Not the Nuns in Question, but Still Pretty Rad

Yeah, that headline is pretty amazing, but it turns out to be pretty true. An order of Croatian nuns (Nuns of the Order of Saint Benedict in Zadar, to be exact) are among shareholders in football club Hajduk. That’s amazing and thanks to Sports by Brooks for the tip.

They own shares worth 25,000 kunas or around 3,600 Euros (SMS Note: about $4500 worth), which puts them among the top 20 Hajduk shareholders.

I don’t know about you, but I have a great-Aunt who is a nun. They have little-to-no money to their name, so that these ladies were so committed to this team that they scrounged together enough to purchase a stake in the club is, well, amazing.

Go read more about these fabulous ladies here: Croatian Times

Rich people will drop tons of dough on just about anything. Expensive cars, jewelry, “field hands”, everything is fair game if you have enough money. Add to this list (for the nominal amount of $40,000) a private lesson with “Becksy” David Beckham.

Find out more info “after the jump” (more…)

A big victory occurred yesterday for so many of us. We all stood up and our voices counted…we will not be ignored. For too long, we’ve been doubted, been spit upon and beaten into the ground. That’s right, short ‘keepers, this man was MLS Goalkeeper of the Year:

Three Cheers for Jon Busch!

I have known Jon since I was 14. We aren’t great friends or anything, but its been a total pleasure watching his career take off. He’s not on RBNY, but he’s everything that is right with the position: highly cerebral, terribly athletic and he’s fantastic at controlling the tempo of the match and defending outside the six-yard box. (more…)

Right now on Soccer By Ives, there is a great post up about the upcoming National Soccer Hall of Fame class and a poll asking each of us who we’d put in. Of course, RBNY Sporting Director Jeff Agoos made the list (he’s won 5 MLS Cups, the only player to do so) but there are a great number of players on the list that are well worth your vote.

The list is comprised of 19 former Major League Soccer stars, four standouts from the U.S. women’s national team and two former NASL/indoor all-stars. Select members of the media, Hall of Famers, U.S. national team coaches past and present, select MLS coaches and administators from MLS, WPS and U.S. soccer get to vote, but being in the democratic society that we live in, we at SBI are offering you, the fans, a chance to voice your opinion.

[Soccer by Ives]

There are a lot of names that jump out at you (Preki, Carlos Valderrama, Peter Vermes, Peter Nowak, Joe-Max Moore) that cut their team on the national team during our “formative” years (see: Dooley, Thomas, so I want to see them all go in. Yup, all of them, even if that is not possible.

What do you think? Comment below.

(Editor’s Note: I don’t want to talk about last Saturday at all. I almost got in two fights in the parking lot and we tied on a bad defense clearance, so I have been in hiding, so to speak.)

With Argentine great Diego Maradona taking the reigns of the national team, its only a matter of time before those rumors start. I just wanted to be the place they started.

Ha. (more…)

We’re in. Yes, that’s right, our underperforming 10-11-9 RBNY are set for their date with destiny and two-time defending MLS Cup Champion, Houston Dynamo. Amazing.

Remember to send a Christmas card to Brad Evans:

After slinking home from Chicago, their playoff fate no longer their own, the Red Bulls backed into Major League Soccer’s postseason when the Columbus Crew defeated visiting D.C. United, 1-0, Sunday evening.

[NYT Goal]

Ironic that archrival United _ the team against which the Red Bulls/MetroStars have suffered the most pain, and for which they hold the most hatred _ were the team to decide their fate. So now, after taking a 5-2 beating _ I mean, your granddad going out in the yard and picking a switch off the tree kind of whipping _ they made their sixth straight postseason.

[NY Post]