Stupid job getting in the way of my blog posting; man, I wish I could do this for a living (email offers to jbdavis1 (at) gmail.com). Haha. Would ya look at that? I screwed up my own email address. Oh well.
Anyway, a couple of thoughts on the news o' the day:
Donovan and Bayern
I'm sure you've heard by now that Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has put a serious damper on Donovan's hope of a permanent transfer. I'm really not sure how to feel about this: on one hand, it's too bad that Donovan will have to come back to MLS. On the other, I don't know that Germany was the best place for him to be in the first place. Perhaps he's shown/will show enough that a summer move to another club could still be possible. I don't know enough to declare one league better for him than another (as some have done), so I'll just say I hope a transfer happens, no matter the country. I have a sneaking suspicion that Bayern may have inquired about a price for LD (for planning purposes if they did decide to buy him), and perhaps they were scared off by the MLS answer. We all know that Donovan is the league's poster boy, and as I've said before, $15 million doesn't seem too steep a price. With the options at striker Bayern already has, and the moves they've already lined up for the summer, buying Donovan to be a squad player/fourth striker at $15 million might not be the best situation for either party. National team fans want Landon to get consistent playing time if he's going to leave MLS, and there are certainly plenty of other clubs in top-tier leagues who could use his talents.
Where's our YouTube phenom?
A new footballing wunderkind has appeared on the scene; a 6 year-old French/Algerian boy with amazing ball skills. While I think most of these YouTube created phenoms are ridiculously overblown and overhyped, I am a little curious as to when we'll see the first American kid who benefits from the marvels of the digital age. If the Aussies can have one, why can't we?
Madin Mohammed, the French kid
Rhain Davis, the Aussie kid (if you haven't seen it before)
Steroids in baseball, and what that means for soccer
When the news broke that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids, I had two completely different initial reactions: the baseball-fan/Yankee-hater in me said "THAT CHEATER! BAN HIM FOR LIFE!" (I came down from that pretty quick; I'm tired of the steroid issue, but I do think the cheaters should be punished); the soccer-fan/MLS-hype-man in me said "Yes! MLS can SO take advantage of this!". I've now come down from that second reaction as well; I don't think the steroid issue in baseball means anything at all for MLS, as the issue hasn't seem to have had any effect on baseball's appeal over the last five or six years. MLS will have to stand on its own, and deliver a strong, compelling product, if it wants to draw in fans. I can't see baseball fans switching the their televisions (or trading their tickets) from Red Sox-Yankees to Revs-Red Bulls just because one more guy has gotten caught sticking a needle in his butt.
Can I follow two sports this year?
I'm beginning to get the sneaking suspicion that my baseball fandom is in a bit of jeopardy this year; pitchers and catchers have already reported, and while I'm excited, I'm far more so for the start of MLS (and CONCACAF Champion's League before that). Just for the record, I am a GIANT baseball fan. Baseball is what I call my "first love", the sport that I played the most (and at the highest level of performance) and understand the best. I live and die with my team, and I'm one of those guys who can watch a nine-inning game from beginning to end, digest every nuance while second guessing every managerial decision, and then stay up to watch the highlights of the same game I just watched. I doubt I'll turn my back on the game (don't want to be one of THOSE guys), but with my soccer passion ramping up even more, and with the blog giving me a legitimate reason to follow every kick of the ball that I can, baseball may take a backseat this spring and summer for the first time EVER. Man, my brother is going to hate me if he reads this. Sorry Kev!
Sorry about the lack of links; I just don't the patience to track them down right now.
