This was some news I could hardly believe. In the Dutch Cup final between Ajax and PFC Zwolle, fans threw fireworks onto the field, sending spews of flames and smokes right in the way of the players. Unbelievable. After a 30 minute delay, the game eventually carried on.

Videos and photos here: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/04/ajax-zwolle-fireworks-on-field/

Ever since the announcement of New York’s new football club, I’d been wondering one thing — where do you house MLS matches in the city? The logical approach is to vie for an existing structure, and the city has done just that with the announcement of Yankee Stadium as the host for the New York City FC’s grand entrance.

According to mlssoccer.com, “The stadium will be downsized from its regular capacity of 49,642 seats to 33,444 seats for MLS matches. The dimensions for the soccer field will be 110 yards by 70 yards.”

Coach Jason Kreis also doesn’t think the baseball stadium’s dimensions will be a problem for his club, according to the article.

“For me, that’s a comfortable width,” Kreis said a press conference at Yankee Stadium on Monday. “If you start going narrower than that, you have some concerns. But when I was told it was going to be 70 yards wide, I was a very happy man.”

A player for Real Betis broke down in a game over the weekend against Rayo Vallecano, and eventually subbed himself out. Having been an athlete in high school, I know the frustration that comes with sports. The players’ breakdown and subsequent removal from the game does not feel like an embarrassment to me as some have speculated, but just a reminder that all athletes are human, and sometimes the pressure is just too much.

Last week, The New York Times published an article about soccer. But they published it in the Fashion & Style section.

The article had some up in arms, including a writer at Deadspin, who wrote, “You just want to enjoy a perfectly fine sport, and here comes the Times‘ style section, bent on fetishizing pseudo-intellectual soccer fandom to the point where you’re forced to reconsider your choice of fellow travelers.”

So is no news good news? Perhaps in the case of The New York Times turning soccer into a trend, yes.

After losing a chance to compete in the 2014/2015 European Champions League competition, Manchester United immediately fired its manager. The move gave them an edge though — their club’s shares spiked in the NY Stock Exchange. This is just another example of club owners making decisions to improve the financial state of their clubs, and it seems to be working. Read more at Forbes.

As someone who is taking this class with little prior knowledge of soccer and its culture, learning about the Hooligans and the violence that goes on between fans of the sport was both alarming and eye-opening. It’s interesting to see how passionate these soccer fans are, and how they take that to an extreme by attacking fans of opposing teams and starting insane street riots. I think the most interesting thing about this to me is that I can’t imagine a parallel with other sports I follow, like football or basketball.

Sure, there have been instances of riots following big wins or losses, especially at the college level in football and basketball. Just the other night University of Kentucky fans took to the streets near UK’s campus and rioted after UK’s loss to UConn in the NCAA Tournament Championship. But it’s nothing like what we saw in the video about Hooligans getting violent — before their teams even played. It’s been an interesting look at the serious, violent side of some soccer fans.

There has been speculation over where the MLS will expand for months.

David Beckham already confirmed he is bringing a club to Miami, and a few other spots remain for the sport to expand further. New York, Minneapolis, Atlanta and others have been thrown around as potential next steps for the MLS, but much of it remains speculation.

Atlanta seems like the logical next choice, as reported by NBC’s Pro Soccer Talk. MLS commissioner Don Garber seemed to let on that Atlanta would be the next progression, in his preseason Q-and-A session. He spoke highly of the Georgian city, and even said “We’re getting close” about a deal in Atlanta.

With its location geographically, population size and it being a hub for other sports teams, Atlanta makes a lot of sense. Ideally, the newest locations for franchises will be announced soon, and the anticipation can finally be put to rest.

Everyone wants to be the best, to be the one named in the record book. Landon Donovan could soon get that honor with the most goals in the MLS. The LA Galaxy striker needs one more to set the record at 135, and is currently tied with Jeff Cunningham.

Despite this impending glory, Donovan said, “To be honest, I don’t think about it until it’s brought up.” He followed up with, “Is it important? Yeah, it is. It means something to me. But I’ll be glad when it’s over, to be honest, so I can just get back to focusing,” according to MLSsoccer.com.

This humility in a player is immensely refreshing, whether genuine or not. So many players seem to lose their love for the games they play, competing for glory, fame and money rather than focusing on being the best they can for their team. Donovan seems to have the latter handled, and that is wonderful.

His record — when finally attained — will put him at a well-deserved position at the top.

One of the things that has interested me most in this class is learning how our nation has rejected soccer. It seems so utterly ridiculous to me, the way some accuse soccer of being a communist sport or “un-American” is just so extreme to me.

Growing up, I was an avid fan of football and not much else. While I was never introduced to soccer, I was never taught to reject it either. Soccer was a welcomed sport in my community, and it never occurred to me that there was no real national following of the sport. I didn’t think twice about it.

Coming to college, I had more exposure to people who were different than me, and I have noticed huge followings of soccer among students here. It has been so interesting to learn how, despite these huge pockets of fans, there hasn’t been much national interest in “the beautiful game.” It has been really eye-opening to see how vehemently “American” people in this country are, and how the unwillingness to accept other cultures — or even their sports — is so widespread.

I think this represents a pretty big flaw in our way of living, the fact that we are unwilling to accept things that are different from what we know. It would be wonderful progress to see soccer more integrated into American culture in the coming decades.

While soccer might not be America’s hottest sport, America’s top newspaper is counting down to the game’s biggest event: the World Cup. Leading up to the big kickoff in June, The New York Times is posting about news about the cup to count down.

A recent post notes the official run-through of one of the World Cup stadiums. The Arena da Amazônia, one of 12 World Cup venues, opened for the run-through Sunday. The stadium was the site of an accident last month that resulted in the death of a worker — one of many concerns about Brazil hosting the game. The most recent accident was not the only time a worker died during the construction.

I can’t help but wonder what these accidents say about the country’s competence of hosting the World Cup. Accidents happen, but with so many construction malfunctions leading to the tragic deaths of workers, one can’t help but be concerned about the practices of the country.

Hopefully, the World Cup will run much more smoothly than its stadium constructions have.