The Great U.S. Women’s Soccer Labor Dispute of 2016

A few bits of history and perspective that pointed out some inconvenient facts …

— For The Guardian, comments from the U.S. women’s national team’s lawyers along with facts, figures and questions about how this could all play out. (Will we have a league? Will we have a better national team? Will everyone get paid?

Source: The US women’s soccer pay dispute: a tangled web with no easy answers | Football | The Guardian

April 11, 2016

— For OZY, a flashback on a previous labor dispute that actually reached the point of calling in replacement players, albeit replacements who were also on board with what the striking players were doing.

Source: When Women Walked Out on Soccer

May 9, 2016

— For FourFourTwo, a piece on U.S. Soccer’s rebuttal to the team’s EEOC complaint. And the question: What do the women really want?

Source: USWNT vs. U.S. Soccer: What do the players really want?

June 2, 2016

How Kimbo Slice and MMA challenge our notions of celebrity and humanity

Written in the wake of a dizzying weekend of MMA news, with one of the sport’s top journalists (Ariel Helwani) temporarily losing his UFC credentials and one of the sport’s most famous figures (Kimbo Slice) passing away suddenly.

Source: How Kimbo Slice and MMA challenge our notions of celebrity and humanity | Sport | The Guardian

June 7, 2016

Parents demanding more from youth soccer experience

A two-fer here. For FourFourTwo, I explained that soccer parents’ complaints are no longer as easy to dismiss as they may have been when no one understood the game.

Source: Parents rightfully demanding more from inconsistent youth soccer experience | FourFourTwo

Then a related piece for Soccer Wire:

Source: Dure: Are pro coaches really better than parents? | Soccer Wire

June 16, 2016

 

Mapping the chaotic youth soccer scene

The sprawling, chaotic, multi-layered Google Map from Hell: Select soccer clubs and leagues across the Mid-Atlantic region, where even second- and third-tier teams routinely drive hours for games.

Follow-up coming in July …

Source: Dure: Mapping the chaotic youth soccer scene — Soccer Wire

April 29, 2016

“Fantastic Lies” and the lessons of Duke lacrosse

Don’t stereotype. Don’t rush to judgment. Those are the lessons of the Duke lacrosse case from 10 years ago. And to my pleasant surprise, the documentary Fantastic Lies covered those lessons pretty well.

Source: “Fantastic Lies” and the lessons of the Duke lacrosse case | SportsMyriad

March 23, 2016

Go Duke! And Go UNCW — except when you’re playing Duke

My first job after Duke was in Wilmington, and I lived just a few feet away from UNCW’s campus. So I wrote something for my old paper about my split loyalties when Duke and UNCW were paired up in the NCAA Tournament.

Source: Two trips down memory lane | StarNewsOnline.com

March 15, 2016

Did I waste my college opportunity?

I actually wound up not going to my Duke reunion, for reasons that had nothing to do with this piece in which I question how I spent my time in college and which classes I took. I hope Duke’s advising has improved since then. But I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. (Well, almost anything.)

Source: Did I waste my college opportunity? | Mostly Modern Media

Feb. 17, 2016