First, a question: Does the United States need a national soccer stadium? The answer, without hesitation, is "no". America is bursting at the seams with stadiums, many purposely built with soccer...

E-$ sent me this from Bill Simmons' Summer Mailbag. A few reasons he thinks soccer (international at least...) will take off in thee states:

Q: I am a die-hard soccer fan living abroad and agree with your theory that international soccer could take off in the States. But not everyone listens to your podcasts, so could you please make the same case in one of your columns so everyone can see it?

ESPN columnist Bill Simmons wrote a now famous article a couple of years ago entitled "Choosing My EPL Team." At the time, it caused quite a stir. Many Brits were shocked and surprised to learn that there were people out there picking a Premier League team for the first time. But, for many people newly introduced to the sport and league, how else was someone supposed to choose a team?

Bill Simmons, one of the most beloved messiahs of American sportswriting, is getting into soccer. I wish him the best, although I have a feeling he has no idea how big of a plunge he is about to take. His new attraction to the sport should make for an interesting experiment with fans of mainstream American sports.

Neal and I are both big fans of The Sports Guy, Bill Simmons. He pioneered the online running diary which I blatantly stole for my USA/Spain 'contemporaneous' blog. And lo and behold, he's taken the idea to the Twitter where he live tweeted(?) the USA/Brazil final.

OK, soccer - after 4 decades of talk, here's your chance to finally make a legitimate dent in the USA.

I'm a regular listener to Bill Simmons' B.S. Report. Regardless of the subject matter, which ranges from traditional American sports to reality television, it's always worth a listen. Yesterday, Bill's guest was Colin Cowherd of ESPN Radio and ESPN2's SportsNation....

I've had multiple column ideas bouncing in my head the last couple days but haven't been able to focus on one thing. So, to solve this, I'm just going to write about everything.

Here we go...

Jozy Altidore — If he did have swine flu, he got over it.

Untied States soccer commentators (who are almost all U.

by Kevin McCauley I'm a regular listener to Bill Simmons' B.S. Report. Regardless of the subject matter, which ranges from traditional American sports to reality television, it's always worth a...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

You've heard several accounts about the USA-Mexico match at Estadio Azteca, butESPN columnist Bill Simmons' take on his experience in Mexico City is a unique and entertaining one.

Fans of ESPN.com columnist Bill Simmons, aka "The Sports Guy," may remember his short-lived dalliance with the English Premier League three years ago. In the lengthy but entertaining style that is his trademark, Simmons analyzed the pros and cons of supporting all 20 EPL teams, counting them down in reverse order.

Other than for the games, I don't watch much ESPN. I don't listen to its radio stations either, or read its magazine. Yes, I read Bill Simmons and check out Soccernet, but don't own an Insider web account. If it ever came down to it, I probably could live without ESPN in my life. Still, let's throw out a number -- 90 percent -- maybe more, of American sports fans get their agenda set by the

...on Simmons' BS Report podcast yesterday:

Bill Simmons: "It's funny as we get older, like time like suddenly becomes a criteria for anything that's enjoyable."

Seth Meyers: "It's ridiculous. Like, the difference between a movie being like someone will go, 'It's 90 minutes,' I'll go, 'Yeah, I might see that.

Believe it or not, after this weekend we'll be past the quarter post in the 2009-10 Premier League season. With that in mind, I figured it would be time to assess where the 20 clubs stand. While at first glance it might look like a giant glob, there are some mild strains of separation. Again, I'm knowingly cribbing a Bill Simmons popularized trope, so deal with it.

For whatever the reason, soccer tends to lend itself to conspiracies more than any other sport. Yes, for years we've heard that NBA commish David Stern rigged the 1985 draft lottery so the Knicks would land Patrick Ewing or how writers like Bill Simmons trumpet alleged "fixes" with spotty referring to set up more television palpable matchups.

Holy Santa Claus shit, where did the time go?Didn't it seem like yesterday that the 2008-09 Premier League was winding down with tears streaming down the faces of shirtless, pale and pudgy Geordies?Anyway, from a Premier League standpoint, this was a bizarrely quiet summer. More goings than comings, aside from Manchester City.

If you've been listening to Bill Simmons' BS Report podcast lately (and you should be - most of the time it's really good), you know that he's been slowly and quietly coming around to the idea of soccer. Now that he's gone to the USA/Mexico match at Azteca and written an ESPN.com story about how cool it all was, I think we can embrace him as one of ours.

Big Story

He might not be the best mainstream American sportswriter, but he's pretty much the bellwether of mid-America's attitude to sports, as much as we can have one in these fragmented Twittering and blogging times: Bill Simmons, aka ESPN's Sports Guy, went down to Mexico City for the U.

For today, at least, it's good to be Steve Nash (even more so than usual), Jeff Beck, (suddenly) Bill Simmons, my buddy Suppe and yes, even according to this website Andrew Ridgley.Granted it's a mere two games into the marathon that is the 2009-10 Premier League season, but there is reason to be excited about the heady days at White Hart Lane as Tottenham -- the classic tease if there ever was

We got one. Finally. It's not Jim Rome but that's never going to happen so why even entertain the thought (and really when you think about it would we every really want him?). ESPN's Bill Simmons is a fantastic writer/sports nut and even though he has written about European and World Cup soccer before, by his own admission has been a soccer hater from time-to-time.

STARTERS
I am back from Mexico City! Wow, what a trip. More later. On with the show. And remember, stay thirsty my friends.
dN
And I must give a big hello to my fellow travel companions: Kevin, Neal, Andy, Paul, Keith, Sasha, Patrick, Charlie, Tom, Joe, Tate, Regan, Ethan, Adam and especially Andrew who picked me up at the airport!

Jimmy Conrad heads the ball in front of the GOUSABID.com field board.
We told you Friday about the Field Boards you would see Sunday at our match against Chicago. The initial response from the U.S. Soccer community has been great, as there are over 28,000 folks (watch the total climb on the widget in the right-hand column here at Hillcrest Road) already on the petition.

Readers, subscribers, what have you, you're in for a bonus Tuesday post. It was definitely nice to see all the post U.S./Honduras chatter. Sometimes I wonder if people are able to figure out how to comment on a post here. For anyone that cares, I set my initial blogger template like six years ago and have carried a lot of that to today, until major changes in 2006.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

You've heard several accounts of the USA-Mexico match at Estadio Azteca, but ESPN columnist Bill Simmons' take on his experience in Mexico City is a unique and entertaining one.

Something to read while UEFA uses the oldest advertising trick in the book to sell you Women's Euro 2009 tickets... 21 still photos of football riots (LIFE) Customer relations with Rafa Benitez (Unmemorable Title) "I drank enough tequila to kill Salma Hayek." (Bill Simmons) How to become an international manager (ThreeMatchBan) Statistical breakdown of Everton's disatrous weekend (Numbers Offside) "The dissolution [.

What I've been reading this morning:
Somebody named Dr. Gamera seems to confirm the hunch I had which is the USA cannot realistically expect to get a seed at WC 2010. I can't vouch for his statistical expertise but it sure looks valid to me.
Andrew Guest's Thinking Man's Guide to the U-20 World Cup is very interesting.

Vacation is upon me and the urge to write (and think) any more than is required has fallen by the wayside. However, I have stumbled upon a few must-read articles that are worth sharing. Whether you are a die-hard soccer fan or are perplexed how anyone could be, the first two are worth a look.

FYI
I will be off Friday and Monday enjoying all that Seattle has to offer. So our good friend Graham Fox will be filling in. I have no doubt you will like it. His work here in the past has been fantastic. Have fun everyone, and don't miss MLS Cup.
- Bruce
STARTERS
If last Saturday's USA game at Slovakia was disappointing, then yesterday's game at Denmark was down right pathetic.

As we have for a number of other soccer broadcasts this year, particularly USMNT games, we will "business blog" the ESPN broadcast of MLS Cup 2009. Before we start, a quick word about ESPN coverage leading up to the game. The ESPN Classic broadcast of MLS Cup history was outstanding and definitely worth a watch.

I'm baaaack!!!

Bill Simmons interviewed Landon Donovan on his podcast about two weeks ago and an interesting question was raised in the final minute.

If U.S. soccer wanted to play all or most of its matches in one city, like most countries around the world, what city should be America's "home" city?