Memo Ochoa hopes to lead Club America to a title Mexico’s Clausura (this season named Torneo Bicentenario, in celebration of Mexico’s Bicentennial) kicked off last weekend, and something strange happened. Something that hadn’t happened since matchday 6 of the 2007 Apertura. The Big four (America, Cruz Azul, Guadalajara and Pumas) all won. Just the fact…
Report: Jack Warner Kited World Cup Tix Through Black Market Dealer
According to a report from Dagbladet, a daily newspaper in Norway, CONCACAF and Caribbean Football Union President and FIFA Vice President Jack Warner SOLD LARGE QUANTITIES OF WORLD CUP 2010 MATCH TICKETS to what is being described as "one of the worlds' biggest black market companies". The report (for which I am indebted to BigSoccer…
And the World Cup winner is….
The 2010 FIFA World Cup winner is? Spain (or maybe the Netherlands). /www.bigsoccer.com/forum/images/smilies/tongue.gif[/img]>/www.bigsoccer.com/forum/images/smilies/tongue.gif[/img]> At least that’s what Paul the Octopus, the World Cup’s unlikeliest star, has predicted today. For those of you who don’t know who Paul is, he’s an Octopus in Oberhausen’s Sea Life Aquarium in Germany, and has so far successfully ‘predicted’ the…
If You Have a Structured Settlement But You Need Cash Now
I wish someone would explain to me why David Beckham is so determined to go someplace on loan – at the moment it appears he's HEADED TO SPURS – for the next couple of months? (The Brits are calling this a "shock" move, as if there's one damned thing the man or his wife could…
Mexican Primera Poised for a Wild Finish
Over the past 8 matchdays, the teams in the Mexican Apertura have treated the spot atop the table like a papita caliente. Only one team, Jaguares, has managed to stay there for more than one week. The others haven’t even had time to enjoy their cafecitos at the top of the mountain before they are…
Finished Business
An old friend of mine who has spent a good deal of his life – not to mention a good deal of his money – on promoting soccer in the US (among other things he owned a USL/USISL Pro team about which the less said the better) has a theory about the real – as…
The trend-setting Barney Kempton
Who is Barney Kempton? Not somebody very many Big Soccer readers are familiar with. Not somebody I'm especially familiar with, for that matter, although I have skimmed past his name on lists of Hall of Famers hundreds of times. He is not one of the more prominent Hall of Famers, even though he was part…
Buddle Fever: Catch It, PLUS: Deuce is Ready
So what did we learn today against a game but, honestly, unspectacular Socceroo side? Deuce don't take no crap. Findlay may not be entirely ready for prime time: Edson Buddle continues make a hell of a case for himself: And Bob Bradley continues to confound everyone with choices that, to us mere…
Coming up on "Sick Sad World"
(I don't care HOW old this makes me look. I'm doing this. Blame the MLS Facebook caption contest.) This is my stop Have to get off I might go pop Excuse me. EXCUSE ME! I've got to be direct If I'm wrong please correct You're standing on my neck You're standing on my neck La…
MLS: Take the skinheads bowling
I realize it was several weeks ago now, but I'm still irritated by Vice Sports' nonsensical coverage of the "ultras" clash in front of a pub in New Jersey. The actual incident, of course, would have been dignified with the Yakety Sax soundtrack. If it were the Sharks and Jets, Sondheim would have told them…