Win a retro soccer jersey

Posted 5 June, 2006 in Soccer, Sports

The Guardian newspaper is giving away two retro soccer jerseys every day through June 9. All you have to do is answer a quiz question (based on a linked article that they provide) and tell them which shirt you’d like. Good luck!

What a week: World Cup and Jazz Fest both start June 9!

Posted 4 June, 2006 in Jazz, Music, Soccer, Sports

It’s not often that too of my favorite activities collide in such a wonderful way, but 2006 is special. June 9 marks the opening day of the World Cup, and the opening night of the Rochester International Jazz Festival. Scroll down to see my picks for the jazz fest, and keep reading for some nice soccer-related sites to visit.

Let’s start with Studio 90. U.S. Soccer is broadcasting daily from the U.S. Men’s National Team camp in Germany. The show features interviews, training highlights, tours of the stadiums and training facilities, and a whole lot more. Check it out at the USMNT section of ussoccer.com.

Also nice is the blog being written by reporters from The New York Times and International Herald Tribune. The New York Times also has a nice World Cup News section.

For a global perspective, check out FIFA’s English-language site. For you podcasters out there, give a listen to the Guardian’s fun and funny podcast. You can subscribe for free via iTunes, or use the podcast feed URL.

Zidane vs Ronaldinho

Posted 2 June, 2006 in Soccer, Sports

Here’s a great video highlighting the trapping, passing and shooting skills of two of the world’s greatest soccer players — Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho.

MetroStars no more?

Posted 7 March, 2006 in Soccer, Sports

As you may know, I’m a huge fan of the MetroStars, the Major League Soccer team based in the New York City area. Jen and I used to have season tickets when we lived in Brooklyn, and I’ve followed them ever since. Now, in my sixth season as a Metros fan, it looks like my team is about to disappear.

New York Post columnist Ives Galarcep wrote a story yesterday detailing the offer by Austria’s Red Bull company to buy the MetroStars. Here’s an excerpt from the full story:

Dietrich Mateschitz, the billionaire owner of Red Bull, the energy drink, is known for investing in sports in an effort to advertise his product. He owns a racing team, he has sponsored extreme sports events, and last year, Mateschitz bought a soccer team in his native Austria. All these endeavors have one thing in common. Mateschitz splashed the Red Bull logo all over all of them.

This is apparently the plan for the MetroStars, only with a cruel twist. According to sources within MLS, if Red Bull buys the MetroStars they intend to change the team’s name and colors, and erase the franchise’s history.

So rather than rooting for the Major League Soccer’s lovable losers, MetroStars fans who have endured a decade of disappointment would be forced to root for a glorified billboard for Red Bull or find a new team altogether.

This was the option presented to fans of SV Austria Salzberg, a team with 77 years of tradition at the time Red Bull bought them. That tradition didn’t jive with the new owners’ plan to use the club as new way to advertise their soft drink so Red Bull changed the club’s name to Red Bull Salzberg, erased the history books and told the club’s fans that if they didn’t like the changes they could hit the road.

Very, very scary. According to ESPN, the deal was sealed today. We’ll know more soon, but it looks like this could spell the end of my beloved Metros.

Countdown to the 2006 World Cup!

Posted 9 December, 2005 in Soccer, Sports

If you’re a soccer fan, you know that today was the draw for the 2006 World Cup. Four groups of eight teams were divided into eight groups of four teams. The United States ended up in Group E with Italy, Ghana and the Czech Republic. It’s already being called “The Group of Death” by some (though others might give that moniker to Group C). Very tough competitors who will present a real challenge to the U.S. team. A co-worker and I listened to the draw live on the BBC, and it was thrilling just to think about next summer’s action.

If you need to get up to speed on our opponents, here are some useful links:

Among the soccer people

Posted 29 August, 2005 in Soccer, Sports, Travel

As a soccer fan in the U.S., you spend a lot of your time (a) trying to convince your friends that the game is worth watching; (b) watching SportsCenter highlights to see if 15 seconds of soccer coverage made it in; (c) sitting in bars and restaurants with strangers watching TV broadcasts of the US National Team in some faraway land; or (d) all of the above.

Once in a while, though, you find yourself surrounded by soccer people, and you realize that you’re not alone.

Today was a day like that.

For the second consecutive year, I went to the National Soccer Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Oneonta, NY. (Yes, the Hall of Fame is in Oneonta. Don’t ask.) This year was the first all-MLS class to be inducted, and it featured one of the all-time great players in American soccer, Tab Ramos of my beloved MetroStars. Also inducted were Marcelo Balboa, John Harkes, Fernando Clavijo, and Hank Steinbrecher.

Just like last year, the Hall was filled to overflowing with soccer fans who had traveled from around the U.S. (and from Europe) to witness the induction of five men who helped shape the modern game here in the U.S. Everywhere you looked, you saw soccer royalty, from the heads of U.S. Soccer and MLS to folks like MetroStars GM Alexi Lalas and veteran broadcaster JP Dellacamara.

The Hall itself is wonderful, filled to the brim with soccer history and memorabilia from the game’s earliest days to its modern era. But perhaps the coolest thing is to see all the young kids roaming wide-eyed through the exhibits. They already know many of the names, and they remember the best goals and games.

If you’re a soccer fan, you really can’t do any better than Induction Weekend. From now on, many of the great MLS players and Men’s and Women’s National Team players will make up the inductee ranks, and each year promises to bring in a larger crowd. A crowd of soccer people. As Hall of Famer Hank Steinbrecher said today: “Our time has come.”

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