|
Soccer Is the New Football ❘ Blog 
|
Well maybe not quite … but a dude here in Las Vegas, Larry Brown, is running for County Commissioner. And the endorsements he champions are his connection to teachers, police and firefighters, and soccer:
Tags: Larry Brown, soccer politics
This story will probably make Sang jealous on many fronts: hookers are talking about the 5-girl orgy they had with Christiano Ronaldo and his Man-Utd mates for a mere £3k … which made them feel like cheap hookers.
Tags: Christiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, Nani
The soccer world apparently knows a thing or two about inking deals for its players … and Poker Royalty, the Vegas-based card player agency, just opened up a London office, being run by FIFA-licensed Jim Erwood.
Tags: agents, FIFA, Jim Erwood, poker, Poker Royalty
Just watching a little MLS … and it turned into playoff action when FC Dallas went down 1-2 to Real Salt Lake (stupid gay name) and needed to equalise to keep their playoff hopes alive. We were making progress on the attack … but alas, RLS scored a third goal in the 86th minute to secure their post-season spot while snuffing out Dallas’ last hopes.
Go Chivas!
UPDATE: Dallas (Pablo Richetti) just got its second red card. Does anyone know … do bookings carry over to the next season?
Tags: bookings, FC Dallas, MLS, Real Salt Lake
Check it out, coming soon … one of the big draws to The Venetian Resort and Casino in Macau … The Manchester United Experience:
Football fans get ready for Asia’s first interactive football experience opening this November at The Manchester United Experience. Come experience the passion of the world’s most celebrated football club as you step into the boots of your favorite footballers. Immerse yourself in an interactive history of the club, lace up your boots and compete against fans from around Asia in our training zone, get a virtual tour of Old Trafford and see football like never before in our 4D Theatre of Dreams.
I have no idea what a 4D Theatre of Dreams might be. But the best I can tell it’s a combo museum/store — sorta like a Hard Rock or Planet Hollywood of Man-U soccer.
Source: VenetianMacao.com
Tags: Macau, Manchester United, The Venetian
Came across a good soccer podcast — EPLTalk.com. The episode below is more than a year old, but total Football geeks like Sang will find it either intriguingly prescient or at least worthy of vitriolic disagreement and thoughts of riot. The guest is none other than Oliver Tse (a pal of mine from the poker-biz). I had almost forgotten that Oliver, creator of the now-defunct SoccerTV.com, has been following soccer on TV (the business of it, not so much the actual kicking) since the mid-90s (when internet communications were limited to email and usenet groups).
Click here to download/listen to the Oliver episode. On it, you’ll hear him discuss:
Damn, that’s a lot of good background info (and data for forward thinkers). And though Soccerati’s new readers may not care, I know any Pokerati tagalongs will find it fascinating that Tse was one of 60 who vote for US Soccer Player of the Year.
Tags: English Premier League, Major League Soccer, Off-pitch soccer business, Oliver Tse, Soccer on TV, soccer podcasts, World Cup
There’s some interesting discussion going on about rule enforcement over at our baby-sister site … in which they are discussing the (theoretical, for now) possibility of using red and yellow cards in poker … and comparisons of tournament directors to soccer referees.
Tags: poker, red card, referee decisions, yellow card
So I’m kinda-sorta getting into the CONCACAF Champions League — currently watching Marathon vs. DC United … but the game before it …
Joe Public vs. CD Olimpia? What kinda name is Joe Public? (They might be my new favorite Trinidad & Tobagoen team.) Seriously, I know I am just learning this game here … but even with a Google search, had they not recently bounced the New England Revolution out of Liga Campeones, I would think they are either an Oregonian soccer team or “new jack swing” band from upstate New York.
OK, maybe this is the wrong thing to say … but I watched the LA Galaxy vs. DC United yesterday, and just now Chelsea FC vs. Manchester Utd.
And I gotta say, the Galaxy/DC game was better than Chelsea/Manchester. In terms of pure entertainment value. Is this blasphemy?
Tags: Chelsea FC, DC United, English Premier League, LA Galaxy, Major League Soccer, Manchester United
With the Fed’s takeover of AIG, we all are part-owners now.
Tags: AIG, Manchester United
So this is a cool video, from Al Jazeera, about the popularity of women’s football in Egypt. You can see it’s a total tough-girl thing in the face of conservative Islam, but also, the appeal to the men is being able to see some leg:
Tags: soccer videos, women's soccer
Another great soccer video — this one of Ronaldinho, starting as a child, and moving up from there. OK, I think I am gaining a little respect for the Barcelona Brazilian.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c95fYtAMyc]
(My favorite scene is where he heads the ball out of the goalie’s hands.)
Tags: Barcelona, Ronaldinho, soccer videos
Like seriously, I had no idea weather could play such a factor in so many soccer games:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIKdK-T-jZM]
The thing about inclement weather is that, sure, it can affect the outcome of the game … but both teams have to adjust equally.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqc7QLTv9OE]
(But doesn’t it suck when you are going against the wind in the first half, only to have it shift in the second half?)
My favorite bottom-of-the-barrel Premiership team, Wigan, has survived relegation … but their manager, Paul Jewell, has said he’s had enough and will be taking a break from football.
Interestingly enough, it was the Wigan loss against Arsenal — whereupon he mouthed off Mark Cuban-style about the ref — that really got me into the game … and appreciating the beauty of the threat of relegation! Paul Jewell may be gone, but here at Soccerati, he will not be forgotten.
Tags: English Premier League, Paul Jewel, Wigan
