The Fall of 1993 saw me rocking three different boots. I had a pair of Bellotti Mostros, Lanzera Top Techs and the trusty, reliable Adidas Copa Mundial.

Why I needed three seperate boots? Well…I used to obsess over professionals…anything they did, I wanted to do. If Lothar Matthaeus changes his boots at halftime then I change my boots at halftime.

Copa Mundial

I think it’s safe to say that a good majority of players have owned a pair or two of Copas. To this day they’re still one of my favorite boots. I’ve tried a handful of other boots…nothing have been able to match the comfort and touch that the Copa provides.

I bought my first pair of Copas from Meek’s Sporting Goods at the Upper Valley Mall in Springfield, Ohio. I wore the shit out of them. The kangaroo leather was waterproof…I thought that meant they were impervious to snow as well. During the winter months I would go outside and take target practice with little snow mounds that I would create. My feet always stayed dry…as did my shoes…permanently. I should have done a better job drying my boots.

2 more shoes were in my Shoe Bag

Back in 1993 Soccer Master sent out a request asking for “profiles of American soccer.” I remember I penned some lines about myself, enclosed a really awkward striking photo of myself and dropped it in the mail.

Months passed…I had totally forgotten about the submission. We returned home from a family vacation in Hilton Head and what do I find in the mail? A copy of Soccer Master…but it’s not like the usual Soccer Masters I had received in the past…this one was packaged in a padded envelope.

Continue to the awkward part

Roy Keane resigned as Sunderland boss yesterday. Apparently Keano had a falling out with some of the Black Cats after their 4-1 defeat to Bolton last weekend. The lost was Sunderland’s fifth in six Premier League games. Keano stepped down from his position via a text message to his compariot and Sunderland chairman, Niall Quinn.

Before Keane was captaining United and mixing it up in tunnels prior to matches with Patrick Viera…he was scoring goals for Nottingham Forest and being featured in early issues of Eurosport.

This comes from the Fall 1992 Eurosport.

I remember flipping through catalogs and coming across the Samba Derivatives…I thought they were awesome. Everyone seemed to have Sambas growing up…I was never crazy about the traditional pair. I think I was turned off by the fact that they were so popular.

I saw kid wearing a pair of the Oak Derivatives while watching my older sister’s indoor game. He was the best player on her team…my mind was set…I had to have a pair of the Jack Tripper-esque Sambas.

There was one problem…the Samba Derivatives were only sold for a limited time.

Eventually I came across a pair…in a Play It Again Sports store. Yep…I bought and wore a pair of used shoes. It kind of grosses me out now…but at the time, at the time I didn’t care.

For those keeping score at home, they looked better than they felt. I got so many blisters from those bastards.

The scan is courtesy of the Fall 92/Spring 93 Soccer World catalog.

I found this gem in the Fall 92/Spring 93 Soccer World catalog. I always liked the Soccer World catalogs…they were huge…just like the older Eurosport catalogs. The mailman had to do a trifold in order to get it in our mailbox. The full color catalog had some great pieces of content…as well as some great photos. Has anyone else ever come across a picture of the USA Men’s National Team trying their best to look relaxed?

Here’s what the team looked like in their team photo.

Check out the 1992 Men’s National Team looking all casual.

Nike introduced the eighth version of the Mercurial Vapor…they say the boot is “berry”…it’s pink.

I predicted that Djibril Cisse would be the first player to don the boot…he’s never struck me as one to shy away from anything flashy. I was wrong…I spotted both Franck Ribery and Niklas Bendtner wearing the boot over the weekend. Ribery wears them better.

Check out some colorful Gazelles…courtesy of SoccerPlus

This guy’s tai chi pose from the fall 94 TSI catalog would have made a lot more sense if they hadn’t potatochopped the ball out of the shot.

I like that he’s wearing Puma’s while modeling the Adidas Warm Up. Rudi and Adi Dassler are pleased.

The Crew won their first MLS Cup today, downing the New York Red Bulls by a score of 3-1.

Enjoy some gems America’s Hardest Working team was selling in the May/June 1996 Eurosport catalog.

My obsession with soccer began in 1990…while watching Italia 90. Since then I had become infatuated with anything soccer related. Soccer coverage was nothing like it is today…growing up in a small, midwestern town I had to work to find anything soccer related. I would scour the tv listings each week hoping ESPN would air anything soccer related. In the event that ESPN would air an episode of “German Soccer Weekly”, I’d have to frantically call friends, asking if they would tape the show for me as we lived in an area that was unserviceable by the cable companies. You can imagine how excited I was when I first learned about Eurosport.

I received my first Europort catalog in the Summer of 92. I was hooked.

More Eurosport Good Times