1/18/2014

Room for Four: The Establishment of the MLS

When it comes to the sporting world America has already chosen its big three, while some may consider the NHL to be the fourth sport to really become ingrained in mainstream American sports, it has yet to gain the same level of recognition that the MLB, NBA, and NFL have maintained throughout recent years. While soccer may be one of the world’s most popular sports, it has yet to gain the same level of popularity and devotion here in the United States. From its inception the MLS has been fighting an uphill battle to squeeze soccer into the hierarchy of American sports. The creation of the MLS looked to challenge the notion that soccer could not garner the same level of respect as other mainstream sports, and while there are still obstacles to overcome the MLS has made great strides towards solidifying soccer within the American sporting world. Continue reading →

American victory in 1991

As this TIFO is the last, I want to post something cheerful. The United States experienced a galvanizing triumph in transnational soccer in 1991. However, the individuals that thrust the U.S. forward were women. Obtaining an international athletic title in a sport that is not historically valued in the United States, the American team set precedents for the popularization of soccer in this country. The team also paved the way for the elevation of the women’s game in ways previously unheard of. May the 1991 team’s male compatriots feel the a similar glorious victory this summer in Brazil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJClOqKTrIQ

Stages of the Global:

It’s interesting that Rowe doesn’t really make any arguments about the game of Football and only talks about how racism is in soccer.  He brings this about talking about how sport and media are tied together and that now, “sport and media were once largely confined within a national framework, but their infra- structure and imagery are increasingly subjected to the pressures of globalization.”  (pg. 356)  He then describes the case of Zidane and the historical context of his nationality in the controversial case of the Final.  I find this quote fascinating, “thus, when over three years after the World Cup the Scottish writer A.A. Gill visited Algeria, he found Zidane’s violent act popularly celebrated as ‘authentically Algerian’ after his many years as a ‘brown Frenchman’ subjugated by a former colonial master:”  (pg. 364)  The Algerians celebrated what happened because he broke all rules against their colonial power and forced them to fail towards their accomplishments, which seems like they are exaggerating the importance of the event a little.

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David Rowe’s article on the media and the incident involving Zinedine Zidane’s head-butting of an Italian soccer player during the world cup examines the media’s treatment of suspected racism by the Italian player Materazzi in provoking the head-butt by possibly calling a terrorist and threatening sexual violence on Zidane’s family.  The article describes the extensive focus by the media on the actual words used by Materazzi in determining if he did in fact express racism prior to being head-butted.  This focus on the words rather then the context of who the players were, one a French born son of Algerian immigrants and the other an Italian whose country had colonies in northern Africa.  The article describes how even if explicitly racial epithets were not used the threats of sexual violence against Zidane’s family could be a reflection of colonialist ideas of emasculating colonial male subjects by sexually controlling the women.  Thus the conclusion of the investigation that said Materazzi did not express racism but only derogatory language to Zindane is not entirely accurate because of the lack of attention paid to broader context of the utterances.

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http://www.mlssoccer.com/sideline/news/article/2013/12/11/video-mike-petke-once-headbutted-jason-kreis-and-now-theyre-new-york-derby-c 

After the reading I found this link and though I would post it simply because of the headbutt. However it is still an interesting article that discusses the continued success of former MLS players turned coaches and relates back to the new expansion team that will be situated in New York. This article basically just talks about how rivalries throughout the MLS are still becoming a thing, which I think may be a good thing because it adds a little extra excitement to the league.

Stages of the global: Media, sport, racialization and the last temptation of Zinedine Zidane PCQ

This article discusses the presence of racism within the sporting world and how sport and competition can lead to racism playing an unnecessary role in sporting matches. It is true that as sports continue to grow and reach a global audience certain preconceived notions or beliefs about players of different races will become a bigger issue. An example I can think of that relates back to a class I took last semester is when we discussed the career of boxer Jack Johnson who for a certain point in his career wasn’t allowed to fight against white boxers. In reality there had been a black boxing champion before Jack Johnson but his efforts remained unnoticed due to his inability to secure a fight against a white opponent. Continue reading →

This article, published yesterday, describes how some players from the United States who had migrated from the US to play in European leagues are now are returning to play in the MLS.  This development is very good for the MLS as the quality of play continues to increase yearly.

The first article discusses the now infamous head-butt in the 2006 World Cup final. What the author does is use this famous scene to explain the huge factors that contribute to the importance of big games. He writes;

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