I can't stop reading ..... articles that are getting me amped for the World Cup

In case you don't watch TV or peruse the interweb, the World Cup starts this Friday. It's going to be tight. I'm going to watch it. A lot of it. You should watch too. Here are two interesting articles that should help get you interested in it. Both touch on why the US trails the rest of the world in soccer through examining two different subjects. The first is a brief profile in the New Yorker  goalie Tim Howard. I had known he had Tourettes, but had never read much about how it affected him, and this article talks about that.

The second is a feature in the New York Times Magazine about a youth soccer academy in Holland. It's a really interesting look into the business of international soccer, in addition to an examination of the different approaches to grooming youth talent. It's borderline, nay, it's downright creepy how much the kids are treated like assets rather than, well, kids, but it's as good an explanation as any as to why we can't seem to produce any world-wide soccer stars. The Cup starts Friday, and on Saturday at 2:30 we play England and hopefully go Revolutionary War on their dumb asses.

Update: Here's a link to the Sports Guy's podcasts that Mike repped. In addition to the Steve Nash pod, I highly recommend the Michael Davies podcast and anything involving Joe House, just because House should be our next president.