In the old days of soccer, referees had to purely judge the game on their ability to make split-second decisions among the chaos and violence of bodies clashing and a small, white and black ball flying through the air. Today it's a much different story. Cameras lined across stadiums record the action from myriad angles capturing every moment in HD and slow-motion. This new system is the encroaching eye of the sport, looming overhead. It is always aware, encompassing, watching. Fans are wary of its presence. Referees are befuddled by its complexity. Teams are incredibly frustrated every time the action stops so that Big Brother can decree what exactly happened. Is the implementation of this new technology a boon to the sport that helps officials make accurate decisions? Or is this forceful integration a sinister plot to kill the magic and drama of soccer.
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So now we return to the song of cleats and goalposts. If you ever felt that the writers of HBO's Game of Thrones wronged you, then you can relish in the annual battles for Europe's top prizes. I'll agree, it ain't like Westeros, but there's still an absolute buffet of drama and heartbreak to witness this season. It's all the joy of watching absurdly rich houses battle each other for supremacy without the fear of continuity being thrown out of the window.
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The European Leagues are now wrapping up their domestic seasons. This means that only one more big game remains and that is the oft-written about UEFA Champions League Final that I've been mentioning in this Newsletter. The final takes place next weekend, Saturday, June 1, 2019 when English Premier League teams Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur compete for the championship in Madrid, Spain. The reason I love this championship so much is that it's what got me truly into the sport. Way back in 2008 I was a fresh-faced college student visiting London to study a whole bunch of history, writing skills, and literary classics. It was a time when I was maybe a little more concerned with being a lush and a degenerate, but we all have our moments. The summer of 2008 gave me a real taste of how passionate people feel for the sport of soccer. This week, you get to learn…
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While the weather here in Washington, DC is getting nasty, it makes my decision to just hole up in my home with some coffee and soccer justifiable. One aspect that I like about soccer is that it is a year-round sport. With so many leagues around the world and here in America, I can sometimes feel a little spoiled. Different leagues and different countries will kick-off and finish at different points in the year. When the titans in Europe finish up their championships, I'm already in full swing with Major League Soccer over here. Then there are various tournaments and international competitions, which are the cherries on top of a rich, decadent cake. But it took me a while to figure out when and where to catch these competitions. So in this issue of Soccer Made Simple, I will answer the question...
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It's tough to talk about time without bringing up tired cliches and tropes. But it's such a universal, ubiquitous concept that is hard to grasp without the use of idioms to help frame it. When it comes to soccer, time is both always moving forward and relative to the discretion of the referee. There are two halves to a game of soccer, but teams also have to account for stoppage time and extra time. For newcomers, the way time is managed during a soccer match may seem random. I used to think it was solely up to the ref to call the end of the half or the game. While that's not too far off, there are a few factors that impact the passage of time during a game. This is why soccer is...
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