Middle of the week can just screw off entirely. You know you’ve still got two more days of the week and no amount of “hump day” jokes helps. Instead, it’s the grim realization that you will do this the rest of your life till you’re dead. Unless you’re rich I guess, but you aren’t reading this column if you’re rich. Eh, whatever, here’s the list of this week’s complaints. - Dan

Reading United did the right thing. Maybe? - So if you haven’t seen it yet, Reading United backed out of the Open Cup because they, like many clubs, count on college players to staff their amateur side. With the shift in schedule that USOC put in place last week, the first round kicks off in March, which is in the middle of the college season. That eliminates the U23 player pool and wrecks the chances of any club that counts on college players. As Reading put it in their statement: “This abhorrent scheduling decision forces the top USL League Two and NPSL teams, who afford an Open Cup playing opportunity to NCAA and U23 players in the USA, to completely modify how they structure a team, or worse, forces them to relinquish their deserved spot to a lower ranked team. The lack of consideration for such a large player pool is astonishing. We are very concerned this is another example of the public perception of the “tone deafness” that exists within US Soccer. We truly do not understand why US Soccer would essentially eliminate the playing opportunity for what is truly the best soccer player pool, outside of the professional ranks, in the United States.” Yowza.
In the last episode of the Lower League Soccer Show, Dominic Bisogno and myself discussed this potential issue. It’s an issue. A serious issue and bravo to Reading United (part of the USL system, you fucking grumps) for standing up to US Soccer and stating exactly what the issue is and telling the Federation what’s up.

But can I offer a slight critique of this? If clubs want to participate in the Open Cup, maybe they should expand their rosters and look for other talent. Certainly smaller-market clubs would struggle to do this, but most larger cities have soccer talent lying untapped because college players are holding on to roster spots on amateur sides. One sticking point might be roster rules of the Cup, but I don’t know those offhand. For sure dealing with the situation sucks (and you would hope US Soccer would be aware of these issues and CARE), but are there workarounds? I think so for SOME clubs.
Cold weather, where do you stand? - I like cold weather for the most part, but where I live (El Paso) the goddamn temperature goes from cold enough for a jacket, low to mid 40s in the morning to close to 65 in the afternoon. So this morning, I get up and prepare to walk to my car around 530a and the temperature is in the high 30s, but my jacket is in my car. So I have to walk my freezing ass out to the car to put on my cold ass jacket and wait for the heater to catch up. Just make up your mind already, weather.
I have achieved peak old man grumpiness.
Same jacket syndrome - Yesterday I was at work and I looked across the counter and a lady in the line was wearing the same jacket. I know you’re imagining some pink glitter jacket, but nah, I wear a light adidas zip up when I work and she had the same jacket on. That made me think, when we buy stuff in a clothing store, there’s 30 of the same items on the rack, why don’t we see people wearing the same item more often? You’d think it would happen more often than it does, especially in small towns with one or two clothing stores. Just as I said that, this old guy walks into this coffee shop wearing what is easily the craziest patterned shirt I have EVER seen. So maybe no one could match up with that guy.
The UPSL should have one champion per year - I spotted this “discussion” on twitter. A small regional club was blowing up the UPSL on twitter for having two champions. While there were plenty of gifs being used (mostly by UPSL Communications guy, D. Pope), the heart of the argument is pretty solid. Two champions is a weird thing. We don’t have two presidents, it would be chaos. Honestly, this same argument is why I’m very opposed to the weird scheduling the NPSL is discussing with the wonky long schedule/short schedule overlap. Who’s the champion? Doesn’t it water down whoever wins? One champion, it makes sense. I doubt UPSL will change because money.
Don’t put your feet up in a chair unless that space is yours - Is there anything worse than the guy who puts his feet up in a public space? Maybe, but not at the moment. Are you the king? Don’t act like a jerk. It’s so pretentious. One exception, your foot is in a cast. I’ll allow it.
We fail the mentally ill in this country - I understand that mentally ill people are difficult to deal with, especially in public spaces. And not all companies are nice about it, oftentimes pushing out the perceived “crazy” types as soon as they disrupt the shopping public. But man, it sucks. Most of these people are out of their minds, need medication, therapy, professional treatment and there is nowhere for them to go. Cops either arrest them or push them out the door, but what kind of solution is that? There are some serious problems in this country and no one with power seems to care.
If you aren’t paying attention to Maryland Majors, it’s time to - We’re living in a golden age of great regional/state leagues. Bay State is a heck of a league. Casa in Philly is moving into that top tier. Buffalo and District is one of the best for smack talk. Honestly, there’s a bunch of fantastic leagues, but MMSL has some of the best small clubs in the game right now. Everyone knows Christos, but Steel Pulse is just as talented and definitely worth following. Top to bottom, the first division of MMSL is fun to watch. And speaking of following, Motorik in the second division is one of the must-follows for lower league twitter. Kenneth always has something interesting to say. I’m just saying regional soccer leagues are completely worth following, regardless of where you live in the country.
Recruit a college kid, why don’t ya - With social media becoming so vital to grassroots soccer, I can’t understand why more clubs don’t venture into their local universities and community colleges and check out the communications department, post an ad for an intern position, and give a kid a chance to grow their social media presence. Kids are steeped in that stuff anyway, you could work with them to create a marketing strategy and they would get a ton of real-world experience growing your brand, it’s a win win. Some people need to think outside their current box.
Everyone still locked in on Disney+ - Such a great service. Kid is constantly entertained. And I won’t lie, I have grown to love some movies that came out after I stopped watching kid movies. Please don’t hit me with “Disney is part of an evil plan to make culture shitty…” They are all doing it, so if you don’t like it, throw your tv, smart phone, tablet, and laptop out the window. Honestly, you should be a bigger influencer for your kids than the movies they watch. Pro tip: Moana is an awesome movie. Seriously.
Soundtrack? - I think I’m going to start adding in a song for each of these columns. That way I can improve your listening habits. My little way to brighten or darken your day.
So today, let’s start with one of my favorite bands all-time, Pedro the Lion. Yeah, their heyday was 20 years ago, but so was mine. They got back together and put out a great album last year. This song is from that album, enjoy.
By the way, I’ve met David Bazan, the lead singer, a couple of times, he’s wonderful. One of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Nuff said.