Another fantastic lead from Soccer America: U.S. kids battle Madrid's future stars THE U.S. UNDER-20 MEN'S NATIONAL team took on some of Madrid's top young talent. The Americans put three goals past Real Madrid C, but that total was match by a 16-year-old Portuguese dubbed the new Cristiano Ronaldo in the Madrid team's 5-3 win. Click to continue reading...

Maybe I am deluded. Maybe I tie my heartstrings to the newest soapbox too fast only to aid the ripping out of that engine which powers my body and soul when the platform is pulled out from beneath my feet. Hyperbole? Damn right; words can't tell how badly I want a Vanity Fair.com or a [...] Click to continue reading...

In a perfect example of ALL THAT IS WRONG with soccer journalism, Goal.com published an article today that listed a number of players who Bob Bradley "should call up." The list included Brad Davis, Davy Arnaud, Corey Gibbs, Charlie Davies, and John Thorrington.  While I agree with Charlie Davies (and who doesn't? Click to continue reading...

I'm not sure about these lists of virtually everything these days that passes for journalism, but for what it's worth Forbes has now issued its inaugural list of the most valuable teams in MLS with the Galaxy sitting atop the rankings.

The financial magazine estimates the Galaxy are worth a cool $100 million (have they seen them play lately?

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I generally hate the transfer window because it's an excuse for all bad papers to print simply made up rumours rather than attempt any actual journalism.  However the last day is always good fun.  I think that's mainly because I am a Spurs fan and we have a penchant for concluding deals at 23.58 in [. Click to continue reading...

As a soccer writer based in the Northeast region of a country that already has four other sports to worship, watch, and play, there's a great perk to covering soccer. The accessability to soccer players is much greater than your run of the Major League Baseball players and NFL heroes, and thus, real stories are easier to report. Click to continue reading...

In case you haven't heard, David Villa just signed a contract extension with Valencia and will stay with us until 2014.

Real Madrid made an offer today of € 40 million plus Javi Garcia or Saviola, but Valencia turned them down. There will be a news conference today at the Mestalla to announce the contract signing.

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We're now going to ask you to suspend your disbelief even more than usual, as we look at The Sun's latest pathetic attempt at journalism. The rag of rags has pretty much covered the Berbatov-to-Man United story from every single angle, so they now return to a popular theme - ... Click to continue reading...

This comes to us from a very credible source within US soccer journalism who wishes to be anonymous:

Obviously keep my name out of this but I'm hearing MLS is seeking investors for Miami. I'm not sure if this means Beckham/Fuller or they are looking for a backup plan. MLS I have heard thinks on reflection they rushed to pull the plug on the Fusion because of a non-soccer fan investor who owned that club (Horrowitz) who didn't know it would take time to build.

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First off, let me explain why I've been lacking on the actual content side of things lately.

I hate the off-season in all sports, but especially so in soccer. There is no other sport with a "silly season" as public and pronounced as soccer. Papers and media outlets with little else to talk about speculate on rumors about where players are headed, who managers want to sign, where managers may take another job, and other similar topics. Click to continue reading...

This is the problem with lazy journalism. One paper reports something, quoting "unnamed sources" and the entire press corps take it up citing "other reports". I was never expecting Gus Poyet coming into United, just about six months into his Spurs job. Plus Ramos is building something substantial at Tottenham and it appears that Poyet [. Click to continue reading...

Not that I feel very sympathetic to a multimillionaire who can't "adjust" to working in a foreign country without the help of a specialized minder, but this Simon Kuper column on the struggles of relocating footballers contains a couple gems. First, his description of the core of English football culture ("drinking 20 pints of beer in a night") is one for the ages. Click to continue reading...

My former boss Paul Oberjuerge wrote on his blog about how he recently discovered this site run by Dave Brett Wasser. It's a fantastic resource as Dave has collected quite the number of soccer videos. Dave has a collection that dates back decades.

Anyway, Paul wrote about his list of 10 US games he'd love to see. Click to continue reading...

I'm sure our readers are aware that journalism is struggling as print media losses pile up. As news departments make cuts, soccer coverage is often one of the first beats to go.
On a personal level, it's weird to turn around in the press box and see the empty chairs of those who used to sit there. Click to continue reading...

Last week, we got into a little discussion here about soccer athlete's top-notch physical conditioning as opposed to other sports, baseball actually.

Here's a post from Paul Oberjuerge's blog about the topic of fitness. If you're not familiar with him, Paul was sports editor at the San Bernardino Sun for many years before he was unjustly fired earlier this year. Click to continue reading...

Hey y'all. If you haven't been made aware yet, the Dynamo now have an official blog (read: it's not a bastion of ill-informed, lazily researched faux-journalism or egregious, blatant story-theft) called Forever Orange. You should check it out in between watching videos of Bikini Wax adverts and shopping for your own personal, affordable "sport plane". Click to continue reading...

Saturday 14th June I arise early, shower, shave and bound back to Potting shed number one, ready for another day's cutting edge journalism. I'd left the other boys last night with the understanding that we'd be getting a full day's work in today so am somewhat surprised to see the curtains drawn and the door locked. Click to continue reading...

This post has nothing to do with soccer in Chicago i guess, but i wanted to make my own mention of the respect i've had for NBC's Tim Russert Tim Russert who died on Friday.

My background as a journalism major, wire service reporter and political junkie helped me appreciate Russert's integrity, dedication and leadership in a business that sees so many become dishonest, lazy and followers. Click to continue reading...

Now here is the kind of journalism you have to love: Uefa's headquarters on the shores of Lake Geneva boast the best toilets I have ever seen. I've heard massively good things about the technology involved in the cleansing procedure of your Japanese water closet but I cannot comment as I've not experienced that particular delight. Click to continue reading...

Right off the bat, allow me to apologize for the lack of updates to this blog. What started out as my launching pad into soccer journalism has evolved into a showcase for my work on Revsnet.com, and the occasional informal mini-diatribe about global and local soccer.

Now, since my start at Revsnet, I've been trying to introduce some fresh flavors to this blog in the hopes of keeping it flavorful (that is, if journalism can actually entice a sense of taste upon one's tastebuds). Click to continue reading...

American soccer needs a vibrant press to compete in the world's toughest sports market. Yet MLS seems intent on frustrating the journalists trying to cover the sport professionally, to the detriment of everyone who wants the sport to succeed in the United States. Click to continue reading...