Posts

Considering a Unified Men's Washington Soccer System

Back in the day, during a different era of my life, I floated the idea of covering minor league sports for the  Eli Sports Network . I pitched the passionate soccer fanbase in Seattle, both on the playing (have you seen the sub board lately?) and supporting (Sounders going strong on attendance) fronts. I figured I'd write about the Tacoma Defiance and dig into the various semi-pro teams I'd heard of over the years. I might as well have dug into the Guatemalan rainforest , such was the complex network of leagues I discovered. Under the Defiance, I found rumors of a Spokane USL team (now the Velocity); whispers of a western Washington USL2 team (now Ballard FC, plus Oly-Town Artisans moved up); leagues like the Western Washington Premier League, the Evergreen Premier League Washington, the National Premier Soccer League, and the United Premier Soccer League; tournaments like the Washington State Super Cup, the All Nations Cup, and more; a bustling indoor soccer scene; and indepen
Post a Comment
Read more

The World Cup Survival Tracker

Image
The World Cup qualifying process is broken . FIFA (and the broader world) may not yet recognize this, and until they do, we're saddled with a cumbersome process that eliminates its first team (Guam or Singapore) today (10/16/23 Pacific time) and its last team in March, 2026. That's absurd, and please, check out my post (linked above) explaining how I'd conduct qualifying if I could mold it. Alas, FIFA bloats on.  With that in mind, I've decided to approach the rapidly spreading oil spill that is qualifying differently this year. In the past, I, like most, have focused on who qualifies. But really, in a contest where 208 teams will compress to 45 (plus the three host nations; can't wait for the six host nations of 2030), qualifying is more about surviving a series of cuts than actually winning anything. Sure, a few teams will land in do-or-die playoffs, but most will stave off elimination as long as possible until they receive their official invite to North America.
Post a Comment
Read more