So, I’m going to be pretty depressed next year watching the World Cup with the United States not in it. We won’t qualify playing like we are! But, we already have a spot (along with Mexico) in the 100th Anniversary of Copa América in 2016.
We’ve only been invited to play in the tournament four times previously. The tournament promises great competition, and for many Americans, an excellent opportunity to see top competition on home soil. Check out the New York Times for more info on the decision to host it here and what that might mean for the future of soccer on this side of the planet. 2016 will be an awesome year for American soccer.
I grew up playing soccer wanting to be like Thierry Henry. Did you catch him last game? The skill is still there 100%. Slightly more fit and he could play for France this World Cup. Check the highlights below.
Fresh off the West Indian Day Parade and a few days before the United States faces Jamaica in the World Cup Qualifier, I watched Usain Bolt: The Fastest Man Alive. Director GAEL LEIBLANG did a great job chronicling Bolt’s trip up to the London Olympics. It’s formulaic but that doesn’t take away from it’s entertainment value.
Bolt and his countryman Yohan Blake put in an unbelievable amount of work. Unfortunately, watching this I get a feeling that Bolt’s high appetite for attention will fuel his inevitable crumble. With Blake being so determined, the next Olympics will be more than exciting.
I’m not sure what cameras/lenses Gael Leiblang used but the bluray looks amazing. You can watch the YouTube version below but I recommend getting the bluray.
I watched Bolt win the 100m live yesterday online. Why not TV? That’s been the theme of these failed Olympics. Regardless, I live for track and field. Bolt winning on the 50th anniversary of Jamaica’s independence at the Great Britain Olympics…c’mon son!? Today’s probably the only day I could convince my mother to take a trip back home to Kingston. Above is a video of Bolt and Blake playing each other in FIFA on Playstation. This brings up a question I’ve always had. Why aren’t these dudes playing soccer for team Jamaica? I know they can play. #JustSayin
USA plays Mexico today in Azteca Stadium in front of 105,000 plus Mexico fans. This is a “friendly” game but this is our biggest rivalry and will likely be wild. We’ve never beat Mexico in Mexico. Mexico is hot off their very impressive Olympic win and the USA is here to prove they can play defense in their last game before the World Cup Qualifiers start next month. We will be missing many players away on BPL duty but even with our best squad Mexico tears our defense up. This match may get ugly. With our very inexperienced back-line, I’m predicting 4-0 Mexico.
For Mother’s Day I took my mother to watch 10 soccer games simultaneously at 10AM at Legend‘s bar. It was the last day of the season for the English Premiership League (arguably the top league in the world). On this last day, all the games take place at the same time to minimize each team’s influence on other games. This year there was quite a bit was at stake for a bunch of teams. The top team wasn’t decided yet and the bottom teams weren’t either. The bottom three get booted from the league. When it comes to Manchester City and Manchester United, I like to make the analogy of the Yankees and the Mets. Man U has won plenty of times and it’s been decades since Man City has won. The video above is a nice montage of the events as they unfolded. Unbelievable stuff.
I’m a longtime fan of Bill Burr and his podcast. I’m also a longtime fan of soccer. These two worlds collided when a friend of mine emailed Bill Burr about Soccer. I uploaded Bill Burr’s response to YouTube. Hilarious.
Knuckleball!
Directed by RICKI STERN & ANNIE SUNDBERG
I’m not a fan of film festivals (that’s a whole different post) but I may have to attend one of these Knuckleball! screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival. I’ve always been fascinated by the knuckleball. It’s the pitch with no spin causing cartoonish movement involving similar physics to early rifles. The number of knuckleball pitchers is slowly dying in the big leagues. The knuckleball isn’t a pitch that big leaguers have in their arsenal because it’s such a difficult high-risk pitch to throw. You’re either a knuckleball pitcher or you’re not.
I started pitching at the age of 7 and took it all the way to a scholarship offering for college (I didn’t accept). I occasionally threw the knuckleball if I was ahead in a game. It’s very easy to look foolish throwing the knuckleball and I wouldn’t want to hear my coach air me out for giving up a hit because of it. The few times I threw it in a game caused head turns. It’s a funny looking pitch but effective when thrown correctly.
The object of this race is to win. It’s not about time. You want to gain tactical advantage by being in second place due to wind and eye-sight. It’s almost a cat and mouse game. This can backfire as a leading person can make a surprise break for the finish-line. Very exciting stuff.
