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Praying to the Soccer Gods

Praying to the Soccer Gods

Football is my religion, this is my place of worship -

  What’s yours?

Gimme an olé!

  - PttSG

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Footy Books: Reviewing "Thirty One Nil: On the Road With Football's Outsiders, A World Cup Odyssey"

Footy Books: Reviewing “Thirty One Nil: On the Road With Football’s Outsiders, A World Cup Odyssey”

All of my life I’ve been fascinated with the world around us.  The people in it, where they’re from, where they’ve been, and where they’re going.  Flags, their colors, and shapes used to jump from pages to my interested eyes.  I wanted to see those places that those flags represented, understand why they used those colors, experience what it felt like to visit that distant far off land, and what…

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The Soccer Gods Once Again Pull the Strings

The Soccer Gods Once Again Pull the Strings

I’m assuming you’ve all seen by now, but something truly miraculous and rare occurred in the Premier League this past weekend.  During the Chelsea v. Manchester City match, Sir ‘Super’ Frank Lampard

- a 13-year Blue through and through, scored an equalizing goal for his new club, City, AGAINST his former employers and the club with which he is synonymous.

Now let’s wade through the murky waters…

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RBNY v. Seattle Sounders: Welcoming Self-Appointed MLS Royalty to the Swamp

RBNY v. Seattle Sounders: Welcoming Self-Appointed MLS Royalty to the Swamp

              Red Bull New York: the Artists Formerly Known as….

  After a week off from MLS action, with a loss in CCL play to Montreal mid-week (which I won’t be reviewing as it would be wrong to try to give anybody ratings taking into account the crap-quality stream I was lucky enough to find online for the match), the boys returned back to the Swamp for a tilt against the best squad in MLS,…

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RBNY v. BIIIIIMBO (Filthadelphia Union): A Trek to the Banks of the Beautiful Delaware River

RBNY v. BIIIIIMBO (Filthadelphia Union): A Trek to the Banks of the Beautiful Delaware River

              Red Bull New York: the Artists Formerly Known as….

  For our third match in 7 days, our boys traveled down I-95 to take on the in-form Philadelphia Union.  Despite an hour-long delay for inclement weather and a water-logged pitch, the Red Bulls conspired to shoot themselves in the foot, once again. (more…)

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RBNY v. The Scum (DC United): Back at the Swamp and We Like It That Way!

RBNY v. The Scum (DC United): Back at the Swamp and We Like It That Way!

              Red Bull New York: the Artists Formerly Known as….

  A second tilt against the most vile of franchises this side of another United, this one Manchester.  It was a bit of a scrappy game, definitely affected by Fabian Espindola’s (another MetroBull cast-off who seems to be enjoying greener pastures) red card, which, even though I hate the Scum with the fire of a thousand burning…

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RBNY v. Sporting KC (I mean Kansas City Wizards. I mean Kansas City Wiz): The Battle of the Metamorphosed MLS Clubs

RBNY v. Sporting KC (I mean Kansas City Wizards. I mean Kansas City Wiz): The Battle of the Metamorphosed MLS Clubs

              Red Bull New York: the Artists Formerly Known as….

  Back to the friendly confines of Red Bull Arena after a disappointing showing in the nation’s capital against the Scum, Metro faced Sporting KC (the artists formerly known as the Kansas City Wiz/Wizards):

RIP

 RIP as well… (more…)

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RBNY Related: BWP Gets His Time in the Sun

RBNY Related: BWP Gets His Time in the Sun

Check out this very high quality video created by the ever-awesome KICK TV spotlighting our beloved Bradley Wright-Phillips and his goal-scoring escapades this year.  Cameos from the brilliant Henry, the gaffer, Petke, Lloyd “Mista Lahndahn” Sam, and Bradley’s father, the Arsenal legend Ian Wright, round out the cast.

It’s very well done and shows some behind-the-scenes training footage of Henry…

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RBNY v. The Scum (DC United): To the Land of Crumbling Stadia, Crackhead Mayors, and Bipartisan Politics!! (Only One of Those is Actually False)

RBNY v. The Scum (DC United): To the Land of Crumbling Stadia, Crackhead Mayors, and Bipartisan Politics!! (Only One of Those is Actually False)

              Red Bull New York: the Artists Formerly Known as….

  Our beloved Red Bulls travelled to the beautiful (read: decrepit) confines of RFK Stadium to visit the Scum, also known as DC United.  I must admit that I wasn’t able to watch the entirety of this match in one sitting as I was en route to a fantasy football draft.  After catching the last 15 minutes and going back to watch the…

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Footy Books: Reviewing "Ajax, The Dutch, The War: The Strange Tale of Soccer During Europe's Darkest Hour"

Footy Books: Reviewing “Ajax, The Dutch, The War: The Strange Tale of Soccer During Europe’s Darkest Hour”

  I think I’m an academic at heart.  If I could afford the time and money to do it, I’d probably be going back to school multiple times for different interests and inclinations.  I find the study of various ancient civilizations to be fascinating, I’d probably have gone back to study something in that arena first.  Then something to do with the social sciences, anthropology, genealogy,…

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RBNY: CD FAS! Who? "FAS! FAS! FAS! FAS!" (CONCACAF Champions League Edition)

RBNY: CD FAS! Who? “FAS! FAS! FAS! FAS!” (CONCACAF Champions League Edition)

              Red Bull New York: the Artists Formerly Known as….

  RBNY took on CD FAS of El Salvador last week in CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) play and were able to put together a competent performance to brush aside the Salvadorans.  Whose fans had the world’s most unique and creative chant ever, also ear-splittingly loud, of “FAS! FAS! FAS! FAS!”.  Fortunately, the chants quickly fell…

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Footy Books: Reviewing "The Miracle of Castel di Sangro"

Footy Literature Review: The Miracle of Castel di Sangro

  As much as I love the sport of football, I have a number of other passions in life, and one of those is reading.  I’ve been an avid reader since I was kid, something my Mom instilled in me and with the excitement leading up to the World Cup, I decided I would delve into some of the football books I’d heard good things about, but for which I’ve made time.  Among those that I’d shortlisted were 

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My Patriarch of Soccer

Today I’ve got something a bit different for everyone.  With the overwhelming attention that the World Cup got this year – rightly so – and the throng of new fans who’ve been turned on to the sport, I’ve been thinking about the game as a whole, why we’re fans, how we become fans, who/what pushes us to start following the sport?  And all the questions in between.  With that being said, I wanted to…

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The Soccer Gods Strike Again!

The Soccer Gods Strike Again!

This time in the form of a miserable referee who has decided that he wanted to ruin this goalkeeper’s moment in the sun.

The story behind the GIF below is that Gorka Iraizoz, Athletic Bilbao’s goalkeeper, had charged up the field in the 95th minute in a last-ditch attempt to grab an equalizer against Malaga.  The ball played in off the free kick is delectable, then all of a sudden, like a…

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RBNY: Canadian Invasion! I Hope They At Least Brought Some Poutine...

RBNY: Canadian Invasion! I Hope They At Least Brought Some Poutine…

              Red Bull New York: the Artists Formerly Known as….

  I must once again apologize for the long hiatus in updates on the continually frustrating and puzzling Red Bulls, the World Cup hit me hard and coming back down to Earth with the Red Bulls has not been easy in the past month or so. (more…)

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The Cruel and Brilliant Divinity of the Soccer Gods (World Cup 2014 Edition)

The Cruel and Brilliant Divinity of the Soccer Gods (World Cup 2014 Edition)

So, who are these ‘soccer Gods’ I continue to refer to?  While that’s not only a great question, it’s also one I can’t answer.  They’re nebulous, sporting beings that pull the gossamer marionette strings attached to each professional footballer to grace this Earth, duh.  What I can definitively think of are some examples from this past summer’s football-fest in Brazil that will illustrate my…

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