Fact: the sport of soccer is growing in the United States. Fact: there are still people who don’t like the sport and probably won’t ever like it. Fact: more professional athletes in the United States are getting into the world's game, especially American Football players.
As the 2015-16 Premier League season draws to a close, it’s time to honor and award those whose performances have captivated us over the course of the last nine months. It’s also a great time to shame those whose performances call into question the morality behind million dollar contracts and the myth of the sporting superhuman. These are the players whose performances will stick with us for all the wrong reasons; the biggest underachievers and flops of the 2015-16 Premier League season.
On Monday, May 2, Giovani Dos Santos was named in Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio’s 40-player preliminary squad. On Sunday, May 8, Dos Santos showed why with a dominant performance in the LA Galaxy’s 4-2 victory over the New England Revolution.
After a slow start to his professional career, Jordan Morris is now officially more lit than Dubai. Morris scored his fourth goal in as many games on Saturday, tying a rookie record for the longest MLS goal-scoring streak.
Morris was named on Jurgen Klinsmann’s preliminary 40-man roster ahead of the Copa America, and his exploits with Seattle mean that he’s highly likely to make the final list of 23 players.
The USWNT probably won't boycott the Rio Olympics. If they're willing to brave the horrors of the Zika Virus for a shiny gold medal, the wage gap likely won't deter them either.
But it might.
In an interview with ESPN's Hannah Storm, Lloyd was asked what would make her consider boycotting Rio. Lloyd's answer:
The Houston Dash confirmed Monday that midfielder and reigning FIFA World Player of the Year Carli Lloyd has been diagnosed with a grade 1 MCL sprain that will sideline her for 3-6 weeks. Lloyd suffered the injury in the fifth minute of Saturday's 3-1 loss at the Orlando Pride in the NWSL. Lloyd was substituted from the match in the 12th minute.
We don’t have to tell you about the ways soccer makes a difference in people's lives. The world's game is consistently a catalyst for change.
"Forget me," says Abby Wambach in her retirement-celebration commercial, brought to you by Gatorade. "Forget my number. Forget my name. Forget I ever existed."
At the time, I argued that that particular action on the part of the fans was impossible, and Wambach made it even more impossible this weekend when she got arrested for duii (driving under the influence of intoxicants) in Portland.
A few weeks ago, US Soccer unveiled the new national team crest. Some people liked it. Some did not.
Ignoring the possibility US Soccer plagiarized the crest from a Florida youth baseball league, we wanted to get an actual expert opinion on the new crest. So we got five.
Kobe Bryant has retired, and as much as basketball fans will miss him and his unadulterated desire to win, we all now get to experience what I like to call “Victory Lap Kobe.” Victory Lad Kobe sells out stadiums everywhere he goes, because even the away fans of his most hated rivals still want to see the legend one in action last time.
Victory Lap Kobe has a certain appreciation of everything that’s going on around him because he knows everything he does could end up being the last time he does it, and he might not even know it at the time.