SOCCERTOWN, USA documentary

K

KJR

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If anyone is missing soccer and looking to kill an hour of quarantine, you may be interested in the story of Kearny, NJ -- birthplace of American soccer and home of Tab Ramos, John Harkes, and Tony Meola, who grew up playing together before leading the US to two World Cups... then helping start MLS.

Soccer America called it "the best soccer documentary" around right now. And even better, it's free! Here's a link: Soccertown, USA
 
Thank you for posting this. That is Ganas and why is not Tab not tabbed to be our leader? I watched those guys player soccer and I thought we could win a world cup. It was also cool to see Eric Wynalda at my dd games. His dd is tough and always trying to win. She always plays with Ganas. My dd beat his dd team at the Far West Regional Finals. What a day that was :)
 
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I know nothing about soccer. I only know is that Doc was about passion. Tab played HS Soccer too :). He just say's we need better programs and coaches in High School. I agree. I also believe we need better coaching in club and pros and US Soccer needs to hire Tab to run the show. Hire a female to run the girls program.
gotothebushes said:
Great Video. Basically it starts wit the parents and not the kid. Can't blame the coach for going 0-4. Just saying!
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I would like to see what he has to say if your kid bats .666, 12 HR (( in 3 playoff games)), lead the league in runs scored, stolen bases and assists and still get the snub for the all stars? I agree though, some of these parents cry so much. My son played Mustang Pony league. I tried to talk to the coach bout calming down and he said, "go to little league." Coach was 25 years old too. Had a kid when he was 18 I think
 
It's a good doc, found it interesting.

There are a few F bombs in there, just FYI if you are going to show it to little kids, but everyone does their own thing.

I agree that Tab could be great running the show.
 
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electrichead72 said:
It's a good doc, found it interesting.

There are a few F bombs in there, just FYI if you are going to show it to little kids, but everyone does their own thing.

I agree that Tab could be great running the show.
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A true Goat he was and is. I am now researching this Legend. Check this article.
www.fourfourtwo.com

Résumé vs. reality: Does Tab Ramos hold the answers to the USMNT’s problems?

Tab Ramos is one of U.S. Soccer's all-time great players. But is the current men's technical director part of the solution for the program?
www.fourfourtwo.com www.fourfourtwo.com

He was a stud at 15 and got a helicopter ride to his HS Soccer Playoff game. That is Goathood!!! He understands everything. Hire Tab please. Quickly. He even say's the best players play for free and "pay per play" will never go away. Truth speaker. He also touched on the inner city players :)
 
This article gives us some great insight into the Legend of Tab and Soccertown USA. I'm shocked, but not shocked he hasn;t been hired.....yet. This is the guy who should lead US Soccer to a Men's World Cup Final. It will probably take Tab until well into his 70s, but it can happen. Move head quarters to that tough city in NJ where it all started. We need Tab because he speaks the truth and tells the goats like it is. Goats like this aren';t always right, but they stand behind what they believe. Why is Tab not in charge?
https://the18.com/soccer-news/tab-ramos-houston-dynamo-coach (free to read too)

Highlights from article I found online about Tab.
Why Houston Tab? “The Dynamo has winning in its DNA,” Ramos told HoustonDynamo.com. (They also develop their goats to be even better goats)
But make no mistake: It’s a big blow for the USMNT. Why you ask?

With the USMNT U-20 team, Ramos won back-to-back Concacaf championships (its first ever titles) and went to the quarterfinals of the U-20 World Cup three times. Ramos helped shape players like Zack Steffen, Paul Arriola and Josh Sargent. Tab became the first man to appear in 11 FIFA world championship tournaments as a player and coach at all levels.

“He is very demanding, but he never asks for something you can’t do,” Matt Miazga told Yahoo!Sports in May. “I really appreciated it, because it helped prepare me for what’s expected in Europe.

“He’s straight with you. Maybe it’s because he’s from Jersey, but there’s no bullshit with Tab.” Tad Bobak is like that too.

Many considered Tab Ramos a frontrunner to be named the USMNT coach after Bruce Arena stepped down in 2017. Rumors suggested he turned down the interim job because he wanted to be considered for the full-time gig. Other more insidious rumors suggested the powers that be were afraid he’d do too well as interim coach that they couldn’t hire Gregg Berhalter later on, their favorite all along. ((not sure what is true here))
 
KJR said:
If anyone is missing soccer and looking to kill an hour of quarantine, you may be interested in the story of Kearny, NJ -- birthplace of American soccer and home of Tab Ramos, John Harkes, and Tony Meola, who grew up playing together before leading the US to two World Cups... then helping start MLS.

Soccer America called it "the best soccer documentary" around right now. And even better, it's free! Here's a link: Soccertown, USA
Click to expand...

Thanks for linking that. Really enjoyable.

I was on the field for the '94 US v Brazil game at Stanford - I lived in Menlo Park (finished teaching middle school and was chilling before law school) and was a volunteer at that venue. On non-game days, I helped the visiting press (I am fluent in Spanish) and just sort of hung out. On game days, i was a "film runner" - we'd pick up rolls of film, put them in a bag, and then run them out of the stadium to a Fuji processing lab so the photographers could look at tiny proofs before deciding what to send to their editors around the country or around the world. For the game when the Russian scored 5 goals? I missed each one b/c I was running film.

But for the US v Brazil game, I was on the field for much and saw a lot of action. It was electric - I did my u-grad at Stanford and there had never been a Big Game that compared. I went Super Bowl XIX in Jan '85 and that was a little bit close but - a HUGE but - that did not have the Brazilians (their "home base" for their time in the US was down the road in Los Gatos so there were a lot of Brazilians just hanging around they were a HUGE part of the crowd). My wife bought scalped tickets and when you see the fans unfurl a HUGE Brazilian flag, she and her friend were underneath.

This doc brought me back to my 20s, following this team and then seeing them up close (I can picture Ramos getting elbowed (I had direct view) but I did not recall that Harkes was serving a yellow card suspension) was really exciting for this sports fan.

If you have not already, check out the podcast, American Fiasco, about the '98 men's world cup team. There was so much promise in the years after '94 and then it crashed so mightily in '98. But the podcast is hilarious.
 
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dk_b said:
Thanks for linking that. Really enjoyable.

I was on the field for the '94 US v Brazil game at Stanford - I lived in Menlo Park (finished teaching middle school and was chilling before law school) and was a volunteer at that venue. On non-game days, I helped the visiting press (I am fluent in Spanish) and just sort of hung out. On game days, i was a "film runner" - we'd pick up rolls of film, put them in a bag, and then run them out of the stadium to a Fuji processing lab so the photographers could look at tiny proofs before deciding what to send to their editors around the country or around the world. For the game when the Russian scored 5 goals? I missed each one b/c I was running film.

But for the US v Brazil game, I was on the field for much and saw a lot of action. It was electric - I did my u-grad at Stanford and there had never been a Big Game that compared. I went Super Bowl XIX in Jan '85 and that was a little bit close but - a HUGE but - that did not have the Brazilians (their "home base" for their time in the US was down the road in Los Gatos so there were a lot of Brazilians just hanging around they were a HUGE part of the crowd). My wife bought scalped tickets and when you see the fans unfurl a HUGE Brazilian flag, she and her friend were underneath.

This doc brought me back to my 20s, following this team and then seeing them up close (I can picture Ramos getting elbowed (I had direct view) but I did not recall that Harkes was serving a yellow card suspension) was really exciting for this sports fan.

If you have not already, check out the podcast, American Fiasco, about the '98 men's world cup team. There was so much promise in the years after '94 and then it crashed so mightily in '98. But the podcast is hilarious.
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I love all of your recollections. Full disclosure: I co-wrote and co-produced the doc with and old friend (and former college teammate) of mine, and part of the fun of putting it together was digging into the archives and memories of people who were there. (I was in NYC in '94, watching at home then partying with Irish fans after the Italy tie.) I shared the link here hoping that people would enjoy it but also share their own memories. So thank you.

Very much enjoyed American Fiasco -- we got nervous when that came out, because Roger took a little turn into Kearny history in one of the episodes, and we were about to premiere at the Kicking + Screening festival in NY and really didn't want the story to have just been told. But there was enough room for both of us.

Hope you and yours are safe and healthy.
 
KJR said:
I love all of your recollections. Full disclosure: I co-wrote and co-produced the doc with and old friend (and former college teammate) of mine, and part of the fun of putting it together was digging into the archives and memories of people who were there. (I was in NYC in '94, watching at home then partying with Irish fans after the Italy tie.) I shared the link here hoping that people would enjoy it but also share their own memories. So thank you.

Very much enjoyed American Fiasco -- we got nervous when that came out, because Roger took a little turn into Kearny history in one of the episodes, and we were about to premiere at the Kicking + Screening festival in NY and really didn't want the story to have just been told. But there was enough room for both of us.

Hope you and yours are safe and healthy.
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That's really great stuff - I was hoping that the footage of the July 4 game would be good enough that I might be able to get a glimpse of 26yo me. My wife was wondering whether she'd be able to find me but I had a bad limp going that day but it was NOT going to keep me from the field duty (they had chosen a sort of "all star" team of film runners and I wanted to be IN the stadium). She spotted me right away b/c of the limp. Somewhere I have a photo with Bora and I do have a "shadow box" that my wife put together of my field passes, pins, etc.

I know Mike W a little bit (his daughter and mine played HS against each other in his daughter's Sr yr and my girl's freshman year) and I'm glad to see how enthusiastically he endorsed the doc.

So interesting to think of the years between '94 and '98 and what might have happened had the almost comedy of errors - no, tragedy of errors - had not occurred and what a great run in France might have meant for the trajectory of the USMNT.
 
dk_b said:
Thanks for linking that. Really enjoyable.

I was on the field for the '94 US v Brazil game at Stanford - I lived in Menlo Park (finished teaching middle school and was chilling before law school) and was a volunteer at that venue. On non-game days, I helped the visiting press (I am fluent in Spanish) and just sort of hung out. On game days, i was a "film runner" - we'd pick up rolls of film, put them in a bag, and then run them out of the stadium to a Fuji processing lab so the photographers could look at tiny proofs before deciding what to send to their editors around the country or around the world. For the game when the Russian scored 5 goals? I missed each one b/c I was running film.

But for the US v Brazil game, I was on the field for much and saw a lot of action. It was electric - I did my u-grad at Stanford and there had never been a Big Game that compared. I went Super Bowl XIX in Jan '85 and that was a little bit close but - a HUGE but - that did not have the Brazilians (their "home base" for their time in the US was down the road in Los Gatos so there were a lot of Brazilians just hanging around they were a HUGE part of the crowd). My wife bought scalped tickets and when you see the fans unfurl a HUGE Brazilian flag, she and her friend were underneath.

This doc brought me back to my 20s, following this team and then seeing them up close (I can picture Ramos getting elbowed (I had direct view) but I did not recall that Harkes was serving a yellow card suspension) was really exciting for this sports fan.

If you have not already, check out the podcast, American Fiasco, about the '98 men's world cup team. There was so much promise in the years after '94 and then it crashed so mightily in '98. But the podcast is hilarious.
Click to expand...
How is awesome is that. Super cool story about you and the wifey. Thanks for sharing :)
 
KJR said:
I love all of your recollections. Full disclosure: I co-wrote and co-produced the doc with and old friend (and former college teammate) of mine, and part of the fun of putting it together was digging into the archives and memories of people who were there. (I was in NYC in '94, watching at home then partying with Irish fans after the Italy tie.) I shared the link here hoping that people would enjoy it but also share their own memories. So thank you.

Very much enjoyed American Fiasco -- we got nervous when that came out, because Roger took a little turn into Kearny history in one of the episodes, and we were about to premiere at the Kicking + Screening festival in NY and really didn't want the story to have just been told. But there was enough room for both of us.

Hope you and yours are safe and healthy.
Click to expand...

This is very close to me personally as i played at Virginia with Harkesy and also on the East US Olympic Festival team with Tab in the late 80's. Both incredible players and that they were on the same youth club team is amazing (along with Meola, but he red-shirted his first year (and my last) in college to play on the U-20 national team so i never played with him). Our club team (BRYC) played (and beat!) Kearny in the U-16 Regionals. Another great Kearny player went to Virginia and was a good friend (Sean McGlynn). Btw, did you know that Bruce thought Tab was coming to Virginia? At least he told me during my recruiting phone call (Bob Bradley did the in-person scouting). I think the assistant at NC State (Tarantini?) was involved in the national team program and convinced Tab that he should play there on grass instead of the turf at Virginia (but i'm only guessing). Tab was a great player and i would like to believe would make a great coach or administrator. Great memories!
 
splat123 said:
This is very close to me personally as i played at Virginia with Harkesy and also on the East US Olympic Festival team with Tab in the late 80's. Both incredible players and that they were on the same youth club team is amazing (along with Meola, but he red-shirted his first year (and my last) in college to play on the U-20 national team so i never played with him). Our club team (BRYC) played (and beat!) Kearny in the U-16 Regionals. Another great Kearny player went to Virginia and was a good friend (Sean McGlynn). Btw, did you know that Bruce thought Tab was coming to Virginia? At least he told me during my recruiting phone call (Bob Bradley did the in-person scouting). I think the assistant at NC State (Tarantini?) was involved in the national team program and convinced Tab that he should play there on grass instead of the turf at Virginia (but i'm only guessing). Tab was a great player and i would like to believe would make a great coach or administrator. Great memories!
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Great stuff from the past you guys. I played AYSO GK until 8th grade. Picked hoops over soccer in HS, sorry:) I couldn;t kick goal kicks. I got hooked on soccer in 94' again with this pure Ganas. I've been really harsh on the men lately. However, this is only based on the last 10 or so years. This Socceertown USA brand of soccer is what I like and I can get behind. Some soft and some hard. Both. Wow!!! Time for a serious overhaul and get this attitude back for the Men and Woman ASAP!!!
 
splat123 said:
This is very close to me personally as i played at Virginia with Harkesy and also on the East US Olympic Festival team with Tab in the late 80's. Both incredible players and that they were on the same youth club team is amazing (along with Meola, but he red-shirted his first year (and my last) in college to play on the U-20 national team so i never played with him). Our club team (BRYC) played (and beat!) Kearny in the U-16 Regionals. Another great Kearny player went to Virginia and was a good friend (Sean McGlynn). Btw, did you know that Bruce thought Tab was coming to Virginia? At least he told me during my recruiting phone call (Bob Bradley did the in-person scouting). I think the assistant at NC State (Tarantini?) was involved in the national team program and convinced Tab that he should play there on grass instead of the turf at Virginia (but i'm only guessing). Tab was a great player and i would like to believe would make a great coach or administrator. Great memories!
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Okay, again -- great memories, and thank you for sharing them. My co-writer/producer on the film was a four year GK starter under Bob (I walked on as his backup for two of them.) Tom grew up in Jersey playing against Tony and the Kearny teams (though he guested with Thistle a few times), and he's now a historian at Rutgers with a focus on the Newark area and world soccer. Here's what he just told me about Tab's recruitment: "UVA set a private jet to pick up Tab and he never went. Tarantini spoke Spanish so Tab’s father loved him. Plus, he said after NC State he would help get Tab to Spain."

Thanks for watching the doc. Love that we can go down memory lane a bit here.
 
@KJR question for you and I'm just curious. I notice non of these Legends in high position with US Soccer. Eric W is coaching some minor league team in Vegas and has to be separated from his family just to coach. Tab Ramos? Only Houston Dynamo coach and that's it. It seems that USSF went all in with development (Soft) and forgot about the American attitude of no excuses and kick ass (Hard)? Can't we have both? These guys played with "Miracle on Ice" attitude. I believe we can win a world cup before I;m dead if we find folks who can pick them and win with them.
 
Ellejustus said:
@KJR question for you and I'm just curious. I notice non of these Legends in high position with US Soccer. Eric W is coaching some minor league team in Vegas and has to be separated from his family just to coach. Tab Ramos? Only Houston Dynamo coach and that's it. It seems that USSF went all in with development (Soft) and forgot about the American attitude of no excuses and kick ass (Hard)? Can't we have both? These guys played with "Miracle on Ice" attitude. I believe we can win a world cup before I;m dead if we find folks who can pick them and win with them.
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I don't know all the politics at USSF, but Tab seemed to have a lot of success coaching and developing his age groups, and it was...surprising to a lot of people that he didn't get the senior USMNT job. On a macro level, though, just being tough won't make you a better coach or your players more confident on the ball/technical/etc.

I do think that a lot of what people have been prescribing for the US soccer pyramid today is what they were doing in Kearny 40 years ago: getting kids from low income/underserved communities who can't afford expensive club fees and finding a way for them to play; letting kids play pickup to get better/faster in small spaces and develop a "winner stays on" mentality; and emphasizing individual technical development. There are obstacles to those things in a lot of communities (fields and tournaments are expensive, and someone needs to pay for them; it can be hard to find safe places for kids to play pickup; not every coach is capable of doing effective technical trainings.) So I think we know what some of the answers look like; that doesn't mean they're easy to get to.
 
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