Interview With Bruce McGuire, the Man Behind DuNord Futbol

The year 2010 was the last time we interviewed Bruce McGuire, the US soccer blogger and podcast expert who has been running DuNord Futbol since 2005. While his blog is now a podcast, we thought it’d be a good time to catch up with McGuire, a respected figure in American soccer through a combination of his knowledge of the sport as well as his passion for soccer.

Here’s our exclusive interview with the man better known as DuNord:

Christopher Harris (Chris): What came first? Your love of music or your love of soccer?

Bruce McGuire (Bruce): Music for sure. I dont think I had ever heard of soccer before the first day I kicked a ball. And I was already 11 years old by then.

Music is what pumps through my veins, but soccer is like my pacemaker keeping it all going.

Chris: How intertwined is your passion for music with soccer? 

Bruce: Not that much. But traveling around the USA and Europe during my time in the music business gave me a chance to see a lot more soccer in person than I would have otherwise.

Chris: Like me, you launched your soccer blog in 2005. What was the impetus for the launch of your blog? And do you feel there was more comradeship and unity among the soccer community at that time in the States compared to now?

Bruce: I always read every article on professional soccer that I could find on the Internet and my friends would ask me where I was reading this stuff. One day it dawned on me that I could just collect all the links and post them on line. There was no plan. At that time was the boom of blogging and there were tons of companies offering free websites with templates and everything, so you could do it with no budget at all. Just passion.

The soccer community today is better than ever. There are just so many more people to connect with, especially on a local level. And its only been one decade. Imagine the next 10 years.

Chris: For years, DuNord Futbol was a vital daily source of soccer news and goodness for fans in the US. Why did you decide to stop writing and focus on the DuNord Futbol podcast instead?

Bruce: After 8 years, it wasn’t needed anymore. When I started, I dreamed of a day when soccer coverage would be everywhere in the United States and there would be no need for my daily collection of the best information. It was also quite becoming quite overwhelming as the flow of information exploded. Then you had the popularity of Twitter. A good timeline feed could get you every great piece of soccer writing from around the world in real time. Amazing. My daily blogging finally ended when I got really sick and spent the better part of two months in bed.

The podcast had been on my mind for years. I love radio and did a music show in the 80s that I still have very fond memories of, and my dream was to have a soccer radio show. Since that hasn’t happened yet, podcasting is the next best thing. And its also connected to my independent spirit of DIY.

Chris: Was the choice to keep DuNord Futbol on a Blogger/Blogspot platform a conscious decision? Did you want to keep DuNord Futbol “lo-fi” on purpose? And did you ever receive any offers to commercialize the site or turn it into a full-time profession?

Bruce: My first question to myself was, “Do you want to work on gameday?” No.

I never looked for money from this endeavor. I have a job that pays me enough and has good benefits. So I chose to stay on the outside of the soccer world. My days in music taught me to be very careful about getting inside the machine. That one almost killed me. With soccer, I chose to just be a fan like everyone else. I pay for my own tickets and go to games with my friends and family. But for some reason a lot of those people on the inside wanted to know me and we met on the edge of it.

Several people have made offers over the years to bring du Nord Futbol under their umbrella and they still do today. But it’s just not what I want to do. I don’t have any desire to work on gameday. That is holy to me.

By the way, I love lo-fi!

Chris: Rumor has it that you’re a Spurs supporter. How did you become a Tottenham Hotspur supporter?

Bruce: You got some bogus information! hahahahahaha My team is Minnesota United through and through. I don’t follow any European teams. I do watch a lot of games from all over Europe, including England, and I really admire a few clubs like Inter Milan and St Pauli for their connection to the community.

Chris: What’s your prognosis for how the US Men’s National Team will do over the next 2-3 years?

Bruce:  I have made a vow of silence when it comes to views on the coach. My views are not popular and I get upset when I talk about it, so I shut up.

As for the team itself, it’s all about the players. Seeing them pull off things you never thought possible is thrilling. I always love to see who is blossoming, who is emerging and what will their impact be. The first year and a half after a World Cup is always fun. I know most people don’t like friendlies, but I do because you can see some minute traits that the team might be able to exploit when tournaments and qualifying come around. My favorite aspects of soccer is USA World Cup Qualifying. The Hex! I love it. So it can never start soon enough.

The DuNord Futbol podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher and via their RSS feed.