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

A DIARY PROJECT FROM JEFF FRENZEL

I’ll start off by saying that the real estate market here in Atlanta right now is abysmal, which, on any given day is a bad thing for me and my wallet, but today turned out to be a good thing because I could skip out of work at 2:30 to get to the local soccer bar by the 3:05 kickoff of the USA vs. England game. I’m only interested in one piece of real estate right now: that 115 yards by 75 yards located in the middle of London.

I’m really excited. I usually watch English Premier League games, sometimes toss in the big games of Spain and Italy too. But watching my national team battle against the big boys of Europe and South America (yeah, Spain and Argentina are next) makes my stomach tighten up and my nerves cringe. And today there will be no exception… Click HERE for the full story…

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After the jump, an American girl and her English bloke relive last night’s episode…
Click HERE for the full story…

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no matter how you look at it or think of it / it’s life and you just got to play the game
-Tony Joe White, Rainy Night in Georgia

March 28, 2008—It’s a mad jumble of American soccer. An MLS expansion team that replaced an existing MLS team that took off for Houston is playing against one of the best fan-supported USL teams and their newly acquired Japanese World Cup veteran on a collegiate soccer field that produced several U.S. and Canadian national team stars. 1,200 people showed up in rain, hail, and snow. This is American soccer.

Brian Costello’s addition to the Diary Project is after the jump. Click HERE for the full story…

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THE DIARY PROJECT RETURNS

Typically in soccer circles the term ‘Yanks Abroad’ conjures European images, but surprise!, Americans are living in other countries…

Typically in MLS circles the league’s competition (or lack thereof) is viewed in a European context, but surprise!, soccer is being played in other countries…

Typically only European super clubs like Real Madrid or Manchester United go on World Tours, but surprise!, MLS is getting into the act…

Like in Australia, where the country’s top league holds a similar footing as MLS in the United States and where the Los Angeles Galaxy were welcomed last week on the first leg of their South Pacific roadshow. Fortunately for TIAS, Travis Clark was there when the two leagues collided. His impressions are after the jump.

Send in your Diary Project entries now! Click HERE for the full story…

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In light of yesterday’s storm - women walloped by Brazil, emotional breakdowns in the media - today is all about getting back to basics, because I don’t want to think that THAT is American soccer. So instead of the increasingly hard to muster Barometer, how about a little reflection courtesy of the Diary Project?

Armin Aliefendic from Austin, Texas, checks in after the jump.

Send in your stories and photos today!!
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One Guy. One Game. One Press Pass. Once in a lifetime.

Wanting for more US MNT? Yared wrote in about his experience at the recent U.S. – Brazil Friendly, and I’m happy to share his story as part of the Diary Project. Ya know, it could be you. Send in your stories and photos for the digital time capsule.

Yared with his first ever press pass is after the jump…
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Photo credit goes to TIAS reader Dennis. Not bad for something he quickly “scrounged up.” Very high on the cuteness quotient.

I STILL NEED YOUR HELP

CALLING ALL STORIES AND PHOTOS!!

Send me your best soccer photos and first-person stories about American soccer!

Please try to make all digital images at least 450 pixels wide.

Write about your unique soccer experiences to be included in this here virtual time capsule.

Here is one of my favorite past examples:

Brothers In Arms

GET WRITING! GET SHOOTING! YOURS COULD BE NEXT.

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photo credit: Zaki Raheem. Taken 7/2006 in livingston, Guatemala

Harlem’s Soccer Savior - or at least one of them - Irv Smalls sent me the above photograph a few weeks ago, and it’s sat as my computer wallpaper ever since.

I’ve been wanting to use it here at TIAS, but have yet to find a tie-in. So today I made one:

CALLING ALL PHOTOS!! Send me your best soccer photos and once enough come in, I’ll throw ‘em up and let everybody vote on their favorite (I’ll come up with some sort of prize when it comes down to it).

All the big men’s tournaments are over for the year, so get out from in front of the Spanish channel and take some photos of the beautiful game!

We’ll call it the Photo Diary Project, a spin-off from our first Diary Project - where readers wrote their soccer experiences for me to place in this here virtual time capsule. By the way, that project is still open. Here is one of my favorite past examples:

Brothers In Arms

GET WRITING! GET SHOOTING! YOURS COULD BE NEXT.

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see more photos from Dunmore and Section 8 Chicago on their Flickr page

Tom Dunmore of ‘If This is Football’, and now PitchInvasion.net, is a mind with opinions we all should listen to here in the blogosphere. He has written for TIAS in the past, bringing with him an educated knowledge of football from his homeland, England, and his fascination with soccer in this new land. That alone, makes his perspective a unique one.

He wrote me after I linked to a story of his to fill us in with some more ideas. Turns out long after he highlighted the Portland Timbers supporter’s group, the subject is spawning some introspection, enough so that he plans to focus ‘Pitch Invasion’ on supporter group culture). His theory on the sudden wash of attention on MLS from the British media stemming in part from the newfound aknowledgement of American supporter groups, is after the jump…
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The last 72 hours have been of the rollercoaster variety, which is to say, up and down on the good ship Bradley. So it is with great pleasure that I can present in place of the Barometer this week something that will hopefully deliver some perspective. James Weise from Kick This! chronicled the US MNT U20’s week in his town, Rochester, New York, and he made me stop and remember that soccer is about more than, well, i’ll let you figure it out. James’ reflections are after the jump…
Click HERE for the full story…

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