The Treble: Best Writing of the Week
Each week’s three best pieces of soccer writing online:
11-17 July 2010
1. “Taking a ‘turn in the woods,’ confronting the goalkeeper’s choice” (John Turnbull/The Global Game)
2. “The amputee who shared a drink with David Villa” (Louise Taylor/The Guardian)
3. “Soccer puritanism and the sin of ‘entertainment’” ” (Richard Whittall/A More Splendid Life)
4-10 July 2010
1. “Triumphant procession down a road of quease” (Fredorrarci/Sport is a TV Show)
2. “Why We Rooted for the U.S.” (Bethlehem Shoals/The Atlantic)
3. “Time Can Do So Much” (Brian Phillips/The Run of Play)
27 June-3 July 2010
1. “Legacy and Lionel Messi” (Brian Phillips/The Run of Play)
2. ”Corruption, disorganization blamed for Africa’s poor showing at Cup” (Jonathan Wilson/Sports Illustrated)
3. ”England and the St. George’s Cross: Writing English Identity on the Flag” (Tom Dunmore/Pitch Invasion)
20-26 June 2010
1. “World Cup: On Rooting for America” (Bethlehem Shoals/The Atlantic)
2. “Bleusballed in Paris: Laughin Along at France’s Implosion with the Happily Unhappy French” (John Harpham/Deadspin)
3. “Go, Gattuso, Just Please Go” (Luke Dempsey/The Goal Post)
13-19 June 2010
1. “Related to Pride, Close to Desire” (Daniel Alarcón/The Goal Post)
2. “Formations: Cartesian Coordinates or Dasein?” (Dr. Ted/World Cup College)
3. “As Yet Within That House” (Brian Phillips/The Run of Play)
6-12 June 2010
1. “…and that’s how I choose to remember it: A World Cup preview/case study” (Fredorrarci/Sport is a TV Show)
2. “Beyond the Line” (Rabih Alameddine/The New Republic)
3. “The dive” (Paul Doyle/Globe and Mail)
30 May-5 June 2010
1. “How a Soccer Star is Made” (Michael Sokolove/The New York Times)
2. “Target Anxiety: the Penalty Shootout Reconsidered” (Fredorrarci/Norman Einstein’s)
3. “Soccer Conquers the World” (Toby Miller/The Chronicle Review)
23-29 May 2010
1. “All the Men’s Kings” (Brian Phillips/The Run of Play)
2. “Rejoice, be happy, it’s Fifa World Cup South Africa 2010™ Jabulani Time” (Barry Glendenning/The Guardian)
3 (tie). “St. Louis Athletica’s death is Jeff Cooper’s shame” (Fake Sigi)
“Ballad of a South African Football Fan” (Raymond Whitaker/Intelligent Life.com)
16-22 May 2010
1. “The Problem of Red Bull New York” (Fake Sigi)
2. “Barcelona 2009/10: fewer trophies, better team” (Zonal Marking)
3. “Who really wants to host a World Cup?” (Ian Plenderleith/When Saturday Comes)
9-15 May 2010
1. “Bullets have eyes” (Fredorrarci/Sport is a TV Show)
2. “Chelsea and Avram Grant” (Brian Phillips/The Run of Play)
3. “Players, Lives and ‘A Beautiful Game‘” (Andrew Guest/Pitch Invasion)
2-8 May 2010
1. “Valencia’s brilliant bluff pays off as they close in on a winning hand” (Sid Lowe/The Guardian)
2. “How the 2000s changed tactics #1: The fall and rise of the passing midfielder” (Zonal Marking)
3. “nandy: striker, stopper” (Supriya Nair/President Blink-Blink)
25 April-1 May 2010
1. “Marching to Our Own Beat — U.S. Supporter Music” (Clive Longbottom-Fellow/Nutmeg Radio)
2. “Barcelona 1-0 Inter: Mourinho’s side progress — deservedly” (Zonal Marking)
3. “Roger Johnson, MOTD2 and the Myth of the Ball” (twofootedtackle)
18-24 April 2010
1. “Mourinho + Guardiola” (Brian Phillips/The Run of Play)
2. “Atletico Madrid can put end to glory of suffering in Liverpool semi” (Sid Lowe/The Guardian)
3. “Looking Beyond Seats on a U.S. Soccer Plane: Part 1” (Miriti Murungi/Nutmeg Radio)
11-17 April 2010
1. “Technology and Justice” (Brian Phillips/The Run of Play)
2. “Reyna has skill work to do here” (Mark Zeigler/San Diego Union Tribune)
3. “‘Aston Villa: the sound a disappointed frog makes when it realises that no matter how hard it tries, its tongue just won’t reach a tasty fly’” (Jonnie Baker/Sporting Intelligence)
4-10 April 2010
1. ‘The Rhetoric of Artistic Endeavor’ (Brian Phillips/The Run of Play)
2. Ghanaian Club Keta Sandlanders Showing How Football and Responsibility Can Co-Exist in South Africa (Miriti Murungi/Nutmeg Radio)
3. Football — An Obituary (Alex Netherton/Who Ate All the Pies)
28 March-3 April 2010
1. The MLS web site disaster (Fake Sigi)
2. Teams of the Decade #1: Greece, Euro 2004 (Zonal Marking)
3. At last, someone to satisfy my constant craving for whey-faced wingers (Harry Pearson/The Guardian)
21-27 March 2010
1. Stranger than Fiction: Maradona and Messi (Richard Whittall/A More Splendid Life)
2. Man…Superman…Leo Messi (Sid Lowe/The Guardian)
3. Is it illogical to heap blame on England’s hapless goalkeepers? (Barney Ronay/The Guardian)
14-20 March 2010
1. “With Hollywood hair and A-list style, all hail the new José Mourinho” (Barney Ronay/The Guardian)
2. “Why tactics say a lot about humanity” (Barney Ronay/FourFourTwo)
3. “Some Thoughts on the Internet and Football” (Richard Whittall/A More Splendid Life)
7-13 March 2010
1. “And so it goes and so it goes and so it goes and so it goes” (Fredorrarci/Sport is a TV Show)
2. “Wigan’s first ever win over Liverpool…so how’s that for history then, Javier Mascherano?” (Martin Samuel/Daily Mail)
3. “Choose Life, Don’t Choose Crystal Palace” (Ed Barrett/Who Ate All the Pies)
