Westwood, CA – Made another trip to Westwood to catch the NCAA 3rd round matchup between UCLA and Rutgers. Gary decided to tag along since watching UCLA meant seeing Kelyn Rowe parade his quality all over the field. He didn’t need much convincing when I extended the invite. Again, it was $10 dollars well spent […]
UC Irvine vs Saint Mary’s College: 1-2
Irvine, CA – Made the quick journey south to catch the UCI Anteaters hosting the St Mary’s Gaels in 2nd round NCAA tournament action on a rainy night. Yep, packed the umbrella, towels, notebook, and camera and combatted the rain along with the other 656 people in attendance. The game had lots of promise. The […]
Creighton Bluejays vs Missouri State Bears: 1-0
Omaha, NE – The Missouri Valley Conference Championship game had the #1 and #2 seeds matched up head to head for the automatic NCAA berth. There was lots to play for and it was evident with some of the tough challenges and physical play on both sides. Creighton was playing for a top seed in […]
Progress
“We’ve made good progress in the last 20 years.” Yes we have, and we should all be happy for it. However, it’s easier going from 40% to 70%, than it is from 70% to 100%. The first jump involves broad strokes. You know, the “common sense” stuff. The second jump involves the details. You know, […]
Creighton Bluejays vs Bradley Braves: 1-0
Omaha, NE – I made the journey out to Nebraska to cover the Missouri Valley Conference tournament live at Morrison Stadium. What an incredible soccer facility! The host Creighton Blue Jays aren’t too bad themselves. They are ranked #2 in the country and #1 in the RPI. Winning the Valley tournament clinches them a top […]
On Leadership and What the Hell Is This Blog Anyways
The following was inspired by Lalo’s latest comment. He makes good points about leadership, and poses questions about the work on this blog. What follows is not intended as a full response, but I preferred to post here instead of in the comments. On the statement: “Leadership is doing the right thing”. I agree. But […]
UCSB Gauchos vs Cal State Fullerton Titans: 4-3
Fullerton, CA – Saturday’s contest featured two underachieving teams that were looking to hold on for dear life in the Big West. Both sides were in desperate need of 3 points. Luis Silva came into the game and pretty much single-handedly carried the Gauchos to a 4-3 victory – putting on a show in […]
THE LIST
What follows is an initial list of 25 things obstructing the US from becoming a soccer powerhouse. The “what’s wrong” topic is always around and maintains a certain level of attention. Then, when our national teams flounder, the topic spikes and dominates the discussion. And of course everyone and their mom has an opinion. Errrr […]
UCLA Bruins vs San Diego State Aztecs: 2-0
Westwood, CA – The clash to determine who will enter the second half of the league season with momentum and a clear path to the Pac 12 title took place Sunday evening at UCLA’s Drake Stadium. It promised to be a good one with the top two teams, and arguably the top two players, in […]
3four3 Launches Data Product!
Youth soccer in Southern California continues to evolve, lead, pioneer, and at least in my opinion, host the largest density of talent in the country. It’s like a mecca for the youth game. Now we too hope to contribute to this landscape on a macro scale and push the envelope even further! So we’re opening […]