It wouldn't be a soccer World Cup without controversy. This year's tournament in Brazil has been marked by an incident where Uruguayan star Luis Suarez appears to have bitten the Italian Giorgio Chiellini. The international governing body FIFA suspended Suarez for 9 international matches plus 4 months from all soccer activities. It's worth noting that this is the THIRD time Suarez has been charged with biting an opponent since 2010.
Many critics said the punishment was too lenient, for a third time offender. Others in including controversial former Argentine great Diego Maradona, Chiellini himself and, predictably, virtually all Uruguayans felt the sanction was too harsh.
Not surprisingly, Uruguayan president Jose Mujica weighed in. He stated: "We feel that there is an aggression against those who come from poverty. They don't forgive that he didn't go to university. He doesn't have an education."
The leftist Pres. Mujica is internationally known for being the world's poorest president (donating 90% of his salary to charity) and for successfully pushing the legalization of marijuana. I generally have a fairly high regard for him.
But his comments, however understandable in terms of political populism and pandering, are off the mark and his defense of one of the members of The 0.1% does a disservice to those who live in poverty. In most of the world, soccer is the game of the poor and working class. There is no place in the world where biting an opponent isn't considered beyond the pale.
I lived in West Africa and played soccer there as often as I could. I lived in a place where the poverty was far greater than anything you see in Uruguay. In games, I saw people argue, sometimes heatedly. I saw shoving matches and finger pointing and remonstrations. I think I even saw a fist fight. I never saw anything remotely like a person biting another.
In fact, when I lived in West Africa, another famous sports biting incident occurred, that of boxer Evander Holyfield by Mike Tyson. The reaction of poor West African subsistence to this incident was not understanding for Tyson's background or compassion for his poor, misunderstood self but disgust. The universal reaction there was that he was "an animal." And Tyson only did it once.
Pres. Mujica's comments about Suarez, now one of the richest soccer players in the world, are a slap in the face. His contention is that the poor express themselves differently than the rich, that they can't control themselves. His contention is that when poor people get pissed off, it's normal that they express sociopathic behavior like biting. That the poor are teeming rabble who need to be controlled is the message he's sending. Surely without realizing it, he is pandering to, not countering, stereotypes of the poor by the elite. As a real champion of the poor, he can find a better way to defend his country's multimillionaire soccer hero.
Update: Typical of the understated reaction came from Uruguay captain Diego Lugano. He described the suspension of Suarez as "an act of barbarity" and "a breach of human rights."
Showing posts with label soccer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soccer. Show all posts
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Bits and pieces
DEATH THREATS IN THE NAME OF ‘LAW AND ORDER’
Albany (NY) County’s district attorney David Soares has admitted that he and his office has received death threats in response to his refusal to prosecute participants of the Occupy Albany movement for non-violent activities like violating curfew. From the infamous pepper spray police thug in Davis, CA to the violent crackdown against peaceful Occupy movements in places like Oakland and Denver to the above death threats, you’ve seen remarkably little violence from those protesting in the name of democracy with most of the violence being committed by people doing so in the name of ‘respect for law and order.’ Quite a different reality to the one intoned by the yapping heads.
WHAT’S THE STRANGE COMBINATION OF LETTERS ON THAT STREET SIGN (B-I-K-E L-A-N-E) SIGNIFY?
Bravo to the Burlington, mayored by a Progressive Party mayor not coincidentally, for lowering the speed limiton the Vermont city’s streets. The Burlington Free Press reports that it was done to enhance the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians. Yet another reason Burlington is probably the coolest city in the northeastern US.
YES, EVEN REFS ARE HUMAN TOO
Recent stories in the soccer world a very troubling, from the attempted suicide of two referees, to the apparent suicide of Wales national team manager Gary Speed to the suicide not that long ago of German goalkeeper Robert Enke. It should serve as a wake-up call reminding soccer fans that a little re-humanization is long past due. There is so much vitriol and nastiness in soccer fandom that it’s easy to forget that the targets are all human beings, with families and emotions. Passion should never be used as an excuse to act like barbarians.
IN DISTRACTION WE TRUST
Economic inequality, unemployment, massive corporate welfare, institutionalized anti-democracy... the country is facing so many problems and what is the latest meaninglessness that Theocrats want us to freak out about? The president’s failure to mention God in his Thanksgiving address (only the spoken one; he did include it in the written one). You can just call it The Great Distraction.
THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TELEVISED... JUST NOT HERE
I saw this great graphic on Facebook, which showed the covers of TIME magazines editions for other parts of the world compared to its US edition. Gives you an insight into the editorial judgment [sic] of their vaunted professional editors.
THE PROBLEM WITH COLLEGE STUDENTS: THEY HAVE TOO *LITTLE* DEBT
I was gobsmacked to read a newspaper article with this headline: "The other student loan problem: too little debt." Only a bank-obsessed culture would look at this issue and wonder if the problem is students with too *little* debt rather than taking a hard look at whether a university education, whether the cost of a fancy piece of paper is massively overpriced. Investigative journalism at its finest.
Albany (NY) County’s district attorney David Soares has admitted that he and his office has received death threats in response to his refusal to prosecute participants of the Occupy Albany movement for non-violent activities like violating curfew. From the infamous pepper spray police thug in Davis, CA to the violent crackdown against peaceful Occupy movements in places like Oakland and Denver to the above death threats, you’ve seen remarkably little violence from those protesting in the name of democracy with most of the violence being committed by people doing so in the name of ‘respect for law and order.’ Quite a different reality to the one intoned by the yapping heads.
WHAT’S THE STRANGE COMBINATION OF LETTERS ON THAT STREET SIGN (B-I-K-E L-A-N-E) SIGNIFY?
Bravo to the Burlington, mayored by a Progressive Party mayor not coincidentally, for lowering the speed limiton the Vermont city’s streets. The Burlington Free Press reports that it was done to enhance the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians. Yet another reason Burlington is probably the coolest city in the northeastern US.
YES, EVEN REFS ARE HUMAN TOO
Recent stories in the soccer world a very troubling, from the attempted suicide of two referees, to the apparent suicide of Wales national team manager Gary Speed to the suicide not that long ago of German goalkeeper Robert Enke. It should serve as a wake-up call reminding soccer fans that a little re-humanization is long past due. There is so much vitriol and nastiness in soccer fandom that it’s easy to forget that the targets are all human beings, with families and emotions. Passion should never be used as an excuse to act like barbarians.
IN DISTRACTION WE TRUST
Economic inequality, unemployment, massive corporate welfare, institutionalized anti-democracy... the country is facing so many problems and what is the latest meaninglessness that Theocrats want us to freak out about? The president’s failure to mention God in his Thanksgiving address (only the spoken one; he did include it in the written one). You can just call it The Great Distraction.
THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TELEVISED... JUST NOT HERE
I saw this great graphic on Facebook, which showed the covers of TIME magazines editions for other parts of the world compared to its US edition. Gives you an insight into the editorial judgment [sic] of their vaunted professional editors.
THE PROBLEM WITH COLLEGE STUDENTS: THEY HAVE TOO *LITTLE* DEBT
I was gobsmacked to read a newspaper article with this headline: "The other student loan problem: too little debt." Only a bank-obsessed culture would look at this issue and wonder if the problem is students with too *little* debt rather than taking a hard look at whether a university education, whether the cost of a fancy piece of paper is massively overpriced. Investigative journalism at its finest.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Bummer no one ever scores in soccer
Due to the pretty strong ‘remnants’ of Hurricane Irene, I did little much yesterday except watch soccer. The scores of the matches I watched were 5-1, 8-2, 4-3 and 2-2. I only saw highlights for the one on Saturday that finished 6-2. Too bad all soccer games end 0-0.
Monday, June 20, 2011
English soccer's cluelessness and FIFA's war against honesty
I saw an article in the UK Guardian about the English soccer team crashing out of the European Under-21 Championships. Manager Stuart Pearce blamed his side’s failure on their lack of ‘doggedness.’
And this is the English mentality in a nutshell. To them, dealing with repeated failure doesn’t mean improving skill, technique or tactical awareness, areas where the English are light years behind countries like Spain, Germany, Argentina and Brazil. Their solution to everything is always to just “be more dogged”... which, without the aforementioned improvements, equates to banging your head against a stone wall a little bit harder.
Why American soccer has taken this as its model, as opposed to those of countries which actually challenge for top level championships and produce world class attacking players, is beyond me.
***
Speaking of soccer dysfuction... the sport’s international governing body FIFA has been tarnished by an avalanche of corruption and bribery accusations. It’s become so controversial that even a newspaper in Nigeria, no stranger to graft, has noted that “FIFA has become so corrupt that it no longer knows that it is corrupt.” FIFA’s tinpot dictator Sepp Blatter has acted in the same manner as every other tinpot dictator, doling out slush funds and ruthlessly punishing anyone who dares challenge his rule. But what do you expect from a man who once dismissed a journalist's query by saying, “I am the president of FIFA and you cannot question me.”
FIFA is so committed to secrecy that not only does it refuse transparency in its own operations, but it even relentlessly squashes any attempts at transparency in its member organizations.
Given the entrenched nature of the organization's corruption, I suspect pressure from their highly-paying sponsors is the only chance of badly needed reform.
And this is the English mentality in a nutshell. To them, dealing with repeated failure doesn’t mean improving skill, technique or tactical awareness, areas where the English are light years behind countries like Spain, Germany, Argentina and Brazil. Their solution to everything is always to just “be more dogged”... which, without the aforementioned improvements, equates to banging your head against a stone wall a little bit harder.
Why American soccer has taken this as its model, as opposed to those of countries which actually challenge for top level championships and produce world class attacking players, is beyond me.
***
Speaking of soccer dysfuction... the sport’s international governing body FIFA has been tarnished by an avalanche of corruption and bribery accusations. It’s become so controversial that even a newspaper in Nigeria, no stranger to graft, has noted that “FIFA has become so corrupt that it no longer knows that it is corrupt.” FIFA’s tinpot dictator Sepp Blatter has acted in the same manner as every other tinpot dictator, doling out slush funds and ruthlessly punishing anyone who dares challenge his rule. But what do you expect from a man who once dismissed a journalist's query by saying, “I am the president of FIFA and you cannot question me.”
FIFA is so committed to secrecy that not only does it refuse transparency in its own operations, but it even relentlessly squashes any attempts at transparency in its member organizations.
Given the entrenched nature of the organization's corruption, I suspect pressure from their highly-paying sponsors is the only chance of badly needed reform.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Coaching priorities take a dive
The World Cup is over. The best team (Spain) won, despite Dutch attempts to kick them into submission in the final. This was the most violent final in World Cup history, with the Dutch alone committing 28 fouls and receiving 7 yellow cards (the previous record for cards in a final was 6 COMBINED by both teams). The Dutch were also eliminated from the previous World Cup, literally kicking and screaming, in one of the most infamous matches in the tournaments history. Their previous reputation for beautiful soccer is surely now in tatters.
In the opinion of some, the shame of the final was not Dutch anti-soccer or violence.
Take this blog entry by Jeff Tipping, technical director of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
In it, Tipping blasted the behavior of players who dove and brandished imaginary cards at the referee.
While Spanish players do have an annoying propensity to "play act," there was no mention by Tipping of the anti-soccer and pure thuggery on the part of the Dutch players.
This point of view is widely held in Britain (where Tipping is from) and in most countries that are heavily influenced by English soccer, like the US, Australia and Canada.
This hypocrisy is quite breathtaking.
Players cheat in so many other ways, ways that are more serious, ways that ruin the game in a far greater fashion.
Holding.
Shirt grabbing.
Hacking.
Elbowing.
General mugging.
This sort of cheating is not only tolerated, but often praised, with adjectives like "robust," "getting stuck in," "tough," "sophisticated" and, my personal favorite, "well-organized."
And yet when a mugged player takes a dive or to even out these assaults, it's an international incident.
Dutch thug-in-chief Mark Van Bommell nearly broke a Spanish player's ankle with a horror tackle. Dutch deputy thug-in-chief Nigel de Jong nearly broke the ribs of Xabi Alonso with a kung fu kick that would've made Bruce Lee proud. Yet, Tipping and those like him don't say a word about this MMA-style garbage that could potentially end someone's career. But a guy who rolls around a few times? Send him to the electric chair!
Apparently, it's far more acceptable to inflict injury than to complain about or fake it.
You wouldn't have players brandishing imaginary cards or taking dives if horror tackles like Van Bommell's and de Jong's were actually punished appropriately (with red cards in both cases) rather than the "tsk tsk tsk" treatment (yellow cards) that both got.
Sometimes a player just flops for no reason. But often, a player exaggerates a fall in order to get a call that he actually deserves but would never get if he didn't fall. Referees generally only call fouls when a player goes to ground. If the refs actually blew the whistle when fouled players tried to stay on their feet, they would have an incentive to do so. As it is, players who try to stay on their feet (and generally don't get the call) are punished for being honest and the defenders who fouled them are rewarded for breaking the rules.
Cheating is cheating is cheating. To make a distinction between intentional fouling or injurious cheating and play acting cheating is just intellectually dishonest.
But I suppose that fetish with the "robust" at the expense of the technical is why youth development in both the US and England are in such a sorry state of affairs.
In the opinion of some, the shame of the final was not Dutch anti-soccer or violence.
Take this blog entry by Jeff Tipping, technical director of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
In it, Tipping blasted the behavior of players who dove and brandished imaginary cards at the referee.
While Spanish players do have an annoying propensity to "play act," there was no mention by Tipping of the anti-soccer and pure thuggery on the part of the Dutch players.
This point of view is widely held in Britain (where Tipping is from) and in most countries that are heavily influenced by English soccer, like the US, Australia and Canada.
This hypocrisy is quite breathtaking.
Players cheat in so many other ways, ways that are more serious, ways that ruin the game in a far greater fashion.
Holding.
Shirt grabbing.
Hacking.
Elbowing.
General mugging.
This sort of cheating is not only tolerated, but often praised, with adjectives like "robust," "getting stuck in," "tough," "sophisticated" and, my personal favorite, "well-organized."
And yet when a mugged player takes a dive or to even out these assaults, it's an international incident.
Dutch thug-in-chief Mark Van Bommell nearly broke a Spanish player's ankle with a horror tackle. Dutch deputy thug-in-chief Nigel de Jong nearly broke the ribs of Xabi Alonso with a kung fu kick that would've made Bruce Lee proud. Yet, Tipping and those like him don't say a word about this MMA-style garbage that could potentially end someone's career. But a guy who rolls around a few times? Send him to the electric chair!
Apparently, it's far more acceptable to inflict injury than to complain about or fake it.
You wouldn't have players brandishing imaginary cards or taking dives if horror tackles like Van Bommell's and de Jong's were actually punished appropriately (with red cards in both cases) rather than the "tsk tsk tsk" treatment (yellow cards) that both got.
Sometimes a player just flops for no reason. But often, a player exaggerates a fall in order to get a call that he actually deserves but would never get if he didn't fall. Referees generally only call fouls when a player goes to ground. If the refs actually blew the whistle when fouled players tried to stay on their feet, they would have an incentive to do so. As it is, players who try to stay on their feet (and generally don't get the call) are punished for being honest and the defenders who fouled them are rewarded for breaking the rules.
Cheating is cheating is cheating. To make a distinction between intentional fouling or injurious cheating and play acting cheating is just intellectually dishonest.
But I suppose that fetish with the "robust" at the expense of the technical is why youth development in both the US and England are in such a sorry state of affairs.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Bits and pieces (the mostly World Cup edition)
TWEET OF THE WEEK
From @ebertchicago: [Glenn] Beck University drops reading requirement. I'm not sure which is more surprising... the phrase Beck University reading requirement or the phrase Beck University.
'KARMA SUCKS' OF THE WEEK
Uruguay reached the last four of the soccer World Cup thanks to Luiz Suarez. Their young spiker, I mean striker, punched away a goal-bound ball volleyball style, preventing what would have been the last second quarterfinal winner for Ghana. So I could only laugh apoplectically when, late their semifinal content against Holland, the Uruguayans were whining hysterically about an alleged... handball in penalty area.
THAT'S A RELIEF
Uruguay's elimination was welcome also because no one will miss the whining, diving and time wasting that they were almost as good at as volleyball. But their dismissal ensures that this World Cup will be won by a positive attacking team: either the Netherlands, Germany or Spain. This is a welcome development in a tournament that, early on, threatened to shatter the mark for the lowest scoring World Cup ever. Instead, the five goals scored in the Uruguay-Netherlands match was the most scored in regular time of a World Cup semifinal since 1962.
CHEATING BY ANY OTHER NAME WOULD STINK AS BAD
Even though I'm American (and thus unfortunately part of the English soccer sphere of dominance), there's a hypocrisy which I've never quite gotten: why diving alone is heinous crime worthy of tarring and feathering, but jersey grabbing, elbowing and rugby tackling is 'savvy' defending. I guess I'm not sophisticated enough to distinguish between these different forms of cheating, the latter being far more prevelant and ruinous than the former.
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!
A few weeks, ago, I tweeted a link to his blog entry on human rights abuses in Angola . It was automatically re-tweeted (amplified) by a Twitter feed set up by the PR arm of the Angolan government. Thanks for your cooperation, stupid propagandists!
From @ebertchicago: [Glenn] Beck University drops reading requirement. I'm not sure which is more surprising... the phrase Beck University reading requirement or the phrase Beck University.
'KARMA SUCKS' OF THE WEEK
Uruguay reached the last four of the soccer World Cup thanks to Luiz Suarez. Their young spiker, I mean striker, punched away a goal-bound ball volleyball style, preventing what would have been the last second quarterfinal winner for Ghana. So I could only laugh apoplectically when, late their semifinal content against Holland, the Uruguayans were whining hysterically about an alleged... handball in penalty area.
THAT'S A RELIEF
Uruguay's elimination was welcome also because no one will miss the whining, diving and time wasting that they were almost as good at as volleyball. But their dismissal ensures that this World Cup will be won by a positive attacking team: either the Netherlands, Germany or Spain. This is a welcome development in a tournament that, early on, threatened to shatter the mark for the lowest scoring World Cup ever. Instead, the five goals scored in the Uruguay-Netherlands match was the most scored in regular time of a World Cup semifinal since 1962.
CHEATING BY ANY OTHER NAME WOULD STINK AS BAD
Even though I'm American (and thus unfortunately part of the English soccer sphere of dominance), there's a hypocrisy which I've never quite gotten: why diving alone is heinous crime worthy of tarring and feathering, but jersey grabbing, elbowing and rugby tackling is 'savvy' defending. I guess I'm not sophisticated enough to distinguish between these different forms of cheating, the latter being far more prevelant and ruinous than the former.
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!
A few weeks, ago, I tweeted a link to his blog entry on human rights abuses in Angola . It was automatically re-tweeted (amplified) by a Twitter feed set up by the PR arm of the Angolan government. Thanks for your cooperation, stupid propagandists!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Let's hope they predict Slovenia and Algeria to thrash the US too!
One of the reasons I hate England's national soccer team is that the English soccer culture has an arrogance that does not befit its actual accomplishments. England has one only a single major trophy: the 1966 World Cup on home soil. They have never won their continental championship. They have never made it to the final of another major tournament besides 1966. Their best ever World Cup performance on foreign soil was a single semi-final appearance.
By contrast, the 'patghetic' United States has won 4 continental championships, has made the final of the Confederations Cup and their best ever World Cup performance on foreign soil was... a single semi-final appearance.
None of this should be construed to suggest that the US is a better soccer nation than England. We're not. Our 4 Gold Cups have come out of a relatively weak region with only one real peer. The Confederations Cup run required only two wins to reach the final (though England has never been in that tournament because you actually have to win something to participate).
England is a great example of a medium-sized nation whose fans have always held unreasonable expectations as a result of one great tournament. England are regular World Cup quarterfinalists, which is a pretty good achievement considering their player pool (lots of good players, a few very good players, maybe two truly world class player). But English fans are under the insane delusion that if they only had the right manager, they'd be sure to win the World Cup. England isn't, and in my lifetime has never been, good enough to EXPECT to win the World Cup. Their superiority complex is completely unjustified.
The above front page of the tabloid Sun rag is a great example of this. A group with the US, Slovenia and Algeria was probably the most favorable World Cup draw England could have gotten but easy? In the last year, Algeria beat African giants Ivory Coast as well as back-to-back-to-back African champions Egypt. Slovenia qualified ahead of respected soccer nations like the Czech Republic, Poland and Russia. The US ended Spain's world record winning streak last year. The best group they could've expected? Sure. But easy? Only typical English soccer provincialism would've expected this to be simple. No wonder it's been 45 years since they've won anything.
After the US 1-1 draw with England, The Sun is the only entity who now looks more stupid than poor Robert Green. But I suppose unlike Green, The Sun isn't classy enough to be embarassed.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Bits and pieces
PR FOR DICTATORS
A New York Times' piece explores efforts by the world's worst dictator, Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema, to refashion his image.
OILY JUDGES
On January 20, 2009, most of America rejoiced at the end of the error that was the Bush/Cheney regime. However, the effects of the oil men's reign was always going to last far more than eight years. The BP/Gulf of Mexico oil cataclysm is the logical consequence of the Bush/Cheney/Tea Party ideology of letting industry regulate itself without the meddling of 'liberty snatching' government. An Associated Press analysis points out another consequence: the majority of federal judges in the Gulf coast have financial connections to the oil and gas industry. These are the judges that would hear lawsuits relating to the oil catastrophe.
PUNDITOCRCACY CONTINUES TO SUFFOCATE JOURNALISM
I've frequently commented on the manner in which the punditocracy suffocates the practice of journalism... specifically how polls, speculation and horse race crap is replacing the real news reporting. In defending this, corporate media types piously claim that it's not because the horse race crap is easy, lazy stuff but that they are just giving the people what they want. The Washington Post's excellent media critic Howard Kurtz gives lie to that claim. In a Tweet, he pointed out that 5 pct. of people were interested in last week's primaries but they got 18 pct. of the news coverage.
SHOULD HETEROSEXUALS BE ALLOWED TO ADOPT KIDS?
CNN reports on a quarter century long study published in the journal Pediatrics concluding that kids of lesbians have fewer behavioral problems than their powers. This will surely have no impact on the opinions of the far right, the Catholic Church and other groups who reject scientific analysis on principle. But it begs the question: should heterosexual adoption be banned? For the well-being of the children, of course.
WORLD CUP STARTS TODAY!
And the world's most important sport event in its most beloved sport starts today. From now until July 11, the soccer World Cup will be held in sites throughout South Africa. For one month out of every four years, soccer fans in America get to be as insufferable as fans of the boring pointyball are for the other 47 months. My predicted semifinalists are Argentina, Spain, the Netherlands and Nigeria (though watch out for dark horses Serbia, Uruguay and Cameroon), with Spain beating the Netherlands in the final. The US plays the hated England tomorrow at 2:30p ET, Slovenia next Friday and Algeria the following Wednesday. The full World Cup broadcast schedule can be found here. C'mon USA!
A New York Times' piece explores efforts by the world's worst dictator, Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema, to refashion his image.
OILY JUDGES
On January 20, 2009, most of America rejoiced at the end of the error that was the Bush/Cheney regime. However, the effects of the oil men's reign was always going to last far more than eight years. The BP/Gulf of Mexico oil cataclysm is the logical consequence of the Bush/Cheney/Tea Party ideology of letting industry regulate itself without the meddling of 'liberty snatching' government. An Associated Press analysis points out another consequence: the majority of federal judges in the Gulf coast have financial connections to the oil and gas industry. These are the judges that would hear lawsuits relating to the oil catastrophe.
PUNDITOCRCACY CONTINUES TO SUFFOCATE JOURNALISM
I've frequently commented on the manner in which the punditocracy suffocates the practice of journalism... specifically how polls, speculation and horse race crap is replacing the real news reporting. In defending this, corporate media types piously claim that it's not because the horse race crap is easy, lazy stuff but that they are just giving the people what they want. The Washington Post's excellent media critic Howard Kurtz gives lie to that claim. In a Tweet, he pointed out that 5 pct. of people were interested in last week's primaries but they got 18 pct. of the news coverage.
SHOULD HETEROSEXUALS BE ALLOWED TO ADOPT KIDS?
CNN reports on a quarter century long study published in the journal Pediatrics concluding that kids of lesbians have fewer behavioral problems than their powers. This will surely have no impact on the opinions of the far right, the Catholic Church and other groups who reject scientific analysis on principle. But it begs the question: should heterosexual adoption be banned? For the well-being of the children, of course.
WORLD CUP STARTS TODAY!
And the world's most important sport event in its most beloved sport starts today. From now until July 11, the soccer World Cup will be held in sites throughout South Africa. For one month out of every four years, soccer fans in America get to be as insufferable as fans of the boring pointyball are for the other 47 months. My predicted semifinalists are Argentina, Spain, the Netherlands and Nigeria (though watch out for dark horses Serbia, Uruguay and Cameroon), with Spain beating the Netherlands in the final. The US plays the hated England tomorrow at 2:30p ET, Slovenia next Friday and Algeria the following Wednesday. The full World Cup broadcast schedule can be found here. C'mon USA!
Monday, April 05, 2010
MLS website disaster
For a league run almost entirely by PR hacks, it's little surprise that Major League Soccer tries to spin and control information more tightly than the Kremlin. In that context, the recent launch of its new website was a PR catastrophe for a league hoping to capitalize on a World Cup year. The Fake Sigi blog has a revealing analysis of the clusterf**k. Perhaps the most revealing thing of all is that despite the length of the piece, there were still screwups he left out.
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Tragedy hits Togolese soccer team
Militants in the Angolan enclave of Cabinda attacked a bus carrying the Togolese national soccer team, killing the bus driver, the team's press officer and an assistant coach. Some reports have indicated that a fourth victim, one of the team's goalkeepers, has also died. The team was on its way from a training camp to the African Nations Cup tournament, which is being hosted in four venues in Angola, including Cabinda city.
Despite unconscionable pressure from PR-conscious Angolan officials and representatives from the African soccer confederation CAF, the Togolese team has withdrawn from the tournament.
Cabinda, which is separated from mainland Angola by DR Congo's territory, is the country's oil heartland and is also the source of a violent separatist movement. Given that Cabinda's instability was no secret, it was criminally irresponsible for the tournament organizers to schedule matches in Cabinda and for CAF to allow it.
Officials have already stated that the Nations' Cup will go on. However for the security of fans, the press and players, matches scheduled for Cabinda must be moved to the other venues in mainland Angola. This includes all matches in Group B (involving two of the continent's most prominent teams, Ivory Coast and Ghana, as well as Burkina Faso) as well as one quarterfinal match.
All yet, there is no indication that this blindingly obvious decision will be made. CAF already has the blood of four deaths on its hands. Does it want more?
Despite unconscionable pressure from PR-conscious Angolan officials and representatives from the African soccer confederation CAF, the Togolese team has withdrawn from the tournament.
Cabinda, which is separated from mainland Angola by DR Congo's territory, is the country's oil heartland and is also the source of a violent separatist movement. Given that Cabinda's instability was no secret, it was criminally irresponsible for the tournament organizers to schedule matches in Cabinda and for CAF to allow it.
Officials have already stated that the Nations' Cup will go on. However for the security of fans, the press and players, matches scheduled for Cabinda must be moved to the other venues in mainland Angola. This includes all matches in Group B (involving two of the continent's most prominent teams, Ivory Coast and Ghana, as well as Burkina Faso) as well as one quarterfinal match.
All yet, there is no indication that this blindingly obvious decision will be made. CAF already has the blood of four deaths on its hands. Does it want more?
The Beckham hypothesis
I was watching Fox Soccer Report when one of the hosts cracked that they would be featuring a new segment this year called "All [David] Beckham, all the time." Then he noted that he was just kidding. Everyone knew he was joking: that segment is not at all new. They're just borrowing the idea from ESPN's soccer coverage.
Hopefully Beckham will stay at AC Milan, where he's on loan, and not come back to the US and suck all the oxygen out of the US soccer community for yet another year.
Hopefully Beckham will stay at AC Milan, where he's on loan, and not come back to the US and suck all the oxygen out of the US soccer community for yet another year.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Bits and pieces
SOCCER NUMBERS
People like to point to Major League Soccer's attendance figures as 'proof' that the sport will never make it. Never mind that recent friendlies (exhibitions) by foreign teams in the US drew huge crowds, most in excess of 60,000. But even MLS' own numbers aren't bad, when you consider the relative youth of the league. This is MLS' 14th season and its average attendance is 15,559 per game. 1916 was the year of the 14th World Series. The highest average attendance of any single team in 1916 was 8,830 per game. It wasn't until the year of the 27th World Series that even a single Major League Baseball team average more than 15,559 per game. MLS average attendance is actually comparable to that of Brazilian soccer's top division and higher than Scotland's top flight (despite the distorting presence of two huge clubs) and only slightly less than the NBA and NHL, though their television figures remain far less than pro basketball's.
GOP SUPPORTS SOCIALIZED MEDICINE
North Country Public Radio's blog had a piece on a proposal by Democrats to eliminate "socialized medicine" in America and the GOP's rejection of that plan.
LET'S SEE IF I'M UNDERSTANDING THIS RIGHT...
The contention of the right-wing during BushCheney's war against civil liberties was that the government was competent enough to kidnap foreigners abroad and take away their freedom ad infinitum arbitrarily and without oversight (by randomly claiming they are 'suspected terrorists'), was competent enough to conquer and administer two foreign countries (obviously a piece of cake!) and competent enough to invade your privacy without law or oversight ("if you're not an evildoer, you have nothing to fear"), but not competent enough to ensure every American can get (and use!) decent health care without going bankrupt. Basically their contention is that our government is competent enough run social programs in foreign countries but not our own.
SARAH AND MAHMOUD
Salon.com muses the similarities between two theocratic, anti-elitist, right-wing populists: the "president" of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Sarah Palin, who recently cut and ran as Alaska's chief executive.
SARAH AND BIG GOVERNMENT
Speaking of the woman who couldn't handle a full term as governor of Alaska but thinks herself qualified to be president of the United States, Brian Mann of North Country Public Radio has a good blog piece exploring then-Gov. Palin's love for big government and for leeching of taxpayers in other parts of the country. Alaska was the number one state in the country in terms of total Federal spending per capita... The vast majority of that money came from taxpayers in other states, from California to New York. Mann's writing a number of pieces, both blog and magazine, exploring the disconnect between conservatives' professed antipathy toward government and public spending and their actual actions when push comes to shove.
NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website has a profile of Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Youth from Nature Deficit Disorder. He was in the state as part of his "No Child Left Inside" campaign.
FAIR TRADE
A segment on Radio Netherlands' Bridges With Africa program questions the real impact of fair trade on African farmers.
THE CASE FOR KINDNESS
The public radio program On Point had a good show exploring the nature of kindness and why it's important.
People like to point to Major League Soccer's attendance figures as 'proof' that the sport will never make it. Never mind that recent friendlies (exhibitions) by foreign teams in the US drew huge crowds, most in excess of 60,000. But even MLS' own numbers aren't bad, when you consider the relative youth of the league. This is MLS' 14th season and its average attendance is 15,559 per game. 1916 was the year of the 14th World Series. The highest average attendance of any single team in 1916 was 8,830 per game. It wasn't until the year of the 27th World Series that even a single Major League Baseball team average more than 15,559 per game. MLS average attendance is actually comparable to that of Brazilian soccer's top division and higher than Scotland's top flight (despite the distorting presence of two huge clubs) and only slightly less than the NBA and NHL, though their television figures remain far less than pro basketball's.
GOP SUPPORTS SOCIALIZED MEDICINE
North Country Public Radio's blog had a piece on a proposal by Democrats to eliminate "socialized medicine" in America and the GOP's rejection of that plan.
LET'S SEE IF I'M UNDERSTANDING THIS RIGHT...
The contention of the right-wing during BushCheney's war against civil liberties was that the government was competent enough to kidnap foreigners abroad and take away their freedom ad infinitum arbitrarily and without oversight (by randomly claiming they are 'suspected terrorists'), was competent enough to conquer and administer two foreign countries (obviously a piece of cake!) and competent enough to invade your privacy without law or oversight ("if you're not an evildoer, you have nothing to fear"), but not competent enough to ensure every American can get (and use!) decent health care without going bankrupt. Basically their contention is that our government is competent enough run social programs in foreign countries but not our own.
SARAH AND MAHMOUD
Salon.com muses the similarities between two theocratic, anti-elitist, right-wing populists: the "president" of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Sarah Palin, who recently cut and ran as Alaska's chief executive.
SARAH AND BIG GOVERNMENT
Speaking of the woman who couldn't handle a full term as governor of Alaska but thinks herself qualified to be president of the United States, Brian Mann of North Country Public Radio has a good blog piece exploring then-Gov. Palin's love for big government and for leeching of taxpayers in other parts of the country. Alaska was the number one state in the country in terms of total Federal spending per capita... The vast majority of that money came from taxpayers in other states, from California to New York. Mann's writing a number of pieces, both blog and magazine, exploring the disconnect between conservatives' professed antipathy toward government and public spending and their actual actions when push comes to shove.
NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website has a profile of Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Youth from Nature Deficit Disorder. He was in the state as part of his "No Child Left Inside" campaign.
FAIR TRADE
A segment on Radio Netherlands' Bridges With Africa program questions the real impact of fair trade on African farmers.
THE CASE FOR KINDNESS
The public radio program On Point had a good show exploring the nature of kindness and why it's important.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Says it all, really
I think it's telling that this article in The Times of London about American soccer fans' hostile reaction a a certain overhyped fraud was filed not in the paper's football section but under Life Style > Women > Celebrity.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Chump change
The soccer world's most overpaid fraud, who I won't dignify by mentioning his name, has returned to the US' Major League Soccer and make sure that the league's players who actually want to play here don't get any media attention.
I never thought his signing by the league was a good idea. I knew the circus he'd bring with him would distract from the league rather than enhance it. The media attention has been fleeting and directed at his brand, rather than at the soccer.
He's proven to be a failure as a player in this league. He's proven to not give a toss about playing here. It's a testament to his unprofessionalism that he can be useless against Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas but light it up against Inter Milan and Juventus.
This book excerpt gives a lot of insight into exactly how unprofessional he has been.
Frankly, no player in his right mind would rather play for Los Angeles Galaxy than AC Milan. I understand that. But I wish he'd stop insulting everyone's intelligence.
The league's doing fine without him. There are many other foreign players who are actually making an impact in the league because they comport themselves like they actually want to be here. They are far more deserving of media attention than this fraud who's more interested in being 'an ambassador' (ie: expanding his already substantial business interests) than being, you know, a soccer player.
He's boring. He's been more or less useless on the field. As for intelligence and charisma, he makes George W. Bush seem like a cross between Einstein and Churchill. He adds nothing to American soccer but aggravation. It's too bad he can't just go away.
While we may lack the tradition of other countries, the American soccer community isn't quite as stupid and gullible as this Chump, his handlers and many other foreigners (and, for that matter, the league's 'braintrust') seem to think.
Update: Props to Los Angeles' forward Landon Donovan for calling out the fraud. No one can question Donovan's commitment to the Galaxy or to American soccer.
I never thought his signing by the league was a good idea. I knew the circus he'd bring with him would distract from the league rather than enhance it. The media attention has been fleeting and directed at his brand, rather than at the soccer.
He's proven to be a failure as a player in this league. He's proven to not give a toss about playing here. It's a testament to his unprofessionalism that he can be useless against Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas but light it up against Inter Milan and Juventus.
This book excerpt gives a lot of insight into exactly how unprofessional he has been.
Frankly, no player in his right mind would rather play for Los Angeles Galaxy than AC Milan. I understand that. But I wish he'd stop insulting everyone's intelligence.
The league's doing fine without him. There are many other foreign players who are actually making an impact in the league because they comport themselves like they actually want to be here. They are far more deserving of media attention than this fraud who's more interested in being 'an ambassador' (ie: expanding his already substantial business interests) than being, you know, a soccer player.
He's boring. He's been more or less useless on the field. As for intelligence and charisma, he makes George W. Bush seem like a cross between Einstein and Churchill. He adds nothing to American soccer but aggravation. It's too bad he can't just go away.
While we may lack the tradition of other countries, the American soccer community isn't quite as stupid and gullible as this Chump, his handlers and many other foreigners (and, for that matter, the league's 'braintrust') seem to think.
Update: Props to Los Angeles' forward Landon Donovan for calling out the fraud. No one can question Donovan's commitment to the Galaxy or to American soccer.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Less than zero
As many of you know, Jim Rome is sports yap's equivalent of Michael Savage. A guy who thinks he's relevant and is loud and hysterical, but almost never coherent. Additionally, Rome hates soccer... or at least pretends to. With these lame entertainers, you never know what are their real beliefs and what's schtick done just for ratings. This is why shock jocks are boring.
Anyway, the best part about European Champions League soccer airing on ESPN2 is that pre-empts Rome's show.
So ESPN execs feel that his show deserves even less prominence than something Rome claims no one here cares about.
I wonder how Jimmy feels about his show being less than worthless.
Anyway, the best part about European Champions League soccer airing on ESPN2 is that pre-empts Rome's show.
So ESPN execs feel that his show deserves even less prominence than something Rome claims no one here cares about.
I wonder how Jimmy feels about his show being less than worthless.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Sunday, October 26, 2008
'The last man'
To any soccer fans who might be reading this: If you are going to comment on the sport, especially if you're doing so a broadcaster, here's a little tip.
LEARN THE BLOODY RULES!
The Laws of the Game can be found here.
Read them before spouting off.
I realize that some, like the offside rule, are ridiculously complicated. But the overwhelming majority of rules are very straight forward.
According to Law 12, you can be sent off (red carded) for 'denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity... by an offense punishable by a free kick or penalty kick.'
The phrase 'last man' appears no where.
I don't know how many times I've heard some ignorant commentator ranting hysterically that a player wasn't the last man and therefore didn't deserve to be red carded for his foul.
It's not surprising that the phrase 'ignorant' and 'ranting hysterically' often go together. And such stupidity is as likely to come from an English commentator as an American one.
But if you're not going to learn the rules, then you should STFU.
And you should certainly pass your broadcasting responsibilities to someone who actually knows what they're talking about.
Whether a player was the last man has no bearing in and of itself on whether that player deserves to be sent off.
LEARN THE BLOODY RULES!
The Laws of the Game can be found here.
Read them before spouting off.
I realize that some, like the offside rule, are ridiculously complicated. But the overwhelming majority of rules are very straight forward.
According to Law 12, you can be sent off (red carded) for 'denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity... by an offense punishable by a free kick or penalty kick.'
The phrase 'last man' appears no where.
I don't know how many times I've heard some ignorant commentator ranting hysterically that a player wasn't the last man and therefore didn't deserve to be red carded for his foul.
It's not surprising that the phrase 'ignorant' and 'ranting hysterically' often go together. And such stupidity is as likely to come from an English commentator as an American one.
But if you're not going to learn the rules, then you should STFU.
And you should certainly pass your broadcasting responsibilities to someone who actually knows what they're talking about.
Whether a player was the last man has no bearing in and of itself on whether that player deserves to be sent off.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Blame Isaac Newton!
I was watching TV at the Y yesterday but someone else had the remote so I was forced to watch the Yankees game. Unfortunately, they were winning; fortunately, this doesn't happen as often as it used to.
But at least the announcers were tolerable this time (as opposed to the last time I'd watched a bit when they were going on and on and on about something Manny Ramirez had done several days prior... and they weren't even playing the Red Sox at the time).
Anyway, they somehow got onto the topic of instant replay. One of the announcers said something like, "I don't mind instant replay in baseball, if it doesn't take too long."
I snorted soda out of my nosing laughing. Because when you're suffering through a 4 hour, 9 inning baseball game, your top priority must be to avoid the horror of having to spend an extra 90 seconds for the umps to get a call right!
I don't care strongly about instant replay. It makes sense in baseball, if it's designed the right way. But the amount of time it would add to the game is miniscule compared to other things.
If you really care about shortening the interminably long MLB games, they should go to the high school rule where the batter is not allowed to step out of the batter's box after a pitch if it's caught by the catcher. The at-bat routine of some players may be comical, but it makes baseball games last forever... and unwatchable on TV in their full form.
If a game's going to last an extra 90 seconds, I want it to be because the umps got a big call right, not because a jacked up hitter needed to spit tobacco juice, undo his batting glove and re-arrange his jock.
**
Sometimes you wonder how some people get jobs as sports announcers, a profession that you'd think would require a degree of coherence.
I was watching the US-Canada Olympic women's quarterfinal match a few days ago. At one point, announcer Brandi Chastain criticized the US team for 'playing too many negative passes.' She went on to explain that if the US couldn't break down Canada in the attacking half, they should bang the ball (forward) to the corners instead of playing it backwards.
The idea of turning a soccer match into a track meet is unfortunately the accepted 'conventional wisdom' in American soccer circles. Americans tend to believe that soccer should be first and foremost about athleticism instead of extravagancies like... foot skills.
That's not what good coaching focuses on but that's what American coaching tends to emphasize.
Ok, so be it.
But then only a few minutes later, Chastain complains about the US' inability to possess the ball and says they shouldn't be impatient. If they don't have anything, they should pass the ball back to the keeper and reset the play.
MAKE UP YOUR BLOODY MIND!
I've heard her speak in person and she's very intelligent and well-spoken. Few people on Earth have won more major international soccer trophies. But if you don't know what position to take, at least pick a side and stick with it! Or better yet, keep your mouth shut.
**
Some people like sports announcers who are unabashedly biased in favor of the home squad. They're called 'homers.' Some of the most beloved announcers in US sports history have been homers. The most (in)famous of them being the late Cubs' voice Harry Caray.
I've never really understood the desire to listen to people who are nothing more than fans with microphones. If I wanted to listen to Joe Six Pack spout off ignorantly, I'd watch the game at a bar. The point of having TV announcers is to bring something that the ordinary fan can't get by watching on his own.
I loathe announcers who insult my intelligence. If Joe Homeboy takes a cheap shot at his opponent, I'm yelling at him for doing something stupid and costing my team. I don't want to listen to some a** kisser saying he got screwed by the officials or that he was 'unlucky.' Have the balls to say he took a cheap shot at the other guy. If I see something plain as day with my own two eyes, don't tell me I saw something else.
The Boston Bruins' old color guy Derek Sanderson was infamous for that. When an opponent took a cheap shot at a Boston player, he'd scream with outrage and demand the guy be expelled from the league and castrated to boot. When a Boston player did the exact same thing, he'd chuckle, "Boys will be boys."
I'm a Bruins' fan but I couldn't stand him. The only saving grace was that he was partnered with Hall of Fame announcer Fred Cusick, who was the epitome of class in broadcasting... except for the very end when he descended into homerism himself.
New England's soccer team has a similar odd couple: the best color guy in the league (Greg Lalas) combined with the most shameless, Kool-Aid drinking, propaganda spewing suckup in the league (Brad Feldman).
I was watching New England's match in San Jose on Saturday, though it was with San Jose's broadcasting crew. Every time a New England player went down, the SJ color man whined about it being a 'dive.' A SJ defender kicked the ankle of the NE forward who fell down. Not hard, but there was enough contact that the smaller NE player, going at full speed weaving through the defense, was knocked over. But the color guy didn't seem to notice the kick, so of course it was a 'dive.'
Get a clue!
Listen, I hate diving as much as anyone. I think it's an affront to the game. BUT... just because a player goes down doesn't mean it's a dive... even if the contact appears to be minimal.
Think about it. You're running as fast as you can, trying to stay balanced enough to closely control a soccer ball with your feet. This is hard enough to do when there's nobody around. Try it sometime if you think otherwise.
You're probably a little smaller because those players tend to be quicker. If you're going at top speed, it doesn't take much contact to knock you off balance, especially when you're trying to stay close enough to the ball and especially if you're smaller.
There certainly is real diving that occurs in soccer. But not every time a guy goes to ground is a dive. Sometimes is nothing more than the LAWS OF PHYSICS.
But at least the announcers were tolerable this time (as opposed to the last time I'd watched a bit when they were going on and on and on about something Manny Ramirez had done several days prior... and they weren't even playing the Red Sox at the time).
Anyway, they somehow got onto the topic of instant replay. One of the announcers said something like, "I don't mind instant replay in baseball, if it doesn't take too long."
I snorted soda out of my nosing laughing. Because when you're suffering through a 4 hour, 9 inning baseball game, your top priority must be to avoid the horror of having to spend an extra 90 seconds for the umps to get a call right!
I don't care strongly about instant replay. It makes sense in baseball, if it's designed the right way. But the amount of time it would add to the game is miniscule compared to other things.
If you really care about shortening the interminably long MLB games, they should go to the high school rule where the batter is not allowed to step out of the batter's box after a pitch if it's caught by the catcher. The at-bat routine of some players may be comical, but it makes baseball games last forever... and unwatchable on TV in their full form.
If a game's going to last an extra 90 seconds, I want it to be because the umps got a big call right, not because a jacked up hitter needed to spit tobacco juice, undo his batting glove and re-arrange his jock.
**
Sometimes you wonder how some people get jobs as sports announcers, a profession that you'd think would require a degree of coherence.
I was watching the US-Canada Olympic women's quarterfinal match a few days ago. At one point, announcer Brandi Chastain criticized the US team for 'playing too many negative passes.' She went on to explain that if the US couldn't break down Canada in the attacking half, they should bang the ball (forward) to the corners instead of playing it backwards.
The idea of turning a soccer match into a track meet is unfortunately the accepted 'conventional wisdom' in American soccer circles. Americans tend to believe that soccer should be first and foremost about athleticism instead of extravagancies like... foot skills.
That's not what good coaching focuses on but that's what American coaching tends to emphasize.
Ok, so be it.
But then only a few minutes later, Chastain complains about the US' inability to possess the ball and says they shouldn't be impatient. If they don't have anything, they should pass the ball back to the keeper and reset the play.
MAKE UP YOUR BLOODY MIND!
I've heard her speak in person and she's very intelligent and well-spoken. Few people on Earth have won more major international soccer trophies. But if you don't know what position to take, at least pick a side and stick with it! Or better yet, keep your mouth shut.
**
Some people like sports announcers who are unabashedly biased in favor of the home squad. They're called 'homers.' Some of the most beloved announcers in US sports history have been homers. The most (in)famous of them being the late Cubs' voice Harry Caray.
I've never really understood the desire to listen to people who are nothing more than fans with microphones. If I wanted to listen to Joe Six Pack spout off ignorantly, I'd watch the game at a bar. The point of having TV announcers is to bring something that the ordinary fan can't get by watching on his own.
I loathe announcers who insult my intelligence. If Joe Homeboy takes a cheap shot at his opponent, I'm yelling at him for doing something stupid and costing my team. I don't want to listen to some a** kisser saying he got screwed by the officials or that he was 'unlucky.' Have the balls to say he took a cheap shot at the other guy. If I see something plain as day with my own two eyes, don't tell me I saw something else.
The Boston Bruins' old color guy Derek Sanderson was infamous for that. When an opponent took a cheap shot at a Boston player, he'd scream with outrage and demand the guy be expelled from the league and castrated to boot. When a Boston player did the exact same thing, he'd chuckle, "Boys will be boys."
I'm a Bruins' fan but I couldn't stand him. The only saving grace was that he was partnered with Hall of Fame announcer Fred Cusick, who was the epitome of class in broadcasting... except for the very end when he descended into homerism himself.
New England's soccer team has a similar odd couple: the best color guy in the league (Greg Lalas) combined with the most shameless, Kool-Aid drinking, propaganda spewing suckup in the league (Brad Feldman).
I was watching New England's match in San Jose on Saturday, though it was with San Jose's broadcasting crew. Every time a New England player went down, the SJ color man whined about it being a 'dive.' A SJ defender kicked the ankle of the NE forward who fell down. Not hard, but there was enough contact that the smaller NE player, going at full speed weaving through the defense, was knocked over. But the color guy didn't seem to notice the kick, so of course it was a 'dive.'
Get a clue!
Listen, I hate diving as much as anyone. I think it's an affront to the game. BUT... just because a player goes down doesn't mean it's a dive... even if the contact appears to be minimal.
Think about it. You're running as fast as you can, trying to stay balanced enough to closely control a soccer ball with your feet. This is hard enough to do when there's nobody around. Try it sometime if you think otherwise.
You're probably a little smaller because those players tend to be quicker. If you're going at top speed, it doesn't take much contact to knock you off balance, especially when you're trying to stay close enough to the ball and especially if you're smaller.
There certainly is real diving that occurs in soccer. But not every time a guy goes to ground is a dive. Sometimes is nothing more than the LAWS OF PHYSICS.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The hypocrisy of youth soccer (pt. 1)
As many readers know, I've been a youth soccer coach for several years. The more I'm involved with The System, the more I realize how much b.s. there is and exactly to what degree the soccer community in this country is bathing in hypocrisy.
I recently received an email from the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association* reminding me that it's not too late to sign up for their fall state cup tournaments at the U11 (under-11) age level.
(*-ENY is affiliated with US Youth Soccer which is a member organization of the US Soccer Federation)
Last year, I went to the annual general meeting of the CDYSL, which is a regional league affiliated with ENY. They were discussing a proposal to make it so the U12 age level played 8 v 8 on a smaller field instead of 11 v 11 on a full sized one. From a development standpoint, it made sense. The full sized field encouraged smaller kids to just kick the ball as far as they can. The smaller field and smaller numbers would encourage dribbling skills and allow each player to be more involved in the action.
But this wasn't sold from a development standpoint. The CDYSL 'braintrust' thought it was great because it was only one of two leagues in New York that was going to 8 v 8 so their U12 champion would automatically gain a berth in the state cup final. This really says it all about the mentality of these people. There are certainly a lot of coaches and officials that care deeply about the kids. But there are an alarming number that are just in it for their own egos.
If you read the position papers and general coaching advice given by both US Soccer and US Youth Soccer, they all talk about creating an environment for young players that de-emphasizes winning at all costs and creates an atmosphere where creativity and skills development are allowed to flourish.
There is a wide recognition that this country produces plenty of competent soccer players but a dearth of creative ones. It's also increasingly acknowledged that overcoaching, the overstructured nature of the youth soccer setup and its overemphasis on winning trophies in the US is the biggest single factor in suffocating creativity out of young players. Excessive adult influence doesn't just not help the kids, it actively hurts them.
These organizations recommend that youth teams play fewer matches and participate in fewer tournaments and have more training sessions with more free play where they can be creative, where they feel free try new things without fear of recrimination. In other words, give them more time to experiment and less pressure to win meaningless youth trophies.
This is precisely the skills development model used in places like France, Portugal and the Netherlands, countries that have a fantastic record of producing talented and creative young players in recent years.
Instead, the US has followed the same development (and tactical) model as England . In addition to being a place where barriers are needed to keep youth soccer parents separated from children like caged animals or hysterical fans of boy bands, the English soccer community is undergoing a great self-flagellation about exactly those deficiencies I mentioned above.
So instead of modeling those who are getting it right, soccer in the US is modeling those who have gotten it spectacularly wrong.
If the best soccer minds in both this country and in the top foreign soccer nations are pushing the 'less is more' approach, especially for younger players, then why in heaven's name is someone holding a state championship for 9 year olds?!
Everyone mouths the right things, but look what gets put into practice.
The most prominent periodical in the country that covers the sometimes Beautiful Game is hardly immune from this hypocrisy.
Soccer America publishes numerous columns and editorials lecturing readers that players should have fun, that winning trophies should be secondary to enjoyment and skills development, etc.
But the same magazine that runs warm and fuzzy pieces, often in the same issue, runs huge cover stories on who won all the youth national championships, creates an arbitrary ranking of the top boys' and girls' clubs in the country and publishes prominent profiles of trophy winning youth clubs.
And this is why their feel-good columns imploring fair play and fun gain no traction.
Soccer America , like most in the soccer establishment, doesn't practice what it preaches. They don't really believe it and everyone knows it.
(to be continued)
I recently received an email from the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association* reminding me that it's not too late to sign up for their fall state cup tournaments at the U11 (under-11) age level.
(*-ENY is affiliated with US Youth Soccer which is a member organization of the US Soccer Federation)
Last year, I went to the annual general meeting of the CDYSL, which is a regional league affiliated with ENY. They were discussing a proposal to make it so the U12 age level played 8 v 8 on a smaller field instead of 11 v 11 on a full sized one. From a development standpoint, it made sense. The full sized field encouraged smaller kids to just kick the ball as far as they can. The smaller field and smaller numbers would encourage dribbling skills and allow each player to be more involved in the action.
But this wasn't sold from a development standpoint. The CDYSL 'braintrust' thought it was great because it was only one of two leagues in New York that was going to 8 v 8 so their U12 champion would automatically gain a berth in the state cup final. This really says it all about the mentality of these people. There are certainly a lot of coaches and officials that care deeply about the kids. But there are an alarming number that are just in it for their own egos.
If you read the position papers and general coaching advice given by both US Soccer and US Youth Soccer, they all talk about creating an environment for young players that de-emphasizes winning at all costs and creates an atmosphere where creativity and skills development are allowed to flourish.
There is a wide recognition that this country produces plenty of competent soccer players but a dearth of creative ones. It's also increasingly acknowledged that overcoaching, the overstructured nature of the youth soccer setup and its overemphasis on winning trophies in the US is the biggest single factor in suffocating creativity out of young players. Excessive adult influence doesn't just not help the kids, it actively hurts them.
These organizations recommend that youth teams play fewer matches and participate in fewer tournaments and have more training sessions with more free play where they can be creative, where they feel free try new things without fear of recrimination. In other words, give them more time to experiment and less pressure to win meaningless youth trophies.
This is precisely the skills development model used in places like France, Portugal and the Netherlands, countries that have a fantastic record of producing talented and creative young players in recent years.
Instead, the US has followed the same development (and tactical) model as England . In addition to being a place where barriers are needed to keep youth soccer parents separated from children like caged animals or hysterical fans of boy bands, the English soccer community is undergoing a great self-flagellation about exactly those deficiencies I mentioned above.
So instead of modeling those who are getting it right, soccer in the US is modeling those who have gotten it spectacularly wrong.
If the best soccer minds in both this country and in the top foreign soccer nations are pushing the 'less is more' approach, especially for younger players, then why in heaven's name is someone holding a state championship for 9 year olds?!
Everyone mouths the right things, but look what gets put into practice.
The most prominent periodical in the country that covers the sometimes Beautiful Game is hardly immune from this hypocrisy.
Soccer America publishes numerous columns and editorials lecturing readers that players should have fun, that winning trophies should be secondary to enjoyment and skills development, etc.
But the same magazine that runs warm and fuzzy pieces, often in the same issue, runs huge cover stories on who won all the youth national championships, creates an arbitrary ranking of the top boys' and girls' clubs in the country and publishes prominent profiles of trophy winning youth clubs.
And this is why their feel-good columns imploring fair play and fun gain no traction.
Soccer America , like most in the soccer establishment, doesn't practice what it preaches. They don't really believe it and everyone knows it.
(to be continued)
Saturday, May 03, 2008
They must be in cohoots with the travel agencies
You gotta love European soccer.
Their Champions League final has Manchester United and another English club (London's Chelsea) playing each other in Russia.
While the UEFA Cup final has a Russian club (Zenit St. Petersburg) playing in... Manchester, England.
European officials obviously received geography assistance from the folks who placed American Throwball teams Indianapolis Colts in the South Division, Dallas Cowboys in the East and St Louis Rams in the West.
Their Champions League final has Manchester United and another English club (London's Chelsea) playing each other in Russia.
While the UEFA Cup final has a Russian club (Zenit St. Petersburg) playing in... Manchester, England.
European officials obviously received geography assistance from the folks who placed American Throwball teams Indianapolis Colts in the South Division, Dallas Cowboys in the East and St Louis Rams in the West.
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