The Philadelphia Union Academy hasn’t even been around for 10 years, but there are some talented kids coming through the pipeline these days.
Check out some of the ridiculousness in this highlight reel of the U12 kids tearing it up in Brazil:
The Philadelphia Union signed Jay Ajayi to be their 2020 representative in the ‘eMLS’ FIFA league that’s organized by Major League Soccer.
It was a publicity stunt more than anything, but a smart one, because the Union brand found its way to all sorts of global media outlets that shared the news of a pro football player and Super Bowl winner signing on to rep the local soccer team in a video game tournament.
Turns out, however, that Jay Train isn’t very good at FIFA. In Thursday’s inaugural league event at Union Transfer on Spring Garden Street, he finished dead last:
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First guy to play for both the Eagles and the Union, sort of. Jay Ajayi is now a pro FIFA player representing your local soccer team.
Here’s the gist –
MLS does this competition every year called ‘eMLS,’ which is really rather boring. It’s FIFA players competing against one another, and each team is represented by one person. Philly’s rep used to be this guy named “Doolsta,” and he won the entire thing last year before leaving to join Nashville for whatever reason. His replacement is the former Eagles running back and Super Bowl winner, Jay Train.
Anyway, here’s part of the press release:
THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Kevin Durant was in Chester meeting with the Philadelphia Union. You read that correctly. Yes I’m sure. Still don’t believe me? What do you want, a photo?
BANG:
A now-deleted photo of KD alongside Union ownership and head coach Jim Curtin at Union HQ. Source familiar with KD’s dealings says the talks in the “early stages, still figuring out everyone’s level of interest.” pic.twitter.com/DtrtV7k0UA
— Pablo Maurer (@MLSist) December 20, 2019
Yes, friends, that’s 10-time NBA All-Star, 4-time scoring champion, and 2-time NBA champion Kevin Durant walking with Philadelphia Union owner Jay Sugarman and head coach Jim Curtin. Major kudos to Pablo Maurer for putting this together.
As the tweet says, a source familiar with Durant’s dealings says the talks are in the “early stages, still figuring out everyone’s level of interest.” The Union’s official statement said, “We entertained 35 Ventures for a meeting with Union Ownership.”
Now, does it make sense for both sides? The simple answer is yes. For the Union, having Kevin Durant’s name associated with the team in any way is a massive win for the organization.
Does it make sense for Durant? In theory, yes.
More after the jump:
Let’s get it back to soccer.
Not too much to report on the Philadelphia Union front as of December 5th. Head coach Jim Curtin went to Germany recently on a scouting trip and Sporting Director Ernst Tanner is working on turning the best team in Union history into a better version of what we saw in 2019.
Only one rumor popped up so far, a European report saying that the Union made an offer for Djurgardens midfielder Fredrik Ulvestad. If Google Translate is to be believed, the 27-year-old Norwegian is interested in remaining in Europe and playing Champion’s League soccer next year. A Swedish guy got into my Twitter mentions and said the same thing, so I’ll take him at his word. Djurgardens finished 1st in their domestic league this year, so they get an automatic berth in the first qualifying round.
Beyond those two nuggets, here are 17 thoughts on personnel moves, positions of need, and how the Union might look in 2020:
Aubrey Huff should already be on every Philadelphia shit list after what he did in game four of the 2010 NLCS.
Now retired, this jabroni has been going back and forth with people on Twitter for more than a week now, after posting a political jawn involving guns, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump.
No judgment on that, honestly; if he’s a conservative and a 2nd Amendment guy, then go for it, but some of his responses have been whack, like juvenile and corny replies to people who have been ragging him.
Among those who jumped in was Philadelphia Union captain Alejandro Bedoya, leading to this:
Episode #96 with Russ Joy:
- Union/Atlanta recap
- contract situations
- offseason stay or go
- words that end in the letter A
- thoughts on the Deadspin situation
- your questions, comments, and concerns
- state of the podcast 2019
Please subscribe to the show ([Apple Podcasts] [Spotify] [Google Play] [iHeartRadio] [Stitcher] [RSS]), leave a 5 star review, and follow us on Twitter: @Kevin_Kinkead @JoyOnBroad
Check out the other shows on the Crossing Broad Podcast Network including: Crossed Up: A Phillies Podcast, Snow the Goalie: A Flyers Podcast, Crossing Broadcast: A Philly Sports Podcast, and Crossing Broad FC: A Soccer Podcast,
Audio after the jump: Continue Reading
The Philadelphia Union won a playoff game. It took ten years, but they finally won a playoff game.
Gotta be honest; I thought it would never happen. We’re talking about a team that was 0-4 all-time in the postseason and 0-3 in U.S. Open Cup finals, compiling a whopping 0-7 record in games that really truly would have brought this franchise to the next level and maybe, perhaps, resulted in people giving a shit about soccer. Every single time this team previously got close to doing something relevant, they’d fall flat on their face and kill off the goodwill and momentum they had built with their own fans and “four for four” types alike.
They were on track to do that again Sunday, when they went down 2-0 and then 3-1 at home in front of a sold out, 18,500 capacity crowd. Goalkeeper Andre Blake put in the worst 45 minutes I’ve ever seen from him, first blowing a save I’ve seen him make 100 times previously and then flapping at a cross before colliding with a teammate on a poor parry.
“That’s so Union,” I thought to myself, as they looked destined for another disappointing finish, this time in their first home playoff game since October of 2011.
But the second half defined what we’ve said about this team 50 times previously on the “It’s Always Soccer in Philadelphia” podcast –
This 2019 squad wins games that they would have lost from 2012 to 2018. You and I had seen so many iterations of this team just choking away leads or blowing big games at home, but not this season. They accomplished the following:
