MIKE JACOBS

Attitude & Enthusiasm the key for Welbeck

2012-01-27T12:05:00.001-08:00

Sir Alex Ferguson on 21-year old phenom Danny Welbeck, and how his attitude, effort and enthusiasm has led to his key role in one of the best teams in the world -

"He has a good attitude but then he should - he's a young player with an opportunity at Manchester United. That's one of the reasons you pick these players, because they show their temperament as they come through the youth teams and the reserves. I'm always confident about their temperament, their attitude to the game and their enthusiasm to play."

Manchester United-Arsenal game draws 1.3M

2012-01-27T05:47:00.000-08:00

The first live telecast of an English Premier League game on a United States over-the-air network was seen by 1.3 million viewers last weekend, more than double the high for previous broadcasts on cable television.

Fox says Thursday that Manchester United's 2-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday received a 0.8 rating and 2 share.

The 11 a.m. ET telecast drew a lower rating than three delayed broadcasts on Fox earlier this season, which averaged a 1.1. Those matches were aired before or after NFL games, depending on the market.

ESPN's high of 528,000 viewers was set in December 2010 for the Manchester United-Arsenal game. Fox Soccer's high of 418,000 was set in the February 2011 Chelsea-Liverpool match.

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned to a broadcast, and the share is the percentage watching among the households with TVs on at the time.

Make yourself unique to rise from the crowd

2012-01-25T05:59:00.000-08:00

The way we do business is changing fast and in order to keep up, your entire mentality about work has to change just as quickly.

Unfortunately, most people aren't adapting fast enough to this change in the workplace, says marketing guru Seth Godin in an interview with the Canadian talk show "George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight" (via Pragmatic Capitalism).

According to the founder of Squidoo.com and author or 13 books, the current "recession is a forever recession" because it's the end of the industrial age, which also means the end of the average worker.

"For 80 years, you got a job, you did what you were told and you retired," says the former vice president of direct marketing at Yahoo! People are raised on this idea that if they pay their taxes and do what they're told, there's some kind of safety net, or pension plan that's waiting for them.

But the days when people were able to get above average pay for average work are over.

If you're the average person out there doing average work, there's going to be someone else out there doing the exact same thing as you, but cheaper. Now that the industrial economy is over, you should forget about doing things just because it's assigned to you, or "never mind the race to the top, you'll be racing to the bottom."

However, if you're different somehow and have made yourself unique, people will find you and pay you more, Godin says.

Instead of waiting around for someone to tell you that you matter, take your career into your own hands. In other words, don't wait for someone else to pick you and pick yourself! If you have a book, you don't need a publisher to approve you, you can publish it yourself. It's no longer about waiting for some big corporation to choose you. We've arrived at an age where you choose yourself.

Barker to lead NSCAA Coaching Education

2012-01-25T05:31:00.001-08:00

Ian Barker has been a star in soccer coaching education here in the United States, and yesterday was offered the ultimate opportunity in that arena when he was selected as the Director of Coaching Education for the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

“Ian is the perfect choice to lead the NSCAA’s coaching education program to new heights,” said Cummings. “He brings to us extensive experience in coaching education at both the state and national level, which is complemented by his experience as a candidate and instructor in the NSCAA’s coaching education system. His unique background provides him with the kind of perspective required to assess where soccer coaching education currently stands. This will be a valuable asset as he charts a new course that will continue to grow the NSCAA’s influence in this critical area.”

Barker joins the NSCAA staff after serving at multiple levels of soccer here in the US.

He was the top assistant coach for Jim Launder at the University of Wisconsin from 1989-97, helping the Badgers to four NCAA tournament appearances in a five-year span. The 1995 team won the Big 10 title and claimed the NCAA national championship. He recently served as the men’s soccer coach at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.

Barker’s coaching education credentials are impressive. He has served as a staff instructor for US Soccer’s coaching education program since 1999, teaching both state and nationally hosted residential licenses. He has also instructed the National Youth License for US Youth Soccer. From 1997 through 2007, he also served as Director of Coaching and Player Development for the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association (MYSA).

As the assistant head coach for US Youth Soccer’s Region II Boys Olympic Development Program, he has led teams on international tours in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Costa Rica, England, Germany, Italy, Scotland and Switzerland.

Barker earned his first coaching badge while in college with the English FA’s Preliminary Award in 1986, before moving to the US in 1987. He earned his USSF A License in 1995. He holds the NSCAA’s Premier Diploma and was part of the inaugural class to receive the NSCAA Master Coach Diploma in 2006.

I've had the chance to work with Ian on different occasions through the USYSA Region II ODP program, and he is a consummate professional with a passion for teaching the game. He is the ideal choice to lead the world's largest coaching organization into a new era of coaching education.

Williams to lead US Under-17s

2012-01-25T05:24:00.001-08:00

Richie Williams has been a winner at every level he's competed at as a player - winning national championships as a youth player and collegian; winning MLS Cups with DC United; capped by the full US National team. He's coached at all levels in our country - as a youth coach with the US Under-18 national team; as a collegiate coach at the University of Virginia; as an MLS assistant and interim head coach.

You can now add Under-17 national team coach to his long resume, as he was named to oversee U.S. Soccer's U-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla.

"I'm excited about the opportunity to coach the U.S. U-17 men's national team and be with the players full-time in the Residency Program," Williams said in a statement. "It is a great responsibility as the players kick off the cycle toward the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup, but it is also an excellent platform for introducing them in more detail to the philosophies and style of play that are being integrated throughout the national team programs."

"Richie is an ideal candidate to guide the development of our young national team players while also preparing the team during the next year to qualify for the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup," said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. "His experience as a player and coach at the highest levels will allow him to continue to provide a professional environment for the players in our U-17 Residency Program."

Williams has been mentored by the likes of Bruce Arena, Bob Bradley and Manfred Schelscheidt, and has competed at the highest of levels as both a player and coach. Congratulations to a young American coach who has worked his way up the ladder the right way, and now represents our country in developing our future full national team stars.

Enthusiasm drives Spurrier

2012-01-24T08:14:00.000-08:00

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm" is the famous Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, but it also could be the life credo for 'the Head Ball Coach', Steve Spurrier.

Spurrier's success on the college football field speaks for itself, and is second only to Bear Bryant in SEC victories. Bryant amassed 159 SEC wins, a record most in this league consider to be unbreakable. Between successful stops at the University of Florida and now at the University of South Carolina, Spurrier has 116.

To put that total in perspective, the next closest active coach in the SEC is Alabama's Nick Saban, who has 64 SEC wins.

Spurrier, who's already the all-time winningest coach at Florida with 122 wins, is just 10 wins away from also becoming South Carolina's all-time winningest coach.

You can't have that level of success at places like Florida, South Carolina and at Duke (yes, Duke University) without having a high level of energy and enthusiasm.

Chris Low of ESPN writes of how Spurrier is even more excited about the future than he is about recalling his accomplished past.

Not only did the Gamecocks win 11 games for the first time in school history, but they also won nine or more games in back-to-back seasons for the first time. They swept Clemson, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee for the second consecutive season. It was South Carolina's third straight win over bitter rival Clemson, the first time that's happened since 1968 to 1970.

Here's the best news for South Carolina fans: As proud as Spurrier is of what the Gamecocks have accomplished in his seven years on the job, his focus is squarely on the future.

He's as committed as ever to winning an SEC championship at South Carolina.

So while others may wonder how much longer he will keep coaching, Spurrier's attitude is that his work is far from finished.

He's having a blast and doesn't mind saying that he feels rejuvenated in a lot of ways.

"I like being the coach where they've done something for the first time ever," Spurrier said. "It's just a special thrill to do something that's never been done before, and here at South Carolina, we have so many opportunities to do that, so many.

"I knew the history here and what little tradition was here when I took the job, and that's really what was appealing to me. I was thinking, 'Man, look at all these firsts we can achieve.' Gosh, South Carolina had never even won a game in Knoxville in its history, never won in the Swamp, never won 11 games, never won nine or more games back to back," he said.

"The record against Tennessee and Florida in 13 years was one win and 25 losses. Now, we're 7-7 and swept Clemson, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee the last two years and are 8-0 against those guys. I think Lou [Holtz] was 3-21 in his six years against those four."

South Carolina's recruiting the past few years has been excellent, and the Gamecocks have been able to keep the best players in-state at home.

When you close down the borders and bring in highly regarded players such as Stephon Gilmore, DeVonte Holloman, Alshon Jeffery, Marcus Lattimore and Jadeveon Clowney, you're going to win a lot of games.

That run is set to continue this year with receiver Shaq Roland of Lexington, S.C., committed to the Gamecocks. Roland was Mr. Football this year in the state and rated by ESPN as the No. 5 receiver prospect in the country.

While Spurrier isn't ready to say that South Carolina has it rolling like Florida did in the 1990s when he guided the Gators to four straight SEC championships, he's convinced that the Gamecocks are moving in the right direction.

"We're not quite there yet, but we can potentially be pretty good because the recruiting has gone so well and guys are sticking," Spurrier said. "We still haven't won the SEC, and that's our goal here, to win the first ever SEC championship.

"We've got to avoid that year of taking a step back. History shows that teams that haven't ever won much, once they have that one big year, they go in the jar after that. Lou won nine games one year and followed it up with a 5-7 record after that Outback Bowl win. So I promise you we'll be on their butts."

I reminded Spurrier that he told me three or four years ago that 66 was about as long as he wanted to go in coaching.

He joked that he didn't think he'd even make it to 66 after the Gamecocks' woeful showings in the Outback Bowl following the 2008 season and the PapaJohns.com Bowl following the 2009 season.

"Well, it was a lot more fun coaching this team, and I don't mind saying that," Spurrier said. "The other thing is the recruiting. We're signing good players and more quality kids. It's a better quality of young men. They're on time, doing the things they're supposed to be doing and taking care of the things they're supposed to be taking care of.

"Clowney made a 2.9 his first semester, so he's coming around."

Following a brief pause, Spurrier cracked, "He's going to have three big years for us."

Despite approaching 70, Spurrier said he's in better shape now than he was 20 years ago. And the truth is that he could easily pass for someone in his mid-50s.

"Age is a funny thing," Spurrier said. "As we all know, it's just a number. I read something the other day that 60 is yesterday's 40, so I guess 66 is yesterday's 46. But, health-wise, gosh, I feel about the same. I work out six days a week and try to eat correctly and all that kind of stuff.

"And, hey, I can still remember all the plays and remember everybody's name."

I was always from the school of thought that enthusiasm is infectuous - a leader can project his or her level of enthusiasm onto those around them. If that's the case, look for continued energy, enthusiasm and wins at the University of South Carolina and for Steve Spurrier.

Remembering Joe Paterno

2012-01-23T07:12:00.000-08:00

Joe Paterno, the longtime Penn State coach who won more games than anyone in major college football but was fired amid a child sex abuse scandal that scarred his reputation for winning with integrity, died Sunday of lung cancer at the age of 85.

Paterno's legacy was clearly tarnished by the terrible tragedy of child abuse and his inability to manage and prevent it, but that shouldn't totally overshadow his positive influence on their university and players who competed for him.

Ivan Maisel of ESPN writes of how Paterno will be remembered.

In the span of 12 weeks, Joe Paterno transformed from beloved Penn State icon to Rorschach test on child abuse to ailing victim. His fate, the one that awaits us all, arrived with charitable swiftness. As tough as Paterno could be, at 85 years of age he proved no match for cancer.

Paul (Bear) Bryant, the man whose career victory record Paterno surpassed in 2001, famously died only four weeks after he coached his 323rd college football victory. Paterno lasted eight weeks longer after he won No. 409. Unlike Bryant, the former Alabama coach whose life and legend are venerated to this day, Paterno lived out his final days as the subject of controversy.

A man's death demands that we look to his life -- not just the last 12 weeks, swollen and inflamed by the heat of the vengeful -- but 62 years of coaching young men at one university. A legacy covers more than 12 weeks.

There comes a time in the life cycle of every momentous news story when the coverage of it stops being about the subject. It happens after the news stops registering on the Richter scale. The basics are established. The tectonic plates stop shifting. If the facts change at all, they are subtle aftershocks, not of the degree that topple buildings, or political leaders, or iconic football coaches.

Little more than a week ago, Paterno provided Sally Jenkins of The Washington Post his last public word on his role in the failure to prevent Jerry Sandusky, his former assistant coach, from allegedly molesting young boys. Paterno's critics read his response as nothing more than the defense of an indefensible lapse in judgment, the inadequate rebuttal of a man who could have and should have done more.

The crimes at stake here are two clicks past heinous. Penn State, not to mention the entire State College community, mishandled the Sandusky case in a way that will haunt town and gown for many, many years. People are angry. They want a pound of flesh.

And that anger has fueled the pumps that continue to spew vitriol at Paterno, even as the justice system in Pennsylvania continues to exonerate him.

Even as he continued to say he wished that he had done more.

Even as Paterno sat in a wheelchair, recovering from a broken pelvis, his body wracked by the chemo and radiation to which he subjected himself. Cancer took its own pound of flesh anyway.

The Sandusky case has rubbed raw all of us who have children, or once were children. Paterno, the most powerful man on campus, is one more person who looked and did not see, who listened and failed to hear. He told the Post this month what he said in November. He wished he had done more. It is ineffably sad.

But it should not cancel all that came before it. It should zero out neither Paterno's six decades of achievement at Penn State nor his lifetime of leadership and beneficence at the university.

When a leader is fallen and vulnerable, the enemies and victims who have waited for him to weaken will seize the moment, safe in the knowledge that at last they may air their grievances without fear of reprisal. In the past 12 weeks, one story has emerged. A former Penn State official told The Wall Street Journal that Paterno intervened to keep the campus judicial system from judging his players. It is not a flattering story.

No one else has come forward. No other evidence has surfaced that would suggest Paterno the man cannot match Paterno the legend. That evidence may arise.

Yet a legion of men, who know him much better than any of his critics, continues to defend him. Some are gray of hair and round of stomach, others are younger than Paterno's five children. All of them wore blue and white. They arose to stand by his side when Paterno no longer could stand up for himself. Paterno was the coach who molded them. He instilled a beacon of light to guide them in their lives. He was the man who made them men.

The Sandusky scandal has revealed that Joe Paterno missed in real time what may be seen so plainly in hindsight. The scandal has cast a shadow over a brilliant coaching life. But even the darkest of eclipses are temporary. To say that this scandal should obscure all that came before it ignores the meaning of legacy.

The 409 victories, while record-setting, are not the full measure of the man. The young men he left behind, the campus to which he devoted his life, a campus whose leaders shoved him aside in the panicky, feverish days after the scandal broke, also give testimony to the life of Joseph Vincent Paterno.

The whole of his life renders the seismology of modern-day journalism moot. The facts of a 62-year coaching career were shaken. They did not topple over.

Ferguson talks about factors of his success

2012-01-22T11:35:00.000-08:00

Sir Alex Ferguson recently celebrated his 25th season at Manchester United, and turned 70 last month. In an interview with Claire Bloomfield for the British online magazine Sabotage Times, Ferguson recently reflected on how the game, and his job, had changed over the years.

What were the major factors in your life that ensured your success?

A. Good teachers. When I was at school, I had a fantastic teacher who inspired me. The next thing is to create standards. The second part is practice and creating standards. The tactical ability will maybe come later. The most important thing at that age is practice and the time to practice.

Learning How To Be A Pro

2012-01-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

Being a professional has less to do with getting paid, and more to do with the proper attitude and approach. The adjustment for young professionals making a jump to the next level from college normally starts with how quickly they can apply that approach, and adapt to those demands.

Craig Merz of MLSsoccer.com sheds some insight into what rookie players can expect, as well as some insight from veterans on how to make that adjustment, at the Columbus Crew preseason.

Training camp is only two days old, but it’s never too early for the Columbus Crew's veterans to administer advice to the rookies about preparing for the many, many months ahead.

That’s because it’s common for players in their first year out of college to get off to vigorous starts before their performances begin to suffer during the longer and more strenuous MLS season.

“With camp starting now, by the time we get to March and our first month of games, that’s almost a whole college season for some teams,” said Ethan Finlay, the Crew’s first-round 2012 SuperDraft pick from Creighton. “It’s different at this level. It’s something you have to pace yourself for.”

Coach Robert Warzycha said the staff keeps an eye on the young players for mental and physical fatigue.

“Sometimes they don’t understand that we are trying to save them and make sure the season goes smooth because if they overdo it, they get injured,” he said. “It’s tough for every single college player. We can monitor their work but obviously it’s up to them how they’re going to do and how they are going to take it.”

Midfielder Kirk Urso, a rookie from North Carolina, has discussed the situation with many of his former college teammates that turned pro and is hoping to avoid problems they’ve encountered.

“They say you hit a wall around June or July,” he said. “The college season is four or five months. This is eight, 10 months. I know I have to take care of my body, get my rest. Off the field stuff is going to matter more in this league than college. I’ll adjust.”

Veteran midfielder Danny O’Rourke can relate to how the newcomers feel.

As a San Jose rookie in 2005 he was doing fine until the midpoint of the season.

“I remember it was a game at [The Home Depot Center], and I hit a wall,” O’Rourke said. “It was halftime and I was talking to [coach] Dom Kinnear: ‘I don’t know what it is, but mentally I’m drained.’”

Fourth-year pro Tommy Heinemann said the key for the rookies is to focus on their job.

“It’s maintaining that high level of consistency in practice every day,” he said. “It’s a learning process, but as a pro, it’s something you have to do. It’s just as much mental as physical.”

While O’Rourke had to endure a tough stretch with the Earthquakes years ago, he’s glad he went through it.

“I was fortunate enough to gain some perspective and be able to realize it’s a marathon and you learn to treat your body right,” he said. “You’ve got to get away from soccer when you’re off the field. Hopefully, we can pass on some of those life lessons to the younger guys.”

Why Brady Is The Best

2012-01-21T08:02:00.001-08:00

As the NFL playoffs continue on this weekend, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots will take center stage.

Brady has become an icon in professional sports, and is associated with leading a Patriots' dynasty as well as ranking among the all-time greats.

As precise a passer as Brady is, people who know him best always remark about his tremendous level of commitment, focus, determination and toughness. Where it may be hard to see at times behind his Madison Avenue appeal and super model wife, it is the intangibles that he possesses that makes him one of the NFL elite.

It's hard to develop those kinds of attributes, and where dealing with adversity often reveals character, a recent Sports Illustrated article describing Brady's college career at the University of Michigan that tells the tale of who Tom Brady is, and how he's developed that grit and mental toughness that now separates him from his peers.

Michael Rosenberg writes of Brady's ability to overcome adversity at Michigan, as well as his determination and commitment to be a success.

The story of Tom Brady's college career has been retold and refined so often that most of the necessary context has been lost. Most football fans know the gist: It wasn't until late in his college career that people began to form a picture of how good he would be. That included the Wolverines' coaches, who insisted that he compete with (Drew) Henson for much of the two years they spent together, and NFL front offices, who allowed Brady to slip to the 199th pick.

But if you look at only the bones of the story, you miss the heart of it. You don't recollect Brady in 1998, after that 38--28 loss to Syracuse—a struggling quarterback for an 0--2 team, hanging on to his job by a frayed thread. Many of Michigan's staunchest fans thought he should be benched. Friends today say the lack of support bothered Brady intensely.

But Brady was stuck. Early in the previous season, after (Michigan Head Coach Lloyd) Carr had chosen Brian Griese as the starter—a move that would pay off with the school's first national title in 49 years—Brady told the coach he might transfer. Carr asked Brady what his father thought, and Brady said his dad would support whatever he did.

Carr did not beg him to stay. Instead, he told Brady to stop harping on how many reps he got or whether the coaches liked him. "He said, 'You know, Tommy, you've gotta worry about yourself,' " Brady would recall of his conversation with Carr. "You've gotta go out and worry about the way you play. Not the way the guys ahead of you are playing, not the way your running back is playing and not the way your receiver ran the route."

Carr didn't promise Brady anything. In fact, the only promise to come out of the meeting was from Brady: "I'm gonna prove to you that I'm a great quarterback."

"That was a recommitment to the marriage," Tom Sr. says. In the younger Brady's mind, he had forfeited the right to complain.

Still, there would be, a year later, the issue of Henson.

"Drew Henson was special," says Temple offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler, a former Michigan quarterback, a longtime quarterbacks coach and one of Brady's best friends. "He was a freak of nature in my opinion. He had remarkable talent. Unbelievable talent."

Greg Harden, a longtime employee of the football program who advises and counsels Michigan players, says Henson was like Superman, Brady like Batman. Batman doesn't have any superpowers, but as Harden says, "Batman believes he can whip Superman's ass."

Brady's resolve stiffened. He went to Schembechler Hall, the team's football facility, almost every night to watch extra film. He soaked up everything: schemes, opposing players' tendencies, the minds of Michigan's defensive coaches. Slowly, a different quarterback emerged. Brady recognized defenses before the ball was snapped. He knew which receivers would be open and, in what would become his hallmark, became unshakable in the pocket, able to maintain both his concentration and his accuracy when he was about to get hit. On the bus after games Brady could go through every incompletion in order and tell his teammates what went awry: wrong route, wrong read, bad throw, missed block. He had not yet watched film.

After that 0--2 start, Brady rallied Michigan to eight straight wins. But Carr mostly remembers a 31--16 loss to Ohio State in the regular-season finale. Brady was sacked seven times and drilled on several others. Yet he completed 31 of 56 passes, and Carr realized that with the biggest, fastest Buckeyes homing in on him, Brady never looked down.

And still, Superman lurked over Batman's shoulder.

Before the 1999 season opener, Carr made a decision: Brady would start; Henson would play the second quarter; at halftime the coaches would pick which one would finish the game. While this must have irritated Brady (who declined, through the Patriots, to talk to SI for this story), he couldn't complain to his teammates, who had voted him captain. He couldn't complain to his parents, who had let him make his own decisions—including the one to stay at Michigan—and expected him to live with them. He could only compete.

Brady earned the second-half nod in four of the first five games, and Michigan won all five. Asked about the unusual platoon system, he endorsed it: "It's working great for us."

He may not have realized it, but Brady was turning Carr into a believer. The coach had primarily valued arm strength and athleticism in his passers—"If you went to a coaching clinic where coaches are talking about quarterback play, you didn't hear about accuracy," he told SI—but Griese and then Brady convinced him of the importance of throwing precisely to a target. And concerns about Brady's arm strength were largely misguided. Wolverines tight end Aaron Shea says that because Brady put the proper touch on his passes, he rarely threw as hard as he could.

In Michigan's sixth game, at Michigan State, the quarterback platoon fell apart. Carr chose Henson for the second half, and the offense stalled. The coach switched back to Brady, who led a spirited comeback; it fell short but was another indication of who he would become. Brady had always been impressive running the two-minute drills at the end of practice. Now he was executing when it counted.

The Wolverines lost their next game, to Illinois, when the defense blew a 20-point second-half lead. But Carr had seen enough. Brady was his quarterback.

In November, Brady threw three interceptions against Penn State as Michigan fell behind 27--17 in the fourth quarter. He was also sacked six times, and receiver David Terrell remembers coming back to the huddle and saying to his quarterback, " 'Damn, bro!' ... He had a bloody face." Brady responded, "DT, just do your job." Brady did his, leading the Wolverines to a 31--27 win. He told reporters afterward, in his high-pitched voice, "I knew we weren't going to lose this game."

At the team banquet in December, Brady cracked that his parents had graduated from "the University of Northwest Airlines" after traveling to almost every game for five years. But Tom Sr. and his wife, Galynn, had a policy: "We shut our mouths." They had never attended practice or called Carr. Their son had chosen Michigan twice—once as a high school senior, and again when he thought about transferring before his junior season. Tom Sr. says, "He had to own it."

After leading the Wolverines to a 9--2 record, Brady finished his college career against Southeastern Conference champion Alabama in the Orange Bowl. As the team gathered for Christmas Eve dinner in Miami, Brady announced, "I'm gonna have dinner with the young pups tonight." He sat with the freshmen, who were away from their families for the holidays for the first time. A week later Brady completed 34 of 46 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns to beat Alabama 35--34. The next morning, as Carr met with reporters at the team hotel, Brady walked into the room, grabbed something off a breakfast buffet, waved and walked out without saying a word. He was 22 years old and sure of where he was headed.

The Brady everybody sees today grew from the Brady nobody believed in at Michigan. In Ann Arbor he developed his steel faith in his ability, and a capacity to ignore detractors. He learned that fan adulation was too elusive to chase; he focused instead on winning over his teammates.

The San Mateo, Calif., kid became one of the best cold-weather quarterbacks ever. Many college stars must adjust to the harsh NFL ecosystem, but after fighting for his job for two years at Michigan, Brady was ready. The battle with Henson no longer defines Brady's career, but it helped define who he is.

"He always believes there is someone behind him that is going to take his job," Loeffler says. "He is 34 years old and approaches the game like he just got drafted in the sixth round."

Tom Brady is a perfect example of adversity revealing a person's character - every challenge that has come his way has been vanquished, and he seems to revel in the opportunity to prove doubters, critics and rivals wrong. People like Brady make teams, families and organizations complete, and pave the way for continued success.

'Where do we go from here' with US soccer player development?

2012-01-20T07:16:00.000-08:00

Player Development is such a hot-button topic right now in the United States, and as US Soccer and Major League Soccer moves forward with youth development models and curriculums, Leander Schaerlaeckens of ESPN caught up with some of the top minds in US soccer to discuss 'where do we go from here?'

Bob Bradley, head coach, Egypt national soccer team

"It still comes down to how many good people get with clubs and are working with young kids to make sure things are done right. Over time, you need people with experience who understand youth development. Bob Jenkins compiled a best-practices document, which was good. [U.S. Youth Soccer technical director] Claudio Reyna's [coaching blueprint] is a good starting point, in that it adds consistency. But giving someone a stack of papers doesn't ensure that the quality of work is what it needs to be. That's where we are right now.

"You can look at different places around the country where things are going in the right direction, money is being spent, and people have a good feel for identifying talent. Other places are behind. There is no getting around the fact that a big money commitment is still key. Germany put a lot of money into their program when they were at a low point. We've made progress, but not enough. Then it's down to identifying the right people with a feel for it, different coaches that are out there, even others who can contribute in other ways. There are examples of good and bad."

Caleb Porter, head coach, U.S. U-23 national team and University of Akron

"The priority has to be development over winning. I think you can win and develop players, but in order to do that you have to have a philosophy. A process, an approach, or some kind of a method is the most important thing at younger ages. In a country like Mexico, you watch their U-17s, you watch the U-20s, you watch the full senior team: They all play the same way. You see that even rub off on the clubs. Overall, you can tell there was at least an idea within the country of the way they want to go about things. It's difficult because there are all these different ways to play, but if it starts with U.S. Soccer and we say, 'Hey, this is how we're going to play as a country,' that will help youth academies follow that lead.

"We're starting to see that take shape in this country. At the end of the day, it's going to take a long-term vision and some sort of philosophy. Vertical integration in the national team is a good start. We're on our way, we're not there yet; it takes time, it takes patience. The top countries have a way of doing things from a country standpoint and a way of doing things system-wise. When you grow up in that country, you learn that's how you do things: That's the system, that's how every position is played. Over time, that gets passed on and leads to uniformity, helping you to identify and isolate players that could be effective in a certain role. There are so many ways to do things that otherwise kids get lost in the shuffle. If what one coach is looking for is different from what another coach is looking for, it creates confusion."

Sigi Schmid, head coach, Seattle Sounders

"Ultimately, development of the player is contingent on being able to be put him/her into a competitive game situation at as high a level as you're able to play. That means players have to play outside their age groups at the youth level or leave college early. A lot of times at the youth level it's more important for coaches to win an under-13 tournament rather than put him on the under-15. At the youth level, players get retained at a certain age group because it's going to help win a championship, because a coach might say they might make more money if they win a championship.

"The other thing is we need to use the resources we already have. Club soccer and MLS discount college soccer because it's different than the way it's done in Europe and South America. But colleges have a budget of a million dollars for their soccer team when you add it all up, and sometimes people try to discount that. We need to make the money that's already available for soccer work better for us. We need to take stock of resources that are there and use them in a more efficient manner; rather than throwing away the facilities and the abilities that those organizations have, we need to use them better."

Understanding 'the hairdryer'

2012-01-20T06:11:00.001-08:00

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is infamous for exposing his players to 'hairdryer'-like rants on the training ground or the locker room.

It's referred to as a 'hairdryer' when Ferguson shouts at his players, because he is yelling so loud and hard that it pushes the player's hair back like someone blow-drying their hair.

Where some on the peripheral might not understand why it happens, clearly attacking midfielder Nani understands the high expectations that are placed on him by his manager. The 25-year-old has stepped up his game and standards, scoring eight times this season alone, yet the former Sporting Lisbon man still finds himself on the end of the hairdryer.

In an interview with Betfair Facebook he said: "I get it a lot, it's normal. He expects more from me, so sometimes he comes to me and says something."

Ferguson is famed for is man-management style and Nani appreciates everything he learns from the 70-year-old.

He continued: "No-one understands it like Alex Ferguson. Everyone knows him in Portugal, and talk a lot talk about him.

"Everyone knows the way he works is fantastic and the young lads improve a lot."

Players need to understand that when their coach or manager is demanding a lot from them, it's because they have very high expectations of how that player performs or behaves. I've always believed that the time to worry is not when a manager is screaming at you...but when he doesn't say anything at all...

Cameron brings presence and positive attitude to US backline

2012-01-20T05:48:00.000-08:00

Geoff Cameron has been a standout for the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer, and has not only lead the Dynamo into the MLS Cup this past season, but also received a recent call-up to the US National team.

His play is worthy of national team consideration, but it's his presence and positive attitude that have been key components in his success. Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America writes of how and why Cameron has been able to break into the national team.

Since breaking into MLS with Houston in 2008, Cameron has bounced between midfield and the back line. He’s done well enough in both places – including a Best XI mention as a defender in 2009 – to merit some mention of national-team potential. His size (6-foot-3, 190 pounds), aggressiveness, and comfort on the ball set him apart in MLS, as not many American players can meld those attributes. Yet not until Dynamo head coach declared in mid-September that he would play centerback, period, did Cameron seize the role and its responsibility.

“I take pride in going against guys across the league,” says Cameron, a native of Attleboro, Mass., who played collegiately at Rhode Island and West Virginia. “I think, ‘I’m not going to let this guy beat me today. He’s not going to get the best of me.’ Having that attitude is making sure you’re playing well day-in and day-out. If a guy’s down on the field, you’ve got to be positive and not bitching at him. Guys react better when they’re talked to. ‘Let’s go, bud, I know you got it in you.’ I make plenty of mistakes but you can’t dwell on them.”

By moving Cameron to centerback and stationing Adam Moffat and Luiz Camargo in the middle of midfield, Kinnear toughened the spine of his team and gave playmaker Brad Davis -- who led the league with 16 assists -- a firmer foundation. Houston conceded five goals while finishing the season with a six-match unbeaten streak, then edged past Philadelphia and Sporting Kansas City in the playoffs while allowing just one goal. A 1-0 loss to the Galaxy on its home field in MLS Cup ended the season on a sour note yet even in defeat, Cameron and his teammates had found an identity, especially in defense.

“We kind of had a cool thing in the back about keeping a clean sheet,” says Cameron of Houston’s defensive unit. “We called it our ‘Alcatraz,’ we don’t want people coming in and trying to beat our back four, kind of hold it down like a prison. We joked about that but in games we took it seriously. Guys were given opportunities in the back to step up and that led up top to the forwards. As a collective group, it jelled us and helped us start that run.”

Great teams tend to be built around a foundation of players with the mentality of Geoff Cameron - taking pride in helping their team find success, and picking teammates up when they need them. It's amazing what you can accomplish when no one cares who receives the credit, and apparently Geoff Cameron understands and appreciates that his success is drawn from the overall success of his group.

2012-01-16T19:16:00.001-08:00

"Shay will go back between the sticks and we explained to Brad that our No. 1 goalkeeper is Shay. Brad didn't necessarily agree but Shay is my first-choice goalkeeper. Football is cruel at times, although Brad's been magnificent. It's the first time I've had a chance to see him in high-profile games and I've been really delighted. He understood, he didn't like it and he didn't necessarily agree, but he's a proper gentleman. I wasn't going to drop it on him five minutes before kickoff, so there's a mutual respect there and I think he's earned that respect."

-- Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish on his decision to put Irish international Shay Given back in goal, where American Brad Guzan had been a standout during his first extended run in the EPL that conincided with Given being sidelined because of a hamstring injury.

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

2012-01-16T18:47:00.000-08:00

Today allows us to recognize the dream of Martin Luther King Jr., one of the great leaders the world has ever seen.

The positive energy he encourages, his ability to motivate and to get others to buy into being a part of something bigger than themselves are what made him one of the world's great leaders.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the leader that is remembered on this special day -

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of this creed - We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."

'The 333 story' turns burden into opportunity

2012-01-08T07:33:00.000-08:00

Jon Gordon's book 'The No Complaining Rule' is something that I've tried to instill, both from a personal standpoint, and in my office and locker room.

The rules are pretty simple in concept -

1) you can only complain to someone who can resolve the problem - rather than bitch and moan to someone divorced from the problem (which is wasted energy, as well as negative energy), you must go to someone who can help fix the problem at hand.

2) you can only complain if you are going to offer a resolution as well - rather than talk about what doesn't work, be a part of the solution by offering a way to fix it, opposed to compounding the problem.

People who use phrases like 'can't' and 'won't' probably don't have a lot of success in the business world or in sport, and true problem-solvers look at challenges as an opportunity to build and improve.

Bob Proctor has an outstanding story - the 333 story - which was passed along by a friend of mine, Craig Timmons. Proctor's story is from his book 'You Were Born Rich', and builds off of the premise in 'the No Complaining Rule' by turning challenges and burdens into tremendous opportunities.

Proctor's story was based on a gentleman who drove through a town in Ontario, Canada that was ravaged by tornado. That gentleman - Bob Templeton - became fascinated with the laws of the universe, particularly The Law of Polarity or as it is often referred to, The Law of Opposites.

This law clearly states everything has an opposite. You cannot have an up without a down, hot without cold or in without out. By the same token, if you can figure out why something you want to do cannot be done, by law, you must be able to figure out how it can be done. People who accomplish great things are aware of the negative, however, they give all of their mental energy to the positive.

After seeing what happened to this town, Bob Templeton was committed to the idea of raising millions of dollars and giving it to the people who had been caught in the tornado, and he was going to raise the money immediately! Furthermore, he was not remotely interested in why he
couldn’t.

The following Friday he called all of his executives at Telemedia into his office. At the top of a flip chart in bold letters, he wrote three 3’s. He said to his executives “How would you like to raise 3 million dollars, 3 days from now, in just 3 hours and give the money to the people in Barrie?” There was nothing but silence in the room.

Finally someone said, “Templeton, you’re crazy. There is absolutely no way we could raise 3 million dollars, in 3 hours, 3 days from now!”

Bob said, “Wait a minute. I didn’t ask you if we could or even if we should. I just asked
you if you would like to.” Bob Templeton was wise; he was appealing to the charitable
side of their nature. It was important for those present to openly admit that this was
something they wanted to do. Bob Templeton knew that his new idea could show anyone
how to accomplish anything they wanted by working with the law.

They all said, “Sure, we’d like to.” He then drew a large T underneath the 333. On one
side he wrote, ‘Why We Can’t.’ On the other side he wrote, ‘How We Can.’ Under the
words, ‘Why We Can’t,’ Bob Templeton drew a large X. As he placed the X on the flip chart,
he said, “Now there is no place to record the ideas we think of which explain why we can’t
raise 3 million dollars, in 3 hours, 3 days from now, regardless of how valid they might be.”
He continued by explaining, “When anyone calls out an idea which suggests why we can’t,
everyone else must yell out as loud as they can, NEXT. That will be our command to go
to the next idea. Ideas are like the cars on a train, one always follows the other. We will
keep saying Next until a positive idea arrives.”

Bob smiled and continued to explain that, “Opposite the X on the other side of the
flipchart, directly under the words, ‘How We Can,’ I will write down every idea that we can
come up with on how we can raise 3 million dollars, in 3 hours, 3 days from now.” He
also suggested in a very serious tone of voice, that everyone will remain in the room until
we figure it out. “We are not only going to think of how we can raise 3 million dollars
immediately, after we originate the ideas we are going to execute them!” There was silence
again.

Finally, someone said, “We could do a radio show across Canada.”

Bob said, “That’s a great idea,” and wrote it down under, ‘How We Can.’

Before he had it written on the right hand side of the flipchart, someone said, “You can’t do a radio show across Canada. We don’t have radio stations across Canada!” Since Telemedia only had stations in Ontario and Quebec, you must admit that was a pretty valid objection. However, someone in the back of the room, in a rather soft tone said, “Next.”

Bob Templeton replied, “Doing a radio show is how we can. That idea stays.” But this truly did sound like a ridiculous idea, because radio stations are very competitive. They usually don’t work together and to get them to do so would be virtually impossible according to the standard way of thinking.

All of a sudden someone suggested, “You could get Harvey Kirk and Lloyd Robertson, the biggest names in Canadian broadcasting, to anchor the show.” These gentlemen are anchors of national stature in the Canadian television industry. Someone clearly spoke out saying, “They’re not going to go on radio.” But, at that point the group yelled, “NEXT.” Bob said that was when the energy shifted; everyone got involved and it was absolutely amazing how fast and furious the creative ideas began to flow.

That was on a Friday. The following Tuesday they had a radiothon, where 50 radio stations, from all across the country, agreed to work in harmony for such a good cause. They felt it didn’t matter who got the credit, as long as the people in Barrie got the money. Harvey Kirk and Lloyd Robertson anchored the show and they succeeded in raising 3 million dollars, in 3 hours, within 3 business days!

You see, you can have whatever you want; all things are possible when you put your
focus on how you can and “Next” every idea telling you why you can’t.

This may be a difficult exercise in the beginning, however when you persist
“Nexting” any and all negative concepts, the flow of positive ideas will roar into your
marvelous mind.

Millions of people who have heard the story of Bob Templeton are making positive things happen in their lives because Templeton would not listen to the reasons why he and his staff could not raise 3 million dollars, in 3 hours, just 3 days after they began to brainstorm the idea.
By the way, Bob Templeton and his staff have formed the habit of ‘333ing’ their wants and, as a result, he has gone on to become the President of NewCap Broadcasting company, a highly profitable corporation, with stations right across Canada. Templeton set up a force for good that will follow him wherever he goes. Profit has become his second name. Begin at once to ‘333’ all of your wants and profit will follow you as well.

Toughness

2012-01-06T07:18:00.000-08:00

I had the chance to visit with a high school basketball team yesterday, and in their pre-practice meeting, they were referring to an article that I had also once written about a couple of years back. The article had to do with toughness, which ESPN's Jay Bilas has a pretty good reference point about.

Bilas has a great reference point when it comes to competing at a high level of sports – he played basketball at Duke University, and after his playing career ended, joined Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching staff; He has parlayed his playing and coaching career into a role as one of ESPN’s top college basketball analysts.

Elements of an article he once wrote on ESPN.com a couple of years ago (http://mdbball.com/Documents/ToughnessbyJayBilas.pdf) still draws references today. I think the reason I still refer to it is that it hit on a topic that every coach stresses with their players – toughness.

I think I was shocked about how many coaches from different sports at all types of levels had read the article, and were able to draw from their own experiences when reading and relating to Bilas’ thoughts.

‘…in almost coordinated fashion, I would watch games and see player upon player thumping his chest after a routine play, angrily taunting an opponent after a blocked shot, getting into a shouting match with an opposing player, or squaring up nose-to-nose as if a fight might ensues. I see players jawing at each other, trying to “intimidate” other players. What a waste of time. That is nothing more than fake toughness, and it has no real value.

I often wonder: Do people really understand what coaches and experienced players mean when they emphasize “toughness” in basketball? Or is it just some buzzword that is thrown around haphazardly without clear definition or understanding?’

Bilas referenced that where he came to college thinking that toughness was based on the physical, he realized that it had more to do with the mental. I was always taught that strength could be measured in a weight room, but that toughness was measured by what was inside of you – it wasn’t measured in your ability to kick someone on the other team, but in your ability to get kicked and keep playing; it was not whether you were knocked down, but in your resolve that allowed you to get back up.

Bilas also referenced that he thought toughness was a skill, and as a skill, could be developed and improved. He even created a list of items that he thought were a way that toughness was exhibited in basketball.

Soccer Journal editor Jay Martin had taken the lead from Bilas’ article and created his own list of items that displayed toughness in soccer. I thought it was a great reference point for players to draw from, and had even hung it up in our locker room at the University of Evansville.

Some of the key items were-

Talk on defense: A tough player talks and communicates with teammates while defending, and is so focused on winning that he/she is not only worried about the player that they are guarding, but on helping their teammates as well.

Play so hard, your coach has to take you out: Tough players work so hard that the coach has to take them out to rest. The toughest players don’t pace themselves. The first time I watched the University of North Carolina’s women’s team play, what I was taken back from was that when some of coach Anson Dorrance’s players came off the field, they needed to get oxygen because of how hard they were playing – you could actually see one of the girl’s chests expanding and contracting due to how hard she was breathing when she came off the field. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a player or team play as hard as that team on that day – they are a ‘tough’ team, and it is no coincidence that they compete for a National Championship on an annual basis.

Take responsibility for your teammates: Tough players take responsibility for themselves as well as others. If the bus leaves at 9:00 AM, tough players make sure that they are there on time as well as their teammates, too.

Get out of the comfort zone: A tough player knows that soccer is a game played when tired and sore. When tough players are tired and sore, and feel like they don’t want to run any longer, they run harder.

Take and give criticism the right way: Tough players take criticism without feeling they have to answer back or come up with an excuse. They want to get better. Tough players are not afraid to tell teammates what they need to hear.

Show strength in body language: Tough players project confidence and security with their body language. They don’t hang their heads; they don’t argue with officials.

Look coaches and teammates in the eye: Tough players never drop their heads. They always look their coach in the eye, because if the coach is talking, it is important to them.

Make every game important: Tough players know that every game is important regardless of the opponent. They know if they want to play in a championship game they must play every game like a championship.

Out of any of Jay Bilas' toughness rules, the one that I thought this high school team (and their coach) truly embodied the most was 'Make getting better every day your goal'- We always try to stress with our players at the University of Evansville that their goal should be to make today better than their play yesterday. Tough players come to work every day to get better, and you could see by this team's focus and commitment in practice that they bought into that theory.

Michigan State University basketball coach Tom Izzo said that “Players play the game, but tough players win the game.” Look over this list, and gauge whether your team or children are tough- you can encourage toughness, and the best coaches and parents develop those attributes in their players and children.

The SEC's simple winning formula

2012-01-04T09:09:00.000-08:00

If you are like me and didn't grow up in a college football hot-bed, you are probably amazed at the level the teams in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) are able to compete at.

Terms used in the media phrases like 'major' and 'mid-major' were coined to describe the top college football conferences, which are now 'BCS' (Bowl Championship Series) and 'non-BCS' schools - the have's and the have-not's when it comes to revenue and resources.

As a coach at a 'major' college soccer conference, but in a 'mid-major' or 'non-BCS'conference, it's easy to listen to those who play the blame game or be jealous of what SEC schools have available to them in their arsenal.

Ivan Maisel covers college football for ESPN, and rather than listen to the complaints himself, he writes a pretty simple formula of why SEC is at the top of the BCS pyramid.

Hey, you, with the chip on your shoulder about the Southeastern Conference.

Yeah, you, the one who can't wait to see the Allstate BCS National Championship Game because, for the first time in eight appearances, an SEC team will lose. With No. 1 LSU playing No. 2 Alabama in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Monday, there may be less relief there than you think.

You're frustrated with the system. You're mad that the power in college football has consolidated in one place and you're looking for someone or something to blame. The answer lies below.

But before you can look at the culprit, you're going to need a mirror.

When you dig through the data, when you see that SEC athletic programs have bigger budgets than their counterparts around the country because the SEC fills its bigger stadiums, when you see that the caliber of play and the spectacle of those filled stadiums create the highest TV ratings, all of that speaks to the passion that college football creates among the league's fans. That passion creates those resources, which attracts the top coaches, who, in turn, sign the top players.

Even with the head start of Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State ranking 1-2-4 in attendance, the SEC led the nation in 2011, as it has every season since 1998. That's because SEC schools take six positions in the top 11. The revenues generated by that attendance put the SEC at the top of athletic spending, according to a survey by the Sports Business Journal. The median budget of SEC athletic departments in fiscal year 2012 is $90.3 million. The Big Ten is second at $78.8 million. No other conference has a median budget above $62 million.

The money, both in the resources it buys and the salaries it pays, lures the top coaches. Four SEC head coaches -- Mark Richt of Georgia, Steve Spurrier of South Carolina and the two who will be in New Orleans, Les Miles of LSU and Nick Saban of Alabama -- are qualified for the College Football Hall of Fame (10 seasons as a head coach with a career winning percentage of .600).

And the coaches attract the top players. The demographic shift in this country toward the Sun Belt can explain in part the rise of the SEC. More people are living within the conference footprint than ever. But the increased population in and of itself doesn't explain the SEC's rise. If big population made a difference, then Fordham would still rule the East.

To the home talent, add the advantage of the home field. The revenues generated by the SEC schools afford them the luxury of tilting their schedules in their favor. In every other BCS conference, programs play nonconference games in their opponents' stadium. In the SEC, programs forego those road trips because, well, they can.

Beginning in 2006, the first year of the BCS championship streak, LSU, Alabama and Auburn each have played a total of two non-neutral, nonconference road games, and that's not the fewest. Arkansas and Ole Miss have played one apiece.

You can make the case that Alabama and LSU have avoided playing on the road without diluting their schedule -- the Tide has played Virginia Tech and Clemson at a neutral site and will open next season against Michigan in Cowboys Stadium, which is where LSU began this season against Oregon.

But the point is, the Tide and the Tigers can play those games on equal terms with their opponents. Alabama and LSU are 3-0 in those games.

Florida plays at Florida State every other year. But the Gators haven't played a nonconference regular-season game outside the state in 20 years. Filling those huge campus stadiums affords SEC schools the luxury of not leaving them. While one well-heeled booster has spent schools such as Oregon (Phil Knight), Stanford (John Arrillaga) and Oklahoma State (T. Boone Pickens) to the top, SEC schools have gotten there by the strength of the masses.

College football is more important to SEC fans. They show it when 90,000-plus arrive at Bryant-Denny Stadium -- for a spring game. They show it in radio talk shows that are filled with college football talk 12 months a year. And judging by the TV ratings, fans outside the SEC recognize the difference, too.

The three top-rated telecasts this season featured No. 1 LSU. The highest-rated game, LSU-Alabama I, drew the biggest rating for a regular-season game in 22 years. When you're through looking yourself in the mirror, take a look at the game.

Rather than piss and moan about what your team or school doesn't have, come to the realization that the more important your program is to your fans, boosters and sponsors, the more your team will have...if you don't believe me, ask a football coach in the SEC...

The balancing act - competing for a title while also giving young players experience

2012-01-04T06:46:00.000-08:00

Most coaches, managers or buisness leaders offer the first level of experience in an orientation or apprenticeship by observing. Sitting on the sideline while watching a more experienced mentor often offers an initial level of insight on 'how to do things around here'.

As important as observation (sitting and watching) or theoretical experience (lectures or reading), there is no experience more valuable than practical experience - getting your hands dirty and learning from trial and error.

What comes part and parcel with enabling one of your people with that practical experience is having the confidence in them that they will either drive over some speed bumps along the way under your careful watch to assist with offering a road map of success, or that they will sail smoothly when given that opportunity.

Another key component in this process is having a level of self-confidence in yourself as a leader to relenquish some of that responsibility to someone with less experience, knowing that there will be some bumps and bruises along the way to success. It was once written that, sometimes, you need to learn how not to lose before you learn how to win.

Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United has been magnified in the media recently about his decision to entrust the goalkeeping responsibilities at one of the biggest clubs in the world to 21-year old Spaniard Davd de Gea.

Daniel Taylor of the Irish Times writes of the balancing act of competing for a title while also trying to develop a young and inexperienced goalkeeper.

The overwhelming sense when debating Manchester United’s goalkeeping issue, and specifically weighing up the long-term benefits but short-term losses of entrusting a talented but still raw 21-year-old, has to be one of deja vu. We have been here already this season, after all, and the arguments became so blurred at the time all that can be said for certain is the champions were entitled to hope we would not have to revisit the subject so quickly.

It is whether they should continue with David de Gea in goal when it is almost inevitable, at this point in a career of otherwise great promise, there will be further mistakes along the way, or whether they bow to the theory that a team going for the title, when every goal and every point might be vital, is not the place for a goalkeeper to be learning on the spot.

The last time this issue was raised Ferguson decided against taking the Spaniard out of the team in favour of Anders Lindegaard and most of autumn passed amid the sense that United’s manager had negotiated a difficult situation with impeccable judgment.

Opposition players began to realise that peppering De Gea with hopeful, long-distance shots was now a futile exercise.

The man Jamie Redknapp said needed “to grow into his kit”, after a particularly harrowing league debut at West Bromwich Albion, went to the Britannia Stadium in Stoke and played as though affronted by the suggestion he was a boy among men.

A few weeks later, he turned in a performance at Anfield with all the calmness of a bomb-disposal expert, as if nobody had bothered educating him about what it meant to be beneath the Kop as a Manchester United player.

Afterwards the Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish, shook his head ruefully and exclaimed: “I thought the press said the boy was struggling.”

The ability to make reflex saves, distribute the ball quickly and accurately and understand the angles of the penalty box is clearly in place, so we should proceed cautiously against the knee-jerk reaction in light of his recent mistakes.

Yet the De Gea or Lindegaard issue has resurfaced for legitimate reasons going into tonight’s match at Newcastle United and this is not, as Ferguson put it in September, the agenda of a media “desperate for the boy to fail”.

Nobody in the press box invented the mistakes against Benfica and Basel that played a part in United’s Champions League elimination. It wasn’t a careless sub-editor who flapped at the cross for Blackburn’s decisive goal at Old Trafford on New Year’s Eve.

The harsh reality is De Gea has let in six goals where the blame, or a significant proportion of it, could be attached to him. At least three more have arrived when the culpability is less obvious but his involvement could still be questioned.

That’s nine from 19 appearances, and even if mitigating circumstances can be presented in some cases it is still clearly too many when there are five months of the season still to play.

De Gea’s occasional vulnerabilities are, of course, probably only inevitable for a goalkeeper who was 20 when he signed in June and, to give him his due, he has probably not been helped by the absence of a consistent back four.

Lindegaard has started five league games and not conceded a goal. The Dane is seven years older than De Gea and has a greater penalty-box presence. It has been evident he is determined to establish himself more prominently in Ferguson’s thinking.

It is a curiosity, given Ferguson, in the days of Edwin van der Sar, would regularly speak of his belief that the key factor for a successful goalkeeper was experience. De Gea’s potential is clear but his education does not come without risk.

I can appreciate the dilemma that Ferguson faces - after all, our team at the University of Evansville played this past 2011 college season with a nucleus of 7 freshmen and 2 sophomores in our lineup. Although there were a number of bumps and bruises along the way, fast-forward a year later and we now have 9 starters returning with the experience of playing against some of the top collegiate teams in the nation.

Sometimes you do have to learn 'how not to lose' before you can learn to win, and if Manchester United fans can be patient and show trust in their manager and young goalkeeper, great things are on the horizon.

Resolutions for Leaders in the New Year

2012-01-04T06:41:00.000-08:00

The New Year has begun, and where it is trendy to make resolutions about health, lifestyle and family, John Coleman and Bill George of the Harvard Business Journal wrote an interesting blog entry on resolutions for aspiring leaders.

Find a trustworthy mentor: Mentorship is a critical component of your development as a leader. A 2004 study showed that young leaders with mentors were more likely succeed professionally and experience career satisfaction. The essence of effective mentoring is developing a trusting relationship between the mentor and mentee. Identify someone with whom you have a genuine chemistry and who is committed to your development. Although many mentees do not realize it, a sound relationship is a two-way street that benefits both parties — not just the mentee. We suggest looking for mentors whom you admire for their values and character more than their success.

Form a leadership development group: Most of us have little time to reflect on the values and characteristics we want to define us as leaders, the difficulties we're facing, or the long-term impact we hope to have. Forming a leadership development group can give you the space you need to think deeply about these subjects. Leadership development groups are groups of six to eight people who meet to share their personal challenges and discuss the most important questions in their lives. Find people you can trust, and make a commitment to be one another's confidential counselors. Meet regularly, and share openly your life stories, crucibles, passions and fears, while offering each other honest feedback.

Volunteer in a civic or service organization: Have you served your community this year? In the Facebook era it's easy to lose touch with our real-world neighbors. Long hours often cause us to avoid volunteer opportunities. Participating in local organizations — from religious organizations to civic groups — can give you early leadership experiences, provide real connection to your neighbors, and offer opportunities to serve others. It adds a dimension to your life that work can't, and helps you develop and solidify your character while giving back to the community. You will find your time serving a community organization is highly rewarding while broadening your outlook on people and life.

Work in or travel to one new country: "The world is flat," as Tom Friedman puts it, so it has never been more important to get global experience. In the future cultural sensitivity will be a more important characteristic for leaders than pure intellectual ability. John's survey of more than 500 top MBAs found that on average they had worked in four countries prior to entering graduate school and expect to work in five more in the next ten years. Having a global mindset and the ability to collaborate effectively across cultures are essential qualities for aspiring leaders of global organizations.

Finally, ask more questions than you answer: With the high velocity of change in the world, it is impossible to have answers to all the important questions. Much more important is a deep curiosity about the world and the ability to frame the right questions in profound ways. The world's toughest problems cannot be solved by you or any one organization. Your role will be to bring the right people together to address the challenging issues you raise. Our research demonstrates that the biggest mistakes result from decisions made by people without deep consideration of thoughtful questions.

A figurative 'kick in the ass'

2012-01-03T06:21:00.001-08:00

Three times in the last 24 hours, I thought about the figurative 'ass kicking' that kids need from their parents or coaches.

Teenagers or young adults at home that may need some 'tough love' to encourage them to have a little more urgency in their lives; A coddled NBA basketball player (DeMarcus Cousins) who demands a trade from his current team; a number of high school basketball players who come back from a holiday vacation lacking some of the focus and urgency in practice needed to be successful when games resume.

All three instances made me think of the figurative or literal 'ass kicking' offered by one of the true icons in high school sports.

One of the best books I've ever read on coaching and teaching is 'The Miracle of St. Anthony' by Adrian Wojnarowski, which follows high school basketball's St. Anthony of Jersey City, NJ and their outstanding coach Bob Hurley for a season.

There is an excerpt where Hurley talks to his team about kids who probably needed someone to 'beat their ass' at some point in their life - figuratively or literally knocking them down and/or knocking some sense into them to avoid poor choices that were made by teenagers that had never felt the repercussions of making bad decisions.

"You are who you are," Hurley finally said. "These are the personality and character flaws of this entire group. When this season is done, we'll go back to the one simple thing: If this ends up anything short of a state championship, you're just going to be a bunch of people that all the adults will remember as the worst class in St. Anthony history.

"I have never been around more poorly individually motivated people. Ever. This reminds me of what juvenile probation used to look like on Thursdays up at the county building, where guys would just drag their ass in.

"What happened today was very simple: They got into (Derrick) Mercer's chest. And (Ahmad) Mosby's chest. And (Sean) McCurdy's chest. And what happened? Everybody went, 'Ohhhhh nooooo, one of those games.' They couldn't wait to come here and play us.

"And who are you? You're the willing victim. You stand there and you let people get in your face. My prayers are for your families. When you leave this place, the structure that it gives you, how many of you can handle this tough world? My blessings. I hope it works out for you all. But I have real strong reservations of nearly every one of you, because when you have obstacles in your path -- academic, social, athletic, emotional -- you will not have the mental toughness, the self-discipline, the passion, to overcome it."

"I have contempt," Hurley started again. "I have nothing but contempt for you all. You make me sick. You have no passion. You're not going to make it. You're such a sorry-ass bunch. I can say to you that the state championship is a month and a day away, and know what you can do?"

"Go back to your miserable existence."

"Go back to not caring."

"Go back to being cool."

"My frustration is this: I would just love to beat your ass. Because somebody should've beat your ass growing up. I got my ass beat a bunch of times. I came from a very good generation, and if I did something to embarrass my father, he kicked the (crap) out of me."

"And what did I learn? Well, I learned first that I didn't like getting the (crap) kicked out of me. And the second thing I learned as I got older, never would I want to do something to embarrass my dad. Because he was a hero of mine."

When Hurley talks about needing 'to beat your ass', he referenced the fact that he grew up in a time when kids were embarrassed to make mistakes - both from fear of disappointing those they look up to (in this case, his father), and in fear of getting punished (either physically or emotionally).

Too many times, our kids or players go through life without understanding that there are consequences for poor choices they make. Our jobs as coaches, teachers and parents are to teach our children those lessons early enough in life that it prevents them from making larger mistakes later on.

That's the true essence of sports and coaching - that you can draw from experiences on the playing field and apply them to life lessons that will help your players long after the finish their playing careers. The special coaches are able to do that - offer lessons that transcend sport - as well as a win a few games along the way.

A-B-C...or Adversity Reveals Character?

2012-01-02T11:47:00.000-08:00

A favorite quote of mine comes from a statement I heard years ago about adversity being a building block in developing one's character. I used to even prescribe to the theory: 'A B C - Adversity Builds Character'.

Helen Keller once said, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

Over the course of time, I found this not necessarily to be true. After seeing key players and coaches deal with adverse situations like injury, a referee call or a loss, I found that adversity didn't make people stronger (building character). Rather, that kind of adversity in key situations often reveals character - as you learn an awful lot about them in times of crisis.

I was happy to hear those same comments echoed by NFL coach-turn-ESPN commentator Eric Mangini while describing the dissaray in the New York Jets locker room after their defeat yesterday...we must have been reading from the same coaching handbook...

I actually googled the word 'adversity' today after hearing Mangini's comments, and I found this comment by Dallas Cowboys' Pro Bowl standout DeMarcus Ware in reference to bouncing back from a tough loss earlier this season-

"You just had a loss, [so] what are you going to do about it?" Cowboys outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware said as he walked to the team bus with a defiant attitude. "The good teams, they come back from a tough loss like that and you really see the true team spirit and how teams come back from adversity. That's what really tells you the type of character we have on this team. We're going to see that this week."

I do believe that you need to have adversity affect you or your team to create a true coachable moment of how to deal with it, but I don't think that adversity makes you stronger. It's being able to learn from those experiences, and then responding positively the next time it strikes, that shows the true test of someone's inner strength.

The next time you are watching an important sporting event, look to see not only who scores the most goals, points, runs or touchdowns, but who is able to respond positively when bad things happen - true champions respond positively when crisis strikes, which is when their true character is revealed.

It's our job as coaches to prepare our players when those times come.

No man bigger than the club at Manchester United

2012-01-02T11:25:00.000-08:00

No one man is bigger than the club.

That old adage clearly applies at Manchester United, as Sir Alex Ferguson is renown for never compromising his ideals for the good of the team. That was on display and magnified this week when it was made public that the reason Wayne Rooney was not involved in United's team this past weekend due to disciplinary action as a violation of team rules.

Rooney has been fined a week's wages by the Premier League club for a night out over the Christmas weekend, according to press reports on Monday.

Rooney was dropped by United ahead of their shock 3-2 home loss to Blackburn last Saturday, officially because of fitness concerns.

But several British newspapers reported that the star was punished for a below par training session on December 27 after a Boxing Day evening out with wife Coleen and team-mates Jonny Evans and Darron Gibson against team orders.

Rooney was fined approximately £200,000 ($310,000) with defender Evans and midfielder Gibson also fined, the reports said.

The trio were then ordered by manager Sir Alex Ferguson to come in on Wednesday -- a day off -- and train on their own as well as report for training on the morning of the Blackburn defeat.

Ferguson's punishment of Rooney is clearly focused on doing what's right for both the player and the club, and where it might be deemed as having short-term implications (United lost to Blackburn, 3-2, over the weekend), but the long-term benefits of this kind of discipline keeps everyone's belief in the sum being greater of the parts.

Leadership by Example Comes From Freshman at UK

2012-01-02T07:51:00.001-08:00

Every coach wants to have players on their team that are assertive and willing to accept leadership responsibilities. No matter how demanding a coach or his staff can be in practice, ultimately, success will come down to their players being able to hold their teammates to high standards and demands during the game.

John Calipari's continued success at the University of Kentucky is not a surprise - he has rebuilt the Wildcats into a perrenial national title contender in college basketball - but what is a bit of a surprise is where the leadership is coming from within this very young team.

A nucleus of 2 sophomores and 3 freshmen in the starting lineup leaves Coach Cal with a very young nucleus, but where they lack in life experience, there is no shortage of veteran leadership.

Kyle Tucker of the Louisville Courier-Journal writes of Calipari's freshman leader, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

With Darius Miller back for his senior season and sophomores Doron Lamb and Terrence Jones delaying their departures to the NBA, the popular preseason theory was that University of Kentucky men's basketball coach John Calipari had a solid nucleus of leadership in place to mentor his latest class of prized freshmen.

But a funny thing has happened through the third-ranked Wildcats' first 13 games. Rookie swingman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, arguably the softest-spoken player on the team, has taken charge, set a tone and suddenly seems to be the guy whose act everyone else is following.

It's not just his box-score-stuffing averages: 13.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. It's not only his effervescent energy that often supercharges his UK teammates. It's his work ethic when he takes the court in Rupp Arena. It's his winner's mentality.

"You can't be sitting in the ice tub yelling to guys to work hard," Calipari said. "They don't want to hear that. So he's out here spending the time."

Recently, Calipari noticed that Kidd-Gilchrist was coming in early every morning to stretch, work out and take a few extra shots. Encouraged by that, and impressed by the freshman's clutch efforts in early games, Calipari thought he was ready for a leadership role and asked him to "drag some guys with you."

So he put out an invitation for teammates to join him, and Kentucky's "Breakfast Club" was born. It started with about four players and has, Kidd-Gilchrist said this week, grown to about eight guys who've met a handful of times in the past two weeks to work out together at 8:30 a.m. and eat breakfast before the team's scheduled practices.

"I'm ready to lead. I'm a freshman, but so what?" said Kidd-Gilchrist, who can already sense that the early-morning club is paying dividends. "A lot of chemistry is building up. It's like a brotherhood now."

That one of the kid brothers is providing the example for the rest is unusual. In fact, Kidd-Gilchrist admits he was "scared" to speak up early in the season.

He said Miller is like his big brother, and it was already awkward enough that Kidd-Gilchrist stole the senior's starting spot after just a couple of months on campus. But the more he earned his stripes in practices and proved his worth in games, the new guy gathered new confidence.

"I'm always in the gym. I'm just getting better and better and, as y'all saw in the Indiana game and the UNC game, it's just showing," Kidd-Gilchrist said, "so I just want to step into that (leadership) role."

Miller, who harbors no bitterness toward Kidd-Gilchrist's rise to stardom, said the freshman was leading this team even before he made that conscious decision.

"He does a great job of leading by example," Miller said. "You don't see too many guys who work as hard as he does and play as well as he does. It was shocking, especially when he came in. I kind of expect stuff like that from him now."

Calipari compared Kidd-Gilchrist's willingness to work to some of the coach's past stars: Derrick Rose, John Wall, Brandon Knight. The fruits of those players' labor was a spot in the NBA draft lottery and many millions of dollars. The same is likely in store for Kidd-Gilchrist, whose pro stock — which was high to start with — has skyrocketed in just 13 college games.

"I think everyone agrees he's a lottery pick now," ESPN draft analyst Chad Ford said. "Before the season some scouts thought he was and some scouts thought he wasn't. He's got a consensus going now."

Ford rates Kidd-Gilchrist the No. 11 prospect available in the next NBA draft and thinks he could be selected anywhere from the eighth to the 15th pick.

"The guys that I've coached that have spent the most time at this game have benefited the most," Calipari said. "You'll start dragging a team even as a young player like that. He's begun to do it. He's not afraid to lead. He's going to drag that intensity out of this club. It's embarrassing if you don't play with intensity if he's out there, because it really shows."

Kidd-Gilchrist and his young University of Kentucky Wildcats have played really well at the early stages of the 2011-12 college basketball season, and if they can continue to grow with leadership from 'the breakfast club', UK could set standards for not only their play, but how to behave on and off the court as well.

Grand Year For Soccer Here & Abroad | MIKE JACOBS COLUMN

2012-01-02T06:51:00.001-08:00

Courtesy of the Evansville Courier Press, January 2, 2012

As we put a close on the Year in Soccer for 2011, here are some lasting impressions for fans at the local, national and international levels.

FIFA Women's World Cup: The American women were defeated in dramatic fashion in the final, but not before topping Brazil on June 12 in a stunning World Cup quarterfinal match. Abby Wambach's amazing header in extra time tied the score 2-2 and catapulted the U.S. on to win the penalty shootout. Wambach's goal became the shot heard 'round the world and sparked a soccer frenzy back home.

Japan defeated the U.S. women in a penalty-kick shootout in the final, and the win helped some of the suffering in Japan after the terrible earthquake and tsunami earlier in the year.

VIT and Evansville Soccer Club continue to grow: The Veterans Invitational Tournament, now in its 10th year, is one of the largest revenue generators for the city, bringing in around $5 million.

The tournament, which is hosted by the Evansville Soccer Club, encompassed nearly 250 teams from eight states, consisting of more than 5,000 players.

Major League Soccer set new standards for average attendance: MLS saw its average attendance rise 7.2 percent to 17,872 per game, beating the previous best of 17,406 in its inaugural season of 1996. The strong showing at the gate brought MLS' average above recent seasons for both the NHL (17,132) and NBA (17,323).

That could have a major impact on sports sponsorship and advertising, as well as increasing competition between sports for sponsor opportunities, such as adidas' $200 million pact with MLS.

MLS also fares well on the international stage, ranking 10th among professional leagues in attendance. It is not up there with the English Premier League, but attendance was higher than Brazil's Serie A or the Scottish Premier League — not bad for a league only 16 years old.

'The Beckham Experiment' pays off: Not only was that the title of Grant Wahl's controversial book about MLS bringing the deft passing-marketing machine to the U.S., but it also came to fruition as Becks and Landon Donovan led the Los Angeles Galaxy to the 2011 title.

Beckham is still a commodity as a player and marketing icon, and has been rumored to be leaving MLS to play for Paris Saint-Germain in France. Only time will tell if Beckham will re-sign with the defending MLS champs.

The Manchester derby: Pronounced "DAR-bee," it is the phrase used in Europe to describe two rival teams in proximity. No English derby is stronger than in Manchester, which pits defending English Premier League titleholders Manchester United and crosstown rivals Manchester City. The 2010-11 season heightened the rivalry with matchups that saw Wayne Rooney score on a bicycle kick to defeat City during the regular season in February, and then for City to defeat United in the FA Cup semifinals en route to their FA Cup title in May.

The rivalry has amped up in 2011-12. After United defeated City in the preseason Community Shield exhibition, City smacked United 6-1 in the regular season. With a return leg to Manchester City remaining for the teams tied atop the standings, this could be as exciting an EPL season as we've ever seen.

'El Classico': Where the Manchester derby has grown in popularity, the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona is possibly the greatest in sports.

The nastiness intensified in 2011. Due to the final of the Copa Del Rey and two meetings in the UEFA Champions League, Barcelona and Real Madrid played each other four times in 18 days. The games were closely contended and marred by unsportsmanlike behavior. Madrid coach Jose Mourinho grabbed and twisted the ear of a Barcelona assistant coach, and was red-carded in the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona went on to win the Champions games series, while Madrid won the Copa Del Rey. In league games, the teams tied 1-1 in April but Barcelona won 3-1 in December.

With arguably the two greatest players on the planet represented — Lionel Messi for Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo for Real Madrid — "El Classico" always commands the world's stage.

The Manchester United Way

2011-12-30T07:26:00.000-08:00

A lot is made of the culture that Sir Alex Ferguson has built at Manchester United, and the foundation is built on an insatiable thirst for winning.

You can certainly see it on the field when watching the Red Devils take on English Premier League opponents, but if you can't pinpoint that x-factor on the field, listen to comments by Manchester United players, coaches and rivals.

WINNING MENTALITY

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez thinks Tom Cleverley's return from injury will boost Manchester United's bid to repeat as Premier League Champions. The Wigan manager tips Cleverley's winning mentality to give United an edge over other contenders, according to Goal.com.

"Tom Cleverley is a player you need to work with to understand the full package," Martinez said. "The mentality he's got is quite unique. He's a winner and we all see what he can do.

"Tom will be refreshed and that could be the key for United. He's going to be fully fit and it's going to be like having a new signing. He can make a big impact on the title race."

STRENGTH OF CHARACTER

Ferguson believes the setbacks suffered by Manchester United this season versus Manchester City in the league and Basel in the UEFA Champions League have only highlighted their strength of character.

The Old Trafford boss said: "If you lose a derby game 6-1, get knocked out by a Championship team in the quarter-final of the Carling Cup, and lose to Basle, who are not a power in Europe, you can understand the criticism.

"But in terms of the nature of the players we have and the kind of club we are, we have shown the resilience and determination to do something about it each time it has happened.

"That says a lot about the character of the team.

"We lose games in normal seasons. This season we have lost games that have been dramatic and a bit more emphatic in the sense of the impact it had on our chances of winning trophies.

"These were bad results for us but the character of the team has rescued us each time."

TEAM EFFORT AND SPIRIT

Defender Patrice Evra believes only the Barclays Premier League champions have the necessary fighting spirit to win the title this year.

The France left back played a starring role in United's 5-0 demolition of Wigan on Boxing Day that saw Sir Alex Ferguson's team draw level with local rivals Manchester City at the top of the table.

United have taken 25 points out of 27 since losing 6-1 at home to City on October 23. Their recovery from that dark day has been all the more remarkable given an injury list that saw them start Monday's game without 11 first team regulars.

Evra said: 'I've said this from the beginning - in six years playing here - the United spirit is always there. No other team have got that spirit. This is United. This is why I'm so proud to play here.'

United won on Monday with Michael Carrick playing at centre back and Evra was playing alongside him after a half-time injury to Jonny Evans.

'This is the United spirit,' stressed Evra. 'You can play everywhere for the team. If you want to win, you have to accept it. You can see Antonio Valencia playing right back as well. Only because United play like a team is this possible. The team is the star, not only one player.

'That's why you can put me and Michael Carrick at centre back. We're going to win because it's the team effort and team spirit. That's why I'm confident about the future. It was a big disappointment when we went out early in the Champions League. But I think it was a wake up call because maybe everyone looked at themselves in the mirror and said, "We can do much better".

'What the fans expect of every player, we are doing now. That's why I'm very pleased. Nothing is easy. It's because we're working hard. If we stop working hard and think only with the United name, everything is going to be wrong.

'That's why we have to keep going with this momentum and trust each other because it's a big squad and everyone wants to show they deserve to play.'

Manchester United have all of the qualities that a coach hopes to inspire and create in their own team, and whether you are a fan of the English Premier League title holders or not, it's hard not to appreciate the Manchester United way.

US Soccer Mourns the Loss of Dr. Thomas Fleck

2011-12-29T07:36:00.000-08:00

Dr. Thomas Fleck, an icon in youth soccer coaching education, passed away on Saturday, December 24, at the age of 74.

A 40-year member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, Fleck served as president of the NSCAA for two years (1984-85), Fleck was instrumental in the establishment of the NSCAA Academies, the association's soccer coaching education division. As a member of the NSCAA Executive Committee, Fleck championed youth soccer and was instrumental in developing the youth coach membership category. He served as a member of its teaching staff for more than a quarter of a century. In 2005, Fleck was chosen as the 63rd recipient of the Honor Award, the highest award bestowed by the NSCAA.

“The NSCAA family has lost a dear friend,” said NSCAA CEO and Executive Director Joe Cummings “Many of us became coaches because of Tom. His contributions to the NSCAA go beyond his work with our coaching education program extending to numerous administrative responsibilities. He was a dear friend to so many in our Association. We offer our prayers and condolences to the entire Fleck family.”

Fleck represented the U.S. Soccer Federation as the technical advisor for the 1980 World Youth Championship in Tunisia, as well as the 1994 World Cup hosted by the United States. He also was recognized internationally when he presented a keynote on youth soccer for UEFA Coaches at Wembley, England in 1998.

A 1958 graduate of West Chester University, Fleck was honored as an All-America. He also was the men's varsity coach at Lehigh University, where he earned his doctorate in education in 1970 while serving as Director of the famed Centennial Elementary Laboratory School, the breeding ground for many of his innovative approaches to developmental learning systems. An accomplished author, he wrote or co-wrote more than 10 books, including the popular The Baffled Parent's Guide to Great Soccer Drills.

Inducted into the Eastern Pennsylvania Soccer Hall of Fame in 1996, Fleck also received the Walt Chyzowych Memorial Fund Award in 2004. He was presented an NSCAA Letter of Commendation in 1986 and participated in the torch relay for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games.

A memorial service will be held in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Saturday, January 21.

Trial & Error

2011-12-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

The more time I spend on a college campus, the more I realize that true education comes from not only gaining theoretical experience through classroom lectures and assignments, but from gaining practical experience in that desired field.

Whether it be from internship opportunities to interviewing professionals, getting your hands dirty by experiencing it yourself is the truest form of development.

That same development applies to coaching as well - most coaches ply their trade at the side of a valued mentor who can help provide a blueprint for success, where others are able to cut their teeth by stepping in and coaching their own program at a very early age.

Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy got the opportunity to be thrown into the fire right away when he was hired seven years ago at the age of 37, which would be the equivalent of coaching adolescence. Ivan Maisel of ESPN writes of the baptism under fire of Gundy, who has learned from those experiences to coach one of the premier college football teams in the nation.

"I look back," Gundy said, "and never would have hired me, knowing what I know now."

The arc of Gundy's success at his alma mater has yet to bend toward earth. He has won as many or more games in each season than the previous one, from four wins in 2005 to 11 and counting as No. 3 Oklahoma State prepares to play No. 4 Stanford in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Monday.

When Gundy looks back, he sees a young head coach who tried to do things the way that head coaches are supposed to do them. In his first three seasons, Gundy went 18-19 (.486) and became best known for a rant at a news conference.

The more he has trusted his gut, the more that he refused to heed the Coaching 101 textbook of conventional wisdom, the more games the Cowboys have won. Beginning in 2008, Gundy has gone 40-11 (.784). Over that same time, the coach on the other side of the Bedlam rivalry is 41-12 (.774).

That's right, Mike Gundy is toe-to-toe with Bob Stoops. Actually, Gundy got in the last good lick. That 44-10 defeat of the Sooners to finish the regular season earned Oklahoma State its first Big 12 championship.

"There's so much growing that goes on that can only happen during experience," Gundy said. "... [There's] the evolution but also the mistakes, making mistakes, and sitting in my office and thinking, 'OK, how can I eliminate that, and what's the solution for the next time?' It was patience and making mistakes."

Coaches don't have a lot of time to sit in their office and think. When Gundy took the job, someone told him to keep a fire extinguisher on his desk, because that's what a head coach does.

"You just put fires out all day and then you get home," Gundy said. "And you continue to do it. And I thought, that doesn't sound right. That doesn't sound like much fun. That is exactly the way it is, for the most part."

Gundy remembered what T. Boone Pickens, the billionaire godfather of Oklahoma State athletics, told him when he got hired: (1) take risks, and (2) be unpredictable. So he began to ask questions. Why did Oklahoma State get to the end of the season with more players in the training room than on the field? Why did certain coaching hires click and others not? Gundy asked questions, and he didn't go to the Coaching 101 textbook for his answers.

I really associate with Gundy - I got my first head coaching job at Iona College at age 24, and where I have blessed since then with the opportunity to learn at the side of two coaching lessons in Fred Schmalz (University of Evansville) and John Rennie (Duke University), I still draw from some of those lessons learned at Iona to this day. My father used to always say 'A-B-C: Adversity Builds Character'. What i've learned from those experiences of making decisions under fire as a head coach is that adversity often reveals character as much as it builds character, and you learn a lot from how you respond in those situations - it's much more different when you are the head coach opposed to being the assistant. Someone told me once that 'as an assistant, you can take all of the credit, and none of the blame...as the head coach, there's nowhere to hide!' There are some lessons that you can only learn from being the head coach yourself.

Mizel wrote about the valuable lesson that the Oklahoma State coach learned along the way. When Gundy struggled as a young head coach, he stopped doing what he thought a head coach is supposed to do. He trusted his gut. The results can be seen from Stillwater clear to Glendale, Ariz. For the first time, Oklahoma State is in the BCS. I don't follow any one college football team in particular, but i'm definitely going to be curiously be following Gundy and his Oklahoma State team in the BCS games this coming week.

Does firing your head coach really fix anything?

2011-12-26T10:03:00.001-08:00

No matter how good a coach you may be, your success will ultimately come down to your players on the field.

Especially in professional sports, ownership groups with itchy trigger fingers seem to think that a quick firing can present a quick fix for a team in disarray. That has been brought to the forefront in the National Football League (NFL) here in the United States, and in the English Premier League (EPL).

Stephen Dubner writes that where perception may be reality when it comes to changing one coach out opposed to an entire team, firing your head coach may not accomplish anything.

‘Tis the season – for the firing of head coaches, that is. In the space of two weeks, three teams – the Jaguars, Chiefs, and Dolphins – canned their top man.

Allow me to make two seemingly contradictory points:

•An NFL head coach is probably the most influential, hands-on coach in the four major sports; but:

•Firing the head coach of a bad team probably does a lot less to improve that team than most of us think.

Our latest “Football Freakonomics” segment asks whether firing a head coach really does much to improve a team’s chances – or if it’s simply the standard move for losing organizations, meant to appease critics in the media, the stands, and even the locker room.

First, let’s look at some numbers: between 2000 and 2010, there were 17 coaches fired during the season. Teams that went 47-105 (.309) before the firing went 43-77 (.358) with a new guy. That’s a pretty significant improvement, no? Indeed, the 4-9 Dolphins last week won their first game under interim coach Todd Bowles while the 5-8 Chiefs, under interim coach Romeo Crenell, beat previously undefeated Green Bay!

But: whoa. There are at least three reasons to think that coaching changes have significantly less impact than teams would like to think.

1.Regression to the mean: teams that have done very badly for a long time are more likely to win a bit more in the future, whether they get a new coach or not. Sadly, the opposite is also true for winning teams.

2.As Sam Farmer of the L.A. Times points out in our video, most former NFL Coaches of the Year are eventually fired. Did they suddenly forget how to coach? Did their brilliant strategies evaporate? Or, more likely, was their former winning a consequence of a lot of factors that went well beyond coaching?

3.It is hard in general to satisfactorily measure leadership – whether we’re talking about a football coach, a CEO, or the President of the United States – but a variety of empirical research shows that an institution’s top man or woman is seldom as influential as we think. It’s a natural inclination to pin a lot of blame (or, occasionally, glory) on the figurehead. But just as the President don’t actually have much control over the economy, a football coach has limited control over his team’s outcome.

That’s not to say there aren’t a lot of vital duties performed by a coach; of course there are. And some coaches are plainly much better than others. But a losing team that blindly fires its head coach without looking for the real reasons behind its stinky record is a bit like someone with a high fever tossing the thermometer in the trash.

The magical influence of Coach K

2011-12-26T09:36:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to visit with the Duke University basketball team and their coaching staff during the Thanksgiving holidays, and where it was great to be back in Durham and on-campus visiting with old friends, watching their practice was a model of efficiency.

Coach Krzyzewski and his staff have practice planned down to the finite detail, and each member of their staff are constantly in motion while working towards keeping practice sharp.

It was their first practice after returning from Hawaii with a tournament title, and they were preparing to face Ohio State University in the ACC-Big 10 Challenge.

What was most impressive about Coach Krzyzewski and his staff - Jeff Capel, Chris Collins, Steve Wojciechowski - was their ability to communicate with their players. They placed high demands and clear expectations, and the work-rate and defensive intensity are now trademarks of all Duke basketball teams.

Shortly after returning from North Carolina, I learned that Coach Krzyzewski was named as Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year. Never was there a more deserving honoree, for he has contributed not only on his own campus, but with USA Basketball and as a role model for so many other coaches across the country. It is not uncommon to read stories of other leaders in sport like Jason Garrett (Dallas Cowboys) and Jurgen Klinsmann (US Soccer) visiting with Coach like I had last month, and there is a reason why so many coaches in different sports and varying levels flock to learn at his side.

Here is the link to the SI Sportsman of the Year article, as well as an excerpt of what makes Coach K so unique-

"YOU ALL RIGHT?"

It was an odd thing for a coach to say to a player who was about to shoot two hugely important free throws. It was an odder thing still for a coach to say to a player who on seven previous occasions that evening had launched the ball from the foul line into the ether of the Hoosier Dome and smartly through the hoop. Given the circumstances—12 seconds to play against mighty UNLV, tie game, a national title in the balance—it may have been oddest of all that the player, Christian Laettner of Duke, grinned back.

Let the coach, Mike Krzyzewski, explain: "Two years earlier we had met as a team after losing to Seton Hall at the '89 Final Four in Seattle. I was determined not to lay any guilt trips on the players, not to let them leave that room feeling down. I told them we were staying through the championship game to celebrate what they had accomplished. Then I looked at my seniors and I started to cry.

"Laettner is sitting right in front of me. He's only 19. He's bewildered. I'm not sure he's ever seen an adult cry. And later that night—it must have been 11 o'clock—I'm watching tape in my hotel room and there's this knock at the door. It's Christian. He wants to know if I'm all right. He sits down, and I tell him how proud I am of what they've done and how we would build on it. And again he says, 'Are you sure you're all right?' When he gets up to leave, before he shuts the door, he turns and says, 'You sure you're all right?'

"I threw a pillow at him and said, 'Get out of here.' "

Let other coaches throw chairs. Krzyzewski, the man from rigid and proper Duke, schooled at West Point, purportedly cloned from Bob Knight, will throw pillows. When the NCAA tournament gets under way next week, Krzyzewski will be trying to guide the defending national champion Blue Devils, 25-2 and ranked No. 1 all season, to their sixth trip to the Final Four in seven years. To all but the finicky few who believe that a coach fails unless he wins it all every time, Krzyzewski's record is unassailable. "He's the best in the business right now," says Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins. "He's a great coach and a much better recruiter than people give him credit for. I mean, the Final Four four years in a row, plus a national championship? It's totally ridiculous."

Krzyzewski has one thing going for him that few other coaches have and that none can acquire by studying tape or spending time at clinics. He's a most fortuitous fluke of demography. He grew up in what might as well have been Depression America, upstairs in a sparsely furnished brick two-flat in a Polish neighborhood of Chicago. His parents hoarded what little they had in order to do better by their two boys. ("In my mom's closet there were always two dresses," Krzyzewski says. "They were clean, they were in great shape, but there were only two. My parents were people who never had anything, but they had everything.") Yet he is a card-carrying baby boomer who attended Army as a member of its most restless class, the class of 1969, one that kept a nervous eye on Southeast Asia. Thus even as Krzyzewski relates like some touchie-feelie big brother, he's a schoolmaster preaching hoary precepts out of a simpler time, someone who can hammer home a standard coaching exhortation like "Give me the best that you've got" by playing an Anita Baker tape in the locker room. Imagine McGuffey's Reader on laser disc.

This peculiar generational straddling act goes a long way toward explaining how Krzyzewski has risen to the summit of his profession. It's not, however, why the Blue Devils won that national title last spring. (If there's any distinction Krzyzewski is both adept and relentless at drawing, it's the one between winning titles and being a successful coach.) Four times in five years he had gone to the Final Four and fallen short; but he had understood long ago what can be learned from falling short, and he had internalized those lessons even as pundits breezily concluded that it was his fate to be there at the end and preside in gentlemanly fashion over a loss, like some latter-day Bud Grant or Gene Mauch. Couldn't win it all—just as he supposedly couldn't coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference, couldn't recruit in it, couldn't make that Knight shtick work, and had a name that couldn't even be pronounced, for goodness' sake. (It's shuh-SHEF-ski.)

He broke through at the '91 Final Four in much the same way he had overcome back-to-back 17-loss seasons at Duke in 1982 and '83 (one of those 34 defeats, a 17-pointer at Princeton in December '81, left him crying in the shower) and much as he had risen above a washout recruiting year in 1981, an epic oh-fer that remains unmatched in the annals of player procurement. In each case after flubbing he retooled and tried again, and if he flubbed again, he tried again until he got it right. "How did he get to be where he is?" says his wife, Mickie, who shares his innocent steeliness. "He just worked at it. Yeah, it's a cliché. But there are so few people who are real clichés."

It's an article of faith with Krzyzewski that failure and success are connected like cause and effect. "That's why losing at the Final Four has never been a bother to me," he says. "There was a bigger thing there. It's because we reacted the way we did after we lost that we came back. If I'd acted like an——after we lost, why would they want to come back?"

What really matters

2011-12-26T09:31:00.000-08:00

Someone told me the mark of a great program or of a successful coach is how many players come back to visit after their playing careers are over.

That thought is always referenced over the holidays when receiving so many different emails, texts and phone calls from former players and assistant coaches.

Merry Christmas to all of you who sent holiday wishes, and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Some things to think about on Christmas Day | MIKE JACOBS COLUMN

2011-12-26T08:57:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of the Evansville Courier Press, December 25, 2011

With the holidays upon us, it's important to remember what's really important and matters the most.

That reflection can happen at home with family and within your own religious faith, but also within your team, too. Whether you are a member of a team or that team's coach, don't forget why you have signed up for that role in the first place.

-- Sacrifice versus investment: We had the opportunity to bring in sports performance consultant Rob Kehoe to work with our University of Evansville soccer team a couple of winters ago, and he talked to our players about their purpose and perspective for being a part of our program. He discussed how many athletes talk about sacrificing their own efforts, time and energies for the good of their team.

To sacrifice is to give something up, and as a part of a team, a member should look at it less as "giving something up," and more as an investment — having the approach that "I'm putting something in, with the intention of getting something back."

Whether it be getting to learn lessons that transcend sport, being able to represent your school or town, spending quality time with your friends, or just being able to get healthier or fitter, appreciate and be humble about the fact that we get twice as much out of being a part of a team than we put in ourselves.

-- Homework versus a game: Whether it be in school throughout the day or muddling through a tough day at work, attending a practice should never be a chore like homework.

Anytime I get down or overwhelmed about a practice or game that didn't go my way, I try to envision what it was like when I was playing games as a kid with my own friends and teammates. The sheer enjoyment of getting to play sports with friends was always fun, and it keeps things in perspective, that no matter how tough work gets, we understand why we do it in the first place. Any point where being a part of a team seems to feel more like a chore than fun is the time to step back and assess why you're doing it in the first place.

-- Burden versus opportunity: When adversity does strike, I often think back to a great talk that local doctor Mark Logan had given to our Aces team years ago.

He said that dealing with tough times can be looked at as a terrible burden or as a tremendous opportunity to challenge yourself to show resolve in the face of adversity. Lou Holtz once said, "Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it."

Rather than whine and complain when things don't go your way, look at it as a challenge of your own mental strength and commitment.

-- Positive role models show resolve: Growing up in New York it was easy to look at professional athletes with critical eyes. After all, a relentless media every day identified warts just as easily as they highlighted success. As critical as the New York media and sports fans are, they are also quick to identify those who are able to stand up to challenges and adversity.

Icons like Don Mattingly and Patrick Ewing achieved legendary status in New York because they not only found success on the playing field, but primarily because they were able to bounce back and demonstrate their toughness at times when their team might not have been the most successful. Fans associate with those who are able to rise in the face of adversity. As often as "Rocky" will be on television during the holidays, appreciate the fact that we root for him not because he gets knocked down, but because he always gets back up.

The holidays make me reflect upon all of the reasons why I wanted to get involved in sports years ago. My father was a basketball coach, and he really seemed to appreciate helping one of his players find personal success even more than he did his team winning games or championships.

Whether as a coach or a teammate, I hope that we can all reflect during this holiday season on how important it is to be a part of a group in the first place — appreciating those who make us better and assist us as teammates.

The more appreciative and helpful we are of those around us, the more success we'll all have at the end of the day.

The tactical trends of Marcelo Bielsa

2011-12-22T13:25:00.000-08:00

Barcelona's system and style is being emulated all over the world by teams at all levels. As accomplished as Barcelona's fluidity and control on both sides of the ball can be, it also appears that they have copied a page out of Marcelo Bielsa's playbook in regards to his high pressing and back 3.
Keen tactician Jonathan Wilson writes of Bielsa's growing influence on Barcelona.

The philosophy of this Barcelona, of course, is rooted in Total Football and the ideas implanted by Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff in the early 70s. What has become increasingly clear, though, is that their style is Total Football viewed through a bielsista prism. The central tenets of Marcelo Bielsa's style – the hard pressing, the high defensive line – are very much of the Dutch tradition, but in their use of a back three, which admittedly echoes the 3-1-3-3 Cruyff sometimes employed in the early 90s, Barcelona have taken on a bielsista aspect. The use of a central midfielder, Sergio Busquets, to initiate attacks from the back is classic Bielsa, as is the desire to fight battles high up the pitch in opposition territory – as in the use of Dani Alves to negate Marcelo in El Clásico and so cut off the support to Cristiano Ronaldo.

It is not just Barcelona, though. Guardiola famously drove through the night to meet Bielsa in Argentina; another Argentinian, Jorge Sampaoli, a self-confessed disciple of Bielsa, has used his methods to great effect at Universidad de Chile, who won the Chilean Apertura and the Copa Sudamericana and are in the semi-finals of the play-offs for the Clausura. They are astonishingly tactically flexible in terms of shape, but the basic style remains bielsista, something exemplified by the use of a 3-1-4-2 in their Copa Sudamericana semi-final against Liga de Quito, engaging the opposition wing-backs deep in their own half.

Bielsa himself, perhaps too fundamentalist for one of the world's biggest clubs, works away at Athletic Bilbao, where he has tempered his idealism with pragmatism, abandoning the back three for a back four, and playing to the strengths of his target-man centre-forward Fernando Llorente.

Everything is relative. What is right for one group of players in one set of circumstances will not necessarily be so for another group of players in a different set of circumstances. In the summer, both Chelsea and Internazionale appointed new managers. Both their new managers prefer a high line and a hard press. Both squads they inherited were ill-suited to their style of play, the defences in particular too slow to play high up the pitch and risk balls being played in behind them. In both cases the incongruity of managerial philosophy and squad was clear.

Breakdown of US Olympic Team Player Pool

2011-12-21T09:05:00.000-08:00

Ives Galarcep gives a detailed look at Caleb Porter's pool for the US Under-23 team-

Caleb Porter’s first camp as US Under-23 national team coach has been a competitive one - a productive one for the talented group under his command. There have been some impressive performances put in by some of the players you would expect, but also some pleasant surprises from players lower on the depth chart.

Here is a look at how how the players have looked in the early days of the U-23 camp in Florida:

Thinking 2012

The men's Olympic soccer tournament at London 2012 will feature the U-23 teams of 16 nations, with each squad allowed three overage players. The United States will start their road to London on March 22 in Nashville, where they will vie with Canada, Cuba and El Salvador for two spots in the next stage: the elimination round. There four teams will play for the region's two spots in the 2012 Summer Olympic games.
Goalkeepers

Bill Hamid (D.C. United) looks like the starter at this point, but the battle is fierce as both Zac MacMath (Philadelphia Union) and Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire) are worthy competitors and both have been sharp. All three are capable of starting and have their unique strengths, but right now Hamid looks to be the front-runner for the starting job. David Bingham (San Jose) is a solid prospect as well but falls a notch below the pack.

Defenders

Gale Agbossoumonde (Eintracht Frankfurt) looks like the best centerback of the bunch, though questions remain about his lack of playing time on the club level. College teammates Sebastien Ibeagha and Andrew Wenger (both Duke) have shown good qualities in central defense as well, with Ibeagha looking particularly strong (which makes you wonder if he will be turning pro soon). Wenger has some very good qualities, but at times you see the effects of him not having played as a defender in either of his past two college seasons. Royal-Dominique Fennell (Stuttgarter Kickers) hasn’t gotten off to a good start in camp, losing ground in the battle for central defender spots.

At fullback, Sheanon Williams (Philadelphia) and Zarek Valentin (Montreal) both look very solid, while Kofi Sarkodie’s lack of playing time in Houston in 2011 could be hurting him in the battle at right back. Valentin has shown an ability to play at left back as well. Jorge Villafana (Chivas USA) is the lone natural left back in the group.

Midfielders

There are a plethora of options at the central midfield spots, and several players have impressed early on in camp. Dilly Duka (Columbus Crew) has followed up a strong performance at the recent Generation adidas tour of the Netherlands with another good showing so far in camp. Sebastian Lletget (West Ham United) has also shown some real quality on the ball and has been one of the most impressive passers in camp.

Mikkel Diskerud (Staeback) and Joey Corona (Club Tijuana) had both had good moments playing in the attacking midfield role, though Diskerud didn’t always look comfortable in the high-pressuring system. Kelyn Rowe (UCLA) has shown some flashes, though he remains a long-shot to break through this loaded group.

On the defensive midfield front, Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia) looks very strong, a good tackler who keeps the ball moving. Bryan Arguez (Montreal) has been one of the truly pleasant surprises. Showing a good passing touch and an ability to cover ground well and read the game. He has even seen some time at centerback, a position that currently lacks depth.

Jared Jeffrey (Mainz) is a highly-skilled central midfield option with the kind of versatility Caleb Porter likes. Michael Stephens (LA Galaxy) played well in Sunday’s intra-squad scrimmage, but is facing a stacked field for a central midfield roster spot.

Forwards

Terrance Boyd (Borussia Dortmund) has looked like the class of the forward pool through two U-23 camps. His combination of strength, size and shooting ability make him a good bet to make the Olympic qualifying squad. Andrew Wooten (Kaiserslautern) has also impressed, scoring a good goal in Sunday’s intra-squad game and playing well in training. Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City) has looked rusty, which is clearly a product of missing recent camps and tours the other MLS-based players have taken part in to keep up fitness-wise with the European-based contingent. He’s still one of the top contenders for the forward roster spots, though.

Speedy winger Joe Gyau (TSG Hoffenheim) has been the most impressive of the wide forward options and arguably the most impressive player in the camp. Freddy Adu’s ability on the ball is clearly on another level, and he has shown the versatility to play either wide forward role or the attacking midfielder role in the 4-3-3.

Jack McInerney (Philadelphia) and Danny Cruz (Houston) both showed good hustle and high work rates working the wings, with McInerney looking particularly comfortable in the 4-3-3 system.

Jann George (Nuremberg) has an awkward running style, but he has some pace and is a smart player. Will Bruin (Houston) scored a goal in Sunday’s intra-squad scrimmage, working at the right forward slot, but he faces an uphill battle to make the team.

Porter puts imprint on US Olympic Team

2011-12-21T06:12:00.001-08:00

United States Under-23 coach Caleb Porter has been a star here in the US at the collegiate level, and is now charged with the responsibilities of managing the US Olympic team. His goals are not only to qualify for the Olympics, but also to help develop a nucleus that will compete for the US in the 2014 World Cup.

Fox News takes a look at the young US Under-23 coach, and his ability to develop and instruct the future stars of American soccer.

"If you're a coach, you're a coach, and you can switch gears," Porter said. "I'm certainly aware that this is a different animal than coaching the college guys, but in all honestly I've been coaching pros. I've been coaching future pros, I've had 16 in the last five years.

"These guys are professionals, and I'm going to treat them like professionals," Porter said. "I'm going to treat them like men and my job is to bring the best out of them."

Porter's main tasks, along with picking the right players to help the US reach the Olympics, is implementing the attacking style he has enjoyed success with at Akron. His use of a high-pressure, possession-oriented 4-3-3 formation should maximize the skills of the current U-23 pool, a group filled with quality midfield and forward options.

The system has been a hit among the players.

"He's going to do a great job," said Montreal defender Zarek Valentin, who played for Porter at Akron. "I know that he's been successful, and he's going to be successful wherever he goes. Hopefully we can put the team together in this short amount of time, and develop that cohesion that's important in these kind of teams."

Barca stays in the moment when adversity strikes versus Real

2011-12-19T07:11:00.000-08:00

It is not uncommon for teams to lose their composure when adversity strikes in a match. Whether it be conceding a goal at an inappropriate time in the match, an injury or a player being sent off.

The truly special teams are able to keep cool and stay in the moment when adversity arrives, and Barcelona's performance versus Real Madrid last week was a clear illustration of why they are the gold standard in world football.

Paul Gardner writes of the cool and composed performance that Barca provided in their victory over Real Madrid in the Classico-

Yet Barca made short work of Real. Despite that disastrous start to the game, when goalkeeper Victor Valdes virtually gifted a goal to Real. The game was only 22 seconds old when Karim Benzema pounced on Valdes’s error to put Real 1-0 ahead.

Barca’s reaction to this stunning opening was equally stunning. Because there was, in effect, no reaction. Barca would simply play the way it always plays -- and, of especial significance, goalkeeper Valdes would persist with the very approach that had landed him and his team in trouble - he would continue to try to pass the ball out to a teammate, rather than hoof it downfield.

What we saw for the next 90 minutes or so was simply extraordinary. Real, one of the world’s most powerful teams, certainly one of the world’s most expensively assembled teams, a team packed with brilliant players, reduced to impotence in front of its own fans.

Worse yet for Real was that the humiliation -- for that’s what it was -- was administered by a Barca team that was never puffing and panting and straining to achieve victory. The Barca players played their game, the game we’ve been watching for some years now -- watching it but never tiring of watching it.

Once again we could see Barca dominating a game with ball possession and quick-fire, accurate passing, with players moving smoothly and quickly in magical patterns, or maybe not patterns, maybe just inspired traceries of improvisation ... but movement with an aura of purpose. And of beauty.

Herzog added to US staff

2011-12-19T07:08:00.000-08:00

Jurgen Klinsmann is bringing in former Bayern Munich teammate Andreas Herzog to be his assistant coach on the U.S. national team. The Austrian soccer federation made the announcement that Herzog, who had 103 caps for Austria, would be leaving his job as Austrian U-21 coach to return to the United States, where he finished his career with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2004.

"Jurgen Klinsmann and I have been close friends for many years now. I face this new challenge with great confidence," Herzog said in the Austrian federation's statement.

Herzog was the assistant to Austria national team coaches Josef Hickersberger and Karel Brueckner before taking over the under-21 team in March 2009.

Dempsey continues goal scoring for Fulham

2011-12-19T07:05:00.000-08:00

Fulham has won four English Premier League games this season, and each time Clint Dempsey has scored. Dempsey added to his American career record with his 38th EPL goal and an assist for Fulham in its 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

Paul Kennedy of Soccer America reports on the American record-setting goal scorer.

Dempsey scored on a powerful header off a cross from Ruiz for his sixth EPL goal of the season and then two minutes later sprung the Tico, who lobbed Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

The win left Fulham tied for 11th in the EPL after 16 games. With the Cottagers eliminated from the Europa League on Thursday when they couldn't beat Danish club Odense, their attention is now firmly on the EPL.

"It is what it is,” Dempsey told talkSport. “We’re out of the Europa League which we’re frustrated about but we want to do as well as we can do in the league and finish in the top half. And we’ve got the FA Cup, and hopefully we can go on a nice run in that so those are the things we’ve got left to play for and we’re going to do our best to have a good season."

Dempsey says he's happy at Fulham, which he joined five years ago.

“I’m happy here,” he added, “I’ve had some of my best times here. I still have this season and another left [on my current contract] and I am looking forward to making the most of my time where I am at. Like I’ve said before, some of my best memories in football have been at Fulham.

Porter preps U.S. men for Olympic qualifiers

2011-12-16T13:38:00.000-08:00

U.S. U-23 men's national team coach Caleb Porter has 28 players in camp in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., preparing for Olympic qualifying in March.

“We have nearly 50 players we see as potential players for the group, realistically, who we feel are capable of contributing or deserve an opportunity to be looked at,” Porter said. “As we move into the New Year, we really want to key in on who’s going to help us so that we can start to build a cohesive group that understands the way we’re going to do things.”

Regarding developing a style of play and what can fans can expect to see on the field in terms of a formation, Porter said: “We’re going to start to give these messages: how we’re going to attack and defend, the philosophy behind it, the training activities that imprint it on the players and then the system. We’re not going to have four or five different systems that we’re throwing at the guys, we’re going to have a 4-3-3 and some variations within the 4-3-3 so they understand depending on the game and the personnel.

“If you look at the top clubs in the world, they always have a couple systems they utilize, and they have some adaptations on those systems. We want to introduce a 4-4-2 as well because it might make more sense in some games, and depending on what the personnel is like, to maybe play with two strikers instead of three or one."

Guardiola: "Tactics are just players"

2011-12-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, ahead of its team's Club World Cup semifinal, spoke with FIFA.com, sharing his views on topics such as tactics:

"People talk about tactics, but when you look at it, tactics are just players. You change things so that the team can get the most out of the skills they have to offer, but you don’t go any further than that. When it comes to tactics you have to think about what the opposition does and the players who can hurt you. What I’ve done this season is a response to the game plans our rivals are now adopting against us. As time goes by, people get to know you better. They pose problems for you and you have to come up with solutions.

A key is finding intelligent players: "The problem is you can’t always get them. You can sign players on the recommendation of friends and colleagues and based on what you see on TV, but it’s only when they’re out on the field with you that you find out if they can do what you want them to. It’s not easy. Sometimes it’s worked for me and sometimes it hasn’t."

USSF looking at deficit

2011-12-16T13:30:00.000-08:00

Steven Goff of the Washington Post wrote about the 604-page U.S. Soccer Federation budget for fiscal year 2013, which covers April 2012 through the following March, and must be ratified at the USSF’s annual general meeting in March.

Among his discoveries:

* The USSF is projecting a $6.6 million deficit in FY ’13 ($8.8 million operating deficit, offset some by $2.2 million investment income). “We believe our commitment today to both programming and personnel will increase the overall value of our core property and in turn increase future revenue opportunities,” the federation says in the budget report.

That “personnel” includes new U.S. men’s national team coach Juergen Klinsmann, whose base salary is $2.5 million – four times more than predecessor Bob Bradley earned. The USSF is also expanding the officiating program and continuing to invest in the Development Academy, which is designed to bolster the youth system. The USSF is projecting a deficit of $4.5 million for fiscal year 2012, which ends this March ($6.1 million overall, offset some by $1.6 million investment income). The economy is partly to blame. In 2010 and ’11, the USSF banked surpluses totaling more than $8 million, most of it coming from investment income.

From a marketing and sponsorship perspective, the report says, “we have long-term agreements in place [through 2014] with sustained revenue. We are also in the process of pursuing additional long-term sponsorship agreements that will help protect against any short-term economic downturns.” According to the budget, revenue in FY ’13 will come from sponsors ($12.5 million); men’s and women’s national team events ($11.6 million); player and membership registration ($5.7 million); referee registration ($3 million); and coaching programs ($1.5 million). Nike, a major sponsor, earmarked an additional $5.9 million for player development programs.

Arena prepares Berhalter to take the helm at Hammarby

2011-12-16T13:25:00.000-08:00

When 2011 started, LA Galaxy defender Gregg Berhalter set out to work on his life after soccer. Turns out, the season he spent as a player-assistant coach was the best transition possible.

Berhalter hit the ground running on his post-playing days, as he was named manager of Swedish club Hammarby IF on Monday. The former Galaxy and US national team defender will take charge of a proud club that has fallen on tough times as of late.

Having served under Bruce Arena this past season helped pave the way for this new role, Berhalter said.

“It was everything and I told Bruce that,” Berhalter told MLSsoccer.com by phone. “Without him, none of this would have been possible. He’s the best American coach we’ve had and I’ve learned tons from him.”

Berhalter joined the Galaxy in early 2009 after he signed with MLS and was allocated to LA. From the start, Berhalter not only had the task of helping sort out what had been one of the league’s worst defenses, but also having to serve in a bit of an unofficial coaching role. As one of the most experienced players on the roster, Berhalter became a leader, helping guide young players like Omar Gonzalez and Sean Franklin.

Ahead of the 2011 season, the role became much more official as Berhalter not only focused on trying to play – injuries robbed him of a bulk of playing time – but also helped sort out the defense and helped coach the same young players in a more formal role.

“Giving me that responsibility, giving me that role was huge," Berhalter said. "Without that, I wouldn’t even be close to preparing for this. The only reason why I am halfway prepared is because of the role he gave me and what he let me do this year.”

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Berhalter – and one he was reminded of several times during his introductory press conference – is his managerial experience, or lack thereof. He put his hands in the air with regards to that issue.

“I don’t even try to fight it – it’s true, I’m inexperienced,” he said. "But what I do bring is fresh ideas, a lot of energy. And every coach had a first game; there has to be a beginning and this is it.”

Hammarby IF are co-owned by Galaxy owners Anschutz Entertainment Group. Former Galaxy player Chris Klein is on the Hammarby board of directors and helped get Berhalter’s name on the list of candidates. Despite his lack of managerial experience, Berhalter made it through the various levels during the hiring process and was ultimately entrusted with the task of guiding the team back to the Allsvenskan. Hammarby last won a league cup in 2001 and have spent two seasons in the Superettan, the Swedish second flight.

What the club may look like in their fight to gain promotion remains to be seen.

“The first thing I have to do is get a hold of the players, analyzing them in person, up close, on the training field, and then deciding what system we’re going to play,” Berhalter said. “It would be foolish of me to say, ‘This is the system we’re going to play right now’ without seeing them live and seeing the new players and how they gel and how they form together.”

Still, there is one trait that could perhaps become a hallmark of Berhalter’s managerial style.

“I can guarantee that it’s going to be a team that works hard and is going to be passionate,” he said.

Is the 3-1-4-2 formation on the rise?

2011-12-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

From word of mouth to a memorable turning point, a new set of tactics are emerging and, surprisingly, were even on show during Barcelona's latest win over Real Madrid.

Jonathan Wilson writes of the potential growing trend of the 3-1-4-2 alignment in the modern game.

Something very odd happened at the end of last week. Historical changes in tactics usually happen incrementally over time: there would be rumours of a side doing something unusual ("and they say the centre-forward plays in midfield …") followed by a pivotal game in which that tactical change proves decisive and is accepted as a new phase in football's development (Nandor Hidegkuti picks England apart while scoring three in Hungary's 6-3 win at Wembley in 1953).

More recently, perhaps, with the blanket televisation of football, it's been possible to trace the evolution, but still, there tends to be one moment, one game in which everything snaps into focus (Lionel Messi, for instance, ripping Real Madrid apart from the false nine position).

Last Thursday night, we saw something highly unusual: a 3-1-4-2 from Universidad de Chile as they won the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana away to Liga de Quito (they're likely to revert to orthodox 3-4-3 for Wednesday's second leg). We'd seen 3-3-2-2 and 3-3-1-3 before – usually from Marcelo Bielsa sides – but this, with the wing-backs pushed so high up they were midfielders and the deep-lying midfielder such a holder he was effectively an auxiliary centre-back, was new.

Three-and-a-Half Men and the Rwanda Protocol
But then Tom Legg, whom I'm going to go out on a limb and describe as east Africa's leading tactical analyst, got in touch to say that earlier the same Thursday, Rwanda had switched to a 3-1-4-2 in the second half of their Cecafa Cup semi-final against Sudan. Rwanda had contained a narrow Sudan relatively comfortably in the first half to lead 1-0, but Sudan's half-time switch from a 4-4-2 diamond to 4-2-3-1 gave them more attacking width and led to them equalise after 68 minutes.

Rwanda's Serbian coach, Milutin Sredojevic, promptly withdrew the 17-year-old centre-back Emery Bayisenge and replaced him with a 17-year-old midfielder, Andrew Buteera. Buteera is usually thought of as a creator, but here was deployed deep as Rwanda shifted to a 3-1-4-2. As Legg points out, this was counterintuitive: if your opponent is winning the battle on the flanks, making your own team even more narrow seems like the last thing you should do. As it turned out, though, Rwanda retook control of the centre, cutting the supply to Sudan's wide men. Buteera and the two wide men, Jean-Claude Iranzi and Eric Gasana, found space to create attacks and Olivier Karekezi lashed in the winner from a narrow angle with 13 minutes remaining.

That was surprising enough – an unexpected formation popping up on the same day in Ecuador and Tanzania. But the biggest surprise came on Saturday as it, in slightly mutated form, appeared again in Spain, and specifically in Madrid, not in a regional African tournament or South America's secondary competition, but in the biggest game of them all: El Clásico. It was as if M Night Shyamalan were directing a documentary on football tactics, the 3-1-4-2 virus sprouting uncontrollably across the globe.

As has now been well-documented, El Clásico turned on Pep Guardiola's decision midway through the first half to abandon the slightly odd 4-3-Cesc Fábregas-2 with which he had begun. He pushed Dani Alves from right-back to right midfield, so he could check the runs of Marcelo and cut off the support for Cristiano Ronaldo, a move that also spared him from having to pretend he is a full-back which, as anybody who has seen him play for Brazil will know, he is not.

That meant Carles Puyol moving to right-back, with Sergio Busquets dropping in to become a second centre-back. Gerard Piqué became the right-sided centre-back, allowing him to double up on Ronaldo when required, while Alexis Sánchez moved to become a highly mobile centre-forward (a false nine, if you like, but with lateral rather than longitudinal movement). Messi operated as an orthodox 10, with Andrés Iniesta shuttling on the left and Fábregas brought back much closer to Xavi Hernández. At first, the formation looked like a highly fluent 4-2-3-1, as though Barça were going to match Real Madrid shape for shape, but then the real benefit of the system became clear.

It is often overlooked just how key Busquets is to initiating Barça attacks, but he is always there as the get-out: if a player gets into trouble, he can go back to Busquets. Block off the escape route, though, and anxiety can be induced. Attack the metronome and the whole orchestra loses rhythm. José Mourinho surprised many by opting for a 4-2-3-1 rather than a 4-3-3, but what it allowed him to do was press with five men, leaving Lassana Diarra to protect the back four. That brought the opening goal, but it also rattled Barça.

Moving Busquets back, though, gave him time and space. Withdrawn from the front line, he could begin again to shape the battle. It was a risk, because it left Mesut Ozil free, but he is a slightly old-fashioned playmaker, somebody who is adept at finding time amid the hubbub to measure a pass. Usually that is an asset, but here it gave Busquets time to close him down. We are used to seeing Busquets dropping back from midfield to become a centre-back; but here he was doing the opposite, stepping out from the back four to become a midfielder. Perhaps this is the logical outcome for a side that flips so often between a back three and a back four: it ends up playing a back three-and-a-half.

First principles
But there is a deeper logic, and one that could be predicted. When Jack Charlton made his famous comment after the 1994 World Cup about full-backs being the most important position on the field, he was specifically referring to the fact that when two 4-4-2s clash, the full-backs are the players with a direct opponent. They are special not because of anything inherent in being a full-back, but because they are the players with the time and space to shape the game.

Football has moved on, though, and the prevalence of 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 means that full-backs often do have a direct opponent. That can create fascinating tactical duels – Roberto Carlos v David Beckham as Real Madrid beat Manchester United 3-1 in 2003, Theo Walcott v Danijel Pranjic as England won 4-1 in Croatia in 2008, Michael Essien v Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League final in 2008, Gareth Bale v Maicon as Tottenham beat Internazionale last season – but it also means that the space that was once the full-back's birthright is no longer guaranteed.

So where is that space? If a team plays a back four against an opponent with a lone central striker (or a false nine), then at least one of its centre-backs should be spare. It's not quite the same as a full-back being free in that it's clearly far easier for a single striker to shuffle 10 yards to close down the other centre-back than it is for him to run 30 yards to close down a full-back, but two centre-backs faced with one forward trying to close them down should be able to work space for one of them to step forward with the ball, at least until a potential presser from the opposing midfield comes into play.

Two years ago, I suggested we would increasingly see Piqué start to step forward with the ball to join Busquets in midfield; actually the reverse has happened and we have seen Busquets drop back to join Piqué (the clue was in the influence of Bielsa on Guardiola; the Argentinian visionary, also an inspiration for Universidad de Chile's coach Jorge Sampaoli, has a habit of pulling midfielders back into defence, as he has done with Javi Martínez at Athletic Bilbao). The effect is the same, a central defender who steps out from the back, a playmaker from the centre of defence.

Of course that is not entirely new. You could go back to Martim Francisco, the coach of Vila Nova, a club from Nova Lima, a town about 20 miles from Belo Horizonte, in the early 1950s. He pushed his left-half, Lito, back to play as the quarto zagueiro – the fourth defender – a term still used in Brazil for a centre-back with a responsibility to step up into the midfield. More obviously, there is Franz Beckenbauer and a whole generation of liberi stretching through the 70s and 80s all the way to the likes of Miodrag Belodedici and Matthias Sammer in the 90s. Sammer, though, was very much the last of his kind, and the libero has not really existed for 15-20 years, squeezed out by the influence of Arrigo Sacchi and the love of the hard press.

Germany, generally, was slow to respond to the rise of high pressing with a back four, which was why Volker Finke had such success with Freiburg. Christoph Biermann argued in Der Ball ist Rund that, for all Berti Vogts's faults, he did at least reconcile the Germany national team to the modern world of pressing (Borussia Dortmund, of course, pressed ferociously last season, yet Bayern were clearly unsettled by Augsburg's high line in their defeat there two weeks ago).

An environment of change
And that is what makes Busquets's role so fascinating – it facilitates a back three-and-a-half in a system that presses. Again, there is a precedent, and perhaps it is not surprising that it should be found in the heritage of this Barça: Johan Cruyff's Barcelona Dream Team of the early 90s, although they also lined up in a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2, often played a 3-1-3-3, as did the Holland of Guus Hiddink. In Cruyff's variant, Ronaldo Koeman was often the one, although Guardiola himself operated there on occasions; but at Euro 96 Hiddink was playing Clarence Seedorf in the role.

So Guardiola, to an extent, has gone back to his roots, although there is a difference between the roles of Koeman and Busquets, if only in how opponents line up against them. Where Cruyff's 3-1-3-3 was rooted in the Rinus Michels belief that you played as many defenders as the opponent had forwards, plus one, and so Koeman was effectively free until there was an attack down the flank at which he had to drop back to become a second centre-back, Guardiola's – on Saturday at least – was predicated on Busquets staying deep (like Koeman deeper than the opposition midfield, but actually deeper than Koeman because the general trend from three-band to four-band systems means the first wave of opposing midfield tends to play higher) and stepping up when the opposing playmaker came into the game.

And that brings us to the other recent sighting of the back three-and-a-half, which was in the Spanish Super Cup. Applying first principles to the issue of tackling a false nine, it makes sense to play a back three and track the opposing false nine with the player who would have been the second centre-back, whether a defender or a holding midfielder. That was precisely how Mourinho deployed Ricardo Carvalho against Messi, with some success, even if the result ended up going against Real Madrid – again, the result being a back three with a player who often played in the back line but did not remain there.

So that gives us four examples this season, of teams playing a 3-1-4-2. All had different motivations. For Real Madrid, it was to free a player to man-mark. For Universidad de Chile, it was to provide the cover that allowed the wing-backs to engage Liga de Quito's wing-backs high up the pitch. For Rwanda it was to wrest control of the midfield through weight of numbers in the centre. For Barcelona it was to create space for their conductor. If there are four separate routes to a single solution, that suggests there is not a sole cause.

So, why now? It comes back, as tactics always do, to space. The prevalence of systems with one or no central strikers means that for much of the last decade, one of the centre-backs has been spare. To an extent, that's quite useful in itself, providing additional defensive cover. But there are more interesting things that can be done with him, and it is that that football is only just beginning to explore.

Redknapp bans Spurs players from Christmas parties

2011-12-16T13:08:00.000-08:00

Citing a heavy holiday schedule of four matches in 14 days, Tottenham coach Harry Redknapp has told his players there will be no team Christmas parties. Two years ago, Spurs players drew his ire by staging a team party in Dublin. Manchester City has enjoyed a "fancy-dress" Christmas party and Arsenal's players have been pictured out and about in London.

If Redknapp is perceived to be a modern-day, soccer version of Ebenezer Scrooge, he can live with it. Spurs opens the holiday program against Sunderland at home on Sunday.

"No more Christmas parties. We are too busy playing football, we have too many games and they have to concentrate on playing and getting on with their football," Redknapp said. "If they can't behave themselves, if they can't miss having a drink with the money they are earning there is something wrong with them. They are getting fortunes. They have great careers, great lives. They can get on with their football and then go away for six weeks in the summer. Don't cause problems at Christmas."

Redknapp is wary of players being depicted as carousers by the notoriously salacious British media. "The press will be waiting, someone will be taking pictures of them," he said. "Somebody can just have their eyes closed and it looks like they are boozed. You don't need it."

Mourinho's 10 commandments

2011-12-12T07:46:00.001-08:00

Leading up to the Clasico this past weekend between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Paul Kennedy of Soccer America reported on what Jose Mourinho left his players with as their 10 secrets of success heading into this massive rivalry of world football super powers.

What will it take for Real Madrid to beat Barcelona in their much-awaited Clasico on Saturday at the Bernabeu Stadium? Real has beaten Barca just once in seven games since Coach Jose Mourinho took charge last year, but, according to the pro-Real Madrid sports daily Marca, Mourinho gave his players a list of 10 secrets to success ...

Mourinho's 10 commandments
1. Don't give up a goal. Or at least not in the first half.

2. Let the fans make the Bernabeu Stadium hell for Barca.

3. Don't worry about the referee. But be careful about picking up cards.

4. Take advantage of Real's aerial superiority.

5. Don't lose sight of the ball for an instant.

6. Shut down the space Barca players have and pass on the marking.

7. Intensity, Pressure, Verticality and lots of rhythm.

8. Work hard to tire out Barca.

9. Concentration and coordination of movements.

10. Believe in yourself. Don't be anxious.

A Coach Trades Up by Going to a 'Midmajor'

2011-12-12T07:44:00.000-08:00

Perhaps only in the nonrevenue-producing universe of collegiate men’s soccer would Creighton University, a small Jesuit college in Nebraska, be considered a more desirable destination than the University of North Carolina.

But that is essentially what the highly regarded Elmar Bolowich said when he stunned the soccer community last February with his decision to leave Chapel Hill after 22 years as coach and with the Tar Heels building toward a potential second N.C.A.A. championship — that men’s soccer matters more in Omaha.

“When you’re at one place so long, you always wonder, ‘Is this the only thing?’ ” Bolowich said. “I tell my players you have to get out of your comfort zone if you really want to accomplish something big. I felt like that applied to me first.”

Nine months later, Bolowich has Creighton in the College Cup Final Four for the first time since 2002. The second-seeded Bluejays (21-2) will face U.N.C. Charlotte (16-4-3) in the first semifinal Friday in Hoover, Ala. Top-seeded North Carolina (20-2-2), now under the guidance of the Bolowich protégé Carlos Somoano, meets 13th-seeded U.C.L.A. (18-4-1) in the other semifinal. If seeds hold, Creighton would meet North Carolina in the N.C.A.A. championship game Sunday.

“I left a very good team,” Bolowich said. “Even when I parted, I told the U.N.C. guys, ‘You’re going to be back in the final four.’ ”

Bolowich left a comfortable situation at North Carolina, where he earned an annual salary of $91,052, according to state records, and cultivated a recruiting pipeline from the local youth soccer clubs. But he said he has found an even sweeter spot at Creighton.

“Being the only major fall sport in Omaha, your sport is getting recognized,” Bolowich said. “Even being at a top school like North Carolina, we were just one of 28 sports.”

Beth Miller, the senior associate athletic director at North Carolina, said: “It’s true that at Creighton, they don’t have football, so it’s the premier fall sport. That’s great for them. But I think at the University of North Carolina, while we do have a broad-based program, soccer is definitely one of our premier sports — men’s soccer and women’s soccer. It is a little different, the positioning of the sport, but we’re seeing success in a lot of sports. We had 5,800 people at our N.C.A.A. quarterfinal game. It was a great crowd.”

North Carolina has nearly four times as many students and twice as many Division I athletic programs as Creighton. But bigger college does not always equal better prospects.

With an N.C.A.A. maximum of 9.9 scholarships per team and soccer’s global reach, midmajor institutions like U.C. Santa Barbara (2006) and Akron (2010) have won N.C.A.A. championships in recent years.

“In our soccer world, you don’t think of Creighton or Charlotte as midmajors,” said Somoano, who was Bolowich’s top assistant coach for nine years before becoming the head coach at North Carolina this season. “I was at Virginia Commonwealth University prior to coming to U.N.C., and I knew we could be as competitive as anybody.”

Creighton, which competes in the Missouri Valley Conference, has advanced to the N.C.A.A. tournament 19 of the last 20 seasons. This is the Bluejays’ fourth College Cup appearance. After making it to the national championship game in 2000 and the semifinals in 2002, the university opened Morrison Stadium in 2003. The $13 million soccer-only facility has further raised the program’s profile with blue-chip recruits.

“When you see that stadium, you want to go,” said the senior defender and Chicago-area native Andrew Duran, a former national high school player of the year.

It certainly got Bolowich’s attention. A native of Edenkoben, Germany, Bolowich (pronounced BOWL-o-vich) played and coached semiprofessional soccer after graduating from the University of Mainz. He joined U.N.C. as a part-time assistant in 1986, and became a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference coach of the year. He went 280-144-40 in 22 seasons.

When the former Creighton coach Jamie Clark left after one season to take the same job at the University of Washington, Bolowich visited Omaha and toured the stadium, which College Soccer News called the most exciting college soccer site in the nation.

Clark resigned Jan. 26. Creighton hired Bolowich 15 days later.

“It is phenomenal, the difference,” Bolowich said. “People know you’re here. They care about the program. There are so many people tied to it that they have suites up in the stadium. It’s like a party when you have a home game.”

Klinsmann’s contract with USSF pays him $2.5 million in base salary

2011-12-12T06:57:00.000-08:00

Steve Goff of the Washington Post reports that Juergen Klinsmann will earn $2.5 million in base salary to coach the U.S. men’s national soccer team — more than four times higher than his predecessor, Bob Bradley, and 13 times larger than women’s coach Pia Sundhage.

No other details about Klinsmann’s contract, including incentives and other payments, appeared in the U.S. Soccer Federation’s audited financial statements.

Klinsmann, a German icon, signed a three-year contract with the USSF in August. He replaced Bradley, the 2010 World Cup coach who was dismissed just one year into a new, four-year deal. According to the USSF documents, Bradley was entitled to compensation through August 2012.

For additional information.....

It’s unclear how much the federation paid — or continues to pay — Bradley after his termination. Bradley, who is now coaching Egypt’s national team, had a base salary of about $450,000 between April 2009 and March 2010. (He also earned bonuses, pushing his total to more than $800,000.) Presumably, Bradley’s base figure rose to between $500,000 and $600,000 when he signed the new pact in September 2010.

Sundhage, who guided the United States to the 2008 Olympic gold medal and second place at the Women’s World Cup last summer, has a base salary of $190,000 in the final year of a contract that expires next November. She also receives a marketing guarantee of $20,000 annually, and this year met incentives of undisclosed amounts for the World Cup success.

Meantime, the Insider has learned that the Chicago-based organization is bracing for losses over two to three years after reporting gains in recent years. One source cited Klinsmann’s contract, an increased financial commitment to officiating programs at the pro level and expansion of the Development Academy, which was created in 2007 to improve the quality of the national youth system.

The federation will look to boost revenue when it renews — or enters into new — sponsorship deals after the current pacts expire in December 2014.

Between April 2010 and March 2011, the USSF received $11 million from Nike and $5.6 million from Soccer United Marketing, an MLS-owned entity that has a representation agreement with the federation.

First-year coach leads UNC to title

2011-12-12T06:41:00.000-08:00

First-year North Carolina men’s soccer coach Carlos Somoano isn’t one to sling one-liners in a press conference or blow a gasket at a referee.

His leadership style is understated yet effective, as evidenced by the confetti machine raining yellow, blue and white down on the Tar Heels on Sunday following the championship match of the NCAA College Cup.

“He gave us a little pre-game speech and after he left the field, the players looked at each other and were like, ‘Great speech,' ” said UNC senior captain Kirk Urso of the man players simply refer to as ‘Carlos.’ “We were all motivated and ready to go. He has his moments.”

The top-seeded Tar Heels beat unseeded and upset-minded Charlotte 1-0 in front of 8,777 fans at Regions Park.

Somoano (pronounced Some-WAH-no) became the second coach in NCAA history to win a national title in his first season, joining Indiana’s Mike Freitag, who accomplished the feat in 2004. He is only the third coach to reach 20 wins in his inaugural campaign, joining San Diego State’s Chuck Clegg (1982) and Santa Clara’s Mitch Murray (1991), as the Tar Heels finished 21-2-3.

“The fact that we won the national championship is extremely rewarding, but more so than anything is my experience working for these guys and them working for me and us working as a team for each other,” the 41-year-old Somoano said. “That’s what makes me feel great inside.”

His devotion to the sport had paid off for Somoano, who grew up in football-crazy Texas and was a former two-time captain at Division II Eckerd on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Although North Carolina made the College Cup for the fourth consecutive season, only three current players -- Urso, goalkeeper Scott Goodwin and midfielder Enzo Martinez -- started for the Tar Heels at the event last season. The Carolina coaching vacancy was created on Feb. 9 when former coach Elmar Bolovich, who led UNC to the 2001 title, left for Creighton after 21 seasons in Chapel Hill. After serving as the interim coach following nine seasons as an assistant, Somoano was named the program’s fifth head coach on April 25.

Urso said that from day one during the preseason, every minute of the day was organized. To Goodwin, discipline and focus have been hallmarks of the Somoano tenure.

“He kept us week by week on who we’re playing, who we’re facing,” Goodwin said. “I think now we can kind of celebrate a bit, which is nice.”

Somoano also welcomed two standout transfers including Ben Speas, a junior who won a national title last year at Akron and scored the game’s lone goal on an unassisted 25-yarder in the 65th minute on Sunday in what the coach called a “moment of inspiration.” UNC featured the youngest starting line-up of the College Cup field.

“He made sure we were in check all the way through the season,” said Speas, named Most Oustanding Offensive Player for the 2011 College Cup. “I think a big reason we won this thing is because of Carlos, for sure.”

In Friday’s second semifinal, UNC battled UCLA to a 2-2 tie in 110 minutes and claimed a 3-1 penalty shootout victory. The Tar Heels faced a team with a completely different style Sunday with the 49ers, who outshot them 19-10. It was the first time all year his team wasn’t able to dominate the ball, Somoano said.

“That happens sometimes in soccer, but we always believed that we could find a way to win the game because we’ve done that all year long,” Somoano said. “We don’t get stressed if things don’t go our way. We’ve had a great attitude in that all year long, whether it be the referees’ decisions or mistakes that we make or an opponent getting after us a little bit.”

Brazil's Soccer Philosopher King

2011-12-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

Watching the 1982 World Cup in my parent's basement, my brother and I pranced around our basement trying to imitate the beauty of Socrates. No-look passes, flicks and back heels were introduced to a growing soccer nation, and I was clearly swept up in it.

With the passing of the Brazilian midfielder this past weekend at the age of 57, Gabriele Marcotti writes of the great playmaker and leader of the Brazilian football revolution.

Sunday morning marked the passing of Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, better known simply as Socrates. The Brazilian midfielder was 57. He is survived by his wife and six sons. Sometimes greatness is measured through intangibles like leadership and personality, sometimes it is gauged through empirical achievement, like statistics and championships. Sometimes it's a combination of all those things. But Socrates stood on an even higher plane: Soccer will probably never again produce anyone like him.

The 1982 Brazilian team that he captained was perhaps the greatest never to win the World Cup (along with Hungary in 1954 and Holland in 1974). It was also one of the last Brazil teams to fully embody the romantic stereotype that comes to mind when we think of the green-and-gold. Sublime touches, languid pace, creativity ... the sheer joy of what they call "jogo bonito," or the beautiful game. Zico was probably the best player on that Brazil side, but Socrates was its philosophy made flesh.

At 6-foot-4 and rail-thin, he strolled through the midfield sporting his trademark beard and headband. He could have been Bill Walton's long lost Brazilian cousin. On the ball though, he was more Magic Johnson, thanks to his signature move, the no-look backheel pass. It's one of those things that isn't particularly hard to do, but is frightfully difficult to do well, mainly because you have to weight and execute a pass to a point on the pitch you can't actually see. Plus, rather than kicking the ball with your foot, where you at least have some level of sensitivity, you strike it with the bony part of your heel. When you see it these days, it's often a hit-and-hope move of last resort. For Socrates it was his bread and butter, something he nonchalantly pulled off in congested midfields, surprising not just his opponents, but often his teammates too, who would suddenly receive assists in mid-stride.

The backheel is not something any youth coach teaches. Nor is it something any pro coach particularly wants to encourage, precisely because it is so unpredictable. But in the carefree world of 1970s Brazilian soccer it had its place, especially when used as effectively as Socrates used it.

Jones - "I’ll play anywhere"

2011-12-07T07:31:00.000-08:00

Manchester United utility player Phil Jones is more than happy to be shuffled around the side if it means the team keeps on winning.

The 19-year-old summer signing from Blackburn has produced some impressive performances this season despite being asked to play on the right or in the centre of defence and also in midfield.

“I enjoy playing anywhere. I enjoy playing football, so wherever I am asked to play I will play,” he said.

“If the manager asks me to play right-back, centre-back or midfield, I will go and do a job there.

“I don’t think it really matters at the moment that I am cementing a spot in a certain position because I am still young."

“Hopefully, as my career progresses that will happen.”

Jones scored his first goal for the club in the weekend’s 1-0 win at Aston Villa.

“I’m delighted to score but it wasn’t about the goal. It was about three points and I thought the lads did exceptionally well,” he added.

Rennie and Jacobus to be inducted into NSCAA Hall of Fame

2011-12-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

John Rennie, the noted men’s coach at Duke University, and M. “Chick” Jacobus, the highly successful boys coach at Kingswood School of West Hartford, Conn., will comprise the 2012 induction class to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s Hall of Fame.

The two will be inducted into the NSCAA’s Hall of Fame as part of the Association’s annual Awards Banquet, to be held Friday, January 13, at 7 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Kansas City Convention Center. The event is being held in conjunction with the annual NSCAA Convention, which will run from January 11-15 in Kansas City, Mo.

About John Rennie

Rennie built Duke into a soccer powerhouse, winning the first NCAA national championship by any Blue Devil athletics squad in 1986. During his 36 seasons he compiled a career mark of 454-207-49, including a 410-161-35 record in his 29 seasons at Duke, the nation’s most successful program during that time frame.

He led his team to the NCAA Tournament 20 times during his tenure, including five trips to the College Cup (1982, 1986, 1992, 1995 and 2004). His program cut a broad path in the Atlantic Coast Conference, winning the league title five times as he amassed the most wins by a coach at an ACC schools (410) and the league victories (95). The success was built upon defense, with his teams posting 242 shutouts under his tutelage, including 48 in his final seven seasons. Six of his players earned national player of the year honors, while 29 Blue Devils earned All-America honors and four were named Academic All-America.

Since his retirement as Duke’s coach after the 2007 season, Rennie has been active with U.S. Club Soccer and in 2009 was named the organization’s director of youth development. The first chairman of the NCAA Division I Soccer Coaches Committee, Rennie has served as a member of the USSF National Coaching Staff and is a co-founder of the Triangle Futbol Club. In 2007 he received the NSCAA’s Bill Jeffrey Award, presented to recognize long-term service to intercollegiate soccer.

About Chick Jacobus

Jacobus, retired boys soccer coach at Kingswood School of West Hartford, Conn., and co-founder of the Western New England Prep School Soccer Association (WNEPSSA), has been elected to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Hall of Fame. A 1924 graduate of Kingswood, he matriculated at Princeton University, earning undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture. He returned to Kingswood in 1932 and remained there as a faculty member for his entire professional life, save for a stint in service during World War II.

In 24 seasons Jacobus fashioned a record of 115-77-25, a .588 winning percentage. His Kingswood teams were known for their competitiveness and their sportsmanship, and his emphasis on integrity and responsibility served his charges well. He maintained ties with his players throughout his career and into retirement, serving as an advisor and role model to many.

His service to soccer included a term as president of WNEPSSA. He was president of the NSCAA in 1964, becoming only the second non-collegiate coach to serve in the capacity. He received the NSCAA’s Honor Award in 1976. Jacobus passed away in 1982, leaving no surviving family. The Kingswood Oxford School will receive the award in his name.

Ramirez offered American Dream at LIU

2011-12-07T06:50:00.001-08:00

Arnie Ramirez was a pioneer in collegiate soccer here in the United States, and not just because of the success his Long Island University team had on the field.

Ramirez gave opportunities to Latino players long before anyone else was interested and able to do so at the collegiate level.

Michael Lewis writes of Ramirez and his journey to pay it forward for young Latino soccer players in the United States.

The players and men he has inspired has ranged from Giovanni Savarese, the New York/New Jersey MetroStars scoring legend who is the New York Cosmos Academy director and Jorge Acosta, Maicol Antelo, Roger Chavez, Mickey Kydes, Walter Bustamante, Richard Chinapoo and Martin Alvarez, among others who went on to play professionally in the United States or abroad.
"A lot of the kids were from the city like me -- with a scholarship," Ramírez said. "They were able to do something with their lives or it would not have happened."

Because LIU is an inner-city college in Brooklyn, it wasn't easy convincing American-born players to attend the school.

"I had to get kids from other countries," Ramírez said. "The really good players didn't want to go to LIU or Brooklyn."

Which made LIU a unique school well before it’s time.

"Most teams didn't have Latino players," he added. "They thought they were undisciplined. I gave them a chance."

A chance for an education and to play a game they all loved.

Ramírez was an offensive-minded coach.

"I told my players, 'When I'm on the bench, I want to enjoy myself. I want to watch beautiful soccer,' " he said.

Ramírez said he did not care about the size of the player, "as long as they were comfortable with the ball. We had a lot of midgets. We had a lot of little guys."

And the Blackbirds wound up with a lot of wins.

Ramírez has lived a life most coaches would love to boast on his resume. He either has played, coached or administered at every level -- from youth to high school to college to amateur to professional to international.

Name a role and he has done it.

Ramírez is best known as the Long Island University men's coach for 19 years. He certainly left his mark, helping Latinos home and abroad get an education and have a better life. For the record, Ramírez accrued a 214-145-25 record and four NCAA Division I tournament appearances. He has more than 300 career wins. In 2006, Ramírez was inducted into the LIU Sports Hall of Fame.

But that was only part of the equation. He was the technical director and coach of the Puerto National Team during qualifying for the 1994 World Cup.

He was the liaison for the Bolivian team during that competition in the United States

He was liaison for the Mexico team during the 1996 Summer Olympics in the USA.

He also was director of Pele Soccer Camps, coach of Inka S.C., an amateur soccer team based in New York City, most recently the women's soccer coach at Ramapo State and the coach of various youth soccer teams and clubs in the metropolitan area.

What a soccer life.

"I was fortunate," Ramírez said. "I did something I loved for more than 40 years. It was a dream. I am so proud my players did so well."

Gunn leads Cinderella Charlotte to NCAA College Cup

2011-12-07T06:35:00.000-08:00

The meteoric rise of the Charlotte 49ers into the 2011 College Cup is like something out of a movie, and coach Jeremy Gunn is the orchestrator of their run.

Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer writes of how Gunn's passion and commitment have led his Cinderella 49ers to the national semifinals.

If you read my column, you know I am not an astute and knowledgeable fan of soccer.

But to spend 45 minutes over breakfast with Charlotte soccer coach Jeremy Gunn is to want to launch a corner kick, head a ball into a goal, pick up a yellow card or even a red card.

Gunn's passion for his team, sport, school, adopted city, music, cricket, Leeds United, the NCAA's student-athlete system, hard work and tea with milk and sugar fills Starbucks on East Boulevard. Every other conversation in the room, and there are at least 25, is nothing but white noise.

Gunn, 40, makes tea sound like a reward.

At about noon today, he and his team will get another when they leave for Hoover, Ala., and soccer's College Cup. They'll play Creighton Friday and, if they win, play the North Carolina-UCLA winner Sunday.

The achievement is tremendous. Like basketball and football, soccer has storied programs, and Charlotte has not been one of them.

Gunn, however, insists the 49ers played some of the best soccer in the country in 2010.

"But you have to have a certain resolve to win games against the great teams," he says over oatmeal that was warm when he ordered but will soon turn cold. "There's more steel to the team this year."

Take a break and eat if you want, I suggest.

Dark, lean and usually smiling, Gunn is accustomed to cold oatmeal. He starts talking and there's just so much to say.

"Certain programs win national championships and go to final fours," Gunn says. "You think that's what happens to other programs, the so-called special programs that have an aura about them. We had that tipping point where you realize the teams you've long been looking up at, you finally look at square in the eye."

Martin steers Ohio Wesleyan through adversity en route to National Title

2011-12-05T08:49:00.001-08:00

Dr. Jay Martin and his Ohio Wesleyan team went on an amazing journey this season, which culminated with a National Championship on Sunday.

The story to get there was amazing, and a tremendous tribute to Martin's ability to keep his players focused on the process and to not get distracted when adversity struck during the week leading to the Final.

Andrew Das of the New York Times wrote of this improbable story line that led to Martin's 608th career victory and Division III National Title.

Ohio Wesleyan beat Calvin, 2-1, on Saturday night in San Antonio to win the N.C.A.A. Division III national championship. The title was the second for Ohio Wesleyan and its coach, Jay Martin, who earned his 608th career victory in the final. That set a record for the most wins by any coach at any level in college men’s soccer.

But the championship, and the milestone, do not begin to tell the story of the Battling Bishops’ week in Texas.

Ohio Wesleyan arrived in San Antonio on Wednesday, and the first thing the players and coaches did was head out for a meal. While they ate, someone broke into the team’s two rented vans, which were parked outside the restaurant. Less than an hour after leaving the airport, they had lost everything from their soccer balls to their homework.
Among the items stolen were 15 laptop computers belonging to the players, wallets, clothes, practice gear, soccer shoes, uniforms and other personal items.

An Ohio Wesleyan sports information director was scheduled to bring down extra uniforms Thursday, and Trinity (Texas), the host school for the championship, loaned the Ohio Wesleyan players shoes, soccer balls and cones for practice.

It will be up to the San Antonio Police Department to find the other items that are not so easily replaced.

“Two of my guys were crying because all their projects and work for finals next week were on their computers that were stolen,” Martin said. “I immediately called our president and the dean of students. They said they will contact all their professors to tell them about the potential problem. They are very supportive. We want to take the academic pressure off them as quickly as we could.”

Trinity Coach Paul McGinlay, who previously coached at Wooster, a conference rival of Ohio Wesleyan’s, stepped in to help the visitors prepare for their semifinal against Montclair State. While McGinlay opened up his equipment closet, tournament organizers came up with gifts for the Bishops to hand out at a Special Olympics clinic that the teams held Thursday; the pens, pencils and keychains that the Bishops had brought from Ohio were among the items stolen from the vans.

“It is a small world,” said McGinlay, who has known Martin for 25 years. “Twenty-one years ago Jay wrote my reference for the Trinity job. I’ve been here ever since. He is a good friend, and I will do whatever I can to help him and his team.”

Martin took things from there, guiding Ohio Wesleyan to two victories that seemed the furthest thing from their minds on Wednesday. He and his team will travel home a lot prouder, if a little lighter. And Martin will be praised for a coaching job that went above and beyond the call only days after all (or at least some) seemed lost.

“My message to our guys is: all that stuff is material, and they will get it back eventually,” Martin had said Friday. “But this experience is something they will have forever one way or the other.”

Church & Ratcliffe Key To National Finalists in NCAA Women's Soccer

2011-12-05T08:42:00.001-08:00

I had the honor of working with Robbie Church for four years at Duke University, and not only is he one of the top coaches in the women's game, but is also one of the true gentlemen in the sport.

Although his Duke Blue Devils fell short in the national title game to Paul Ratcliffe and Stanford, it was clear that Church has firmly placed his Duke side among the nation's elite.

Nicholas Schwartz of the New York Times writes of the coaches of the national finalists, and of the keys to look for heading into their match this past weekend.

The two best teams in women’s college soccer will play for the N.C.A.A. national championship at 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday — and with two evenly matched squads taking the field, the difference in the game may come down to the contrasting philosophies of two of the nation’s premier coaches.

Stanford (24-0-1) dispatched of its semifinal opponent Florida State with relative ease to earn a spot in the Cardinal’s third consecutive championship game, but Coach Paul Ratcliffe’s senior-laden squad is still searching for its first national title. Duke (22-3-1) weathered a first-half drubbing by Wake Forest and made amends in the second period, scoring three second-half goals to win, 4-1. The Blue Devils are playing in their second national championship game and the first since 1992, when Duke fell, 9-1, to a North Carolina team led by Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly.

In Saturday’s news conferences, a tight-lipped Ratcliffe praised the tournament experience of his team and revealed that he would rely on his team’s instincts and talent rather than try and scheme an elaborate plan to outfox the Blue Devils.

Meanwhile, Coach Robbie Church of Duke worked so late into the night Friday scouring video of the Cardinal to try and gain even the slightest tactical advantage that his players found him sleeping in the locker room Saturday morning when they arrived for practice.

If Duke is to derail undefeated Stanford and win its first national championship, it may take another late night for Church.

2011-12-05T07:42:00.001-08:00

"It means I'm old, it means I've been coaching a long time, it means that there have been great players at Ohio Wesleyan over the 35 years I've been here. I'm proud that I've done something that no one else has, and that's kind of cool."

-- Ohio Wesleyan coach Jay Martin on the significance of his 608th college win, a 2-1 win over over Calvin to capture the NCAA Division III men's tournament. The victory made him the all-time winningest men's soccer coach in NCAA history.

Dorrance provides leadership lessons in business and sport

2011-12-05T07:30:00.000-08:00

Who knows more about success than University of North Carolina women's coach Anson Dorrance. A resume that includes 20 NCAA championships in 28 years, a winning percentage of over 93 percent of the team’s games and 20 National Players of the Year tend to speak for itself.

Success in sport is often emulated in the business world, and Karl Moore of Forbes Magazine wrote a great article outlining lessons that can be learned from the blueprint of Dorrance.

Head Coach Anson Dorrance’s success is due in part to great players and support staff but also to a style of coaching that maximizes the potential for high-performing, competitive individuals to gel into championship teams. How does he create an atmosphere where players must be competitive in everything they do (in training, in practice, and in the classroom), yet are able to come together so well as a team on the field? Competition and teamwork, this is a powerful but often elusive combination.

At the centre of his approach is an idea he learned from legendary UNC men’s basketball coach Dean Smith. Coach Dorrance measures and tracks everything his players do in practice, and calls this atmosphere the “Competitive Cauldron”. This way of measuring a player’s performance publicly within the team creates an atmosphere where competitive players push themselves to improve at every measurable metric. Dorrance uses practice time when the players are competing against each other to create intensely competitive situations to drive performance. Tim Crothers, in his biography of Anson Dorrance titled “The Man Watching” describes the approach.

“Dorrance decided that every single time a player touched a soccer ball, she could be graded in some way, and from those evaluations he could build a report card for the season. He could regularly post the rankings on a bulletin board for everyone to see, and players would be more likely to hold themselves accountable.

“Charting was a way for me to coach women without the intensity of my personality. Instead of whipping them verbally, the numbers would be whipping them. It would not be personal. We wanted to create a competitive fury in practice so that once they got into a game… they would feel at home in intense competition.” Said Dorrance.

As a leader, Dorrance has created a practice environment where he can measure and chart the metrics that give rise to a successful player; speed, agility, endurance and creativity. By creating these environments he has done two primary things; the first is to create a competitive and motivating atmosphere for players to push for improvements and know exactly where they stand on making progress. The second thing is that by the time the players play actual games, he is able to create leaders and players that channel that competitive energy and drive into beating their opponents.

Robin Confer, who was the National Women’s Soccer Player of the Year in 1997 and a part of three NCAA Championship teams at UNC, says that this system of measuring performance on key categories not only inspired her to push herself to improve as a player, but it also improved team performance.

“Every technical specific was charted and we had a bulletin board and we would go see the board as a player” said Confer. “You were ranked on all the categories and I am a very competitive person and I hate seeing myself at the bottom of the list. We created an atmosphere where everyone is one the same page and competing to win. The competitive metrics created an environment where we lost every day in practice since we are competing every day in practice. We become accustomed to competition in practice. Some people who have never been tested mentally and physically, had some trouble with it but those who stick it out can make a transformation into a champion.”

In coaching, Dorothy's approach — like Coach K's — can trump the Almighty Oz MIKE JACOBS COLUMN

2011-12-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

From the Evansville Courier & Press, December 3, 2011

The Thanksgiving holidays offered some important coaching role models, and in some cases, will probably surprise as well as promote thought of the kind of leaders to emulate.

Flipping the channels around on Thanksgiving and seeing 'The Wizard of Oz' brought me back to a story from Joe Ehrmann's outstanding book 'InSideOut Coaching — How Sports Can Transform Lives.' The premise is that most coaches fall under two categories — transactional coaches, who look for what they can get out of coaching and not what they can give; and transitional coaches, who use coaching as a platform to teach valuable life lessons.

Ehrmann once was asked for his coaching role models and at the top of his list was Dorothy from 'the Wizard of Oz.' Dorothy's character was full of empathy and encouraged those around her to reach their full potential.

Her trip down the Yellow Brick Road was not used as a terrible burden, but rather a tremendous opportunity to achieve. She showed grit and resiliency, and had the ability to take on all challenges as her 'team' traveled their road together. She set a positive example, inspired and provided confidence. There was a sense of team.

The Wizard, though, was a transactional coach.

He defined himself by power, with a sense of ultimate authority making decisions that clearly didn't take into account how it would affect others. His intimidating voice and disappearance behind the curtain was used as a scare tactic, opposed to getting to know those around him people and find out their motivations. Rather than inspiring his charges, his leadership was built on intimidation. His final abandonment of his team when things got tough left them feeling alone.

There is a traditional image of a coach being like the Wizard, building a power structure where the leader is alone at the top.

Dorothy's image as a coach is much different, as she built her team through developing relationships and creating a level of buy-in toward common goals. The foundation she created with the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion was based on developing self-esteem, mutual support, and helping reach their full potential.

What Ehrmann feels is true about the leadership styles is that players will do what they're told by a Wizard of Oz-type coach, but will only truly follow someone they believe in and who believes in them.

My opinions were strengthened Thanksgiving weekend when I visited with the Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Watching the Blue Devils practice, it became clear to see that Coach K is a transitional coach. He and his staff are a model of communication — by giving players a lot of regular feedback, it is easy to clearly state expectations as well as to understand what their players expect.

They are also able to be even more demanding, because they have painted a clear picture and level of understanding.

Those levels of demands and expectations are measured both by performance on the court and attitude and effort in all facets of life. It's clear that Duke coaches are developing young men as much as they are developing basketball players, and because team members buy into those ideals, everyone feels part of their success.

Whether you can associate with Dorothy or Coach K, it's important to see how being a transitional coach can positively affect players' lives. In the end of the day, if coaches can focus on making their players better people opposed to focusing solely on winning those better people will win a lot more games than they lose.

'Mid-major' not a term when it comes to college soccer

2011-11-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

When Creighton hired Elmar Bolowich last February to be its men's soccer coach, this school of 4,000 undergraduates in Omaha, Neb., didn't just manage to land a respectable steward for its program. It basically upended the entire space-time continuum of college sports.

Not only did Bolowich win a 2001 national title, he was also the winningest men's soccer coach in the history of the school he came from. Even more surprisingly, the school he came from wasn't a small fry—it was powerhouse North Carolina.

The idea of a small school nabbing a top coach from a major sports factory would be unthinkable in most other forms of college sports. But in the context of men's soccer, the Bolowich theft was actually a bit of a yawner. "When you look at it deeply," said Charlotte soccer coach Jeremy Gunn, "it makes perfect sense."

Small schools act like big fish in soccer, winning titles, throwing around money and slapping around bigger-name schools on the pitch. More than half of the teams in this season's final top-25 poll were "mid-majors"—schools that are not members of the six major conferences. The list includes Old Dominion, Monmouth and No. 1-ranked New Mexico. The eight teams left in the NCAA tournament, who are vying this weekend for a spot in the College Cup, include Charlotte, St. Mary's and Creighton, the No. 2 seed.

Other college sports have had brushes with little-guy greatness. Boise State comes to mind in football. There's also Rice in baseball and Butler in men's basketball. But soccer is in a lilliputian class all by itself.

The sport's reigning men's champion, Akron, has had the last two winners of the Hermann Trophy—the sport's Heisman Trophy equivalent. Men's soccer was one of five Division-I sports in the 2010-2011 school year that had a champion from a small conference. The others were men's golf, men's ice hockey (which isn't played nationally), and rowing and bowling, two niche sports.

Some of these soccer mid-majors are prospering in front of crowds that would be impressive by basketball standards. In 2010, UC Santa Barbara had the country's highest attendance for the second straight year, averaging 5,873 per game. The crowd of 15,896 that saw the Gauchos beat UCLA in September 2010 was the season's biggest. "You want to be involved with a program where you're taken seriously and given the opportunity to compete at a national level," said New Mexico coach Jeremy Fishbein. "It doesn't really matter whether that's a Big Ten or ACC school—or a Missouri Valley or Big West school."

Never was that more apparent than when Bolowich left North Carolina, where he'd been coach for 22 years. In Chapel Hill, men's soccer takes a backseat in autumn to football and even women's soccer, which has 20 NCAA titles. Last year, according to government data, North Carolina spent about $75,000 in game-day expenses for men's soccer while Creighton allocated about $160,000. Other mid-majors like UCSB, Southern Methodist and the College of Charleston have ranked in the top 20 recently in soccer spending. "Football is an arms race," Bolowich said. "It's not only killing the smaller schools that do have football but it's putting a lot of pressure on the bigger schools with football programs to keep up with the Joneses."

That's not a problem at Creighton. In 2003, the school built a 6,000-seat stadium for soccer, which is the only fall game in town. "Before basketball starts, there is very little going on," Bolowich said. St. Mary's and Charlotte don't have varsity football yet, either.

College soccer still has its bluebloods. Indiana, Virginia and Maryland have dominated the College Cup, the sport's final four, in past years and Connecticut, UCLA and Louisville are in the hunt this year. Even North Carolina hasn't suffered from losing Bolowich. The Tar Heels are the tournament's top seed.

If the bracket holds, they'll face Creighton for the title.

How does MLS stack up?

2011-11-30T05:55:00.001-08:00

How does MLS stack up against the other top leagues in the world?

This is a question that is often debated among Major League Soccer supporters and detractors, and Leander Schaerlaeckens of ESPN.com takes a crack at the debate. Where he finds that it doesn't necessarily hold up against the likes of the English Premier League or the German Bundesliga, it's grown steadily to reach that group below the top tier leagues in the world.

It's an oft-asked question. Just how good is Major League Soccer?

With 16 seasons in the books, the league has risen to 10th in the world in attendance for all soccer leagues, with 17,872 fans per game, recently passing the second tier of English football, the Championship (17,388). There is no argument to be had over whether MLS has gotten better. It unequivocally has. The quality of play has improved; high-quality foreign talent has started arriving; serious international prospects are steadily emerging.

But where exactly does the league rank in the hierarchy of the world's biggest leagues? I set out to answer that question.

First, I asked English Premier League veteran and recent Los Angeles Galaxy recruit Robbie Keane. "It's very different to compare this league and especially the Premiership, which is obviously the best league in the world," said the Liverpool and Tottenham veteran. "So it would be silly of me to compare the two."

"You can't compare this," echoed New York Red Bulls goalkeeper and German Bundesliga alumnus Frank Rost, before adding with a grin: "It's not good if I make a comparison."

I asked several other experienced foreign players. The answer was the same.

But if they were dodging the question, it dawned on me, they were nevertheless making a valid point: You really can't compare.

For one, MLS is a total outlier. In most leagues, clubs pay players what they can afford to pay them -- and oftentimes more -- spreading the wealth relatively evenly among the squad. In MLS, because of arrangements like the salary cap and the designated player (three of which are the only players allowed to earn over $335,000 annually on each team, counting only partially toward the salary cap), there is a wild disparity between what the best- and worst-earning players on each team earn. This distorts the talent curve.

Secondly, because there is no free agency, those homegrown players who aren't among the few designated players often earn less than they're worth while the DPs are often wildly overpaid relative to their value, further corrupting the mean. Players aren't paid their market value, because there is no market.

In their seminal book "Soccernomics," Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski prove that there is a very reliable correlation between a team's payroll and how well it places in the standings, that unequivocal measure of quality. They found that among 40 English professional clubs between 1978 and 1997, the salary expenditure explained 92 percent of the variation in league position. From 1998 to 2007, it was 89 percent. What this means is you can more or less tally what a club spends on player salaries and, by comparing it to others, rank where it ought to place in the standings at the end of the season. Logically, the same goes for leagues as a whole, given that players are free to move to the highest bidder in the rest of the soccer world. Salaries are highest in England, Spain, Italy and Germany, and therefore those are the leagues where the level of play is highest.

In MLS, which has an outlandish appetite for big foreign names but no free market, there is no correlation between expenditure and quality -- not until 2011 did a team that employed a designated player, first allowed in 2007, even win the league. This means you can't rank MLS among other leagues around the world based on the salaries paid to its players.

The band of talent is wider in MLS than in any other league that comes to mind. The difference between those making $30,000 and the ones making $6.5 million is enormous. David Beckham can still hang with the best of Europe, as he proved in two loan stints to AC Milan. So can several others. But a late-round draft pick out of a local college is lucky not to be embarrassed in MLS. And in no other league in the world is the disparity between the best and worst players so large. This is partly to blame on the lack of promotion or relegation to a second tier or easy movement of players between different American leagues, preventing the natural selection of talent. Yet at the same time, the talent difference between a player who makes $50,000 and $500,000 is often quite small, much smaller than the difference between one player and another making 10 times as much would be anywhere else in the world.

Houston Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall, who never came off the bench in two seasons at Danish club Esbjerg, exposes this in his following comment: "I think people discredit the league quite a bit," he said. "I think the Dynamo beats my Danish team more times than not." Yet why have American MLS players for years flocked to Scandinavia? Because salaries are high -- even if, according to Hall, the talent level on certain teams is lower.

Is Major League Soccer just another entity whose quirks will have to be filed away under the uniqueness of American sports? Because how do you even begin to objectively measure MLS against any other league if you can't follow the money?

Roy Rees (1937-2011)

2011-11-30T05:50:00.001-08:00

Roy Rees coached the USA at four U-17 World Cups, from 1987 through 1993, a tenure during which the young Americans celebrated historic victories over Brazil and Italy. Rees also co-founded the Houston Texans in 1983 and helped create the Dallas Texans in 1993. He died on Saturday at age 74.

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America writes of 'one of the pioneers of the modern period of US Soccer'.

"Roy Rees was one of the pioneers of what might be called the ‘modern’ (post-1984 Olympics) period of U.S. Soccer,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “He was a terrific leader of our U-17 national team program for many years in taking the team to four FIFA World Cups. He was, at heart, very much a teacher.

“My first trips with U.S. national teams were with Roy in Honduras and I well remember his capable guidance of that team. He had a great sense of humor and I enjoyed working with and learning from him."

Rees, who was born on New Year's Day 1937 in South Wales, coached lower division teams in England, coached Britain’s University Games team, and served as an English FA staff coach for two decades. He came to the USA in the early 1980s to give soccer clinics sponsored by Umbro, and eventually settled in Texas, where he co-founded the Houston Texans, from which spawned the Dallas Texans.

At his second U-17 World Cup with the USA, the Americans beat Brazil for the first time in history.

“The United States deserved to win today,” Brazil’s coach Homero Cavalheiro said after the game. “They were better as a team; they were better individually.”

Rees’ 1989 team included Claudio Reyna, who would go on to represent the USA at four senior World Cups, captaining the 2002 and 2006 teams. Reyna is currently U.S. Soccer Youth Technical Director. Also on the 1989 team was current UCLA coach, Jorge Salcedo.

Rees’ squad at the 1991 U-17 World Cup that defeated host Italy included Albertin Montoya, coach of the 2010 WPS champion Gold Pride and currently coach of the U.S. U-17 girls national team.

Mike Burns and John O'Brien, who played for Rees in the 1987 and 1993 tournaments, went on to star for the full national team.

After his stint as U.S. U-17 coach, Rees continued to serve as a U.S Soccer coaching instructor through 1997 and before his retirement directed youth clubs in Oklahoma (Tulsa Thunder) and Southern California (Southwest SC and Santa Anita). He was a board member of U.S. Club Soccer when it was founded in 2001.

“He was a good soccer man,” said Gulati.

Roy Rees is survived by his wife, Ann, his sons Stephen and Philip, and his daughter Sian.

Can Heading Lead To Brain Damage?

2011-11-29T12:49:00.000-08:00

Regularly heading a soccer ball—even just a few times a day—can lead to brain injury, according to a recent study.

Researchers used an advanced MRI-based imaging technique to scan the brains of 38 amateur soccer players then compared the images to the number of times they headed the ball during the past year.

Players who frequently headed the ball showed brain injuries similar to those seen in patients with concussions, with researchers from New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center reporting "significant injury" in those players who exceeded 1,000 to 1,500 headers per year.

"While heading a ball 1,000 or 1,500 times a year may seem high to those who don't participate in the sport, it only amounts to a few times a day for a regular player," lead author Michael Lipton said.

"Heading a soccer ball is not an impact of a magnitude that will lacerate nerve fibers in the brain," he added. "But repetitive heading may set off a cascade of responses that can lead to degeneration of brain cells."

Researchers identified five areas of the brain—responsible for attention, memory and visual functions—that were affected by heading, according to results announced at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, in Chicago.

In a related study, researchers found that players who headed a ball most frequently performed worse on tests of verbal memory and psychomotor speed, a measure of hand-eye coordination.

"These two studies present compelling evidence that brain injury and cognitive impairment can result from heading a soccer ball with high frequency," Lipton said.

Wales aim to build a winning "Manchester United-style" dynasty in rugby

2011-11-28T10:36:00.000-08:00

WARREN GATLAND’S Wales are looking to create a Manchester United-type youth dynasty which ensures the Dragons remain at the top of world rugby for years to come.

Gatland’s bold decision to go with young guns at the World Cup reaped rich rewards, with Wales reaching the last four and leading pundits across the globe predicting a golden future for Sam Warburton, George North, Toby Faletau, Rhys Priestland and Lloyd Williams.

The Welsh coach’s gamble with teenagers and early TwentySomethings mirrored what Sir Alex Ferguson did with Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Nicky Butt during the 1990s.

The emergence of those Fergie fledglings, given their chance ahead of more seasoned old hands, has been the bedrock behind Manchester United’s domination of British football for the past two decades.

The Old Trafford youth academy, given a boost by the emergence of superstars such as Beckham and Giggs, continues to throw up a conveyor belt of young talent with Tom Cleverly and Danny Welbeck the most recent to get their first team chance.

And Wales are adamant the WRU National Academy system which has been put in place will guarantee a similar glut of talent pushing through behind the current golden generation being moulded by Gatland.

More than two thirds of Gatland’s World Cup squad in New Zealand came through the Wales youth ranks... including Warburton, North, Faletau, Priestland, Jamie Roberts and Leigh Halfpenny.

Others who have emerged since the 2005-06 season include Alun Wyn Jones, Bradley Davies, Andy Powell, Dan Lydiate, James Hook, Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams.

Gatland’s right-hand man and assistant coach Rob Howley says there is a succession plan being implemented which means the Welsh management should have at least four players at any given time waiting in the wings to take over from those in the starting XV.

It also means that while England and the RFU lurch from one crisis to another, the WRU believe they have put in place a rock-solid foundations which ensure Wales’ future will be bright.

“There is a natural changing of the guard at the moment after the World Cup, but we have always been firm believers in giving talented players opportunities, whatever their age,” said Howley.

RIP - Gary Speed

2011-11-28T07:05:00.000-08:00

Gary Speed, the manager of the Welsh international soccer team and an accomplished former player, was found dead in his home on Sunday morning.

The Football Association of Wales first announced the news, with local police in Cheshire - just across the border in England - adding more details later.

"At 7.08 am this morning, Sunday 27 November, police were informed of an incident at Aldford Road, Huntingdon," a police spokesman said. "Officers went to the scene where a 42-year-old man was found dead. There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and next of kin have been informed."

The spokesman also said that Speed had been found hanged.

Speed had taken over the Wales coaching job in December 2010, shortly after retiring as player and beginning a managerial career at his last club side, Sheffield United. In a playing career that spanned over two decades, Speed became Wales' most capped international outfield player, representing his country 85 times. For some time Speed held the record for the most club appearances in England's top flight, the Premiership, competing in a staggering 535 matches in the country's top division.

"We extend our sympathies and condolences to the family," the Football Association of Wales said in a statement. "We ask that everyone respects the family's privacy at this very sad time."

Speed played with five major clubs in his lengthy career, competing in almost 250 matches for Leeds United and over 200 games in the black and white stripes of Newcastle United. He laid his stamp on many corners of the country, and tributes poured in on Sunday.

"The world has lost a great man in Gary Speed. I am devastated. Spoke to him yesterday morning. Why why? I will miss him so much," Speed's former Wales team mate Robbie Savage wrote on Twitter. "He was upbeat on the phone, yesterday we were laughing together, talking football and dancing. He was a great team mate and a great friend. RIP."

"Just cannot believe the news regarding Gary Speed. We waved at each other a couple of days ago dropping our kids off at school. I'm numb," Manchester United forward Michael Owen, also a Cheshire resident, said. "He has died aged 42. So sad. He lived local to me and we knew his family. He leaves behind two sons. Tragic."

The Wales coach and former captain's apparent suicide came barely a week after German Bundesliga referee Babak Rafati sought to take his own life; he was found in his Cologne hotel room and saved. Hamburg and Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke committed suicide in November 2009.

Hours before Speed took his life, retired professional footballer Stan Collymore wrote a series of Tweets and then a blog post exploring his own experiences with depression and the symptoms he faced over the past 10 years. The player turned radio pundit candidly described his own recent, sudden slide into a more depressive state, calling the sudden dip in morale a "thud."

"If you're struggling, please go and see your doctor, KNOW there's support there, know there's many going through what you're going through," Collymore wrote on Friday.

As well as a league title, Speed twice picked up FA Cup runners' up medals while playing for Newcastle, and was named a Member of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010 for services to football.

Sunday's fixture between Swansea City - the only Welsh club in England's Premiership - and Aston Villa went ahead as scheduled.

Organizers, who had considered calling off the match, decided to honor one minute's silence before the kick-off, but this silence was broken by rousing chants from the fans, who instead sang: "There's only one Gary Speed."

Standards for professionalism among NFL coaches

2011-11-21T08:32:00.001-08:00

NFL coaches have been under the microscope this season, and most of the attention has been drawn to their attitude and demeanor - both with their players, their own coaching staffs, and their peers.

Ashley Fox covers the NFL for ESPN, and writes about the ever-changing standards of professionalism and accountability among NFL coaches.

NFL coaches are supposed to be leaders of men. They demand accountability, professionalism and, perhaps most of all, composure from their players. But at an almost comical rate this season, coaches are embarrassing themselves by losing their cool and by being swept up in the moment.

Maybe it is the pressure to succeed in an industry where a coach's shelf life is inextricably linked to his win-loss record. Maybe it is the stress of being the man essentially responsible for, in many cases, a billion-dollar company. Maybe it is the singular focus and the interminable hours, away from family and friends and perspective, searching for the slightest advantage that will expose an opponent's weakness.

Maybe it is the brutality of the sport, or the competition, or the spotlight, or the wealth and fame, or the attention and status.

There can be a thousand reasons, or maybe it is this one: It is just old-fashioned machismo, fueled by an abundance of testosterone and adrenaline.

There is coach-on-coach crime, there is coach-on-player crime, and there is my personal favorite -- coach-on-media crime -- but there is no more walking softly and carrying a big stick. There is very little winning graciously. The new normal, apparently, is coaches screaming loudly and petulantly.

Think about it. In what other industry would the CEO of one company try to chase down and confront the CEO of another company because of an overzealous handshake and slap on the back at the conclusion of a deal? Or the CEO of a company telling another company, in clear earshot of others, to do something derogatory while the other CEO tells a bystander to "go f--- yourself?"

Dick Vermeil used to get choked up in postgame press conferences. Now some coaches pound their chests, scream, vent and act like spoiled prima donnas.

It is absurd that Jim Schwartz couldn't control his emotions better after San Francisco ended his Detroit Lions' perfect season last month, and, for that matter, that Jim Harbaugh couldn't be a better winner. After Schwartz chased down Harbaugh after the game, trying to fight Harbaugh for slapping his back too hard and allegedly uttering an obscenity, Harbaugh essentially laughed at Schwartz, as if Schwartz were some scrawny kid who was pouting after losing a game against his big brother.

Then there was the semiannual dustup that has become commonplace in the Jets-Patriots rivalry. The hostility between Rex Ryan and Bill Belichick reached a crescendo in Week 10, after the Patriots thumped the Jets 37-16. According to the New York Post, on the field after the game Belichick hugged his son, Stephen, and said, "Thirty-seven points on the best defense in the league ... " and then Belichick had a colorful suggestion for what the Jets could do.

"It's something I'll bring up to him after we beat them in the playoffs once again this year," Ryan said Monday.

Not that Ryan handled himself any better. At halftime, he called out his quarterback, Mark Sanchez, to Michele Tafoya on national television no less, for making "the stupidest play in NFL history." Sanchez called a timeout with 17 seconds on the play clock late in the second quarter, essentially giving the Patriots enough time to then drive down the field for a go-ahead touchdown.

Ryan was so bent that, as he walked off the field at halftime, he told a heckling fan to "go f--- yourself." As of late Thursday, one video of Ryan mouthing off had gotten more than 40,000 hits on YouTube.

"You know, this is who I am," Ryan said Monday, according to the Post. "You know, I made a mistake. You know ... I'm about as big a competitor as there is, and at that time, I was in no mood to hear anything. But I also understand that, you know, I have to handle that, you know, better."

Ryan also apologized for what he said about Sanchez, but the damage was done.

On the sideline during a Chiefs game earlier this season, Todd Haley got into a shouting match with his quarterback, Matt Cassel, that became so heated Le'Ron McClain had to separate them. Kansas City won the game, beating Minnesota for its first victory of the season, and Cassel said Haley's outburst motivated him to play better, but the image of Haley screaming at Cassel was indelible.

There is supposed to be the realization, particularly for the men in charge, that an NFL season is a marathon and not a ride on an emotional roller coaster. There is also, as Schwartz noted following his dustup with Harbaugh, supposed to be "a protocol that goes with this league." Coaches shouldn't call out players publicly, or run up the score, or swear at fans or each other.
Players get fined for everything from hitting too hard to wearing the wrong color cleats. The men who lead them should be setting an example about how to be a professional, not being an exception to the rule.

Could Norman Dale coach?

2011-11-21T08:26:00.001-08:00

If you are a movies junkie like I am, you'll definitely appreciate this piece in ESPN by Barry Locke, who analyzes the coaching of Norman Dale in "Hoosiers". Enjoy.

It's been 25 years since "Hoosiers" immortalized the legend of Hickory High, the small school that beats long odds to make underdog history by winning the Indiana state basketball championship. Yes, it's been a generation since we were inspired by the story of a coach seeking redemption, a team coming together and a town being transformed in one of the greatest sports films ever made.

But every time I watch the movie -- and who hasn't seen it at least five times -- I come to the same conclusion:

Norman Dale can't coach.

There, I said it. The Wizard of Hickory High, at least as he was shown in the film, manages a game about as well as Shooter manages his booze. Sure, Dale took an undermanned, undersized, undisciplined group of farm boys all the way to the state title. But watch closely. Time and again, they won in spite of their coach.

Don't get me wrong. Norman Dale is a great teacher of fundamentals. Just watch Gene Hackman snap off one perfect chest pass after another, all the while imploring the boys to "pop it, pop it." He's a brilliant psychologist. Having his players measure the height of the basket and the distance to the free-throw line before the state final is genius. You can even say he's a strong leader, if you think running off two players in the first minute of your first practice is the way to establish authority. (I prefer the longer-view approach of Herman Boone in "Remember the Titans," when he quietly asks Gerry Bertier, "You know who your daddy is, doncha?")

But put Coach Dale on the bench, with folks in the stands and pressure in the air, and he crumbles.

Take Hickory's first road game of the season, a tough, physical battle where emotions are running high. Classic Norm. Instead of being the calming influence his team needs, he instigates a brawl by dressing down the referee, taunting the opposing coach and slapping -- yes, slapping -- the hand of a kid on the other team.

Remember, this is a coach with a history of assault, having punched one of his own players at Ithaca College and receiving a lifetime ban for it. Luckily for Dale, the Internet didn't exist in 1951, and only one person in town -- Myra Fleener (Barbara Hershey) -- knows how to look up information in a library.

Luckily still, cranky Myra turns out to be a little bit human by not revealing Dale's past, thereby saving the coach his job. (Actually, Jimmy Chitwood saves it with his "I play, Coach stays" edict.) Music up. The Huskers shift into high gear.

Here's the funny thing. The better the team gets, the worse Dale coaches.

Jump ahead to the sectional final against Terhune. Shooter's road to redemption takes a drunken detour into the middle of the court, stopping play. It's OK, Norm tells the referee, he's an assistant coach. Oops. Expecting compassion, Dale instead draws a technical foul. Today, it seems like every coaching staff has one assistant devoted to keeping bench players -- and other assistant coaches -- off the court during play. With no such luxury, Dale still should have known better.

Nevertheless, Hickory advances to the regional final versus Linton, where Everett's shoulder injury -- the result of another on-court fight on Dale's watch -- forces him out of the game. Dale inserts Strap with instructions not to shoot unless he's under the basket all alone. Luckily, Strap doesn't listen and, scoring from all over the court, he has the game of his life and pushes Hickory into a comfortable lead.

Yet there's still work to do, and when Dale is forced to put in team manager/bench warmer Ollie, there's no instructions or strategy to keep the ball out of the little man's hands. Quickly, the lead evaporates. Yet Dale fails to call a timeout in the closing seconds, resulting in Ollie's frantic, falling-out-of-bounds shot with three seconds left.

But it's a charmed life these Huskers are leading, as Ollie is fouled on the shot. Under strict orders from his coach -- Dale prepares his team for no other possibility -- Ollie makes two free throws to win the game and send Hickory to the state final.

If Indianapolis is Dale's final exam, he fails miserably. When Hickory quickly falls behind against South Bend Central, and Dale is left searching for a game plan, it's left to one of the players to deliver. That's right, Merle points out the obvious -- that "Jimmy can take the guy that's guarding him if we set him up." And that's what happens, with Hickory battling back to tie the game and holding the ball for one last shot.

It's also one last shot for Dale to get it right. And what does he do? He tries to revive Shooter's picket fence play for Merle, using Jimmy as a decoy. You're left wanting to reach through the screen and grab Dale by his lapels and scream, "Norm, haven't you been paying attention to this movie? Jimmy is the best shooter in the state. You're going to use him as a decoy? Are you nuts?"

Sanity prevails only after the team is left speechless, and Jimmy calmly tells his coach what everyone already knows: "I'll make it." He does, completing the miraculous march to the state title and perceived redemption for Dale.

After the celebration, we're left reflecting on a championship team photo as Coach Dale's words echo through the Hickory gymnasium and history. He says, simply, "I love you guys."

He ought to. They sure made him look good.

Heart Rate Monitors Fine-Tune Players’ Fitness

2011-11-21T06:57:00.000-08:00

Jere Longman writes of how the use of heart rate monitors can enhance a player and team's training to make their fitness as game-like as possible.

As soccer practice began one recent afternoon, each University of Connecticut player grabbed a puck before he kicked a ball. The puck was a small rectangular transmitter that attached to a chest strap and was worn beneath the players’ jerseys.

On the sideline, a wireless receiver sat next to a laptop computer. As the Huskies performed their drills, heart rate data for each player appeared on the computer screen in real time, both in block numerals, as if on a gas pump, and in the wavy, crayon-colored lines of a collective stress test.

For nearly a decade, UConn, a perennial power, has been at the forefront of using heart rate monitors in N.C.A.A. soccer in an increasingly sophisticated attempt to gauge the intensity of training and create optimal conditioning for its players.

Coaches estimate that 10 percent to 30 percent of college soccer teams use similar technology to customize workouts, help plan their lineups and substitution patterns, and rethink the hoary tenet that harder training is always the best training.

The aim is to calculate precisely that players are giving the desired effort during workouts and, just as important, to prevent them from overtraining and to limit their susceptibility to soft-tissue injuries that can arise from fatigue.

“Soccer is a great game, but there is very little science to it,” said Chris Watkins, the soccer coach at Brigham Young University, which has used heart rate monitors for two seasons. “If you can find science, it gives players an advantage. We’re much smarter in our training now. Fitness is not an issue. We know exactly how to address it.”

NCAA puts college soccer under siege

2011-11-21T06:50:00.000-08:00

American college soccer is currently under siege, and from it's governing body, the NCAA.

L.E. Eisenmenger goes into depth about the challenges presented to College Soccer, which will impact soccer at all levels in the United States if these potential changes are passed.

The United States college soccer program stands in jeopardy right now as the NCAA moves to eliminate Division 1 non-championship season competition (spring games) and beyond that, reduce overall competition by 10%.

All NCAA Division 1 sports face a 10% reduction in competition, but the sports targeted for major cuts through elimination of spring competition are soccer, volleyball, women’s lacrosse, field hockey, softball and cross country. Division 1 football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, and men’s lacrosse would not be affected by the elimination of non-championship season competition. Nor would Division 2, Division 3 and NAIA schools be affected.

Non-championship season competition refers to non-countable games, basically springtime development games. All of the extended football, baseball and basketball season is constituted as regular season competition and counts on their record. Soccer already has one of the shortest competitive seasons in the NCAA and by eliminating the developmental games, the NCAA further marginalizes the sport.

Should the NCAA Resource Allocation Work Group recommendation become binding, spring competition in Division 1 soccer could cease as early as spring 2012 and the soccer playing careers of currently enrolled student athletes might suddenly be derailed. College soccer coaches have voiced almost unanimous opposition to the recommendation and of a survey sent to 12,500 Division 1 men’s and women’s soccer players, 10,284 responded with 93% strongly opposing the elimination of the non-championship season. Also, if spring competition is eliminated, top Division 1 soccer coaches might consider their hard work undermined and leave the college game.

Misdirected academic concerns

The initiative for this proposal appears to come from college faculty looking to cut costs and redirect student focus on academics.

“Many faculty think that athletics are over-emphasized, over-funded and it’s at the expense of the concentration being focused on academics,” said Rob Kehoe, Director of College Programs for National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). “But if it’s about academic performance, why would you be targeting these sports?

There’s nobody on college campuses from the president on down who are complaining about the academic performance of soccer teams, volleyball teams, women’s lacrosse teams, softball teams, cross country runners or field hockey players. In terms of academic performance, statistically, these are some of the top performing students on top performing teams in the country and it’s well known that the students on these teams perform above national average of the student body.

These are not the sports where you’re concerned with graduation rates or grade point averages.”

Spring competition essential to soccer development

Around the world, soccer development is a year-round process and U.S. college coaches have been looking to increase the overall number of games to better prepare college players to compete on a professional level and in international competition. But the elimination of spring competition would likely drive top players out of college and into alternative programs and low-level professional contracts. Where MLS Academies and Homegrown player contracts are excellent options for students not aspiring for a college career, top-level Division 1 programs provide ambitious students with the option of pursuing quality education and a sport and provide MLS with fresh talent via the annual MLS SuperDraft.

If Division 1 soccer development is compromised by the removal of spring competition, young soccer players have to make a critical choice at a younger age. But with professional playing opportunities few and far between, after a few years on the pro track, former student athletes opting out of college might realize first team playing spots are out of reach and also find themselves without a college degree or career path. On the other hand, top soccer talent might choose the college route and be excluded from the professional game due to inferior development.

Division 1 soccer programs are only allowed to award minimal scholarships. For men, there are 9.9 scholarships and for women, 14 scholarships. Typically, many are spread throughout the team via partial scholarships to provide athletic financial aid to more players.

But most soccer players are not on athletic scholarships nor on the first string, so these players depend heavily on spring competition for playing time and a chance to advance in the squad. While under the recommendations practices would be permitted, there would be no more games, which provide those players a way to advance in the squad.

“In the fall a college soccer team plays 14-16 players in the course of a game and with roster sizes between 25-30 players, most of the players play little or no time,” said Kehoe. “The training and competition in the spring gives opportunity for the players who have played little or no time to get some game time, not only for development purposes, but also to have coaches observe them in competitive game situations to provide assessment towards the fall season.

Many players make their mark in the spring and establish a line-up or rotation position for the fall because that is the stage of the season where the formation of the new team for the new season is developed.”

NCAA decision is imminent

Elimination of non-championship season competition has been proposed and defeated in NCAA legislative process in the previous two years, but pressure to pass it has intensified. The 2011 proposal was, in fact, already recommended but after opposition from soccer, softball, volleyball and other impacted athletic organizations, on November 4, the Resource Allocation Work Group agreed to review it in the coming days.

[These work groups, assembled through new NCAA president Mark Emmert, are comprised of representatives from conferences, schools (typically presidents from schools), some athletic directors, some sport association representatives, and some student athletes.]

“Our assumption is they’re preparing recommendations in advance of the NCAA convention on January 11-15,” said Kehoe. “The expectation is that the workgroup recommendation will be discussed and decisions will be made on them by the Board of Directors in conjunction with the NCAA convention.”

Competition alternatives would test NCAA

It’s logical that if Division 1 soccer was compromised in this way and spring competition eliminated, those affected soccer players would be afforded alternative ways to train and compete through relaxation of certain NCAA regulations, but no such provisions were included in the proposal.

“At this point, the NCAA legislation prevents that, but that’s one of the statements we put in our position statement that was sent to the resource allocation work group – a point on demand to play,” said Kehoe. “With aspirations, college players are probably going to demand the opportunity to play. Either from the professional aspiration level or in preparation for the fall season of competition in college, they want to play, they want to compete because they want to be prepared to achieve.

I would assume that would be the next thing, alternative sources for training and competition, which would be opening a whole new avenue of discussion with the NCAA.”

If this recommendation is approved, Kehoe said, “It is likely that there would be movement toward that end.” However, although the recommendation could eliminate 2012 spring competition, it would take till April 2013 to get action on a proposal for alternative training and competition.

“It would have to go through the next legislative process and the next legislative cycle begins the following August,” said Kehoe. “Proposals are submitted in the summer and the proposals are made public in the middle of August. Then they go through a whole decision-making process, discussions and reviews. Then there’s a first vote on legislative proposals at the NCAA convention in January, then there’s a period where people can comment and suggest overriding legislative decisions and then there’s a final vote in April.

So April 2013 would probably be the earliest if there was an alternate opportunity to fill the competition gap.”

US Soccer: two steps forward, one step back

Overall, the recommendation appears a misguided attempt to improve academic performance by targeting the wrong sports, sports with academically high-performing students instead of sports like football and basketball, which have a long history of academic violations. Reduced training will limit Division 1 soccer players’ ability to play the pro game and discourage good players and students from attending college, which allows them to contribute to society after their playing career is over. Beyond that, players with already high grades might find themselves with more free time than they’re accustomed to.

“If you have players that have eight months without competition opportunities, what happens to their discipline?” said Kehoe. “In a campus situation, they’re going to be bored and involved with the scourge of the college campus, which is substance abuse and relationship abuse issues. The sport serves as a deterrent from being involved in things that are irresponsible, illegal activities that are very prevalent on college campuses.

“These kids aren’t going to go to the library more. Why would they? They already have good grades.”

For more about the crisis in college soccer, complete with interviews with the United States’ top Division 1 coaches, read the ultimate analysis, College Soccer at the Crossroads.

Resource Allocation Work Group proposal

Post-Presidential Retreat Updates
November 11, 2011

NOTE: For the working groups other than Resource Allocation, the October 28 update document remains current. We intend to send an update next week as well, following the November 16 meeting of the Collegiate Model: Enforcement Working Group.

Resource Allocation Working Group

Presentation to Board: January 2012
Chair: Michael Adams, President
University of Georgia

Vice Chair: Ann Millner, President
Weber State University

DEVELOPMENTS

The Resource Allocation Working Group held a teleconference on November 4, 2011. The next teleconference has not been scheduled as of this time.

EXISTING INFORMATION

The Resource Allocation Working Group held a teleconference on November 4 to review draft recommendations regarding the minimum number of sports required for Division I membership and limitations on non-coaching personnel; the group also discussed revisiting recommendations that have been made to date. The working group:

1. Decided to revisit approved proposals to verify that the recommendations correlate with the enduring values that include: academic and athletic student-athlete success; the collegiate model; amateurism; and competitive equity among institutions of similar commitment to collegiate athletics. The approved proposals to be revisited are:

a. Elimination of non-championship segment competition. The sports with non-championship segment competition are cross country, field hockey, soccer, softball, lacrosse and volleyball.

b. A 10 percent reduction in regular-season competition for all sports. Note: if the Division I Board passes the elimination of non-championship segment competition, credit would be given for non-championship reductions.

c. Eliminating all foreign travel.

d. Reduction of:

1.FBS football scholarships from 85 to 80.
2.FCS football scholarships from 63 to 60, with 80 overall counters.
3.Men's basketball scholarships from 13-12.
4.These scholarships would be apportioned to other women's sports.
5.In addition, the working group requests that the Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) consider incentives that would allow institutions above a certain APR score to maintain FBS football scholarships at 85, FCS scholarships at 63 (with 85 overall counters), men's basketball scholarships at 13 and women's basketball scholarships at 15.
2. Reviewed proposals regarding limitations on non-coaching personnel. Five proposals related to limitations on non-coaching personnel were discussed. The working group supported a proposal from the Division I-A Athletic Directors Association, which provided for maximum allowable non-coaching personnel for FBS football and men's basketball. The working group directed NCAA staff to work with the DI-A Athletic Directors Association to refine the proposal and to work with FCS institutions to develop a proposal for non-coaching personnel for FCS football.

3. Proposals for a change to the minimum number of sports required for Division I membership were on the agenda, but were not discussed. This agenda item will carry forward to the next meeting.

MLS Cup 2011: Los Angeles Galaxy take home the Cup

2011-11-21T06:31:00.000-08:00

A substitution and tactical shift garnered much of the credit for the breakthrough goal scored by Landon Donovan in the 72nd minute by which Los Angeles downed Houston, 1-0, Sunday night in the MLS championship game.

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America offers a recap of the 2011 MLS Cup.

Midfielder Chris Birchall replaced forward Adam Cristman in the 57th minute, with Birchall taking over at right mid for Landon Donovan, who moved up top alongside Robbie Keane. Los Angeles broke open the goalless game when Keane collected a ball from David Beckham and evaded a tackle to slip through a pass Donovan knocked home for his league record 20th playoff goal and fourth in an MLS Cup final.

Yet the vital difference on that play, and for much of the game, stemmed from the simple fact the Galaxy impact players did their job, and seldom did their counterparts on the Dynamo match their performance.

GALAXY OVERCOMES MISSES. Cristman, paired up top with Keane, failed to convert three good chances; he drove two headers wide and wasted another opportunity when he tried to trap an inviting cross instead of hitting it first-time, and slipped trying to shoot. But despite his misses and those of others, the Galaxy dominated play for most of the 90 minutes through the interplay of Keane, Beckham and Donovan, supplemented by heady midfield play from Juninho and very solid defending.

The Dynamo fended off numerous attacks and stayed in the game by some dogged tackling and the Galaxy’s poor finishing. Houston’s attack, missing playmaker Brad Davis, worked the flanks to good effect at times yet seldom set up a clear opportunity that forwards Brian Ching and Calen Carr could direct on goal.

Corey Ashe ranged up the left side from his midfield position and right mid Danny Cruz did the same; Ashe’s crosses were expertly handled by right back Sean Franklin or centerback Omar Gonzalez, and aside from one slashing dribble and shot late in the first half, Cruz wasn’t much of a factor.

DYNAMO NEVER THREATENS. In the postgame comments, Galaxy players credited coach Bruce Arena’s move as the deciding factor. A few minutes before Donovan scored, a very close offside decision nullified a goal by Keane, who had early in the second half fired a shot narrowly wide.

Before and after the switch, the Galaxy controlled most of the play, and though a team as dangerous on set plays as Houston can’t be counted out if the score is close, only one team looked likely to score. Eventually, thanks to its major players, it did.

Nov. 20 in Carson, Calif.
Los Angeles 1 Houston 0. Goal: Donovan (Keane, Beckham) 72.
Los Angeles -- Saunders, Franklin, DelaGarza, Gonzalez, Dunivant, Juninho, Beckham, Donovan, Magee, Keane, Cristman (Birchall, 57).
Houston -- Hall, Hainault, Boswell, Cameron, Taylor, Cruz (Clark, 78), Camargo, Moffat, Ashe (Watson, 84), Ching, Carr (Costly, 65).
Referee: Alberto Salazar.
Att.: 30,281.

2011-11-21T06:30:00.001-08:00

"David is a champion. I've been around great athletes and competitors in my life, and this guy is as good as it comes. Unbelievable desire to win. He's a great teammate, a great person. He's done it all in every country he's been in. What more can you say about a guy like this and what he's brought to this organization and this league in five years? He gutted it out tonight. He obviously wanted to be there."

-- Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena on David Beckham after the Galaxy won the 2011 MLS title with a 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo.

Masur has built a soccer dynasty at St. John's

2011-11-21T06:22:00.000-08:00

Dave Masur has transformed St. John's University soccer into a national powerhouse over the past 20 years, and his Red Storm advanced into the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2011.

Frank Isola of the New York Daily News writes of how Masur has built SJU into an annual title contender.

When Dave Masur arrived on the St. John’s campus in 1991. Lou Carnesecca was still the school’s basketball coach, the school’s nickname was the Redmen and the soccer program was nothing more than a bad joke.

A successful season, in fact, was defined by how many matches Looie would attend, which weren’t many.

“There was no history,” Masur says. “But I thought St. Johns was a diamond in the rough. For one, you’re in the Big East. I thought that St. John’s had enough going for it that we could do really good things.”

Fast forward 21 seasons and it is the men’s soccer team that has evolved into the gold standard for the Red Storm’s intercollegiate sports teams, while Masur is now the tenured coaching legend on campus.

Masur’s 10th-ranked club plays host to 29th-ranked Brown University in a second-round NCAA Tournament game at 5 p.m. Sunday at Belson Stadium on the Queens campus in Jamaica. It is the Red Storm’s 18th appearance in the tournament under Masur, who has built a national power in Queens.

The numbers are staggering: one College Cup title, four Finals Fours, two national coach of the year awards and 304 wins overall and counting. The program has come a long way since Masur took over as a part-time coach with a shoestring recruiting budget and poor facilities. The best thing the program had going for it was Masurs vision and work ethic.

“St. John’s has been a special place for me and my family for 21 years, said Masur, who holds a doctorate in education administration supervision from the same university he coaches. “This has been a special place for me and my family for 21 years. It’s given me the opportunity to teach, grow as a coach, learn and make an impact in kids’ lives.”

The Red Storm added more silverware last Sunday when Jack Bennett’s golden goal in the first overtime against UConn gave St. John’s its ninth Big East championship and improved its overall record to 14-6-2.

Under Masur, St. Johns is accustomed to playing soccer late into November, but the coach still says the experience is “nervewracking,” adding that “there’s always something to worry about.”

Barrieu takes post in Middle East

2011-11-17T10:37:00.000-08:00

Frenchman Pierre Barrieu, who served as fitness coach on the last three U.S. World Cup teams, has taken a post as head fitness coach and assistant coach with the United Arab Emirates' national team.

Barrieu, who relocated with his family to Dubai in September, was out of a job when Jurgen Klinsmann took over as U.S. national team coach in August, replacing Bob Bradley.

Barrieu originally came to the United States from France when his wife, Florence, a software engineer, was offered a position in the United States. Pierre had been a professional team handball player, soccer coach and university instructor.

The Barrieus moved to Charlottesville, Va., where Pierre hooked up with the University of Virginia soccer coach George Gelnovatch, who played for Bruce Arena, his predecessor as head coach.

Arena was at the time head coach of the national team, and Barrieu soon began helping the team with its fitness work. Barrieu's work was credited with the USA's excellent fitness at the 2002 World Cup, where it reached the quarterfinals.

Barrieu also worked with the 2006 and 2010 World Cup teams. Other assistants from the 2010 team who have moved on include Jesse Marsch and Mike Sorber, who are now the head coach and assistant coach with the MLS expansion team in Montreal.

Porter wears multiple hats for Akron, US Soccer

2011-11-17T09:25:00.001-08:00

Akron's Caleb Porter was named head coach of the United States under-23 men's national team, which will try to qualify this spring for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Porter now has to balance both jobs as he wears multiple hats, with his Akron Zips in the NCAA National Tournament and the US Under-23 team going through preparations for qualification for the next Olympics.

"It's a challenge, because I've had to shift gears and focus on two teams," he said. "There's a lot that goes into this if you're doing it right. You're thinking about all the little details. There's a method, a plan.

"But it's worked because USA Soccer is letting me focus now on Akron. Once the season's done, I will put both feet in with the U.S. team. I have a really good staff here at Akron; I would not be able to do it without them. And fortunately, I have a wife who understands my obsession. She knew what she was getting herself into. It's not a 9-to-5 thing. It's a live-eat-breathe-sleep-it thing."

Clavijo, Nicol heap praise

2011-11-17T09:21:00.000-08:00

The list continues to grow of former coaches and teammates who heap praise on the new coach of the New England Revolution, Jay Heaps.

Frank Dell'Apa of the Boston Globe speaks to former New England coaches Fernando Clavijo and Steve Nicol about their protege turn manager.

“It’s a bold move, isn’t it?’’ Nicol said yesterday. “Obviously, I hope he does well. If attitude and commitment and hard work are involved in doing well, you know he’ll do well.’’

Clavijo brought Heaps to the Revolution by trading Brian Dunseth to the Miami Fusion midway through the 2001 season. Heaps soon earned a starting role and became a driving force as the Revolution advanced to four MLS Cup finals, two US Open Cup finals, and won a SuperLiga title.

“I think he will do well,’’ Clavijo said. “He has no experience, not even as an assistant coach, but he has the profile, he is mature, and, hopefully, they let him get his own people, his own staff. He will need somebody with experience.

“If you look at New England, they have had a lot of good players, but not as many today. He can be a great coach, but if he does not have the resources, they are not going to get better.’’

Both Clavijo and Nicol were impressed with Heaps’s attitude as a player.

“He always liked to study the game and he was not the guy who just followed along,’’ Clavijo said. “He was always ahead of the group, the player rep, he was always there and always wanted more than just, ‘Yes sir.’ ’’

Heaps was among the first pieces in Clavijo’s plan to rejuvenate the Revolution.

“First of all, I saw he was a competitor, I saw how competitive he was in Miami,’’ said Clavijo, now technical director for the NASL’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers. “He could play in different positions. He didn’t have the size for central defender but he had incredible jumping ability. More than anything else, he grows on you as a player.

“We had a lot of older players but we had some draft picks and we made changes and made a quick turnaround the first year, and also regenerated the roster. It’s going to be hard to do that now with how tight the salary cap is.

“I took a chance on Shalrie Joseph, we got Taylor Twellman in the draft, took Steve Ralston when some people wanted me to take Chris Henderson. Where do you get those players now? They are going to need some players who can change a game, and those are going to cost you money.’’

Heaps started as a winger with the Revolution, but Nicol moved him to right back and also used him as a central defender in emergencies.

“His desire to win, that in a defender is huge,’’ Nicol said. “A defender who cares about not getting beaten by his opponent is a huge step in the right direction.

“He played injured. You used to have to tie him to a chair in the dressing room if you wanted to stop him getting on the field.

“He’s a guy who would do anything to win, and that’s certainly what you need to coach. You need that desire and to be able to find a way of making it happen. That desire, it’s huge, and it’s infectious, and everyone feeds off that.

“But we all need somebody beside us who is the mixture of a lot of things - a calming influence, a cool head, and someone who knows the game. It’s important that whoever he gets beside him [as an assistant] is the right person for him, the two of them fit in well.’’

Nicol coached at Notts County before moving to the US as player-coach for the Boston Bulldogs in 1999. He turned down an offer from the Revolution because he was not versed in the rules of Major League Soccer.

“Initially, I didn’t know enough about MLS players and how the system worked,’’ Nicol said. “But [Heaps] knows a good part of it. I’m sure now he’s on the other side of the fence, a lot of things will make sense to him now that didn’t when he was a player.’’

Heaps has been working as the Revolution’s color commentator for the last two years, using the position partly as preparation for a coaching role.

“He has been looking at the game every day, but you get a completely different view of the game as a reporter or as a fan,’’ Clavijo said. “You might know what the problems are but maybe you can’t find a solution. You might want to try to change everything but sometimes you can’t.

“But one thing he has is passion for the game. He is not going to be sitting down on the bench - he was always fighting for 90 minutes and he is going to bring that to the team.’’

Fiery Heaps Leads Revs

2011-11-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

Jay Heaps has always been known as a fiery competitor as a player during his professional and collegiate career, and know has the opportunity to translate that as the new coach with the New England Revolution.

Brian O'Connell of ESPNBoston.com writes of the Revs' new head coach.

"When Michael and I were putting our list together, we knew that Jay was going to be one of the candidates," Revolution president Brian Bilello said. "We were confident that he had the makeup to be a great coach."

Even though Heaps' résumé lacks any MLS coaching experience, Bilello and general manager Michael Burns knew what to expect from him.

As a player, Heaps was known for his tenacity, leadership, and cerebral approach to the game during his 11-year career. But even without the vast coaching experience that so many clubs crave when making a managerial change, Heaps was the one to steer the team in the right direction, the Revolution braintrust believed.

"In our discussions with Jay, it became clear to us that he was ready to step in immediately and take the role," Bilello said. "Not only was he ready, but he was our top choice."

It would have been easy to go with a candidate who had a proven track record. But that's not the path Bilello and Burns wanted to pursue.

Instead, they were looking for someone to challenge the attitude of a club that needed a jolt of fresh energy,

"He is a tremendous leader and motivator," Bilello said. "He has a keen knowledge of what we need to do and what we need to excel at."

That, perhaps more than anything else, is what appealed to the Revolution -- Heaps' ability to diagnose a problem and offer solutions.

One of those problems, in Heaps' view, is that the Revolution suffered from inadequate game-day preparation.

"We're going to implement a game plan (every week)," Heaps said. "To see what advantages we can take from video (analysis) and impose our will on other teams. We will not be outworked and we will not be outsmarted."

From here, Heaps hits the ground running in searching for ways to improve the squad. With the expansion draft and re-entry draft on the horizon, Heaps will have a number of decisions to make about the roster.

"We're not thinking three to four years (into the future)," Heaps said. "We're thinking now. We're thinking how of we add the right players and right chemistry to build this team from day one."

Michael Bradley proves his worth in US victory over Slovenia

2011-11-16T06:26:00.000-08:00

Michael Bradley only started once in Jurgen Klinsmann's first five games in charge, but proved in his second that Klinsmann may need him as much as his father had.

Frank Isola of Goal.com writes of the leadership, grit and playmaking that Bradley provided in the US 3-2 victory away to Slovenia.

Michael Bradley walked slowly, almost deliberately through the thick fog and toward the U.S. bench. His job, on a damp cold November night in Slovenia, was done.

In just his second start since his father Bob Bradley was sacked as head coach, Michael Bradley had contributed an assist and much needed leadership in the United States' 3-2 win over Slovenia on Tuesday. It was only the second win under Jürgen Klinsmann and the team’s first win on European soil in three years. (If Gen. Patton had failed this much aboard Americans would be speaking German today.)

Klinsmann, who had given Bradley the surprise start, shook hands with the young midfielder when Bradley crossed the touch line in injury time. It seemed only fitting that Bradley played such a significant role in Klinsmann's best moment as U.S. coach.

"We know that Michael has tremendous qualities in terms of his commitment," Klinsmann said afterward. "He covers so much ground, stays calm and is very experienced."

Klinsmann used a more conventional 4-4-2 formation against Slovenia which included Bradley playing a holding midfield position. The U.S. erupted for three first half goals and went ahead 2-1 when Clint Dempsey headed home Bradley's corner kick.

"It was a great ball in from Michael," said Dempsey. "I tried to get away from my man and make sure that I put it on frame because I had a chance earlier in the game where I put it a little bit wide."

It was an important result for the United States and a bittersweet moment for Bradley, whose adjustment to a new coach and system is justifiably awkward. It's never easy playing for your father on any level, especially for the national team. It's even harder when your father is fired.

Bob Bradley had a good run with the national team: finalist in the 2009 Confederations Cup followed by winning the group at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. In the group stage, the U.S. was minutes away from losing to Slovenia before Michael rescued the team with a late goal. It wasn't as memorable as Landon Donovan’s injury time goal against Algeria but was just as important.

But within 14 months, Bradley would be gone as coach while his son was back to trying to prove that he belongs on the national team.

"Anytime you have a new club, anytime you're in a new team, everyone is trying to prove themselves," Bradley said. "Guys are trying to get a feel for how the coach wants to do things - the way they want to play, the way they want to train, the way they want to run things off the field. On the flip side, coaches are trying to get a feel for players and guys they want to count on and the group they want to have together as you move to more important games."

Last season was a tumultuous one for the 24-year-old Bradley. In February, Bradley was loaned to Aston Villa from his German club, Borussia Mönchengladbach. He expected to sign permanently with the English Premier League club but a coaching change nixed the move. Meanwhile, Mönchengladbach told Bradley he had lost his spot on the team.

It turned out to be a blessing for Bradley who instead signed with Chievo Verona on Aug. 31. He's become a regular starter for the Italian Serie A club, a move that Klinsmann feels in crucial for Bradley’s development.

"Going to Italy, for him, as a midfielder, in an environment where they are tactic fanatics, the Italians, will teach him a lot," said Klinsmann, who played three years in Italy with Inter. "It will help him a lot to read the game better, to anticipate the game better to know exactly when to go into certain spaces and when not to go in certain spaces. So I was very pleased."

Klinsmann is still experimenting with different lineups and trying out different players. But when World Cup qualifiers begin next summer there's a good chance Bradley will be on the squad. Klinsmann will need him just as much as Bob Bradley did.

Being a leader is in Heaps' blood

2011-11-16T06:19:00.000-08:00

Jay Heaps is only just starting out on his young coaching career with the New England Revolution, but he has plenty of supporters in his former coaches.

Sean Donahue writes of how Heaps' former coaches see his potential as a leader.

Brian Ainscough was right in his assessments about newly named New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps as a player in the past. Now fans of the Revs will be hoping the Northeastern Huskies men’s soccer coach’s good judgment continues in his beliefs about Heaps as a coach.

Ainscough coached Heaps at the club level when the Massachusetts native played for the FC Greater Boston Bolts. The former Irish youth international knew Heaps had what it takes to be a successful professional player and wasn’t the least bit surprised by the career Heaps had.

“He was special,” said Ainscough. “His competitiveness back then was unbelievable. His competitive spirit and his will to win were just amazing.”

Heaps took that competitiveness to his 11-year career in Major League Soccer that included an MLS Rookie of the Year award in 1999 and four appearances of the U.S. National Team in 2009. He became etched in the history books as the longest ever tenured player on the Revolution with nine seasons that included four MLS Cup appearances, a U.S. Open Cup Championship and a SuperLiga Championship.

None of that surprised Ainscough.

In 2005, Heaps joined Ainscough’s staff at Northeastern as a volunteer assistant coach. It was a role he would serve for two seasons.

“He passed along his experiences to the players who had respect for him because he was such a quality player,” said Ainscough.

The same qualities Ainscough admired in Heaps as a player came through in his coaching.

“The qualities that served him as a player and as a coach here were his passion and his competitive nature,” said Ainscough. “They’re unmatched when I coached him years ago and when he was here coaching.”

Ainscough has coached no shortage of players from the U.S. Soccer Olympic Development Program, Providence College, Bowdoin College, Northeastern and the Bolts, but Heaps competitiveness stood out above the rest.

“It’s unmatched by most players and I think that will serve him as well as a coach as it did as a player,” said Ainscough.

And just like Ainscough knew Heaps had what it takes to make it at the professional level, he believes Heaps has the qualities to succeed as a head coach. Heaps stint as a volunteer assistant with the Huskies made Ainscough realize the former Revs defender was destined to coach one day.

“I knew coaching was in his blood,” he said. “He sidetracked himself for business, but I think that was always his passion and it’s hard to stay away when that’s in your blood.”

Now that Heaps has his chance Ainscough will undoubtedly be among his coaching influences along with former Revs head coach Steve Nicol and others.

Of course Heaps can also draw on his experiences with legendary Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who recently became the winningest coach in NCAA Division I Basketball history. In addition to playing soccer at Duke under John Rennie, the Blue Devils’ former soccer coach who has quite the impressive resume himself, Heaps also was on the basketball team with Coach K.

Like Ainscough, Krzyzewski also sees a successful future for Heaps as a coach.

“I’m really excited about Jay becoming the head coach,” Krzyzewski said. “There’s nobody who has the combination of spirit, energy, charisma and talent like he does. I loved coaching him. He was a walk-on for our basketball team because he was an All-American soccer player, but everyone on our team always followed what he had to say.

“I see him spreading that same type of energy, spirit, and using his charisma to build back a storied program,” he added. “I wish him the best. He’s an outstanding leader, and for management to have the confidence in such a young guy – that they saw a special guy – I think it’ll pay off greatly.”

Heaps certainly has a monumental task ahead of him to turn around a Revolution side that’s missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons, but it’s not just the Revs front office that believes he’ll succeed.

Bradley era begins in Egypt

2011-11-16T06:14:00.000-08:00

Egypt ushered in the Bob Bradley era this week with their friendly versus Brazil.

John Duerden of Sports Illustrated writes of the task ahead of Bradley in his tenure with the Pharaohs.

Even two hours before kickoff, the Egyptian fans were in full voice, chanting a soccer version of a refrain familiar to anyone who had been in Tahir Square earlier this year as the Arab Spring reached its zenith. Instead of singing Asha'ab yureed isqat annizam (the people want the downfall of the regime), Asha'ab yureed isqat albrazeel rolled down the sides of the Al Rayyan Stadium in Qatar giving Bob Bradley the task of toppling the Brazilians, the long-reigning kings of world soccer, in his first game in charge of the Pharaohs.

In June 2009, Bradley watched as his U.S. team took a 2-0 lead against the South Americans in the final of the Confederations Cup on a chilly evening in the concrete jungle of downtown Johannesburg only to end up losing 3-2. On a warm November night in the desert on the outskirts of Doha, it was Brazil that established a two-goal advantage. This time though, despite the backing of the vast majority of the vociferous 25,112 crowd at the Al Rayyan Stadium, Egypt never really looked like getting back in the game. It finished 2-0.

There is nothing to worry about yet. "Egyptians forgive easily" smiled an Algerian journalist, using the example of the pre-match entertainment, Tamer Hosny. The king of the Cairo pop scene, booed and punched during an appearance in Tahir Square in April as he tried to apologize after earlier dismissive comments about the protesters, brought the house down with a series of hits.

If his countrymen are still coming to terms with the new regime at home after the ouster of former dictator Hosni Mubarak, having an American in charge of the national team after eight years of Hassan Shehata is also going to take some getting used. "We can't judge from one game but I think the old coach was better," said one fan Mohammed Hassan, a Cairo-born Petroleum engineer now working in Qatar. "Everyone knows that the old coach made up champion of Africa three times. Bradley has inherited a heck of a team but he needs to prove himself. I think we will give him two or three more games. We don't know too much about him and don't know what to expect."

In the press box a large contingent of Cairo-based journalists expect and hope that Bradley will bring better discipline, organization and fitness to a talented but inconsistent group of players. What they didn't expect was Sunderland star Ahmed Elmohamady on the left of midfield, placed there by Bradley to nullify the attacking threat of Dani Alves. It worked for a while as the Egyptians started well but Alves and his colleagues saw more of the ball as the half progressed. It was felt that Elmohamady was uncomfortable, the team unbalanced and Mohamed Zidan isolated in attack. It came as no surprise when the impressive Hulk broke free down the North African left to square into the six-yard box for Jonas Oliveira to score the simplest of tap-ins.

If there was a lack of balance, fans had their own ideas on what was necessary and called for Mohamed Aboutrika. The midfielder has long been regarded as one of the best in Africa with a list of awards and accolades to prove it but was left out of the roster by Bradley. If the same decision is repeated, it is sure to become a question that the American grows accustomed to fielding especially if results are less than satisfactory..

"Aboutrika has been a great player for Egypt," said Bradley. "He is also a favorite player of the fans and we will continue to watch him in the league and then make a decision to help us become successful." The philosophy major could have made a difference to an Egyptian team that struggled to retain possession and ran out of ideas long before the end of the game in the face of a controlled display from a Brazil missing such stars such as Kaka, Pato and Neymar. The second goal killed the game coming on the hour with another close-range strike from Jonas after El Shanawi had dropped a free kick. The goalkeeper subsequently redeemed himself and made a series of good saves to prevent Brazil from extending its lead.

There were words of encouragement from Brazilian coach Mano Menezes who could afford to be gracious with a sixth victory in seven games helping to erase memories of a disappointing Copa America. "I have a lot of respect for Bob Bradley," said Menezes. "It is difficult to take on a new job and you need time to adapt to new ideas. This is what we did a while ago and we are improving now."

Bradley has some time before the hard work and qualification for the World Cup begins. With the last of Egypt's two appearances on the global stage coming in 1990, the American will automatically become one of the country's most celebrated coaches if he can lead the team to Brazil in 2014.

It would be some celebration and Monday was just a small taste of the atmosphere that he can expect on a regular basis. "The fans tonight were tremendous," said Bradley. "They like football and the national team is very important to them. That is one of the big reasons why this opportunity is so special because of the passion of the fans. Football culture in the U.S. continues to grow. In Egypt it is not growing because it is already incredibly big and has been that way for a long time. You feel it every day and people come up to you in the street and talk about selections."

You feel he wouldn't shy from such debates and it was noticeable how well he reeled off the names of players both in and out of the team, as well as different members of his coaching staff -- a small detail but one often overlooked by English-speaking coaches in Africa and Asia. To avoid too many impromptu sidewalk conversations however, Bradley will have to negotiate the first stage of 2014 qualification that starts in June. In truth, the seven-time continental champion should have little trouble finishing top of a group containing Zimbabwe, Guinea and, assuming, as all do, it defeats Comoros, Mozambique. Then comes the real test: a home and away all-or-nothing playoff late in 2013.

Bradley knows he has to have everything in place before then. "When you watch players in the league, it is normal that if you test them against Brazil, they will learn a lot. It is a big step and every time we play against a good team, we get more information and this will help us. I saw things tonight that I think were good things and I saw things that we worked on in training starting to show. I also saw things that we need to improve. This is a first step and we have a lot of hard work ahead of us."

United States 3-2 Slovenia

2011-11-16T06:08:00.000-08:00

The United States were able to gain a victory on European soil in their final friendly of 2011, defeating Slovenia, 3-2, in a rematch from the FIFA 2010 World Cup.

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America covers the United States' 3-2 victory over Slovenia.

It's what we've been waiting for since Jurgen Klinsmann took the helm in July: An entertaining, attack-minded performance from the USA. Here's why we're much more optimistic about Klinsmann's rebuilding process after the 3-2 win at Slovenia on Tuesday. ...

GOALS, THANK GOODNESS. The Americans, who had scored only twice in Klinsmann’s first six games, entered the game with a 234-minute scoreless streak. Edson Buddle broke the drought in the 9th minute against Slovenia when he hammered home from 25 yards after delivery from Clint Dempsey, who had stripped Darijan Matic of the ball. After Slovenia equalized, Dempsey headed in Michael Bradley’s corner kick in the 41st minute and Jozy Altidore converted a 43rd minute penalty kick after Fabian Johnson was fouled. Hitting the net -- and finishing a frustrating year with a win -- injects a crucial boost of confidence into a team that’s supposed to be rebuilt and well-tuned when World Cup qualifying starts next summer.

TWO STRIKERS A MUST. Such is the sad state of modern soccer that it’s news when a team fields two true strikers. After a catenaccio look in last Friday’s 1-0 loss to France, Klinsmann simply had to field a more attack-minded formation. Pairing Buddle and Altidore on the frontline, and giving Dempsey a free role behind them, resulted not only in goals, but enabled the Americans to play more of the game in the opponents’ half. A lone forward lineup should never again be considered for a U.S. national team.

BRADLEY IMPROVES MIDFIELD. Kyle Beckerman returned as a deep-lying defensive central midfielder at the bottom of a diamond that had Dempsey on top, Johnson on the left, and Bradley on the right. Returning the veteran Bradley to the starting lineup paid off because he combined well with Dempsey and often steered the U.S. attacks through the middle. With Bradley and Johnson, who looks the most promising of the German products, the USA played less predictably than in the previous games when storming down the wings seemed to be the main strategy.

FUN TO WATCH. Seconds after kickoff, Johnson, with a 20-yard volley, forced a save from keeper Samir Handanovic and the Slovenians responded with a chance shortly after that keeper Tim Howard handled – and from there the game lived up to its promising start. We had plenty of end-to-end action and scoring chances, such as Dempsey’s diving header that went just wide in the 36th minute. The Slovenians hit the woodwork twice and had a ball cleared off the line before Tim Matavz scored his second goal to make it 3-2 in the 61st minute, but the USA held on for its first win on European soil since March 2008, a 3-0 victory at Poland.

A good performance and a good result is the best of both worlds -- and especially satisfying is that Klinsmann’s team finally entertained.

4-4-2 formation the preferred tactical choice in MLS

2011-11-15T06:43:00.000-08:00

Tacticians stress a lack of true '#9' central strikers in the modern game, and the evolution of a 'false 9' like Messi or Rooney who are drawn up on the board as a 9, but really drop back much deeper like a '#10'.

Where alignments like 4-2-3-1 and 4-1-4-1 are becoming more en vogue to counter some of the changes to the modern game, it seems like the 4-4-2 formation still appears to be the system of choice in Major League Soccer.

Kyle McCarthy of Goal.com writes of how there is some diversity in team tactics in MLS, the teams that have mastered the 4-4-2 have had the most success.

In a league filled with a somewhat diverse set of tactical approaches, one common tactical thread always seems to emerge at the end of the biggest match of the MLS season.

The winning team usually starts out in a 4-4-2 formation.

There are, of course, other influences to determine the outcome of a match, but the recent patterns indicate teams that start out in that setup – or one of the various derivatives employed by coaches around the league – gain an advantage in the tussle for silverware. Seven consecutive MLS Cup winners – including the victor of Sunday's MLS Cup battle between Houston and Los Angeles – have preferred a version of the 4-4-2. Los Angeles has already made it four straight Supporters' Shield winners deployed in a similar manner.

It is somewhat of a coincidence that one base formation has consistently dispatched the others. Two of the league's top five sides chose another way to play during this campaign and fared well during the regular season. One of those two clubs, FC Dallas, lost in the final last year with its 4-1-4-1 approach. Other teams like D.C. United (the last MLS Cup winner to eschew a 4-4-2 back in 2004) and New England used a 3-5-2 setup during the last decade. One kick here or one slice of luck there would have broken the pattern.

Although the sequence of results does not establish omnipotence for one tactical setup over another preferred arrangement, it does reinforce the dominance of the 4-4-2 formation as a governing principle within league circles.

One look at the generally selected base formations – the primary setup chosen without regard for the tweaks that turn a 4-4-2 into a diamond 4-4-2, a so-called “empty bucket” 4-4-2, the en vogue 4-1-3-2 or whatever other variation is devised to create an advantage for a particular personnel group – shows how deeply MLS coaches prefer that particular formation.

Most common base formations selected by MLS teams in 2011

4-3-3: Sporting Kansas City, Toronto FC

4-4-2: Chicago, Chivas USA, Colorado, Columbus, D.C. United, Houston, Los Angeles, New England, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Real Salt Lake, San Jose, Seattle, Vancouver

4-1-4-1: FC Dallas

(Note: Breaking down the tactical differences between the 15 teams employing some form of a 4-4-2 represents another column or series of columns. Suffice it to say that MLS isn't as tactically bland as the breakdown of base formations suggests.)

The general absence of one-forward formations and the persistence of the 4-4-2 setup as an influential formation contradicts the current operating practices at the highest levels of the game. The intermittent quality of tactical and technical education provided at the youth and university levels explains some of the reluctance to shift in a different direction. Those foundational issues, however, do not mask some of the personnel constraints that play a significant role in the debate.

Many of the practical problems sprout from the absence of true number nines. MLS clubs acquire and deploy plenty of forwards who can hit the back of the net at this level, but few of those strikers possess all of the traits required to operate alone up front. In an ideal world, a lone forward possesses the following attributes: (1) the finishing touch to polish off buildup play, (2) the physique to occupy two central defenders and win aerial battles, (3) the technical ability to facilitate play in the middle third and (4) the turn of pace to present some threat to get in behind defense.

Most of the players who tick many, if not all, of those boxes ply their trade in a league with higher wages. Occasionally, the right player can make such a system work – Toronto FC's Danny Koevermans offers a decent example without the pace as the central figure in Aron Winter's 4-3-3 setup – under the right circumstances in MLS, but those players are hard to locate. Complementing those suitable choices with the right mix of creativity and service from midfield creates another series of issues and underscores the difficulty of implementing a different approach.

(Note: The pervasiveness of the 4-4-2 at the domestic level could also explain a portion of the consternation encountered by Jurgen Klinsmann as he installs his 4-1-4-1 formation with the U.S. national team. Previous managers Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley leaned on a 4-4-2 setup for much of their tenures. Their reliance on the familiar formation drew howls from Americans craving a bit more tactical diversity, but it also made use of the common and shared experience of that formation within a player pool primarily cultivated in MLS and subsequently shipped off to Europe. As the performances during Klinsmann's tenure indicate, he faces more pressing and significant issues in terms of the suitability of his approach to this player pool and his overall team selection. But do not discount the dearth of collective knowledge within the group about this tactical shift and its impact on the situation.)

FC Dallas' struggles to find a competent operator for its lone forward role provide a recent example to illustrate why MLS coaches often prefer to play with two or more forwards up top.

FCD coach Schellas Hyndman tried several different potential choices up front without finding the right person for the job. Maykel Galindo never found his fitness and never looked comfortable operating alone when he did. Ruben Luna needed more experience before he could attempt to carry that burden on a regular basis.

Milton Rodriguez couldn't compete physically at this level any more. Maicon Santos fared well enough in FCD's generally tight build up play, but he didn't offer enough sharpness in front of goal. The situation deteriorated to the point where Hyndman chose the versatile Jackson to fill the breach during the waning stages of the season and hoped that the Brazilian's physical gifts and work rate would overcome his lack of polish as a forward.

Instead of wrangling with these personnel and selection quandaries like Hyndman did (in an effort to protect influential club captain Daniel Hernandez's deep-lying role in midfield), most MLS coaches dismiss them and opt for a variation on the tried and true 4-4-2 setup. Given the formation's track record of success in recent years and the problems presented by the alternatives, it is hard to quibble with their adherence to the status quo.

Heaps to be named as New England Head Coach

2011-11-15T06:14:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to Jay Heaps, who appears to be the new Head Coach of the New England Revolution.

The former Duke University and New England Revolution standout would succeeds Steve Nicol, as reported in the Boston Globe.

Last Wednesday, Revs president Brian Bilello revealed to MLSsoccer.com how the board had lined up 12 potential candidates and that they would be announcing a new manager sometime this week.

Bilello was insistent that New England would not rush into appointing someone, and that a thorough interview procedure would ensue.

“Throughout the head coaching search that I've been doing with Michael [Burns], we're not just looking at a guy and saying who is going to be the best coach,” Bilello said. “We're also understanding what we want to be as an organization and then applying it to the interview process.”

The Bleacher Report discusses the decision to hire Heaps as the top man in New England.

Continuing with a new trend in hiring ex-MLS players to coach their former teams—think Jason Kreis at Real Salt Lake and Ben Olsen at D.C. United—the Revolution ownership has chosen retired defender Jay Heaps to be the organization’s new head coach heading into the 2012 season.

Some fans may worry that Heaps doesn’t have any previous coaching experience. What he lacks in soccer coaching experience he makes up for in other areas.

For starters, Heaps who enjoyed a fine 10-year playing career (eight with New England), is one of the most popular and productive players in Revolution history. He’s first in the team’s record books in games played (243) and minutes played (21,619). He was the 1999 MLS Rookie of the Year with the Miami Fusion and he has been capped by the United States Men’s National team four times. He was a successful player at every level and knows what the players are going through.

He also has championship experience. He was a member of the U.S Open Cup champion team in 2007 and the SuperLiga champions in 2008. He was on the USMNT that finished second in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup and played for the Revs all four times the team made it to the MLS Cup final. He knows what it takes to be a champion, especially in the MLS, and that can go a long way in guys buying into what he has to tell them.

While he played for Nicol, who was a fine coach, he’s also been exposed to legendary coaching. While at Duke, Heaps was spotted by basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski—who tied an NCAA Division I record with 902 career wins on Saturday—and was given a spot on the team’s roster.

In four years he only played in 30 basketball games and scored eight points (compare that to 45 goals for the soccer team), but Heaps picked up a few valuable lessons from his time with the team.

Heaps acknowledged in an interview in 2008 that being one of the bottom guys on the bench helped him fully understand the true concept of what a team is.

“On the soccer field at Duke, I was the guy that played every minute of every game and was a player looked at to lead the team from a playing standpoint,” Heaps said. “Then I went to basketball, where I was probably the smallest guy on the team, one of the last guys off the bench, and I saw how you can still impact the greater good of the team no matter what your role might be.”

His time as a bench warmer makes him not only relatable to his lower-end players, but he knows how to get the most out of every player and keep everyone engaged in practice.

Heaps’ relationship with Coach K can also help guide him as he begins his own coaching career. During some of his offseasons, Heaps returned to Durham to spend time with Krzyzewski and his staff, observing the legend at work. While Krzyzewski coaches basketball and not soccer, and won’t be able to help Heaps with tactics, you don’t win 902 games (and counting) without having great leadership skills that transcend your sport.

It also should be mentioned that, for the past couple of seasons, Heaps has been the color commentator for Revolution games on television and radio. He has observed every game, seen not only the talent and flaws of the Revolution players but also witnessed first-hand the same qualities in every team in the league. He has stayed familiar with MLS and the Revolution and that should keep him sharp as well as allowing him to figure out what would be good player-acquisitions for his team.

Don’t take the notion that he’s a Revolution-lifer for nothing, either. The fact that he has played and worked for the organization shows a dedication to the team. He’s going to want this team to perform well for beyond just personal ones.

Some fans worry that hiring such a popular figure with little actual experience is just to make the fans forget about bigger issues inside the organization’s framework, but that isn’t Heaps fault. As far as being a leader and a coach, he should be up for the opportunity.

The Revolution team is a shell of its former self and Heaps doesn’t have a whole lot to work with, currently. It may be a rocky road to begin with, but there’s plenty of potential to turn this franchise around, and fans could very well be pleased with the results.

Arena named MLS Coach of the Year for record 3rd time

2011-11-15T05:59:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena was named MLS Coach of the Year for the third time, winning the 2011 award after leading the Galaxy to the Supporters Shield as the team with the best record in the MLS regular season. The Galaxy's 19-5-10 record was also the second best record in league history.

Arena, the first coach to win the MLS Coach of the Year award three times, won the award in 1997 when he led D.C. United to its second straight MLS title and in 2009 when he rebuilt the Galaxy, which finished second to Real Salt Lake.

Arena beat out Sigi Schmid (Seattle), Peter Vermes (Sporting KC), Peter Nowak (Philadelphia) and John Spencer (Portland) for the 2011 award.

MLS Coach of the Year Winners:
2011: Bruce Arena, LA Galaxy
2010: Schellas Hyndman, FC Dallas
2009: Bruce Arena, LA Galaxy
2008: Sigi Schmid, Columbus Crew
2007: Preki, Chivas USA
2006: Bob Bradley, Chivas USA
2005: Dominic Kinnear, San Jose Earthquakes
2004: Greg Andrulis, Columbus Crew
2003: Dave Sarachan, Chicago Fire
2002: Steve Nicol, New England Revolution
2001: Frank Yallop, San Jose Earthquakes
2000: Bob Gansler, Kansas City Wizards
1999: Sigi Schmid, Los Angeles Galaxy
1998: Bob Bradley, Chicago Fire
1997: Bruce Arena, D.C. United
1996: Thomas Rongen, Tampa Bay Mutiny

Kinnear & Arena chase MLS titles, and history

2011-11-14T06:35:00.001-08:00

As we approach the 2011 MLS Cup, the coaches of both teams come to the forefront of this tactical chess match. Both Dominic Kinnear of Houston and Bruce Arena of Los Angeles have been as successful as any other coaches in MLS history.

Jose De Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle writes of the managers who are attempting to become the first coach with three MLS championships in league history.

As he celebrated with players and coaches after winning the 2006 MLS Cup title, Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear's eyes filled with tears.

It was a strange sensation for a man more gruff than gentle, more prone to showing his players love with a biting joke than a hug.

Enjoying his first title as an MLS coach, Kinnear was overcome with bittersweet feelings. Still mourning the 2004 death of his mother, Mary, and the 2005 death of his father Hugh, he regretted not having them to share the moment.

Kinnear, 44, has come a long way since his parents died during his first two seasons as coach of the San Jose Earthquakes. On Nov. 20, he'll attempt to become the first coach in Major League Soccer to win three MLS Cup titles.

To do that, the Dynamo must beat the Los Angeles Galaxy to deny Bruce Arena his chance to become the league's first coach with three titles.

History will be made at Home Depot Center when Kinnear or Arena gets that third MLS title.

"There have been a lot of coaches that have had great success in the league's brief history," Arena said. "We're not talking about the Vince Lombardis and that kind of thing because we're still a league that's in its infancy. But in the short history of this league, certainly Dom is one of the most successful."

When considering the greatest coaches in the league's 16-year history, no list is complete without or Kinnear.

Berbatov praises Ferguson's man-management

2011-11-13T13:56:00.000-08:00

Dimitar Berbatov has praised Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson’s man-management style despite the striker struggling to break into the first team this season.

Berbatov, 30, has started one league game and his future at Old Trafford is far from certain with a year remaining on his contract.

But the former Bulgaria international, who signed from Tottenham Hotspur for £30m in 2008, still feels he has the support of Ferguson.

“The way he treats players is unbelievable,” said Berbatov. “Even when not playing or you’re injured, he’s still speaking with you and encouraging.

“He makes you feel special and lets you know your place in the team.”

Berbatov has fallen behind Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernández and Wayne Rooney in the United pecking order – but he is eager to fight for his place in side while taking on board Ferguson’s advice.

“Some players need to be pushed and others need to be talked to separately,” he said.

“For me, he just needs to come to me and tell me what to expect from the game and the training ground, then it is up to me to show I can play every game.”

And he also spoke of the inspiration he has drawn from the United manager, who celebrated is 25th year in charge at Old Trafford last Sunday, in team-talks before games.

“I cannot speak for other players, but it is always good when the manager comes to ask how you’re feeling and makes you feel calm before you play the game,” he added.

“For me, he knows how to motivate you and how to speak with you, about football or some issues you have outside of football.

“Just in the way he speaks with you in the team-talk – before important games he can make you feel like it’s the last game you’ll play in your life, so you go out there and want to give everything you have.

“It’s great – you just need to be there to see it.”

34-game schedule announced for MLS in 2012

2011-11-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

MLS Commissioner Don Garber confirmed on Thursday that the league would, in fact, go to an unbalanced, 34-game schedule in 2012.

SB Nation Soccer had first reported this likelihood back in September when teams first started to release season-ticket packages and multiple league officials anonymously confirmed that an unbalanced schedule was the plan.

For the last two years, MLS teams have played two games against every other league opponent. Next year will mark the first time in the league's history that each team will not both host and visit every other team at least once. With the Montreal Impact giving MLS 19 teams, Garber said further expanding the schedule would have been extremely difficult.

"It’s simple math: 389 games would almost be impossible for us to execute with the other competitions we’re required to play, the weather issues we have … the challenges in a handful of markets, the FIFA dates," he said. "All the thing we have to do differently in the United States from a competitive standpoint, just the travel impact that exists in our country."

Part of the problem may be that Garber's math is not exactly up to snuff. With 19 teams playing a balanced schedule and following the same playoff format, the league would actually have to play 355 games. In fact, the only way the league would have to play exactly 389 games is if they played a balanced schedule with 20 teams and then cut four games out of the playoffs.

Garber did not reveal much about the format of this 19-team, 34-game schedule, but he did allude to the possibility of it featuring more in-conference games. One scenario could involve every team playing three games against in-conference opponents. That would have the added benefit of limiting cross-country plane trips, as Garber noted the Vancouver Whitecaps had to travel more than 60,000 miles this year.

"The more games we add, the more travel for our players and reduces the quality of our play," Garber said.

Guardiola suggests playing career is not necessary to become good trainer

2011-11-11T02:39:00.000-08:00

In regards to the notion of needing to have had a successful playing career to be a manager, Arrigo Sacchi coined the phrase "you didn't need to be a horse to be a jockey".

Pep Guardiola had a standout playing career for Barcelona prior to becoming their manager, but he agrees with the fact that a career as a player is not a requirement to being a successful coach - using Jose Mourinho as an example.

"It is not necessary to have played football to become a great coach," he is quoted by AS as saying. "Arrigo Sacchi changed this sport without having played and Jose Mourinho is probably the best coach in the world. Having been in a dressing room gives you advantages in certain situations, but not having been in one also gives you other advantages."

The 40-year-old Guardiola took charge of the Catalan side's senior squad in 2008, with his 12 titles conquered to date making him the most successful coach in the history of the club.

Despite enjoying success as a midfielder in the '90s, Guardiola stressed that a career as a player is not a requirement to be a successful trainer, giving the example of the man on the bench at Santiago Bernabeu.

MLS evolving at a rapid rate

2011-11-11T02:24:00.000-08:00

Seattle Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer is delighted with the rate of growth within Major League Soccer.

The North American domestic league has been going from strength to strength both on and off the pitch in recent years and Hanauer is ‘thrilled’ with how things are fairing in MLS.

"To repeat the words of the MLS president, Mark Abbott, who I've been friends with for a lot of years, this is an evolution, not a revolution,” he told the Seattle Times.

“I'm thrilled about the way the league is evolving. The weaker teams are getting stronger from a financial and foundational standpoint. The stronger teams are continuing to thrive.

“Attendance was obviously very strong this past year. The new franchises are exceeding everybody's expectations.

“TV viewership, albeit starting at a fairly low number, is growing, which is critical for us. Relevance of the MLS teams in their home markets is growing. (Media coverage) and whether it's sports radio paying more attention, ESPN putting goals in their Top 10, all that stuff (helps).”

Schmid: MLS in good shape

2011-11-09T07:20:00.000-08:00

Sigi Schmid feels the current state of Major League Soccer is very strong and is confident that the momentum is starting to shift the way of American players.

The Seattle Sounders coach has been involved with the North American domestic league since the late 1990s and has seen a vast improvement over the past decade or so and he says that things are heading in the right direction with a 19th franchise coming in next season among other factors.

"I think the league's good. I think the state of the league's good. I think the quality of play is up, as well,” he said.

“I talked to somebody in regards to a national team coach, just saying how guys playing in the US don't get as much respect as the guy playing in Argentina or the guy playing in Spain does, but it's changing. It's definitely changing and I think that's a good thing for our league.

“I think our league is starting to get more respect from other countries and hopefully from national team coaches, even Ireland and (coach Giovanni) Trapattoni realizing that (Robbie) Keane's form isn't suffering because he's playing in LA.

“I think those are all things important for our league's respect. I think the league's in good position right now. Montreal comes in next year.

“We wish it would be 20 right away so we wouldn't have an uneven schedule but I think this was a good year for the league overall and a good stride forward for the sport of soccer.

“I'm not (MLS Commissioner) Don Garber - he's the one that can address the state of the union, which he will do, I'm sure, in two weeks – but from what I see in my years in the league I think we're in a good place."

UCSB leads rise in college soccer attendance

2011-11-09T06:33:00.000-08:00

Soccer America reports on the rising attendance in college soccer, lead by the University of California Santa Barbara.

UC Santa Barbara drew 13,822 fans, the largest crowd of the season and second largest crowd ever for an on-campus regular-season game, for its 2-0 win over Cal Poly.

UCSB, which has led the nation in attendance for five straight years, is averaging 5,375 fans a game at Harder Stadium in 2011.

In 2010, a record 15,896 fans watched UCSB-UCLA at Harder Stadium. The Gauchos own the three highest attended on-campus games in NCAA history and four of the top five.

-- No. 1 New Mexico drew the highest regular-season crowd ever at the UNM Soccer Complex as 5,284 fans watched the unbeaten Lobos beat UNLV, 3-0. New Mexico has averaged 4,400 fans for its last five games.

2011 Top Men's Crowds

13,822 1. UC Santa Barbara-Cal Poly
13,772 2. UC Santa Barbara-San Diego
11,075 3. Cal Poly-UC Santa Barbara
7,957 4. Maryland-Duke
7,821 5. Louisville-UCLA
7,423 6. Clemson-South Carolina
7,178 7. Maryland-Stanford
5,819 8. Akron-Ohio State
5,648 9. Maryland-Creighton
5,568 10. Saint Louis-Missouri State

Park praises Ferguson

2011-11-09T06:31:00.000-08:00

Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-Sung has lavished praise on manager Sir Alex Ferguson for his ability to stay at the top of his game after 25 years in control at the Premier League giants.

"He knows past and present things about football," the former South Korea international told the club’s official website.

"He knows how things have changed in 25 years and he’s able to keep a high quality of football, so that’s why he’s enjoying it.

"Nobody can have that kind of experience. Some people might have five or 10 years in a job; he’s got 25 years here so he knows how things have changed and he can succeed in the future as well.”

Park added: “It’s something that only he’s got."

The 30-year-old also believes that Sir Alex’s man-management ability is what sets him apart from his peers and is always one of the main reason why he been so successful over the years.

"He knows how to encourage the players and use the players," Park said.

"Managers now don’t just use 11 players, they have to care about all the squad of 25 or more players.

“He can’t make everyone happy because only 11 players play, but the other players have to give 100 per cent of themselves for the club, and he can make them do that. That’s a great ability of his."

Building teams in business are similar to building teams in sport

2011-11-09T06:25:00.001-08:00

I have found over the past couple of years that the top coaches and managers of young men are not only able to prepare them to play in a match that week, but to also have the foresight to be able to prepare them for their future beyond soccer.

Being able to relate the lessons learned in training or in games to a bigger picture is essential for a coach to be successful, because the reality is that where they may be a soccer player for 90 minutes, they are a young man, student-athlete, and aspiring husband or father for the other 22 1/2 hours of the day.

Amanda Dennis, who works in the hotel industry, wrote a great article about relating the ideas and concepts of building a team in her industry with building a team in soccer.

A couple of weeks ago, after a particularly competitive game, it occurred to me that soccer has a whole lot in common with business. So I interviewed Spencer Ward, coach of the Colorado Real U16 girl's Athletico team, to get his take. A native of the UK, Spencer started playing soccer there when he was 6, progressed to Academy Level soccer (we know it as semi-pro) and then to coaching both boy and girls teams while pursuing a successful commercial real estate career. And to my surprise, Spencer shared with me that he consciously developed his coaching style to reflect business strategies that he has learned and integrated over the years. "Most of the kids I coach will not make it to pro ranks as the competitive expectations are extremely high," he said. "It's important to me to teach concepts that they can use as they grow and mature, not only on the soccer field, but more importantly, in real life."

The United States Youth Soccer Association celebrated its 37th Anniversary this year. According to its website, youth soccer grew from 100,000 players in 1974 to 1-million players in the early 90's. Today, US Youth Soccer registers over 3.2-million players annually, ranging from ages 5-19. No doubt, many members of today's hotel sales teams played soccer when they were younger. And if they had a coach like Spencer Ward, then they have been subliminally exposed to basic business principles as early as kindergarten. How can we leverage those early coaching strategies to our benefit when assembling an invincible hotel sales team? I asked Spencer to collaborate on a list that will help give you a competitive advantage.

1. Building a team. Spencer and I spent much more time discussing the importance of building a good team than we did discussing winning and losing. A team may be a group, but a group is not necessarily a team. According to Barbee Davis, "Teams normally have members with complementary skills and generate synergy through a coordinated effort which allows each member to maximize his/her strengths and minimize his/her weaknesses. Team members need to learn how to help one another, help other team members realize their true potential, and create an environment that allows everyone to go beyond their limitations." Spencer emphasized the fact each team member brings a different dynamic to the group. "It's the coach's responsibility to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of each individual, both physically and mentally, and then to place them in the right positions to succeed." According to the position played, some players get the ball less often than others, yet each team member is vitally important to the execution of the play. A well-rounded team has bench strength acquired through targeted development of alternate players with an objective of seamless substitution.

2. Practice. Vince Lombardi, the revered Green Bay Packer coach, believed that "Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect." Spencer agrees. He says that "practice, along with training and fitness" are vital components in determining whether a team can compete at its highest level. And part of that responsibility lies with the team player himself. Spencer wants players that are "full time, full on, learning all the time." Scheduled practices are just one element of preparation. The players themselves must also commit to maintain their fitness level, to take advantage of additional training opportunities and to devote time to practice outside the regular schedule. Planned practices enable a team to work on drills as well as mental and physical conditioning. Individual practices allow a player to focus more on improving his own individual performance, thereby becoming a more valuable asset to the team. How does this work with a hotel sales team? Provide practice and training sessions for them by incorporating continuing education and role-playing as part of your weekly sales meetings. And encourage them to pursue independent study through webinars and other online educational venues.

3. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. A healthy dose of respect is essential. Spencer discussed how having respect for each other as well as for the competition, officials, coaches and parents creates a well-rounded, mentally strong player. "You don't have to like someone you work with or for, but you have to respect them," Spencer said with emphasis, noting that "professional etiquette" is high on his list of must-haves. And for Spencer, if the respect isn't there, "then you need to move on." Respecting others often leads to enhanced self-esteem, as the player learns how to be confident, worthy, successful, and admirable…without excessive arrogance.

4. Communication. In soccer, Spencer wants his players to concentrate on building mental muscle as well as physical prowess. Soccer is more about finesse than power and communication among the players is essential for the perfect execution of a play. Hustling, energetic play is very important on both offense and defense. Each player has a role: the defenders, the mids, and the strikers. Talking is easy; communication requires a higher skill level. Why? It includes listening. And most people are just better talkers than listeners (especially 16-year-old girls and salespeople). Remembering to communicate in the heat of battle can be darn near impossible. If the team understands that active listening is a vital part of communication, then you're well on your way to success.

5. Measurement. Some things stand out in a person's mind and Paul Sistare's focus on measurement is one of those for me. Paul's message as president of the management company he led (and my former boss) was consistent, "If it can be measured, it can be achieved." Not everyone is comfortable with this type of scrutiny. Why measure? Numbers help us move from subjective analysis to objective analysis, defining performance and making reality more visible. It's up to the coach to collect and interpret both team and individual stats relevant to the team's performance. With proper communication and mutual feedback, this knowledge helps individuals, teams, and the entire organization grow in the right direction. Additionally, it allows the coach to avert crisis management through the deployment of proactive instead of reactive strategies.

6. Strategy. The formula for success includes both long-term and short-term strategies. All too frequently, however, short-term tactics hip-check long term strategies, resulting in…you guessed it…a perpetual state of crisis management (see #5). The objective of short-term strategies and tactics should always be compatible with the long-term vision. Listen to the coach, "In soccer, the kick on goal for a score is just the culmination of a play that started with the first move on the ball. It's all about the development of the play." A sound strategic foundation, and a commitment to it, is essential to meeting your objectives and achieving success. Making it up as you go along just won't cut it in today's competitive market.

7. Risk-Taking. If you don't take risks, then prepare to be average. And that's okay for some people. Just not for members of an invincible team. In soccer, many of the most aggressive, risk-taking players frequently get yellow-carded. Some coaches actually incorporate it into their game plan. My niece, Amanda Dawson, is one of those players. I asked her how she felt about taking a risk. "I play at an equal or greater level of aggression than my opponent. And if that results in getting a yellow card, so be it. I'm willing to take that risk to get ahead in the game." I couldn't have said it better myself. The key here is in managing the risk in order to reduce the fear. People are innately either risk tolerant or risk-averse, but we face risk in some form or another every single day. Billy Shankly, the legendary Liverpool FC manager said, "If a player isn't interfering with play or seeking to gain an advantage, then he should be!" Taking a risk requires mental toughness. A risk-taker must be able to shrug off mistakes, bad breaks, taunts and lousy calls during the course of a game. Dwelling on them is a mental faux pas. Teach your players how to be brave, tough and aggressive and prepare yourself for the end result. If you're not allowed to fail, then how do you know when you're succeeding?

8. Return on Investment. In competitive soccer, parents make a substantial financial investment and Spencer feels compelled to ensure that they are receiving a return. ROI is the extent to which the benefits exceed the costs and some elements of measurement are subjective. I went to the experts (team parents) for clarification. "First and foremost, I want to know that Amanda is having fun while playing and that her passion for the game is fueled by her experiences on the field, " says Mary Dawson. "Next, I measure how effectively she applies what she has learned from competing at this level to her everyday experiences. Ultimately, how she deals with inconsistent referee calls, team dynamics and the inevitable politics of the managing club reflects how Amanda will handle her school work, her personal life and, eventually, her professional life." In Mary's opinion, it's paying off. Sue Plummer commented on the risk vs. return as it relates to injury. "Though some parents whose kids are playing at the highest competitive level may see the investment going toward a potential college scholarship, they have to face the fact of injury and possibly the end of their child's playing career." Personally, Sue was most focused on the investment return directly impacting her daughter, Jenny. "Soccer keeps her fitter and she has developed a ferocious work ethic and discipline, mainly due to understanding that the most rewarding things are those that are the most challenging." Sue affirms the "life lessons" ROI, adding that Jenny has learned that "life is not always fair and I can only control what I do, not what others do." Companies make financial investments in employees from the day they start the search to fill a position. Recruitment costs, base salary, taxes and benefits, office space and equipment, orientation and training all add up to significant dollars. If turnover is high, these dollars go right into the "red" column. Choosing the right person for the job has real fiscal implications. We measure the financial investment in our sales team in concrete ways like room night production and revenue growth. Still, the intangibles must be considered: Are they having fun? Is the team in demand (market value)? Are both personal and team objectives being achieved? Do they have the opportunity for professional and personal growth?

9. Coaching. Each player is different and coaching styles must vary. There is no better tool for improving performance than understanding and ministering to an individual player's needs. What makes a good coach? First and foremost, knowledge of the game, from basic skills to more advanced theory, plus the ability to clearly and effectively communicate that knowledge to the players. Next, staying up-to-date on the latest innovations. A great coach listens with an open mind to new ideas from peers to players and he motivates behind a positive attitude and enthusiasm for the game. The best coaches focus on performance goals, not outcome goals. According to Spencer, most coaching manifestos don't even mention winning. And win or lose, a great coach acknowledges the successes as well as the failures. As a leader, a coach must be prepared to be a disciplinarian, setting up rules and taking action when the rules are compromised. Above all, the coach must set a good example. Inevitably, the players mirror the coach.

10. Game Plan. Coaches start each season with a playbook, much like a hotel's business plan. A playbook contains scripted plays designed by the coaches to maximize their team's competitive advantage. The hotel's playbook is its business plan which also includes the budget, marketing plan staffing guidelines and capital expenditure plan. Once the playbook is complete, a game plan is developed for each week's opponent. Coaches reach into the playbook to extract the plays (strategies) that give them the best chance to win the game. In a hotel, segment strategies are like game plans. Each should have a clear message, measurable objectives, a focused plan of attack and realistic, achievable expectations tied to the hotel's budget.

Is your sales team invincible? In today's leaner workforce, we are all expected to do more with less…a time when "invincibles" really shine and their impact is felt company-wide. Don't expect them to just show up on your doorstep, however. They are in high demand and must be pursued; once hired, nurtured. "Invincibles" are strong, positive, vocal…visionaries who can see the big picture and motivate others. They are our future leaders. So to end, I turn once again to Billy Shankly, "I want to build a team that's invincible, so that they have to send a team from bloody Mars to beat us!" Amen, Billy.

Vermes stands out in elite group of MLS coaches in 2011

2011-11-09T06:15:00.000-08:00

Ives Galarcep writes of why Peter Vermes stands out among an elite list of top coaches in Major League Soccer this season.

While it certainly can’t be argued that standout coaches Bruce Arena, Sigi Schmid and Jason Kreis didn’t once again show why they are some of the best coaches in MLS, and among the best in league history, but in terms of helping a team reach new heights and helping multiple players enjoy breakout seasons, it’s tough to argue with Vermes as the MLS Coach of the Year.

Vermes had to navigate a young team through the struggles of an 11-match road trip to start the season, and not only did KC recover, but the same team that missed the playoffs in 2010 finished in first place in the Eastern Conference in 2011. The squad did so on the strength of a core of young players who had breakout seasons, including Matt Besler, Chance Myers, Graham Zusi and Rookie of the Year C.J. Sapong.

Honorable Mention- Sigi Schmid deserves special credit for helping the Sounders compete on three fronts and succeed at them, all despite having lost Steve Zakuani early in the season. Seattle won a third straight U.S. Open Cup and qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. The Galaxy was the strongest team in MLS coming into the season so Bruce Arena’s coaching efforts in 2011 might not get the credit he deserves, but to win a Supporters Shield and qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League out of the toughest group in the tournament, definitely deserves consideration.

Congratulations to Vermes and Sporting Kansas City on an exciting season.