Talking Bob Bradley, Soccer America Magazine and wise old hands

A few words on sorting out the nutrient rich analysis from the empty calorie reporting

I generally don’t subscribe to "good old days syndrome." In fact, I have zero tolerance for it. This tedious notion that all things were bright and gay back in the day is as wrong as the Hummer. And that’s a lot of "wrong."

Some things are better now. Some things were better then. That’s about it.

From the file of "better then," I do bring you this today: Among the lost artifacts from soccer in another day here is the cultured writing from Soccer America Magazine. (I use the word "artifact" intentionally to poke at my friends on the writing staff there. Hee-hee.)

The wise reporters at Soccer America got caught in the ongoing medium shuffle, so their voice in the American soccer market shrank. And that’s a darn shame. Because these guys, Ridge Mahoney in particular, know domestic soccer the way Abercrombie knows Fitch. They know the characters and they understand the historical context of it all.

Having experienced voices around is critical, because they can spot the trap doors and low-hanging branches that can trip us or conk our noggins along the way. (Could some wiser hands on watch have prevented last week’s rumor explosion over Bob Bradley’s status?)

Speaking of which: check out this piece from Mahoney concerning Bradley and his, ahem, "impending" move overseas. I’ve been thinking about writing something along these lines. But Ridge did it better than I could, so I’ll just point his direction, put up me feet and have another cup of strong coffee.

Before Mahoney gets to the meat of the employment sandwich, he sets the record straight on Bradley's selections for last week's friendly. Sure enough, it would have done nobody around U.S. Soccer any good at all to feed a bunch of American youngsters to the hungry Brazilian lions.  So, enough of that.

As for Bradley's future: Long story short, if you think Bradley is on the fast track to employment in England or elsewhere in the ETO, you probably don’t know your history in these matters very well. 

While you’re at it, and since Freddy Adu remains a popular search engine target (and presumably someone that domestic fans still retain some hope for), check out Mike Woitalla’s educated review of the entire Adu affair.  And if you’re interested in youth soccer (this is one I’ve mentioned before) then Woitalla’s contributions to the continuing youth series is absolutely essential reading.

Finally, one of the foremost voices in soccer here for four decades still has something to say. Paul Gardner, named last week as the recipient of the 2010 Colin Jose Media Award by the National Soccer Hall of Fame, may have lost his place atop the media totem poll in domestic soccer, but his opinions remain well articulated and rooted in sound historical context. Want to read a good take on last week's curiously tame effort from U.S. players (those same players usually renown for their scrappiness)? Here's one from Gardner. He says Bradley has been put in a bad position, where he's already a lame duck, and that it's reflected in the players' effort.    

Good writing and sound analysis on the American soccer scene is out there, at Soccer America and plenty of other sites big and small. Sometimes you just have to work a little harder to find it now, sorting out the "contenders from the pretenders" along the way.