When Josh Hakala arrived in Philadelphia in 2003 to study at Temple University, he brought with him a passion for the beautiful game and the sport’s oldest competition in the U.S. he had recently helped launch a website covering.
Now known as the TheCup.us, the independent website dedicated the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup grew out of an American soccer radio show the native Michigander was hosting at the community college he attended in Lansing.
“This was before podcasts were a thing,” Hakala said. “We covered every level of American soccer and part of that was giving in-depth coverage to the US Open Cup.