The Special Ones

Today there are some pretty exciting football (soccer) matches on television. I am most looking forward to the Champions League match-up between Manchester United and Inter Milan. Both teams are leading their respective domestic leagues (England and Italy) and their rosters are full of incredible talent and very interesting personalities.

Today the New York Times featured Inter's manager/coach, Jose Mourinho, the "Special One." He's brash and flamboyant, and brings a unique style to the science of winning. The article is actually titled: "A Coach Cloaked in Armani and Confidence" He has definitely mastered the art of attracting and molding media attention. NYtimes.com also featured him earlier this month in this Q&A session.

There are also some exciting things going on in the American world of soccer. The MLS season is about to start in a few days and the league is going to announce the two new cities that will have teams in 2011. According to most reports, it sounds like Portland and Vancouver will be on the receiving end of the new franchises. They will join Seattle Sounders FC who will be entering the league this season and the yet unnamed Philadelphia team which will play their first game in 2010. I typically try and keep up with all the new gossip and hearsay at MLS Rumors.

Also - in another story of international intrigue David Beckham will be staying with the Italian team AC Milan for the rest of the season but will rejoin the LA Galaxy in the summer - in the middle of the MLS season. I'm sure a lot of Galaxy fans are pretty upset about this. But I'll admit that David Beckham is still awesome. He's been able to succeed in all of the world's greatest leagues and turn himself into an international icon who transcends his own sport at the same time. Check out this promo he put together with Kevin Garnett for Adidas.