My co-worker Doug has become Football-Curious. Between me talking about Liverpool every week (lately: moaning about Liverpool most every week) and an article he read about Clive Owen talking about being a Liverpool supporter, he has taken an interest in the Reds. He asks me tons of questions whenever we work together, everything from "What's a Scouser?

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This morning, EPLTalk writes about "How American Soccer Fans Are Smarter Than Average Americans."
I don't know how soccer fans stack up compared to "average Americans," but I do think that following soccer can make you smarter. It's not that you have to be smart in order to follow soccer, it's that through the act(s) of being a soccer fan, you learn a lot especially as it relates to geography and foreign culture. Click to continue reading...

It's South America's newest force against the oldest when Ecuador meet Uruguay this Saturday in a crunch World Cup qualifier.

It is a match with much to teach about the geography of the continent and the history of the game in this part of the world.

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With there be plenty of fuss concerning United's local rivals, City, Paul Scholes believes our real hated rivals are Liverpool and Leeds.

"City probably aren't the closest of rivals, but in terms of geography, if you like they are close rivals and it's a game you want to win," Scholes said.

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Aberdeen's newest signing, defender Jerel Ifil turned up at Pittodrie Stadium yesterday to sign his contract, pose for pictures and say a few words to press. The first two items on the agenda went swimmingly, but the third? Not so much.

Said the Wembley born former Swindon Town hero:

"I had to Google Aberdeen and went, 'wow, it's way up to the right'.

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Possible Incoming Players
Ok so its not set in stone, but according to all reports Luis Antonio Valencia is going to be a Manchester United player, perhaps even as soon as the end of this week. The fee is rumoured to be anywhere between £14 million and £19 million, me personally i'd expect it to be around the 16-17 mark but I (unfortunately) don't control Uniteds books! Click to continue reading...

A number of tasty match ups in the 2nd round to determine which clubs will face MLS sides in the Third Round.
Charleston Battery vs Miami FC is an all USL-1 affair.
Carolina Railhawks FC vs Wilmington Hammerheads will be an all North Carolina battle separated by only a 2hr car trip. Click to continue reading...

The 96th edition of the US Open Cup formally kicks off today June 9th with a host of first round games. To commemorate the occasion Bill Turianski and I have put together a map of the 32 teams entering at the first round stage and will be updating it as we go along. Bill has done the map work and the the emblems and the layouts and I've put together many of the profiles that run along the right-hand side of the map.

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It is fascinating to examine how and why people become fans of their teams. Is it geography, is it destiny? Does style of play influence someone's selection? Could it be the uniform that attracts... or repels? What about spite?
I became a Pumas fan at a very young age. The initial attraction was the uniform. Click to continue reading...

Quiz Time! Quick, what's the capital of Pennsylvania? If you said Harrisburg, chances are you might be from the Keystone state, though those of you not from around these parts might be forgiven for thinking otherwise given the dueling "P" cities... Click to continue reading...

Referees lately have been hounded to take games at the State Tournament, which is different than the State Cup. The Cup is done at the beginning of the season, for top-level teams to represent the state in the Regional and maybe (although rarely) National Championships - because of geography we're forced to do this before our regular league games start, and use the strongest teams from last year. Click to continue reading...

Georgina Best is going on tour.
I've decided to use this pre-season period to travel the world learning more about football.
Well OK - I'm off to Belgium on holiday for 2 weeks with my lover in our little caravan.
But don't worry - I won't be abandoning my studies. Click to continue reading...

John McCain made another Bush-worthy geography gaffe yesterday - this time on "Good Morning America." Sorry, John, Iraq and Pakistan don't actually share a border. (As an aside, I've always wished that some brave member of the press would ask Bush, during a press conference, to point to Iraq on a map. Click to continue reading...

I was playing with this in my head the other night. It's completely impractical, but what if the groups for Euro 2008 were put together based on geography? You might have something like this...
Alpine Group
Austria
France
Germany
Switzerland
Eastern Group
Croatia
Poland
Romania
Russia
Mediterranean Group
Italy
Spain
Greece
Turkey
Northern Group
Czech Republic
Holland
Portugal
Sweden
Ok, Portugal isn't exactly in the north, but they had to go somewhere. Click to continue reading...

I was playing with this in my head the other night. It's completely impractical, but what if the groups for Euro 2008 were put together based on geography? You might have something like this...
Alpine Group
Austria
France
Germany
Switzerland
Eastern Group
Croatia
Poland
Romania
Russia
Mediterranean Group
Italy
Spain
Greece
Turkey
Northern Group
Czech Republic
Holland
Portugal
Sweden
Ok, Portugal isn't exactly in the north, but they had to go somewhere. Click to continue reading...

I am actually in L.A., and let me say this: It's not all that. The weather has not been particularly stunning (yesterday was cold and grey, today is chilly but sunny). The scenery is not inspiring. The hills are splotchy messes of beige, green, and burgundy, as if a frog on an acid trip had painted the landscape in acrylics.

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In collaboration with Bill Turianski from billsportsmaps.com website, today we present the second in our primers on the English football pyramid as we continue the week's non-league theme. Here's a wonderfully illustrated map of the 32 highest-drawing clubs outside the Premier League and the Football League. Click to continue reading...