You know. MLS. It stands for "Major League Soccer." One of the conditions of FIFA granting the 1994 World Cup to the United States was that the USSF establish a professional league...never mind, I'll fill you in later. The point is, these games in hand are pretty gosh-darn crucial to the league's standings. So you can see why the league went to so much trouble to make sure that no important players would be missing for tonight's games. Well, apart from Ivan Guerrero.
REVOLUTION v. UNITED
In the rock-scissors-paper that is the East, DC beats New England. At least, that's the way it's been since the 2006 Eastern Conference championship game. New England is could really use a victory to get out of this mini-tailspin they're in. DC is so freaking schizoid, though. Just when it looked like New York had completely exposed them as frauds, they catch Chicago at the right time - again - and now have New England on their heels. What's really...click here to read more...
From now until the kickoff of the La Liga season, I will 'preview' the 20 teams that will be vying for this year's crown.
Note that I didn't review every player or position, nor is this a strictly statistical based preview. It is designed to get people thinking about issues and for you all to leave your comments about the specific players, coaches and issues that relate to all of these La Liga clubs.
I do not claim to know all about every La Liga team, but there are people who follow certain teams religiously, and we all can learn from each team's respective fan base.
Also note that, yes, I do research all of these teams, and yes, I do make mistakes. So, feel free to correct me as always in the comments even though everyone does that already.
Today's club are making their first appearance in Europe after finishing 6th last season, Real Racing Club de Santander (aka Racing Santander aka Racing)
Tomorrow, I wake up, fly to Beijing, and watch a team I have a deep emotional attachment to as a fan play for a gold medal. But I will not be there as a fan - I will be there as a member of the media.
I know a number of people in the soccer establishment who know me consider me to be "fan press". And that's how I started. But at this point, I take my responsibility as a member of the world soccer media very seriously. I take my spot on the sideline, and I do my job. I do not cheer when my team scores a goal; many do. I do not comment about the play or the officiating; I know of at least one English-speaking photographer at these games who talks about the calls frequently, and at a volume I know the AR can hear when he/she is close to the end line. Me, I take pictures - that's all.
So what happens when the world of being a fan and the world of being a member of the media collide? After all, I'm not the only member of the media here with an emotional attachment to their country.
Call it the Curse of EA Sports: lately it seems that getting your mug on the cover of one of their ubiquitous sports simulation games means you're on your way out of town.
Following in the footsteps of their decision to put Brett Farve in Green Bay duds on the front of NFL 2009, they prominently featured Maurice Edu in TFC red:
Will EA offer an updated cover for download, LIKE THEY DID WITH THE FARVE COVER or, seeing as how it's MLS, will they figure nobody cares anyway?
Toronto GM Mo Johnston meanwhile has some other plans regarding the Edu transaction, prominent among them being a rather novel idea about what to do with his cut of the money.
Buy himself a flashy new Argentine forward? Hire a coach who doesn't annoy the hell out of everybody? Take the team out for lobster?
I have no idea why I don't. I at first thought that I was too preoccupied tasting the sad of the Galaxy, but Dave Denholm is if anything more irritated about Adu's exclusion than Adu himself.
I at first thought that Adu was left off for the same reason that Parkhurst and McBride were left off the qualifying roster, and the same reason Donovan was left off the Olympic roster...until I took an eighth of a second and remembered Kljestan was called up. I thought "Well, maybe Olympics, Nats, AND Euro club commitments were too much to ask" - then I recalled Michael Bradley. Then I thought, "Okay, but Adu just joined a new club, just like Jozy" - oh, wait, Guzan and now Maurice Edu. Then I thought, "I'm not good at this."
Once again this morning I had a lovely piece all set to post and somehow, when I had my back turned, it scurried off to some unknown corner of the interweb.
If any of you come across it, would you let me know? Thanks.
In news worthy of Ripley's Believe it or Not", they have begun actual, physical construction of the actual steel structure which will eventually become RedBull Stadium.
Considering that it's taken all this time just to dig the damn hole, their projection that the stadium will be ready by Spring seems overly optimistic, but I hope I'm wrong.
This is the stadium MLS as a whole has needed for a long time now, although DC is right behind. It's hard to "showcase" a team that's playing in a cavernous stadium on fieldturf yardage markers.
Unfortunately now that it appears that reports of the demise of les tauroux rouges may have been exaggerated - that 10 man match against TFC was a real eye-opener - comes some bad news: they may all be in danger...click here to read more...
Brandi, what's your favorite Madness album? Wait, let me guess:
Kidding, Brandi. The dark hair works for you, by the way, I like it.
Okay, we got pretty much the dream final, even if the Daily News is running articles along the lines of "What's left for the Olympics after Phelps?" We were all traumatized last year, so we probably have forgotten that Brazil has even more to prove than the United States. This particular stat may change on the morning of the 21st, but right now, you and I have as many World Cup and Olympic championships as any Brazilian women's player. While we've been obsessing on Brazil, they've been obsessing on Germany...and they just beat seven kinds of snot out of the world champions.
Maybe Germany's great run just ran out of gas all at once - it happens. Or, maybe Brazil corrected what flaws they had in their game from last year. They were certainly there, they just didn't...click here to read more...
"Hello. Watch you bag?" People saw me walking down Shanghai Old Street and they would come from blocks away just to say this. I wasn't carrying a bag. It was very strange. Perhaps they were asking if I needed someone to watch my back - happily I wasn't knifed or pickpocketed, so I guess I didn't need anyone for that either.
However, I have learned that around the shops of Shanghai, "Hello" is not a greeting. It loosely translates to: "Come in, buy my things for ten times what I would sell them to a local". And believe me, everybody who runs a shop or stall on Shanghai Old Street knows "Hello". Their meaning.
From there, it's a short walk to Dongtai Road - antique stores and stalls line the street for its entire length. Well, I say antique - a good portion of the stuff for sale there seems to have the image of Chairman Mao on it, so in the context of Chinese society, I wouldn't call them antiques. But there are some places that have interesting pieces. One stall had an impressive...click here to read more...
The sheer quality of saves gives him the Best XI nod for this week. When Given faced shots, he didn't face flubs. He faced hard-driven, point blank rockets. Somehow, he parried them away. Darren Fletcher's equalizer was the one that got away - the kind of shot he was saving all night, a 5-yard, point blank rocket. But it wasn't meant to be (in fact, physically I'm not sure how he saved the first couple point blankers). At least, Given allowed the Magpies to move on from the 6-0 drubbing they took last year. Some of the first impressions we got from players might be deceiving, but if there's one thing for sure, it's that Shay Given is going be the heart of Newcastle's defense day-in and day-out.
FABRICIO COLOCCINI (Newcastle - D) 1st Selection
The central partnership of Coloccini and Steven Taylor kept Manchester United at bay. Darren Fletcher's goal for United was scored when one part of the duo - Taylor - was...click here to read more...
Well, at least Sarachan is back as his assistant coach. Or "associate head coach," if you're AEG and are Director of Making Up New Titles. They did work together well in 2002. And at least Cobi was kept on. In other words, I'm a helpless fan, and I pretty much have to channel Spinal Tap's reaction to the redone record cover at this point. Although I do wonder if on Thursday Arena starts yet another 4-5-1, and Brian McBride gets the PTSD thousand-yard-stare.
I realize a lot of us are too cool for this, but the Goal of the Week candidates are yet another grand assortment. For all the "Thank God REAL football has started again" coming from two different directions, it's nice to see our humble little league putting some exciting highlights up now and again....except for Jeff Cunningham's, which was garbage. Look, I love the guy too, I'm glad Toronto realizes that gosh maybe he WASN'T...click here to read more...
Like the saying - and that awful song - goes, "Be Careful What You Wish For".
In Hope Solo's case, the Olympic Gold Medal game, a replay of last year's US-Brazil match in the Women's World Cup, is her chance to prove to the world that her postgame comments, ill-advised though they may have been, were dead on.
You'll recall of course that Solo remarked to reporters that had coach Greg "Satan" Ryan started her instead of a musty, flea-bitten old has-been that Brazil would have scored NO goals and the US would have won.
(She later sort-of apologized, saying that when she criticized the coach for starting a useless old hag in her place she of course meant no offense to the useless old hag, a distinction which was lost on many observers particularly, it should be noted, most of her teammates and the useless old hag herself.)
So as fate would have it, she's being handed her chance at redemption: the same opponent,...click here to read more...
Originally Posted by the Galaxy's rather hastily written and typo-laden press release
CARSON, Calif. (Sunday, August 17, 2008) – The LA Galaxy will introduce the new head coach of the club on Monday, August 18 at The Home Depot Center. The new head coach will immediately take over the reigns of the team; beginning with Monday’s training session on University Field #1. Following the conclusion of training, the new head coach will be formerly introduced and available to the media for interviews.
....I loved Men at Work. That was a smash hit for them, of course. You probably also know "Down Under," but one of their most underrated songs off their follow-up, "Cargo," was
...a song which for some reason I can't seem to get out of my head right now.
It was the week of young attackers, some known, some unknown. Read on and I should have a bunch of EPL, Ligue One, and MLS all this week...
For the week of August 11th:
GABRIEL AGBONLAHOR
Aston Villa (ENGLAND)
What characterizes the EPL Player of the Week? Does 3 goals in 7 minutes qualify? All rhetorical as Aston Villa's midfielder Agbonlahor hit in the 69th, 74th, and 76th minute pinning a 4-2 loss on Mark Hughes and Manchester City in the opening weekend. Gabby's hattrick was sort of "look what you're missing" statement to English national team boss Fabio Capello, who left him out of the squad appointed for the friendly vs. Czech Republic this Sunday. As Aston Villa's two-time Young Player of the Year, the 21-year speedster looks to surpass his career goalscoring record of 11 set last season. It was his first hattrick at the senior professional...click here to read more...
Saturday:
9:30 AM (GolTV) - Dortmund v Bayern
12 PM (FSC) - Fulham v Arsenal
2:30 PM (FSC) - Stoke v Aston Villa (delayed)
6:45 PM (Setanta) - West Brom v Everton (delayed)
Hello and good afternoon. Could you please send me a PM as to your racial and/or ethnic background? I ask this simply that I might be able to racially abuse you for the next six month as I follow...
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Though Toronto FC fans may mourn the departure of star man Maurice Edu to Rangers for a while, club executive Mo Johnston says the sale could provide for a new grass turf at BMO Field.
Interesting way to spend transfer profits....
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[quote=The Cold Sea;15492739]Hi Abbey or Mrs. Abbey, welcome to our forum. As you know, you are or your man is wildly inconsistent with your/his refereeing: crazy pks, phantom fouls and then ignoring two footed lunges and flying elbows. I think the...
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[quote=moytoy12;15492190]Respectfully disagree. I don't think Bradley adequately understands the problem you point out in the first paragraph. If he did, I think there would be more experimenting in the friendlies (push M. Bradley up, try Dempsey,...
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[quote=johan neeskens;15487093]Well thanks for mentioning the Chicago Cubs and the Redskins - that proves to me that you can feel local passion in baseball and American football so why not in football? Why do so many Americans feel the need to...
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Thinking about having another batch of my balls for this match, but this time calling them "Rocky Mountain Oysters". Too graphic to enjoy the delicious balls? You be the judge.
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[quote=Prime Time;15491934]No, but it can give them a feel for it if they're new to the team. We have to get to World Cup before we can talk about seasoning guys for 2010. Cooper will get minutes, just not tonight.
I would like to see if the Sobs team will be coming out next year for the Scotsman cup.We are hoping to be back on the old filed this year and have WMMR out plus some other games for the kids and family's to do next.
That being said, I can't argue with him on his MLS stance. The Galaxy, (being a Quakes fan aside), are a joke, and the league is still third tier. The fact that Mr Garber and the rest of the MLS top dogs have...
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[quote=Prime Time;15492255]Really? And what was the outcome of "destroying" the fullbacks? Did he score? Did he chalk up any assists? Did he even play a role in the build-up of any of our goals? I'll answer all three of the latter...
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