From the Spot of the Foul

One man's cheat is another man's strategist: the case of Arjen Robben and Luis Suarez

In soccer, what constitutes cheating?

That entirely depends on your point of view, perhaps influenced by your cultural upbringing, perhaps influenced by your coach and fellow players, perhaps some other set of circumstances. Cheating is not as black and white as some would like to think, which is why, as we move toward the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup, we're consumed with the recent performances of Luis Suarez of Uruguay and Arjen Robben of Holland that had profound influences on their respective teams advancing out of the quarter-final round.

I want my football free

A despondent English football fan writes to musician Mark Knopfler to complain that the upcoming World Cup qualifying match will not be available on standard television - it be shown only online.

The tower of song, the power of blog

A football chant meets its match

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of soccer, especially in England, and that is not replicated in any other American sport, is chanting. We Americans have the traditional chants at our football games, a famous one being: "Two bits, four bits, six bits a dollar, all for [insert your team] stand up and holler." And other such mild stuff.

But what I'm referring to is football chanting that is really full-throated singing, some of which that can go on and on for several minutes. I'm not talking about school songs, fight marches, and sentimental alma mater tunes. I'm talking about the singing of songs completely created by fans, spontaneously changed for the moment, that range from the touching and funny to the deplorably vile and racist.

Your cheatin’ heart

Arthur Miller writes Arsenal striker Eduardo to warn him that the witch hunt analogy made by his coach may not be far from the truth, and to instruct the young footballer that he is now in The Crucible of determining what for some is good for the game of football, for better or for worse.

A dark underbelly of European football

And out of the swamp crawls...

Worth a thousand words

I love great photographs of sporting events.

I've got you under my skin

Mark Hughes sends Alex Ferguson a note to make him look like the fool he often doesn't need help in revealing.

Consciously designed icons come to America

One of the interesting aspects of engaging in a hobby of watching something from thousands of miles away is that very little of it is seen in the flesh. A virtual activity if you will.

Match fixing?

Nothing, and I mean nothing, gets my attention in the world of sport like a good match fixing story. 

There is something dark about the human personality that is attracted to destruction wreaked on mankind by a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, or tsunami. Why do you think we slow down at the scene of an automobile accident? It's more than just making sure we don't drive over broken glass. 

So when I saw this story on my newsreader this week, the scroll bar came to a screeching halt and I rubbernecked my way into the details.

I have a dream...

Overt racism at matches - one of the things about world soccer that really took me aback when I realized how alive and well it still is.