Anyway, I'll be doing some DIY home improvements this weekend. So, I'll be out of pocket for the next few days. Enjoy these tidbits until you hear from me.
Anarchists United! Now, That's an oxymoron!
3-sided soccer fieldApparently, during the 80s a group of anarchists in Scotland dreamed up the idea of 3 team soccer. And apparently they formed a league. As my friend Ryan tweeted, "Figure out an offside rule for this!" As for the rules, read 'em. It's worth it, if only for the entertainment.
Yanks, but no Yanks
The folks at TheShinGuardian.com don't like the nickname for the US Men's National Team. They've proposed changing it from "the Yanks" to something else. So, as blogs are want to do, they've created a poll to decide on a new nickname. Thankfully, the guys at MatchFitUSA.com think the Yanks nickname is fine and are lobbying to keep it. I gotta agree. Much like the term Gringo, some feel that Yanks is a derogatory term, but so what? Although Yanks and Gringo may have originally been derogatory, it makes me proud to hear it now, if only because nowadays those terms are usually used with respect as in, "The Yanks beat us 2:0 again!" Yeah, Yanks is good with me.
Trecker on Refs and College
I've gone on and on about how hard refereeing is and how little respect the guys with the whistles get. It's seems Jamie Trecker agrees with me. Plus, he says it's about time the college game falls in line with FIFA regulations.Generation Adidas Explanation
MLS has a program to recruit promising undergraduate soccer players called Generation Adidas. The GA program allows the recruit a chance to go pro while still having the fallback of having school paid for should the player not turn out to be MLS caliber. Player agent Patrick McCabe, who is well versed in the GA intricacies, breaks it down for us in this nice little interview.
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I don't quite understand "Gerneration adidas". Does adidas give sponsorship money to the MLS to fund this endeavor? The article really does not talk about the funding other than to say the league pays the players out of funds set aside which can either go to salary or tuition, whichever fit the status of the person. If 60-70% of these recruits end up playing professionally, why would they not be recruited through normal channels? This is a program that I was not aware of but is very interesting in that if should give some young men a chance to play professionally that otherwise would not get the chance. I am not sure what is says about our development system either. Should these players be in professional development leagues that feed the top tier? Ah, American Soccer. Bryan
ReplyDeleteGA allows MLS to recruit those elite college players who would be targets to European leagues. They tend to be undergrads who are going pro early or youth players straight out of high school. So, GA allows the players to go pro without giving up their opportunity to get their education paid for.
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