"We adore chaos because we love to produce order."
~ M.C. Escher
In the delicious disorder that has marked the final weeks of the MLS season will come some order after this weekend, and it all started in that mudpit in Bridgeview last night.
So did anyone check out that Chicago/Chivas game last night? Click to continue reading...

Kartik Krishnaiyer on the Major League Soccer Talk blog has published a very interesting screed on the hatred directed at footy from American sorts commentators and publishers. (Read the story here.)
Recently, Fox News in particular has been particularly hateful, airing two different attacks on the beautiful game, specifically the American 2018/22 World Cup bids and in an immigrant-bashing way trying to draw some sort of forced connection between soccer and terrorism. Click to continue reading...

...or better, depending on your point of view, I guess.
Guingamp's Badara Sene: One of the all-time great weeks.
Brest keeper Julien Lachuer: Not so much. Click to continue reading...

As many of you know by now, Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today.
Now, about Jim Rice, much has been written about his qualifications, but that's not why I'm penning this little piece on a soccer site.
Quite simply, Rickey Henderson dominated a sport in a way that just doesn;t come along very often. Click to continue reading...

So now that the holiday madness is well and truly passed, 2009 has started and as of this writing we are a mere 45 days away from the Dynamo/Atlante game Feb. 24. That game will begin the soccer seasons for me and I can scarcely contain my anticipation.
The last time Dynamo played Atlante, in Superliga last summer, I was beginning to have some affection for the squad (Atlante, I mean). Click to continue reading...

As most of you probably know, in most leagues around the world that play two-leg series, away goals are the first tie-breaker. This really does completely change the complexion of first-leg games. Now to be perfectly honest, I have always opposed implementing this rule in MLS games. But after reading this excellent, excellent column from Pat Walsh at Goal. Click to continue reading...

Excellent chapter from Globaloney: Unraveling the Myths of Globalization By Michael Veseth

The Beautiful Game and the American Exception
http://books.google.com/booksid=zOQDLezAKjAC&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&dq=the+beautiful+game+and+the+american+exception&source=web&ots=fEBbo2lzXH&sig=f4i4Sy0QRry8xptzP2m1k0rpsZg#PPA118,M1
Read especially page 115
"The structural organization is, in many respects, foreign to American audiences. Click to continue reading...