Bruce Arena: Firing the lads up

June 5th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

(To get you excited for the World Cup (if that is even possible, we’re hoping it is) we’ll be rolling out one World Cup related video a day until the whole thing kicks off Friday in Germany.)

So, the American footballers reached the quarterfinals in the 2002 World Cup, ousting our neighbors to the south, Mexico, 2-0 to get there. It was our best finish since – wait for it - 1930.

Here is head coach Bruce Arena’s pre-game speech before this said match. It’s full of ‘f’-bombs (too bad they are bleeped out) and Arena’s thick Brooklyn accent makes it all the more enjoyable.

USA! USA!

World Cup 2006

May 30th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanE

(Here is a World Cup preview, just a little tickler for the month of madness we will be covering and covering well. Check it out. Oh, and if you’re one of those “soccer sucks, go back to England, we play football and baseball and basketball here, freedom isn’t free” idiots, then just skip over it. Thanks.)

It’s May 30. Three out of four years, that is an inconsequential date. This year, though, is the World Cup, an international showcase for the most popular game on Planet Earth. That means May 30 is Day One of the final Ten-Day Countdown before the insanity ensues.

Every four years, the WC brings hope to many and fury to more, as 32 countries reconcile their expecations of their national teams with the blatant reality that they probably don’t have a chance in hell to take home one of the ugliest trophies in all of sports. But I’m betting you knew all that, even if you don’t like soccer.

Perhaps of more importance to you, then, is where you can find some of the best information on the Cup. No problem:

• Start here. The WC has its own site, as it well should, but the site is less a PR gimmick and more a fantastic place to begin your reveling in soccer glory, from recent photo galleries to classic WC video, all on the homepage.
• For news updates, check out the obvious choice, ESPN SoccerNet. That’s the main page, but here is ESPN’s World Cup page and its Team USA page.
• For ridiculous British soccer mania, and a lot of fun, check out Football365.com. The use of the vernacular English and the rumor-based nature of the news is a great antidote, and it provides an extensive window into British football and the country’s national obsession with it. More on that here, as well.

These are just the tip of the Soccer, or Football, as we prefer to call it (and yes, we like American Football a lot too) iceberg. Delve further with Deadspin, who is doing a tremendous day-by-day group prediction preview and Mike Cardillo, who seems to know quite a bit about the beautiful game.

Oh, and if you have the itch to play a little (virtual) soccer, as we always do, play the new game for XBOX 360. It’s insane.