By Paul Kennedy

David Beckham, Clint Dempsey and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol are among the personalities who relive their top soccer memories on Fox Soccer’s new original series "My Beautiful Game," premiering Jan. 26. (NOTE: Fox Soccer has pushed back the launch originally scheduled for Saturday.)

Produced by Magic Pictures International and Fox Soccer, the six-episode series includes archived clips, pictures and commentary and explores a new theme from some of soccer’s most storied events. The premiere features guests weighing in on his or her “Greatest Goals,” with following episodes covering the greatest FA Cup moments, players, saves and stadiums, as well as the worst own goals.
 
Episodes feature current players such as Dempsey, Tim Howard and Landon Donovan from the U.S. men's national team and international stars like Beckham and Didier Drogba.
 
“Soccer is more than just a sport to American fans, it is a visceral culture that is heightened through shared experiences and impactful moments,” said David Nathanson, Executive Vice President and General Manager of FOX Soccer. “My Beautiful Game brings viewers some of soccer’s most historic events back to life through the memories of those who lived and experienced them first-hand."

WORTH THE READ. Want to know what's UEFA's Financial Fair Play is all about? Most players couldn't tell you a thing about it, but the Montreal Impact's Andrew Wenger, the No. 1 pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, examines the regulations in a 4,400-word article at Soccer Politics/The Politics of Football, a blog was founded by Duke Professor Laurent Dubois to post thoughts, musings, rants, links, etc. related to the history and politics of soccer.

Wenger, a Duke history major, looks at how the growth of television and the money big clubs earned from it "turned community institutions into global brands that have been wielded with a capitalist’s fist. The dangerous part is that this expansion has gone unregulated." In stepped UEFA, which is attempting to clamp down on overspending with the implementation of financial regulations that are just beginning to take effect.

CHENG JOINS COSMOS. Jen Chang, the former ESPN.com and SI.com soccer editor and more recently the Liverpool director of communications, has joined the NASL New York Cosmos as its director of communications and Marketing. He had left Liverpool amid controversy following a dispute with a Liverpool blogger.
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