Soccer FanHouse

Greg Ryan Out as US Women's Soccer Coach

Michael David Smith — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Soccer, Women's Sports, The Word

Greg Ryan lost his job today as the U.S. women's national soccer coach, less than a month after his controversial decision to bench goalie Hope Solo and his team's subsequent meltdown against Brazil.

U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati made the announcement, and he said he will be part of a three-person committee (along with Mia Hamm and U.S. Soccer's secretary general, Dan Flynn) that will determine the next coach for Team USA, which needs to regroup for the Olympics next year.

Gulati said there was no specific incident that led to the decision not to bring Ryan back, but everyone knows the loss to Brazil was the final nail in Ryan's coffin. There was no hope that he could continue to coach Team USA after that.

Greg Ryan Out as US Women's Soccer Coach originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hope Solo Back on Team USA Roster

Michael David Smith — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:47:00 EST

Filed under: Soccer, Women's Sports, The Word

Goalkeeper Hope Solo was told not to show up for the Women's World Cup third-place game after she criticized coach Greg Ryan's decision to bench her for the semifinal against Brazil.

But she hasn't been banished for good, and when Team USA begins a three-game series with Mexico in St. Louis on Saturday, Solo will be on the roster. It's not clear whether Ryan will pick Solo or the woman she was benched for, Briana Scurry, in St. Louis, but presumably both of them will get some playing time against Mexico, either in St. Louis Saturday or in one of the following games, in Portland and Albuquerque.

This is a magnanimous gesture from Ryan, but it's also the only move he could make if he wants to salvage his own reputation. As much as Solo was criticized for her comments about Ryan and Scurry, Ryan was criticized more for benching Solo in the first place. He won't be Team USA's coach for much longer, and at least he's not going out holding a grudge.

Hope Solo Back on Team USA Roster originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:47:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is ESPN's Hype Machine Hurting MLS?

Eric McErlain — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:55:00 EST

Filed under: Soccer, General NHL, The Word, MLS

Back in July, Jason Chung, a fellow at The Project on Law and Mind Sciences at Harvard University Law School, got keyboards tapping everywhere with a post at The Situationist entitled, Negative Press: Is ESPN Killing the National Hockey League by Influencing Public Attitudes?

As a long-time fan of the NHL, it was an interesting read to say the least, and one that had my head nodding in agreement more often than not. From where I sit, there's little doubt in my mind that the relentless barrage of negative press the league endured throughout the playoffs and beyond was triggered in part by the programming decisions made in Bristol, Conn.

Now Chung is back, and his timing once again in fortuitous, as his latest post looks at ESPN's stake in promoting the success of Major League Soccer: Manufactured Hype: Can ESPN's Agenda-Setting Behaviour save Major League Soccer?

It's an interesting questions to ask, especially as a number of fans of the sport are beginning to question whether or not the sort of hype ESPN is delivering is actually hurting the league rather than helping it.

As my FanHouse colleague David Warner pointed out yesterday, D.C. United's own Bobby Boswell, former MLS defender of the year, has something of a bone to pick with ESPN, essentially accusing it of promoting Beckham at the expense of the sport itself.

Then again, there are other times when you have to wonder just what side ESPN is really on.

What's worse, as concern about the severity of Beckham's ankle injury linger, others are wondering out loud whether or not the hype is starting to backfire on Beckham and the league -- something which has to be considered particularly unfair given reports on just how badly hurt the England international really is.But in the end, all of that is really short-term static. As much respect as I have for Chung, I don't think MLS needs saving. In fact, I think that despite the short-term apathy of some American sports fans that translates into anemic television ratings, that MLS has a bright future.

Why do I say that? Anybody with half a brain understands that America is undergoing a profound demographic shift in its population. A couple of years back in New York, Spanish-language radio broadcasts of the New York Mets were already getting better ratings than the Devils and the Islanders.

A couple of weeks ago in the press box at RFK before a D.C. United match, a couple of reporters were joking about ESPN's new MLS slogan: "You're a Soccer fan, you just don't know it yet." In the moments that followed, a number of my friends started throwing out alternatives -- including, "MLS: We've got the demographics."

It's no lie. Going forward, America is going to have more and more of a Latin flavor. And as those Latins integrate into society and start flexing their economic muscle, they're going to be buying tickets to matches. In a way, it's already happening, as huge crowds usually turn out for matches pitting MLS squads against their Mexican League counterparts.

Back in March, I saw better than 26,000 fans fill RFK Stadium for a match between United and CD Chivas on a weeknight that was cold and rainy. Had the weather been better, I wouldn't have bet against a walk-up crowd of 35,000 or more.

So while MLS won't be turning down Mr. Beckham's help, we ought to acknowledge that he's here, in part, to surf the demographic tidal wave. I suspect that's the case with ESPN too.

Is ESPN's Hype Machine Hurting MLS? originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cameras Follow Beckham Everywhere

David J. Warner — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 08:35:00 EST

Filed under: Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Soccer, The Word, MLS

As expected, there's YouTube footage of David Beckham warming up on the RFK Stadium sidelines from three different angles. I chose the one above because of the flashbulbs coming out of the crowd. That's almost halfway toward what you would see at a Super Bowl kickoff -- for a guy jogging on the sidelines.

Plenty of photos showed up on Flickr last night, too. Americans may still be warming up to soccer, but when it comes to celeb-watching, they wrote the book.

Previously at FanHouse:
Beckham Will Help Galaxy, But Not Tonight

Cameras Follow Beckham Everywhere originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Fri, 10 Aug 2007 08:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tony Kornheiser on David Beckham: 'I Have No Patience for This Guy ... He's a Fraud'

Michael David Smith — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:46:00 EST

Filed under: Soccer, The Word

I guess it's not exactly breaking news that Tony Kornheiser criticized a soccer player on Pardon the Interruption today. But Kornheiser came across as so scornful toward David Beckham on today's PTI that his comments are worth repeating:

"I have no patience for this guy. The guy is a fraud right now. He's a fraud. He's taking money under false pretenses. He's not playing. And who's being cheated? The people who bought the tickets. ... When he's ready to play, sell the tickets. .... He's a fraud. He's a fraud."

Is Kornheiser being unfair here? Probably. But it's interesting to note that even though ESPN is invested in seeing Beckham's arrival in the United States succeed, its on-air personalities seem to feel comfortable bashing soccer in general and Beckham in particular. ESPN is often accused of artificially propping up its own properties, but I've heard lots of Beckham bashing on the Worldwide Leader.

Tony Kornheiser on David Beckham: 'I Have No Patience for This Guy ... He's a Fraud' originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:46:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stephen Colbert Names Beckham "Alpha Dog"

David J. Warner — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Los Angeles, Soccer, The Word

You would think that The Colbert Report would attempt to admonish Association football and favor good old-fashioned American football, but it appears Stephen Colbert has left that task to the likes of Bryan Burwell, Jay Mariotti, and others who are also too ignorant to appreciate Colbert's satire. Besides, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the dog's "man crumpets." Hey, Stephen Colbert said it, I believe it, and that settles that.

(Spotted on Culture of Soccer via The Offside.)

Stephen Colbert Names Beckham "Alpha Dog" originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bryant Gumbel Detects Xenophobia in American Reaction to David Beckham

Michael David Smith — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 22:42:00 EST

Filed under: Soccer, The Word

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel is the best sports show on television, and it always concludes with Gumbel offering a closing thought. In the most recent installment, he says he thinks there's a hint of xenophobia in the way many sports columnists feel the need to badmouth soccer when writing about the arrival of David Beckham:

I'm not sure that it's xenophobia, but I do agree that it's odd that so many American writers come out of the woodwork so often to say they don't like soccer. Like Gumbel, I don't foresee Beckham making soccer more popular in America, but I welcome him and wish him well.

Bryant Gumbel Detects Xenophobia in American Reaction to David Beckham originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Thu, 19 Jul 2007 22:42:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Altidore Will Try To Play Saturday

Brian Cook — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:31:00 EST

Filed under: Soccer, The Word

When Jozy Altidore got hacked from behind in the 50th minute yesterday and was forced off the field, the USA U20s brought a guy named "Akpan" whose main contribution was getting hacked to the turf (sense a theme?) in the right place for the Uruguayans to score an own goal. Though Austria isn't an intimidating opponent, it would be very, very nice to have Altidore around for the quarterfinals. He's going to try:

"I'm going to try, man," he said. "I don't know at this point, but I'm going to try to get ready for Saturday."

The injury in question is a calf thing, not a knee or an ankle, so that seems possible. If he can't go I will follow through on my oft-repeated (loudly, in public) threat to bomb frickin' Uruguay into the stone age if I have to MacGuyver an F-16 out of old Michigan tickets, a paperclip, and my MP3 player. Seriously... is there a more reprehensible team in world soccer? I say no.

Altidore Will Try To Play Saturday originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:31:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Debriefing: David Beckham Is Going to Change ... Probably Nothing

mjd — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Soccer, The Word

The Debriefing is a column that runs every weekday at 9:00 a.m. here on FanHouse. It goes deep into one issue and then bounces around to a plethora of smaller ones ... and does it all in a way that will make you feel like the prettiest girl at the cotillion. Bookmark this page, and visit daily.

David Beckham cannot make you watch soccer. I suppose he could, if he were to break into your house, duct tape your wrists and ankles and hold a pistol to your temple as he put some MLS highlights into your DVD player. But I don't think that's going to happen.

Beckham will be good for the MLS, much like a delicious bundt cake is good for a church group's bake sale. It'll earn some short term cash, create some good word-of-mouth advertising around the neighborhood, and get some people talking. But the bundt cake is not sending the kids to the Vatican for two weeks in August. You can't build a future around it.

The ideal outcome for the Beckham-to-America experiment would be for him to raise the sport's profile permanently, create a greater sense of respect for American soccer, and to get people to stop chuckling when they hear the initials "MLS."

But that's a pretty tall order.

(Also at the bottom: An ESPYs photo gallery that you don't want to miss, Darko gets papered up, and I, I'm sorry to say, am Yesterday's Sad Sack.)

This is not a man whose personality is going to captivate America. This is not Muhammad Ali. This is not Joe Namath. This isn't even Terrell Owens.

I've read that he's a sensitive and intelligent fellow, and I'm not saying I don't believe it, but I've rarely seen evidence of it. I was moved (very, very slightly ... really, I can't emphasize how slightly) at his selfless desire to play for his country, but this burning intellect remains hidden to me.

I hope to see evidence of it one day, but if I were to judge from this clip alone ... the man actually seems quite dumb. The crack at around 6:08 was a favorite of mine.

Of course, sports history's shown that you don't need a particularly strong or likable personality to captivate the American public -- Michael Jordan comes to mind -- but Jordan did jaw-dropping things in a sport that people already liked.

Beckham's not going to do anything jaw-dropping, and he's not going to do anything in a sport that people already like. As great a soccer player as he is, he's not the type to drop jaws. He's not going to go end-to-end like Lionel Messi, nor can he do any of the ridiculous things that Ronaldinho can do with a soccer ball.

No, Beckham's highlights are of the less spectacular variety. They're not any less impressive or important from a soccer standpoint, but they're not the kinds of things that yank you out of your seat and compel you to hug the perfect stranger sitting next to you, even if he hasn't bathed in two weeks and is holding a lit flare in his left hand.

He's great with the free kicks and the corners and the crosses. If there's a scale of 1-10 for those skills, Beckham's a 10 on that scale, and I doubt anyone else in the MLS is higher than a 6.

He can dazzle you with those plays, but the plays aren't necessarily dazzling -- watching Beckham hook one in to the upper right corner from 30 yards out is impressive, but it's not ... well, this.

Beckham's best goals don't capture imaginations, they capture highlights about 44 minutes into SportsCenter. As an example, here's the best goal of Beckham's career, and hey, it's fantastic. An amazing, amazing shot.

But the appeal of the goal wasn't the spectacular human athleticism on display, it was the gravity of the situation. If Beckham were to score that exact same goal in the exact same fashion on September 30th in Columbus against the Crew ... I might suggest that the situation would be just slightly less dramatic.

The bottom line for Beckham's on-field impact is this: MLS games are not going to look terribly different when Beckham's on the field. They just aren't.

Listen, I'm not one of those soccer fans who's going to try to browbeat you into becoming a soccer fan. I don't care if you spend your Saturday mornings watching the Premiership, watching the Muppet Babies, or doing the sweaty walk of shame home from Ramón's non-air-conditioned apartment.

But I do believe this: you could become a soccer fan. There's nothing wrong with the game itself ... it is not slow, and it is not boring. Anyone who enjoys baseball has given up the right to use the "it's too slow for me" excuse.

And I say that with great respect for baseball ... I enjoy our national pastime. I enjoy it enough to watch it on a 4x4 inch section of my computer screen. But it is the slowest and most action-less sport in existence, unless you're counting things like competitive Scrabble and bass fishing.

You could do it. You could embrace soccer, I know it. There's nothing inherent about the game that is too displeasing for you to get past. I know this, because I used to be one of you.

I'd dismiss soccer for a while, and from time to time, convince myself to give soccer a try ... and I'd watch 20 minutes of a game, I'd be bored, and 10 minutes later I'd be paying no attention whatsoever to the game, and just sitting there, giggling to myself at the thought of Peyton Manning and Kenny Chesney going at it or something.

But of course I was bored, I didn't know or care about any of the teams involved, and I had no real understanding of what players were doing with the ball or why. It would be like watching 20 minutes of one episode of House, and saying, "Eh, this is not for me." You gave yourself no chance to appreciate the nuances ... you'd have no idea that Chase was a gigantic douche, or what Wilson was such a sweet guy, or that Dr. Cameron and I should spend the rest of our lives together in marital bliss.

It takes an honest effort. And that doesn't mean you watch one game ... or two games, or even five games. Pick a team, give yourself a reason to be interested, and give it a season.

If you could do that, I'm 100% confident that you could grow to at least not hate soccer. Most people aren't willing to make that honest effort, though. Which I understand ... your sports dance card may already be more than full.

The other big factor for American soccer acceptance is going to have to be some kind of a notion that we're any good at it. The quality of play in MLS can get as good as it wants, but that's not going to impress anyone outside of the people who run MLS. The general public, for good reason, thinks we suck.

Our reputation says that we do, and until our national team puts together a successful World Cup run, that's not going away. And people aren't going to watch something they think isn't being played at a high level (see: WNBA, Arena Football), whether that perception is true or not. Fortunately, our Under-20s are providing some hope that this might one day change.

Beckham has already accomplished one thing, though ... the league looks less embarrassing today than it did yesterday. His acquisition has inspired the LA Galaxy to change their uniforms and color scheme to something that looks like a uniform a professional might actually wear.

Not that I didn't enjoy the mustard yellow and green get-ups that looked particularly awesome with the huge red Budweiser logo slapped across the back ... those were class all the way. It was like a hybrid between a soccer kit, a NASCAR jumpsuit, and a uniform for a 8-and-under community-sponsored league. It was truly innovative.

Unfortunately, I feel like the uniform change will be amongst Beckham's biggest contributions to the American soccer scene. He will be a boost, and that's no small thing ... MLS needs boosts, and they're not coming from anywhere else.

But 4 months from now, it's about even money that his wife will be a bigger celebrity in America than he is. He's going to grab some interest, and I hope I'm wrong about this, but I don't see any way for him to sustain it. He's not that kind of guy.
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DERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

I'm not going to make a habit of this, but today's scrapbook gives you an entire gallery. There were too many awesome pictures from the ESPYs not to do this. Including the above shot of Ben Roethlisberger. I don't know that a dorkier photograph has ever been taken.

But in this gallery we've got Carl Weathers, Carl Weathers with David Koechner, LeBron doing Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative," and Rampage Jackson's elegantly dressed teeth.
%Gallery-4767%

Screw Elvis ... Memphis BELONGS TO DARKO NOW...

The Memphis Grizzlies just became a higher priority to watch in the NBA new year ... for me, anyway. For better or worse, I'm always going to have an interest in Darko. That's just who I am. Twenty years from now, you'll be getting updates in The Debriefing about Darko's assistant coaching job with some lower-level team in Prague.

According to Ric Bucher, he's getting $21 million over 3 years from the Grizz, which is not bad in this summer's shriveled-up NBA market, where there are more decent players than teams with cap room available for them. It's also not bad for a big man who averaged 8 points and 5.5 rebounds last year ... and provided that it works out the way Memphis wants it to, $7 million per for a starting center isn't a bad deal.

I like the fit for Darko. He'll feel wanted, Memphis is a low-pressure situation, Mark Iavaroni's going to play a more Euro-friendly style, and he's familiar with Pau Gasol ... even if he thinks Pau is a skirtbag.

Orlando's Incompetence, In Handy Chart Form ...

FanHouse's Tom Ziller's put together a chart comparing the contracts and qualifications of recent NBA free-agent signees Gerald Wallace and Rashard Lewis. Someone in Orlando really should've thought of doing this before they gave Lewis a max contract.

Who's Not Now: Anderson Varejao ...

The most interesting free agent left out there is, in my opinion, Anderson Varejao. Not that he's the best ... but he's pretty important to the Cavs, and some team could really stick it to them.

Cleveland would have the right to match any offer Varejao gets, but they're right up against the cap, so anything they pay Varejao, the Cavs will have to pay double on, because of the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax. I'd like to see some Eastern Conference team offer him $8 million per, if for no other reason than to force the Cavs' hand.

LaDainian Tomlinson. He won four ESPYs. He won for best NFL player, best male athlete, record-breaking performance, and the Like Nothing Else Award.

The AP article here notes that Tomlinson declined to meet backstage with reporters, which isn't something for which you could blame LaDainian Tomlinson. It does seem to defeat the purpose of the whole thing, though. The ESPYs were created to give media types something to talk about, and for ESPN and the athletes to pat themselves on the back. If the athletes aren't going to talk to the media, what the hell is this all for?

Maybe he just didn't want someone to ask him what the "Like Nothing Else" award was, because, like the rest of us, he has no idea. Maybe he was eager to go chill at an after party with the epitome of cool, Ben Roethlisberger. Maybe he just got tired of being in the same room with Chris Berman.

Or maybe he realized that these were the 827th, 828th, 829th, and 830th most important awards of his career, and he just wanted to go home.

Me. For telling you about the ESPYs. But it was either that, or give Yesterday's MVP to a WNBA player. I'm sorry. Sometimes in sports, absolutely nothing happens. I feel shame.

7:00, ESPN. Softball. 2007 World Cup. United States vs. Venezuela.
7:00, ESPN2. MLL Lacrosse. Philadelphia Barrage @ New Jersey Pride.
7:30, ESPNU. Soccer. FIFA U-20 World Cup. Chile vs. Portugal.
9:00, ESPN2. MLS Soccer. Houston Dynamo @ Chicago Fire.

The Debriefing: David Beckham Is Going to Change ... Probably Nothing originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wayne Rooney Puts It Where He Wants It

David J. Warner — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Soccer, The Word

This one's been making the rounds in the last few days, and it deserved a spot here. This is Wayne Rooney abusing a digital camera for his shoe company. He looked proud of his little accomplishment. Then, after filming this ad, he went out and shagged a cougar. Hopefully off camera.

(H/T: Who Ate All the Pies)

Wayne Rooney Puts It Where He Wants It originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Sat, 07 Jul 2007 17:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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"Only God Can Stop World Cup in South Africa"

Orson Swindle — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 08:45:00 EST

Filed under: International Soccer, The Word

Africa, what's up? Soccer played in Africa! The ever-competitive field of creating the official World Cup song burgeons once again in the long run-up to the World Cup in South Africa. This one...well, this one's probably not gonna make it, frankly.

Among other reasons that "Africa--What's Up?" won't be the official song of the World Cup: getting viewers excited by showing them pictures of nuclear reactors in Africa, a site as reassuring as watching your surgeon put down his beer before putting a mask on you and asking you to count backwards from a hundred.

The collective owners of those reassuring reactors would be South Africans, who for a number of reasons are already on the defensive regarding possible security issues with their upcoming World Cup, something that's had FIFA head Sep Blatter taking the PR offensive to reassure FIFA members and corporate sponsors both in this world and, apparently, the next:

"Only God can stop South Africa from hosting the World Cup," the Fifa president said boldly, "but we ask for the Lord's blessing to make this first World Cup in Africa to be successful."

It's a dire situation that has Blatter praying to himself. However, with Blatter's reign overseeing a boom in cash and complete lack of transparency resulting in FIFA becoming a "massively enlarged carbuncle of football bureaucrats" even bigger than it was prior to Blatter's reign as head of FIFA, the opulent corruption of FIFA meeting the bloated bureaucracy of African governance might turn out to be a match made in heaven, security concerns be damned.

"Only God Can Stop World Cup in South Africa" originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 08:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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