The end of the year is a time for looking back, reflection, and preparing for the new year. Today we look back at the biggest stories from the year, based by popularity.
- Leo Messi made a lot of USA players look bad, including Steve Birnbaum: The USMNT’s destruction at the hands of Leo Messi and Argentina was the most popular post this year, and unfortunately Steve Birnbaum was part of the roasting. Making the semifinals was the high point of Jurgen Klinsmann’s year, and it went down hill for him the rest of 2016.
- All the details of the new D.C. United stadium: The architectural details of D.C. United’s new stadium at Buzzard Point came out at the very beginning of this year, and this is when we truly understood the magnitude of the impact that the Pepco easement had on the design of the stadium. The PUD process has taken the whole year, but hopefully we are close to a final resolution.
- USA vs. France live stream 2016: The SheBelives Cup was a tuneup for the Olympics in which the USMNT faced off against three of the top 5 teams in the world: Germany, France, and England. The USA won this game off of a 90th minute Alex Morgan goal en route to winning the tournament itself.
- D.C. United's new stadium comes to life in 3D model: The stadium remained a big story in 2016, just like in 2014 and 2015. The first real-life model of the stadium came out this summer, and though changes have been made, it is still pretty close to the stadium that will be built.
- Ranking the best and worst team logos of Major League Soccer: With the addition of new expansion teams, the staff took a look and ranked all of the logos in MLS. We were not kind to the New England Revolution.
- MLS takes nitpicking to new high with Ben Olsen suspension: Remember when Ben Olsen got suspended for removing a second ball from the field of play? That was dumb, and it remains dumb.
- United States vs. Germany SheBelieves Cup live stream 2016: The SheBelives Cup makes a second entry onto this list, when the USWNT took on Germany. After going down early, the USWNT came back to when on the backs of goals from Alex Morgan and Sam Mewis.
- United States vs. Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Qualifying live stream 2016: The USWNT continue their dominance of this list, with this semi-final being the final game they needed to win to secure their place in Rio for the Olympics (Both teams in the final, in which the USA beat Canada, qualified for the Olympics regardless of result). They won by a convincing 5-0, with goals from Tobin Heath, Carli Lloyd, and a hattrick from Alex Morgan.
- The dirt is turning at Buzzard Point: A trip to D.C. United's future home: Our stadium-writing trio of commentors took a trip to Buzzard Point and told us all what they found.
- Additional renderings and details of the new D.C. United stadium released: Everyone likes new pictures of the stadium, including all of you!
This, of course, is only one metric for naming the biggest stories of the year. What were the biggest stories to you?