Soccer America

This excellent story is a trip down memory lane for me. I believe I was part of the largest crowd ever at Giants Stadium as an eight-year-old -- there to view a Cosmos playoff game. I was too young to see Pele, but I recall cheering for Chinaglia, Alberto, Beckenbauer, Neeskens, and others not named in the article. (The star defender, Vladislav Bogicevic! The goalie, Hubert Birkenmeier! Young California-bred phenom Ricky Davis! And a crafty Portuguese star called Seninho, whom my dad recalls once humiliating a goalkeeper by kicking the ball up to his head, knocking it down to the ground, and flipping it over the keeper's head on a half-volley.) I'll have to see the movie too.

This person has a nice NASL history too. Oh man, the Tulsa Roughnecks? No wonder the league didn't make it.

[UPDATE: More here. Also, further research seems to reveal that it was not the largest crowd ever at Giants Stadium. But it was definitely a big one.]


FMFM: Sonny Rollins' Quartets Featuring Jim Hall, including all of The Bridge and some other period material. This one took awhile to grab me, but Hall's sensitive guitar parts have emerged as a warm, subtle complement to Rollins' exciting tenor.