We are producing a syndicated on-line sports show focusing on Soccers greatest goalies. The series will be distributed across The DBG Video
Network, which is compromised of 106 million unique users and is ranked in
Comscore’s Top 25. The syndicated show is targeted at an audience of over 18 million sports fans. It will be delivered on premium sports destinations
such as CBS Sportsline, Comcast sports,Famecast.com, Yahoo Sports, Sports Illustrated, Fans Online and Active.com, as well as in the sports sections of hundreds of newspaper websites throughout the country.

Please let me know if you’d be able to assist us in this regard.

Thanks so much,

Alex Mamlet
Producer DBG / WebMD
212-242-1400
Alexm@dbgroup.tv

Defending the Undefendable: The Closed Franchise Model and the Failure of American Club Soccer.

Of course, this would require an epiphany. It doesn’t seem as though you can be a soccer writer in this country without a blind allegiance to the closed franchise model that has failed club soccer consistently over the past century.

Someone above mentioned that this is an “un-authorized” book or something like that. Wahl had an interesting interview in the NY Times where he said that Beckham’s camp wanted major $ to get an official interview and wanted some control of the content (to make it “authorized”). I think your opinion is misguided. Beckham just lives a celebrity lifestyle that I can’t really related to, and it sounds like the Galaxy players didn’t really either. For me, that’s why the book is interesting.

Concerning Donovan, this guy is still in the process of growing up. It is unfortunate that he didn’t have the revelation that he was coasting until the ‘06 WC – if he had figured this out five years earlier, he would be a better player today. Really, he only needs to regret some of the comments he made (not that I’ve read the whole book, but I read the excerpts on si.com and assume the most venomous ones we’ve already heard about). He still has some time in his career, but even with everything he has already accomplished with the USMNT and in MLS, Donovan could end being grouped with Clint Mathis and other players that never reached their potential. Lalas was right about one thing: sometimes when evaluating soccer players in the US we look at technical abilities too much and not the intangibles that will make a mediocre player seize the moment. Donovan just isn’t the complete package, but hopefully he will be soon. If he had figured these life lessons out several years ago, I think he would have been the first world class American player. Growing up in a broken home is hard though, so maybe Landon is doing the best he can with the lot that he’s been given.

Lalas was portrayed in too positive a light in my opinion. I realize that he lost a lot of control, but he still made some really bad decisions during his time there. He strikes me as one of those leaders that is really good at motivating people based on nothing important and don’t really do anything.

My two cents…
Sorry… forgot to say great post – can’t wait to read your next one!

Someone above mentioned that this is an “un-authorized” book or something like that. Wahl had an interesting interview in the NY Times where he said that Beckham’s camp wanted major $ to get an official interview and wanted some control of the content (to make it “authorized”). I think your opinion is misguided. Beckham just lives a celebrity lifestyle that I can’t really related to, and it sounds like the Galaxy players didn’t really either. For me, that’s why the book is interesting.

Concerning Donovan, this guy is still in the process of growing up. It is unfortunate that he didn’t have the revelation that he was coasting until the ‘06 WC – if he had figured this out five years earlier, he would be a better player today. Really, he only needs to regret some of the comments he made (not that I’ve read the whole book, but I read the excerpts on si.com and assume the most venomous ones we’ve already heard about). He still has some time in his career, but even with everything he has already accomplished with the USMNT and in MLS, Donovan could end being grouped with Clint Mathis and other players that never reached their potential. Lalas was right about one thing: sometimes when evaluating soccer players in the US we look at technical abilities too much and not the intangibles that will make a mediocre player seize the moment. Donovan just isn’t the complete package, but hopefully he will be soon. If he had figured these life lessons out several years ago, I think he would have been the first world class American player. Growing up in a broken home is hard though, so maybe Landon is doing the best he can with the lot that he’s been given.

Lalas was portrayed in too positive a light in my opinion. I realize that he lost a lot of control, but he still made some really bad decisions during his time there. He strikes me as one of those leaders that is really good at motivating people based on nothing important and don’t really do anything.

My two cents…

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=660649&sec=mls&cc=5901

As for the Lalas vs. Byrne player decisions, I’m not sure if that stuff made any of a difference. All of those players you mentioned were all offensive players. LA still scored a ton of goals. Their problem as defense – they gave up the most goals. Beckham certainly did help the Galaxy score more.