When I was twelve I used to play basketball in indoor soccer shoes. Everyone on my team, decked out in the newest C-Webs and Air Penny's, laughed at me. They said I would turn my ankle, and that I looked stupid.

Out of stubborn pride, I maintained that basketball shoes were too heavy, and that I was quicker and more explosive wearing soccer shoes, which always felt more natural.

Part One of a Series on Style in American Soccer

*As the U.S. National Team attempts to qualify for the World Cup in 2010, I will write a series of pieces concentrating on the style, or lack of it, of American soccer.

As far as I can tell we've been "developing" a style in American soccer for the last century.

Why FIFA's 6 + 5 Rule Represents The Wrong Fight Against the Globalization of the World's Most Global Sport

FIFA's proposed 6 + 5 rule is supposedly gaining traction. The law would require club teams to start a minimum of six players eligible for the national team of the country in which they play.

Stretching the Symbolic Meaning of "Game" to Shameless, Meaningless Depths

I wish I could come up with more meaningful relationships between soccer and politics, or art, or education, or Urban Architecture. But the most revealing connections I come up with usually have something to do with "knocking the boots.

Can we stop bitching about Beckham, and all his selfishness?

Don't people realize that Beckham is on a mission from God – to become the most iconic athlete, or maybe even the most iconic icon, in the world ... ever?

Jesus' iconic status has always been hampered by the way different religions produced varying depictions of him.

Why FIFA's 6 + 5 Rule Represents The Wrong Fight Against the Globalization of the World's Most Global Sport

FIFA's proposed 6 + 5 rule is supposedly gaining traction. The law would require club teams to start a minimum of six players eligible for the national team of the country in which they play.