
Some quick thoughts to take the edge off your case of the Tuesdays or just brighten your week if you didn’t have the luxury of having yesterday off to consider the merit of presidents past, present and future (pictured today is blog favorite John Tyler, who some historians believe wore the 10 kit before becoming the tenth president):
A few weeks ago after the first friendly of 2012, U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said he wanted to see more Americans in the UEFA Champions League. It would be awesome to get more Americans in Champions League and not just from a development standpoint. This one’s a pretty simple equation. We all love watching Americans play at the highest level. We all love watching UCL matches in the middle of the day. Americans+UCL=Amazing results. Plus it will continue to boost interest in the sport among the general sporting public.
Look at the Dempsey vs. Donovan (+Howard) hype that surrounded the FA Cup Fourth Round match between Fulham and Everton a few weeks ago. It didn’t hurt that it was basically the country’s three best players, but pit two Americans against each other and you’ve got a minute-long highlight on SportsCenter and coverage on all the major sites. Beautiful.
The Champions League Round of 16 matches not competing against each other is fantastic. As I mentioned, the UEFA Champions League makes for pretty solid viewing, but in the past it’s been tough to actually…view…all the matches since they’re played at the same time. Unfortunately, it still will be, but last week and this week we’ve had the pleasure of having matches in Russia. Moscow and Saint Petersburg are both four full hours ahead of London and company, so the matches are played back to back. (more…)