Team
Branden Steineckert plays drums for Rancid. That, by definition, rocks. That he is an avid soccer fan and a passionate Real Salt Lake supporter rocks even harder.
But the fact that he's such a geniune, cool, down-to-earth guy who wants to encourage people to express themselves, that's punk.
I met Branden when I was in Salt Lake City a few months ago. He was sitting in the back of a town-hall meeting between the supporter groups and RSL brass. At some point, the supporters brought up their dislike of the song played at Rio Tinto Stadium whenever the home side scores. "It's lame," one person said.
Naturally, everyone in the room eventually turned to the guy in the back who tours the world as a musician.
Steineckert didn't hesitate to give his opinion. But he didn't opine on the music. He didn't say the current goal song was bad or that another song would be better. No, instead, he challenged his fellow RSL supporters.
"Let's come up with something of our own," he said.
Liverpool FC are going to open their doors to the public, Hard Knocks style, during their preseason tour of the US and Canada this summer.
Cameras will be following the players and coaching staff’s every move in the up close and personal documentary, which will be aired on FOX Soccer in a six-episode series entitled, "Our Liverpool: Never Walk Alone."
The Reds are taking on Toronto FC as part of the World Football Challenge on July 21 at the Rogers Centre.
Emmy award-winning producer Scott Boggin — mastermind behind the 24/7 HBO series, which has showcased the lead-up to the Ricky Hatton vs. Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz boxing matches as well as the NHL's Winter Classis between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals — will follow Liverpool on their North American tour as they prepare for the 2012-13 Premier League season.
FOX Soccer had this to say about the award winning producer:
"Scott's body of work is remarkable, giving fans a true peek behind the curtain into the lives of sport's biggest teams, athletes and coaches. Scott has proven his ability to capture these inner workings in a truly organic manner, and now he has the opportunity to tell Liverpool FC's rich story to a global audience."
The big question is, will the crew be able to understand conversations between Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher in their heavy Scouse accents? Let alone pick up manager Kenny Daglish’s Scottish brogue when he’s off-duty?
Only time will tell, but the show is sure to raise the Reds profile in North America and beyond.
To be clear, I didn't oversell that headline.
Sporting Kansas City's Bobby Convey really is in his bathrobe in the club's new video series "#FollowFriday with Bobby Convey." He really does have a dog on his lap...pay close attention to the identity of said pup.
He also starts the video with a disclaimer: "I'm not on Twitter. I don't ever plan on being on Twitter." Maybe it's just me, but that's exactly what I would expect Convey to say.
If that didn't sell you on hitting play, just trust me that this is gold from the folks in Kansas City, who appear to be having plenty of fun (see Collin's Corner) during their 7-0-0 start.
The best moment comes when Soony Saad reenacts the Lion King with what -- I believe -- are his kittens. Quite a household...Saad, Konrad Warzycha, Dom Dwyer and two fluffy kittens.
LeBron James’ love for Liverpool keeps growing, so much so that he's now launched his very own Liverpool FC sneaker, the Nike LeBron 9 low.
However the minority owner in LFC seems to have made some big design flaws before the shoes expected release on May 5, the day of Liverpool's FA Cup final match against Chelsea.
The famous “Liver” bird which is the symbol of the city of LIverpool, is placed on the heel of the shoe….but it looks more like a dragon. And emblazoned on the sole of the shoe are 18 logos of Premier League trophies. Yet Liverpool have never won the EPL title.... but they have won the English league title 18 times; which is a completely different trophy.
The original story announcing the sneaker release on the New England Sports Network (NESN) has been removed, after angry responses from Liverpool fans about the botched design.
Back to the drawing board, LeBron.
(Images from NESN.com)
There’s a lot that goes into being a captain, and each of the 19 in Major League Soccer approach it in a different way. From Shalrie Joseph’s ever-present chatter to Davy Arnaud’s work ethic, our new series “Taking the Lead” provides an in-depth look at what leadership means to those wearing the armband, as told in their own voices. The series debuts Wednesday, April 18 with Real Salt Lake captain Kyle Beckerman.
Oh, that Jimmy Conrad. He's had a good life on the soccer field.
He played in the World Cup.
He captained Chivas USA.
Oh, and he beat Chelsea when Jose Mourinho was their manager.
Behold: The jerseys for Euro 2012 have been released. And there are many sashes.
The US men's national team made waves before the 2010 World Cup by reintroducing a sash to their jerseys in homage to the 1950 team that famously beat England. And while it's not exactly unique – teams like Trinidad and Tobago and Peru have been rocking the sash for years – it's not exactly standard fare.
So from whence come the sashes? This is undoubtedly jingoistic, biased, and self-aggrandizing, but I tend to think that the US brought the design back into vogue.
Which would also mark the first time that Europeans have ever taken fashion advice from Americans. Give yourselves a pat on the back, readers.
I, for one, feel pretty good about it. I like the sash on the US jerseys. I think they'll look good at Euro 2012. Undoubtedly, you feel differently. And... discuss!
In recent weeks, MLS has been putting it's money where it's mouth is, so to speak. The MLS Disciplinary Committee has been dishing out punishments after the fact for violent tackles and simulation.
It's come down hard on embelishment, too.
In my book, there are different forms of embellishment. There is embellishment that is used -- and, really, necessary -- to alert the referee that you have been fouled. This is the type of thing you see when, say, a faster player gets around a slower defender and is impeded. It might not be enough contact to bring a player down, but it is enough to stymie the attacker.
WATCH: Cruz and Benitez battle for possession
Unfortunately, refs are reluctant to blow the whistle in this scenario, thereby actually punishing the attacker. In many of these instances, the attacker will embellish the effect of the contact, making sure the referee recognizes that there was a foul. I'm okay with this kind of embelishment.
I'm not okay with embellishment that is meant to con the referee into thinking a foul has taken place when it hasn't or a foul is worse than it really is. For examples, check out Danny Cruz's shameful writhing after being elbowed by Jair Benitez in D.C.'s win over Dallas last weekend. Or Alvaro Fernandez's histrionics a few weeks ago against Houston. It's sophomoric stuff, and both players were rightly fined for it.
It's also nice to see that at least one of the players involved isn't throwing a hissy fit about being sanctioned for his actions.
"There are different perspectives on soccer in the world," Fernandez told The Seattle Times this week. "So where I'm from, down in South America, we work on getting an advantage out of every situation that we can -- no matter what that is. It's not looked upon badly. Here it is looked upon badly. It's not a bad thing, it is what it is, and I just have to adapt to the league."
Well said.
With NBC Sports continuing their great coverage of MLS for the first time in their history, check out the awesome "All Rise" promo video below.
Make sure you tune into their next nationally televised game between Philadelphia and Columbus at 3:30pm on Saturday April 14.
Hands up if your enjoying the coverage so far…..oh I see David Beckham is a fan of the production on NBC Sports!
There are lots of things you can take away from this video, and I'd love to hear all about them in the comments section. I trust you all will keep it classy, civil, and good-natured.
For whatever reason, though, I honestly thought the most interesting part of this video was that for every red card Roger "Rojo" Espinoza accumulates this year, he owes the entire Sporting KC squad lunch.
I'll point out that this ultimatum was unilaterally imposed by one Kei Kamara, and is a little bit unfair because, despite his reputation, Roger got only one red card last year on a team where seven different players earned their marching orders in MLS play.
But oh, man, there are so many questions that come up, now. Does this deal include coaches, staff, front office people? What's Roger's favorite kind of food? If it's cuisine from his native Honduras, then how easy is it to get carne asada and coconut in Kansas City?
It's worth mentioning, by the way, that one of the tiebreakers for playoff berths this season is disciplinary points. At the rate SKC are going – 3-0-0 for those who just woke up from hibernation – it won't be an issue. But still...
Talk amongst yourselves.
