The internet keeps trying to kill this site, but it refuses to die.  

First off, I apologize for the unscheduled hiatus.  Frankly, I still don’t know what happened.  One day the site was working fine; the next day, it’s not.  I didn’t change anything in the meantime, nor forget to renew anything, committed no heinous acts offensive to a higher power, etc. etc.  

For some reason, the site’s domain (brazilworldcupblog.net) ceased pointing to the site itself.  But that wasn’t the real problem.  The real problem was that the site itself was just…gone.  When I logged into my GoDaddy account, it was as if it never existed in the first place.

Tech support wasn’t any help, so I decided to do what I had intended to do for some time: Move to a new host.  Which I did.  

As far as I can tell, the site is largely back up and running now.  I had to create a new banner, as you can see, as I no longer had the files for the old one.  I’m not sure what I think of it, and may indeed create something better soon.  Let me know if you like this one and want it to stay.  

Disqus should be functioning – if not now, then soon.  But all the old content is gone.  I still have most of the original drafts, so I should be able to re-post most of it at some point, but it’s not a high priority item for me.  

What about the future of the site?  Good question.  

Prior to the World Cup, Zetona and I had some talks about what we wanted to do with it.  Unfortunately, the tournament itself largely sapped most of my enthusiasm for the Seleção, and life itself demanded my attention.  (As an aside, it’s been a good year for me.  I’ve sold four short stories,  got a raise, and one of my sons made the Premier team for the oldest, and in my opinion, best, club in my state.)  

At some point soon, Z and I need to resume those talks.  In the meantime, rest assured that I will continue paying for this site’s existence, and will do my best to contribute the odd article here and there.  Zetona, of course, is amazing, so please go check out his other work.  

One thing that will happen soon: I’m going to launch some kind of GoFundMe or Patreon for the site.  Many of you have very kindly volunteered to contribute already, which is EXTREMELY appreciated.  The site itself, of course, will always be free.  (And as free of ads as possible.)

Anyway, that’s all for – oh, I probably should make this at least SOMEWHAT football related, shouldn’t I?  Well, here are some random thoughts I’ve had over the past few weeks:

  1.  Fred is not, not, NOT national team material.  He’s ponderous on the ball and ineffective off it.  I’ve never been a fan of his, but I did think he deserved a longer look from Tite.  I no longer think so.  Arthur, Allan, and Casemiro should be Brazil’s midfield trio moving forward, at least through the Copa America.  
  2. On a related note, I’m…intrigued by Richarlison.  He’s a tremendous athlete, and while he sometimes looks like a giraffe on the ball, he’s fearless and seeks to impose himself on the game.  I’m not saying he should be a starter or that he’s a capital g Guarantee, but he’s interesting.  
  3. Been very pleased with Neymar’s play of late.  On a related note, the NEYMAR CENTRALIZATION SOCIETY is still accepting new members.  All inquiries should be sent care of Saul Goodman.  
  4. For…sheesh, decades now, the midfield was Brazil’s big question mark.  It still is a question mark, but I think the unthinkable may be happening: Brazil’s biggest weakness is on the wings.  Our full-back situation looks increasingly dire to me.  
  5. I don’t love watching PSG (outside of Neymar), but Thomas Tuchel’s 3-4-3/4-4-2 hybrid is smart…and I think it would be interesting to see Tite try something similar.  
3-3-2-2 with the ball
4-4-2 without the ball

We know this isn’t going to happen.  But it’s fun to think about.  

Okay, that really is all for now.  Let me know if you run into any problems with the new site.  Thanks again for your patience.  Tchau!