Sunday, November 15, 2009

Give Me Some Torres!

The game against Slovakia was so boring and uninspired I'm at a complete loss for words.

Friday, November 6, 2009

It's Just Not Really Soccer

Two things that have really shocked me this week were seeing, on one end, players hug after what should have been a hard fought battle for the MLS East, and on the other, the dirtiest televised game I have ever seen. At first it seems ironic that such a dirty game took place in women’s soccer, but I’m sure fans of women’s soccer aren’t surprised at all.


I’ve only watched one or two matches of women’s soccer, but I’ve seen enough to know I don’t like it. I love the passing, but I hate how their shots lack power to the extent that you think they must be shooting with the weaker foot. I once happened to stop by a Cal State Northridge women’s game and the aggression was as high as the technical ability was weak. Just not my cup of tea.


But I can’t decide which is worse: women’s soccer mixed with MMA or MLS mixed in with high school reunion.

Bill Simmons of ESPN was once interviewing Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and they discussed how the great familiarity the young players have with one another in the league impacts the tension of the game. Simmons’ point was that since so many of the basketball players have known each other since around age eleven, the games’ lose their edge.


They could be saying the same thing about MLS. At least amongst the US born players, many of the players have known each other from tournaments and youth camps that they are far more friends than foes. In most of the soccer playing world, the losing team would be inconsolable. It’s not a case of those players being immature. It’s just that if you really want something so bad, it’s just too bitter to let your dream go. In MLS that conviction just isn’t there. Kyle Beckerman hugs guys like Robbie Rogers and Frankie Hejduk and you can almost read, “Let’s go get a beer after the interviews” off of Kyle Beckerman’s lips.


Between that MLS match and the women’s soccer match, it becomes painfully obvious that soccer in the US has a long way ahead of itself.