Opinion

  The image of the cowboy riding off into the sunset is quintessential in American film lore.  The hero, sillhoutted against the sun’s last light, heads of to the next adventure, leaving behind the sadly smiling faces of those he’s rescued from whatever late 19th-century outlaws or robber barons were bleeding the town. Of course, it wasn’t his town.  It never is.  He’s always from somewhere else, on his way to somewhere else, stopping just long…
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What does one do with a day like Sunday, when the tectonic plates upon which your worldview sits shift, shaking your beliefs about life and love and soccer to the ground, leaving you nothing to do but to bury your dead, dry your tears, and walk into the vast desert that’s left of your dreams? How does the traumatized mind compartmentalize a day that started with its preferred EPL team (yes, that one) having cup…
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 When the Union take the field against Schalke 04 Wednesday night,  they can expect to see one of the nastiest and most effective players in the Bundesliga lining up opposite.  US international Jermaine Jones may have had a checkered career with the German side, but his skill both on and off the ball is unquestioned.  As a type of ball-winning defensive mid widely called a “destroyer,” Jones’ aggressive style has earned him both plaudits and…
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  How many times can the same themes be explored, over and over, by the same weary commentators that are just as tired of exploring them as fans are of seeing them played out on the pitch, week after week?  At what point does the loop reach critical mass, as each and every renewal of the same issues adds another layer of ennui?  It’s been said that insanity is defined by the expectation of different results from the…
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  It was a 2 hour drive from the Poconos to PPL Park, the hallowed place a certain unreasonable facsimile of a pseudo-soccer journalist was hell-bent on getting to before 7 o’clock.  Having just enjoyed the Pennsylvania countryside in somewhat unconventional fashion, my tired, bleeding, freezing, and only recently electrocuted little self kept the pedal to the medal, kept conscious only by the knowledge that the Union had finally found a little form.  This would be my reward, this my comfort. I…
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  “Sometimes something’s got to happen before something is going to happen”  – Johan Cryuff   In the final years of his life rumors abounded regarding chess legend Bobby Fischer.  Whispers of anonymous online games played at a grand-master level, evaluations of move sequences posted on message boards that showed an unparalleled understanding of the game.  From his Icelandic Elba the exile reached out thru dementia and paranoia like a spirit from another world, leaving…
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Following a remarkable victory over Italy and a debacle in Nashville during Olympic qualifying,  the US Men will once again take the field May 26th, starting a round of friendlies and leading into the first World Cup  Qualifier of 2012.  US Mens National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is about a month away from naming his May camp roster for the Yanks.  The end of most of the European seasons, and a series of FIFA dates…
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  WHAT SCORING PROBLEM? Clint Dempsey is the man.  If there was ever a doubt of this, Deuce’s 2011-12 campaign with Fullham has to put it to rest.  With 22 goals in all competitions, and a good chance of netting twenty in league play,  Clint has shattered records for club and country.  His recent goals put him past Michael Bradley’s 16 for Heerenveen in 2007, and into sole possession of the highest scoring season by…
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The blind squirrels have found their nut.  By upholding the high defensive standards that have come to be their most reliable asset, the Union was able to sneak away from PPL Park with 3 points by way of a single penalty kick. While it’s fantastic to see the that the Union defense is decidedly back on track, and the Union’s movement and possession were much improved, and it’s just plum wonderful to put a “W”…
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Jon Marks wrote a great piece earlier this week on Philly Union Talk exploring his thoughts on the Union’s slow start, the team’s relation to the city, and the role of fans.  This is my respectful rebuttal. The emergence of soccer into the national sporting consciousness of the United States over the last two decades has had an interesting effect on the way we as fans define and experience fandom.  Lacking, for the most part,…
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