Rapid Fire Weekends

So, I have decided to try out a new what I hope will become weekly post where I share random, short burst thoughts about the world of soccer.  If I keep up with it and do it like I plan, it will usually come out on Saturdays around noon. So let’s start this weeks round-up.

Piers Morgan is a dolt.  Maybe he forgot that RBNY beat PSG then drew with his beloved Arsenal to win the Emirates Cup last season.  Also, maybe he forgot our captain Thierry Henry played for Arsenal during the loan season.

Is it just me or does Cristiano Ronaldo look like he wants to take that ball, and get it pregnant behind the bleachers, when stepping up for a free kick?

Spain can look really good while playing their boring style, but man they can really put the snooze fest on when they do it poorly.

I wonder who Mehdi Ballouchy assassinated where he can’t leave the United States anymore.  I also wonder who Luke Rogers refused to assassinate for us not to let him back.

For people who keep calling the US national kits Waldo shirts, we get it.  Also it wasn’t funny after the second time you said it.

I would not want to cross path’s with Mario Balotelli after scoring a goal in a dark alley way.  Dude is scary.  Side note, I wouldn’t want to encounter him while he was operating a Roman Candle either.

Has RFK fallen down yet?

Robbie Keane is really hard to understand when he is a call in guest on a podcast.  It sounds pretty cool though.

As a non Spanish-speaking soccer fan, having Galavision be the only channel to air your teams match, is both entertaining and sad.

I think ESPN’s finale for Euro Cup 2012 should be a steel cage match between Alexi Lalas and Michael Ballack.  First one to knock the smug off the other ones face wins. Special guest referee Piers Morgan, and  I expect it to result in all three being KO’d at the same time.

That’s it for now, check back next week to see what is on my mind then.

R&BHY Episode 10

Sean and I talk about the recent good fortunes of the Red Bulls and the Philly Union. We also get into a little bit of USOC discussion. We finish off the show by talking about weather or not American soccer fans should try to emulate European fans more. Also Sean gives me crap for using the word parity, but little does he know jokes on him. As always thanks for listening and we hope you enjoy the show.

Parity as described by Wikipedia

Download Episode 10 MP3

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The Unexpected Hero

A term often used by fans of the New York Red Bulls is “That’s so Metro.” Sunday’s match-up against the DC United was shaping up all week to be a night where we would sigh and utter that phrase.  In a unexpected turn, it would not be Red Bulls fans walking out of Red Bull Arena wondering “What just happened?”.

I will set the stage for what would become the best RBNY match this season so far, and the best match that I have ever watched them play since I started watching them in 2010.  There was one big thing that started Hate DC Week all over again. It came out last week that the MLS Offices asked Red Bull if they would be willing to stop the match and celebrate Dwayne De Rosario if he scored his 100th MLS goal.  To get to that number he would have to score two goals. De Ro was traded by the Red Bulls last season for Dax McCarty to DC, and since then he has loved playing against his former team.

Now it was what could have been the first “That’s so Metro” moment, the Red Bull front office could have missed the point and agreed to celebrate a DC player in his accomplishment. Doing so would have pissed off the big New York fans who hate DC more than any other team. Instead of doing that (which I don’t think would have surprised most fans) the front office basically told the MLS screw you.  The organization gets the rivalry, and decided to do the right thing, but that wasn’t going to stop Dwayne from scoring two goals.

So then comes Sunday where the scorned player would return to once again show his former team what they missed out on.  That moment happened on Sunday, oh did it happen.  It wasn’t Dwayne De Rosario who would get that moment,  he wouldn’t get to rub a brace in the fans of RBNY, and he certainly wouldn’t get to celebrate his 100th goal in Red Bull Arena.  He didn’t get those moments, the Red Bull’s Brandon Barklage would get those moments.  Barklage would make his former team with a brace, and his first two MLS goals.  He would be the one to give the South Ward a reason to sing and scream “Not tonight DC have fun driving back down I-95.”

That’s so Un-Metro, but Un-Metro was what was awesome about last night.  We had the player who punished his former team.  Brandon Barklage has had a rough journey in the MLS, and by his own admission, was upset when DC cut him.  He wasn’t a starter when he came to New York, but he worked hard for his starting spot.  After all that he became a hero for the Red Bull faithful last night.  Not De Ro but Brandon Barklage would be featured on Sports Center’s top ten plays.  An unlikely hero, but a hero non the less.  One who put on a performance which I am sure Red Bull fans will remember for a long time to come.

I will probably talk about this a little more when we record the podcast, but I felt as though I needed to get this out there.

R&BHY Episode 9

This is an Episode of firsts.  Sean and I realize the power of our predictions when we talk Red Bulls and Philly Union in the first segment.  In the second segment I have the privilege of talking to Zac Wassink about the popularity of soccer in America, which is our first interview on the show.  Zac is a Yahoo Sports contributor and all around soccer fan, believe me when I say he has some good opinions on soccer.  As always enjoy the show.

Zac can be found on twitter here

Zac’s Yahoo Sports page

Download Episode 9 Here

R&BHY Episode 8

In this episode we talk USMNT, Peter Nowak, & Racism in Euro Cup 2012.  As always we cover RBNY and the Philly Union.

As a side note this episode was recorded Tuesday night, and as we made a prediction that Peter Nowak would not be fired until after the All Star Game, Philly fired him Wednesday.  Long before the All Star Game.

Download Episode 8

Oh and we had a format change, basically reversed the order of how the show used to go, to put discussions at the end of an episode.  Enjoy.   Also fair warning language is a little rough in this episode.