Comments on: Tim Howard Is Pretty Much Bulletproof

By: Wednesday Night At The USMNT Movies… « The Shin Guardian

Wednesday Night At The USMNT Movies… « The Shin Guardian — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:01:49 +0000

[...] • First, from Don’t Tread Challenger Luis, an ode to bulletproof Timmy Howard: [...]

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 07:39:23 +0000

Another good article. I was thinking about Howard this past week when the news of Donovan’s goal broke. I was watching ESPN and saw the Soccer ticker report the score of the game and the fact that LD had his first goal. I thought it would have only been appropriate for them also to mention Howard’s clean sheet (I think his 5th this year?). I guess it is the glass half full/half empty syndrome. Soccer has finally made ESPN’s ticker so I very happy about that, but it would be nice if they focused on all our EPL players when reporting EPL scores, esp. Howard and Friedel.

By: Weekend Revs: Reds, Blues and More « The Shin Guardian

Weekend Revs: Reds, Blues and More « The Shin Guardian — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:36:04 +0000

[...] Oh and more note here, not to tread on Timmy. Howard was beaten on an exquisite flick on the West Ham goal. The goal was credited to an own goal by Goodison’s Tony Hibbert, but Howard was beat. Note, Howard came out for this one (correctly) and got beat left side as he tried to shut down the dominant foot of Junior Stanislas who was making a run on to a ball over the top by none other than Diamanti. Not a bad beat and otherwise Howard was his usual self, bulletproof. [...]

By: Who’s Your Player of the Year? « The Shin Guardian

Who’s Your Player of the Year? « The Shin Guardian — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:04:52 +0000

[...] Tim Howard This TSG favorite has been a rock in net for most of the year including 8 saves against Spain in an historic win for US Soccer. The USMNT’s pack-it-in and counter-attack approach has only enjoyed some success due to Howard’s ability to come up big when the defense breaks down. He hasn’t been perfect, but he’s still world class. [...]

By: Mark T

Mark T — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:41:17 +0000

So basically their eye-hand coordination gets developed at an early age? I guess I can buy that, but I would think that you’d see great keepers from other countries that play a fair amount of basketball (and to a lesser extent baseball).

From a physical standpoint it makes sense as basketball tweeners or athletic, but not fast individuals would gravitate towards the position in America…and we have a lot of both of those.

By: matthewsf

matthewsf — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:29:02 +0000

Shaun / Mark:

I think these is an easy answer here. I thought making this a column. But if you look at any of the US keepers, they all excelled in another sport as youths or teens.

I believe both Tim Howard and Brad Friedel with all-state basketball players in high school.

American sports that kids grow up with have one thing in common–lunging for balls. Basketball be it a steal or a pass, Baseball, self explanatory, Football, try being a WR or DB.

It’s ingrained in our culture, unlike Brazil for example, where they play soccer on patches of dirt or grass or, with more difficulty, on the beach. Hence, the Brazilian dribbling skills.

By: kaya

kaya — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:26:24 +0000

Re: the tradition of american GKs
I think lots of people have discussed this over the years. I remember watching a Kasey Keller interview where he said it himself: Americans are used to playing games with their hands, so it’s kind of natural to our sports character.
Every other position on the soccer field ideally involves a childhood spent with a ball at the feet and watching games with great players on tv… the latter is only becoming a possibility now, and I don’t know if we can ever expect the former. For now, we’ll have to settle for great goalkeeping and recent imports to get a decent field of over-achievers.

By: Mark T

Mark T — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:39:19 +0000

Shaun, as I wrote my comment above, I thought of that exact question and that it would be a great blog post. However, my initial thought was that I have no idea. Is it coaching? Is the mystique of the US keeper that draws folks to it? Is it the shaved head?

By: sfshwebb

sfshwebb — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:22:30 +0000

So I guess this might be a future blog post by either me or the two brothers but i want to pose a question. Out of all the positions in soccer, the US are constantly producing above average to world class goalkeepers. Yes they have an occasional great midfielder, defender etc.., but the output of great keepers (Howard, Friedel, Keller, Guzan etc…) is very impressive. Any thoughts to why this is?

By: Free Beer Movement

Free Beer Movement — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:43:02 +0000

Howard is by far the brightest spot on our National Team roster. It was part “all hands on deck” defending and Timmy that preserved the Spain win and Tim alone keeping us in the Brazil game. Howas has time and time again pulled off beyond quality saves for both the Nats and Everton.

Everton pulled off a great performance in last year’s EPL, but Lescot got a lot of the credit (through a ridiculous transfer to Man City) . Goalkeeping is a lot like being the president.. you get none of the credit when things go good, but all of the blam when things go bad. Howard was Everton last season and he’ll be the guy keeping it respectable for them this season.

I wouldn’t trade Howard for any other national team keeper. He’s the heart and soul of our defense and the top thing that will bring us CONCACAF qualification and success in the World Cup.

All you haters… find a new national team. I’ll criticize our players when they need it, but this one is a lost cause.