Patience.org

So the “award-winning” New York Times Magazine has succeeded where no amount of macho posturing by ex-NFL players could in setting back the cause of football – sorry, soccer – in the US for many years. In case you’re wondering why, it’s apparently because it’s seen as the game played by teenaged boys and girls in the suburbs and therefore is a safe alternative to American Football and other dangerous games, like, err athletics.

This past Sunday’s magazine had a feature on Clint Mathis, an overview of why the rest of the world watches football in a different way to Americans (seemingly the only type of feature that is getting written in the US media about the World Cup prior to its start) and then a highly bizarre photo shoot called the “Boys of Soccer.”

It featured the aforementioned Mathis, Landon Donovan in a compromising position with a water fountain and Brian McBride in tight, paisley cotton Prada pants. The accompanying text was something to behold, e.g. ” Originally from Argentina, Pablo Mastroeni plays defense but not in his Roberto Cavalli turquoise-studded shirt, $1,138, and linen pants, $350. At Roberto Cavalli boutiques.”

Miles had his first trip (of many) to Fire Island over the Memorial Day weekend and you can see what he thought of the beach in pictures.

They perhaps do not quite capture his initial hysterically happy reaction when we first took him down to the beach, but they’re pretty close. He loved being in a place where a large bird might fly down in front of you and you can scream your head off without fear of annoying anybody!

There’s also a few pictures there of Miles hanging out with our friend’s child Alex, who is about six weeks older than him.

You have to love Tony Adams of Arsenal. After all he’s been through with the booze, which he would admit was all entirely self-inflicted, his turnaround has been spectacular. After his testimonial game Monday night, he is waiting a scan on his knee to see if he can continue for another year, but his reaction was, “if not, it’s thank you very much and I’m off to play my piano.”

How many players, especially English center halves, would have said such a thing, even a few years ago? And how he managed to hold down an international football career while consuming as much alcohol as he did through the 1990s is mind-boggling.