The deal covers 45 games. The majority of the games will be on cable, but NBC will broadcast two regular-season games and two playoff games as well as appearances by the U.S. men’s national team.

via latimes.com

I’m not sure if todays announcement by NBC adds credence to the growth of soccer in the States or if it’s just media companies muscling each other for broadcast rights. Either way, it seems to be a win for Major League Soccer.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber told Sports Business Daily:
“I’ve watched with envy what NBC has done for the NHL,” he said. “We hope NBC can do for soccer what they’ve been able to do for hockey.”

The US Men’s National Team suffered a sobering 4-2 defeat to Mexico in the Gold Cup Final on Saturday night. The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA was host to over 90k soccer fans.

The Good

• the first 20 minutes
• freddy adu
• national awareness of soccer

The Bad

• clunky, predicatable playing style
• tim howard
• defensive line

Do we need better players or a new strategy?

Says ESPN’s James Martin:

But the ease at which El Tri was able to get behind the U.S. back line with simple diagonal balls, you’d have thought they’d devised some revolutionary way to play the game. Does the U.S.’s inability to handle these types of basic situations come down to skill, or coaching, or both? These discussions wouldn’t have been front and center if the Americans had won. But they should be now. via ESPN

Right on. There was a point in the first half where we were up by two and yet continued to play like we were down a goal in the 90th minute. On first viewing, it was difficult to associate fault with a particular area of the team. Everyone was making mistakes and no one grabbed the game by the scruff. Where was the maturity in the side? For all this talk about an aging back line (Bocanegra age 32, Cherundulo 32, Gooch 29, Goodson 29) there was little cohesiveness or maturity shown.

Tim Howard’s Gripe

“CONCACAF should be ashamed of itself,” Howard told Yahoo! Sports. “I think it was an [expletive] disgrace that the entire post-match ceremony was held in Spanish. You can bet your [expletive] if we were in Mexico City it wouldn’t all be in English.” – Tim Howard via goal.com

Nobody will disagree with you, Tim. Nor does anyone really care about that at the moment.

The FIFA World Cup committee announced this week that Russia will be host to 2018 World Cup and Qatar will be host to the 2022 World Cup. With the the vast cultural and economic implications of hosting the world’s largest sporting event came responses both as varied as they were emotionally intense.

England delegates the blame, blames the delegates

England, whose diplomatic trio consisted of Prince William, Prime Minister David Cameron and David Beckham and boatloads of money over the past several years were spurned in the first round of voting by FIFA members. Britain’s FIFA VP Geoff Thomspon was quoted as saying “The votes that were promised clearly didn’t materialise. I never imagined we would go out in the first round.” via SoccernetJust two votes. A slap in the face after what was a sound and well-rounded bid package. C’mon Becks, I thought you had it all under control?

Japan offers live 3D holographic broadcasts, FIFA says nah

According to WSJ, Japan will not be eligible to host the World Cup until 2034. The Japanese had a much more restrained bid package and because they co-hosted the World Cup eight years ago with South Korea it seemed unlikely that they would be selected so soon. The major talking point with Japans bid, however, was a pitch to simulcast 3D holographic full field broadcasts to stadiums around the world. Yes, you heard right. Holograms. As engadget wrote “Did you get that, world? Japan was offering you 3D holographic full field broadcasts, and you just turned a cold shoulder.”

Japan’s world cup 2022 bid video

Chelsea start strong then sputter

Chelsea’s draw at home against a robust Everton squad brings their haul from the last six matches to a measly five points. Hardly the form you’d expect from last years Premier League winner and certainly not the form that will win the league again this year. There were moments in the first half where Chelsea looked strong, sharp, and threatening but they were not sustained for long. Everton were certainly the more dominant side in the match and proved their resiliance with an unrelenting second half onslaught. For a good part of the second half, the other half of Merseyside lofted cross after cross into the Chelsea penalty area. For the most part, The Blues stood back and anxiously chased the incoming missiles. The fans at Stamford Bridge, used to the attacking boot on the other foot, were none too pleased. By the end of the match, a weary Chelsea seemed anxious for the seven minutes of extra time to end. Their intent was quite clear: salvage the point before the next Everton push left them 2-1 down and pointless at home.

Ancelloti confused, Cech scarred

Chelsea boss Ancelloti said this after the game:

“We are working to play a different kind of football, and I don’t understand why we didn’t this evening do this. I think we have to understand why, I have to understand, and to change, so for these reasons I’m disappointed.”via Goal.com

One of the highlights during Everton’s second half bombardment was a Tim Cahill slide that left a beautiful boot mark on Petr Cech’s face. John Terry was understandably upset by the tackle and took Cahill by the scruff afterwards. Fortunately for Cahill, Terry’s a wanker and nobody really cares what he says. Cahill might have appeared less offending had he began his slide earlier but he definitely had the right to go for the ball. As Everton coach David Moye’s said “Just because Cech has a medical history, that doesn’t mean my player can’t go for the ball. If he hadn’t gone for it, I’d be wringing his neck.” (via Daily Mail)

Joe Cole signs for Liverpool on a free transfer

This week, the wait for Liverpool transfer news abruptly ended. First it was announced that Joe Cole had signed with the club on free transfer.  Apparently, it was the influence of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher during England’s World Cup run that convinced Cole, a longtime Londoner, to make the move up north.  Even more attractive than the polite pestering of the two England International’s was the aura of the “biggest club in the country” and their fabled pitch, Anfield:

“I thought about the Champions League semi in 2005 when I ran on to the field and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up,” said the ex-Chelsea star.

“I have played in London all my life. I could have stayed at Chelsea because the fans loved me and I won things, but I wanted to challenge myself and when I knew Liverpool were interested it was a no-brainer because they are the biggest club in the country.”

- Joe Cole via the BBC

Steven Gerrard commits his future to The Kop

“I wanted the chance to meet Roy Hodgson privately,” the 30-year-old told the club website. “I’m very impressed with his plans for the team.”

- Steven Gerrard via the BBC