On Bongi, and the lack of baseball, for Sota Soccer
Mar 9, 2022
I’ve written much for Sota Soccer as the MLS season has gotten off the ground. It’s very much the same sort of thing as here on this blog.
What we learned from Philadelphia 1, MNUFC 1
Feb 28, 2022
MNUFC has one point after one game of the 2022 season. I don’t think that’s disappointing, because that point came on the road against Philadelphia, a very good team - and also because that point means the Loons have already exceeded their point total from the first four games of 2021. Here are a few things that I think we learned from the 1-1 draw.
Sota Soccer launches new MNUFC site
Feb 25, 2022
I’m flattered that the team at Sota Soccer has asked me to contribute some MNUFC posts this year. Here is my first blog over there, looking at the reason MNUFC has so many doubters this season - and why those doubts may or may not be correct.
The MNUFC second XI shows what kind of offseason it's been
Feb 21, 2022
It’s week one of the MLS season, which seems impossible, what with the winter storm warnings blaring over today’s airwaves. Philadelphia’s weather is a little less ominous - it’ll be nearly 70 midweek before being mid-30s on Saturday - but still, this is too darn early for soccer season.
We don't talk about Hunou, no no
Feb 18, 2022
For pretty much all of the 2021 season, Minnesota United’s goalscoring - or lack of it - was a pretty heated topic. It wasn’t a lack of offensive talent or even a lack of offensive creativity; the team, as a whole, simply could not find the back of the net.
Could the MLB lockout make this the Summer of Soccer in the USA?
Feb 16, 2022
Pitchers and catchers did not report to spring training yesterday. Nor do pitchers and catchers seem like they’re going to report any time soon. Major League Baseball locked out its players earlier this offseason, and the owners and players seem very, very far from coming to any kind of collective bargaining agreement. So far, the themes seem to be that A) the owners will not rest until they have extracted every last concession from the players that they can possibly think of, B) the players are extremely angry at the owners for attempting to nickel-and-dime them during a period of expanding revenues, and C) neither side seems particularly concerned that fans may leave and never come back, even though all the signs seem to be pointing in that direction.
Loons lose 1-0 to Portland in preseason, we learn more about MNUFC
Feb 14, 2022
Last week I wrote about the questions the Loons needed to answer during their preseason tournament in Portland, so we might as well start with those five topics, following MNUFC’s 1-0 loss to Portland in the team’s first televised game of the 2022 preseason.
The questions the Loons need to answer in Portland
Feb 11, 2022
Thursday was a travel day for MNUFC, as the Loons’ final leg of their preseason preparations is in Portland. Minnesota will play three games in seven days, two against MLS competition and one against Viking FK of Norway. By the time next Sunday rolls around, we should have a better idea of what this team is going to look like - especially since good sense has finally prevailed, and Loons fans (the ones in Minnesota at least) can watch at least two of the three games.
Loons team, assemble!
Feb 9, 2022
There are lots of hard things that MNUFC has to deal with in the preseason. There’s the soul-sucking Minnesota winter that requires them to either train in a dome, or travel to warmer climates. This year, there’s the challenge of not only supplementing the first team but filling out an entirely new team, MNUFC 2. But particularly, the Loons’ biggest challenge this offseason has seemed to be somewhat more basic: simply getting all of the team’s players into the same physical location.
After Kervin Arriaga and Luis Amarilla, what does MNUFC still need?
Feb 7, 2022
I went on vacation for two weeks. It is very clear to me that living in Minnesota rather than in someplace that’s warm in the winter is one of the great foolishnesses of my life. I can only blame my ancestors, who chose to live in Minnesota and thereby anchored each succeeding generation to the previous one, a punishment visited onto the nth generation.