumped 3-1 by the Houston Dynamo on Sunday, continuing their awful form on the road. Toronto seemed to be struggling without Amado Guevara and Maurice Edu -- both away with their national teams -- and spent most of the game pinned back in their own half. Still, they managed to hold off their opponents until stoppage time in the first half, when Brian Ching set up Dwayne De Rosario for the opening goal. Click to continue reading...

I've read in too many places that one billion people watched yesterday's 2-2 draw between Arsenal and Manchester United. Whilst that's probably nonsense (nobody ever cites where that figure comes from), it's fitting that in London's Observer today, James Robinson offers us a long overview of the shift in sport brought about by the power [...] Click to continue reading...

Steven Wells' latest missive in The Guardian seeks to connect America's war since the 1960s with the war-like metaphors of America's version of football, which has become "America's game" in the past few decades. Given that the Pentagon is packed with officers brought up on American football; given that generations of American football coaches have bombarded [. Click to continue reading...

As I sat around with some friends this past Sunday watching some NFL and patiently awaiting the US-Brazil friendly in Chicago, I got to thinking how Javier Mascherano would make a bad ass American football player, particularly at running back. He seems to have the perfect low-gravity, wide, muscular build with powerful tree trunk like legs to propel him forward while carrying a couple of players with him. Click to continue reading...