http://www.hergenraders.com/wordpress The Always Insightful Insights of Trent Hergenrader Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:29:12 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en / / Just to point out a few articles I found quite interesting in the last week or so: * F365's John Nicolson puts forth a passionate defense of US soccer fans * Landon Donovan slags Beckham in a new book by Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl called The ... http://www.hergenraders.com/wordpress/2009/07/03/the-thought-provoking-off-season/ Hey! Nothing like setting modest goals and instantly achieving them. I've become a huge fan of World Soccer Daily and resolved to get an email read on the air. After the first two losses by the US, I sent an email about Bradley's record (which is largely summed up by ... http://www.hergenraders.com/wordpress/2009/07/01/more-fame-more-goals-more-books-more-classes/ Well, about an hour ago the US went down to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final 3-2. Only the most blinkered myopic fan wouldn't admit that the best team won. The US battled as hard as they possibly could and did fantastically well to get themselves up 2-0 but ... http://www.hergenraders.com/wordpress/2009/06/28/making-sense-of-the-confederations-cup/ / The near-impossible happened: the US upset the #1 ranked team in the world, and what's more they deserved it. They rode their luck hard and took enough of the few chances they created to win. In fairness, 2-0 was harsh on Spain. A more truthful scoreline would ... http://www.hergenraders.com/wordpress/2009/06/25/%c2%a1ay-dios-mio-no-lo-creo/ / Call me a traitor but I'm really having a hard time deciding who I should be rooting for more during today's Confederations Cup semifinal betwixt my two most favoritest national teams, the US and Spain. Consider: * I'm American. Believe me, if I wasn't, it would be very ... http://www.hergenraders.com/wordpress/2009/06/24/my-two-favoritest-teams-squaring-off/ Like many critics of the US Nat'l Team, I have to take back a few things. I didn't give them a shot in hell in qualifying after a hard-fought but disheartening loss to Italy and a complete no-show against Brazil. Frankly, I figured Egypt would mop the floor with ... http://www.hergenraders.com/wordpress/2009/06/22/and-where-did-that-come-from/ Summertime means a break a from school and allows for brain to dwell on things not (directly) related to academics. Dwelling is not always a good thing since it usually equates to keeping me from sleeping, either getting me out of bed late and night or too early in the ... http://www.hergenraders.com/wordpress/2009/06/20/novels-on-the-brain/ My pre-Confederations Cup prediction for the US? Three games, three losses. Right now it looks a great bet! The team's in shambles, really. DaMarcus Beasley shouldn't be on the roster much less in the starting lineup, a fact patently obvious to everyone except Bob Bradley. While the goal in the ... http://www.hergenraders.com/wordpress/2009/06/18/deja-vu-all-over-again/ Well, that sucked. The US tragically lost to Italy by a score of 3-1. Once again, any neutral would have to agree that the US got royally, royally screwed by the referee. There is no way, in any shape or form, Ricardo Clark should have received a red card for ... http://www.hergenraders.com/wordpress/2009/06/15/the-lining-is-silver/ Over the past week or so I've read From Hell, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and V for Vendetta. Between Alan Moore and Frank Miller, I find Moore's work to be far more nuanced and compelling. In undergrad I took a course on comics where we read Miller's Give Me ... http://www.hergenraders.com/wordpress/2009/06/15/thoughts-on-recent-purchases/