January 28, 2009 by f4denz.

Several times since the announcement that Andy Williams wife Marcia has been fighting Leukemia and in need of a bone marrow transplant drives have been held to try and find a donor as well as to add people to the DKMS database. Here are the details:

SANDY, UT (Wednesday, January 28, 2009) –
In a continuing effort to lend support to Marcia Williams, the wife of RSL midfielder Andy Williams, Soccer Unites Utah and Real Salt Lake will partner with DKMS – the world’s largest marrow donor center – to host a bone marrow match drive at Rio Tinto Stadium tomorrow, Thursday, January 29. Tomorrow’s drive, just the latest in a series of similar events taking place on behalf of the Williams family by the soccer community nationwide – will take place from 3:00-7:00 p.m. in the Media Workroom, located on the stadium’s west side.

To help drive attention for the event, KALL 700 Sports hosts Bill Riley and Spencer Checketts will host the “Bill and Spence” afternoon drive-time show during the entirety of the marrow drive from 3:00-7:00 p.m. to encourage fans and supporters to stop by and assist in this worthwhile cause. In addition, several Real Salt Lake players – most of who have just recently arrived back on the Wasatch Front to prepare for the 2009 preseason – are expected to stop by the event to enter themselves among the nearly two million people that are already in DKMS’ database of potential bone marrow donors.

All are invited to undergo free testing to see if you’re a match for Marcia or one of the thousands of others desperately seeking a bone marrow transplant – all it takes is 10 minutes to fill out a little paperwork and take a swab of your cheek. Donors age 18-55 that are in good general health are eligible to undergo free testing to see if they are a match for Marcia or another one of the thousands of people seeking a bone marrow transplant… all it takes is a little paperwork and a swab of your cheek. Below is the full list of guidelines for potential donors:

• Be between the ages of 18-55
  
• Be in good general health
  
• Not HIV positive or at risk for AIDS
  
• Not have severe heart disease
  
• Not have a history of cancer
  
• Note have autoimmune disorders such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis
  
• Not have severe asthma (daily inhalers are acceptable)
  
• Not have diabetes requiring insulin
  
• Not have hepatitis
  
• Not have epilepsy
  
• Not have chronic or severe back problems or surgery
  

Those attending tomorrow’s marrow match drive are asked to park in the West/VIP lot and enter the stadium through the main west/VIP lobby, off of which the Media Workroom entrance is located. Any media attending the event are asked to contact John Koluder in the RSL Communications Department at 801-918-5050. If you are seeking more information, head over to www.DKMSamericas.org for more on what it means to be a bone marrow donor or visit www.SoccerUnitesUtah.com for more ways in which you can help assist the Williams family.

WHAT:    RSL/Soccer Unites Utah
Bone Marrow Match Drive on behalf of Marcia Williams

WHEN:    TOMORROW – Thursday, January 29, 2009

                3:00-7:00 p.m. MT

WHERE: Rio Tinto Stadium Media Workroom

                Ground level, just off of main west/VIP lobby

                9256 South State Street - Sandy, UT

                *** Parking available in the West Lot at Rio Tinto Stadium

WHO:      Andy & Marcia Williams

                Real Salt Lake players and coaches

                Live remote of KALL 700 Sports’ “Bill and Spence” Show

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January 28, 2009 by f4denz.

Well MLS finally decided to release the full 2009 schedule and for RSL is means our first match will be March 28th at Seattle, which should make for an interesting road trip. First home match, well that was announced last month and will be April 2nd against Columbus on ESPN2’s MLS coverage. RSL will stay at home and face the DC United on the 11th, then head to the east coast looking for revenge against the Red Bulls on the 18th, then head all the way home again to face New England on the 25th. So does anyone see a really stupid trend going, we face 4 eastern opponents in April but do so with a west to east to west trip in the middle, not exactly a friendly way to design a schedule.

May

RSL will start their defense of the Rocky Mountain cup on May 2nd as they travel to the Dick to beat up on Colorado, and then jump on a plane home to face off against the Galaxy on May 6th, then back on a plane to LA to face Chivas on the 9th. Wow so you skip the first week of the season and then have a team play 3 matches in 7 days and two of them on the road, nothing like horrible planning. Then RSL is back at Rio Tinto on the 16th to face KC, and of course on the road again to face DC United on the 23rd. RSL wraps up May with a trip to San Jose on the 30th to finish their 6th match of the month, I am sorry but MLS really has some issues with scheduling, I understand the US Open Cup, the Gold Cup, World Cup Qualifying and other obligations but it sure looks like MLS is sticking their teams with horrible schedules.

June

Leg two of the RMC will be held early in June as Colorado comes to town on June 6th and this will be RSL first appearance on Fox Soccer Channel, then RSL heads back to Hollywood to face the Galaxy on June 13th. They continue their road trip heading to Houston to face the Dynamo on June 20th and wrap up a much more well scheduled month on June 27th at Rio Tinto facing TFC.

July

The tradition of a July 4th match stays alive as San Jose will be in town for Independence Day, then RSL gets a week off before heading to Columbus to face the Crew on July 18th. Pioneer day will also continue as a RSL tradition at Rio Tinto as July 24th will see RSL face off against FC Dallas in another match that will likely feature fireworks both on and off the pitch. Next up in July is the MLS All Star match to be played on Wednesday July 29th at Rio Tinto, and while no announcements have been made about what international team will be coming to town I am still betting that Uncle Dave would love to see Real Madrid be involved.

August

Just days after the All Star match RSL will head on the road to face Chicago on August 1st, and follow that up on tidy whitey day August 8th as Seattle Sounders FC come to town. RSL get to stay at home as August 15th sees Houston coming to Salt Lake for a Fox Soccer Channel Match. RSL heads back east on August 23rd to face off against the Revolution and then head right back home for a midweek matchup against Chivas on August 26th. At least there is no bizarre 3 week layoff after the All Star match this year, but again RSL plays 6 matches in one month for a second time this season

September

Nope just a two week layoff in the meat of the MLS season, RSL doesn’t play again until Sept 12th when Chicago comes to Rio Tinto for another Fox Soccer Channel match. This really feeds into my belief that Rio Tinto will play host on Sept 5th to the US vs. El Salvador World Cup Qualifying match. Sept 19th Real heads back to Houston to face the Dynamo again and the following week they are still in Texas as they face FC Dallas on Sept 26th, so unlike May when RSL has 6 matches we only have 3 matches in September, but there really must be some type of logic to this schedule.

October

Well RSL ends the regular season with an Oct 3rd match in Toronto, then a 11 day break before a Wednesday Night ESPN2 match at Rio Tinto against New York and then a 10 day break before ending the season at home in the final leg of the RMC against the Rapids in another Fox Soccer Channel match.

So in May RSL is forced to play 6 matches but then they end the season with just 6 matches in the final two months of the season. I am sorry but this really does seem like horrible planning on MLS’s part, how can you have a team have two months where they play 6 matches in 28 days and 3 months where they only have 3 matches? Better balance has to established, this puts teams at a real disadvantage when they have to play 6 matches in 28 days and have four of the matches on the road. Having 3 league matches in 7 days and being forced to travel for two of them is simply poor planning and honestly shame on whoever from RSL gave approval to this. How does a team like the Rapids get a much more balanced schedule with 4 matches in April, May, June, July, and August? In fact only one other team is being asked to play two 6 match months, and that is Chicago, in fact most teams will never play 6 MLS matches in a single month. Something smell funny and it is the leadership (or lack thereof) of MLS.

New Rumor updates

Both Jason and Garth are due to return to Salt Lake today or tomorrow from a trip to South America, looking for a forward to sign or get on a loan. Here is the latest rumor to circulate Luis Miguel Escalada He has played with Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina, that name should sound familiar to RSL fans, as RSL faced Newell’s during their trip to South America last year during the preseason. Escalada is a young 23 year old striker and played last year for Liga of Quito, scoring 16 goals in 38 games to help the club become the champions of Ecuador. Good work by MLS Rumors picking up this story.

Unsigned players in preseason camp

Here are the names of players who will be taking part in the RSL preseason camp that are not currently under contract:

Kennedy Owusu-Ansah- defender from Toronto who last played with Hertha Berlin
David Hertel-defender from Michigan State
Alexander Viveros- defender/midfielder from Cali Columbia who last played with Talleres de Cordoba in Argentina

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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January 23, 2009 by f4denz.

So I just say an interesting rumor on the MLS Rumors website, about who might be the new striker coming to Salt Lake, I am not sure why RSL gets linked to Mexican National team strikers and after the debacle of the “Borgetti” rumors last year not sure if I am buying this one yet.

Could Vicente Vuoso be the next addition to the Real Salt Lake Striker pool, it is also interesting that his club was here last year when RSL faced Santos in 4-1 loss by our reserve team. Vuoso didn’t play in the match but did post 17 goals and 9 assists for Santos last season and was a starter in most of their matches.

I would have to believe this to be a “DP” move as at 28 Vicente is in his prime and playing for a top team in Mexico. He is also part of the Mexican national team (he is a naturalized Mexican citizen), could RSL fans support a player who will be facing off against the US on a regular basis?

Interesting rumor and we know RSL is looking to add a “proven” striker, could this be the move? It sure would bring in a good number of Hispanic fans.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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January 15, 2009 by f4denz.

With the number 12 pick in the MLS SuperDraft Real Salt Lake selected Jean Alexandre from Lynn University.

It looks like he had a good year in 2008 with 23 goals and 7 assists in 19 games. Here is his page on the Lynn University website. He also has played with Ventura County Fusion in the USL Premier Development League but saw limited action with only 4 games and 188 minutes. Here is some information about him from Haitiwebs.com.

Well the 4^th round is here and RSL selects:

Raphael Cox from the University of Washington

Here is a link to his UofW page, he had 7 goals and 6 assists in 17 games in 2008. Here is an interview he did with Goal.com

We also selected Futhi Bhembe, who was not part of the Combine. He is a Forward who played at Alabama A&M who finished the year with 14 goals and 5 assists. He has played for Mbabane Swallows in the Premier League of Swaziland in Africa. His nickname is Taribo, and I am unable to find out more about him now, but will continue to look.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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