Despite Doom and Gloom, Bradley Extension Was Right Call

By Neil W. Blackmon, Associate Editor of The Yanks Are Coming

To the doubters who thought US Soccer would go quietly into the night again after the buzz of the vuvuzela faded slowly into the realm of summer memory and the calendar flipped to autumn, Monday’s announcement by the US Soccer Federation that Bob Bradley had been signed to a four year extension as coach of the US Men’s National Team surely provided a swift retort. If Twitter and Facebook are a measure for the pulse of an event’s impact and weight on society in general, and in the world of sport and politics they surely are, the Bradley extension, which trended nationwide, was proof that even in the infancy of a new World Cup cycle the Yanks are well-followed and highly newsworthy. Given that the United States is on hiatus during this international break, the decision to keep the New Jersey native on for a second cycle was the only news in town too. With no friendly to focus on, writers, bloggers and fans alike could all fixate on Federation director Sunil Gulati’s long-awaited coaching decision, and fixate they did. As this Shin Guardian poll and subsequent article indicates, Gulati’s choice to not “break up” with Bradley was polarizing, and the general public sentiment trended negative.

(Source: philosofooty)