Capitalism in European soccer compared to American sports

Posted by Creaven on July 15, 2009 under Europe, United States, World | 19 Comments to Read

On June 26, Cristiano Ronaldo completed a $132 million transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid. In strict business terms, Real Madrid bought an asset from another business in hopes of improving its own product. No government, federation or league was going to stand in the way of what Real Madrid thought was a smart business decision.

One day earlier, in New York City, the capital of capitalism, an annual experiment in socialism took place — the National Basketball Association draft. Though the Los Angeles Clippers are arguably the worst franchise in the history of American sports, they were awarded the first selection after another miserable season. A bad team was being rewarded in the hope it would become a better team; Ayn Rand would have barfed in disgust.

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Random Gold Cup thoughts

Posted by Creaven on July 14, 2009 under United States, USMNT | 24 Comments to Read

I’ve actually felt a little bad I wasn’t covering the United States in the Gold Cup like I did in the Confederations Cup, but then I thought, “Wait, it’s the Gold Cup! The U.S. is going up against Grenada and Jay Heaps is getting playing time. Who cares!?!?” But I do have a soccer Web site and I should write something, so here are some random thoughts…

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Americans in Europe: Onyewu at A.C. Milan

Posted by Creaven on July 9, 2009 under Europe, United States, USMNT | 5 Comments to Read

In January, I was in Dublin, Ireland staying in a hostel. I had just completed an exhausting week, with lots of sight-seeing and a lot more drinking. But, in my final day in the city (I would return two months later but that’s another story) I was ready to take a night off and go to bed early. Luckily, thanks to the world economy being on the brink of collapse, the hostel I was staying at was nearly empty and I was the only one in my six-bed room. But then the Belgians showed up…..

At 9:30 p.m. suddenly my room was infested with 20-year-old Belgians on a mission to get completely fucked up. It goes without saying my night off turned into another binger. But what does a 24-year-old Californian talk about with Belgian college kids?

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English Premier League: Ferguson getting Owen was a no-brainer

Posted by Creaven on July 3, 2009 under England, Premier League | 9 Comments to Read

Of all of the exciting transfers so far this summer, none of them were as shrewed as what Alex Ferguson pulled off Friday.

Manchester United’s signing of Michael Owen was, for lack of a better word, easy. So easy I’m mad at myself I didn’t see this coming and I’m puzzled why other manages, most notably Rafa Benetiez, didn’t think of this move before Ferguson. True, there’s an 80 percent chance Owen will have no impact whatsoever on next years title race. But there’s a 20 percent chance he will and that’s what makes it so easy.

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Soccer Journalism: Blatant British plagiarism of Grant Wahl

Posted by Creaven on July 2, 2009 under England, Media | 17 Comments to Read

You’re at a party and the discussion turns to world events. Some dude, usually wearing a Ralph Lauren polo shirt and Sarah Palin glasses, says, “I get all my news from the BBC.” It’s his way of saying, “I’m an intellectual and the American press is for idiots.”

If that story sounds eerily familiar, it should. According to a British university research study, 36 percent of traffic on British news sites come form the United States. I’m not sure if Americans find the British accent “smart sounding” or if Jon Stewart has soured an entire generation off American media, but, whatever the reason, many Americans believe they can find more substantive and quality journalism across the pond than they can at home. It’s not true.

It’s not that the American media is particularly good (I would argue it’s particularly poor), but there are at least certain basic rules that must be followed. For example, you can’t copy someones work; there are copyright and intellectual property laws. In Britain, these laws are much weaker and on occasion — like the recent story about Landon Donovan calling out David Beckham — sometimes ignored.

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