Outside the Box: bombshells, bb guns, and beer

Where else to start than with North Texas’ most recent export to Portugal, Reggie Cannon.

The former homegrown recorded an interview with former USMNT stars DaMarcus Beasley and Oguchi Onyewu for a podcast that dropped over the weekend. The interview was the Reggie we in the FCD media circle know and love – passionate and brutally honest.

FC Dallas went viral after our own Peter Welpton clipped Cannon mentioning being handed a pre-written apology after declaring the handful of ‘fans’ who booed through the national anthem and threw a bottle at players disgusting.

Let that settle in. You’ve just lost the first game back after the whole COVID-19 ordeal which included you getting the virus. You’ve been put up in front of media and asked your opinion of people booing you and throwing things at you for something you’re passionate about and have a personal relation to. You’ve given your answer and are receiving death threats for it, along with your wife and family. The next morning you go back into work hoping to focus on your job and maybe expecting some support until someone hands you an apology to read.

We all wondered why FC Dallas released a weak statement that failed to support Reggie until the Hunts put out a slightly better release well after MLS backed Cannon. It seems we now know why.

FC Dallas has been silent on the matter, hoping it would blow over or people would excuse it as no big deal. Peter’s clip has been played 75,000 times. His Tweet was viewed by well over 100,000 people. The quote has been shared by Bleacher Report, Fox Soccer, and other major outlets. Prominent players past and present have commented on it. It’s not going away and that silence is deafening.

Reggie was working on a move for well over a year in advance, but I can’t say I blame anyone over the past two days that has questioned why he’d want to be at a club that acted in such a way.

Weston on the Mend

From one Euro export to another as local-lad Weston McKennie has come down with the COVID-19 virus just a couple of days after his Juve teammate CR7 was diagnosed.

Here’s hoping for a quick recovery and none of the after-effects that some people have suffered with.

Short of Options

The Coronavirus continues to impact soccer at all levels and the international game was no different last week as the Ukraine was forced to name 45-year-old goalkeeping coach Oleksandr Shovkovskiy on the bench after three of the four keepers they called up tested positive.

The former Dynamo Kyiv goalie retired four years ago and sat on the bench as France dismantled Ukraine in a 7-1 result.

PPV Nonsense

If you’re not satisfied with the Premier League dumping games on subscription platform Peacock, it could always be worse.

With fans in England still not allowed in stadiums, the need to broadcast more games has arisen. While every Premier League game is available to view in the US, the same cannot be said in the UK where a law exists to prevent the most common kick-off time – Saturday at 3pm – from being aired.

The Football League has a subscription platform for viewers outside the UK that they were able to co-opt to ensure that regular match-goers can still watch their teams. I pay a shade under $200 for all 46 Luton Town games, while in the UK a single match pass to view the game is £10.

The Premier League has this past week voted on making those un-aired games available on a pay-per-view basis for £15 a game.

For people who go to games, it’s cheaper than your regular ticket and you can still watch your team. For people who think soccer is a TV show rather than something that’s best consumed live, it’s more money on top of their other subscriptions.

One of the non-league clubs local to my home town, Hitchin Town, had a great point for local Premier League followers while the non-league game is allowed to host fans in limited capacity.

Toothless at the Back

FC Tokyo’s Joan Oumari didn’t have the best week as he lost a tooth in the middle of a 1-0 loss to Gamba Osaka. The defender played through the pain to at least plug up one gap.

Sometimes its a Crap Shoot

Youth soccer is a funny old thing. Sometimes you can predict a kid’s prospects and other times life just happens. Kids grow and lose some co-ordination, girls happen, partying happens. I’ve seen some remarkable players end up in a completely different direction than their potential had them going.

An FC Dallas Google Alert provided me with a reminder of that.

James Dunning was a member of the FCD Academy team that contained Homegrowns Ricardo Pepi and Dante Sealy, as well as North Texas SC’s Beni Redzic. Feyenoord snapped up the 14-year-old with a pro career awaiting.

I wish I could say the news item was about successes, but Dunning made news by being arrested in Utah for shooting students at BYU with a BB gun.

The 18-year-old had a short stint with another Dutch club (Sparta Rotterdam) before coming back and was due to play for Utah Valley Wolverines in the #8 jersey. His profile and stories relating to his recruitment have since been pulled by the school.

All Hail to the Ale

No prizes but a lot of respect for anyone who can tell me which British comedy show that comes from.

A craft brewery in Miami is crying foul over being booted out by Heineken’s sponsorship of Major League Soccer.

You can read the full story on Biscayne Bay Brewing Company’s fight to save the name of its top-selling Tropical Bay IPA from Heineken affiliate Cerveceria La Tropical.

The interesting part is that Heineken – as a league sponsor – effectively tanked Biscayne Bay’s own partnership with Inter Miami, which is a sore subject for some FC Dallas fans.

McKinney’s Franconia Brewing Company was close to a sponsorship deal with FC Dallas that would have seen Franconia’s Red Ale named for FC Dallas. Instead, Budweiser vetoed the deal and Franconia partnered with the Frisco RoughRiders instead.

Peticolas Brewing Company similarly intended its Irish Goodbye red ale to be the official beer of FC Dallas and fulfill Michael Peticolas’ dream of his beers being served at Toyota Stadium.

The Dallas brewery partners with the Dallas Beer Guardians supporters group and collaborated with Columbus’ Land Grant Brew Co. on Matchday which was served inside the Crew’s MAPFRE Stadium in 2017.

What’s On

Wednesday, October 14:
1:45pm – Croatia v France (UEFA Nations League) – ESPN+
1:45pm – Italy v Netherlands (UEFA Nations League) – ESPN2
3:00pm – Fort Lauderdale v Forward Madison (USL-1) – ESPN+
7:30pm – FC Dallas v Sporting KC (MLS) – FSSW / FCDallas.com/stream
9:30pm – LA Galaxy v SJ Earthquakes – ESPN+

Thursday, October 15:
1:45pm – Düren Merzenich v Bayern Munich (DFB Pokal) – ESPN Deportes

Friday, October 16:
2:00pm – Nimes v PSG (Ligue 1) – beIN SPORTS
6:00pm – New England II v North Texas SC (USL-1) – ESPN+
7:30pm – Necaxa v Xolos (Liga MX) – TUDN

Saturday, October 17:
6:45pm – Croatia v France (UEFA Nations League) – ESPN+
8:00am – Napoli v Atalanta (Serie A) – ESPN+
11:00am – Inter Milan v AC Milan (Serie A) – ESPN+
11:30am – Manchester City v Arsenal (Premier League) – NBC
1:45pm – Crotone v Juventus (Serie A) – ESPN+
7:00pm – OL Reign v Utah Royals (NWSL) – CBS All Access / Twitch
9:00pm – Cruz Azul v Tigres UANL (Liga MX) – TUDN / Univision

Sunday, October 18:
5:15am – Feyenoord v Sparta Rotterdam (Eredivisie) – ESPN+
8:00am – Crystal Palace v Brighton (Premier League) – Peacock
9:00am – Villareal v Valencia (La Liga) – beIN SPORTS
10:30am – Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham (Premier League) – NBCSN
2:00pm – Greenville Triumph v Union Omaha (USL-1) – ESPN+
9:30pm – SJ Earthquakes v Seattle Sounders (MLS) – ESPN+

Monday, October 19:
2:00pm – Leeds Utd v Wolves (Premier League) – NBCSN
2:15pm – Boavista v Vitoria (Liga NOS) – streaming
9:00pm – Leon v America (Liga MX) – TUDN

Tuesday, October 20:
12:00pm – Dynamo Kyiv v Juventus (UEFA Champs. League) – CBS All Access
2:00pm – PSG v Manchester Utd (UEFA Champs. League) – CBS All Access
7:30pm – Nashville SC v FC Dallas (MLS) – FS1

Wednesday, October 21:
12:00pm – Real Madrid v Shakhtar Donetsk (UEFA Champs. League) – CBS All Access
2:00pm – Bayern Munich v Atletico Madrid (UEFA Champs. League) – CBS All Access
7:00pm – Forward Madison v North Texas SC (USL-1) – ESPN+

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