Deanstell

Two things that I love about the Premier League are the transfer window and the rampant, unashamed culture of gambling on sports in England. In the United States, we have our trade deadlines for American sports, but they never quite reach the dizzying level of speculation that the transfer windows do. Further, the trades are […]

I feel sorry for MLS. Sure, I think their business model is sort of wacky and elitist. Why can’t they just adopt promotion/relegation like the rest of the world? Why can’t they just have a single table with a balanced schedule? And salary caps? That’s almost contrary to the spirit of world soccer! But still, […]

I didn’t play soccer as a child. I’m one of those American soccer fans who came to the sport as an adult. I wasn’t one of you. I’m new(er) but found that I could inhale a LOT of soccer knowledge via wikipedia, satellite TV, live games, blogs, podcasts, etc. Pretty quickly, I become knowledgeable even […]

The news that Sir Alex Ferguson is retiring as manager of Manchester United at the end of the 2012-13 season brings a medley of emotions. Of course, as a United fan, I am sad to see him go. SAF has been about as successful as any coach/manager of any professional sport – ever. Naturally, everyone’s […]

Is it any surprise that match fixing occurs? Every year countless billions are wagered on sports around the world. In 2011, $3.2 billion was wagered on sports... in Nevada casinos alone! Just online sports gambling in England, France, Italy and Spain equals about $15 billion. Between legal and illegal (or casual) gambling, we are talking […]

Given Oldham Athletic’s triumph over the mighty Liverpool FC this past weekend, this story needs to be told. A few weeks ago, I enjoyed the 3rd round of the FA Cup. The highlight of the weekend was watching Mansfield Town (5th tier of English soccer, ~5K Twitter followers) valiantly lose at home to Liverpool (Top […]

In the Arsenal against Manchester City match, what a way to spoil a perfectly good game of soccer, huh? Referee Mike Dean didn’t have a whole lot of choice when Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny wrapped his arms around Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko and dragged him to the ground inside the 6-yard box. Law 12 […]

While soccer is growing in the United States, the fandom of an American soccer fan can still be a solitary experience. Most people I interact with on a daily basis aren’t fans of the sport, much less enthusiastic fans who will want to chat about last weekend’s action or the more recent transfer gossip. Honestly, […]