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

A storm is indeed brewing, so I’m getting the barometer out before it hits. Don’t be surprised if sometime in the next 24 hours TIAS drops its transmission. It will return in mere hours, hopefully to some place closer to OZ than Kansas.

After a few slow weeks on the news front, it was a busy week. Straight to the must-read and other highlights after the jump…

Iran. That’s right. Iran. Didn’t expect to see that word pop up here? Though, if you’ve followed the news this week, maybe you did. You always have to skeptical when the Bush administration – or any government really - is so wholeheartedly against something. No matter the tyrant in (kind of) charge. If we can love the USA with Bush, can’t Iran get a chance beyond Ahmadinejad? One man’s insanity can’t reflect an entire nation.

Which isn’t to say we shouldn’t be scared or at least nervous about Iran, it’s government, and its future. It’s just to say describing a country is never easy – no generalization will do. Not even a week’s ski vacation can account for it all. Outside Magazine’s recent dispatch was a fun eye opener, as Iran was reminding me of Vermont, minus the government repression and armed guards of course (but it may be coming if we continue down this path).

‘Ski Iran’ has seen a bubble of interest lately from numerous magazines, and goes to show any curious person can find some information that paints a different picture, often one more comprehensive than simply deriding the nuclear ambitions of the axis of evil. Let us not forget Iran is full of people, people who by-and-large celebrated the return of an Iranian-American to coach their biggest club (and possibly the national team for 2010).

This is the best story out this week, and beyond the great promise it could hold for international relations - its not quite as perfect as the Ivory Coast story, but it’s a start in a less sympathetic land – it’s impossible for me not to mention that the American media have once again missed the boat on reporting great soccer stories. One writer thinks this fact may have something to do with the downfall of Sports Illustrated (Storytime is over. Your 30 second flash video presentation will begin soon. Dan Patrick will be your hostess. Please put on your protective goggles).

Remember the documentary about the Iranian, female journalist or the Iranian female soccer team? There are good stories, and you don’t have to be a soccer fan to enjoy them. That is what journalism is supposed to be about. And that’s why one of my all time favorite magazine articles is a New Yorker piece about concrete. The loss of this directive - good stories above all else - means little soccer coverage for us fans and a shadow of Sports Illustrated’s former self. ESPN ruins everything again. Hooray!

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MLS playoffs are going on and no one seems to like the format. A bunch of defensive games, little scoring, and the critics come in waves. Luis Bueno wants the regular season to mean more, while Ives Galarcep wants a three-game series. I’m with Beuno, but really would just like less time between games. The first games seem months gone. Can MLS not attract an audience on any days besides Saturday? Jack Bell via Bruce Arena has another idea: separate trophies for the regular and post-seasons, with all league teams competing in both.

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Speaking of Bruce Arena, he is getting it from several directions this week. Makes me kind of happy. Not proud, but this smile won’t disappear. Maybe he will? Is he a great coach or a man whose success has been wrought against inferior competition? No matter how you see his career, it appears you can’t help but think he is in his twilight at Red Bull New York. Paul Gardner and Pat Walsh catch him in the crossfire. Weird thought on this: Gardner writes, Bruce’s “public persona has radiated, if not boredom, certainly a lack of discernible enthusiasm.” Wouldn’t that pretty much describe the entire franchise?

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Final Thought. John Ellinger was just hired to head the US Youth Soccer Association’s development. USYSA is the organization you belonged to as a kid whether you knew it or not. Now that a new youth system and new leaders are in place how long will it take to see any substantive changes? Setting it up and hiring the right people is phase one, but changing the hegemony of youth soccer in America will take a lot more than naming coaches. We should start by naming names, getting the riff raff and money-hungry hands away from our children.