tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54375614891886797372024-03-14T04:35:30.126-07:00Sideline ViewsPerspectives on the beautiful game of soccer; fueled by enormous amounts of coffeeA.C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03617669285297119500noreply@blogger.comBlogger5104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5437561489188679737.post-87526261965437084172020-12-01T06:07:00.010-08:002023-09-14T02:32:18.943-07:00Standing in Sad Sisterhood, with Regret<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">I wasn't as young as Skyler. I wasn't working directly for any MLS team, even as an intern. </span><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">In July, former <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NYCFC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NYCFC</a> intern Skyler Badillo leveled sexual harassment claims against David Villa.<br /><br />Now, she tells us her story. She says she was repeatedly harassed & touched inappropriately, and that NYCFC did nothing about it. <br /><br />On <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAthleticSCCR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheAthleticSCCR</a>: <a href="https://t.co/SdabGQAeO9">https://t.co/SdabGQAeO9</a></p>— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLSist/status/1330864280724516868?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 23, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">While trying to gather player comments for a post-game story, I knew <a href="http://sidelineviews.blogspot.com/2007/06/not-cool.html">the instant I was told to leave the locker room by a player</a> that it was happening because I was female and that was wrong. I had supportive reporter colleagues around me, even if they were somewhat confused because they didn't speak Spanish. I stood my ground and did my job, even if that meant getting quotes while <a href="http://sidelineviews.blogspot.com/2007/06/we-band-of-press-people.html">other players joked and catcalled and Ezra Hendrickson had to tell them to settle down</a>. Upon returning to the pressbox, I sent in my article and then wrote an email directly to the league about the incident. </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I didn't want to go public about it, but felt I had to explain <a href="http://sidelineviews.blogspot.com/2007/06/my-bad.html">what had already been mentioned,</a> and <a href="http://sidelineviews.blogspot.com/2007/06/not-excuse.html">so I did in blog form</a>. Like Skyler, I received a lot of comments appalled that anyone tried to prevent me from doing my job in peace, but of course, the words that stay in my head over a decade later are the ones of condemnation and shame. They still make me angry and frustrated. I was doing my job. </span><span class="fullpost"></span></span></div></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">But there is also still some lingering regret. In my email to MLS higher-ups (Director of Communications, League Executives) I mentioned specifically how the league needed to have some kind of transition training for players & staff who arrive from other countries and need to learn what's culturally acceptable in the US. The bullshit of that is that other players whooping at me in the locker room that night were American. In other words, players across the league needed sexual harassment avoidance training. I wish I'd insisted on that, maybe on threat of suing otherwise. </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">The month after the incident, I was in the press room at the MLS All-Star Game in Colorado when MLS Commissioner Don Garber approached me after his public press conference. He apologized, saying that he was told what happened, that he was appalled and that it shouldn't have happened. I was caught off-guard, and mumbled something like, "Thanks," and "Yeah, it shouldn't have." I was embarrassed. I'd worked hard at my job for years and <a href="https://sidelineviews.blogspot.com/2007/06/other-side-of-story.html">didn't want to be known</a> for a locker room scene. </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">Thing is, Garber's apology didn't really change anything, and certainly not for Skyler. I wish now I'd pulled out my recorder immediately and asked Garber if he'd commit on the record to league-wide sensitivity training for all staff and players, with a clear chain of reporting and accountability if anyone fell short. What was he going to do to make sure that what shouldn't have happened wouldn't happen again? Instead, I just hoped the league had <a href="https://sidelineviews.blogspot.com/2007/06/steves-take.html">learned a lesson and would do better. </a></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">Maybe pushing Garber to do more to address the issue all those years ago wouldn't have changed anything for Skyler, who was in a different situation than mine in many ways. But I wish I had done more, regardless. Instead, all I can offer now is that I'm appalled at what happened to her. It shouldn't have happened. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</span><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">"Women's soccer players generally are cute little White girls while WNBA players, we are all shapes and sizes ... a lot of Black, gay, tall women ... there is maybe an intimidation factor and people are quick to judge it and put it down," Sue Bird said <a href="https://t.co/J3Wz9WXOr0">https://t.co/J3Wz9WXOr0</a></span></p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">— CNN (@CNN) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1317589989241270272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2020</a></span></blockquote><p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">The blame is not entirely on the public here, given that US Soccer itself has gone out of its way to cultivate the image of the USWNT as, well, straight. Even as certain players have stepped forward and gone public with relationships with other women, there's been little coverage of that, at least from the team media channels or website, compared to the players on the team in relationships with men. Put "Zach Ertz" into the US Soccer website engine for comparison against Sue Bird or Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach's wife. Bird results come back in single digits and Doyle comes up a zero, opposed to Ertz's 24. </span></p><p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">There is a <a href="https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2020/07/the-us-soccer-podcast-episode-9-robbie-rogers">nice podcast on the site with Robbie Rogers</a> from July of this year, which is notable since he was the first openly out MLS player. However, all of his USMNT call-ups took place while he was closeted, so the distinction of being the first openly out USMNT player to take the field remains for someone to claim someday. Soon, I hope. </span></p><p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">It's a positive to see national team <a href="https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/sue-bird-megan-rapinoe-uswnt">players going directly to media about who they are and love</a>. I believe the WNBA deserves credit for blazing that trail and it is sad to think some of the repercussions have been negative. It's also about time for the USWNT team known at one point as "America's Sweethearts" to break from a stifling mold of conformity and fear of offending anyone. It's good for the revolving cycle of the public being fed an image, but also being blamed for that image being cultivated in the first place to stop. </span></p><p><br /></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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I don't remember exactly when I first saw the video of George Best and his enchanting, mazy run in NASL action with the Earthquakes, but I was entranced. Best was aptly named and his skills were beyond doubt, yet that wasn't ever going to be enough to take Northern Ireland to a World Cup. </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">The USA's dream run in 2002 hadn't been driven exclusively by Donovan, either, though he impressed, no doubt. The deep run in the tournament required key contributions by young MLS talents such as Clint Mathis, Damarcus Beaseley, Pablo Mastroeni, Brian McBride and key veterans such as Eddie Pope, as well as wily European-tested players like Claudio Reyna, Tony Sanneh, Eddie Lewis and John O'Brien. Brad Friedel was also in top form. Then the US played Germany. The team spirit the USA had built all through the tournament shone against one of the world's biggest teams, but a Michael Ballack goal was the difference to eliminate the scrappy Americans. </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AZsl_avazAQ/R5iyJDpSLeI/AAAAAAAABjY/bSzp45qg8lAwSNpOdR4iqiJrCEMseoufACPcBGAYYCw/s470/d.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="470" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AZsl_avazAQ/R5iyJDpSLeI/AAAAAAAABjY/bSzp45qg8lAwSNpOdR4iqiJrCEMseoufACPcBGAYYCw/s320/d.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">Germany didn't consider Michael Ballack a savior, of course. He was merely one in a long line of German greats. To me, it was telling that Germans didn't seem to even bother ever entering into the Pele/Maradona/Best/Cruyff argument of who was the greatest player. They just kept playing good soccer and winning World Cups (4x). </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">American Soccer, in my view, didn't need saving as much as it needed to be spared the angst many in the soccer community exhibited in obseessing continously on whatever their preferred unattainable silver bullet of soccer success happened to be (converting top athletes to play socccer, pro/rel, joining CONMEBOL, etc).</span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">I sat down with Donovan, asked questions and wrote up the article, trying to capture some of his enigmatic personality and quirks, but also tackling that inferiority aspect, since the first line went something like this:</span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">Landon Donovan will not save U.S.A soccer. </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">And the last line of the piece: American soccer can save itself, followed Donovan's quotes about some other young players he was expecting to make their impact on behalf of the US at the World Cup - Clint Dempsey was one specific mention, as Donovan noted his hunger. </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">Of course, that 2006 team didn't make it out of group play. Donovan didn't score a single goal and Dempsey announced himself on the world stage by scoring, albeit in a losing effort. It was a low point for American soccer fans -- though of course, not nearly as low as the fateful 10/10/2017 World Cup qualifying elimination. On the field that day for the infamous failure was a new US soccer darling, Christian Pulisic. His unmistakable talent couldn't propel the team to avoid a loss, but his star, already in the ascendency in his European club career, has risen now to the No. 10 jersey on the Premier League team, Chelsea. </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">Especially for <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1614/americans-abroad/2010/02/12/1787617/canales-corner-landon-donovan-and-you">US fans starved for overseas club success</a> for their players, that accomplishment alone puts Pulisic in the conversation for best American player ever, and <a href="http://www.yanksarecoming.com/christian-pulisic-is-just-getting-started-at-chelsea">there's more than</a> a <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/christian-pulisic-is-already-the-best-male-soccer-player-the-usa-has-ever-produced-and-its-ok-to-be-excited-about-it-160539699.html">few articles focused</a> on that discussion. Your milage may vary on how captivating the debate is when it still distills down to a version of, "Yes, our country's men's soccer team sucks, but here's this one very, very good player everyone has to respect!"</span></div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">USMNT's best 5 attackers and their contributions in major games over minutes played in a chart. <a href="https://t.co/o6yVL3H2ot">pic.twitter.com/o6yVL3H2ot</a></span></p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">— Tutul Rahman (@tutulismyname) <a href="https://twitter.com/tutulismyname/status/1293584559393648640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2020</a></span></blockquote> <span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></span><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">Do American soccer fans want their team to be more like Germany, and Pulisic to be an important cog in that machine, or do they want to have Pulisic be their George Best? I honestly appreciate both, but for different reasons. </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">I'm curious if Pulisic checks out his old team, Dortmund, partly to see how Gio Reyna is progressing -- or views highlight clips of a wide array of young talented Americans, both abroad and in MLS, who might be contibuting teammates in the future mission of getting the USA men back to the World Cup tournament, and then powering another deep run to actually compete for the title. The USMNT reached the semifinal in 1930, but the squad has never contented in the championship final. Pulisic is still young enough to imagine himself at multiple future World Cups. It's a long way from not even playing in the tournament, to vying for the trophy, but there's a new generation of possibilities now, and the alchemy to meld them well can happen, even if it's more elusive than establishing an alltime best. </span></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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The limiting policy of the nationalistic player roster is only part of the reason why. </span><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">There wasn't much in it, but <a href="https://twitter.com/ClubAmerica_EN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ClubAmerica_EN</a>'s victory over <a href="https://twitter.com/ChivasEN_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChivasEN_</a> a reminder that the gap between <a href="https://twitter.com/LigaBBVAMX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LigaBBVAMX</a>'s big two is still there. Chivas have spent money as they needed to, but Vucetich is going to need time. Promising from Gio last night. <a href="https://t.co/KG8IzvNcFK">https://t.co/KG8IzvNcFK</a></p>— Tom Marshall (@mexicoworldcup) <a href="https://twitter.com/mexicoworldcup/status/1307749181696675843?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /><span class="fullpost"></span></span><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">This <a href="http://sidelineviews.blogspot.com/search/label/Padilla">blog has covered numerous times how the policy of Chivas</a> changed over the years, but most obviously and officially, under the late Jorge Vergara, from only fielding players born IN Mexico to now fielding players born eligible for Mexican citizenship (they could be born anywhere in the world, but had to have at least one Mexican parent or grandparent). The fact that Luis and I uncovered the ruse <a href="https://chivaschingon.mforos.com/79392/7309358-jesus-padilla-podria-haber-nacido-en-eu/">Chivas had been using (fake birth certificates) helped make the change public</a>. Vergara rode the idea that gringo USA reporters were somehow attacking the Chivas legacy by exposing his deception to help get everyone to accept the change. </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">Now Miguel Angel Ponce and Isaac Brizuela are longtime stalwarts for the Guadalajara squad, despite their American roots. But Chivas still has a shortsighted policy in place that maintains that any dual-citizen who signs for them has to renounce ever playing with a non-Mexican national team. Frankly, such a contract clause shouldn't be legal or binding over any professional international athlete. It also either limits Chivas to signing Mexican-American players who probably aren't going to be called up by either team or limits the players who sign with the club to only playing with Mexico. </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">What the nationalist approach has done in addition to build up a following for Chivas is to help keep out players of African heritage. Naturilized players, like Zinha, have featured for the Mexican national team, but not for Chivas. That's part of the reason there was a certain irony in Giovanni Dos Santos scoring the winning goal for Club America over Chivas in Liga MX action on Saturday. He's obviously Mexican and has featured internationally for El Tri many times. So why wasn't he a top option for Chivas brass to land as player instead of him going to their rivals? </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">The easy answer is that Club America had more cash to splash on a player who has struggled with injuries of late. The answer fans of Chivas have to confront at some point is that it doesn't seem to be priority for the club to integrate the squad. Of course, there's something to be said for the idea that the top priority for any club should be winning, but if that was the case, why not allow all citizens of Mexico, naturalized or born eligible or eligible for other national teams or playing for other national teams, to be Chivas players? They'd still be Chivas. <a href="https://www.fmfstateofmind.com/2017/10/18/16310878/tear-down-that-wall-how-an-american-came-to-love-chivas-guadalajara-liga-mx">They'd likely attract even more fans</a>. They'd still be an all-Mexican team, but one that's more inclusive and likely more diverse. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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The biggest change currently is that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, people who are trying to keep everyone safe are staying mostly indoors, wearing masks and social distancing when they do go out in public. <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HrdQY5M17LI/X0-ONWovVhI/AAAAAAAANXU/UgglzAxvYpsU0ojJMYcm4337UMetjZ9kgCLcBGAsYHQ/s667/coffee.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HrdQY5M17LI/X0-ONWovVhI/AAAAAAAANXU/UgglzAxvYpsU0ojJMYcm4337UMetjZ9kgCLcBGAsYHQ/w150-h200/coffee.jpg" title="Still fueled by coffee" width="150" /></a></div><div><div>I had dipped back into the educational field after my ESPN contract expired in 2017, but my contract at the school where I worked ended in June, so I'm job hunting during a pandemic. Fun. </div><div><br /></div><div>Lots of things give me hope, however, even during a Trump presidency. The moment for social justice and confronting racial inequality seems more timely than ever and in many ways, the sports world and athletes are leading the way. </div><div><br /></div><div>Also, since the <a href="https://www.si.com/more-sports/2010/02/08/sol-wps" target="_blank">untimely death of the Sol,</a> there's a <a href="https://weareangelcity.com/">women's soccer team coming to Los Angeles</a>! With a lot of female investors, including Serena Williams and her daughter, Olympia. </div><div><br /></div><div>I have to give the NWSL a lot of credit for lasting longer than any previous women's soccer league in the USA. I still wish it had done so without being propped up by the USSF paying the NWSL salaries of the USWNT players. Even more so, I wish the UWSNT players hadn't inserted that infamous clause into their payment contract. To clarify, I'm referring to the contract clause where the USSF had to guarantee the lowest-paid USWNT salary in the NWSL would always be more than the payment of any other player signed to the league. It wouldn't matter if the NWSL Player of the Year was non-USWNT, either (which happened multiple times). There was no bonus option for any non-USWNT NWSL player to ever out-earn the USSF-paid group. <a href="http://media.philly.com/storage/philly/tannenwald/20160204_ussf_vs_uswnt_initial_filing.pdf">All legal papers pictured here courtesy of Jonathan Tannenwald's posting of the initial filing of the USWNT lawsuit.</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ugFLoXt_xUM/X08feaYIcVI/AAAAAAAANW8/iwjrWaN627EUgZZe_ur-20wi8BjvX3PTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s789/2020-09-01%2B%25282%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="789" height="324" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ugFLoXt_xUM/X08feaYIcVI/AAAAAAAANW8/iwjrWaN627EUgZZe_ur-20wi8BjvX3PTQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h324/2020-09-01%2B%25282%2529.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Then they sued for equal pay. No, not the NWSL players who weren't part of the USWNT (basically all the foreign players and US players just outside the USWNT top tier), the USWNT players sued the federation for equal pay to the men's contract, ignoring how they had recently signed a separate contract with their own specifications. I'll give them credit for great public relations, because they did an excellent job of promoting their cause as a progressive feminist one. </div><div><br /></div><div>It frankly puzzles me how the USWNT can package their pay movement as being on behalf of women when the contract they signed as a group created an NWSL caste system which kept their group (and their group only) as the highest paid. The contract clause was an unbreakable glass ceiling that kept other women from being compensated as well. Many of them looking for "fair pay" for their play either left the league (Kim Little, NWSL MVP 2014) or never signed with it (Deyna Castellanos specified that the inability to be paid as much as the USWNT in the league factored into her signing abroad).</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="es">I would love to consider <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NWSL</a> but hard to do that when rules do not favor international talent. This article explains some of the reasons in great form. Maybe one day 🤷🏼♀️<br /><br />Me encantaría considerar la <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NWSL</a> como opción pero es difícil hacerlo cuando las reglas no nos favorecen <a href="https://t.co/dae9JoOBHX">https://t.co/dae9JoOBHX</a></p>— Deyna Castellanos (@deynac18) <a href="https://twitter.com/deynac18/status/1190262984947445760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div><div><br /></div><div>Think about this, since the NWSL started in 2013 all the way to 2019, a foreign player (Little, Sam Kerr 3x) has won the League Golden Boot the majority of the time. Due at least in part to the "Most-favored Player" clause, none of those players made equal or more than the lowest-paid USWNT player in NWSL salary. </div><div><br /></div><div>Back in 2016, I discussed some of these NWSL issues with a national soccer writer. Here's a transcript of our online messages on the topic. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span style="font-size: x-small;">NSW: <i>I find your candor in the WNT debate -- going back months -- refreshing and remarkably on point. Of course it's 20 women out for themselves. Too bad the woso set is so angry they're not actually reading the words.</i> </span><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me: I started out covering women's college soccer & figure the least I can add now and then to the convo is my honest perspective. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">NSW: <i>Deep down, I bet the WNT players would sacrifice the entire NWSL in a NY minute for full-time residency on salary. Preferably in California.</i> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me: Some definitely would, and they tend to be the ones with big sponsor compensation as well. You can see the huge difference in the way they play for their club teams versus the national team. Some play NWSL like they're doing the world a favor. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />NSW: <i>Equal play, equal pay, equally M.I.A. </i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me: It's a PR disaster, for sure, for the USSF, and I'm sure they want it all to go away. Problem is, the whole "going away" thing at some point may take NWSL with it. I know it's worst-case scenario, but then again, I've watched two of these leagues go up in smoke. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">NSW: <i>But for the optics of folding your women's league while bidding for a WC, I figured they'd pull the plug this winter.
But hard to sustain. My bet is they cut a deal and fold it into MLS. Built-in stadiums, PR megaphone, ticket-sales partners, sponsors -- just makes more sense, financially, to me to have everyone in the same boat, rowing the same direction. Of course, the WNT will hate it, but they may not have a choice. </i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me: Beyond the WNT hating it, there's quite a few in MLS opposed as well. They see the women's league as a huge albatross & have the view that they prefer to follow NFL model, with no supplementary women's league.
Even some former women's league supporters, like Anschutz, are in this boat now. My point is, MLS wants to be wooed into taking on a women's league. The WNT controls much of the NWSL structure and they're not going to that altar willingly, let alone wooing.
So I'm not optimistic. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">NSW: <i>Garber would be a negotiation genius if he can pull it off. Actually, what it will really take is for the three MLS-affiliated teams to really do well.
Nothing convinces people with money like money. He needs Portland's crew to sell it to the others. </i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me: As long as Portland's success is alone, it's an outlier. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">(This part of the convo referred to the starting 11 of an NWSL game about to start)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">NSW: <i>As if any NWSL team is allowed to sit a WNT player.</i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me: Never even thought about that. Might be unwritten rule, for sure, but how to prove it? </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">NSW: <i>Only a fired coach would say so. But then, only a moron would bench a NT-level player for some of the extras and emergency fill-ins that league regularly runs out</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me: It's a Catch 22 again - why would any NT level players from other top countries ever sign with NWSL if teams can't even match the salary being made by lowest paid USWNT players?
That's just a set up to sign mostly scrubs. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">NSW: <i>Exactly. And protect the gravy train from interlopers.
Or from getting shown up on the field by better pros.</i> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me: Still, I was really surprised to see the venom among some WoSo players for Marta's contract back in WPS. Arguably, she was so good and so well known that she was still worth the profile she brought. But the backlash allowed the USWNT to sorta frame the exclusionary aspect of their contract as a GOOD thing for the NWSL to be so protectionist.
But really, it's taking everything bad about Marta's contract and extrapolating it to the entire team, instead of just one person. It's jingoistic, and the opposite of "Fair pay for play" to have a contract that guarantees that the whole team will always make more than any foreign player ever will. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">NSW: <i>That's the biggest bull in the whole argument. It's protectionism, pure and simple. And it makes them all full of crap.
Of course, they'd probably just as soon see the league fail. Full time NT residency camp a much easier life.</i> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me: Especially for those who prefer to live in Los Angeles anyway. It's just that the league now seems set up on a false premise - geared to players who are in it to try not to win for their clubs, but to earn a call-up and a USWNT contract to play for real money.
They hang on to that dream as long as they can, then they let go. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">NSW: <i>Except there is no room at the inn.</i> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me: Yep. It ends up like the lottery, or the Hunger Games for those females scrapping so hard with so little, for so long, for just a couple of new USWNT spots that these days are more likely to go to a college phenom anyway, not an NWSL player at all. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">NSW: <i>Truth</i></span></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>What's changed in four years? </div><div><br /></div><div>Well, the NWSL has endured and even raised their salary cap a modest amount.<a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/07/07/739305526/four-peat-u-s-womens-soccer-team-wins-world-cup-title"> The USWNT won another World Cup, </a>which gave them a great bargaining position against the USSF. Also, the infamous NWSL clause disappeared -- or at least, it wasn't specifically present in any of the current documents of the USSF/USWNT lawsuit agreement. The entire 2017 CBA agreement, which expires in 2021, wasn't ever released publicly, so we don't really know. </div><div><br /></div><div> Some other stuff came out, including <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-usa/story/4073719/us-soccer-president-carlos-cordeiro-steps-down-amid-uswnt-pay-dispute">a horribly sexist and paternalistic argument from the USSF about the USWNT. </a>This led to the resignation of Carlos Cordiero (next time, read your lawyer's papers) and the installation of former WC winner Cindy Parlow Cone. </div><div><br /></div><div>Though the latest judge's ruling has focused on how the USWNT as a group signed their contract and it is binding on that basis, it didn't really address the inequality aspect. Frankly, the stupid USSF wording about the women concerning "<span style="background-color: white; color: #48494a; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">certain physical attributes such as speed and strength." </span>made it impossible for the public to focus on more valid differences between the WNT and MNT, like how the qualifying for the World Cup is completely different or how WNT contracts pay salaries differently & offer different benefits (such as to pregnant players) because the women have different situations. Equal pay by the USWNT is always presented without their NWSL pay factored in, although the USSF not only pays that, but through the clause, affected the pay of other league players. </div><div><br /></div><div>Media coverage of the USWNT has generally been solidly in their camp, with very few bothering to mention that the <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2017/4/5/15190488/uswnt-cba-deal-united-states-national-team-usa-womens-soccer">2017 labor contract was voluntarily signed</a>, or that USWNT NWSL salaries are paid by the USSF. Not a single reporter has ever, to the best of my knowledge, even asked any USWNT member about the salary clause that kept all of them on a different earning plane than their club peers, let alone the possible hypocrisy related to their current lawsuit. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><a href="https://rantingsoccerdad.com/">Beau Dure</a> has been one of the few soccer writers even looking at possible USWNT <a href="https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/82930/how-the-quest-for-back-pay-in-the-us-womens-tea.html">lawsuit ramifications on the next generation of female players. </a> If you don't want to sign up for Soccer America's free articles or subscribe for unlimited access, I'll spill the tea -- it could be very bad. Even without the worst case scenario, the current lawyer costs have no doubt impacted the USSF finances and therefore, investment in youth development somewhat. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not changing my name from Canales to "What Happened to the NWSL Salary Clause, USWNT?" yet, though I'd buy a reasonably priced T-shirt of that phrase. It's long been my view that the WNT are deserving of a better contract with the USSF, one that's specific to their needs and desires. The equal pay campaign of USNT being warriors on behalf of all women players, however, that glosses over their past of being decidedly unequal in regards to NWSL seems conveniently revisionist at best and downright deceptive at worst. Pretending there was never a clause about "no non-WNT Player receives compensation greater than a WNT Player," doesn't make it true. The clause was in multiple MOUs that appeared to be in effect from 2013 to 2017, at least.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D3a0FTeQIf0/X0-UmvsmwdI/AAAAAAAANXs/E2R1oBFJ1ZkByPM-GG122mjZnFeNy3ZyACLcBGAsYHQ/s842/2020-09-02%2B%25282%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="842" height="280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D3a0FTeQIf0/X0-UmvsmwdI/AAAAAAAANXs/E2R1oBFJ1ZkByPM-GG122mjZnFeNy3ZyACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h280/2020-09-02%2B%25282%2529.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>That matters, even if it's gone now. In this<a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/youre-not-cutting-me-out-of-that-upside-rapinoe-uswnt-players-upset-with-new-nwsl-pay-guideline-191011758.html" target="_blank"> Caitlin Murray article about the new NWSL allocation pay structure,</a> Megan Rapinoe is vociferous in her objection to the possibility that someone on her NWSL squad might possibly get paid more than herself. Though she specified "<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Yahoo Sans";">we need to find a way to appropriately compensate our best and brightest," </span>that clearly wasn't as big a priority in 2013, when she signed onto the clause that kept all non-USWNT players out of Most-Favored Player status; that clause isn't mentioned in the article. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not paid to write on soccer anymore, so who knows if I'll ever get to ask any USWNT member the clause question. Perhaps by the time I do, no one on the current team will know. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I loved that car. It ran fine on the cheapest gas. I could push the side swivel windows to get a nice breeze on my face on a hot day. I never got a speeding ticket in that car. I would draft behind trucks on the freeway to minimize the shaking. The front space under the hood had plenty of storage. Parts were pretty inexpensive and some simple repairs and oil changes I learned how to do myself. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My friends loved it because no one felt bad about getting beach sand in my car, a cooler would fit under the back seat, and they could hear/spot my vehicle coming from a considerable distance. They dubbed it MGD.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e0/65/75/e065754fcb3e2378a8208fba42f53566.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e0/65/75/e065754fcb3e2378a8208fba42f53566.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://paintref.com/graphics/sample/beetle19742695a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><img border="0" src="http://paintref.com/graphics/sample/beetle19742695a.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Mine looked like this, except with a black hood, and not quite as pristine.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway, not all my friends at this time were broke artists. One had just finished medical school and celebrated by purchasing a beautiful BMW. Determined to keep it looking/running perfectly, he opted out of beach and camping trips, bought only the most expensive gas and got it washed and detailed regularly. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He trusted me to drive it and I got my first speeding ticket in that car, partly because it traveled so smoothly I didn't feel I was going fast at all. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On the other hand, he couldn't drive my car without getting incredibly frustrated. He'd forget how to start it, couldn't get a good feel for the clutch and would stall often, would panic when the shaking started, and broke the swivel mechanism on the driver's window trying to adjust it. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But this was all the car's fault, always. "How can you drive such a piece of crap?" was his constant question. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'd just shrug. My car worked for me, I knew how to work with it, it got me places and it was mine. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"Let's go in Andrea's car," my buddy Rachel said when we were planning a road trip up the coast with friends. "If we go in the doctor's BMW, he won't let us eat in the car or pull off the road for anything interesting." </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anyway, that's my analogy for the USMNT. Clearly, the team is more like my Bug, and my argument has never been that the players are so good that they deserve a better coach than Klinsmann. It's more that because the team isn't that good, they need a better (more versatile, more inspirational, more creative, more tactical) coach. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ADmxI1hUDwM/Vvce7YXIWBI/AAAAAAAAIsc/CvJQyWAN-H4x6HpCurIv1FG5UhVmbK3nQ/s1600/IMG_1545%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ADmxI1hUDwM/Vvce7YXIWBI/AAAAAAAAIsc/CvJQyWAN-H4x6HpCurIv1FG5UhVmbK3nQ/s400/IMG_1545%255B1%255D.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and the MGD, back in the day. </td></tr>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Klinsmann is like the BMW-driving doctor, wondering why he can't coach the USA like he did Germany, refusing to adjust his approach and blaming the players every time things don't work, even when he makes a huge mistake (LD, the broken window swivel). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I used to be pretty generous with my car. If someone needed to borrow the MGD for any reason, my only condition was that they know how to drive a stick shift. But after I fixed the window swivel, I barred the doctor from driving my car ever again. I realized I had to look out for what was mine, and if he wasn't going to be careful with it, I had to draw that line. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He acted like it was no great loss, of course. Who would want to drive that piece of crap USMNT? </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W27YLNHBiPw/Vp71HXLFa1I/AAAAAAAAIrA/c-8FYFXbdvk/s1600/FullSizeRender%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W27YLNHBiPw/Vp71HXLFa1I/AAAAAAAAIrA/c-8FYFXbdvk/s320/FullSizeRender%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benny at MLS media day</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Benny Feilhaber lobbed some truth</span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> bombs on the USMNT situation with Jurgen Klinsmann today. Reporters who still cover the squad will no doubt<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2016/01/19/jurgen-klinsmann-usmnt-player-selection-policy-benny-feilhaber-major-league-soccer/79038792/?hootPostID=0f6217aac7d75c8f5c8e424e03d4d751"> have more complete quotes and analysis and so</a></span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2016/01/19/jurgen-klinsmann-usmnt-player-selection-policy-benny-feilhaber-major-league-soccer/79038792/?hootPostID=0f6217aac7d75c8f5c8e424e03d4d751"> </a></span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2016/01/19/jurgen-klinsmann-usmnt-player-selection-policy-benny-feilhaber-major-league-soccer/79038792/?hootPostID=0f6217aac7d75c8f5c8e424e03d4d751">on</a>, but personally, I agree with Feilhaber a lot (more so than with <a href="http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2015/12/17/abby-wambach-foreign-players-landon-donovan-mix-diskerud-usmnt">Wambach or LD's comments,</a> for example). Anyway, here's what I transcribed from the MLS media roundtable session.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>(Benny was asked about being in the LA area at the same time as the USMNT team, and how did he feel about not getting a look under JK)</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For me personally, I’ve accepted the fact that Jurgen’s not
going to call me. If I played the year that I played this last year and didn’t
get called, I’m not getting the opportunity under Jurgen. That’s something I
just have to accept. It’s - I wouldn’t say frustrating, I’m almost sad, because I feel like I’m
playing the best soccer of my career, but I don’t get the opportunity to play
for my country. So yeah, it’s something that I’ve just kind of accepted. It just
is what it is. It’s not going to happen with Jurgen as the coach. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Does that drive you at all? Do you use that as motivation?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not really. A lot of people get driven by things that they
don’t get. I’m more driven by being able
to do things, like more in a positive way, I guess. I loved winning MLS Cup
with Kansas City, I loved winning Open Cup, I love performing at a high level
every week last year, getting goals and getting assists. All that stuff drives
me. The accolades that come with it are not the thing that I’m thinking of, but
that’s nice, too. All those good things drive me to continue playing well and I’m
hoping that I continue that way this next year and for however long I can keep
playing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Jurgen seems to have an issue with MLS – does that surprise
you for the coach of the US national team? </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I don’t know. I’m sure there are some other coaches that
said some negative things about MLS as well, but – is it surprising? Not
really. From what I see, I think that Jurgen takes some players in MLS and uses
the fact that they’re in MLS to maybe not call them up or whatever. You look at
some of the top players that played this year – you take a Sacha Kljestan, you
take a Dax McCarty, you take a Matt Hedges, I’m sure you could go on and on,
these guys aren’t getting an opportunity. So it’s not just me, there’s people
like that. There’s people in Europe, too. I can’t name a lot of guys, because I
don’t know some of the younger guys, but like an Eric Lichaj, he’s been playing
well in Europe for countless years and he hasn’t really been given any
opportunity either, so, you know, there’s guys in MLS and guys in Europe who
don’t get opportunities with Jurgen for whatever reason. I think that a lot of
these issues - and maybe I’m going off
topic a little bit, but a lot of these issues that some people have with foreign
players getting called in – I have zero problem with that. I think FIFA allows
national teams to get players that weren’t necessarily born in certain countries,
and I think that’s an advantage that any national team coach of any team should
take advantage of, but I don’t think that that Jurgen calls in the best players
that are available to him. That for me is a problem. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B-CwgB8nDKU/SitQMwzBUUI/AAAAAAAADak/If7ic5w5rLQ/s1600/Benny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B-CwgB8nDKU/SitQMwzBUUI/AAAAAAAADak/If7ic5w5rLQ/s320/Benny.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benny back in his USMNT days</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There’s players that are
better than other players that he doesn’t get – that don’t get an opportunity
with the national team. That for me is a bigger deal than anything else.
Everybody points fingers at certain things, but for me, that’s the most
important thing. I think the – I’m just talking now, because I know this wasn’t
the question, but in regards to how a coach should approach a team, not just a
national team, but just any team, there’s obviously two duties: One, that’s
making the best team that you can possibly make with the players that are
available to you and Two, try to continuously improve that team so that it
doesn’t stall in any way and continues to improve. And for me, Jurgen seems to
try to do the second one without doing the first one. He’d rather put young
guys on the team who could potentially become important on the team and leave
out players who can make the team better
right now. And for me, that’s the number one job of the national team coach –
of any coach – is not to make the team as good as he can make it in five years,
but to make it as good as he can make it right now and to continuously improve
it for five years. That he doesn’t do - his job. Because there are players in the pool
that do not get called in that have performed well enough on the field to get
an opportunity. That is my biggest problem with how Jurgen selects his players. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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</script></div>A.C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03617669285297119500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5437561489188679737.post-31450936638293423472015-08-15T12:06:00.001-07:002015-08-15T12:08:40.062-07:00Mas y Mas Gio<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More leftover quotes on Gio/Galaxy. </span><br />
<div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Head coach Bruce Arena</span><span class="fullpost" style="color: #274e13;">
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-a2da5287-32ac-3bef-1334-b37a967fb4e0"><span style="color: #274e13;"></span></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-a2da5287-32ac-3bef-1334-b37a967fb4e0"><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Players are getting better. We’ve had a long year. We’ve had a lot of injuries and absences for periods of time. For the most part, we’re over the hump and hopefully, we can get our team healthy and ready for the last nine season games and hopefully for the playoffs. </i></span></span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-a2da5287-32ac-3bef-1334-b37a967fb4e0"><span style="color: #274e13;">
<i></i></span></span>
<div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-a2da5287-32ac-3bef-1334-b37a967fb4e0"><span style="color: #274e13;"><i><i><br /></i></i></span></span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-a2da5287-32ac-3bef-1334-b37a967fb4e0"><span style="color: #274e13;"><i>
--Injuries?</i><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>We’ll see. Baggio should be back soon. </i></span></div>
<i><br /></i><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>--Expectations? </i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Not at all. We have to step on the field and play well each and every game and try to win. All that other stuff is all garbage and hype. We don’t talk about championships yet. </i></span></div>
<i><br /></i><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>--Supporters' Shield?</i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>It’d be nice to have. The way the league is made up right now, with the regular season schedule, it’s hard, because too many teams play without their players for so many games. The Supporters’ Shield is an awkward goal to have, given that a number of teams play without their players for long periods of time. So it makes that difficult. </i></span></div>
<i><br /></i><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>--Robbie Rogers Achilles heel issue?</i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Every player has injuries and deals with it differently. He’s playing 90 minutes now. </i></span></div>
<i><br /></i><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>--Dallas?</i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>They’re a good team. I haven’t watched them that closely, but Castillo continues to be dangerous player. Diaz is good. Perez has been outstanding goalscorer. Defensively, they’re pretty solid. They’re a good team. </i></span></div>
<i><br /></i><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>We’ve seen the weather before. We had weather the other day, so it’s not an excuse. Still weather. </i></span></div>
<i><br /></i><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>--Gio adjustment? There’s been no issues to date. Like any player, they’ll be some ups and downs along the way, but he’s doing very well. </i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><i></i></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>.<a href="https://twitter.com/OficialGio">@OficialGio</a> marked his <a href="https://twitter.com/MLS">@MLS</a> debut with a goal and an assist.
Recap: <a href="http://t.co/s5Kz6lPso6">http://t.co/s5Kz6lPso6</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LAvSEA?src=hash">#LAvSEA</a> <a href="http://t.co/6DFcHV4lx3">pic.twitter.com/6DFcHV4lx3</a></i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) <a href="https://twitter.com/LAGalaxy/status/630506077533003776">August 9, 2015</a></i></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></i></span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ignacio Maganto, Galaxy midfielder</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>--On playing with Gio in his Galaxy debut</i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>It was good for him to get minutes and he did well. </i></span></div>
<i><br /></i><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>--Gio adjustment?</i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>He spent many years in Spain, and his style of play is similar to mine, and I like that a lot. We understand each other well.</i> </span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chris Klein, Galaxy president. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>--On what it took to bring Gio in. </i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>We feel great about the opportunity that we can provide to a player. We’re thankful that we have a club that has history, with good people involved from top to bottom. </i></span><i style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">We want a certain type of player to be in our club. We have a list that we always come back to. We evaluate a number of different options and where that player is at in his career and what the cost is going to be. Gio’s name kept popping up at the top of the list. We’re thankful that we got the deal done. It was the right time for him and the right time for us. </i></div>
<i><br /></i><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>--Does Gio signing combat retirement stereotype of MLS?</i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>We’ve got players like Gyasi, players like Omar, players like Jose, Landon, the list goes on and on. The fact that Gerrard is here and that Keane keeps playing at 35 - they could play on a number of different teams around the world still. 1,2 players doesn’t make it a retirement league. </i></span></div>
<i><br /></i><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>--Did LD retirement push Gio chase?</i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>We look at our team as a whole. </i></span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jovan Kirovski, Galaxy technical director</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>--On Gio adjustment. </i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>I think the travel is a big part. You’re playing 100 percent humidity in Houston, altitude in Colorado, That’s a big adjustment. The style of play and the way that they’re playing is a little bit different than it is in Spain. It would be more spacier, a little slower pace, but he’s getting adjusted to playing with these players as well. It’s a little bit different. </i></span></div>
<i><br /></i><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>He’s arrived, he played his first game, scored his first goal. That's the main piece. After that, there’s the travel. He’s in a great group here. So he has a lot of the tools here and a good environment. </i></span></div>
<i><br /></i><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>When you look at different DPs and who can make an impact here, not just playing on the field, a DP for the Galaxy isn’t going to be the same as for any other club. He’s one that checks every box. It was no question that he was one of the top players we could get. </i></span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alan Gordon, Galaxy striker</span></div>
<br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>--On making Gio feel comfortable on the team. </i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>I’ve just tried to be myself. That’s who I’ve been all along and I’m still that person. I’m trying to be a leader, the most I can, even to a young star like Gio. I just try to be myself, not look at them as the stars they are, but as teammates. I hope that’s refreshing for them in a way. We’ve had instant connection. He likes to laugh and smile and so do I. Anybody like that, I’m going to connect with right away. It’s been good so far. </i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i></i></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Welcome to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LAGalaxy?src=hash">#LAGalaxy</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/OficialGio">@OficialGio</a>. <a href="http://t.co/ozSS5P11nc">http://t.co/ozSS5P11nc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCCL?src=hash">#SCCL</a> <a href="http://t.co/GOZUMTThPI">pic.twitter.com/GOZUMTThPI</a></i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) <a href="https://twitter.com/LAGalaxy/status/629494223247572992">August 7, 2015</a></i></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>We just joke around, laugh and smile. </i></span></div>
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<i style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Very eager. It’s been a long year. We had all this anticipation waiting for Gerrard, and Gio and then Keane was out a while, too. Finally, for them all to be here. We grinded it out earlier this year - we battled. Now it’s time to have a little bit of fun with everybody available and see what we can do. We’re just as curious as everybody else to see how it’s going to all play out and work hard and we’re anxious to see where it can all go. </i></div>
<i><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t think it’s all going to be supersmooth. I’m ready to lace them up and work hard. </span></i></span></span></div>
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</script></div>A.C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03617669285297119500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5437561489188679737.post-81711430652691902502015-08-14T17:00:00.002-07:002015-08-14T17:14:14.762-07:00Dan the Man<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I mentioned on Twitter today that I could have made my entire "<a href="http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-soccer/19/blog/post/2562851/giovani-dos-santos-la-galaxy-big-ambitions-mls-concacaf-cl">Galaxy teammates adjusting to Gio</a>" piece all on Dan Gargan's quotes. </span><span class="fullpost" style="color: #274e13;">
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To prove it, I'll just leave the ones I didn't use right here. </span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-a2da5287-2e9f-4c45-f94b-6d1d93150b1c"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">We understand the elements (heat in Dallas). It’s not going to be a surprise. We got a good result on the road in Colorado. </span></i></span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-a2da5287-2e9f-4c45-f94b-6d1d93150b1c"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">That’s what our focus is for the next nine, to sharpen up and tighten some things in our game. </span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">People hyping our team means zero. People’s opinions on a team that hasn’t really played together yet don’t really mean anything. We all know that every day is a new day, so if we don’t prepare and bring our best game to every game, we have just as much opportunity of getting beat as anybody else does. Unless we’re prepared to live up to those expectations on a daily basis, that praise being put on our team doesn’t mean much. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">That’s a definite.That’s something that the guys here have understood and adapted to. We understand that when we’re not prepared to play a game, we’re going to get beat because there’s a lot of good teams in this league. We’re adjusted to that and well aware of it. That only helps us, because that raises our level as well. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">We’re all here to win titles. Just because Gio comes in and says he wants to win a title, that’s no different than the other 29 guys sitting in that locker room, because they all want to win championships, too. If they were to come in and say, we don’t want to win a championship, that wouldn’t be aligned with what everyone else is thinking. For them to say that they want to come here and win a title, well, of course they do. That’s why they’re coming here and that’s why everyone else is here. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">I'm absolutely not satisfied. If that was the case, then what am I doing here? What are we all doing here? If we’re not trying to win? That’s the name of the game. That’s why we play. That’s it. This isn’t rec sports. We’re not out here just for fun. Winning is what we do and what gives us the most joy. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">We’re greedy. Bruce has put together a roster that’s capable of doing that. The Supporters’ Shield might be tough to attain at this point, but I don’t think it’s out of reach. Hopefully, if we continue to gel and put the right pieces together and find a good rhythm so that another championship is realistic as well.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">Our approach might be a little bit different this weekend. They’re a dangerous team. They play kind of a different style. They have a lot of guys who are able to exploit weaknesses in one on one, which tends to make for a more disjointed game. Our team is focused on maintaining a good 11. This is a good test. It’ll be a formidable opponent. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">They both have some very dynamic players. They have that playmaker that sits in the hole and tries to pick out players. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><a href="http://www.lagalaxy.com/post/2015/08/06/la-galaxy-unveil-dan-gargan%E2%80%99s-commemorative-match-poster-seattle-sounders-fc-match"><span style="color: #660000;">That was a fun piece. </span></a><span style="color: #274e13;">Sadly, it was only too easy to convince Alan to do that and show off his abs.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial;"><i>Welcome to the club <a href="https://twitter.com/OficialGio">@OficialGio</a>!! In honor of this momentous occasion, I drew a picture of you for the game <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LAvSEA?src=hash">#LAvSEA</a>. <a href="http://t.co/j8eDTdqMzm">pic.twitter.com/j8eDTdqMzm</a></i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial;"><i>— Daniel Gargan (@HeyDanGargan) <a href="https://twitter.com/HeyDanGargan/status/629730251900260352">August 7, 2015</a></i></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">He’s a good solid veteran. He’s been doing it for a while. Jaime was very good at reactionary saves. Donovan (Ricketts) is more of a presence in goal. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">For better or for worse, it could go either way, Gio’s a little bit more instinctual in front of the goal, in terms of creating stuff for himself. Landon was a very selfless player, both ways. If he needed to finish a goal, he’d finish a goal and he would also track back 90 yards to stop a play if he saw that developing. From what I’ve seen from Gio, he’s deadly in front of the net. That’s hopefully where we’ll be able to find him in those positions. We looked to Landon to alleviate a little bit more pressure for us and kind of take over games. Gio will fit in well with our attacking corps and kind of create a bit more. That’s what I’ve seen so far. Both are obviously very talented and very deserving of wearing the #10 for LA. Wouldn’t see much difference there. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">Landon was a veteran at this point, and a veteran of the league as well. Gio’s coming in and he’s younger and he’s also new to the league. He probably doesn’t have the same amount of confidence from an understanding of the league. He’s learning and seeing a new culture and environment for himself. That’ll take time for him to get settled and to get comfortable. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #274e13;">Keane’s a link. That’s not only a captain’s responsibility, it’s a friend’s responsibility. He has a relationship with both of them prior to the Galaxy. In order for both of them to feel comfortable, he’s been able to integrate them into the group. It’s not like the other guys on the team have been closed off. We have a pretty good locker room and it’s been very open and welcoming. Both of those guys, Gio and Gerrard, have fit in pretty well. </span></i></span></div>
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<i style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #274e13;">I’ve been a witness to Stevie coming, and everyone was excited for him. Gio attracts a different fan base. He’s a bit younger. He also has the Mexican side, which is a big community in LA. The response to Gio being signed is a bit different, but the LA Galaxy community is excited to have both of them and rightfully so. </span></i></div>
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</script></div>A.C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03617669285297119500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5437561489188679737.post-7353125529280228022015-08-14T12:05:00.003-07:002015-08-14T12:05:49.974-07:00Stevie's Thoughts<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wondered what Steven Gerrard thought about getting to the Galaxy fairly recently and getting asked so many questions about his new teammate, Gio Dos Santos. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bH9Bcya_Ekk/Vc47sGCDmcI/AAAAAAAAHIE/eO_yvQAq55M/s1600/IMG_20150807_120627_981.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bH9Bcya_Ekk/Vc47sGCDmcI/AAAAAAAAHIE/eO_yvQAq55M/s400/IMG_20150807_120627_981.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steven Gerrard in Los Angeles</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Turns out, he doesn't mind much at all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>I was very pleased for him. He was desperate to get out there, onto the pitch. His debut went perfect. Good team performance and he came on and contributed at the end with a goal. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> I’m just pleased and smiling that the deals over the line and he’s an LA Galaxy player. I want to form a good relationship with him. I’m excited for him. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>I think he’ll adapt a lot quicker than me. He’s used to the climate. He knows the guys better than I do. I’m sure he’ll settle in very quickly and play in good performances with the team. I’m pleased for him. When I heard the news he was coming, I made contact with him. We were both very happy with the pickup.</i> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So Gerrard clearly doesn't mind answering Gio questions. At least, not nearly as much as he minds the extreme weather conditions in some places in MLS. Dan Gargan, his LA Galaxy defender teammate, had a bit of fun with him about dealing with that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Stevie’s first two road games were in Houston and Colorado. Dealing with that humidity and then that altitude - after the Colorado game, he was wondering where we were playing next. I told him we’re playing on Mars next. That’s indicative of some of the situations we have to deal with in this league, with the travel and the environments. Seeing that in two of your first three weeks was probably a bit eye-opening, because those are two of the tougher places to play. Dallas will be another one. Might was well see them all early and get them out of the way. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Gio, obviously has played in heat plenty of times. That’s probably tougher on Stevie than it will be on Gio, but still, it’s a tough place to play. Some of that travel and flying three hours, and then playing a game the next day, it’s not easy either. It won’t be easy for either of them, because as far as I know, they’ve never had to deal with that before. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gerrard seemed to agree that he found the transition difficult.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;">Houston was wild. That was certainly a big learning curve for me. We spoke about the challenges in the press conference and I said I’d give it my best and that’s what I’ve done. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yet, though Dallas won't be easy, Gerrard was optimistic about all the games ahead for the Galaxy, especially now with Gio on board. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><i>We can both help each other, on the pitch and off it as well. I said when I signed that all the players and the staff at LA Galaxy made me feel so welcome. I’m sure Gio’s feeling the same. The important thing is that all the players are available. When I signed, we had players in the Gold Cup, some injuries, and we were still trying to get Gio over the line. Now everyone’s fit and available, ready to fight for the team. I think we can go on a winning streak now and become a real force. </i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666669845581px; line-height: 20.2399997711182px;"><span style="color: #38761d;">For more on how Gio's LA teammates are adjusting to him joining the team -</span> <a href="http://www.espnfc.us/major-league-soccer/19/blog/post/2562851/giovani-dos-santos-la-galaxy-big-ambitions-mls-concacaf-cl">read this!</a></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Having been in Canada recently, I can vouch that it's a cool spot.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> And <a href="http://sidelineviews.blogspot.com/2014/03/xolos-left-over.html">Herc has always been a cool dude. </a></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thus, it should be a good combination. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gordon was already the answer to the trivia question,"Which player came off for David Beckham's debut as a Galaxy player?", so perhaps this is all routine for him. Still, it was an interesting full circle moment.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gordon was pretty low-key about it, though. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"I think it's a bigger deal to you guys than it is to me," he said, shrugging. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://search.espn.go.com/andrea-canales/"><span style="color: #990000;">I'll have more Dos Santos </span></a><span style="color: #274e13;">info later, but for now, here's a picture and my own full circle moment.</span> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12838385">My Beckham interview on NPR.</a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2015/08/07/44020/the-galaxy-s-newest-sensation-giovani-dos-santos/"><span style="color: #990000;">My Dos Santos interview. </span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0wsh7iaRK-s/VcVZqXzT_kI/AAAAAAAAHCM/czrz5CgiMJQ/s1600/IMG_20150807_114512_564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0wsh7iaRK-s/VcVZqXzT_kI/AAAAAAAAHCM/czrz5CgiMJQ/s400/IMG_20150807_114512_564.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Both these players were in the same country in 2005. One won.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even before I moved to the LA area, I used to listen to KPCC. When I got the call to come to my local NPR station as a soccer expert guest, I was excited. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r7sSgtrxTD4/RrI90pTiC7I/AAAAAAAABJM/lpnQQUBtoCo/s1600/Beckham_David_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r7sSgtrxTD4/RrI90pTiC7I/AAAAAAAABJM/lpnQQUBtoCo/s320/Beckham_David_2.JPG" width="235" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Have to say, I don't think my first time, discussing David Beckham, </span><a href="http://sidelineviews.blogspot.com/2007/08/day-to-day-duties.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;">went all that well. </span></a><span style="color: #274e13;"> It probably wasn't advisable to disagree with the host of the radio show that invited me </span><span style="color: #660000;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12838385" target="_blank">right off the bat</a>.</span><span style="color: #274e13;"> </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">My most recent appearance was to talk about Giovani Dos Santos, who honestly, has the potential to be as big a signing in certain ways as Beckham ever was. No, Dos Santos won't have the same world-wide impact, but on a local marketing level</span><span style="color: #660000;"><a href="http://www.espnfc.com/club/mexico/203/blog/post/2516468/potential-dos-santos-signing-could-start-mls-trend">, this could be hu</a>ge.</span></span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> He's much younger, a massive star with the Mexican fans in LA, and more creative on the ball. Dos Santos will still have to play well to justify all the hype, but the potential is definitely there. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2015/08/07/44020/the-galaxy-s-newest-sensation-giovani-dos-santos/"><br /></a></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2015/08/07/44020/the-galaxy-s-newest-sensation-giovani-dos-santos/"><span style="color: #990000;">Here is the individual show segment about Dos Santo</span><span style="color: #274e13;">s.</span></a><span style="color: #274e13;"> Who knows - if Dos Santos plays amazingly tonight in his debut as a Galaxy player, I may be asked back again. It's always </span><a href="http://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2015/07/29/43872/what-s-next-for-el-tri-after-mexico-fires-its-cont/"><span style="color: #660000;">the big stories that get media attention.</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Galaxy are also a more balanced team now to support the skills of Dos Santos. With Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard, Gyasi Zardes and Omar Gonzalez all on board to help carry the burden of garnering wins, Dos Santos shouldn't feel as isolated as Landon Donovan and Beckham seemed to be those difficult years when the Galaxy depended on that duo so much. </span></div>
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Multiple sources telling me that Hugo Perez is no longer working for U.S. Soccer in any capacity. Released of his duties today.</div>
— J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) <a href="https://twitter.com/JREskilson/status/626605614098051072">July 30, 2015</a></blockquote>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/MC_Bousquette">@MC_Bousquette</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/a_andersonreyes">@a_andersonreyes</a> I’m not fond of the fact that Hugo Perez, who was doing great work there & w/U-14s, got let go by Klinsmann.</div>
— Raf Noboa y Rivera (@noboa) <a href="https://twitter.com/noboa/status/625087259243626496">July 25, 2015</a></blockquote>
</span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></span><br />
<div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Now, </span><a href="http://www.espnfc.us/blog/espn-fc-united-blog/68/post/2545246/hugo-perez-el-salvador-coach" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;">Perez is looking</span></a><span style="color: #274e13;"> to take his coaching talents to El Salvador. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="es">
Nacional, con experiencia, me parece que Hugo Perez seria el DT perfecto para la Selección Nacional de El Salvador.</div>
— Gerardo Burgos (@Futbol_Burgos) <a href="https://twitter.com/Futbol_Burgos/status/624999679604867072">July 25, 2015</a></blockquote>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Meanwhile, a few of the USA players with Mexican heritage are developing in that country and also playing for Mexico. Isaac Brizuela and Miguel Ponce are the first wave of talent in this direction that continues with </span><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uvaldo_Luna" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;">Uvaldo Luna.</span></a><span style="color: #274e13;"> </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">The route of Mexico development isn't really open to Latino players who aren't Mexican, however. I'm pretty sure some squad in Liga MX would have been interesting in signing </span><a href="http://www.lagalaxy.com/post/2012/12/12/pride-south-central-oscar-sorto" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;">Oscar Sorto</span></a><span style="color: #274e13;"> by now if he wasn't Salvadorean and thus, cost them a foreign player spot. </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Major League Soccer teams are improving their development and youth academies, but there's still a long way to go and frankly, the style of MLS isn't always a good fit for players, in terms of learning to be creative and tricky.</span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In addition, dismissing Latino coaches from U.S. Soccer posts isn't helping the players coming through the ranks to feel valued and that their future lies with the USMNT.</span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/golalvarado">@golalvarado</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SoccerInsider">@SoccerInsider</a> US Soccer legends Caligiuri <a href="http://t.co/50MJFscj5W">http://t.co/50MJFscj5W</a> and Hugo Perez <a href="http://t.co/JfcAcOQKpn">http://t.co/JfcAcOQKpn</a> talk about Team USA.</div>
— Centro Deportivo (@DeportivoCentro) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeportivoCentro/status/474268144295747584">June 4, 2014</a></blockquote>
</span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've met Ronaldinho a few times, back when he was in LA with Barcelona, and later on with Milan. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He's friendly, playful with press, in terms of a smile and a wave, but he doesn't like doing interviews, at least in terms of stopping to answer many questions in a mixed zone. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zbLJvi87wvk/RZNmiFRCJYI/AAAAAAAAAAk/6YTl3Ny0vvM/s1600/Roncrop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zbLJvi87wvk/RZNmiFRCJYI/AAAAAAAAAAk/6YTl3Ny0vvM/s400/Roncrop.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Pique." Donovan answered, succinctly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wondered what Pique did with his Donovan jersey. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just yesterday, I found out, via Twitter. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="es">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ordenando el armario, aquí tenéis algunas de las camisetas que he ido encontrando. Cuál os gusta más? <a href="http://t.co/Jg7c1SB2ee">pic.twitter.com/Jg7c1SB2ee</a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">— Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) <a href="https://twitter.com/3gerardpique/status/597404209760305153">May 10, 2015</a></span></blockquote>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<div>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There's Donovan's Galaxy jersey, in the bottom row of uniforms next to Andrea Pirlo's. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But Donovan actually gave away two jerseys that night in Pasadena. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110/major-league-soccer/2009/08/02/1418245/canales-daily-making-someone-feel-special-who-is" target="_blank">Dani Alves has the other. </a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
LD hasn't tweeted any pictures of his jersey collection yet. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
He's been busy with other stuff, though, like getting married!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
I've never been happier. Hope you all had a great weekend! <a href="http://t.co/jsT3voFY3f">pic.twitter.com/jsT3voFY3f</a></div>
— Landon Donovan (@landondonovan) <a href="https://twitter.com/landondonovan/status/595423148293632002">May 5, 2015</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>
</div>
</span></div>
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Four-team tie at the top of the LIGA MX. Chivas will move clear with a win or tie tomorrow in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Superclasico?src=hash">#Superclasico</a> <a href="http://t.co/z6aCyvNapU">http://t.co/z6aCyvNapU</a><br />
— ESPN Tri (@ESPNFCtri) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNFCtri/status/592179443864469504">April 26, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Meanwhile, defending Liga MX champions Club America are fighting to retain a playoff spot, so there's a lot at stake for them as well. </div>
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/cesarhfutbol">@cesarhfutbol</a> gives his five key players to watch in Liga MX's Super Clasico <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Chivas?src=hash">#Chivas</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/America?src=hash">#America</a> <a href="http://t.co/puSS4gPsTg">http://t.co/puSS4gPsTg</a><br />
— ESPN Tri (@ESPNFCtri) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNFCtri/status/592039621057323008">April 25, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Here's a preview that Tom Marshall and I wrote covering both sides for this big game today. </div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
As Chivas prepare to host America on Sunday, <a href="https://twitter.com/mexicoworldcup">@mexicoworldcup</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/soccercanales">@soccercanales</a> break down the Super Clasico. <a href="http://t.co/bFnSJIgX8T">http://t.co/bFnSJIgX8T</a><br />
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/591679666039214081">April 24, 2015</a></blockquote>
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</script></div>A.C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03617669285297119500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5437561489188679737.post-60478351200167440362015-04-23T20:50:00.000-07:002015-04-24T18:47:34.386-07:00Mike Penner, Bruce Jenner and Me<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Years ago, at the great media brouhaha that was the official unveiling of David Beckham, I was walking on the concourse of what is now called Stub Hub Center stadium, when I spotted a tall woman. She, like me, was on her way to the media rooms designated for different groups of reporters. Even though Beckham's move to the Galaxy was a huge story, there weren't that many women covering it, so I noticed her. I stopped for a moment, thinking that she might be an ex-athlete turned reporter, perhaps a former basketball or volleyball player. It even occurred to me that, if so, I should ask her about that, and get a unique perspective that might add some insight into </span><span style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://www.espnfc.com/story/445447/beckham-aims-to-be-just-one-of-the-guys" target="_blank">a Beckham event reaction story.</a> </span></span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">She looked somewhat familiar, so I tried to remember where I'd seen her before. Then I realized she was Christine Daniels, the transgender sports writer whose story I'd read about about earlier that year. </span><span class="fullpost" style="color: #274e13;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RT1KpB6DgzU/RurWrtyJHtI/AAAAAAAABW8/IxG-604_yPc/s1600/antonioingalaxyjersey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RT1KpB6DgzU/RurWrtyJHtI/AAAAAAAABW8/IxG-604_yPc/s1600/antonioingalaxyjersey.jpg" height="191" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Even before </span><span style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-oldmike26apr26-story.html" target="_blank">that galvanizing story</a>,</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"> I'd read </span><a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1994-07-18/news/ss-17186_1_world-cup" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">Mike Penner columns/stories</span></a><span style="color: #274e13;"> in the LA Times for years, but never ran into him in the LA pressbox for Galaxy games, where </span><a href="http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2014/03/17/11/19/grahame-jones-named-colin-jose-media-award-recipient" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">Grahame Jones</span></a><span style="color: #274e13;"> had the regular local soccer beat. I'd been keeping up with Christine's blog, and I wondered if it was ok to start with that as a intro comment, "Hi, I've read your blog; I'm a reporter, too, are you going to come to more soccer stuff?" </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But then Christine walked into the suite marked for national media reporters. I went to the one for local media. Maybe I'd see her after the interviews ended, I figured. Or perhaps she'd be out soon again to actually see Beckham play and I could introduce myself in the pressbox before a game. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beckham came to the local media interview room last. Christine and most of the other reporters were long gone by the time I stepped out of the suite into the bright sunshine. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Selfishly, I hoped I would see her again soon. I had friends in the LA pressbox, but sometimes it still felt a little isolating to be the lone female reporter there. I imagined that Christine wouldn't be intimidated, at over six feet, walking into a locker room full of players amped up after a game. I, who was always more comfortable at a keyboard than speaking in person, would sometimes wonder if players refused interviews or ignored my requests for a quote because I was a woman and they didn't take me seriously as a reporter. I figured Christine wouldn't be so easy to brush off. I also thought I could help her if she needed anything translated from Spanish. We could be like a distaff soccer-writing Mutt and Jeff.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MQZdFCkGODc/SBuhcPAgkeI/AAAAAAAAB6A/uRNOO1iVmng/s1600/april08%2B019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MQZdFCkGODc/SBuhcPAgkeI/AAAAAAAAB6A/uRNOO1iVmng/s1600/april08%2B019.JPG" height="218" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It wasn't to be. I never saw Christine again in person. Eventually, the stories from her disappeared. </span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I gave up the fantasy of us being the soccer reporter ladies together.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"> When Penner returned to writing, he covered </span><a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2009/may/31/sports/sp-random31" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">some Beckham news, on occasion,</span></a><span style="color: #274e13;"> but he never came out to games. Other reporters who knew Penner better mentioned being concerned about him when I asked how things were going with him. I hoped he'd show up some time at a match, happy. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Instead, </span><span style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/29/local/la-me-mike-penner29-2009nov29" target="_blank">Penner</a> <a href="http://www.gq.com/news-politics/mens-lives/201006/mike-penner-sportswriter-christine-daniels" target="_blank">killed</a> <a href="http://www.laweekly.com/news/mike-penner-christine-daniels-a-tragic-love-story-2166467" target="_blank">himself</a>. <a href="http://www.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/11/30/mike_penner_great_writer_soccer_fanatic_gentle_soul_96555.html" target="_blank">I can't</a> <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4817330" target="_blank">speculate as to</a> <a href="http://www.insidesocal.com/soccer/2009/11/30/mike-penner-los-angeles-soccer/" target="_blank">everything</a> </span><span style="color: #274e13;">Penner struggled with, but it's not easy to deal with being different sometimes. If I felt isolated just being female at times, how much more difficult would it be for Penner to feel it was hard for others to understand his life and issues? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">I met </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Jenner" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">Bruce Jenner</span></a><span style="color: #274e13;"> in 2003, when he was assisting the LA auditions for ESPN's Dream Job contest. Though I loved sports, I felt gawky and awkward during my interview, where I fielded questions from Jenner and two others. I envied his ease and confidence. I thought, maybe if you've won a gold medal, you don't have to prove anything to anyone and you can relax and just be yourself. I wasn't invited back for the next round of auditions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">If the widespread reports about </span><span style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/23/media/bruce-jenner-journalists-gender-pronouns/index.html?iid=TL_Popular" target="_blank">his television interview tomorrow</a> </span><span style="color: #274e13;">are true, Jenner's true self is female. Like Penner, he is apparently planning to begin a transition. I hope there's more tolerance to choices and lifestyles now to make Jenner's transition an easier journey. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Penner actually</span><span style="color: #990000;"> <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2000/sep/12/sports/sp-19677" target="_blank">interviewed Jenner</a> <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2000/aug/30/sports/sp-12508" target="_blank">more than once</a>.</span><span style="color: #274e13;"> I wonder, like I had wished to feel less alone on the local soccer beat, if</span><span style="color: #990000;"> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-beyer/the-most-public-gender-tr_b_6632656.html" target="_blank">Penner knew Jenner shared similar reassignment issues,</a> </span><span style="color: #274e13;">would it have helped him feel less isolated? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Though their stories are different, too, would Penner have been inspired by the coming-out stories of</span><span style="color: #660000;"> <a href="http://robbiehrogers.com/" target="_blank">Robbie Rogers</a>, <a href="http://www.gq.com/moty/2014/michael-sam-men-of-the-year-game-changer" target="_blank">Michael Sam</a>, <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/skarlan/abby-wambach-and-sarah-huffman-are-the-couple-to-end-all-cou#.qvPwkdqzP" target="_blank">Abby Wambach</a>, <a href="http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2014/02/20/op-ed-megan-rapinoe-your-team-cant-handle-gay-player-then-your-team-sucks" target="_blank">Megan Rapinoe</a>? </span><span style="color: #274e13;">The LGBT community has rallied around many who are stepping forward with the courage to be their true selves. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hiCeGus6RIg/RmZ74ifhZJI/AAAAAAAAA00/vJjg5sPRkyU/s1600/carey10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hiCeGus6RIg/RmZ74ifhZJI/AAAAAAAAA00/vJjg5sPRkyU/s1600/carey10.jpg" height="200" width="193" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abby Wambach</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">I'm no longer a regular soccer beat reporter, though I still occasionally write on the sport. Last night, I was back at the stadium in Carson, writing late on </span><span style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://www.espnfc.us/blog/the-match/60/post/2414119/morris-and-rodriguez-star-us-finish-clinically-vs-mexico" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;">a U23 match between the USA and Mexico</span></a>.</span><span style="color: #274e13;"> It all felt so familiar, even down to the post-game press conference, where I was the only female reporter asking questions of coach Andreas Herzog. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Though I had a credential for the event, I didn't have a parking pass for the lot right outside the stadium. I had parked a few blocks away. By the time I sent in my story and began to trudge out to my car, it was past midnight. I wore a jacket, but I still felt that slight chill of anxiety walking alone in the dark, even though Carson is a pretty safe neighborhood. Obviously, I made it home safely, but that moment reminded me again that it can be scary to feel alone. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whether female sportswriters, transgender sportswriters, gay athletes, transgender sports icons, or anything different (although, what is normal any more - everyone's different), I just want to take a moment to offer you all a cybertoast. Have the courage to go and be who you are.</span></div>
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</script></div>A.C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03617669285297119500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5437561489188679737.post-8178391630404887562015-04-21T14:26:00.000-07:002015-04-25T09:38:01.384-07:00Alexi Lalas is Doing Fine, But What About Bob? <span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just another day in the soccer-writing life, but now I suddenly have a few hundred more Twitter followers than before. </span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's pretty much Alexi Lalas' fault. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So <a href="https://twitter.com/soccercanales">@soccercanales</a> is in the midst of a long and interesting twitter dissection of <a href="https://twitter.com/J_Klinsmann">@J_Klinsmann</a>'s tenure.</span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">— Alexi Lalas (@AlexiLalas) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexiLalas/status/590191993122324481">April 20, 2015</a></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7l1zWw20kJI/RmZc7ifhY5I/AAAAAAAAAy0/-ktIgY5P1dw/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7l1zWw20kJI/RmZc7ifhY5I/AAAAAAAAAy0/-ktIgY5P1dw/s1600/009.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The man has a gift for garnering media attention, so perhaps he's in his best career fit as a sports pundit, but I remember well when his trajectory in sports management seemed unstoppable. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Instead, Lalas was derailed when he became the ringmaster in the circus that was the LA Galaxy's colossal craziness in the early Beckham years. It's kind of a shame, given his energy and enthusiasm, but living by the propaganda sword means dying by it as well. </span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gZucyIT7Nrg/ResIfn3KJ2I/AAAAAAAAAYc/KWeLXSzHyyg/s1600/puppy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gZucyIT7Nrg/ResIfn3KJ2I/AAAAAAAAAYc/KWeLXSzHyyg/s1600/puppy.jpg" height="226" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob and Alexi Lalas</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That's what happened to Lalas, but like the phoenix, he's risen from the ashes of that disaster to do quite well on television. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Still, I wonder what happened to his little Yorkie, which I believe he told me was named Bob. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oM3K85BUlvo/ResIHH3KJ0I/AAAAAAAAAYM/1kJjxzautHw/s1600/puppy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oM3K85BUlvo/ResIHH3KJ0I/AAAAAAAAAYM/1kJjxzautHw/s1600/puppy2.jpg" height="200" width="191" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alexi would bring him to Galaxy practices sometimes. Maybe Bob hides in the TV studio or Alexi's office now. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Update! Alexi says Bob is fine.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/soccercanales">@soccercanales</a> Bob is alive and kicking. He actually got me in trouble a few weeks ago. He says hi.<br />
— Alexi Lalas (@AlexiLalas) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexiLalas/status/590642323677192193">April 21, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like Donovan's, the scenario is a coach handing out jerseys to players, and Hernandez, as the new addition, uses his banking app to send in his payment quickly. But a crucial difference (as well as a tip of the hat to the Mexican fan loyalty in the rivalry) is that as soon as Hernandez pulls the jersey over his head, h</span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">is hair magically grows into the long tresses he once sported, complete with a headband.</span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Everyone on his team recognizes him and celebrates having a legend on their team. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hernandez then runs to the field in triumph, despite never actually having touched the ball yet. "El Matador" was indeed a Mexico icon. While his Galaxy career wasn't spectacular and he lost to LD and the USA in 2002 in the World Cup, he gets the last laugh here.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/c2kJAmOOdnY/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/c2kJAmOOdnY?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, this dude just offered a GIF visual of the same situation. </span></div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
El América de Matosas.
<a href="http://t.co/sna48B521m">pic.twitter.com/sna48B521m</a><br />
— Judas Iscariote (@Mr_Bukowski) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mr_Bukowski/status/582305495630794753">March 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>
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Here's a more statistical, analytical tack. </div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
En <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GloriaAbsoluta?src=hash">#GloriaAbsoluta</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/FutIncorrecto">@FutIncorrecto</a> analiza tácticamente la era Matosas | <a href="http://t.co/19ccz77aLm">http://t.co/19ccz77aLm</a> <a href="http://t.co/ofNgVsQROw">pic.twitter.com/ofNgVsQROw</a><br />
— VAVEL Magazine MX (@VAVELMagazineMX) <a href="https://twitter.com/VAVELMagazineMX/status/581871798238613505">March 28, 2015</a></blockquote>
</div>
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<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>
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</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sJpmqHmC_Xc/SNj4b-t9NdI/AAAAAAAACOQ/qiay7LEqWYc/s1600/memo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sJpmqHmC_Xc/SNj4b-t9NdI/AAAAAAAACOQ/qiay7LEqWYc/s1600/memo.jpg" height="303" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Memo has proved himself against world's best teams before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">It's also a reference</span><a href="http://www.espnfc.us/team/mexico/203/blog/post/2375722/mexico-wins-over-paraguay-and-ecuador-prove-the-need-for-tougher-opponents" target="_blank"> to my latest article. </a><span style="color: #274e13;">Mexico is ranked at 21 and it isn't playing any teams ranked higher of late. At least, not until their Costa Rica friendly. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, I know the rankings aren't everything, but Argentina was on a USA tour at the same time as Mexico. Why not schedule that? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mexico did manage to win both friendly matches of 2015 thus far. So - anyone want to predict El Tri's first loss this year? Let me know your guess if you have one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We've seen disgruntled teams implode in tournaments, and we've also seen teams where everyone was smiling, looking like they're having a great time, genuinely friendly with each other, do very well in games. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But is happiness measurable as a factor to winning?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What about personal preference? Would a player prefer to be part of a team that was a happy one? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The truth is, most players will say that they want to play for the best team they can, regardless of the camaraderie among teammates. They'll take sullen silences and diva attitudes in return for winning. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then again, losing a lot probably doesn't improve a team's attitude or ambiance. The US have only won 2 of their last 11 games. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">William Yarbrough and Ventura Alvarado are eligible for both the USA and Mexico. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.espnfc.us/team/mexico/203/blog/post/2366674/william-yarbroughventura-alvarado-may-think-twice-about-national-team-choice" target="_blank">Mexico seems to be having more fun under Piojo</a>. If that matters to the duo, it could play a factor in any final decision, should Mexico ever come calling for their services. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you could choose, which would you pick and why?</span></div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
W. Yarbrough y V. Alvarado futbolistas mexicanos que no fueron contemplados por el Piojo Herrera, pero si para EUA <a href="http://t.co/bVB7Evvvlc">pic.twitter.com/bVB7Evvvlc</a><br />
— Frecuencia Deportiva (@FD1370) <a href="https://twitter.com/FD1370/status/580812626923380736">March 25, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.espnfc.us/club/america/227/blog/post/2363597/club-america-sinking-into-a-deep-crisis" target="_blank">I have doubts. </a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So do others. </span></div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://twitter.com/mexicoworldcup">@mexicoworldcup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/soccercanales">@soccercanales</a> Didn't Matosas pull the same cry baby tantrum at Leon multiple times over his tenure?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">— Robert Villasenor (@rvilla18) <a href="https://twitter.com/rvilla18/status/580082312492109824">March 23, 2015</a></span></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">hahahahahaha if matosas wants to quit let him quit tf , I didn't want him on <a href="https://twitter.com/CF_America">@CF_America</a> from the beginning anyways . <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Matosas?src=hash">#Matosas</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/America?src=hash">#America</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">— ℓiƶɛttɛ .♡ (@liiiiiizz_) <a href="https://twitter.com/liiiiiizz_/status/579799615039377408">March 23, 2015</a></span></blockquote>
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<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>
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Anyway, never fear, Matosas fans, he's not going anywhere yet. </div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Americanistas, estén tranquilos, <a href="https://twitter.com/gusmat_dt">@gusmat_dt</a> seguirá con ustedes. <a href="http://t.co/rw7Lt8MUuW">http://t.co/rw7Lt8MUuW</a> <a href="http://t.co/KibEw7JQ37">pic.twitter.com/KibEw7JQ37</a><br />
— juanfutbol (@juanfutbol) <a href="https://twitter.com/juanfutbol/status/580278100128178176">March 24, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
When you're as 🔥 as us, even <a href="https://twitter.com/GemmaAnneStyles">@GemmaAnneStyles</a> takes notice. Did <a href="https://twitter.com/Harry_Styles">@Harry_Styles</a> buy that shirt? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DTID?src=hash">#DTID</a> <a href="http://t.co/viWGg0T7Ze">pic.twitter.com/viWGg0T7Ze</a><br />
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) <a href="https://twitter.com/FCDallas/status/579742496990760960">March 22, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<div>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But, as I have noted before, FC Dallas has a way of getting into the hands of the most stylish kids. </span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bk0yGGTJanc/UaIGXwlsccI/AAAAAAAAEAU/_RS6PM4Z-gQ/s1600/article-2331003-19FFD0FE000005DC-982_634x883.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bk0yGGTJanc/UaIGXwlsccI/AAAAAAAAEAU/_RS6PM4Z-gQ/s1600/article-2331003-19FFD0FE000005DC-982_634x883.jpg" height="400" width="286" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gwen Stefani with kids, check out Kingston's FC Dallas kit</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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