FiftyFive.One
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Category: The Angle
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The Sweet Spot: Saying Goodbye to Justin Davis and Kevin Venegas
Categories: The AngleContinue Reading: The Sweet Spot: Saying Goodbye to Justin Davis and Kevin VenegasWith the news that Justin Davis has moved to Nashville SC of the USL this week, I was reminded of something I’ve thought of often in soccer: the sweet spot. By sweet spot, I’m referring to how tricky it is for a player to find just the right spot for them. Each player brings a…
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Christian Ramirez: No Luck Required
Categories: The AngleContinue Reading: Christian Ramirez: No Luck RequiredIn The Complete Darkness 2015, I profiled Minnesota United FC striker Christian Ramirez and until now that article was available only in print. Then, Ramirez was the more gregarious, but less lauded of the Batman and Superman pairing of he and Miguel Ibarra. Afterall, I started the profile when I needed to get Miguel to…
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As MLS Offseason Roars to Life, the Loons Are Keeping Quiet — Let Us Pray They Know What They’re Doing
Categories: The AngleContinue Reading: As MLS Offseason Roars to Life, the Loons Are Keeping Quiet — Let Us Pray They Know What They’re DoingJust over a week into the 2017-2018 MLS offseason and the silliest time of year is already shaping up to be a barn-burner. With a few million dollars of discretionary allocation money added to the pot, the league’s “Haves” are flexing their muscles. But will Minnesota follow suit? Atlanta United, not satisfied with its impressive…
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“Papa Was a Rolling Stone”: Amos Magee Comes Home, Settles Down, and Builds a Team
Categories: The AngleContinue Reading: “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”: Amos Magee Comes Home, Settles Down, and Builds a TeamThis is a snippet from the long profile of Amos Magee that will be published next month in The Complete Darkness 2017. If you enjoy it and want to read more, support us by buying a copy, then buying a copy for your granny. If he looks a bit like a nomad, perhaps it’s because…
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Death to the Myth of MLS 4.0
Categories: The AngleContinue Reading: Death to the Myth of MLS 4.0Are we in MLS 4.0, yet? Have we moved past the academy revolution of 3.0 and the designated player plus supporters culture iteration of 2.0? The only thing that remains clear is that we have not transcended the delusional Silicon Valley fad of speaking of American soccer in terms of teleological progress. Anthony Precourt, however,…
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The Value of Possession
Categories: The AngleContinue Reading: The Value of PossessionAs statistics begin to play a larger role in watching and analyzing soccer, the role of possession provides context for the action on the field. Dave Laidig argues that we can use possession data to understand how likely one is to score a goal. Soccer is a dynamic team sport of constant movement over 90 plus…
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Best of MNUFC: Top 10 Things the Loons Brought to MLS
Categories: The AngleContinue Reading: Best of MNUFC: Top 10 Things the Loons Brought to MLSWhat are the top 10 things the Minnesota United brought to the league in their first season in MLS? There were plenty of on-field moments for the Loons, but Clint Warren looks deeper into the organization and finds the biggest stories that solidify the teams place in the league and the Minnesota sports market. The…
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Ben Sippola: From Northfield to New Zealand (Part II)
Categories: The AngleContinue Reading: Ben Sippola: From Northfield to New Zealand (Part II)This is part two of a two-part story. First we met Minnesota’s own Ben Sippola, who started in Northfield, MN and now coordinates the Ole Soccer Academy in Porirua, New Zealand. Now, we hear how his experiences supporting the development of young players reflects what he went through in Minnesota and what he hopes to see…
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Ben Sippola: From Northfield to New Zealand (Part I)
Categories: The AngleContinue Reading: Ben Sippola: From Northfield to New Zealand (Part I)In part one of this two-part profile, we meet Minnesota’s own Ben Sippola, who went from Northfield to Butler University to the Columbus Crew to New Zealand. There, he runs and coordinates the Ole Soccer Academy. Later, we will learn how his experiences supporting youth development reflect what he went through in Minnesota and what he hopes to see…
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Kyndra de St. Aubin on Minnesota, the Gophers, and MNUFC
Categories: The AngleContinue Reading: Kyndra de St. Aubin on Minnesota, the Gophers, and MNUFCFrom multi-sport stardom growing up in Minnesota to her climb to the top of the soccer broadcasting ranks, Kyndra de St. Aubin sat down with Matt Privratsky to talk through her remarkable career. https://www.facebook.com/fiftyfiveone/videos/1684957768222953/ FiftyFive.One is now on Patreon. Do you like the independent coverage of soccer news from Minnesota and beyond that FiftyFive.One offers?…
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FiftyFive.One 2017 Reader Census
Categories: The AngleContinue Reading: FiftyFive.One 2017 Reader CensusWhen FiftyFive.One decided to launch our inaugural Best Of Reader Poll, we wanted to use it as a chance to get to know some of our readers: where do you live? What kind of a fan are you? Are you Wenger in or out? 346 readers participated in the poll, which is a fraction of…
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2017 FiftyFive.One Best Of Reader Poll: Leisure Edition
Categories: The AngleContinue Reading: 2017 FiftyFive.One Best Of Reader Poll: Leisure EditionSoccer fandom has never been just about the soccer. The 90 minutes of play bleed into all the other minutes of our week and our other passions can get caught up and mixed around with soccer. So, FiftyFive.One launched a Reader Poll this year. We wanted to hear from our readers to get a sense…