Summer Rant

All these complete craziness happening and now I get my fourteen cents in.

I decided that I would rock my Landon Donovan jersey just like I did last World Cup. Apparently, people didn't know that he wore #21 before he switched to #10. Thanks for the support and hopping on the bandwagon. The bandwagon was hot and heavy this World Cup for some reason. But people soon forget about Cobi Jones, Tab Ramos, Ernie Stewart, and all the former "stars" of the US National Team.

The US Soccer Federation idea of "Project 2010," where it's goal was to win this World Cup. Obviously, that didn't happen. The plan was a good one and certainly produced some decent players but not enough "starpower" to score goals on a consistent basis. The US still doesn't have enough players playing in the top divisions in Europe. You can only get better playing in the English Premier League or La Liga (Spain's top division).

Jurgen Klinsman made a great point about the soccer in the US. He said that parents pay a bunch of money in order to earn scholarships while in other countries kids that don't have any money are the ones playing on the street from the time they are young. Basically what he is saying there shouldn't be a pay for play system. That system just helps the wealthy because their families can afford to send their kids on these teams and pay all the entry fees. This is a very white collar system while other countries' systems designed for blue collar people and below. I certainly see his point but the problem is that those same lower income families see basketball and football as a way out not soccer. Kids dream about playing in the NBA and NFL not the EPL. Could that change? It remains to be seen.

I think the US games have been great to watch and a lot of the reason for fans hopping on the bandwagon could be off all the controversial calls made throughout the tournament. The US has been screwed over by two terrible calls throughout the tourney. People must think you can't mess the US like that, so all of a sudden they become fans with their US Soccer gear.