A doubleheader

I'm going to attend Thursday's semifinal doubleheader in the CONCACAF Gold Cup at Soldier Field, but it doesn't look like I'll see West Ham defender Jonathan Spector. The Chicago Tribune's Luis Arrovaye, who interviewed Spector this week, reports on his blog, Red Card, that Frankie Hejduk is likely to remain in the starting XI.

These will be my first international football matches. I'm definitely excited to see the U.S. and Mexico teams play, although not against each other. Canada and Guadeloupe, respectively, are the opponents. They aren't the most glamorous opposition, but I think it's fair to say that CONCACAF isn't a particularly strong region anyway. I have a lot of relatives in Canada, so it will be fun if, as expected, the U.S. wins the match and makes their way into the finals. I wish I could go on Sunday, too, but I have to travel out of town. I'm planning to bring my camera and take some photos that I can share here.

TMG pointed out that interview of Spector to me. She was disappointed to learn that Spector is a Cubs fan, as we both root for the (pathetic) White Sox, but Spector remains her favorite Hammer. Now she knows that he's not perfect, she joked.

Keep yer money

West Ham offered to show Darren Bent the money, and Bent said "Don't bother." Bent is leaving £20,000 or more per week on the table in turning down the Irons. West Ham are offering £75,000 pounds a week, and reports indicate that Bent's preferred destinations -- Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur -- won't pay more than £55,000 a week. Of course, Bent earned £30,000 a week last season, so either way, he's looking at a huge raise.

Snub was a popular word among the headline writers. The Independent writes that Bent's decision underscores that players are refusing to join West Ham despite their willingness to pay high wages. I suppose Joey Barton could be another example. Andy Johnson never really expressed an opinion, as far as I know. The Guardian writes that West Ham believe that "it was outside influences, not their own inability to seal the deal, which led to Bent's change of heart." The reference, the Manchester paper implied, is probably to the player's new agents. He just signed on with them a few months ago, the Guardian says.

No matter what West Ham say, Bent's snub isn't a good sign, though. The club need a striker with the likely sale of Carlos Tévez. West Ham expect to get Dean Ashton back, so that helps. But if the Hammers are to avoid the problems of last season and move up the table, another top-level striker is needed. I can't say whether West Ham were making a good move, as I'm not familiar with Bent. I can't say if the transfer fee or the wages on offer were appropriate. When there is that much money involved, however, it's not always a bad thing if it falls through, or at least that's what I think is true from my experience watching American sports. Economists call it the winner's curse.

Fixture list

West Ham will open the 2007-08 Premiership season by hosting Manchester City at Upton Park on 11 August. Just two weeks later, the Irons will host Wigan Athletic in an early grudge match over the Carlos Tévez affair. The Premiership announced the fixture list this morning.

West Ham's fixture list perhaps indicates that a strong start will be needed to avoid the problems of last season. In between Manchester City and Wigan, the Irons will travel to Birmingham City, one of the promoted sides in the Premiership. September brings Middlesbrough to Upton Park and a trip to Newcastle United. The toughest stretch appears to be from late November through the end of the year. It starts on 24 November against Tottenham at Upton Park, then at Chelsea, at Blackburn, home to Everton and at Middlesbrough, leading up to the holiday schedule: home to Reading on Boxing Day, home to Manchester United three days later and then at Arsenal on New Year's Day.

My best shot -- well, the most convenient date, anyway -- at attending a match at Upton Park is against Chelsea on 1 March. It's the time of the year that TMG and I are planning to visit her sister in London, and it's before college basketball's tournaments begin. Blackburn on 15 March is another possibility, although a lot of Americans like to be in the British Isles around St. Patrick's Day, so the fares could be dearer. I was worried that the 2008 NCAA men's basketball tournament would be starting that weekend, but it doesn't get underway in full until the following Thursday (after the play-in game on Tuesday). I would be missing the Big Ten conference tournament, but I attended the entire tournament this year, as it was in Chicago. I could stand to miss it this year when it's in Indianapolis, and I would be watching on TV anyway. Blackburn could work, and it has the added advantage of being the favorite side of my friend BT, who roots for the Rovers because their keeper, Brad Friedl, is from the same town outside Cleveland that BT's family is from.

I hope to have more later today on the latest transfer rumors and Sheffield United's ridiculous stunt in Parliament.

Buyers lining up

Manchester United and Internazionale are among the many suitors of Carlos Tévez, news reports say. Inter supposedly will bid as much as £34 million. The story did not include any response from West Ham, although the Guardian did report how much West Ham manager Alan Curbishley wants to keep Tévez. No surprise there. The Telegraph interviewed Curbishley about the club's plans for the summer transfer period, but the subject of Tévez did not come up, apparently, as there isn't a mention of him. Curbishley said that the club's £50 million transfer budget doesn't mean that West Ham will overpay for its targets.

International Hammers

Mark Noble had to cancel a holiday in Mexico in order to play on the England U-21 team in the UEFA U-21 Championships. Jonathan Spector played for the U.S. men's national team Saturday against Trinidad & Tobago in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Spector had some good play with midfielder Justin Mapp on the left side of the U.S. squad. Spector led Mapp nicely with a pass up the touchline that led to the first goal for the Americans, with Mapp assisting to Brian Ching. The U.S. won 2-0. Trinidad & Tobago made the finals of the 2006 World Cup, but the team in the Gold Cup has only one holdover from that team, as the players are disputing the payouts they received from the World Cup, according to the Fox Soccer Channel announcers. I will be attending the semifinals of the Gold Cup at Soldier Field later this month.

They have a point, but...

The Premier League is lining up other sports leagues for a legal attack on YouTube. The Prem and its fellows contend that YouTube is bound by copyright laws to use its technology to filter out content that infringes the copyright of others. YouTube has contended in suits like these that all it is required to do is take down any content that a copyright holder alerts it to.

I won't get into the legality of the Prem's position. I am not a lawyer, after all.

It does seem to me that the Prem is missing the tremendous good done for it and its broadcasting partners by match clips showing up on YouTube. The Prem's hierarchy and their lawyers don't realize the value of all this creative, free advertising. I would support their concern if entire matches were being distributed via YouTube. That could significantly hurt the value of their broadcasting contracts. But these short clips don't do that. What they do is promote the Prem's product -- better than any marketing or advertising that the league could do itself and FOR FREE.

Just go to YouTube and type in "West Ham United." There are some awesome highlight videos. My favorite was featured at West Ham Till I Die.

I could watch that a bunch. I already have.

There are great clips of Carlos Tévez highlights, too. I also really liked this MasterCard commercial that uses a mix of Spanish and Portuguese, referring to Tévez's time with Corinthians in Brazil and his spot on the Argentina national team.

Canals and Guinness

I've written all about my trip to Fiddler's Elbow in Venice to watch the May 5 match between the Irons and Bolton, but now I can share some of the photos that I took that warm, sunny day. The 3-1 result in favor of the Hammers was even better than the beautiful weather and the cold pints of Guinness that I drank.


As I mentioned when I first wrote about this trip, I decided to bring a little friend with me, a "traveling gnome" that the Marquette Grad had given me. Renamed Carlos, for obvious reasons, I took a photo of his altered "passport" before setting out on the journey to Fiddler's Elbow. That trip was short in distance but long in time as it's very difficult to figure out where you are going in Venezia. I finally found Fiddler's Elbow and took a picture of the outside. The gentleman standing outside the pub in this photo is the Sheffield United fan that I met after watching the Hammers. Well, at least then we could discuss things amicably and part on good terms. We shook on both of our sides beating the drop as I left to rejoin my family.


After taking that picture, I took a walk to grab a bite for lunch before the match. While I was walking around near the pub, I saw a very welcome sign that the West Ham-Bolton match would be featured at the pub that afternoon. I ate a slice of pizza and then headed back to the bar. I settled in a back room called the Lookout, where some Manchester United fans were watching their side in the derby against Manchester City. They left when the match was over, and I had the room all to myself.

After the game, I came out to the main bar and ordered another pint, and that's when I encountered the Blades supporter. We chatted over a pint or two before I decided that I had better get back to the hotel. I had decided that Carlos the gnome should make his home at Fiddler's Elbow, so I took a few pictures of him posed by the Guinness taps. Well, what can I say. I had had quite a few pints at that point, fortifying the natural buzz that I felt after the brilliant 30 minutes that West Ham had played at the outset of the match to take a 3-0 lead. I still can't decide which goal I prefer -- Carlos Tévez's brilliant free kick, or Mark Noble's booming strike off the volley on a pass from Tévez. I'll always remember that match and that pub fondly.

Parker deal finalized

Scott Parker completed his move from Tyneside to the East End as the midfielder agreed to a five-year contract. West Ham paid Newcastle United £7 million to grease the skids, but it seems like they will recoup that midfield investment in selling Nigel Reo-Coker to Aston Villa. There had been some talk in the last couple of days that Parker was delaying his agreement with the Hammers because he wasn't sure that he wanted to be reunited with West Ham manager Alan Curbishley, for whom Parker played at Charlton Athletic.

Jason Burt of the Independent summarizes the latest on West Ham's summer plans in an article from Wednesday. Yossi Benayoun, meanwhile, is dragging his feet a bit in signing his new five-year contract. Burt also reports that Benayoun is hoping for an offer from Liverpool, but adds that Liverpool is unlikely to offer enough to entice West Ham. Look, Liverpool already got one good midfielder from the Irons this calendar year. Make them find their own damn midfielders. Well, unless they want to outbid Aston Villa for Reo-Coker. Heh. Yeah, right.

'Have boots, will travel'

The Independent has a fine story about the other side of the summer transfer window -- the players who aren't doubling their salaries, but are just hoping to land a new job. It's not the most original story. I've read the baseball equivalent probably every winter for the last decade or more. It's still an interesting tale well told.

(Music to write by: Modest Mouse, "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank," and Heartless Bastards, "All This Time.")

Short wait

West Ham has launched a new online store in anticipation of the new kits. The home kit will be available starting June 16.

The new site looks a lot friendlier for fans from outside the UK to use. Users can choose to view prices in British pounds, Euros or U.S. dollars. The overseas shipping options are a new feature. If I recall correctly, I couldn't order anything to a U.S. address with the old site. The shipping isn't cheap -- $24 for UPS, $15 for Royal AirMail -- but at least it's offered. A Benayoun No. 15 shirt would run me $93 ($72 for the shirt and $21 for the lettering) plus shipping. At least I wouldn't have to pay VAT.

Latest player rumors

Everton striker Andrew Johnson is the latest striker linked to West Ham, this time by the Daily Mail. The article says that manager Alan Curbishley is resigned to losing Carlos Tévez, but offers no sourcing on that, nor, actually, on much of anything else in the article. I haven't been following these reporters long enough to know whether to play any faith in this particular one. The Independent says that Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton is the next target of the Hammers. The Telegraph also list as rumor a £5.5 million offer from West Ham on Barton. The Guardian, however, says Barton also has been linked to Newcastle United as a replacement for all-but-official Hammer signing Scott Parker.

Shirt buy on hold

After Yossi Benayoun signed his new five-year contract, I tooled around online looking for a Benayoun shirt to buy. I thought that, even if I couldn't actually order one to my address from the club shop or one of the other online retailers, I could have the Marquette Grad's sister order it for me to her London flat and then have her ship it to me. That wouldn't be the most efficient way to get a No. 15 shirt, but it would do the trick.

I wondered why there were no shirts in the online club shop, and only a handful at other online retailers. I guess I was the only Hammers fan not paying any attention when this was announced. Umbro says this three-year deal is its first ever with West Ham. The new shirt has not been unveiled yet, but some polos, T-shirts and jackets by Umbro are already on sale. The 2006-07 season was the final one in Jobserve.com's four-season shirt sponsorship. According to a Wikipedia table listing the kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors for the 2007-08 Premiership season, XL Airways will be the new sponsor of West Ham's shirts. I can't find anything official, but there are several different notes about this around the web.

My thinking is that my shirt purchase should be for the long haul -- that's why I wanted to be sure that Benayoun was going to stay before committing -- so unless I can find a good deal, I'll wait for the new kit.

(Music to write by: Oasis, "Definitely Maybe" and Thelonius Monk and Sonny Rollins, "Monk/Rollins (remastered).")

Football pools in Italy

While we were dodging raindrops in Verona, I took these pictures that symbolize the football pools in Italy, known as Totocalcio. I could have taken pictures like these at many locations throughout the trip. This particular sign was probably the biggest one that I saw. Most of the time, I saw stickers with the same lettering (including the initials "C.O.N.I.," which come from the Italian National Olympic Committee, as written in Italian) and color scheme pasted in shop windows, indicating that they sold pool sheets. I read a little about Totocalcio in The Ball Is Round, the excellent global history of football by David Goldblatt. (I hope to offer a fuller review of this wonderful book in the near future.) Goldblatt writes, on page 429:

"Totocalcio, the state-regulated football pools system established after the war (World War II), became an inextricable element of family life in every social class and region."

The bottom of the results sheet that I photographed looks like a team-specific lottery, rather than a proper pool in which the punter predicts the outcome of a series of matches. Totocalcio seems to offer that as well. This week's games come from the Euro 2008 qualifying matches taking place on Saturday.

(Music to write by: Nirvana, "With the Lights Out," Disc 3).