The imagined rivalry

This is it. It is the American soccer equivalent of Magic vs Bird, Ali vs Frazier, Agassi vs Sampras, Lemieux vs Gretzky…or is it?

The blind ambitions of a feeder league

No one starts something new and says to himself, “gee, I hope I’m really average at this.”  In America everyone wants to be exceptional.  As a teacher, I know that several of my students are told early on by their parents that a “C” is a failing grade.  A “C” is not failing, it just means that you are average.  And honestly, what is so wrong with being average?

Landon’s last shot

Thursday, for a few hours, Landon Donovan was once again the center of the soccer universe. Yearly, or so it seems, I write a piece on Donovan going (or refusing to go) on loan. I’m usually pretty harsh on him. This is mostly because while I believe he has done a great service to MLS and soccer in the USA by staying in MLS, I also believe he has done a disservice to himself. When Brad Friedel surreptitiously called out Landon –or didn’t depending on who you believe, most people grouped into two sides. It was either the Friedel needs to shut up or that Friedel is right camp. I was somewhere in between, and like always I give equal blame to Donovan and MLS.

The big brother and the red-headed stepchild

AEG once had lots of soccer children. While taking care of MLS more than the Krafts or the Hunts, Philip Anschutz fed his soccer children, kept them alive in hard times, and sunk more money into them than a typical parent wastes on the college tuition of several children. Then as MLS grew stronger, and certain teams became profitable, AEG started selling them off.