Going Suds Up: The Best Beers, The Best Soccer

By Kirsten Schlewitz / Senior West Coast Beer and Aston Villa Correspondent

It’s October! And do you know what October means (besides bundling up in scarves and boots)? It means all things pumpkin, including…pumpkin beers!

Drink Up:

Smuttynose

Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale: One of the standards of pumpkin ales, and particularly easy to find if you’re east of the Mississippi. Not so much a standout as just a solid pumpkin – one that can be drank as a session ale if you’re so inclined, particularly as it’s just a 5% ABV. This one isn’t so much “pumpkin” as it is “pumpkin pie spice,” so if you’re the type that appreciates plenty of clove in your beer, race on down for a six-pack or two.

Pair It With...

Italian Serie A – Lazio v Roma (Sunday, 1:30PM CT, FSC)

Stock up and play your own derby drinking game! Every time the announcer mentions Francesco Totti out with injury? Take a drink. Roma’s new American owners? Three drinks. And if anyone happens to mention that Lazio miss Fernando Muslera in goal, chung – and grab another while chugging again, all while replaying Paraguay’s last minute goal against Uruguay on Tuesday.

Drink Up:

Post Road Pumpkin, Brooklyn Brewery: A pleasant surprise from a brewery I rarely get to sample, Brooklyn’s pumpkin offering actually tasted, like, well, pumpkin. Aromas of cinnamon and clove in this one, but the actual taste was pumpkin, as well as a bit of vanilla, and, of course, the spices.

Pair It With...

Major League Soccer – Portland Timbers v Houston Dynamo (Friday, 9:30PM CT, MLS Direct Kick)

No clever analogies here – just an MLS match that you should be watching. If Houston beat Portland, and DC United fail to win against Chicago, the Dynamo…won’t clinch a spot. But then again, it’ll make it much harder for the Timbers to reach the playoffs so nya nya nya nya. Figuring out anything else about the MLS playoff standings makes my head hurt, so let’s move on to other beers.

Drink Up:

Night Owl, Elysian Brewing: Surprisingly, not the best pumpkin ale you’ll find from Elysian, who sponsors a pumpkin beer fest every year in Seattle. Their best is Dark O’the Moon, but good luck finding that outside King County. Night Owl is quite delicious, however, and if you live in an area fortunate enough to have Elysian available, pick up a bottle. Aromas common to a pumpkin pie--cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. The ginger comes through in the taste and the pumpkin lingers and the end.

Pair It With...

Bundesliga – Werder Bremen v Borussia Dortmund (Friday, 1:30PM CT, GolTV)

Werder Bremen, sitting second in Germany, host last year’s darlings, Dortmund, who have slipped down to sixth place. The title holders have won their last two league matches, but lost to Marseille 3-0 in the Champions League, while Bremen get the pleasure of solely focusing on the domestic league. With 29 goals already scored between the two teams, you’ll be able to enjoy the match, rather than fuss over why your best friend can’t score you a bottle of Dark O’the Moon.

Drink Up:

TREAT Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter, Midnight Sun Brewing: If you live in a region where you’re unable to buy Midnight Sun, well, go curl up in a ball and cry until winter warmer season. Otherwise, what’s stopping you? Go buy this, my favorite of pumpkin beers. A plethora of smells, including bittersweet chocolate, cinnamon, clove, yeast, caramel and squash. Palate is smooth and taste is superb. Pumpkin pie spices are present but don’t overwhelm. A bit of earthiness, vegetable, and caramel enhance the flavor, but the definite treat of this one is its velvety chocolate ending.

Pair It With...

English Premier League – Manchester City v Aston Villa (Saturday, 8:30AM CT, FSC)

Not so much because this promises to be the most enthralling match in the Premier League this week, but more because Liverpool – Manchester United is on at an inappropriate hour, and yours truly needs an almost-8%ABV to get through this match. The unbeaten – yet really, unchallenged – Villa travel to Manchester for the first time this season, hoping to be the first English side to score at whatever City are calling their football stadium these days. Or, knowing the Alex McLeish style, simply packing ten men behind the ball and crossing their fingers they can hold on for a point. Yeah, gonna need booze to get through this one.

 About Kirsten

I may be a law student at Lewis and Clark, but soccer is my true love, with beer coming in a distant second. That's not to say I don't love beer--I've tasted over a thousand different brews, and listed many of them onRatebeer. Living in Portland, Oregon, I attend quite a few festivals and tastings, and am able to argue passionately about the merits of Cascade hops vs. Chinook. 

As for the soccer, I'm the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Aston Villa site, 7500 to Holte, the Italy Editor for SB Nation Soccer, and cover the Seattle Sounders on SBN Seattle (don't judge--I'm from Seattle!) Finally, I write for Two Footed Tackle when I find words worthy enough for the site. Want more? Follow me on Twitter!

 Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt! Only from Objectivo.com

Brews And Views Series: Why American Soccer?

We continue our new series on the Free Beer Movement. It's called "Brews and Views" and we pose a question or topic to various prominent soccer persons and, well, they give us their view on it.

We've got loads of get people that have already responded to our call for essay submissions and each week we'll feature a unique perspective on the current topic/question at hand. Kicking it off (pun intended) we're asking our respondents the question, "Why American soccer?".

As inhabitants of the U.S. of A we've got loads of soccer viewing options and limited amount of time. We want our panel of essayists to make their case as to why the American version of the world's game is the one we should all invest in.

Regularly readers know where we stand on this issue. Buy American. It's ours. Build and shape it so it ranks as one of the premier leagues in the world.

The series will include such diverse voices as former U.S. Men's National Team player Alexi Lalas, The Shin Guardian, MatchFit USA's Jason Davis, Church of Soccer, Nutmeg Radio, FutFanatico, MLS Insider, and many, many more.

Interested in submitting your own answer to the question, "Why American soccer?", then send us an email with your response. Please keep your submission to under 1000 words (that's like 2.5 pages typed!) and include a picture that you feel goes well with your response. Send it to freebeermovement(at)gmail(dot)com.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Jason Davis / Match Fit USA and the NEW "Best Soccer Show"

As my response to Dan’s call for answers to the question “Why American soccer?”, I could regale you with emotional arguments draped in the tropes of the American spirit, the idealized inclusive nature of the sport itself, or the undeniable fact that local is always better than distant. It is, by the way. Maybe I should leave at that.

But I won’t. I won’t leave it at local is better than distant, even if our televisions serve as portals to other lands whenever we want them to, or trot out the good, but over-cited reasons for “Why American soccer?” (which I myself have cited in this very space some time back), which mostly boil down to notions of community and identity. Instead, I’m not going to try to convince you at all. You’re here, reading a post at The Free Beer Movement, which means you’re most likely one of those that has already declared themselves a proponent of American soccer. Why should I preach to the converted?

Your answer to the question might be the same as mine, or it might be something wholly different. The answer is as personal as any of the myriad choices you’ve made in your life (and specifically your sports life). Far be it for me to imply that your particular answer is either A.) trumped by another answer (namely mine) that won’t resonate with you on more than a philosophical level or B.) needs any augmenting to be really real, supremely true, and completely defensible. Your answer is as good as mine, and I don’t even know what yours is. From hipsterism to jingoism and everything in between, it all brings us to the same place.

Instead, and in the spirit of The Free Beer Movement, let’s talk about what it will take for those of you already on the bandwagon to increase the numbers of our flock. Proselytizing? Nope. Nothing so aggressive. Debate, as arguing the merits of the American game with someone wearing Sky Sports brand blinders, thereby (hopefully) turning an existing soccer fan to our side? I think not. That’s a fool’s errand with a low rate of return and the guarantee of unneeded frustration. Nowhere outside of politics and religion are people so married to their beliefs as they are with their sports. The worldview of the American sports fan - soccer fans included - solidifies at some point in adolescence/early adulthood and cannot be moved except of their own volition. If that worldview has no room for soccer or is soccer-friendly but only for non-American versions of the sport, no one is going to change their minds. No one but themselves, that is.

Which is why the FBM is brilliant. It’s a proactive way to expose the unconverted to the sport, and to our version of it, without applying any direct pressure. It doesn’t require a dissertation on the joys of supporting American soccer in America. It doesn’t mandate that the FBMer do anything to the FBMee but provide a tasty beverage in the presence of a live or television soccer match. It doesn’t assume that the person on the receiving end of the free beer is wrong, or that they need to be “enlightened.” They don’t need anything, but their life could be enriched if they discover - on their own, because that’s the only way the worldview is going to shift enough for it to happen - that American soccer is the S-H-I-Z-N-I-T.

And it will. Believe in the power of the sport to transform people into fans because of all that it is, not because you have a solid rhetorical point. You can tell people that they should love American soccer, but you can put it in front of them - tasty fermented libation in hand - and let it do it’s work.

Okay, okay, I’ll answer the question. I owe that to Dan for including me in a series littered with great soccer people. Why American soccer? Because it’s awesome, that’s why. Categorically, one hundred percent, with zero equivocation, as it is and as it will be, totally and completely, undoubtedly and to my great benefit, awesome. No explanation necessary. I reached that conclusion totally on my own, not because someone told me it was so.

American soccer is awesome. I know this. You know this. Soon enough, the people will, too. Buy them a beer and watch it happen.

About The Author

Jason is an award-nominated blogger (Match Fit USA), a columnist for the US Soccer Players website, a writer and editor for the soccer culture blog KCKRS, a podcaster for the newly launched The Best Soccer Show, and a guy that needs to slow down a little bit. Sheesh. 

Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt! Only from Objectivo.com

Tuesday XI: American Lit Edition

Tomorrow the creatively named National Book Foundation will announce their finalists for the National Book Award. That got us thinking about a squad of American writers, combining all the energy, creativity and bombast that characterize their works. Here, we've lined them up in a fluid 4-4-2, think Manchester United in the days of Cristiano Ronaldo. 

GK – Harper Lee – Makes of her role in limited action, always rising to the occasion when called for.

LB – Mark Twain – His versatility and his quick thinking serve him well as he moves up and down the flank.

CB – Ralph Ellison – Uses a finely-honed sense of positional awareness to snuff out attacks before opposing forwards even know he’s there.

CB – David Halberstam – Who said our squad had to be all fiction? Halberstam’s a towering yet versatile presence in the center of the defense, able to keep up with the Best and the Brightest thanks to his keen knowledge of the Breaks of the Game.

RB – Emily Dickinson – Is happy to stay home and cover the bombing runs forward of her cohort on the right.

LM – Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss – Don’t be fooled by his children’s books, as his genius ensures that our forwards get looks. With wacky passes and outlandish ideas, he can split any defense and leave them in tears.

CM – David Foster Wallace – DFW devoted his career toward making sense of the mayhem of modern life, finding some order in the chaos. He does the same thing on the pitch here as a deep-lying distributor, slowing the game down for the many manics arrayed in front of him.

CM – Joseph Heller – No one understands better the paradox of being a two-way midfielder: That he has the right to do anything the opposition can’t stop him from doing.

RM – Jack Kerouac – Not much to track back on defense, Kerouac only knows one direction, forward, and one speed, fast.

CF/CAM – Hunter S. Thompson – Combines the hyperactivity of Carlos Tevez with the absurd genius of Eric Cantona and the fear and loathing of .Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

CF – T.S. Eliot – Wasn’t getting looked at in the deep forward pool of the British writers squad, so he returned to the country of his birth in search of international football. 

Special Bonus XI: 

I'm not the only English major around these parts (Excuse the dropping of the editorial we. Truthfully, we think it's pretty stupid, and only do it on these posts out of laziness.). So I got Wes to scrape up his American XI as well. He lined up his authors in a 4-3-3. 

GK – David Foster Wallace – Stacks a couple of copies of Infinite Jest to keep shots out.

FB – William Faulkner – Only recognized for his greatness after his prime.

CB – Ernest Hemingway – Tough, no-nonsense defender. As brave as he is ruthless.

CB – Henry David Thoreau – A true old-fashioned center-half. Emphasis on the old-fashioned.

FB – Alice Walker – Spent her career defending civil rights by going on the offensive.

DM – Emily Dickinson – Plays lots of short, staccato passes.

CM – John Steinbeck – A tireless worker in the center of the pitch.

AM – F. Scott Fitzgerald – Temperamental creative midfielder. A real game-changer, when he can find the motivation

LW – Tennessee Williams – There wasn’t a defender he wouldn’t take on.

CF – Truman Capote – Never took a shot on goal he didn’t miss.

RW – Flannery O’Connor – Cuts through opposing defenses like a scathing insult. 

About "The Other 87 Minutes"

What is this new site we're exposing you too? We'll let them explain:

The Other 87 seeks to provide something that’s not instant analysis or eve of matchday previews. Think of us as the good bits of your favorite soccer coverage: the profiles that examine what makes a certain player tick, the historical background that sheds some light on how the sport has evolved to the present day, the silly features that are more than just tacking names on a list, but considering and explaining why each one deserves to be there.

O87 wants to be a home for soccer writing that makes you think, but that also treats the game as just that, a game. The greatest game, the one we obsess over and fixate on, to the point where we can’t read that gas costs 3.43 a gallon without thinking of Ajax’s 1995 Champions League winning team. But a game nonetheless.

“When you play a match, it is statistically proven that players actually have the ball three minutes on average. The best players – the Zidanes, Ronaldinhos, Gerrards – will have the ball maybe four minutes. Lesser players – defenders – probably two minutes. So, the most important thing is: what do you do those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball…. That is what determines whether you’re a good player or not.” –Johann Cruyff

Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt! Only from Objectivo.com

Shotgunning: Monday's Top Stories, Slammed

All the news that's fit to drink.

And because you'd rather have a beer than be reading all the time... we've taken the day's top news and given it the Reader's Digest-treatment so you can get to that post-work pint quicker.

* Could Brek Shea take that awesome rooster hair to England? According to his agent, who told Sky Sports, as it was reported in the New York Daily News (still following?), several English Premier League sides are taking a look at the FC Dallas man. Manchester City and Liverpool scouts "were believed to have watched" Shea play this weekend in Miami.


* Grant Wahl says Clint Dempsey should be U.S. Soccer's "Player of the Year" and we're hardly one to argue with that statement.

* More than fifty years of adidas kicks is pretty sweet and KCKRS has the link and the story behind the preservation of the iconic shoe companies soccer history.

* Our friends over at "The Shin Guardian" have their, as usual, brilliant re-cap of this weekend's action between the USMNT and Los Catrachos.

* And a preview from TSG as well for tomorrow's showdown with Ecuador.

* FutFunatico's Elliot Turner looks at "Hispanic Identity and U.S. Soccer" for Fox Soccer. A great read in two parts. Part one. Part two.


Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt! Only from Objectivo.com

Better Know A Supporters Group - Sons of Ben

We continue our comprehensive coverage of American soccer culture with our series "Better Know a Supporters Group," just like Steven Colbert's "Better Know a District" from "The Colbert Report". 

Our goal: to feature each of the MLS teams' supporters groups. We've sent e-mails to each and every SG in Major League Soccer and soon you'll be able to check all what each is all about and what awesomeness they have to contribute to our growing American soccer world.

When we devised this idea a while back it was cool to be able to see what each supporter group is about, but in light of the terrible, one-sided, anti-American, condescending profile of Philadelphia's Sons of Ben SG by the British GQ (not even going to link to it to give them the site hits) we think its all the more important to give supporters groups in Major League Soccer the proper exposure and voice they deserve.

Today... it's the supporters group that inspired our series, Philadelphia Union's Sons of Ben.

As told to the Free Beer Movement by Sons of Ben President Matt Ansbro.

The Basics

Photo Credit: Paul Rudderow

MLS Club: Philadelphia Union

Stadium: PPL Park

Year SG Founded: 2007

Section Name (if other than SG name): The River End

Any other SGs apart of your section? The Illegitimates, Bearfight Brigade

Location of SG in Stadium (section #, side, direction): 134 – 140, River Side

The Meaty Questions

Photo Credit: Daniel Gajdamowicz

What are the origins of your groups’ name?

In late 2006, after some long discussions on BigSoccer Ethan Gomberg, one of our original members, suggested the name “Sons of Ben” and it was almost immediately adopted. 

Favorite chants/songs?

Dale Philadelphia and Phindaloo

Another favorite to the tune of She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain: We’re the best behaved supporters in the league, when we win / We’re the biggest bunch of bastards, when we lose.

Why is being in the supporters section the “best seat in the house”?

There is nothing quite like sitting in an area you had a hand in designing.  In conversations with the ownership group from the start they wanted to make sure we had our own section set up in a way that would be the best supporters experience in the league and the most intimidating. We, and the team, have accomplished both

Photo Credit: Paul Rudderow

Brag. What makes your SG one of the best supporters groups in MLS?

“Here before the team”.  Sons of Ben was born out of the passion for the game and the desire to have it played in our city.  That started in 2007 when SoB was formed and has continued through today.  Our members are ridiculously passionate about this game, this team.  They bring their energies each and every game, for 90+ minutes, through thick and thin.  We’ll abuse our opponents (and their supporters) the entire game all the while supporting our boys and pushing them on to 3 points.  Other SG’s have done this longer than us, and some of them are pretty good at it, but we would put our short history up against all of them.

Greatest game(s) in team history?

June 27, 2010 vs Seattle Sounders - The first game at PPL Park and our first true home game, win.  It was our first game in the River End.  The first time on our new, beautiful pitch. The first time we all got a glimpse of the energy we could create.  And, most importantly, the first time we were truly a supporters group.

Predictions for this season?

MLS Cup Champion.  Is there really another answer to this question?

Why Major League Soccer? Why American soccer?

It’s all ours.  There is a sense of pride in coming to a professional soccer game near home. Many Union fans had never had that feeling and with ticket sales very strong the interest won’t wane any time soon.

US Soccer has travelled light years since their “just happy to be here” qualification for Italy in 1990. The players are getting valuable experiences all over the world and ratings for World Cup & Gold Cup games have grown audiences at rates that make ESPN & Univision take notice.  Lots of people talk about the destination of Winning the World Cup. It may happen someday, but why focus on the future when we are pretty damn good right now.

For more information OR to join the Sons of Ben, check out their website.


Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt! Only from Objectivo.com

PHOTO - Playing "Frogger" With the USMNT

Photo Credit: US Soccer

The Women's Professional Soccer Final witnessed a squirrel on the field and so did the National League Division Series in St. Louis, but last night's pitch invader during the United States' game against Honduras was a slicker, slimier fella.

It was certainly raining cats and dogs last night in Miami, Florida so this frog really isn't all that surprising!

Are all three (and the raccoons that occupy RFK Stadium) a symbol of man's encroachment on nature and warning of our over-reach? Or is it just good fun?

Wondering what this frog is thinking right now?


Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt! Only from Objectivo.com

NEWS WATCH - Blazer Donzo With CONCACAF

"I'm retiring to spend more time with my iPod."

Chuck Blazer, CONCACAF's General Secretary, will step down at the end of the year he announced today. Blazer, a frequent homeless person impersonator, will still remain a member of FIFA's Executive Committee.

“My passion for soccer is undiminished and it is time for me to explore new challenges within this wonderful sport,” Blazer said in a statement. “Running a governing body has been an incredibly fulfilling job, but there are so many other areas of the sport where as a senior executive, I will make a great impact.”

Blazer, 66, a gregarious, larger-than-life figure, has been in charge of CONCACAF for 21 years. During his tenure, he grew the confederation’s revenue from $140,000 to $40 million through various initiatives, including the increasingly popular Gold Cup and CONCACAF Champions League.

Blazer has also been a member of the FIFA Executive Committee since 1997. He will retain that position.

“Chuck’s contributions to the sport over the last 30 years are unparalleled,” US Soccer president Sunil Gulati said. “All of us in CONCACAF owe him a great debt of gratitude for his sustained efforts in helping to take the sport to where it is today. There is no doubt that he will continue to make an impact in whatever role he chooses.”

Blazer’s tenure was not without controversy. He played an integral role in the drama surrounding the bidding for the 2022 World Cup, which many thought would be awarded to the US. Instead, it was awarded to Qatar.

During the FIFA presidential election earlier this year, Blazer was again involved in a controversial episode when he initiated an investigation into ethics violations, including bribery allegations, involving CONCACAF vice president Jack Warner several Caribbean federations and FIFA presidential candidate Mohammed bin Hammam of Qatar. As a result of the investigations, bin Hammam was eventually banned for life from all football-related activities and Warner, of Trinidad, resigned from football administration duties.

“In looking back at my years at CONCACAF, I have great satisfaction in having achieved all my objectives, including unprecedented revenues, new initiatives in competitions and modern technology in administration,” Blazer said.

Also, Blazer will still continue his duties as the bringer of joy to boys and girls around the world each December 25th.


Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt! Only from Objectivo.com

Brews and Views Essay Series: Why American Soccer

We continue our new series on the Free Beer Movement. It's called "Brews and Views" and we pose a question or topic to various prominent soccer persons and, well, they give us their view on it.

We've got loads of get people that have already responded to our call for essay submissions and each week we'll feature a unique perspective on the current topic/question at hand. Kicking it off (pun intended) we're asking our respondents the question, "Why American soccer?".

As inhabitants of the U.S. of A we've got loads of soccer viewing options and limited amount of time. We want our panel of essayists to make their case as to why the American version of the world's game is the one we should all invest in.

Regularly readers know where we stand on this issue. Buy American. It's ours. Build and shape it so it ranks as one of the premier leagues in the world.

The series will include such diverse voices as former U.S. Men's National Team player Alexi Lalas, The Shin Guardian, MatchFit USA's Jason Davis, Church of Soccer, Nutmeg Radio, FutFanatico, MLS Insider, and many, many more.

Interested in submitting your own answer to the question, "Why American soccer?", then send us an email with your response. Please keep your submission to under 1000 words (that's like 2.5 pages typed!) and include a picture that you feel goes well with your response. Send it to freebeermovement(at)gmail(dot)com.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The Invisible Foot, A Culture of Competition."


By Corey Bennet / "Church of Soccer"




Irony shadows "American soccer." How is it that those socialists across The Pond have embraced The Invisible Foot of the Free Footy Market, while Americans - we poster-children of free market capitalism - have never had our promotion/relegation cherry popped? If resistance is futile, then soccer will inevitably crumble under the weight of hypocrisy and the Blasphemous will forever watch the "pure" beautiful game from a distance. We will marvel at that spectacular status quo and wonder what could have been had we only taken the blue pill.

And yet our heretical brand persists and, yes, grows. It does so in a competitive landscape, where predators have mere seconds to feast before the hyenas and vultures arrive to scavenge for scraps of market share. American soccer patiently circles overhead, and then perches nearby, waiting its turn, angling and scheming its way to the carcass of our collective sporting consciousness.

This is not the case elsewhere, where football is more than the main course; it is the meal. Exceptions aside, football does not have to compete with "other sports" for top billing in Europe and South America. Much like Chopin need not compete with Adele. In the United States, with the NFL and NCAA football behemoths, NBA, NHL, March Madness, golf, tennis, NASCAR, and the rest, soccer is forced to be optimally resourceful just to survive, let alone command attention and advertising.

Nonetheless, that is a good thing. This culture of competition is open to new, thoughtful, ingenious ideas for developing and marketing the sport. It is what should keep fans and leaders hungry to innovate and excel. Nevermind the many reasons we have to be frustrated. Those unbearable commentators will always find work somewhere, but eventually they'll get pushed aside for better talent. The pecking order will change and soccer programming will slowly gain priority over the Little League World Series and PBA Tour. The MLS playoffs will emerge from under a pile of "more interesting" sporting events in October and November.

Or maybe not. Perhaps soccer will evolve too slowly, too quickly, or too oddly for mass consumption. Perhaps soccer fans, bloggers, journalists, business partners, professional staff, investors and owners will fail to stay competitive - relegating the beautiful game to the deep rough of American sports. If that is the case, it won't be for a lack of opportunity.

Why American soccer? Because we have opportunities to grow and experience the sport in ways that exist nowhere else. We have the freedom to imagine, create, destroy and try it all over again. We can merge, eliminate, contract and expand leagues. We can exploit multiculturalism, import in high definition and cross-market with global sports and pop culture icons. We can tinker and experiment to our hearts' content. We can invent whatever it is we envision the modern game to be, for better or worse. Sí, se puede.

Is there another place where this is possible?

We don't have to paint by numbers. For all the risks and growing pains associated with such latitude, there is reason to be optimistic. Even if we continue to reject promotion/relegation in our leagues, the prevailing culture of competition is as likely as any other to make substantial contributions to the beautiful game in the 21st Century and beyond. Thus, we forge ahead with tools to succeed and the knowledge that The Invisible Foot will guide us.

If you really have to ask, "Why American soccer?" I'm afraid you just don't get it. 


Corey is Co-Founder of Church of Soccer - a creator, curator, and collaborator that serves a global congregation of faithful footy followers.Twitter. Facebook. Email. Amen.


Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt! Only from Objectivo.com

Tuesday XI: Flying Circus And More Edition

Tomorrow marks the 42nd anniversary of the debut of Monty Python's Flying Circus on the BBC. To celebrate, we've slapped together a side of our favorite Python characters in an old-fashioned 4-2-4.

GK -- Black Knight -- Like all great keepers, he allows nothing, not even dismemberment, to stop him from triumphing.

LB -- Ron Obvious -- With his record of physical feats, like jumping the English Channel and running to Mercury, surely playing a little left back won't be a problem.

CB -- Aristotle -- Very much the man in form, if this is to be believed:

CB -- Lumberjack -- Our system requires an old-fashioned center-half alongside the sweeper Aristotle, and our rugged, manly barber-turned-Lumberjack fits the bill.

RB -- Pet Shop shopkeeper -- By the time this nameless shopkeeper's through with him, the opponent's left-sided attacker will have been convinced to attack his own goal.

CM -- Reg -- The leader of the People's Front of Judea and our captain; his passion for the cause and hatred for our rivals is unmatched.

CM -- The Announcer -- Provides something completely different out of the midfield.

LW --' It's' Man -- Has a bit of trouble with his finishing, but he'll transverse all manner of environments and tackles to have a shot at it.

CF -- Cardinal Ximenez -- Among the weapons in this striker's arsenal are fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical devotion to the pope. He's always finding positions in the box where no one expects him to be in order to score timely goals.

CF -- Taunting Frenchman -- Nobody's more offensive than him. You cannot frighten him with your silly knees-bent running around advancing behavior.

RW -- Minister of Silly Walks -- His crazy-legged dribbling is reminiscent of Garrincha.

About "The Other 87 Minutes"

What is this new site we're exposing you too? We'll let them explain:

The Other 87 seeks to provide something that’s not instant analysis or eve of matchday previews. Think of us as the good bits of your favorite soccer coverage: the profiles that examine what makes a certain player tick, the historical background that sheds some light on how the sport has evolved to the present day, the silly features that are more than just tacking names on a list, but considering and explaining why each one deserves to be there.

O87 wants to be a home for soccer writing that makes you think, but that also treats the game as just that, a game. The greatest game, the one we obsess over and fixate on, to the point where we can’t read that gas costs 3.43 a gallon without thinking of Ajax’s 1995 Champions League winning team. But a game nonetheless.

“When you play a match, it is statistically proven that players actually have the ball three minutes on average. The best players – the Zidanes, Ronaldinhos, Gerrards – will have the ball maybe four minutes. Lesser players – defenders – probably two minutes. So, the most important thing is: what do you do those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball…. That is what determines whether you’re a good player or not.” –Johann Cruyff

Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt! Only from Objectivo.com

Nick Rimando Wants You To Know That RSL Is Sexy

Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando "tweeted" out this pic tonight from his Instagram account of himself, Kyle Beckerman, and Nat Borchers rocking some sweet Beckett & Robb suits.

Insert your own joke about a dread-locked Beckerman donning a suit.

Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt! Only from Objectivo.com