We Got This

Just a friendly reminder to all the English fans out there that a little less than one year ago, the US beat the best team in the world. Saturday is gonna be like my birthday and Christmas all rolled into one.

Adidas’ World Cup commercial

Star Wars™ Cantina 2010 / adidas Originals from Dominic Prevost on Vimeo.

I love soccer. I love Star Wars (well, at least the original trilogy). And I’ve invested so much money into adidas products, I should have a spot on the board of directors by now. So, on paper, this should have been the perfect ad. There’s even a cameo by Noel Gallagher, for cryin’ out loud. It’s like they tapped directly into my brain. But for some reason, the whole thing just kind of falls flat.

Maybe Snoop Dogg ruined it for me. Maybe soccer players and musicians are 100% the wrong people to ask to act in front of a green screen (I mean, Daft Punk have no lines, and they still look uncomfortable). Or maybe a mashup of so many of my favorite things could never live up to my expectations. Nike’s Write the Future ad works because it sticks to soccer. This adidas ad just feels like the creative team tried to cram a whole mess of crap into the pot, and it became a big steaming plate of WTF?

I can just imagine the meeting. “We got access to the cantina scene! The fucking cantina scene! Lucas never lets anybody mess with his stuff (other than himself, of course). What else we got? How about cameos from a California rapper and two English rock stars whose biggest hits were in the early 90’s! And, let’s get Daft Punk! They sort of look like they’re Star Wars characters. And Beckham’s injured, he’s not going to the World Cup, maybe we can throw him in there! And then let’s sprinkle a few more random people in the background and badly edit the scene to make sure this thing isn’t 8 minutes long. Perfect!” Ultimately, what does any of this mish-mash have to do with the World Cup? In the end, it just turns out to be a whole lot of wasted potential. Sorry, adidas. FAIL.

Nike’s Soccer Ads

I may not always agree with everything Nike does as a company, but there's no denying they have a long history of amazing soccer ads. From the very beginning of my love for televised soccer, Nike has been producing great little mini films that reflect a lot of care, style, intelligence, and knowledge of the game, and this latest, “Write the Future” is no exception. Anybody who’s ever played a competitive match has had dreams of glory or fear of goathood flash though their head, but Nike takes this one to another level. After watching this, I’m really fired up for the start of the World Cup.

Here’s a few more classics from previous Nike campaigns:



Good vs. Evil is the first Nike ad I remember, and is also responsible for my love of Eric Cantona. The overall look may be a little dated, but that little "Au revoir" coupled with the collar flip could come off incredibly cheesy. Cantona makes it about as bad-ass as anyone would think possible.



The Brazilian squad with a little ”Jogo Bonito” in the airport. It’s funny to see some of these guys at their peak (Ronaldo) and some of them who dropped off the face of the earth soon after starring in this commercial (Denilson). Also, Cantona ges a cameo.



Guy Ritchie’s first person masterpiece puts you in the head of a lower division player whose free kick goal gets him a spot on Arsenal, superstardom, the Champions League and then eventually, the World Cup, all in 3 minutes. Genius.

The Convert

More post-World Cup media love for soccer: my dad sent this column to me a few weeks ago, and I forgot to post it until now. The good thing is, Dave here is only latest member of a fairly large group of people I've come into contact with since the World Cup ended who seem to be willing to give the 21st century version of pro soccer a try. The trick now for MLS is not only to bring these new fans in, but to keep them coming back. Of course, tickets to a DC United game would be the easiest answer. Getting to see the class of the league in action would guarantee all these newcomers would become fans for life. Hey, it worked for me.

A Work in Progress

New city + new job = a lot less time for blogging. I hope my three regular readers haven't missed me too much.

In between trying to adjust to a new system at work, balance a variety of new responsibilities, redesign a magazine, find my way around a new city, find a permanent place to live, and stay in touch with everyone back east, I have managed to read a few soccer articles. It's interesting that the tone of the American sports media has changed appreciably since the end of the World Cup. I think the TV numbers really woke some people in the industry up to the fact that there is a huge untapped market of viewers and readers out there, and that's been reflected in a very welcome and sometimes startling respect being given to all aspects of the game—international, European, and even MLS. A perfect example? SI.com discusses the announcers for the 2010 World Cup... nearly 4 years in advance! If that's not a sign of soccer's increased media footprint, I don't know what is.

SOUNDS
The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album, Sufjan Stevens
Powder Burns, The Twilight Singers
In Dreams, Roy Orbison

WORDS
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Mark Twain
Bangkok Tattoo, John Burdett

Little Shots of Happiness

Every once in a while, a series of commercials comes along that I get inordinately attached to. I get a stupid little rush of excitement every time I see one, and no matter how many times I see them, they never fail to make me laugh. Right now, it's Apple that's responsible for my 30-second fixes. I don't whether it's because I'm a life-long Mac user (our first family computer was an Apple IIc that my Dad bought in the late 70's), or just because I find these ads to be unfairly clever at the expense of some computer-geek stereotypes, but I can't get enough of them. I can't escape them either. Thanks to the juggernaut that is Apple's marketing department, whether I'm watching TV or on the internet, there's the Mac and the PC. Also, I love that the guy who plays the Mac is the same kid who got nailed with a wrench by Patches O'Houlihan.

Other things making me happy these days?

Pearl Jam, "Wishlist". After digging out my CDs during the move, I'm having a bit of PJ renaissance these days, and their greatest hits discs have been in heavy rotation as I drive around Denver. "Wishlist" is a track I had almost entirely forgotten, but now I can't get enough of. "I wish I was a messenger and all the news was good / I wish I was the full moon shining off a Camaro's hood." Cheesy goodness.

Neil Finn and Friends, 7 Worlds Collide: Live at the St. James. Another gem I dug out. The former Crowded House frontman gathered a bunch of guest stars (including members of Radiohead, the Smiths, and Pearl Jam) for a series of concerts in New Zealand. I don't even know that many of the songs, but this disc makes me wish I had been at the show. And really, what more can you ask for from a live album?

Anything by Mark Twain. I've been there before. When I was young, I had an illustrated version of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and when we read the grown-up version in high school, it was one of the only books I've been forced to read in my life that I truly enjoyed. I've read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and I own a collection of Twain's best quotes. But the mark of a great writer is, no matter many times you read their stuff, you always come back for more. Thanks to a few visits to the nearby Tattered Cover bookstore, I've stocked up and plunged deeper into Samuel Clemens' oeuvre. I just finished re-reading Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, and am now about to start A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. On deck: Life on the Mississippi and Innocents Abroad. If nothing else, Twain's words are helping pass the time in my crap-ass sublet.

Things not making me happy?

My crap-ass sublet. The sooner I find a permanent place to live, the better.

The logo for World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Ew. It's the biggest sporting event in the world. You'd think maybe they could spring for a graphic designer with a few years of training.

French Fried

Sacre Bleu, Zizzou! What could you possibly have been thinking? You're in overtime of the World Cup Final, your team is dominating, so what do you do? Lay a vicious headbutt on Marco Materazzi and get red-carded, taking away any momentum from your team and forcing them to spend the remainder of overtime defending, sending the final to penalty kicks where they lose because you, their best penalty-taker, are no longer on the field. I don't care what the guy said to you, you're a world-class athlete in the final (and arguably biggest) game of your career. What the hell? And even if the referee was looking the other way, with that many cameras in the stadium, you're never going to get away with such an obvious, violent foul. It's really a shame to see you go out this way. After a mesmerizing run through the knockout rounds where you rediscovered your magic touch on the ball, you should have been hoisting the trophy. But c'est la vie, no? Life is not a Hollywood movie.

Credit should go to the Italians for holding out to reach penalty kicks despite being obviously dog-tired for much of the second half, but you have to think Zidane getting sent off was a huge boost to their flagging spirits, especially after he had nearly won the game a few minutes earlier with a masterful header. Maybe if he had stuck to heading the ball rather than an opposing player, this final would have had a different plotline. But Zidane's antics aside, I have to say that I hate the idea of deciding the world championship on something as arbitrary as penalty kicks. I think PKs are perfectly legitimate to decide matches during the knockout phases, because you need to keep the length of the games fairly even to keep it fair. But for the final match of an event that only happens once every four years? Suck it up and keep playing until somebody wins. Plenty of time to rest when it's over.

WORDS
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

SOUNDS
Under the Iron Sea, Keane

I Choose France

Because everyone wrote them off before the tournament even started because they were "too old". Because no one gave them half a chance against mighty Brazil. Because today, the French showed the Brazilians what Joga Bonito is really all about (and somewhere, Eric Cantona is drinking himself into a happy stupor). Because Zinedine Zidane is looking to take one more medal with him into retirement, and he's playing like he's 24, not 34. Because in my opinion, Thierry Henry happens to be the best player in the world. Because out of all the times they've played together, Zidane and Henry never combined for a goal until today, and I want to see that happen again. Because of all the remaining teams, France is the only team with blacks and whites and Christians and Muslims all working together towards one common purpose. Because the other choices are Germany (the hosts... yawn), Portugal (pathetic bunch of divers), and Italy (cheating match-fixers who I hate simply for advancing out of the US's group when the US didn't). Because a France jersey is hanging in my closet in Indy, and I'd be glad to wear it again. Allez les Bleus!

Seduced by Argentina

Sadly, the most exciting team in the World Cup is going home, as Germany defeated Argentina today (1-1, then 4-2 in the penalty kick round). After watching their 6-1 dismantling of Serbia & Montenegro, I had pegged the Argentines as the team to win it all. They had a free-flowing attack and a stalwart defense, and scored a raft of terrific goals throughout their matches, including the unquestioned strike of the tournament, an insane chest-and-volley by Maxi Rodriquez against Mexico in the second round. It's a thing of beauty no matter how you slice it, but best appreciated if you hear the call from an Argentine announcer. Throughout the first and second rounds, Argentina played beautiful futból with a smile, something normally associated with the South American team known for its samba, not its tango.

Unfortunately, as I was at work (and without a TV in my apartment anyway), I missed being able to watch the game. But as most recaps have explained (such as this one from SI's Grant Wahl), the Argentine approach to today's match was cynical and far-removed from how they played to get to this point. Ahead by one goal and forced to make two subs due to injuries midway through the second half, they went into a protective shell. And if this World Cup has proven anything consistently, it's that if you modify your play to protect a one-goal lead, you're pretty much guaranteed to lose that lead. And true to form, the Germans equalized through tournament-leading scorer Miroslav Klose in the 80th minute. Having used all their substitutions (inexplicably leaving wünderkind striker Leo Messi on the bench), Argentina could not muster the offense to win the game in extra-time, and Germany's keeper Jens Lehmann made two stops in penalty kicks to send the hosts through to the semifinals, while the South Americans were left to head home and mourn their missed chances. At least their coach had the good sense to quit immediately, rather than allow the Argentine media and public to rake him over the coals while baying for his blood.

So one of the semifinals is set, with Italy (dominant winners over Ukraine in today's other match) set to face the hosts. Tomorrow will determine the other semifinal matchup, as England meet Portugal and then Brazil and France hook up for a rematch of the 1998 final. At this point, I'm no longer sure who to cheer for, but based on the success of the teams I've been pulling for so far, it may be the kiss of death for me to choose a new favorite. Maybe I'll just enjoy watching the rest of the games and leave it at that.

On the other hand, not having a TV this week has given me a chance to do quite a bit of reading. And thanks to discovering the Tattered Cover just a few blocks from my new place, I now have plenty of books to keep me occupied. Summer, a pool, and a stack of new books? Ahh, life is good.

WORDS
The Twelfth Card, Jeffery Deaver
Kung Fu High School, Ryan Gattis

Dazed and Confused

Well, after 5 days, I'm finally starting to feel settled in Denver. It's still a bit disconcerting to be living in a furnished sublet. I feel like I have to be on my best behavior since it's someone else's stuff (although given the state this place was in when I arrived, I don't think that's much of a worry), and despite being completely unpacked, I still don't feel like I live here yet. My life for the past few days has been a blur of wandering around downtown, searching maps to find nearby stores for cleaning supplies and things I forgot, trying to learn the ropes at work, and catching World Cup highlights whenever I can. All of this is made more difficult by the fact that I'm heavily jet-lagged due to the switch to Mountain Time. I keep nodding off around 9:30, and I wake up at the crack of dawn every morning raring to go. I did finally start to catch up a little this afternoon when I came home from work and grabbed a quick nap by the rooftop pool.

Overall, the decision to move out here seems to be a good one. Once I get comfortable at work, I think it's going to be a great spot for me, and the city itself has been nothing but amazing so far. The weather's been fantastic, and it just smells clean and healthy here, a welcome change after downtown Indy's ever-changing assortment of unpleasant scents. That said, there are some things I miss about the Circle City. Most of them will fade soon, but as long as AB is still there, I'll always be thinking about Indy.

Meanwhile, I'll try to find ways to amuse myself out here. With the holiday weekend coming up, there should be plenty of chances for fun. The Rapids apparently put on a great fireworks show every year, although the fact that they're matching up against the Revolution may not produce many fireworks of the goal-scoring variety, as neither team has been finding the back of the net too often lately. Thankfully, I'll have World Cup matches to keep my thirst for soccer sated. There's also a little movie coming out on Wednesday that I want to check out; haven't seen much publicity for it, but I think it's based on an old comic book. And in true competitive fashion, Marvel has cleverly timed the release of the teaser trailer for Spider-Man 3 to steal a little bit of DC's Superman thunder. Looks like, as rumored, Venom and Sandman will be the baddies this time. Hopefully, it stays truer to the quality of the first two movies and doesn't go the way of X-Men.

I'd talk about the US's early exit from the World Cup, but I'm still too annoyed to think coherently. I don't think Bruce Arena should be fired unless they have a better candidate lined up (too bad Guus Hiddink's not available), but I do think some new ideas would be a good thing for that coaching staff. Obviously, there were plenty of cracks in the dam, and when the pressure was on, they all burst. Mostly, what I learned from this World Cup is that the Yanks aren't anywhere near as good as they (or their fans) would like to think, and Clint Dempsey is the only US player who showed up. I'm guessing at least a few Euro clubs took notice.

Road Trip

So, after spending my last few days of work feeling like a graduating senior, I continued that analogy and did what every kid headed on to the next phase of their life does... ignored all my responsibilities and took off on a road trip. In this case, AB and I headed down to meet my brothers and their girlfriends at the Bonnaroo Festival in Manchester, TN. We arrived Thursday night around 8pm and left Sunday around 7pm, and in that amount of time saw at least part of the performances by all of these artists: Andrew Bird, Ben Folds, Nickel Creek, Oysterhead, Death Cab for Cutie, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (who brought out Stevie Nicks for a couple of songs), My Morning Jacket, Rusted Root, Beck, Radiohead, Abigail Washburn (with Béla Fleck), Soulive, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Son Volt, Matisyahu, and Béla Fleck again. I also managed to see the US-Italy travesty... I mean, game, on Saturday in a tent with 850 people. Highlights for me were Andrew Bird, Nickel Creek, and seeing Béla perform 3 times on Sunday. The lowlight was getting some kind of flu/food poisoning thing that took me out of commission for most of Saturday, including having to leave Radiohead's show about halfway through because I felt so crappy. To understate enormously, that sucked. Otherwise, the weather was hot, dry, and dusty, but I had a really good time. That many bands in three days is pretty amazing. I figured my tolerance for live music would run short pretty quickly, but it never did. Lots of good energy there, both in the crowd and coming from the bands. Also, lots and lots of hippies. Check out some photos from throughout the festival.

Now back to real life. Three days of packing, then I'm off to Denver.

SOUNDS
Song of the Traveling Daughter, Abigail Washburn
The Sparrow Quartet EP, Abigail Washburn
Get Behind Me Satan, The White Stripes
Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane

The Break-Up

Ugh.

Expect changes to the lineup for Saturday. If the US play like this against Italy, they deserve to be packing their bags and heading home. Qualifying's only half the battle, guys. You have to actually show up and play. Now go out there on Saturday and show us the team every US Soccer fan was expecting to see, not the pale imitations who played in their place on Monday. Just win.

SOUNDS
Lost: Original Television Soundtrack, Michael Giacchino

The Center of the World

As you may have heard, the World Cup has started, and it's been a perfect distraction as I've been trying to pack up my apartment. It's been a highly entertaining Cup so far—the games have been a lot more wide-open than I remember from past tournaments. Teams have been very willing to continue to attack and look for a second goal instead of cynically sitting back to try to protect a one-goal lead. Then again, the Italians haven't played yet. Adding to the excitement is the fact that there's also been some unexpected heroes, such as 37-year-old Trinidadian goalkeeper Shaka Hislop (getting mobbed by his teammates above) who only got the call after the regular keeper injured himself in warmups. Hislop responded by making 7 saves and shutting out a highly-regarded Swedish squad.

The Cup always provides some interesting matchups. Obviously, my heart goes the way of the USA, but I generally have a few favorites beyond the Yanks (this year it's England, the Netherlands, and the Ivory Coast), and I usually pick a team to root for in each first-round match. But every once in a while, I'm presented with a pairing where I wish it was possible for both teams to lose. Case in point: today's game between Mexico (hated regional rival) and Iran (well, plenty of reasons to cheer against them). I guess a Mexico win is a good thing, because it brings more respect to the CONCACAF qualifying region (which also includes the US), but it goes against everything I believe in as a soccer fan to ever want the Mexicans to win. I would assume they'll have a fairly easy match with Angola (who the US beat 1-0 in a pre-Cup friendly last week), but hopefully Portugal spanks the Mexicans hard.

But really, all of this is just a way to pass time until the most important game of the first-round: the US v. the Czech Republic, being shown live tomorrow at 11:55 a.m on ESPN2. Needless to say, I'll be taking a long lunch. Not for eating, of course. Not sure my extremely nervous stomach could handle food right now.

IMAGES
Battlestar Galactica: Season 1, Disc 5
Battlestar Galactica: Season 2, Disc 1
Battlestar Galactica: Season 2, Disc 2

30 Days

Hard to believe, but the World Cup begins one month from today. Bruce Arena made his roster announcement last week, but has already had to replace one of the players he chose when Frankie Hejduk tore his ACL. Chris Albright to the white courtesy phone, please. There's been a fair amount of coverage, but USA Today gets the gold star for this player-by-player breakdown of the roster. ESPN's Andrea Canales has also been busy, examining the effects of the US performance at the World Cup on MLS and profiling Landon Donovan (above).

However, the biggest pre-World Cup hype machine award goes to Gatorade, who has put together this series of clips from the US's World Cup Qualifying run set to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." More importantly, they've shelled out to get this commercial on the networks during primetime. I've seen it on ESPN during Baseball Tonight and on CBS between 9 and 10 pm as I was flipping channels, which makes me happy. There have been a number of terrific soccer commercials over the past few years, but the problem is you only ever see them during soccer broadcasts, so they end up doing nothing more than preaching to the choir. By getting these images in front of the Average American, Gatorade is doing its part to raise awareness of the Nats during the buildup to the World Cup, and for being the only soccer sponsor in the country stepping up to the plate in that regard, I'll reward them by buying more Gatorade.

IMAGES
The Man Who Fell to Earth

Free time

Beware the Ides of March, because it usually means there's a bunch of crap at the movie theaters. Since my schedule was pretty light this weekend, I hit the old Yahoo Movies listings to see what I could catch up on, and there wasn't a single thing that made me excited enough to want to leave my couch. The mainstream theaters are full of crap like The Shaggy Dog, Madea's Family Reunion and Failure to Launch, and even the new Landmark Theater has the same old stuff. If I didn't want to see Capote and Transamerica two months ago, I still don't want to see them now. The only thing that looked mildly interesting was The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, but mildly interesting is not enough to get me to drive 30 minutes and pay $8. Thankfully, the Sopranos starts tonight, so I can at least get an hour of decent entertaiment this weekend.

So instead of a movie, I decided to simulate the US's first round of World Cup games on FIFA 06 (yes, I was really bored, and yes, I am also a big nerd). Playing in order, I took on the Czech Republic, Italy, and Nigeria, who took the place of Ghana, who are not available on the game. And I have to say, if the actual World Cup turns out the way my games did, I'll not only be shocked, but ecstatic.

For my lineup, I set up the team in a 4-4-2 with a box midfield, since that seems the most likely formation given the way the US has played in the past. I assumed either John O'Brien or Claudio Reyna would be injured, so I left O'Brien off the squad in favor of Clint Dempsey. Also, I played Bobby Convey at left back, even though Eddie Lewis has been playing there a lot. But I prefer to have Convey on the field, and there wasn't a place for him in midfield. So my US squad that took the field against the Czechs like this:
Johnson McBride
Beasley Donovan
Mastroeni Reyna
Convey Bocanegra Onyewu Cherundolo
Keller
The US started well, but the Czechs took the lead against the run of play on a breakaway in the 13th minute. Soon after, Brian McBride was injured on a a nasty tackle from behind that only earned a yellow card for the Czech defender. McBride couldn't continue, so I had to sub him in the 21st minute for Taylor Twellman. After a back-and-forth game, the sub finally paid off as Twellman got on the end of a Beasley cross and headed home in the 80th minute. With a final of 1-1, the US earned a point in their first match.

Against Italy, I started with the same lineup. I assumed McBride had recovered, so he returned to the starting lineup, and made a major impact on the game. In the 4th minute, the US earned a corner. McBride headed Reyna's kick towards goal, and in the ensuing scramble, an Italian defender knocked it into his own net. 1-0 US. The US kept the pressure on throughout the first half, and at the stroke of halftime, Donovan crossed for McBride, who knocked it past the Italian keeper. 2-0. Apparently, the injury was completely gone, because in the 65th minute, McBride got on the end of another Reyna corner, and this time put away the cross himself. 3-0. In the 80th minute I subbed Dempsey for Reyna and Twellman for Johnson. Both players managed to hit the post in their 10 minutes, but the game ended 3-0.

So with 4 points in their first two matches and the weakest opponent coming last, I decided to rest a few players. For Nigeria/Ghana, the starters looked like this:
Johnson Twellman
Beasley Donovan
Mastroeni Reyna
Lewis Bocanegra Pope Cherundolo
Keller
Despite a few backups in the lineup, the US ran roughshod over the Africans. Mastroeni headed in a corner in the 30th. Beasley tucked past the keeper on a breakaway in the 41st. Johnson headed in a corner in the 45th. Beasley finished another breakaway in the 70th, and Twellman topped off the scoring with another breakaway in the 90th minute. Dempsey entered for Reyna and Cory Gibbs for Mastroeni in the 81st minute, and the game ended 5-0.

So with 7 points, I decided the US would advance to the next round where they would have to face mighty Brazil. I went back to the original starting lineup, and they did not begin well, allowing Ronaldinho to touch home a corner in only the 4th minute. The US recovered their composure and took the match to the Brazilians, paying off their hard work in the 20th minute when Landon Donovan knocked in a deflected corner kick. But just after halftime, Ronaldo showed some of his old form and left 3 US defenders in the dust to tuck home past Keller. Despite the introduction of Dempsey for Mastroeni in the 71st minute and a slew of chances for the offense, the US was never able to find another goal and were eliminated from my simulated World Cup.

Now, I very highly doubt the US will score 9 goals in their first round games, but a tie and 2 wins in the first round would have Nats fans going nuts come June. Hopefully, the outcome is somewhere close to this favorable.

Soccer haters, pay attention. You might learn something.

With the NFL season fast approaching and preseason games in full swing, I’d like to take a moment to make everyone aware that football everywhere is kicking off. Leagues all across Europe are beginning their soccer seasons this month, and this weekend marks the beginning of the English Premiership campaign, which means I’ll be parked in front of Fox Sports World during most of my free weekend hours. Seven Americans now ply their trade in what is arguably the world’s top league: Tim Howard and Jonathan Spector at Manchester United; Claudio Reyna at Manchester City; Brad Friedel at Blackburn Rovers; Kasey Keller at Tottenham Hotspurs; and Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra at Fulham. There are also Americans (Yanks Abroad, as they’re known to soccer geeks) playing in the English First Division (which is actually the 2nd tier of English football), the German Bundesliga, the Dutch Eredivisie, the French First Division, and leagues in Belgium, Denmark, and Norway. Fox Sports World covers a lot of these leagues, and they tend to gear their coverage towards a game involving at least one American player.

I’ve played soccer since I was five years old, but it wasn’t really until college that I became a fan and started watching it on TV. One of my favorite sportswriters, Jeff Bradley, writes columns for Major League Soccer and ESPN about American soccer, and this week's column for MLSNet.com particularly pleased me. He writes about individual performances in World Cup Qualifiers, and his #1 moment, a goal by Tab Ramos in 1997, was the exact moment that I realized my true passion for sports could be found in the fortunes of the Men’s National Team. It was an important moment for the Nats, as Ramos’ goal kept them alive in qualifying for the 1998 World Cup in France. As it turned out, the team may have wished they had failed to qualify, since they had a disastrous run in France, bowing out after three miserable games that included a loss to Iran. But, indirectly, that led to their success in the 2002 World Cup, since the coach at the ’98 World Cup, Steve Sampson, was fired, and new head coach Bruce Arena was brought in to replace him. Arena had previously achieved success at the University of Virginia and with my beloved DC United in MLS (who won their game against the Colorado Rapids tonight, 3-1), winning 3 titles in 4 years. He rebuilt the National Team with younger players, turning their fortunes around and leading them to an excellent showing at World Cup 2002 and a current world ranking of #7. At the moment, Arena has the Nats playing extremely well as they prepare to go to Jamaica for the next game of World Cup Qualifying for 2006.