http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball From the hometown Silverbacks to the U.S. national teams to the global game, Off the Ball invites you to share your passions for The Beautiful Game. en-us wparker@ajc.com 2008-01-03T20:21:26-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 From the hometown Silverbacks to the U.S. national teams to the global game, Off the Ball invites you to share your passions for The Beautiful Game. http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2008/01/03/resolving_to_ma.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball I don’t make make New Year’s resolutions. You won’t see me taking up jogging, for example, or munching on rice cakes and raw carrots between meals. But while the 2007 year was filled with plenty of memorable events, especially in... 705402@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2008-01-03T20:21:26-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/10/01/asleep_in_seatt.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball The less said about the USL finals the better. Four-nil. The Silverbacks team that shocked Rochester and Portland in the playoffs didn’t show up in Seattle Saturday night. That shouldn’t take away from what turned out to be a pleasant... 198689@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-10-01T16:46:31-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/09/26/silverbacks_in.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball Hells bells! They go to Portland 1-1 after the first leg in Atlanta, hold the Timbers to a scoreless draw, then prevail in penalty kicks. It’s first finals in 12 years for an Atlanta soccer team. Ironically, Saturday’s championship game... 197768@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-09-26T14:07:47-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/09/14/playoff_victory.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball The gamble the Silverbacks took in opting to play host to the first game in their series with Rochester paid off handsomely Friday as they won their first-ever playoff game. Bookend goals by Warren Ukah and Michael Wolfe netted a... 195343@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-09-14T23:46:21-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/09/10/is_wwc_being_sh.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball As the games were set to begin in China, the Sisters of Perpetual Indignance were already at it: The Women’s World Cup is being screwed, most notably by FIFA. And right here at home. Off the Ball was going to... 193902@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-09-10T13:58:50-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/07/10/a_nearupset_in.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball An eventful week for the Silverbacks continued with a bitterly disappointing defeat Monday to FC Dallas on penalty kicks in the U.S. Open Cup. After Dallas’ Carlos Ruiz (El Pescadito) struck for the MLS team in the 74th minute, Altanta... 179195@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-07-10T15:49:08-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/06/28/copas_copas_y_m.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball Updated, Thursday June 28: Holy bicycle kicks, Batman! Here’s who Argentina’s sending out tonight at the Copa America against the cheek-of-tan lads from the USA: Messi. Crespo. Riquelme. Veron. Mascherano. Heinze. Ayala. Zanetti. In other words, something close to ITS... 176519@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-06-28T13:32:10-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/05/25/time_for_a_new.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball Off the Ball had no sooner been daydreaming about an oft-delayed trip to Barcelona than an e-mail from U.S. Soccer popped into her inbox as a holiday weekend beckoned, jolting her back into a unexpectedly blissful reality: U.S. men set... 168750@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-05-25T18:13:11-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/05/16/yanks_to_stay_n.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball This only took several months to do what some ought to think should have happened from the start: Bob Bradley’s been named men’s U.S. national team coach. As in, no longer interim. SI’s Grant Wahl thinks USSF major domo Sunil... 166280@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-05-16T18:30:11-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/05/07/look_whos_in_fi.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball Sorry for the long pause in this blog, Kickball Kids, but matters have been rather rowdy in Off the Ball’s tight little corner of the world in recent weeks. Some very tight space indeed. Her employer is in the process... 163762@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-05-07T14:09:54-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/02/28/can_cupcakes_cu.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball Pardon the passive-aggressive tone of this blog, but this is hot off the griddle: The Horn Guys have taken their fanaticism to cyberspace as part of the launch of a new website. Who Ate All the Cupcakes is a clever... 140172@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-02-28T17:08:26-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/02/14/copa_will_be_a.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball In the beisbol world, the phrase “pitchers and catchers report” signals the start of spring training and, hopefully spring. What’s music to Off the Ball’s ears on a frosty cold winter morning? “U.S. to open Copa America against Argentina.” So... 135744@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-02-14T12:57:11-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/01/11/becks_is_coming.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball The handshakes had barely come ungripped when the usual pilers-on (usually British, too) instantly declared that David Beckham’s new adventure in America will be an abject failure. And you wonder why he wanted to leave home in the first place?... 125126@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-01-11T11:22:32-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/01/10/cutting_down_on.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball It’s a shock to all but the stuffiest tradition-lovers from the Mother Islands that there are too many useless competitions in England. At the very least, it’s impolite to point this out, even to those who may agree with the... 124814@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-01-10T13:46:05-05:00 http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/entries/2007/01/02/the_winter_wind.html?cxntfid=blogs_off_the_ball Who says January is a down time when it comes to American footy? The first business day of the new year, and New England midfielder Clint Dempsey looks set for Fulham of the English Premier League, as speculated for quite... 122423@http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/soccer/ 2007-01-02T15:05:25-05:00