Hello!

One of my many New year's resolutions for 2006 was to finally press ahead with the international soccer web log I have been kicking around (so to speak) for the past several months. So twenty-some days into the New Year, here is the first post of Kicker Conspracy. Really, I should have started this sometime last year when World Cup qualifying was in full swing, but I was mired in my dissertation, which I finally defended on the day of the World Cup draw in December. Now that my plate is a lot less full, I should be able to devote some real time to the blog.

By the way, my name is Alex, and I write about the MLS team the New England Revolution for the web site American Soccer News, which was until recently cybersoccernews.com. For this web log, I've decided to concentrate fairly exclusively on international soccer, and especially of course World Cup 2006. Often, but definitely not exclusively, I'll be discussing the two teams I know the most about--the United States and England. I may also be discussing cultural issues pertaining to soccer throughout the world.

I'm very new to this medium, hence the rather vanilla appearance of this site. I'll be making changes to it as time permits.

Please feel free to comment!