AN AMERICAN GAME

Last spring, we were asked to explain why Harvard sucks. Okay, that's not quite the whole story: we recorded an episode about the origins of US soccer--and Harvard's place in it--with Fernanda Echavarri for Futuro Studios' series American Futbol. 

If you're not familiar with their work, Futuro Studios has won a Pulitzer Prize, which is very much like us being the 2nd best Soccer History podcast on Feedspot and top 10 on Million Podcasts. 

With all the other soccer content flying around over the summer, we don't think the episode got the attention it deserves. So we asked if we could drop it on AN AMERICAN GAME, and here it is. 

CREDITS: 

AMERICAN FUTBOL:

Host/Managing Editor: Fernanda Echavarri

Senior Editor/Producer: Rebeca Ibarra

Associate Producer: Levi Sharpe

Executive Producer at Futuro Studios: Marlon Bishop

AN AMERICAN GAME:

Executive Producers/Hosts: Tom McCabe and Kirk Rudell

Original music by Patrick White

Are you ready for some impressions?! Tom got his hands on a rare transcript of a meeting of the leaders of US soccer from almost 100 years ago, and like any good historian, he took out his phone and photographed all 168 pages. And then, like any good screenwriter, Kirk said, "Hey, let's try to act some of it out."

The USFA conference on June 30, 1928 is a snapshot of the mostly-forgotten era when US soccer was on the rise--and on the verge of being a world power. The battles and rivalries between US Soccer and the various state delegates are also an echo of the game today.

This episode is history, it's cautionary tale, and (if you're a student of regional accents) it's a performance playground for Kirk and Tom, who can make anyone from any part of the country sound vaguely like a cowboy.

And if that doesn’t make you want to listen, AN AMERICAN GAME was just named 2nd best soccer history podcast on Feedspot:

And we’re top 10 on Million Podcasts!

That’s, apparently, out of a million! So get stuck in 🤜🤛

Executive Producers/Hosts: Tom McCabe and Kirk Rudell

Original Music: Patrick White

Tom and Kirk have their first guest! Or, depending on how you look at it, their guest has guests. We sat with Rory Bryce of The Football Heritage, an ambitious independent project based in Scotland which explores the roots, culture and history of the game.

And we talked about Fall River, Massachusetts, one of our favorite soccertowns--a lens through which we can see not just the earliest history of US soccer but also where the game is today.

It's classic AAG stuff but with a Glasgow accent thrown in. 

Check out (and subscribe to) Rory's work:
The Football Heritage

Executive Producers/Hosts: Tom McCabe and Kirk Rudell

Original music by Patrick White

Honestly, Mauricio seems like a nice guy, and he's a very talented coach, but he has a lot of very confident opinions about what it takes to win for someone whose only won one thing in his career--a Coupe de France with a loaded PSG squad that was supposed to win Champions League.

That didn't stop US Soccer from falling over itself to renew his deal as USMNT coach. Historically, US Soccer can't resist a coach with an accent. Now, we don't think a US national team coach has to be American-born; Emma Hayes is one of the best coaches in the world and probably the best person the USWNT could have as they prepare for next summer's World Cup.

But Hayes respects US soccer culture; Pochettino thinks he's created it. Just ask him. And that makes us...skeptical of US Soccer handing him the keys for another four years--or, as Poch said right after signing his contract, until a better club offer comes along.

Executive Producers/Hosts: Tom McCabe and Kirk Rudell

Original Music: Patrick White

The English Premier League season has kicked off and captured the attention of soccer fans all over the world--including millions in the United States. But don't judge the full-kit kids at the mall or the hipsters watching games in the bar at 7am for any lack of patriotism. From players to coaches to owners, the links between the U.S. and U.K. professional leagues go back 130 years.

In fact, the EPL is as American as Clint Dempsey, Wall Street, and the NFL.

Executive Producers/Hosts: Tom McCabe and Kirk Rudell

Original music by Patrick White

Welcome to Season 3 of An American Game. While enjoying their brief hiatus, Tom and Kirk heard lots of post-World Cup debate about what's wrong with American youth soccer, and they decided to kick off the new season by ending the debate. We've all got other stuff to do, right?

So here it is: the Unified Theory of What's Wrong in US Youth Soccer, the Socio-Economic History That Made It This Way, and How It Can Get Better.

Executive Producers/Hosts: Tom McCabe and Kirk Rudell

Original music by Patrick White

After six weeks of mostly good, some bad, and a little ugly, the World Cup ended. And so our Added Time series heads to the locker room, but not before we tie up a few narrative threads, anger a few more Argentinian fans, and weigh in on the next USMNT coach. (How do you say "Luis de la Fuente" in English? BJ Callaghan.)

And don't think we forgot about Alexi...

One step forward, one step back. That was the theme of the World Cup this week. As the tournament moved to its final rounds in the United States, it did what soccer does: reflect the larger American story.

Tom and Kirk step into the narrative, from the semifinals, to whether Mauricio Pochettino should return as USMNT coach, to the power of the game to heal a community in Lewiston, Maine.

Oh, and in a totally spontaneous tangent, they also explain how to fix US youth soccer. That would be a big step forward.

Oof, this one stings. But every time Belgium closes a door, Tom and Kirk open a window. This week: we look at the 60-year history of US Soccer "shooting for the Moon" and put some respect on our soccernauts who may have fallen short, but they got us just a bit closer to…well at least getting back to a quarterfinal. 

As the United States continues to climb a World Cup mountain that was too steep for smaller soccer nations like Germany and the Netherlands, Tom and Kirk re-cap the Bosnia-Herzegovina win; tip our hats to the Iranian team; and, as we celebrate our melting pot national team on our country's 250th birthday, share other patriotic ideas like: "trans rights are human rights."