Fort Wayne’s greatest soccer star, ever, has signed to play this year for a German team, Hannover 96.

DaMarcus Beasley had been let go by Glascow Rangers at the end of the previous season, struggled to make the World Cup team, but got on to the pitch. Since South Africa he has, however, been passed over for a birth on a US National team “friendly.”

Speculation in local Fort Wayne papers suggested the three-time US World Cup team member was done and would probably end his playing days with a pick up team of farm laborers in Guatemala. Not a terrible place to play, stunning views and all, and probably with what he has earned over the years he could afford a large ranch, a beautiful hacienda, and plenty of domestics to mix his mimosas.

Instead, Beasley is on with a middle level team in the first level German Bundesliga. Hannover 96 avoided relegation, being sent down to the second division, last year by a cat’s whisker, but have beaten the might Bayern Munchen team to start the new season. So, Beasley could be said, with some authority, to be on his way up in the pecking order. No team in the Scottish League would last a season in the Bundesliga. So, that, itself, is a simple step up. He has fit in well, according to the German press, in his first couple of games. Not bad.

You might remember that Beasley was not treated hospitably in Glasgow. His BMW was torched shortly after he moved to town. Later, bananas were tossed at him during a game. That will not be the case in Hannover.

Hannover, by the by, is in the north-central part of Germany and was the birth place of George the First and George the Second of England, the grandfather and father or our own George III who sent Hessians to fight the colonies. Hessians come from Hesse which was once a part of George’s domain. And, Hannover is the largest city in the area from which most early Fort Wayne German settlers came. On our city’s east side is found Hanover Street, in honor of our link with the past. (Know of any other city not a few miles down the road that is so honored?) So, it seems sort of fitting that a boy from Fort Wayne would find welcome in the area that was so good to early Fort Wayne. I wonder if they know?

Beasley will play middle field, wear number 16 and serve as a reserve unless he shines. He did score a goal in one of the team’s pre-season “friendlies.”

While he may never play again for the US National Team the 28-year old has plenty of trophies, souvenir jerseys and a burnt chunk of his dashboard to remind him of his career with Einhoven, Manchester City, Glascow and now, Hannover. All teams are first division, all have grand histories and DaMarcus could, if he chose, rest on his laurels.

Nice to hear he is doing well. Viel spass in Deutschland, DaMarcus!

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Where politics and sports collide in Northeast Indiana!

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Erick Erickson

Where politics and sports collide in Northeast Indiana!

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Where politics and sports collide in Northeast Indiana!

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Well, sort of.

Beasley is not included, one should actually say, in the team for the coming game. Cut sounds so final. This is not. He has been left off the team before and re-won his position. That was the case before the recently highly successful World Cup. He made the team through exemplary determination and got on the field during the World Cup Other team members did not get a chance to play, Beasley did.

Cut, eh. Well, that puts him in rather lofty company. Diego Forlan, the hero of the Uruguayan national team, one of the top scorers in the World Cup, a player whose star is rising, was also left off his team’s roster for their next international “friendly.” Same thing for top players from Brazil, Germany and a scad more countries around the world. Cut, eh. That is the way soccer teams organize themselves. People come and go, youngsters get their chance, old guys get a rest or have other obligations. Don’t expect to see ace American Landon Donovan in every game, either. Left off, yes, cut no.

So, he is a has been. Yup. He has been (and continues to be) one of the greatest players in the history of American soccer. Very, very few players make a national team. Even fewer travel to the World Cup, and from that few elite fewer still get on the field. As I remember, this was his third World Cup. He has been and continues to be a star. And he has been and continues to be a great inspiration for every kid in Fort Wayne who puts on a pair of boots, runs out on the pitch and hopes to bring a smile to the face of his mother. Yup, he’s a has been alright, and continues to be one.

So, I hope the News Sentinel sends their headline writer to soccer camp to learn the gargon. And, I hope Marcus Beasley continues to inspire and achieve, as has been the case for the past many years. Gotta be proud of him.

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The 20-some member squad of America’s very best soccer players, football to the rest of the world, has been chosen and a Fort Wayne boy is on the team. Cool.

DaMarcus Beasley grew up here, went to South Side and then on to play around the world. A smart article about him was in last night’s News Sentinel predicting he would be chosen and, sure nuf, confirmation this morning on the wires. The article, more about the personality, trials and recent tribulations of Beasley, chronicled a remarkable comeback to win a slot among the nation’s elite for his third straight World Cup.

Twelve years at the top of American soccer. Very cool, indeed. He becomes one of Fort Wayne’s premier all-time athletes in the process, even if he was recently cut by his pro team.

Football has two evolutionary branches, the variety played here and that played in most of the rest of the world. Our version, typified by the NFL, is a bit of a misnomer. Seldom does foot touch the ball, more often, it is a game, as commentator George Will once noted, of violence punctuated by committee meetings. A reporter just prior to last year’s Super Bowl wrote that actually playing time, that is, action, was a mere fraction of the 60-minute spectacular, whereas huddles and preparing formation and unpiling took up the lion’s share of the event. Football, soccer, fotbal, fotbol, on the other hand, err other foot, is one continual foot to ball event over its 90-minute duration and referees usually add minutes to both the first half and second half to make up for “injury time” and other moments of inactivity. The foot is key, touching ball with hand will earn a severe reprimand, could even lead to a victory for the aggrieved team. It is a game of speed, agility, endurance and finesse.

Here is something else I love about Fussball: any team can move from the minors to the majors on the strength of their play. In Germany a few years back a small town team, Hoffenheim, started the year in the third division, essentially AA ball in baseball. They won their division that year and were elevated to the second division, which they also won that subsequent season and were again elevated, this time to the first division. Their first year in the bigs they nearly won that, too, to the surprise and anger of fans at more established clubs.

So, every year in the various soccer leagues around the world there are two races going on: one to win the championship and advance, the other to stave off relegation to a lower league. There is great drama at both ends of the table. In Germany the top two teams from the second division automatically advance, the bottom two automatically fall the net lower division. Additionally, the third place team in the lower division plays the third worse team in the upper division to see who gets to play that following year in the higher division. Drama. Consequently, there is great excitement at the bottom of the table, as well as at the top for the pennant race. Here, instead, the chant among bottom-dwelling teams is “wait until next year.” Teams here, as we have read, don’t mind being the worst in the league, as long as they make money for their owners. Soccer teams in other countries have relegation on the line.

So, DaMarcus Beasley will take the field with America’s elite in a two weeks when the World Cup, the premier sporting event in the whole damn world, literally kicks off. A Fort Wayner, a kid from our school system, who grew up among us, will be on the world stage and should make us very, very proud. He has had his problems. Over the past few years his play has been lack luster, his pro-team, the Glasgow Rangers of the Scottish Premier League, recently decided not to rehire him. Adrift. He has “suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” and the slings, in the form of launched bananas, of even more outrageous fans that can be found in the corners of some soccer stadia. Did I mentioned someone in Glasgow set his car on fire? But despite being a bit long in the tooth, despite the outrages, despite his subsiding career he played his heart out at US Soccer tryout camp and regained the confidence of the coach and a place among America’s elite, among players who are greatly valued around the world. Comeback kid.

The games will be televised in the States on EPSN. I will watch at a number of local watering holes, including the venerable Fort Wayne Sport Club, the home of soccer, err football, in Fort Wayne, and I will watch at J K O’Donnell’s downtown, and with my brother on his HD screen.

Years ago, when I came home from two Army years in Germany I told Bob Armstrong, then athletic director at Snider, that soccer would be big here and that he should take the lead at Snider and build a program. He shooed me out of his office with a line about how soccer would never be anything here in America. Bob never quite got it right. Now, thousands of kids in Fort Wayne play soccer at places like the Sport Club, the Plex and for high school teams. Fort Wayne teams often win state championships, local teams travel the continent and, occasionally, the world to compete, and one of our own is going to stand proudly, will represent us, on the world stage at the biggest tournament of them all. Not bad. Let’s lift one for DaMarcus, let’s lift one for Fort Wayne and another for our soccer programs here.

While US chances of winning it all are not good DaMarcus Beasley should be an inspiration for us all and for the next kid from Fort Wayne who shows the world how it can be done.

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Nuff said.

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How ironic would it be if the Colts, who gave away a win to the Jets on Dec. 27th play them next week, and get beaten?

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1:00 p.m. games

Indianapolis @ Buffalo
Sadly, the Colts will do a Dungy lay-down and Buffalo will stomp all over them. No telling what the score will be. I may not even watch it.
Bills win, I was right

Jacksonville @ Cleveland
Jacksonville will squeak by and win by a few points.
Cleveland won, I was wrong

Chicago @ Detroit
Duh. The Bears will make mincemeat out of the Lions.
Chicago wins, got it right

San Francisco @ St Louis
The Rams are at the bottom of the barrel with only one win all year. SF takes it and STL will get the first round draft pick.
SF wins, got it right

Pittsburgh @ Miami
The Steelers have lost 5 in a row, their secondary sucks and Miami has home field advantage. I’ll take Miami by a few points even though their rushing game stinks.
Pittsburgh wins, I was wrong.

NY Giants @ Minnesota
Favre will be at his best today and former boy star Eli will be sulking most of the game as the Viking’s pass rush overwhelms the Giants. The Vikings will take this by 10-14 points.
Minnesota stomped NYG, I was right

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay
Hands down, Atlanta takes it.
ATL wins, got it right

New Orleans @ Carolina
This will be an interesting match. Mark Brunell is starting in place of QB Drew Brees, and the Panthers have kicked some ass the last two games. However, with the Saints laying down, I say the Panthers will take it by a few points.
Carolina wins, I was right

New England @ Houston
Another lay down, with the Patriots bringing out their 2nd/3rd stringers after the 1st quarter, if not from the start. The Patriots have nothing to play for and Houston is still in the hunt. I say Houston by a touchdown or more.
Houston wins by a hair, got it right

7 out of 9, not bad eh?

4:15 p.m. games

Philadelphia @ Dallas
This is a game to watch. Jerry Jones is playing to win the division title. Eagle’s center Jamaal Jackson is out with an injury, being replaced by Nick Cole who has some timing issues. I’m giving it to Dallas in the last few minutes of the game.
Dallas wins, called it.

Kansas City at Denver
Denver coach Josh McDaniels needs to avoid repeating history and losing his job like Mike Shanahan did. KC sucks. Denver will take this easily.
Lost that one, KCN wins

Baltimore @ Oakland
Another potentially great game, and flags will be flying all over the place. Oakland has nothing to play for and the Ravens need to win to stay alive. Ravens will narrowly take this one.
Called this one right

Green Bay @ Arizona
Another good game to watch. Arizona is playing to move from a wild card to No. 2 seed. That only happens if the Giants and Dallas win earlier in the day. The games will be over before this one starts and may affect who Arizona starts. I’m going with Arizona either way.
Green Bay, missed that one

Washington @ San Diego
The Chargers may bench a few regular starters as they’ve already won the AFC West, but the Redskins suck. Chargers will take it.
I suck, Skins win

3 for 5 in the late games.

Tennessee @ Seattle
Who cares?

Sunday Night Football 8:20 p.m.

Cincinnati @ New York
Cinci is already in, and if the Jets win, they’re also in. I’m guessing the Bengals will lay down like the Colts did last week and hand a victory to the Jets.

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Some people may think the AWB stands for something entirely different. We’re just saying..

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