Last night, I got a call from Real Salt Lake

No, they're not planning on signing me as the solution to their goalscoring woes (Melvin Tarley's confidence must be lower than Paris Hilton's standards right now.)

After I organized the BlueSkySoccer.com 2nd Annual Minnesota Thunder Fans Awards Banquet, RSL felt that such an event was something that they would like to organize for their club. They wanted to ask me a few questions about how it went and how I went about organizing it. They said that they wanted their supporters group, The Loyalists to take over the event. As such, there were a few points that I made as clearly as I was able given that the discussion came after a 12½ hour day of work.

• Try to find a location that is suitable to the event. One that is amenable to drunk soccer fans and which will have enough space for them to comfortably speak to players and staff. A sponsor or a potential sponsor is a good place to start.


• Bring as many players as possible. In the USL, autographs are easy to get, but in the MLS, not so much (see my post, Small Fish, Small Pond) and the fan interaction is what makes these events work.


• further on that, give the supporter's goup as much reign as possible. While it might seem counterintuitive to make them do most of the work, if you want them to run it, you need to give them full ownership of the event. Help out wherever they ask for it, but let them do it the way they want. It's all about making the fans feel like they have a real ownership of the team.


• Put ads up (once the fans have figured it out) in the programs, on stadium PA announcements, in season ticket holder mailings, whatever you can to get the word out there. The more people who attend events like this, the more 'true' fans you'll get because these are the sorts of things that create a community feeling amongst fans and keeps people involved.

Probably very little of it will actually help them, but I think I made it pretty clear as to where my priorities lie.

Martin Heidegger is questioning my existence as a fan.

Martin Heidegger is an interesting figure in philosophy. While most notable philosophers tend to polarize people, in Heidegger’s case this is especially true. Born in Germany in 1889, Heidegger joined the Nazi Party during the rise of the Third Reich. For this, in American and British circles, he is lowly regarded, but in continental European philosophical circles he is still regarded as a highly influential existentialist.

I guess this isn’t entirely relevant except that it gets me to thinking about the relative reputations of different players given who you ask. (Who was better, Maradona or Pele?)

Anyways, what I was thinking about is actually existentialism. What exactly does it mean for an object to exist? I mean, what makes a hammer a hammer? Heidegger would say that a hammer is a hammer not because it has certain hammer-like properties, but because it is used for hammering.

Bearing this question on my home town club, the Minnesota Thunder, I have been wondering what the retirement of Buzz Lagos means for the team. I suppose given Heidegger’s definition, the Thunder are the Thunder because they play soccer in Minnesota, but I have to question if it really is the Thunder.

The question is often framed in terms of a ship: If a ship goes off on a long journey, and by the end of the journey, every single piece of the ship has been replaced, is it still the same ship?

In terms of the Thunder, is it still the same team? Since its inception in 1990, Buzz has been the only constant for the Thunder. They no longer have the same logo, nor the same GM nor even the same team colors or home stadium since the move to James Griffin Stadium in 2004, so can it still be called the same team? Obviously, the name, Thunder is the same, but can the team still claim the right to use that name?

Can I still call myself a fan of the Thunder given this shift? I guess, since I became a fan in earnest probably (again—it’s a long story) in 2003, I can still say that I am a fan of those players (and assistance coaches) who were a part of the team that year—Amos Magee, Zafer Kilickan, Joe Warren and Johnny Menyongar.

Perhaps it’s more significant in the case of my other club, Newcastle United. I became a fan of Newcastle in 1997. That’s 105 years into the history of the club, so am I a fan of NUFC really? Or am I a fan of some club that happened to be called by the name of Newcastle United in 1997? If we apply the same rule of the “same team” as 1997, then the only player who is still at the club since then in Alan Shearer*, and he has indicated that this is his last season. So will I still be a fan of the same team or a fan of something that no longer exists but existed several years ago and is dying a slow death?

This is why philosophers don’t get much sleep.

Martin Heidegger's football career was shortlived due to his assertions that the ball was not a ball.

P.S. You can download my Buzz tribute videos here.

*Actually, Lee Clark and Robbie Elliot have returned to the squad after spells away from it in the intervening years

Buzz retires

Last night, we had a End of the Year Banquet for the Minnesota Thunder fans. We honored Buzz Lagos with a Lifetime achievment award. I also screened two videos that I made. They can be downloaded here:

More on soccer up north

I forgot to mention this yesterday.
Don't think that I was going to leave it out because I am vain; I fully intended to put it in yesterday, but I forgot, seeing as I've been really busy at work.

Playing soccer around those 10 year olds is dangerous. At one point, I figured "Oh, here's my chance to be cool and show off my skills and by extension make my cousins cool to their peers." So I attempted a bicycle kick.

Now, I used to do bikes all the time when I was slightly younger. Most of you know I'm not exactly what you would call "old," although I am what most people would call "fat," "slow" and "out of shape." So when I tried this bike, the ball (instead of flying over the fence spectacularly) hit my shin and went nowhere. The only spectacular thing about the bicycle attempt was my landing hard on my back and the colossal pain that I'm still feeling in my back where some muscle or other is very unhappy with me.

What can I say? I should have turned pro.

America--it tastes good because of all the fat

I have taken a few days off this weekend. After that 23 hour trip to L.A. I was pretty well exhausted and managed to wake up and then fall back asleep while getting dressed on Friday, thereby arriving at work four hours late. I then slept until 2:00 PM on Saturday (although not straight through, oh no, I had to be woken up at 2:30 AM to go pick up my friend with alcohol poisoning from the hospital.)
On Sunday, I went up north to my home town, Cloquet Minnesota. A little under a year ago, Steven Wells of the English newspaper The Guardian wrote an article entitled How Soccer is Eating America. I thought it was an interesting read then. But having just been up north, I've witnessed it first hand. In my home town, population less than 12,000, there are at least ten soccer fields. The baseball diamond at Meddich field has a soccer pitch in the outfield that gets more use than the diamond. My cousins, triplets aged 10 are all on the local U-11 B squad; that is, they're second string; there is already a full squad of eighteen ten-year-olds ahead of them. Driving down my grandparents street, I saw a sign pointing the way to the soccer fields where there used to be a batter pictured. One of the players on the team was wearing a Norwich City kit and recognized the Newcastle shirt I was wearing. Several of them like to watch what little soccer they can find on TV.

It warms the cockles of my heart. Soccer is growing in the US. Slowly, perhaps. At the youth level up, perhaps. In participation if not viewership, perhaps. But it's growing, and I'm happy to be there to see it happen.

Off to LA

So I was sitting at home last Saturday night (Okay, Sunday morning; it was about 12:30) and I got a phone call asking me if I could go to L.A. to run a webcast of the Minnesota Thunder's US Open Cup semi-final match-up against the LA Galaxy. I would have had to have been a fool to turn it down, so, despite not yet having clearance to miss a day of work, I am on my way to LA tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM sharp. And I'll be home at 6:00 AM on Thursday morning. And I'll be at work at 7:30 AM Thursday morning. Sleeping. At my desk. Which is being moved across the building.
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Anyways, I am happy to report that the Thunder's (regular) season is over. Don't get me wrong, I love the Thunder and I love going to the games, but this year it has taken a lot out of me. I've worked hard for the team and the organization has benefitted greatly from my (and many others) free time and efforts. Organizing a fan group, banners, not to mention watch parties and helping with post-game stuff occasionally takes its toll and the F.O. should recognize us. But the new owner is a dick, so I am thinking that won't be the case.

And it's been a disappointing season. 10th out of 12 is poor by any reconing, but it's all the more frustrating in that the talent and potential is so obvious in this team (as evidenced by knocking off three MLS teams.) They're young and if they can keep the team together, they will be an incredibly strong team in the not-too-distant-future.

The question is if the players will stay. Most of they're contracts are up, and I heard through the grapevine that none of them like the new owner, Saeed Kadkhodaian. Allegedly, he told them that he would pay for only one pair of shoes for the entire season and players and staff still receive the same per diem that they did when the team first when pro in 1995. I am not arguing that there isn't an extreme need to be frugal in this league (and sport) but there are certain places where you need to massage the money. I believe that Saeed's ownership has expedited Buzz's retirement. I don't know what it would do to Buzz if he saw all the good will he's spent the last 17 years building so quickly destroyed by bad ownership. I can only hope that I'm off base here on my views of Kadkhodaian, but I fear that I am not.

Breaking the rule I stated yesterday

Here's my+ assessment of where 44 players stand on their chances of going to Germany:

On the Plane:
Claudio Reyna - Captain and in the squad if even close to fully fit.

DaMarcus Beasely - Described as the best player in the squad by coaching staff.

Landon Donovan - Golden boy of US Soccer. Ever present in Qualifying

Kacey Keller - Undisputed Number 1 GK.

Brian McBride - A "Young" 33 and most likely to surpass Wynalda as all time scorer.

Pablo Mastroeni - Defensive mid spot is his to lose.

Steve Cherundolo - Locked down the Right back slot both defensively and going forward.

Eddie Lewis - Tremendous crosser and new position demonstrates Bruce's desire to keep him on the field.

John O'Brien - If fit, he's the only one who can rival Reyna for control and creativity

Oguchi Onyewu - Gets better with every game.

Frankie Hejduk - Versatility across the back line and boundless energy stake his place

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Must fancy their chances:

Ed Johnson - Needs to recapture injury form and scoring rate

Gregg Berhalter - Surprising rise and the best organizer in the defensive ranks

Carlos Bocanegra - Fading due to lack of playing time and injuries

Bobby Convey - Having a remarkable start to his season. It's a different Convey, folks.

Marcus Hahneman - Regular playing time snares him #2 job

Steve Ralston - Not spectacular but until another right winger steps up it's his spot.

Cory Gibbs - Injuries pushing him down, but if healthy almost certain of a spot.

Chris Armas - Most people didn't want him on the squad in '02, but he can still contribute at DM.

Eddie Pope - Once the best US defender of all time, but age and a bad year for RSL have seen young guns overtake him.

Josh Wolff - Forward is thin and Wolff gives speed and dangerous runs--if not finishing

Chris Albright - Did well for himself in recent caps in defense which is very thin at the outsides.

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Bubbling Under

Taylor Twellman - Can't seem to finish at the international level; Kreis '05?

Jeff Cunningham - His game seems to be too simple at this level

Tim Howard - Lack of playing drops him to #3

Clint Dempsy - Needs to step his game up just a level to gain a spot; can he find a position?

Chad Marshall - Strong showing, but too many good players in front of him, unless he goes wide.

Greg Vanney - lack of speed constantly exposed and dead-ball skills not required due to others'

Santino Quaranta - Most likely to steal Ralston's spot, but must do better if he wants to go.

Jimmy Conrad - Too many good players in front of him, but strongest of the outsiders

Brad Davis - Didn't look bad at the Gold Cup but where does he play? The left is too strong.

Pat Noonan - Not enough games at the Gold Cup. Creativity a plus, but lack of speed a big minus.

Kerry Zavagnin - No caps since the semifinal group stage, but DM is thin enough to get a look.

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On the outside looking in:

Tony Sanneh - Attitude is okay, but too old and too slow

Chris Klein - Not gotten a look in a while, but plays a weak position and does so well.

Matt Reis - Current hot MLS GK stands at #4

Eddie Gaven - Poor U20s showing and not showing in MLS; fading quickly.

Clint Mathis - 'nuf said.

Jon Spector - If he gets playing time at Charlton, could stake a late claim to outside back position.

Nick Garcia - Probably least likely of the CBs to gain a spot

Brian Ching - Needs to return from injury in good form.

Conor Casey - Too many injuries and lack of production (Kirovsky '05?)

Ben Olson - Another player looked at for DM, Bruce knows him but didn't show in Gold Cup.

Cobi Jones - No appearances since semifinal round (not even Mexico!) but can play right midfield role that is needed.

Will update this list periodically.

USA vs. Guatemala, England vs. N. Ireland

So the US got a draw on the road in Guatemala last night. I was rushing out of the house after lying around with a bad headache for a couple of hours only to arrive at The Local to find that the Atlanta Braves vs. NY Mets game had gone to extra innings so we missed the first 30 minutes of the game. I wasn't bothered by the delay; you can't just cut off the end of the game. , though I was steamed by the fact that despite the fact that the hour after the game was NOT live action but pre-recorded stuff, they didn't delay the game but rather just started 30 minutes in.

Despite what basically everyone else is saying I thought that the game was decent. Everyone else said that it was dull, but I found the stalemate and sloppy play interesting. It gave us a chance to see the players deal with a slippery field and ball. I probably wouldn't have found the match as fun if I'd watched it at home but at the Local it was certainly more enjoyable than many another match I've seen.

I won't go into who helped and hurt themselves with their performance last night; that's always seemed to me to be pointless as I don't actually make any of those decisions. It's fun sometimes to try to predict the roster, but really, Bruce Arena doesn't read blogs or BigSoccer or anything else when considering his squads.
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On to the England vs. Northern Ireland game, and can I just take a moment to say "Ha" and "ha."

I am so sick of smug and arrogant English fans that despite the fact that I love watching the English team I was really quite pleased to see them lose. Sure, the USA only beat Grenada (ranked 149 to N. Ireland's 116) 3-2 but we did beat them. Despite a waterlogged pitch and a dubious penalty.

Also, it gives me an opportunity to give props to one of my aforementioned favorite players in Aaron Hughes who is the captain of Northern Ireland and did a magnidicent job in the center of the defense. His problem at Newcastle was always his versatility. He's best at center back, but rarely got to play there because he was servicable at RB or LB or even DM. Newcastle's loss and Aston Villa's gain I should say. Good on you, Wor Aaron, and I think I'm going to be looking for a Hughes Nor Iron shirt.
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Regarding the nonsense with the Barra Brava and CSC security in DC, it looks as though that might have been resolved satisfactorily which makes me happy, but I still stand by my post about the USL.

Back from the abyss

54 hours
1700 miles
and a 2-0 victory later
and I'm back from Columbus.

It was simply magical. There are few games that I've watched where the time just seems to flow by unnoticed. The entire crowd at Crew Stadium was on its feet from the kickoff until after the final whistle (well, the Mexican fans sat down, actually.) At the 40th minute, I looked at the scoreboard across the stadium and was shocked to see how late in the match it was--time was just flying by. After Beasely scored his second goal, the Sam's Army section went mental and it was a party on the terraces for the next hour. The final 30 minutes of the game were practically unimportant as we celebrated qualifying for the World Cup.

Ohio?!? But I'm a foreign corespondant!

I"m off to Columbus to see the USA vs. Mexico game.

But before I go, here is a short video compilation I made for the USA vs. Mexico rivalry:

Right Click, save as






...The title comes from an old rental car ad...

Small fish, small pond

Today I was reflecting on the fact that the Thunder play in the USL-1 and we all dream of having an MLS franchise here. The more I think about it, the more I think I'm happy with the Thunder being where they are.

Seriously, although in the last couple of years the amount of 'local' talent has dwindled on the team, the squad has still shown tremendous commitment to the fans and making themselves available to the fans. I don't really think that this would be as possible in the MLS. Real Salt Lake have some 'meet the team' days set up, and those seem pretty neat, but I think that it is harder to do that sort of thing with 'major league' players. Staying after and letting all the fans on the field for autographs for example: how many MLS teams do this? I went to a Wizards game in 1998 and I remember going to a room for autographs, but less than half the squad was there and several of them clearly didn't want to be there.

Clearly, a large part of this is the squad selection by Buzz and the rest of the staff where they're looking as much at PR and Camp money as playing ability, but I am not so certain that will fly in MLS.

Then there's the subject of the DCs. I love our group. I love how we're utterly irreverent and will do whatever we want whilst still maintaining a good relationship with the FO. A lot of credit for this goes to the staff who do very well to put up with us, but it could so easily not be the case, and that seems to be the situation with most MLS clubs. Just look at what happened to the Barra Brava and CSC security in DC--they're talking boycott over there.

There's all kinds of stigma and such about 'big club/little club' especially in England where the 'big clubs' like to laugh a bit at the littler clubs who are more 'family oriented' and will never win the big prize. I'm perfectly happy with living as a small club so long as that means that the fun is real and not too glossed over and being careful not to tread on any toes. There's a great degree of freedom in supporting the Thunder which I love. How many Major League teams would let me run up and down the sideline with a flag after each goal? Not many.

With all this reflection, I don't know if I'll ever really support a Major League sport as much any more. I'm in love with the Minor league mentality and the minor league system. Bigger is not necessarily better.

Newcastle re-sign Solano, USA vs. Mexico

So the big Newcastle news in the last week was that we signed Michael Owen. I'm happy about that, but the thing that is sticking in my craw is that it's overshadowed two other transfers that are in my opinion far more interesting.

First, the sale of Jermaine Jenas to Tottenham. Don't Spurs have enough midfielders? Is Jol actually going to try the 1-8-1 formation? Jenas is most highly regarded by all the fans and managers across England except the Newcastle fans. I have a sneaky suspicion that this will turn into another Jon Dahl Tomasson situation where Newcastle sell a promising player who has stagnated on Tyneside and then he goes on to great things.

The other is that we have re-signed Nolberto Solano. This makes me very happy. Happier than the Owen signing perhaps. Nobby's sale was a sign to me that Robson was on his way out; he was sold for far, far too little money and he was never properly replaced. We may have lost him for a season and a half, but I'm glad he's back. Going the other way was Milner on loan. I hope that reuniting him with David O'Leary will be good for him and that he'll end up coming back to Newcastle United a better player having picked up playing time at Villa.

In other transfers this season, Newcastle sold probably my favorite player on the team: Aaron Hughes. Yeah, I know, maybe I'm crazy, but he was durable and could play anywhere across the back-four or in defensive midfield. He was also a product of the club's system and kept his head down off the field. He is the captain of his national team (even if it is Northern Ireland.) He was honestly my pick to replace Shearer as captain after Wor Al retired. Unfortunately, like another of my favorites before him, Steve Watson, he was sold to raise transfer funds.
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Back States-side, I've been looking forward to the USA vs. Mexico World Cup Qualifier this weekend. I fought tooth and nail to get three tickets for that match, and none of them are together. Tomorrow after work I will be leaving and driving down to Columbus. Here's where the philosophy comes in, as all I've been able to think of regarding the match this week is a quote from Arthur Schopenhauer.

"A man's delight in looking forward to and hoping for some particular satisfaction is a part of the pleasure flowing out of it, enjoyed in advance. But this is afterward deducted, for the more we look forward to anything the less we enjoy it when it comes."

Yeah, the man wasn't called the founder of the school of pessimistic philosophy for nothing.

I guess I just worry that all of the excitement is only going to result in disappointment if we lose or draw or if the trip doesn't go well.

The squad that Bruce Arena called in looks good to me. I get sick of people who constantly criticize him for calling in players like Frankie Hejduk and Gregg Berhalter. These are the players that he has to work with. I agree that Hejduk and Berhalter aren't Roberto Carlos and Sol Campbell, but who would they want called in? Bobby Boswell? Yeah, there are up and coming future stars, but you can't throw them right in; they'll never live up to your hype and they'll never be able to shrug off that initial disappointment. Give them time. I have confidence in Bruce that he will call them when they're ready. He did an excellent job with Beasely and Donovan.
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The Minnesota Thunder sent forward Melvin Tarley to Real Salt Lake. I didn't get a chance to watch the game last night because I was getting my car tuned up for the trip to Ohio. I'm leaving it on this morning while I work, and perhaps I will post about his performance when the game is over.