Soccer birthdays: You gotta like a man who knows how to keep it real, who knows how to “bring it on home.” Jaap Stam began his career at the smaller Dutch side FC Zwolle. His playing days wound through some bigger Dutch clubs in addition to Manchester United, Lazio and AC Milan. Today, as the big center back turns 40, he’s back at Zwolle as an assistant coach.
Born on this day: Kenneth Wolstenholme, who died in 2002, would have been 92 today. If you’re into soccer history, you’ve heard the voice. Wolstenholme was a BBC TV football commentator who called the 1966 World Cup final from Wembley Stadium. Perhaps you heard him say, “Some people are on the pitch...they think it’s all over....it is now!” about the time Geoff Hurst put the game out of reach with England’s fourth goal. If not, now is a good time:
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RASNoD (Random American Soccer Name of the Day): John O’Brien
Ahead on the blog today*: MLS team rankings, where it’s getting tougher to decide who belongs on the bottom. Plus, a little more on Michael Bradley’s transfer to Roma and some significant extensions of the story.
Big Important Story of the Day: Well, I think we had just better let the day play out a little.
Twitter dap:
PST background noise while blogging today: Today is a day where the music matters. That’s what they say on KXP out of Seattle.
*Always subject to change; you know how it is