Welcome

Exactly one year from today, the start of the "Why Wouldn't You?" world football blog, we'll all have wrapped our first day of World Cup 2010 in South Africa. It seemed an appropriate day to finally start publishing some of the work I've been doing in preparation for a book on American soccer and perception in the world, and allow some friends and me the opportunity to publish thoughts on the beautiful game as they happen.

Many of you coming here may be linked from my work at WGR550.com in Buffalo, but if you don't have any idea who I am, here's my football/soccer background:

I'm a terrible offensive player who didn't pick up the game until I was 15-years old. I follow the game with as little bias as possible, but do have my favorites... favorites that fit in with the long-suffering sports teams in the city I was raised in: Buffalo, N.Y.

There are only two teams I would qualify myself as a supporter of: Newcastle United and the United States mens team. Each has provided me with ample opportunity to punch myself in the face, most recently insipid and uninspired performances that led to relegation and a 3-1 loss to Costa Rica, respectively.


There are other teams I would call "allies." I'm a season-ticket holder for Toronto FC of Major League Soccer. I am the play-by-play voice of the Buffalo Flash of USL W-League. Great acquaintances made on my honeymoon cemented Fiorentina as my Serie A squad, while a friend's honeymoon to Spain and a certain Catholic upbringing give me an affinity for FC Barcelona and Celtic.

There are some wonderful books I've read in research that have only fed my love for football of the non-tackle variety, and I'd encourage you to read them, in the following order:

1. Eduardo Galeano's "Soccer in Sun and Shadow"
2. Ged Clarke's "Fifty Years of Hurt"
3. John Foot's "Winning at all Costs: A Scandalous History of Italian Soccer"
4. David Winner's "Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer"

I hope that by the time we reach South Africa, you'll have read, or be reading, our work on the American game. Until then, I hope you'll find the time to check in with us for interviews, opinions and much, much more.

Why wouldn't you?