Thursday, April 30, 2009

Fruitland, Maryland gets a shout out on ET:



I grew up a couple miles from the Fruitland-Salisbury border. No, Greg, it is not a great town.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Damn. The dream is over for Win Willy. The Minnesota-bred colt -- who broke his maiden at Canterbury Park and then pulled a stunning 56-1 upset in the Rebel Stakes -- will not run in the Kentucky Derby. The 3-year old was scratched after x-rays revealed a possible crack in his left ankle. He's the fourth horse to drop from the Derby field in recent days. The others: Quality Road, Square Eddie and Take the Points. It's a wild, wide-open field for Saturday's big dust-up.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Adam Spangler has an intriguing story up at This is American Soccer. It's a profile of Devann Yao, a kid from Harlem with an Italian mother and an Ivorian father. At age 11 he was training at an elite residency program in Pennsylvania. By 13 he was in France with the youth academy for FC Metz. Then there were spells with AS Livorno in Italy and St. Mirren in Scotland -- both ending on sour notes. Still just 19 years old, Yao is now a young man without a club. He's gotten polite looks from a couple MLS teams, but with their rosters now down to 24 players he's unlikely to land a spot. U.S. u-20 Coach Thomas Rongen also took a flier on Yao. The soccer vagabond's most likely next destination? Back to France, where FC Metz have offered another trial.

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Bob Log III is going to be in town on May 10:

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Friday, April 17, 2009

It's a sick weekend to be a soccer fan.

Tonight we get D.C. v. New England -- an old-school, east coast MLS rivalry at rickety RFK Stadium. Ben Olsen-Shalrie Joseph cage match slated for the intermission. (6 p.m. CST, ESPN2)

Saturday there's an F.A. Cup semifinal dust-up between Arsenal and Chelsea, with rickety Peter Cech between the pipes (11 a.m. Setanta). That's followed by a Juve-Inter showdown that will determine if there's going to be any drama at the top of the table in Italy this year (yeah, not likely). Even with diving Italian wankers splayed all over the pitch this will be worth watching. (1:30 p.m. FSC). Then there's our beloved Minnesota Thunder visiting Austin Aztex for their USL-1 debut (7:30 p.m., USL Live).

Sunday might make my head explode. There's PSV v. Ajax in the a.m. hours if you can find ESPN Deportes (9:30 a.m.). Then Bunky County plays its first match of the season against Free Agents (2 p.m. at Macalester College; no TV; supporters please wear mauve). Which is all just a warm-up for Boca Juniors v. River Plate (2 p.m. Fox Sports Espanol) and Chivas v. America (4:55 p.m. telemundo), two of the greatest rivalries in the world. And that pathetic man who bitch-slapped Frankie Hejduk after dos a cero is now coaching the Goats.

That's eight intriguing matches from eight different leagues showing on seven different channels over the next three days. And there's about four dozen other matches on TV too.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

The USL-1 season got underway last weekend with our mighty Minnesota Thunder falling 2-1 to the Carolina Railhawks. But the campaign really gets rolling this weekend with five games. All matches can be watched for free on USL Live. Kartik Krishnaiyer has put together an informative podcast previewing the season. He's joined by Brian Quarstad, of Inside Minnesota Soccer, Cleveland City Stars manager Rod Underwood and Miami FC director of public relations Ignacio Rodriguez.
Greg Lalas on the profusion of red cards the last two weeks: "MLS -- it's like a slasher flick right now."

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

My Twitter handle: dunord
So Tweet me.

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Our old friend Steven Wells is back with more beauty at the Guardian. This time he takes on the most insufferable man in all of football commentary: No not Christian Miles, it's that heinous cretin Tommy Smyth. The man who is 1000 times more braindead & contradictory than I could ever be. And that is saying something. One of the comment-ers on the article left us with this note: "This means I'll need a new name for the Tommy Smyth button on my remote."
-And just so you know, I love Max Bretos. And I don't want to hear about it, cuz yer wrong. The man is a god damn genius!

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The Seattle Sounders Colombian forward Freddy Montero will not be charged with any crimes. He had been under suspicion of sexual assault and stalking. Good for him.

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The last piece of steel has been put in place at Red Bull Arena, so now the building of the outer shell, seats and details can begin. Not long now till the best stadium in MLS if fully functioning.
-Dylan Butler of Soccer By Ives has a few words with coach Juan Carlos Osorio & others about the soon to be new home.

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MLS on Friday Night:
DC v New England - 6pm Central on ESPN2
-The channel has no live sports conflicts leading into this game so we won't miss out on any action.

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In the New York Times George Vecsey, a lover of the beautiful game, tells us that President Barrack Obama has gotten on board the USA bid for the World Cup for '18 or '22. Vecsey also says he would love to see the Prez wearing a Claret & Blue scarf supporting West Ham. Wha? Fuck that weak shit. How about a nice Red Chicago Fire scarf, or a Black DC United scarf. Then we'd be talking.

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UEFA Champions League

Chelsea and Barcelona have advanced to the Semifinals to face each other. Chelsea in a wild one, and Barca in a tense but ultimately easy one.

Quarterfinals
Second Leg (with First Leg scores included):
-Tue Apr 14
Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool - Che goals by Didier Drogba, Alex & Frank Lamard(2) - Liv goals by Fabio Aurelio, Xabi Alanso, Lucas Leiva & Dirk Kuyt - Chelsea advance 7-5 on aggregate.
Bayern Munich 1-1 Barcelona - Bay goal by Franck Ribery - Bar goal by Seydou Keita - Barcelona advance 5-1 on aggregate.
-Wed Apr 15
Porto v Manchester United (2-2)
Arsenal v Villarreal (1-1)

-Away goals is the first tie breaker. If still tied they go to Extra Time, then Penalty Kicks.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The reign of Olympique Lyonnais aka Lyon in the French Ligue 1 could be over. The team has won 7 consecutive league titles, but for the first time in many years they find themselves out of the lead this late in the season. Last weekend saw Lyon held to a 2-2 tie at home by Monaco, while Marseille, the new number 1, thrashing Grenoble at home 4-1.

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Steve Davis at ESPN Soccernet gives us 10 things of note from last week in MLS. Always great reading.

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Our good pal Luis Bueno at Sports Illustrated sits down to a Q & A session with none other than Jose Mourinho. They talk Inter, England, and European football as only Jose can.

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Manchester United players take up 5 of 6 nominees for EPL Player Of The Year. What a joke. Paul Doyle of the Guardian says so too. And he goes so far as to say the best player in England this year isn't even on the list.

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So it looks like RSL is about to resign striker Fabian "back flips & ruined ankles for nothing" Espindola. I like that guy, and when healthy think he could be a top goal scorer in MLS. He left at the end of last year when his contract expired. My guess is that he thought he was worth a lot more money. So he went out into the real world where no one offered him jack squat. So he came back to Salt Lake, and probably had to take a pay cut to get the job. You win some you lose some.

[NOTICE: My explanation for Espindola leaving was fraudulent. There is a great note in the comments section from Allez RSL that explains it perfectly. Thanks.]

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The rumor mill says that new Mexicoach Javier Aguirre loves the country so much that he is going to live in Miami.

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UEFA Champs League Quarterfinals
Second Leg Matches (with First Leg scores included):
-Tue Apr 14
Chelsea v Liverpool (3-1)
Bayern Munich v Barcelona (0-4)
-Wed Apr 15
Porto v Manchester United (2-2)
Arsenal v Villarreal (1-1)

-Away goals is the first tie breaker. If still tied they go to Extra Time, then Penalty Kicks.
Climbing the Ladder has an interesting nugget today: 16 MLS rookies saw time during their club's opening matches, 9 of them starters. Both figures match the existing MLS record. So following 2008's rather barren crop of first-year players, this year's rookie of the year contest should be much more intriguing. Let's see who's on the radar screen so far:

Steve Zakuani, Seattle
Omar Gonzalez, Los Angeles
A.J. DeLaGarza, Los Angeles
Sam Cronin, Toronto
Stephan Frei, Toronto
Chris Pontius, D.C.
Rodney Wallace, D.C.
Jeremy Hall, New York
Alex Grendi, Columbus
George John, Dallas
Matt Besler, Kansas City
Graham Zusi, Kansas City
Kevin Alston, New England

That's 13 rookies seeing significant playing time for their clubs so far this season. Three of these players -- Gonzalez, Pontius, Wallace -- have started every match for their clubs. Did I miss anyone?
The Toronto Sun is reporting that their hometown club will be playing a "major European team" this summer. Part of the deal: installing a grass field for the game. So crappy field turf is good enough for the lowly MLS, but not for a kickabout with some touring European squad? Glad to see they have so much respect for their product.

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Monday, April 13, 2009

Wednesday is the 20th anniversary of the horrifying tragedy in South Yorkshire England at Hillsborough stadium where 96 people died at a FA Cup match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forrest. And every time I see this footage as a football fan it makes me sadder. What a brutal way to go. The Guardian with a video report.

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With a Hamburg loss Wolfsburg wins to take over sole possession of 1st place in the Bundesliga. And Raphael Honigstein tells us how Hoffenheim went from Miracle team to Mutts in just a couple of months. Their coach Ralf Rangnick explains what happened to the team that won the first half of the season n dramatic fashion: "For months, they would read how brilliant they are. They were treated like pop stars and photographed like models. Suddenly, the media were interested in the girlfriends' handbags. One or two players found it difficult to concentrate on the relevant things."

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In case you haven't see it yet: Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice & Zombies

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Pablo Richetti of Dallas get's my vote for Goal of the Week.

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What happened to the TV feed of the Seattle v KC game. My DVR did not pick it up??

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MLS Week 4 Matches:
-Sat Apr 11
Toronto 1-1 Dallas - TFC goal by Dwayne De Rosario. FCD goal by Pablo Richetti.
San Jose 3-3 Chicago - SJ goals by Ryan Johnson, Bobby Convey & Arturo Alvarez(PK). CF goals by Marco Pappa, Brian McBride & Chris Rolfe.
Salt Lake 2-1 DC - RSL goals by Jamison Olave & Javier Morales. DC goal by Luciano Emilio.
Columbus 1-1 Colorado - CC goal by Guillermo Barros Schelotto. CR goal by Conor Casey.
Houston 0-0 New York
Los Angeles 0-0 Chivas USA
Seattle 0-1 Kansas City - KC goal by Davy Arnaud
Here is the MLS Scoreboard with all the details including video highlights.

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Huge matches from this past weekend:
-Sat Apr 11
Lazio 4-2 Roma - the Roman derby sees the Proto-Fascists thrash the Neo-Romans.
-Sun Apr 12
Galatasaray 0-0 Fenerbahce - one of the most fiery games in the world ends in a scoreless draw. I bet it wasn't boring though.

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In Italy Inter continued to underachieve by giving up a 0-2 lead to get a point at home against Palermo 2-2. So this gave Juventus a chance to again cut into the lead, but they failed even worse losing 3-2 at Genoa. Next weekend is the biggy then - Juve hosts Inter on Saturday, and an win or draw for the leaders and it is pretty much all over.

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Friday, April 10, 2009

There's been a lot of really terrible defending in the first three weeks of the MLS season. The hat tricks scored by both Robbie Findley and Conor Casey last week should carry asterisks indicating the massive contributions of Will Hesmer and the entire Los Angeles defense respectively. Toronto, D.C., Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles all seem to have significant problems in the back.

I was thinking that this porous defending had resulted in an early season goal-scoring bonanza. But the numbers don't really back up that sentiment. Through the first 22 games of the MLS season there have been 62 goals scored. That works out to an average of 2.8 goals per game. By comparison, there were 70 goals scored during the first 22 matches of 2008, or 3.2 per game. Over the course of the entire season, however, that average dropped down to 2.8 goals per game -- exactly where it is so far this campaign.

Which isn't very revelatory at all. And I apologize for wasting your time with this insipid analysis. But it does lead me to one (perhaps dubious) conclusion: a disproportionate number of goals scored so far this year have been the result of Andrew Boyens-esque defending.
My Minnesota Thunder get to kick off the USL First Division season this year. They are taking on the Carolina Railhawks on Saturday night - starts at 6pm central time. And you can watch it for FREE on the web at USL Live.
-Sat Apr 11
Carolina v Minnesota - 6pm Central on USL Live

I'll be in my usual spot at the Sweetwater watching this, and then all the MLS games that come on later. Join me.

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Could the Columbus Crew really be on the way to Vegas? A local lawyer sure seems to think so. This is part 1 of a promised series.

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MLS Commish Don Garber talks to Steve Goff of the Washington Post about the future stadium mess in Washington DC for United.

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Jose Mourinho stands by Adriano and his battle with alcohol related problems. The player did not return to Italy and Inter after the Brazil games in South America over a week ago. Many have figured the team will get rid of him after this latest disappearance, but you never know. They seem to be very patient with a talented player who is a sick human. There were reports in the Brazilian tabloids that Adriano had died. That’s kind of pathetic to go that far to sell a newspaper.

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What Would Jesus Tweet?

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MLS Week 4 Matches:
-Sat Apr 11
Toronto v Dallas - 3pm Central on Direct Kick
San Jose v Chicago - 3pm Central on TeleFutura
Salt Lake v DC - 5pm Central on Direct Kick
Columbus v Colorado - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Houston v New York - 7:30pm Central on FSC
Los Angeles v Chivas USA - 9:30pm Central on ESPN2
Seattle v Kansas City - 9:30pm Central on Direct Kick

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The hugest international matches to watch this weekend:
-Sat Apr 11
Lazio v Roma - the Roman derby
-Sun Apr 12
Galatasaray v Fenerbahce - one of the most fiery games in the world.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Don Garber is threatening to relocate D.C. United. With the team's latest stadium proposal cratering this week, the MLS commish says time is running out for the four-time league champions. Steve Goff, of course, brings the news:
"They cannot continue to operate the way they are much longer. We are getting to the point where we have to start looking at alternatives if we can't put a plan together soon."
Is this simply a negotiating ploy? Probably. Professional sports franchises are masters of bullying cities into submission by threatening to leave town. Remember that cockamamie scheme to supposedly send the Minnesota Twins to North Carolina? 100 percent, pure, unmitigated Carl Pohlad bullshit. The Twins, of course, eventually extorted their price for sticking around: a new publicly financed, $400 million ballpark.

Garber has undoubtedly learned from the masters.

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One of my favorite soccer writers Simon Kuper of the Financial times tells us about Brian Clough, an English player who lost his career early to injury, then came storming back as a manager of great success and failure.

This article is about the man, the book on his 44 days as Leeds boss, and the movie of that book. And Muhammad Ali. Although I think the Ali comparison stuff is stretching it. Quite a bit.

Now, the book is absolutely fantastic - The Damned United by David Peace. A true story fictionally told, and originally written. Go find it right now.

The movie already came out in Great Britain to modest reviews. Doubtful it will get a release in theaters anywhere else around the globe. Oh well. But a DVD should happen in America. I hope.

But seriously, go read the book. The voice of the written words will crawl into your brain and make you happy. Plus, when was the last time you went and read a book? The whole thing?

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Ohio's own Bill Archer, whose blog can be found at Big Soccer, gives us a 2 part interview with the president of the brand spankin new Philadelphia MLS team Nick Sakiewicz.
PART 1
PART 2

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Mighty Maurice Edu scored his first goal for Rangers last night, and it was the game winner!!! They beat St Mirren 2-1. Former New Eng Rev Andy Dorman got the St M goal. Hooray Maurice. Boo Barry Ferguson.

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Trinidad & Tobago's coach Francisco Maturana has resigned. That makes it 2 CONCACAF coaches out the door in 7 days. (How ya hangin in there Sven?) Russell Latapy has been named the interim coach. You might remember him scoring against the USA last fall down in Port of Spain, even though he is 51 years old.

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FIFA.com has a Q & A with our very own Jozy Altidore. Nothing really new here, what did you expect from FIFA, but fun to see none the less.

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Champions League Results

CONCACAF Semifinals
Second Leg
-Tue Apr 7
Cruz Azul 3-1 Puerto Rico - series tied 3-3 on aggregate. CA win it 4-2 on PK's.
-Wed Apr 8
Atlante 3-1 Santos Laguna - Atl advance 4-3 on agg.

CONCACAF Final
First Leg
-Wed Apr 22
Cruz Azul v Atlante
Second Leg
-Wed Apr 29
Atlante v Cruz Azul (-)

UEFA Quarterfinals
First Leg
-Tue Apr 7
Manchester United 2-2 Porto - MU goals by Wayne Rooney & Carlos Tevez. Por goals by Cristian Rodriguez & Mariano Nicolas Gonzalez.
Villarreal 1-1 Arsenal - Vil goal by Marcos Senna. Ars goal by Emmanuel Adebayor.
-Wed Apr 8
Liverpool 1-3 Chelsea - Liv goal by Fernando Torres. Chel goals by Branislav Ivanovic(2) & Didier Drogba.
Barcelona 4-0 Bayern Munich - Bar goals by Lionel Messi(2), Samuel Eto'o & Thierry Henry.
Second Leg
-Tue Apr 14
Chelsea v Liverpool (3-1)
Bayern Munich v Barcelona (0-4)
-Wed Apr 15
Porto v Manchester United (2-2)
Arsenal v Villarreal (1-1)

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

The bid to use public money for building a stadium in Prince George's County Maryland for DC United is dead. The local council voted 8-0 not to spend any money pursuing the deal. Oof! What now? I am going to let D from The DCenters tell you all about it.

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Colorado and LA drew 0-0 after extra time in a qualifier for the US Open Cup last night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, but the Rapids got a 4-2 win on PK's to advance.

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Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer have both been re-upped for their positions on the FIFA Executive Committee. Each term lasts 4 years. Warner has held the spot since 1983, and Blazer since 1996. Both ran unopposed. I think Bill Archer and I should challenge them next time.

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Puerto Rico, like Montreal before them, succumbed to the intense pressure and give up a big lead in the CONCACAF Champions League, losing to Cruz Azul on PK's. Bunkering does not pay. I had been under the impression that away goals were the first tie breaker, but apparently there is no tie breaker in this tournament. PR had played from the 30th minute on with a one man advantage.

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Champions League Results

CONCACAF Semifinals
-Tue Apr 7
Cruz Azul 3-1 Puerto Rico - leaving the series tied 3-3 on aggregate. CZ won it 4-2 on PK's.
-Wed Apr 8
Atlante v Santos Laguna (1-2)

UEFA Quarterfinals
-Tue Apr 7
Manchester United 2-2 Porto - MU goals by Wayne Rooney & Carlos Tevez. Por goals by Cristian Rodriguez & Mariano Nicolas Gonzalez.
Villarreal 1-1 Arsenal - Vil goal by Marcos Senna. Ars goal by Emmanuel Adebayor.
-Wed Apr 8
Liverpool v Chelsea
Barcelona v Bayern Munich

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The Guardian has reviews of both of yesterdays UCL matches - Rob Smyth on Man U v Porto, and Sid Lowe on Villarreal v Arsenal.

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The Glasgow Herald talks to Maurice Edu about moving into Rangers first 11 due to the suspension of Barry Ferguson. This is Edu's big shot, and he must take full advantage.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

I am having a good thought for all the people in Italy who's lives were destroyed by the earthquake yesterday.

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Steve Davis at ESPN Soccernet gives us his 10 notes from the past week in MLS.

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Brutal NY defense again costs them a goal, and a loss to 10 man Chicago. Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes. Can someone remind me how they got to the final last year??

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To these eyes that was not a Red Card offense committed by John Thorrington of Chicago on Saturday. The player was too far from goal, and another defender was closing fast from the left. Very bad call. Then the referee hands out a Yellow Card to NY's Dane Richards for a flying elbow to the head of a Chicago player. I guess he would have had to draw blood or knock the guy out to get Red on that one. The lack of consistency makes me nuts.

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Did you see that fantastic goal by Grafite of Wolfsburg. The Woofs tore apart Bayern Munich 5-1 last weekend, and Grafite's backheel goal was one of the sly-est I have EVER seen. He beat no less than 4 defenders and the keeper in the box! I looooooooooove this goal.

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Bruce Arena has totally lost his mind if this one happens - 35 year old Italian striker Bobo Vieri is in LA. Nooooooooo. And this is coming from me, an Inter fan. This just can't be true. But here it is from Gazzetta.

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Conor Casey of Colorado was named MLS Player of the Week. I don't know about that. Sure he scored 3 goals, but they could not have been easier. On 2 of them he didn't even have to do anything but tap them in. Robbie Findley of RSL gets my vote, even though his hat-trick was partly due to a coupla William Hesmer jokes. I just found Findley's more exciting. Oh, forget it. Casey it is.

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Huge Congrats go out to Peter Wilt and his WPS team Chicago Red Stars for winning their first ever game - on the road in St Louis 0-1. And more congrats to all of WPS for the launch of Year 1.

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Nice feature on the Puerto Rico Islanders in today's New York Times. Are you cheering for them tonight in the CCL?

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I like Shalrie Joseph. He is a funny guy with a vid cam in his hands. See if you can understand more than 50 words he says. And Wells Thompson - shows us his Duck Calls CD. I'm not shitting you.

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US Open Cup qualifying game tonight:
Los Angeles Galaxy v Colorado Rapids

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Every MLS game is on Saturday this week.

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Bora takes the wheel of the Iraqi company truck?!?!

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Finally:

One of my readers, Sean, suggested that instead of harping on fans in MLS cities for the low attendance that I scream at the teams themselves.

Fair enough.

Hey front offices of Kansas City, Columbus, Colorado, Dallas, Chivas USA, San Jose and New England - you guys are an embarrassment to soccer in America. Get your act together or go home.

It's obvious that some of you take your soccer team as your 2nd or 3rd priority (Revs are a second thought to the Pats, Raps are a third to the Avs and Nugs, Quakes are second to the A's, Chivas are a second to the real Goats in Mexico, FCD and the Crew are second to the Chiefs, and then there is KC, what's your excuse). So when the new boys of Toronto, Seattle, Philly, Vancouver & Portland roll in and make you look like complete fools then it's time to get real or walk away.

Seriously.

Sell the team to owners who are going to go for the jugular. Spend some real money to get a real coach and real players, then advertise your team like a Major League team, not some little family picnic event.

Maybe hire someone to lead your marketing charge that is not a corporate lackey with "experience".

And how about some honesty to go with it. Tell your fans what you are really doing, not what you think they want to hear. That goes for you too Galaxy.

And while we are at it, how about you people in the League Office. You should take the boots to these idiots. Give them one season to shape up or else. They are the anchor around the neck of soccer in America. Time to cut loose the dead weight.

And start spending some of that SUM money on the league itself too. We all know its rolling in.

Thanks to Sean for firing me up.

P.S. And you people at US Soccer better get your act together too. Nashville was a good job. Now let's see you take it up a few notches. We're watching.

Monday, April 06, 2009

Let’s start off with my notes from the weekend in MLS:

-Great to see Steve Ralston back on the field for New England. One of my all time fave players. And was it any surprise that the team was considerably better after he came into the game as a sub on Saturday.

-New England won the game on a very questionable PK. I always ask the question - If that incident took place in the middle of the field would it have been called a foul? Doubtful.

-Sainey Nyassi gets my vote for goal of the week. After watching the clip you do want to ask announcer Greg Lalas, "Is there something else that cannonballs get shot out of that we don't know about?" And why did Dallas keeper Ray Burse do the limbo under the ball.

-How can Dallas expect their defense to improve if they change their back 4 every single week? Let 'em play Schellas! Give 'em some time to get it going on their own. They can't do any worse. This whole team stinks.

-FCD has 2 goals in 3 games. Both scored by Kenny Cooper, who is the Landon Donovan of Dallas.

-That was the worst TFC home performance I have ever seen. Even in Season 1 when they were terrible it was nearly impossible to get a win at BMO Field. Not this week for Seattle. Toronto's offense, while obviously upgraded in the off-season, was undermined again by that terrible defense that the team has still done nothing to fix. Sure they have got new players back there, but do you really think Kevin Harmes and Yahoo Serious are better than Marco Velez and Tyron Marshall? Absolutely not. And while Marvell Wynne is decent, Jim Brennan is still overrated.

-And there was TFC coach John Carver tearing the referees apart again. Has he considered doing the same to GM Mo Johnston over the quality of defenders he has at his disposal? I would think that would be a better use of his anger. Those amazing fans deserve one hell of a lot better.

-Damn, Seattle looked good. Real good. And I hate them. All those years of battling with my Minnesota Thunder in the First Division has built up a large back log of bile in my system. I was actually pulling for TFC to dismantle them.

-Conor Casey scored for Colorado just 16 second into the match in LA with a tap-in from Omar Cummings. Casey went on to record 2 more tap-ins later. 3 of the easiest goals you will ever see. Good for him.

-Landon Donovan set up two more LA teammates for nice goals. He is a great one. But it’s official, LA is as bad as last year. And I am certain that a drunken Riot Squad would be a better defense than what the Galaxy currently trot out there.

-Wow Tony Sanneh is slooooooooooooooow. Holy Extra Cheese Ravioli. And OLD! We could easily see LA start this back 4: Chris Klein, Gregg Berhalter, Tony Sanneh & Eddie Lewis. And by the time the 2009 season ends the combined age of those 4 will be 142. You can’t exaggerate that. Individually they will be 33, 36, 38 & 35.

-Dr Lillingston I presume? The oddly named Mexican forward, Eduardo Lillingston, scored for the 2nd game in a row for Chivas USA. Hooray, he is found!

-Luciano Emilio had a nice chip for DC's only goal in a win over Houston, who are now officially bad in defense. And Houston's attack is almost as impotent.

-Why was Houston coach Dominic Kinnear banned from the sideline this week?

-Jaime Moreno played about 5 minutes for DCU and gets a very questionable Red Card. Did he deserve it?

-KC gave their newest Argentine Santiago Hirsig his first start. I like his style. Way better than that guy they had the last two years, whose name I have already forgotten.

-Claudio Lopez scored a fantastic goal for KC off a nice long feed from Herculez.

-The stands in KC were nearly empty. It was rainy and cold. Isn't that what warm coats and rain ponchos are for?

-Too bad the folks watching that game at home saw a TV production that looked like Cable Access. Wow it was poor. The main camera was constantly obscured by rain. Don't they plan for this stuff.

-Finally, who can tell us what is wrong with following players that they are not on the field?
Edson Buddle
Mauricio Castro
Maykel Galindo
Matt Pickens
Ante Razov
Taylor Twellman

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MLS Week 3 Scores:
-Thu Apr 2
Salt Lake 4-1 Columbus
-Sat Apr 4
Toronto 0-2 Seattle
New England 2-1 Dallas
DC 1-0 Houston
Los Angeles 2-3 Colorado
-Sun Apr 5
Chicago 1-0 New York
Kansas City 2-0 San Jose
Chivas USA 2-1 Columbus

Week 3 Standings
EAST
7 Chicago +3
7 New England +2
5 DC
4 Toronto
3 Kansas City
2 Columbus (4 played)
1 New York

WEST
9 Seattle +7
9 Chivas USA +4
6 Colorado
3 Salt Lake +1 (2 played)
3 San Jose -2
1 Los Angeles -1 (2 played)
1 Houston -2
0 Dallas

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Javier Aguirre, welcome back to CONCACAF. Prepare to suffer!

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The general consensus is that the USA U20 team was drawn into the toughest group in the U20 World Cup.

The tournament is held in late Sept to mid Oct in Egypt.

Group C Stage Matches
-Sat Sep 26
USA v Germany - 9:00am Central - in As Suways aka Suez
-Tue Sep 29
USA v South Korea - 11:45am Central - in As Suways
-Fri Oct 2
USA v Cameroon - 11:45am Central - in As Suways

Here's the full match schedule.

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My favorite team Inter Milan played like crap again this weekend, but managed to win on the road via an own goal, and see 2nd place Juve held to a draw, which extends their lead at the top to 9 points with only 8 games to play. The two teams meet on the 18th in Torino. 3rd place Milan is 14 back.

And one of the supposed star players, the Brazilian Adriano, has gone off the deep end for the last time at Inter. He was seen partying in Brazil during the international break last week and then did not report back to the club afterward. He is very talented but they have given him 20 chances to grow and get healthy. He has failed.

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With 8 games left in Germany I doubt things could be much tighter for the 4 teams at the top of the Bundesliga.

Standings:
51 Wolfsburg
51 Hamburg
49 Hertha
48 Bayern

Wolfsburg ripped Bayern 5-1 this weekend to take the lead. Wow.

Surprising Hoffenheim who lead the league at the midway point have fallen 7 points back to 6th place without leading scorer Vedad Ibisevic who had 18 at the break (still good enough for #2 in the league), but blew out his knee to knock him out for the season.

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UEFA & CONCACAF Champions League matches on Tue & Wed:

UCL Quarterfinal 1st Leg Matches:
-Tue Apr 7
Villarreal v Arsenal
Manchester United v Porto
-Wed Apr 8
Liverpeople v Chelsea
Barcelona v Bayern Munich

CCL Semifinal 2nd Leg Matches:
-Tue Apr 7
Cruz Azul v Puerto Rico (0-2)
-Wed Apr 8
Atlante v Santos Laguna (1-1)
Getting credible information about USL-1 teams can be maddeningly difficult. Local media often don't deem the squads worthy of coverage beyond re-printing the occasional press release and the national soccer press generally can't be bothered with what's dismissed as the U.S.'s second division. So Brian Quarstad's informative preview of the looming season -- which kicks off on Saturday with our beloved Minnesota Thunder visiting the Carolina Railhawks -- is greatly appreciated.
I'm pretty certain you won't find a more enjoyable bit of prose on the interwebs today than Sid Lowe's account of Osasuna's miraculous revival. After vying for the title of worst top-flight club in Europe for much of the season, Jose Antonio Camacho's side is suddenly unbeatable. Following Saturday's 4-2 away pasting of Atletico Madrid, they've now lost just once in ten matches. The cause of the revival? Swine.

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Friday, April 03, 2009

Kyle Martino: significantly better as an announcer than he was as a player.
The Seattle Post Intelligencer is reporting rape and stalking allegations against the Sounders star striker Fredy Montero. Wow. He did not travel with the team to Toronto. Could it all be over before it even gets going? Those are serious crimes to be accused of.

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There has been this story floating around that Tottenham of England offered $15M Euros to Genoa in Italy for prized striker Diego Milito, to which Genoa replied that the offer was insulting and would only be worth Milito's ear. If I owned Tottenham I might make that deal because Milito's ear is probably a better player than anyone on Tottenham.

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Salt Lake really tore Columbus to shreds last night. Holy Canola Oil (better for your ticker than animal fat).

This is exactly what many of us are expecting to see out of RSL this season, but not what we figured we would see from Columbus. Are they still in Championship hangover mode?

4-1 was the score and it wasn't that close. Robbie Findley bagged three, as CC keeper William Hesmer was as surprisingly bad last night as he was surprisingly good last year. For goal #2 Hesmer went to clear a ball only to have it fly straight back to Findley who strolled in alone, rounded the keeper and tapped it home.

The only weapon Columbus appears to have right now is the set piece, and right on cue they got their one goal from Jason Garey on just such a play. Other than that they looked lost.

So RSL is one of the buzz teams this early season, and this was their season home opener. So where was everybody? 11,806? The stands looked like Colorado's. It’s a brand new stadium people!!! I know the weather was nasty, but was the team planning on selling 9000 walk up tickets last night if the weather was gorgeous? What is going on?? Is it really the state of the economy having this effect? The Major League Baseball season kicks off this weekend, do you think we will see a similar effect?

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Sing it with me: "So long, sven good to know ya. So long sven good to know ya. So long sven good to know ya. So long, farewell, goodbye." Enjoy the bangers n mash again Sven!

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Peter Wilt - still the smartest normal guy in the room.

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US Soccer is putting together an official Team USA supporters group. This is something I have wanted to see for a very long time. Yes it costs money, but not very much, and in the long run I think it will be a tremendous benefit to me as a fan. Sign me up, Jack.

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As expected, centerback Gregg Berhalter has signed with the LA Galaxy giving them a back line pairing of Tony Sanneh & Berhalter who are a combined 72 years old. And I didn't have to exaggerate that one to be funny.

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Maurice Edu's self professed mentor at Rangers, Barry Ferguson, has gone over the top with this one - He and teammate Allan McGregor were caught out at an all night drinking binge before Wednesday nights World Cup qualifying game, for which they were suspended, and then as the camera's showed them watching the game from the stands they were shown flipping the bird in a real "sneaky-sly" kinda way. Hence they have both been kicked off Scotland's national team FOR LIFE (or until a new coach comes on board and deems them irreplaceable). Adios idiots. Ferguson has also been stripped of his captaincy at his club team Rangers and suspended for two weeks. Edu better find a new hero.

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Juan Carlos Osorio returns to the scene of the crime - he jilted them - as his Red Bulls go to Chicago, where I am sure Section 8 will give the old boss a nice welcome.

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At one point early in the English Premiership season Egyptian forward Amir Zaki was being hailed as the signing of the summer. But now all the guy does is turn up late or not at all, and disrupts the entire team. What does his coach at Wigan, Steve Bruce think of his star striker: "I can honestly say that in all my time in football I have never worked with someone as unprofessional."

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TFC defensive midfielder Carl Robinson announced his retirement from the Wales national team. He says he wants to devote all his time to his club, cool, and begin preparing for life after the field as a coach/manager, cool again. I tip my hat to ya my man.

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MLS Week 3 Schedule:
-Sat Apr 4
Toronto v Seattle - 3pm Central on FSC
New England v Dallas - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
DC v Houston - 6:30pm Central on Direct Kick
Los Angeles v Colorado - 9:30pm Central on Direct Kick
-Sun Apr 5
Chicago v New York - 2pm Central on Telefutura
Kansas City v San Jose - 2pm Central on Direct Kick
Chivas USA v Columbus - 7pm Central on Direct Kick


The Columbus Crew are a bunch of clowns all of a sudden. Last week the defending MLS champs dominated Toronto for most of the game -- only to watch Gino Padula score a hilarious own goal that somehow managed to hit the crossbar and 'keeper Will Hesmer's back before trickling into the net. Then last night Hesmer brought the yucks. He parried Will Johnson's blast straight to the feet of Robbie Findley for the first goal. Then he gifted Findley a second with a botched clearance that set up the bewildered striker all alone at the top of the box. Findley should send the guy a box of Fruit Loops or something. Then to cap off the clown show they brough in Steven Lenhart. Last year the Crew could do no wrong; this year they can't get anything right. Now Chivas on the road after just two days off.

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The Beckham Experiment: now available for pre-order. Jonah Freedman says colleague Grant Wahl collected "more inside dirt on the Galaxy soap opera than an embedded war correspondent."

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So much for that dream Seattle start. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting that a 23-year-old woman called the King County Sherrif's office this week alleging that Fredy Montero is stalking her. The woman told deputies that she was sexually assaulted by the Seattle Sounders forward on March 22 and reported the attack to the Bellevue Police Department. Nine days later she purportedly spotted Montero in a car near her home. The Bellevue Police Department would not say whether Montero is under investigation. The 21-year-old Colombian did not travel with his team for Saturday's match in Toronto "because of illness." Montero has not been charged with any crimes.

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Thursday, April 02, 2009

Goodbye dear Sven, you old dirty bastard you.

Not to be confused with Old Dirty Bastard.
The brilliant St Sanders never fails to blow the roof off the dump.

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See, the sky didn't fall. USA 3-0 over TnT who had NOTHING. Stern who? Was he even out there?

Three Stars of the Game:
3. Pablo Mastroeni - took all the shaky guess work out of the midfield.
2. Landon Donovan - people complain all the time about his contributions, so all he did was set up all 3 goals.
1. Jozy Altidore - and all Jozy did was score all 3 goals. Sure he missed his easiest chance of the night in the first half, but he felt that pain stronger than he felt the joy of scoring the others. That is the sign of a hungry player who is never satisfied. Glorious.

At least Jozy's on-loan team Xerez acknowledged his presence with the USA last night. They gave him an article on their website crediting his "hat-trick". You think maybe they might let him put on a team shirt and sit on the bench NOW? Honestly, I wouldn't count on it.

27,959 in Nashville - not bad at all. Good job Tennessee!

My dream of DaMarcus Beasley as the USA left back got another shot last night. He did OK. But his speed is definitely not what it used to be. Carlos Eduardo burned him badly one time, but Bocanegra was there to clean up the mess (unlike on Saturday when no one was there to help out). Let's see what happens next game. I trust Beas more than Pearce, but even though I love the idea, I am not convinced it's the right move yet.

Brian Ching had another very good game up top. He took one hell of a beating, but held that ball for his teammates over and over again. And that flick on backwards header to spring Donovan to cross the ball for Altidore's first goal was a thing of genius. Wow!

Jose Francisco Torres made another nice substitute appearance, but we found the one weakness in his game - he does not have long distance speed. While out on the left wing he went after a ball in the corner but got lapped by the TnT fullback.

Oguchi Onyewu completely neutralized Kenwyne Jones.

No USA player had a bad game, but Tim Howard almost pulled off a colossal screw up early when his clearing kick never got any lift and it shanked off Stern John. Luckily though it went well wide of the goal. Could have a been a disaster.

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As of 8:30am Central time today none of the 3 Trinidad & Tobago daily papers had any mention of last nights game. I would guess that if they had won or even tied it would have been banner headlines.

I Yi Yi - Adios Mexico! Tres A Cero!

Another Mexican defender had a meltdown and Ricardo Osorio chopped down a Hondu player and got his walking papers.

Where did that version of Carlos Pavon come from? We last saw him being old slow and stupid for the Galaxy 2 years ago.

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CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Hexagon Standings After 3 Matches Played:
7 USA
6 Costa Rica
4 Honduras
3 Mexico
2 El Salvador (-1)
2 Trinidad & Tobago (-3)

Matchday 3
-Wed Apr 1
USA 3-0 Trinidad & Tobago - USA goals all by Jozy Altidore(3).
Honduras 3-1 Mexico - Hon goals by Carlos Costly(2) & Carlos Pavon. Mex goal by Nery Castillo(PK).
Costa Rica 1-0 El Salvador - CR goal by Walter Centeno.

Matchday 4
-Wed Jun 3
Costa Rica v USA
-Sat Jun 6
Trinidad & Tobago v Costa Rica
El Salvador v Mexico

Matchday 5
-Sat Jun 6
USA v Honduras
-Wed Jun 10
Mexico v Trinidad & Tobago
Honduras v El Salvador

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I thought that Bolivia's 6-1 win over Argentina yesterday was an April Fools gag. I did. The stunning rout drops Arg to 4th place after 12 of 18 games. That spot would give them the regions last automatic bid to the World Cup.

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Former striker Alan Shearer is the new manager at Newcastle United in England.

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Salt Lake v Columbus tonight on ESPN2 at 8pm Central.

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Gold Cup details coming in.

The USA have there 3 Group B stage opponents and venues:
-Sat Jul 4
USA v Grenada at Qwest Field in Seattle WA - 8pm central
-Wed Jul 8
USA v Honduras at RFK in Washington DC - 8pm central
-Sat Jul 11
USA v Haiti at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough MA - 6pm central

And here are all the details for the entire tournament, from CONCACAF. Big shout out to our main man Jack Warner!

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People in the United States filed the most requests for World Cup tickets for this first FIFA lottery. Can you believe that?

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Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Real people. Real places. And a documentary film about football. It's called Footplay, and my friend Brian Quarstad at Inside Minnesota Soccer is helping lead the charge to turn us all on to this very cool project. Pick up the camera. Put down the ball. Let it roll in a million different ways. The film is not finished, and they need our help. Check it out now!

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2010 will see a new team in Long Island NY join the USL First Division.
Introducing New York FC, playing at Hofstra University Stadium in Hempstead NY.
Thats about 20 miles straight east from Manhattan.

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Need something great to listen to at work? Log in to Big Up Radio. Great Jamaican sounds. Impossible to top. I have been listening to it for years now.

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Jack Bell of the New York Times made a reference today of the Roddy Doyle book The Van, that was later made into a movie by Stephen Frears. If you don't know this book or movie you have to find it asap. First of all, Roddy Doyle has that great tragic Irish sense of humor that I find irresistible. And secondly, the story revolves around two out of work dufuses who decide to buy a van and covert it into a mobile burger/fish 'n' chips stand. Finally, their dying love for the 94 Ireland World Cup team brings it all home. It gets an 8 out of 10 from me.

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Hi, my name is Edgar Castillo.
I am a Mexican-American footballer who plays left fullback for Club America in the Primera Division, and the Mexican national team.
And I am a moron!
Yes that's right, I am a moron.
Why, you ask?
Because I was selected by the national team coach to go to Honduras this week for a very important World Cup qualifying game, but when it came time to leave I could not find my passports. Plural. I lost both my American and Mexican passports. So now I am sitting at home in a puddle of my own patheticness trying to figure out what to do.
Hence, I am a moron.
Thank you.
And goodnight.

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More about that flaming turd of a "crowd" that Dallas drew last weekend. As you may recall, all of 6,524 souls bothered to show up to see their team take on the Goats. How pitiful is that figure compared to lamely attended MLS matches historically?

Glad you asked. There was exactly one match during the entire 2008 season that featured a smaller announced crowd: 5,221 for Chicago v. New England in October at Gillette Stadium. (Presumably it was cold and miserable, and that reduced New England's already putrid attendance.)

Back in 2007 the honor for worst-attended match went to Kansas City v. Colorado at Arrowhead Stadium. But even that undoubtedly memorable affair drew 500 more fans (7,101) than Dallas got through the gates on Sunday.

Dare we go back to 2006? We are fearless. There were seven matches that season seen by fewer than 6,524 people, including three in the month of July alone. Most remarkably, Colorado hosted a playoff game against Dallas that attracted just 4,176 paying customers.

We'll stop now. We're afraid to go back to the Tampa Bay Mutiny days.

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More depressing U.S. team news: Jay DeMerit is into Dierks Bentley. I wonder if he grew up listening to Bucky Country?

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USA v TnT tonight in World Cup qualifying. 6:30pm on ESPN2. Expect a much better game from the USA. And if not, then expect fans to seriously lose their shit. See you at the Sweetwater.

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Centerback Gregg Berhalter has been released by his German club Munich 1860 so he can come home to play in MLS. No word on who he will sign for, but rumors have spread about LA having first shot at him, so you can expect them to snap up the 35 year old and pair him the 37 year old Tony Sanneh, making them the oldest duo this side of AC Milan. Good for Berhalter. Bad for LA.

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We are hearing that New York City has a 2nd competitor for a 2nd MLS team. For several years we have been told that the Wilpon family who own the New York Metropolitans baseball team were interested in MLS, but now big moneyed Mexican Carlos Slim, founder of Telmex, has put together a group of investors, and are searching for a team president with MLS experience, to go after a team that would be based in Queens. They seem very serious and may have already met with MLS brass.
[JUST ADDED:]
Greg Seltzer at Soccer 365 reports that Telmex has also acquired the rights to soccer internet message board leaders Big Soccer.

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