Four days in Mexico City and nothing to complain about. Well, there is that one thing. And as a new friend told me after the US MNT lost 2-1 to Mexico at Azteca, these photos would look a lot better if we won...

But as should have been obvious in the previous post, there is more to life than winning.

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Steve Nash and friends throwdown for the showdown in chinatown, for charity, take 2

It's never as good as the first time. The rain, the grand stand bleachers, the wet turf, the steady cam man on the field, the crane cam hovering over the crowd. What was an underground experiment last year became the mainstream mainstay as Steve Nash and Claudio Reyna hosted their 2nd annual Showdown in Chinatown to benefit each of their namesake charities.

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Discovered at the age of 10 in New York. In an elite American residency program in Pennsylvania at age 11. Three seasons at FC Metz youth academy in France at 13. A year in Italy as an amateur on AS Livorno's reserves at 17m followed by a spell in Scotland at St. Mirren.

A soccer vagabond by the age of 19, Devann Yao is now back home in New York, and that's where he wants to stay.

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The wind was angry that night my friends, the only real surprise to a script (and score) U.S. Soccer has written before. Moments of brilliant passing followed by rough and tumble periods where offense disappeared like the balls caught in the tailwind. Both countries added roughly the same ingredients, but only the U. Click to continue reading...

There is always something beyond the immediate. After every win there is a loss. Even when you win the championship, eventually you fall. That's life. But try telling that to a team of high school boys celebrating their day in the bright ligts of the big city after bringing home yet another title to Martin [. Click to continue reading...

So you think you can be a professional soccer player? Keyvan Heydari thought he could too. Almost did. Now some 20 years after he first tried, after he covered six World Cups (starting with Mexico 1986) as a journalist and broadcaster, after he contributed to outlets such as NPR, The Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald, The Washington [. Click to continue reading...

(this is all five parts of the story in its entirety) Ron Isley croons from the stereo of the Audi A6 Quattro Clint Dempsey purchased from sports agency-mate Ryan Nelson. "You fool one day you're here and then you're gone." But before the beat drops, before UGK's Pimp C and Bun B have a chance to [. Click to continue reading...

PART 3 Lance Dempsey now coaches soccer in North Carolina. Seeing the game from the other side of the sidelines gave him a new respect for the work his older brother put in. "My parents sacrificed a lot," he tells me. "But I don't want it to sound like something crazy, like we were homeless, like [.. Click to continue reading...

PART 2 A talented tennis player, Jennifer Dempsey ranked in the top two at Nacogdoches High School. Her athletic pursuits begged for more attention, and being a family of limited means, younger brother Clint, 13 at the time, was forced to put his soccer development on the backburner after three years of family sacrifice supported his [. Click to continue reading...

PART 1 Ron Isley croons from the stereo of the Audi A6 Quattro Clint Dempsey purchased from sports agency-mate Ryan Nelson. "You fool one day you're here and then you're gone." But before the beat drops, before UGK's Pimp C and Bun B have a chance to trade verses about making the most of the Texas [. Click to continue reading...

The Charleston Battery defeated the Seattle Sounders on penalty kicks Tuesday to advance to the Open Cup Finals against D.C. United, who beat the New England Revolution 2-1 in their half of the semi-finals. TIAS traveled to Battery's Blackbaud Stadium to take in the historic victory along with a crowd greatly thinned by rain. Click to continue reading...

Looking at Giants Stadium at less than even half capacity, well, just the idea that it can sell-out is a grand testament to American sports and marketing. Of course the 80,000 seats are but a drop in the tri-state population bucket and it routinely fills up. Just not for soccer. "I thought there would be more [. Click to continue reading...