(Via Dirty Tackle:  Mexican club replace players’ names with Twitter handles on shirts .)

Mexican soccer club Jaguares has replaced player names on the backs of their shirts with Twitter handles that promote both the player and shirt sponsor, Sol beer. As Dirty Tackle explains:

In a bid to get its players (and beer sponsor) a few more followers, the club — which was founded in 2002 — replaced the players’ names on the back of its shirts with each players’ individul Twitter handle. The club also colored the lettering on the orange home shirts in a Twitter teal (or blue…whatever) along with the social networking site’s bird logo.

Now, I love soccer and I love Twitter, but this is a bit much for me. The fact is, a lot of Mexican club shirts are so chock full of sponsors that they basically could be mistaken for NASCAR cars. Adding Twitter handles to this trend — well, it’s just jumping the shark.

It is interesting how enamored people, especially those in the sports world, are with promoting their twitter accounts, but aren’t similarly obsessed with promoting their Facebook accounts. This, despite the fact that Facebook has over seven times the monthly active users that Twitter does. This probably has a lot to do with the default public nature of Twitter, versus the default private nature of Facebook.

Despite the fact that Facebook has developed some pretty great settings to allow users to easily maintain robust and separate public and private profiles on Facebook, this use doesn’t seem to have gotten widespread attention yet. For now, and for the foreseeable future, individuals seem to view Twitter as their public mechanism for sharing content and information, while Facebook is a private means of sharing content and information. Of course this only applies to individuals, it’s now SOP to use both channels to market an organization.

While Washington sports fans marvel at their professional football team’s 2-0 start and wonder if they can beat the hated Cowboys tonight, their professional futbol (aka. soccer) team is making a late playoff run powered by veteran Canadian Dwayne De Rosario. This weekend he scored his second hat trick of the season, which happened to be the fastest hat trick recorded in MLS history.

After several seasons in the wilderness this year, DC United is in hot pursuit of the playoffs. They are one point behind New York  for the final playoff spot with two games in hand and four points behind Houston for the top spot with three games in hand. In the moribund Eastern Conference, a playoff birth is United’s to lose.

I find myself writing yet another Friday lost and found on Saturday morning, so let’s get right down to it:

As the Republican nomination race heats up and looks increasingly like a run-off between crazy Michelle Bachman, crazy Rick Perry and not-so crazy-but-still-pretty-scary Mitt Romney, Bachman has pledged to bring back $2.00 per gallon gas. Of course, economists — you know, people who have actually studied how the economy works — note that two dollar gas would only be achievable in a complete economic collapse. At least we’ll be able to fuel up our SUVs as we drive into the zombie apocalypse.
(Via CNNMoney)

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If you live in the DC metro area (or have access to The Washington Post) check out the Viola Drath, Albrecht Gero Murth murder case. Here’s the basic synopsis: Wealthy 91-year-old socialite is found murdered in her tony Georgetown townhouse. Weirdo husband, fond of German military uniforms and eye patches is accused. It’s a tragic and surreal case that could only happen in Washington.
(Via The Washington Post)

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Inter Milan is in final  negotiations with obscure Russian club Anzhi Makhachkal over a transfer deal that would make Samuel Eto’o the highest paid soccer player in the World. Which is crazy, because Eto’o isn’t really all that any more.

Even crazier? Anzhi Makhachkal is located in a politically unstable region of Russia and its players actually live in Moscow and fly to Makhachkal to play their matches (and presumably quickly fly home again). So basically, every match is an away match. Also, as The Wall Street Journal notes, “The only time Anzhi made mainstream headlines last year was when Roberto Carlos was racially abused at an away game in Samara.” I’m sure Eto’o will fit in just fine there…
(Via Sports Illustrated and The Wall Street Journal)

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You know what’s really crazy? Trying to do Google Street View in the Amazon. But Google is doing it. The web giant is working with the Sustainable Amazon Foundation to pull off Street View Amazon and is working with indigenous people in the region to film the area. The Street View team is actually not using many streets to record the project, but is instead traveling by boat and bike.
(Via Treehugger)

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500 Startups held their most recent Demo Day, unveiling 30 unique ideas trying to make it on the big bad Internet frontier. TechCrunch highlights a handful of them in video interviews. My personal favorite here: StoryTree, which looks like a great way to tell a story and record family histories.
(Via TechCrunch)

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Finally, today: There is one Republican candidate out there who is not crazy. His name is Jon Huntsman and, unfortunately, his chances of winning the nomination are basically zero. And/but, his daughters are hot.
(Via Twitter, the world’s finest news source.)

Newsweek crop via Ebony Mom Politics

Infographic master David McCandless, he of Information is Beautiful fame, presents “The Hierarchy of Digital Distractions,” an infogrpahic that attempts to dissect  which distractions take presedence his wandering mind. The work now hangs in the Museum of Modern Art.

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In the vein of digital distractions, Facebook has released a stand-alone app for it’s Messenger service in the latest bid to crush the living soul out of the scourge known as SMS (or text messages to the uninitiated). The messenger app essentially gives users a shortcut to Facebook’s messenger function and allows them to set up group chats. Carriers better sock away some of that SMS coin they’re making now, because the number of messaging services on the market are going to make that “service” irrelevant pretty quickly.

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Digital distraction of the moment: IEEE Spectrum: Inside Technology is like Wired without all the bullshit. Right now the site features articles on Army robots, medical tattoos and dimwitted nanotech terrorists who don’t know what nanotech is. Be sure to check out th geek Life column to find onto how to make your own Arcade game.

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Good news on the environment front: The Energy Information Administration has found that electricity generated from coal is down 6 percent! Bad news: It’s being replaced by the only slightly less dirty natural gas. Worse news: The EIA predicts electricity from coal will jump 25 percent in the next twenty years.

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Finally today, there’s some really good news for Major League Soccer. The league has signed a three-year deal with NBC Universal to bring its games to the Versus network, which will soon be renamed the NBC Sports Network. Versus will air 38 regular season MLS matches, three playoff matches and two US National Team matches, while the NBC Network mothership will air two regular season matches, two playoff matches and two national team matches. The new contract will essentially replace the matches currently found on Fox Soccer Channel. ESPN will continue to show its “MLS Game of the Week” package of MLS matches. The deal instantly doubles the exposure for MLS on cable, going from 40 million households on FSC to 80 million on the NBC Sports.

Also, the reborn Freddy Adu — Freddy 2.0 let’s call him — is being reunited with his first professional coach Piotr Nowak. Adu will sign for Philadelphia Union today. I’m psyched for Freddy. I’ve always appreciated his play and felt like the expectations put on his shoulder were too great. Seeing Freddy 2.0 emerge in the Gold Cup was one of the few bright spots for the US and I’m rooting for him in Philly — except when he plays DC United.

You don’t have to have a British accent to be a good soccer announcer, it’s just that all the best announcers have British accents. They’re the ones who not only have a love of the game, but were  brought up through their careers knowing that being a soccer (or football in their parlance) announcer was the top of the heap. Being a soccer announcer in the US sports landscape is far from the top of the heap. There’s a reason Rob Stone goes from MLS to being the play-by-play guy for pro bowling — and I’m pretty sure it’s not because of his love of bowling.

In the same fashion, you do not need to be a former soccer player from Europe or South America to be a top soccer coach — it just so happens that the best coaches come from places where soccer is the end-all-and-be-all of sporting culture and have played the game at a very high level. (Of course, there are always exceptions to prove the rule, see: Diego Maradona.)

I’m sure somewhere here in America there is someone who will be our first great American-born national team coach. Perhaps it’s Jason Kreis, or Ben Olsen — guys who grew up with soccer and played and now coach at the professional level. But right now, that person doesn’t exist and so US Soccer has gone out and finally landed Jurgen Klinsmann — a coach with a high European pedigree and, as someone who’s lived in America for several years — a deep knowledge and understanding of the arcane (and wholly non-European) workings of American soccer.

Right now, Klinsmann certainly seems like the best option for US Soccer, but there are questions surrounding both Bradley’s dismissal and his hiring that need to be addressed.

Why dump Bradley now?
The decision to get rid of Bradley isn’t an easy one. On paper he has an exceptionally good record for the US. His sides appeared in every CONCACAF Gold Cup Final they played in, winning the cup in 2007. He led the US to the finals of the 2009 Confederations Cup, after stunning eventual World Champions Spain in the semi-finals in a game that will be remembered as one of America’s finest. And the US won its (underperforming) World Cup Group in 2010 before exiting in the second round after losing 2-1 to Ghana.

Despite this record, Bradley’s fate was really sealed in the 5th minute of the 2010 match against Ghana, when Ricardo Clark — a Bradley favorite — gave up a ball to Kevin Prince Boateng allowing Ghana to grab an early 1-0 lead in the decisive match. Clark played so poorly in the match that Bradley was forced to pull him out in the 31st minute — a teary-eyed Clark was met, embraced and consoled by Bradley on the sideline. This was Bob Bradley in microcosm. His style of coaching was too conservative, he relied on players that he liked and trusted more than on players with the best skills and experience, and he cared very deeply about each one of his players. It seemed at times that he cared about them, and those that were his favorites, over all else — including whether his teams won or lost.

After the 2010 World Cup, US Soccer head Sunil Gulati went calling for Klinsmann, but couldn’t land him. Klinsmann wanted a level of control over player development that Gulati wasn’t ready to cede, so Bradley was retained. However, after an uneven — and, worse, uninspiring — performance in the 2011 Gold Cup where the US lost a first round match to Panama and gave up a 2-0 lead to Mexico in the final and went on to lose 4-2, it was clear that a malaise had settled over the US team.

Tim Howard was yelling at everyone, Landon Donovan was frustrated and Clint Dempsey looked like he’d rather be doing just about anything other than playing soccer. And Jonathan Bornstein was still, unacceptably, wearing a US shirt and playing in matches. Clearly, a change needed to be made — and now it has been.

So, what does Klinsmann have that Bob Bradley doesn’t?
Besides a European name and a nice head of blonde hair, Klinsmann brings a completely different style of play to the US team. Bradley, known in some circles as “Banality Bob,” brought a very conservative — defense-first — style of play to the US team, often playing five midfielders across the center with one lone striker responsible for holding the ball up and either waiting for support from his midfielders or heading home crosses from the flanks. Unfortunately, this style was ill-suited to the personnel the US had on the squad, who were much more adept and comfortable making runs from just off the center of the park into the attack. Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, in particular, have scored buckets of goals from a position in between a typical midfielder position and a forward position. In addition, forwards Jozy Altidore and Juan Aguadelo lacked the physical presence and maturity to effectively play as lone strikers. Under Bradley’s scheme, these players were under utilized.

In contrast, Klisnmann’s 2006 German World Cup team, which placed third in the World Cup, was known for its attack-first mentality. Klinsmann is known to prefer a 4-3-3 set-up which would be better suited to Donovan and Dempsey’s skills and allow the US to utilize players, such as Jose Torres, who haven’t been able to fit into Bradley’s more conservative scheme. It wold also benefit a player like Freddy Adu, who impressed in this year’s Gold Cup after years in the wilderness.

As a former player, there is also hope that Klinsmann will be able to develop some consistency at forward, a spot that the US has had trouble filling since the retirement of Brian McBride. Altidore, Aguadelo, Teal Bunbury and Charlie Davies all have significant talent, but the talent is raw and in some cases the players lack confidence. A former forward like Klinsmann could be the man to whip these players into shape.

From a long-term perspective, the hope is that Klinsmann can change two things that have kept the US from reaching the top-level of international football: sub-par youth development and losing American players to other nations. These two issues really go hand-in-hand and Technical Director of Youth Soccer Claudio Reyna has already begun to address youth development holistically.

Klinsmann, if he so desires, can bring an outside perspective to these issues and use his stature, both as National Team coach and as a storied European player and coach, as a bully pulpit to get youth coaches to fall in line and develop not the most physically imposing talent — but the best soccer talent regardless of race, or class. Bradley, a Princeton man from New Jersey, was never interested in breaking down the classist structure of youth soccer in the US and remake it into something that identifies the best talent, regardless of where they are playing.

At the same time, one would hope that having Klinsmann as the National Team coach will persuade perspective US players who hold dual passports to choose the United States over other countries for international play – may we never have another trader like Giusseppe Rossi again. Certainly, if Klinsmann does well, players who can choose to play anywhere will want to play for the Unites States.

Does this mean the US will rock the 2014 World Cup in Brazil?
The short answer is no. As Ian Darke rightly said on Twitter last night, “No coach can put in what God left out.” In other words, Klinsmann has to work with the same player pool as Bradley did. That said, there are glaring issues with the US team that a new coach can address, including: the US propensity to play down, or up to its competition; the team’s habit of giving up early goals; and — as mentioned before — its conservative style. All of these things can be addressed through coaching and a change in philosophy. These are the types of tweaks that can prevent the US from losing in the first round of the knock-out stages of the World Cup — but they certainly won’t get them to the final. Only the changes in player development discussed earlier can get the US to the World Cup final — and the results of those changes take decades, not years, to work their way through the system.

It’s also just as likely that Klinsmann will fail. Players may not respond to his coaching style or the system he puts in place. There may be personal differences that get in the way. It may be that — as some have claimed – Jaochim Low was the brains behind Germany’s success in 2006 and Klinsmann was focused more on philosophy than tactics. Klinsmann has only had two coaching jobs in his career — as German National Team coach, where he was a success, and at Bayern Munich where he lost player confidence and was unceremoniously sacked.

Klinsmann does not represent a sure bet — he could bring much-needed change to the US program or he could be a poor fit and leave after the 2014 campaign. The only sure bet in this equation is that remaining with Bradley would have resulted in continued mediocrity and stasis to what is an increasingly moribund US program. The Klinsmann era begins on August 10. When it ends and how it ends will comprise the next chapter in US Soccer.

Yesterday we found out that Bob Bradley would no longer be the coach of the US Men’s National Team. Almost immediately, we also realized that Jurgen Klinsmann would be the new head man for US Soccer. Why? Because there was going to be a further announcement today and Sunil Gulati told Grant Wahl, “you’re not going to be surprised” when the new coach is announced.

Today’s Friday Lost and Found is dedicated to this transaction. I’ll take some time to record my own take on the Klinsmann hire tomorrow morning, but here are some takes worth reading now:

Brian Straus, who now plies his trade for AOL’s Sporting News (RIP FanHouse) makes the case that Bradley was undone by a failing US soccer culture that Klinsmann won’t be able to fix quickly. Strauss notes Bradley’s impressive record with the US and argues he could only coach the players he was given. The players are something Klinsmann won’t be able to change. However, he also says that Klinsmann’s international pedigree and superior communications skills gives him a bully pulpit to start changing the US’s failed and automatonic development system.

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Over at No Short Corners, Greg Seltzer has high hopes that Klinsmann will bring some attacking panache to the US side and will partner nicely with Claudio Reyna, US Youth Soccer’s Technical Director, on player development and curriculum. He also notes that Bob Bradley’s departure is really good news for young Michael Bradley, who “does not need to wear that ‘coach’s kid’ albatross around his neck at all times.”

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Grant Wahl unearths an interview with Klinsmann  from last year to search for clues as to how he might approach the head job now that he has it. Klinsmann is someone who is clearly fascinated by the dynamics of US Soccer, from it’s hyper-organization to its increasing South American influence. Again, Klinsmann states his preference for attacking football. At the end of the day, what Wahl believes Klinsmann signals an opportunity for major changes to US Soccer as opposed to the incremental changes we’ve seen in the program since — well, since forever.

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Sticking with Sports Illustrated, Steve Davis punches some holes in the argument that coaches are only as successful as their players, noting that a coach like Klinsmann — who has played at the highest level — could serve as mentor for struggling, but talented forwards like Jozy Altidore and Juan Aguadelo. Klinsmann could also revive players like, Bobby Convey, Jose Torres and prodigal son Freddy Adu who didn’t fit into Bradley’s conservative system. I’m hoping Klinsmann will cut lose some of Bradley’s favorite sons, as well. I’m looking in your direction Jonathan Bornstein.

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Finally, it should be noted that Tropigol, a fairly new site being run by longtime soccer writer Michael Lewis, was the first site to report that Klinsmann had been hired. The site sourced its story to “a reliable source in the US Soccer community,” beating out the US Soccer press release. Tropigol also posted Bookmaker’s odds on who would be the new coach (prior to Klinsmann being named of course) with Alexi Lalas sitting at 25-1. The same odds as LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham.

Carlos Alberto Torres played for the New York Cosmos in 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980. He arrived in the city during the blackout of ’79.

My headline is sarcasm, by the way…

Via The Free Beer Movement

Meet Goldendale, a small town with a population of about 3,000 that has seen economic growth and education opportunities from wind power. The dirty fuel industry likes to talk about how they create jobs and that every coal plan that gets shut down puts men and women out of work. So, it’s good to remember that there are energy sector jobs out there that don’t involve being killed in a mine explosion where it takes 22 hours for anyone to even know you’re missing.

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TechCrunch’s MG Siegler has been all up in Facebook’s grill this week. He’s written about the social network’s photo sharing app; it’s not-so-secret plans/hopes and dreams — Code Name: SPARTAN! — to move away from native mobile apps in favor of the more open (ie, Facebook-controllable) space of HTML5; and the fact that it is finally rolling out a damned iPad app. Then he wrote about how annoyed and pissed Facebook’s PR people are at him for writing all this stuff and called it a war.

Say what you will about Siegler — and people have a lot to day about him, just check his comments — but the dude is a good blogger. He comes at you with an upfront point-of-view and when he gets his teeth into something he goes after it and covers every minute detail. He’s done this with Apple and Google (sometimes to the point of absurdity) and it looks like he’s getting into Facebook now. For those of us who care about this sort of thing, we’re well served by the parislemon.

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In news from the big city, New York City police stopped and nearly ticketed a Dutch girl (seriously, she was) for riding her bicycle in a skirt. Washington DC is the most sexually active city in the country according to a study by Trojan. However, it turns out that DC residents aren’t enjoying all of that sex. The Trojan survey reveals what much of Congress already knows: Washington is full of self-loathing pervs.

In related news, New Belgium Brewing Company will be bringing its signature Fat Tire beer and lesser-known Ranger IPA to DC before Labor Day. And there was much rejoicing.

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Finally, as we gear up for the do-or-die US v. Jamaica Gold Cup match today (I’ve got a bad feeling about this one) you can rest assure that Major League Soccer is doing all it can to bring high-priced, over-the-hill Europeans into the league at the expense of less-expensive players with more upside. The latest: AS Roma legend Francesco Totti to Los Angeles Galaxy (of course).