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The World Cup has reached the knockout rounds with upsets galore and many a favored contender heading home early. But you probably knew that already. Instead of using some weird metric to rank and/or predict the World Cup, I’ve been itching to get back to my bread and butter:...
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If you’ve followed international soccer for any stretch of time, you’re probably familiar with the FIFA World Ranking system. This list, calculated and maintained by FIFA, attempts to quantitatively determine which teams are the best in the world. They’ve been around in some form since December 1992, and have...
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While we at Soc Takes were discussing our World Cup content, I came up with a few different ideas I thought might be interesting: a piece comparing the two common international ranking systems and what the differences are, a piece looking at what leagues and teams are most represented...
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FORT WORTH, Texas — I have a confession to make. Despite my perpetual, vociferous evangelism of lower-division soccer, I have never actually attended a single game of any of the semi-pro or amateur teams in my area. This, despite having several such clubs in existence for several years now...
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While FC Wichita’s players were on the field playing NTX Rayados in the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, someone broke into the locker room and robbed the team. Phones, wallets, passports and other valuables were stolen. The latest value estimate is $20,000. FC Wichita is an amateur team, and...
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We’re now roughly one-quarter through the 34-game USL season, meaning most teams have played somewhere between 7 and 10 games each. As of right now, 147 of 561 matches have been played, which is 26.2 percent of the season completed. This is close enough to 25 percent for me,...
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We’re now roughly one-quarter through the 34-game USL season, meaning most teams have played somewhere between 7 and 10 games each. As of right now, 147 of 561 matches have been played, which is 26.2 percent of the season completed. This is close enough to 25 percent for me,...
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Recently on Twitter, my friend and former colleague Chad Irvine pinged me to ask if I might hop on my soapbox and write (complain) about the region designations for the 2018 U.S. Open Cup. If you’re unfamiliar, the tournament in the early rounds splits the bracket into regional groupings....
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Since beating Tulsa 1-0 to open the season, the Energy have lost four games in a row. This is their longest losing streak since their inaugural season, back in 2014. They have scored a grand total of three goals all season, and have conceded 10. That’s bad. Really, really...
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“Is John back on his rant soapbox again?” Yes, yes he is. “Well, what is it this time?” It’s simple. There is still no Women’s Open Cup. You see, the U.S. Open Cup is kind of the greatest thing in American sports. Every single year, teams from all over...
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Dustin Hooker is no stranger to the Oklahoma City soccer scene, nor to us here at Soc Takes. He sat down for an interview with Nipun Chopra last May to discuss his new team, then known as the Imps. They had been in discussion to join the NPSL, but...
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In 2018, the state of American women’s soccer is in an unusual position of stability. The NWSL has survived five seasons, and is entering its sixth in pretty good shape, United Women’s Soccer is growing at a healthy pace, and the WPSL has made a lot of changes to...
The World Cup has reached the knockout rounds with upsets galore and many a favored contender heading home early. But you probably knew that already. Instead of using some weird metric to rank and/or predict the World Cup, I’ve been itching to get back to my bread and butter:...
If you’ve followed international soccer for any stretch of time, you’re probably familiar with the FIFA World Ranking system. This list, calculated and maintained by FIFA, attempts to quantitatively determine which teams are the best in the world. They’ve been around in some form since December 1992, and have...
While we at Soc Takes were discussing our World Cup content, I came up with a few different ideas I thought might be interesting: a piece comparing the two common international ranking systems and what the differences are, a piece looking at what leagues and teams are most represented...
FORT WORTH, Texas — I have a confession to make. Despite my perpetual, vociferous evangelism of lower-division soccer, I have never actually attended a single game of any of the semi-pro or amateur teams in my area. This, despite having several such clubs in existence for several years now...
While FC Wichita’s players were on the field playing NTX Rayados in the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, someone broke into the locker room and robbed the team. Phones, wallets, passports and other valuables were stolen. The latest value estimate is $20,000. FC Wichita is an amateur team, and...
We’re now roughly one-quarter through the 34-game USL season, meaning most teams have played somewhere between 7 and 10 games each. As of right now, 147 of 561 matches have been played, which is 26.2 percent of the season completed. This is close enough to 25 percent for me,...
We’re now roughly one-quarter through the 34-game USL season, meaning most teams have played somewhere between 7 and 10 games each. As of right now, 147 of 561 matches have been played, which is 26.2 percent of the season completed. This is close enough to 25 percent for me,...
Recently on Twitter, my friend and former colleague Chad Irvine pinged me to ask if I might hop on my soapbox and write (complain) about the region designations for the 2018 U.S. Open Cup. If you’re unfamiliar, the tournament in the early rounds splits the bracket into regional groupings....
Since beating Tulsa 1-0 to open the season, the Energy have lost four games in a row. This is their longest losing streak since their inaugural season, back in 2014. They have scored a grand total of three goals all season, and have conceded 10. That’s bad. Really, really...
“Is John back on his rant soapbox again?” Yes, yes he is. “Well, what is it this time?” It’s simple. There is still no Women’s Open Cup. You see, the U.S. Open Cup is kind of the greatest thing in American sports. Every single year, teams from all over...
Dustin Hooker is no stranger to the Oklahoma City soccer scene, nor to us here at Soc Takes. He sat down for an interview with Nipun Chopra last May to discuss his new team, then known as the Imps. They had been in discussion to join the NPSL, but...
In 2018, the state of American women’s soccer is in an unusual position of stability. The NWSL has survived five seasons, and is entering its sixth in pretty good shape, United Women’s Soccer is growing at a healthy pace, and the WPSL has made a lot of changes to...