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About Steve Davis
I started writing about soccer in the early 1990s at The Dallas Morning News — when covering the sport for a major U.S. daily was a career killer in the eyes of baseball-centric editors. But such parochial attitudes helped crush the newspaper industry, I’ve moved on and, well, here we are.
In a fabulously lucky life, I’ve written about four World Cups, countless U.S. qualifiers, more MLS matches than I can possibly remember and everything else attached to domestic soccer.
Now I write for ESPN.com and MLSnet.com in addition to doting on this blog. And I stay attached to the rest of the world with regular work for several national (non-soccer) magazines.
Contact me directly at BigTexSoccer [at] yahoo [dot] com
Cheers, y’all
Everton fans love them some Landon Donovan
by Steve Davis on Mar 10, 2010 9:03 PM EST
2 comments
LIVERPOOL,
Our little soccer party moved up north from
But they do love them some Landon Donovan around the old and somewhat dank Goodison grounds.
Even for a cynical journalist – “That glass is half empty, I tell ya!” – seeing the affection for Landon Donovan was moving. I know it’s a little late, and you may have heard the tale of Sunday’s appearance at Goodison, so I’ll be brief.
As they announced the subs prior to kickoff, the round of applause for Donovan was louder than it was for some of the starters. As he came on late, the cheers were loud and surely earnest. As he blazed a ball into the hapless
Then came the chants. “
It happened again as he set up Everton’s final goal in the 5-1 win. And then at the final whistle, as he took a short little walk to clap for the fans, the “
Remember, these aren’t just Everton fans. Presumably, they are
Such is the affection for a guy who earned the admiration and respect quite quickly, not only by fans but by teammates, too. None of them had a bad word to say, and all talked of hopeful efforts to keep the American attacker around Goodison a little while longer.
2 comments | 0 recs
A day at Fulham; I defend the 0-0 tie
by Steve Davis on Mar 8, 2010 4:29 AM EST
8 comments
Also file under: Something to email your jackhole friend who likes to make fun of soccer
I know that the scoreless draw is frequently a punch line, a slow-moving target for unoriginal people who like to make fun of soccer. Ever notice that this (thankfully shrinking) lot is stocked with the same lame-o douches who, in high school, thought they were funny, but really were just boors who made cliché jokes at someone else’s expense? Either that, or they’re just one of these sad, scared simpletons who see soccer’s advance up the American culture food change as a metaphor for a world that’s changing and passing them by. But I’ll stay on point here …
Here’s what the grandstanding dillyweeds don’t get about soccer – but somehow seem to understand about a low-scoring, riveting pitcher’s duel in baseball: the 0-0 draw is equally riveting, so long as something is truly at stake.
To wit: yesterday’s match at Craven Cottage truly meant something to Cottagers fans. Fulham, as many of you know but some may not, is hardly one of
This year, Fulham has done well enough to stay above relegation peril. Generally, the fight to remain in
On the other hand, Fulham won’t challenge for one of
There’s one huge exception: the FA Cup. The esteemed all-comers tourney has lost a little sheen lately, but it remains a valuable, storied trophy in
8 comments | 0 recs
The halftime beer rush: part of the English football experience
by Steve Davis on Mar 7, 2010 8:19 AM EST
23 comments
LONDON,
There is a distinction: “Proper fans” understand how to watch a match. “Visitors” frequently do not, God love ‘em.
The proper way to watch a match that lasts just 90 minutes is, of course, to take your seat, turn your gaze toward the field and actually absorb what’s happening in front of you. Leave all the boozin’, babe watching and buffet bustin’ for the before, the halftime and the after. Not necessarily in that order.
The rows, seats and aisles in the
Well, here’s the other side of it, the one advantage to being a “visitor” rather than “supporter”: the mad, Benny Hill-type halftime rush at the venerable
Our little group went to Fulham’s Craven Cottage on Saturday. (I’ll post just a bit more on the match itself later.) My friend – who will now be known as American John due to a nice man we met before the game at the pub – lives nearby and is a Cottagers’ season ticket holder. So he hits the Golden Lion, the unofficially official supporters’ pub I suppose, before matches. We had one there (but declined the mercilessly overcooked burger, as we’ve been here before.)
23 comments | 0 recs
Greetings from London Heathrow ... fantastic soccer ahead
by Steve Davis on Mar 6, 2010 5:50 AM EST
7 comments
Let’s see: good beer at great pubs, fantastic soccer, betting at the matches, spectacular atmosphere, ear-pleasing accents and a chilly day that just won’t make way for the sun … yep, I must be in England!
Greetings from London Heathrow, where the annual extended-weekend soccer trip is beginning in quite inglorious fashion, at a dank airport coffee shop while my girlfriend waits for her AWOL bag.
Ordinarily, it wouldn’t matter. She’s a global traveler and she’s dealt with worse. But since her cold-weather gear is packed away, and since we’ll be at Craven Cottage in a few hours for Fulham’s FA Cup match against Spurs, she needs that damn bag!
I’ve sat in plenty of
We’re meeting up with friends today. Tomorrow we meet up with others at
I take this trip once a year, usually with my boyz. Yeah, I spell it with a “z” … because that’s the kind of silliness that ensues on those trips. Lots of pull my finger and other shenanigans that remind us once and for all: there’s a 12-year old tucked not too far inside every male of the species. Anyway, this one will be a little more tame since the Queen Fixer is about. Either way, I’ll tell you all about it … well, most of it.
(By the way, if you’re local and you know where the Daily Soccer Fix HQ is located … don’t get any ideas about raiding the residence. The border collie is too smart for her own good, but she’d fold pretty quick in a fight. The Rottie mix, he’s beefy, but he’s generally a sweet dog and you might even talk your way past him. But the Great Dane … she’s crazy as an outhouse rat, and the warrior spirit is strong in that one. If you’re lucky she’ll just eat your junk as a snack and leave the rest of you intact. That’s IF you get off light.)
7 comments | 0 recs
Talking Stuart Holden's injury and bias behind the ref's whistle
by Steve Davis on Mar 4, 2010 2:51 PM EST
34 comments
If it weren’t for bad luck, the
Add poor Stuart Holden to the injury list, which was just starting to get back to a manageable place before the latest addition to the treatment table. Holden has a fracture in his right leg (courtesy of Nigel de Jong’s recklessness) that will keep him out six weeks. The emerging
Speaking of de Jong’s wayward tackle, I’ve got a thought on that. Click forth for said thought:
34 comments | 1 recs
Notes from the Netherlands-United States friendly in Amsterdam
by Steve Davis on Mar 3, 2010 5:34 PM EST
48 comments
Once again, we see that the
Was the
I know the product Wednesday in those new Nike blues wasn’t great, and I know the Dutch had better chances over 80 minutes. Still, a 2-1 loss to a side so stacked with midfield options that it can bring Real Madrid’s Rafael van der Vaart off the bench is hardly an awful night.
Click through for five thoughts on the match that will surely have you nodding your head in agreement:
48 comments | 0 recs
U.S.-Netherlands: a big night in Amsterdam awaits
by Steve Davis on Mar 2, 2010 4:20 PM EST
10 comments
Wednesday’s happenings at the Amsterdam ArenA will be worth watching for about 78 different reasons, but let’s be clear about this much:
It’s pretty late in the game, so to speak, for radical changes in the makeup of Bob Bradley’s
So, if you find yourself thinking about Wednesday's contest (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2) against the formidable Oranje, conquer any urge to initiate a sentence with the words, "We should try this ..."
Like I said, it's a little late for that now. Eleventh-hour gambits can only make things worse, believe it.
On the other hand, adjustments and tweaking can still be done. For instance, if the poor options currently available at forward prove too high a hurdle to overcome, Bradley has a couple of cards to play. The most likely adjustment at this point would be moving Landon Donovan into gap, beneath a target forward. That may be the best tact for getting the optimum amount of talent on the field, with DaMarcus Beasley or Jose Torres finding their way into the match along the left.
10 comments | 0 recs
Oh, Canada! ... Why can't you get your soccer act together?
by Steve Davis on Mar 1, 2010 11:17 AM EST
25 comments
When I was a wee lad, I saw hockey as soccer’s cousin. To broaden the metaphor, it was a likeable, if a little kooky cousin who lived in another state.
So hockey was an oddly cool sport. (Later, I had a falling out with hockey, the way families sometimes do, but let’s not get sidetracked here.)
Yesterday’s Gold Medal Olympic hockey game was terrific stuff. As my SB Nation brother Dave Clark said on Facebook, I just can’t get too upset over
Related to all this was this piece in today’s New York Times, helping to put in perspective how hockey is de facto religion for our northern neighbors. Obsession is clearly not too strong a word.
That got me thinking -- maybe this helps to answer one of my long-standing questions about
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