This Is American Soccer, US Soccer, MNT, WNT, and MLS - Tackling the subject of Soccer in the US, and worldwide.

deep impact edition 

Abbey Road aint got nothing on Stax. Booker T & the MGs in Memphis, 1970.

If every action has an opposite and equal reaction (TK’s law) than Freddy Adu’s story evened out this week after its meteoric jump the last month. One of his favorite coaches, Real Salt Lake’s John Ellinger stepped down from his consolation prize of technical director with the club, while one of his least favorite coaches, former DC United and present US MNT assistant Peter Nowak was awarded the U23 MNT (Olympic team) head coaching job. What will come of Ellinger – back to USSF maybe – is a less interesting question that how Nowak and Adu will work together in Bejieng next year.

MLS progress and a lack of progress on a certain ankle made the vast majority of a slow week in American soccer in which we’re waiting for teams from USL to MLS to shake out so that we might, might, be able to determine what the heck is going on. We’ll start figuring it out after the jump…

MLS Commissioner Don Garber was quoted as saying MLS will have 18 teams by 2012, inflating the long-held dream of 16 teams by 2010. There is money being waved all around the country as investment teams lobby for a piece of the MLS Layer Cake, and it seems clearer now than even a few weeks ago that MLS is taking the position that geographic growth is more important than the quality of a player pool. If comes to full fruition, the attention will have to turn to salary caps, senior internationals, and designated players.

In what has to be a good sign for American soccer, Brian McBride has been named captain of Fulham. R-E-S-P-E-C-T! which reminds me: it’s the 50th anniversary of the great and newly re-launched Stax record label. PBS has a great documentary chronicling the roller coaster history of the Memphis-based label that was home to numerous soul super stars such as Otis Redding, Black Moses himself Isaac Hayes, and a few guys that give the Funk Brothers a run for their money as the best backing band ever: the slightly better known because they had their own albums Booker T and the MGs. The recently released double-cd set, 50th Anniversary Celebration, is a great place to start if all these names are new to you. If they are not, may I offer up this little gem from Johnnie Taylor.

success always come at a price

Where were we? Ah, yes, respect. Find out what it means… Other Americans made news abroad this week, leading me to cautiously think this year could see the biggest American impact in Europe since D-Day. DaMarcus Beasley has started well for the Rangers, even if some Montenegro fans don’t care for him and about half the world. Bobby Convey is back in action and hopefully back in the national team picture. Benny Feilhaber , the unabashed new love of many a US soccer fan, is the subject of rumors as new European teams join the love fest. More youngsters are making their international experiences pay off, as both Danny Szetela and Jozy Altidore might be emigrating soon. Actually, looks like Danny is gone; who knew the power of the U20 World Cup? Paul Gardner at the New York Sun sees the increase in younger transfers as a growing trend with no end in sight.

I don’t know what to make of the Open Cup. Part of you has to love the NSL success, while at the same time disliking the reality of a mediocre MLS staring you in the face (I don’t care what the line-ups are). The attendance has been poor overall, even for soccer standards. There’s no TV to speak of, and the mainstream press treats it like practice. Kind of looks like a dead tournament to me. Sad.

Lastly, I was going to mention how the news of the Steve Nash / RBNY event picnic non-game appearance in Central Park was picked up by Pardon the Interruption on Wednesday. Just to point out what a NBA MVP can do for tabloid coverage (it was in the New York Post’s Page Six as well, and the New York Times covered it. Big surprise who their piece centered on, though I was wishing for something better from the previously Europe-based ski and cycling reporter Nathaniel Vinton). But then Michael Wilbon turned up in the booth at the DC United v LA Galaxy game at sold out RFK… and had some intelligent things to say. Other than what I thought was a misappropriated comparison to the Cosmos, I agreed with every thing he said. Which puts me on the fence a bit, because he doesn’t really defend soccer on PTI at all – certainly we have never ever heard him say things like he did on the soccer broadcast last night. Is that asking too much? As Wilbon said, screw the ‘making new soccer fans,’ but hey Mike, we all deserve to be treated with respect. Say it again: R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me!

At least he respects the game to its face and those of its fans. I was kind of wishing Wynalda would take it to him a bit, but whatever, it’s just disappointing to me because I have been a fan of Wilbon since he was just a writer, and never put him down there with his PTI compratriate Tony Kornheiser, who will say anything to play to the crowd. Send in the clowns.

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