with the new season already begun in some parts of europe, and the premiership set kicking off this weekend, i’m obviously all sorts of amped up. the constant stream of football news has shifted away from world cup stories and has thinned of transfer rumors (though they are certainly not anywhere close to ending… ever).

so with that in mind, i’ll share my thoughts about a few of the stories i’ve found over the last few weeks that were worth noting in the twenty-second edition of the round up.

the questoin: is the world cup too big? – guardian.co.uk
the simple answer to this question: no. the more complex answer to this question: no. while the writer of this story definitely brings up some very interesting points (the most important of which is the tendency of weaker teams to sit in and settle for draws or respectable losses), i think he’s over reacting a bit. the world cup needs this many teams participating to truly make the finals a “world” cup.

that said, he did have another brilliant idea. while it would never ever happen, his idea for a gigantic, worldwide, two-leg play off system for determining the 16 teams at the finals would make for a thrilling tournament. however, my productivity at work would probably fall off the charts, as i would be watching way, way, way more qualifiers than i ever have before.

switzer tabbed assistant soccer coach – ohiobobcats.com
how did this story not send shockwaves through world football?!?! okay, so this isn’t major soccer news to most people, but it was pretty big soccer news to me, my family and friends. but i wanted to give a shout out to my little sister, who is getting ready to embark on her maiden season as a coach at her former stomping grounds in athens, ohio. and with the bobcats making a preseason trip to xavier here in cincinnati this weekend, that means i’ll get to watch the sib in “action”… or whatever you call it when she’s screaming from the touchline. good luck, amy! go ohio!

premier league kits 2010-2011 – guardian.co.uk
if you know me at all, you know i’ve got a bit of a fettish for soccer apparel and equipment. this is a quick guide to help you keep all of your premier league teams straight in the coming season, with every home, away and third kit on digital display. my favorites: tottenham home and third, all the man city, and wigan’s new home kit. what i really like about this article, though, is the look of all of these kits sans-sponsors… oh how i love capitalism, turning footballers into billboards!

fanchants.com – fanchants.com
it’s all in the name on this link. but in case you’re extra dense and you haven’t figured it out yet, this site provides thousands of fan chants/songs from clubs all over the world. if you consider yourself a fan of any club in the world, and you don’t know at least one of their more famous chants… well you’re probably not actually a real fan. so learn up, before i have to call you out in person.

60,000 names sold on the black market – dagbladet.no
just when fifa thought it was safe to call south africa 2010 a success, after navigating the finals without serious incident in a country that is well known for it’s violent crime rates, this news goes and rears it’s ugly head. word is that one of the official ticket distributors for the world cup has sold over 60k names, credit cards, etc. of the fans and spectators that purchased tickets for the world cup. names on that list include such lofty individuals as the head of the norwegian national bank and sweedish skiing star anja pärson. needless to say, fifa need to find a way to corral the media black eyes they’ve been receiving of late, or their whole system is going to spiral out of control.