We’re only three games into the new Nashville SC season,…
Author: John Sloop
grew up in Asheville, NC, and after forays to Georgia and Iowa, found his way to Nashville over 25 years ago. On a trip to Portland, Oregon, 15 years ago, he watched the (then) USL Portland Timbers youth squad play one afternoon and fell completely and totally in love with soccer, to the detriment of his love of all other sports. In addition to thinking, writing, watching, and talking about soccer, Sloop teaches media and rhetoric at Vanderbilt. He is currently serving as the Chair of the Board of the Belcourt Theater and is part of the team that runs Tenx9 Nashville, a monthly story telling event.
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MLS preseason is a missed opportunity
We’re in the midst of another MLS preseason. Or at…
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Sacramento Republic use soccer to break the walls of prison
[Soccer] can break down walls… all with simply the game.…
Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports
Soccer is beautiful, just the way it is
Like all of you, I’ve spent the last several weeks…
John Sloop-Broadway Sports
In praise of good intentions
Because there is always a time and space for critique…
Casey Gower-Broadway Sports
Soccer on the margins
In his marvelous book, The Language of the Game, Laurent…
EM Dash Photography
Invisible change is not enough
"I initially wanted to write a goofy little column celebrating…
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Listening and learning
Of the many truisms in discussions about soccer, one certainly…
Casey Gower-USA TODAY Sports
The magic of this moment
Nashville SC are on a tear right now. While I’m…
Casey Gower-Broadway Sports
Intimacy versus commodity: the two sides of soccer fandom
In 1985, soccer journalist and author Paul Gardner set about…
Casey Gower-Broadway Sports
The 2 hour Nashville experience
Operating a 30,000 seat stadium—and everything that comes with it—can’t…
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Rogue Chants and “rogue chants”
Rogue Chants. A name? A description? A philosophy? A movement? It…
Casey Gower-Broadway Sports
Eric Miller and playing for Pride
While now-Nashville SC defender Eric Miller was playing for Minnesota…
Casey Gower-Broadway Sports
Thoughts on the Backline’s protest
Nashville SC started this season with a 1-0 victory against…
Casey Gower-Broadway Sports
A Thank You letter from Wedgewood Houston
While I cannot base what I’m about to write on…
Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
A few thoughts about Jake Daniels
When Blackpool forward Jake Daniels came out as gay a…
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Finding inspiration in the North American Soccer League
It’s nice to be reminded sometimes that when we (the…
Casey Gower-Broadway Sports
A Nashville SC Thanksgiving
It’s been a few days since Nashville SC’s match against…
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The closing of the gap
In 2011, returning from a trip to Portland, Oregon, that…
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An emotional game, horribly so
In the late 1960s, Dick Cecil—who would go on to…
Ben Wright-Broadway Sports
Four non-problems and how to solve them
Non-problem #1: “I don’t know what a Geodis is. It’s…