Every Tuesday I will be trying to provide a quick round-up of what's going on across the web with the Revolution, New England soccer, and the beautiful game in general. Sources will include favored blogs, news publications, and whatever happens to pop up in my Google reader.
Some of you will decry this as blatant filler material; some of you will be absolutely right. But that doesn't change the fact that every day I find stories out there that I'd like to share with my readership because they interest me, they are well-written, or I simply believe you need to read it.
A sampling of such stories will proceed after the jump.
The groups and fixtures are set for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Groups were not drawn, but arranged for parity and local market impact. Steve Goff has the breakdown. [Soccer Insider]
I don't usually link the Dirty Tackle of the Day here (mostly because I imagine the majority of my readers already read Brooks's work), but this one is too ridiculous. A Player-Manager was sent off for tackling a pitch invader in the English lower leagues [Dirty Tackle]
Mountain Wag provides a stirring look at life in the USL Pro division after attending open tryouts for the Richmond Kickers. This is part 1 of a series, so pay attention for updates. [Unprofessional Foul]
This actually went up two weeks ago but I want to highlight it here again. Jason Kuenle writes very occasionally over at Match Fit USA and his Formula XI posts are always incredibly well-done. [Match Fit USA]
You can check out Kyle McCarthy's Revolution season preview on the league site. [MLSSoccer.com]
It turns out that Zak Boggs was able to turn his lengthy lay-off due to injury last season into something very positive. Doug Robertson reports from Georgia that he interned with Dr. Marsha Moses and assisted with cancer research. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
The transcript from the most recent preseason conference call is up on the team website. Coach Nicol, Matt Reis and AJ Soares joined several Revs journalists. [revolutionsoccer.net]
Brian O'Connell has profiled a rising star in the Revs youth academy. U18 forward Fabio Machado, Jr. is poised for a breakout season and may be a name to watch in the future. [New England Soccer Today]
Brian also provided a breakdown of the weekend's matches for the U16 and U18 teams yesterday. Homegrown signing Diego Fagundez was among the goals. [New England Soccer Today]
Frank Dell'Apa of the Globe analyzed the recent trend of French players making their way across the Atlantic to ply their trade in the US. [Boston Globe]