Adu's Story leads to Fact & Fiction - L.A. Times Readers' Letters - Richmond Times-Dispatch Question of the Week - Richmond Times-Dispatch MLS Career starts at Top for Alvarez - Houston Chronicle Americans still don't Care about Soccer - UK Spoof MLS lures new Investors - Washington Times Adu doesn't need our Protection - Orlando Sentinel Soccer on TV not such an Oddity anymore - South Florida Sun-Sentinel someone pick up the scraps that will pop up
2 great articles Wonder if this is true though (the second paragraph ): "Whereas once there was virtually no international soccer on television, now there's more than anyone can possibly watch. That includes the 100-plus MLS and United States national teams games that get tube time on ESPN2 and Fox, and the Mexican League matches on Telemundo and Univision. The effect goes beyond simply giving fans soccer worth watching. All this exposure to the world's most sophisticated players and teams can't help but seep back into the way American coaches and players approach the game." Do coaches and players really benefit that much? I thought training courses were much more reliable...Not to say it cannot benefit, but the confines of the TV screen does not help watching the game "as a whole' since it is hard to capture the whole field all 90 minutes...
Re: Re: 11/30/03: Mug I commented on this in another thread and absolutely have to say that it helps. Remember that the average youth soccer player in the US used to have no exposure to soccer other than 2xweek practices and weekend games. Simple things like body positioning with respect to the ball and keeping your body open when receiving a pass - sure they can be and are coached. But it's even more effective when you see professionals doing it on the tube - and the consequences when they don't do it...
Re: Re: Re: 11/30/03: Mug I've had this conversation several times. But having so much soccer on TV has got to help the youth playing droves in America develop. You absolutely emulate what you see, and I think that when I was growing up what I lacked, although always sort of implicitly understood, but could never see... Is the spacing and overall play and flow of soccer. If you watch Man U glide the ball from one side of the feild to the other, slowly building up an attack, I think that absolutely translates against the "BOOT IT!" mentality.
which reminds me of the story of one of the ways Bora used to train the 1994 team. he used to convene them early in the morning in an Orange County pub to watch european games by satellite, just so they could pick up some of the nuances of how "foreigners" played the game. according to Bora, many of the players could have cared less, and didn't pay much attention. FWIW.
Probably members of the Eric Wynalda "Nobody can coach me because I'm a professional" School of Soccer.
I had to laugh at this quote from Alvarez in the Houston paper: "I sat on the bench thinking I am missing out on a U-20 World Cup -- a chance that comes only once in a lifetime," Alvarez said. "Hopefully, I won't miss the next one." I think Arturo needs to use some of his P40 school money to learn what "once in a lifetime" actually means!
If this move results in Ty being pushed out of the box - I would LOVE Ray and Waldo in the booth! - it will literally be one of the greatest days in MLS history.
Raise your hand if you really think Ty will be gone. No hands, that's what I thought. I've come to the firm conclusion that in 1994 some soccer fan died during the World Cup. He was a really great man who did much for everybody he could. Upon arrival at the pearly gates, God Himself asked this fellow what his one wish would be for those he left behind, and the guy said "Give America a top flight division one pro outdoor league. If I could just get that, I wouldn't even care who you got to call the games on TV." God granted him his wish. I fear nothing will ever change the Keough Conundrum.