I don't do a ton of updates about the site - to be honest I can't remember the last one I've done here - but I wanted to keep readers up to date as I've been fairly quiet for a while. I'm currently working on two big projects and half-working on a number of articles.
1. Return of the Podcast - I'm reviving the podcast with help from a number of guests. I enjoy talking goalkeeping to others and oddly enough, don't enjoy having to record solely myself talking for an extended amount of time. So the middle ground is recording people talking to me about goalkeeping, which I've thoroughly enjoyed much more this go around. I currently have a couple of episodes burning a hole in my back pocket but the idea is to do a bi-monthly release from here on out.
The first episode of "season 2" can currently be found on iTunes. If you search "Everybody Soccer" on the iTunes store you should be able to locate it in the podcast section. Or you can listen to the latest episode on the site, featuring the one and only Stan Anderson.
2. Automated GSAR - The second big project is releasing an automated version of my GSAR (goals saved above replacement). It's something I've flirted with for the past four years and while I can't completely automate it for every action a goalkeeper makes, I've gotten pretty close. Frankly I don't think a completely automated goalkeeping stat assesses goalkeepers correctly, as there are a number of situations where we don't have the sample size to test against a formula.
That said, out of 230 non-passing actions I've charted, I've only "fixed" seven by hand. The rest are compiled by a formula and without bias, which I'm pretty happy about. It's a lot of work and something I want to present for the first time (whenever that happens) correctly.
3. Upcoming articles - As for articles, I'm hoping to release a top 100 list for the men at the start of next month and one for the women not long after. (I'm currently waiting for the NWSL season to get rolling before I put my foot in my mouth.) I'm also working with soccer historian Steve Holroyd on a top 10 list for American goalkeepers, sorted by decade. There's another post listing all the off-field charity work I've seen from goalkeepers in the past year, which is surprisingly extensive. I've half-started another article as a plea for which goalkeepers should be in the US Soccer Hall of Fame but with everything else going on... we'll see.
As for current content, I've just added a new article which is actually a response to an email I received but just reformated into a post. Nothing groundbreaking but hopefully something I can cite for parents and collegiate goalkeepers down the line.