June 16, 2008 by f4denz.

MLS Weekend: Buddle Again ussoccerplayers.typepad.com
Minus Landon Donovan and Carlos Ruiz, Edson Buddle once again answered LA’s depth question with a hat-trick against the Earthquakes. 

Mathis back with the Galaxy? mlsfanblog.com
The Early Bath has an image that appears to be Clint Mathis training with the LA Galaxy. At first I thought maybe it was an old image - but Joey Franchino is also there and he has not been with the Galaxy for too long. Mathis went to Greece long before Franchino came to the Galaxy.

So what is Mathis doing there? Is Mathis going to end up back on the Galaxy roster? Would he get into the starting lineup if he did come back to the Galaxy?

After posting this I thought maybe that isn’t really Mathis.  It really looks like Mathis so I looked at the Galaxy roster to see if they have a 33 on it.  There is no number 33 on their roster.

Hyndman Hired as New Dallas Coach goal.com
A day after FC Dallas, under interim coach Marco Ferruzzi, earned an impressive 1-0 home victory over the Chicago Fire, the club announced they have a new gaffer. Schellas Hyndman, longtime head coach at Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, will take over immediately, replacing Steve Morrow, who was axed on May 21.

Week in review: Goals galore mlsnet.com
It was a weekend for strikers to pour in goals, as summer officially began with Week 12 of the Major League Soccer season. There were a pair of hat tricks, from D.C. United’s Luciano Emilio and the LA Galaxy’s Edson Buddle, and a couple of two-goal games, from Alejandro Moreno of the Columbus Crew and Toronto FC’s Rohan Ricketts.

The Monday MLS Breakdown: McFire goal.com
Brian McBride’s return to Major League Soccer could drastically alter the playoff race even if McBride has little to no impact on the field. The former U.S. National Team star will return to the league in the next few weeks and will almost certainly play in Chicago.

Champions League draws revealed mlsnet.com
D.C. United has been given perhaps the toughest test of Major League Soccer’s teams in the group stage of the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League, announced Monday by the confederation’s governing body after a draw in New York City. United were drawn into Group A, which features 2005 CONCACAF Champions’ Cup winner Deportivo Saprissa, as well the winners of preliminary round series between Belize’s Hankook Verdes and Mexican side CDSC Cruz Azul and either Isidro Metapan from El Salvador or Honduran sides CD Olimpia or CD Marathon.

RCB Open House at new RSL stadium

Tomorrow night at 5:30 pm. The RCB will be given a private tour of the new soccer stadium in Sandy and allowed to put deposits down on seats in the new supporter sections for the 2009 season. For more details check out the RCB homepage www.roguecavaliers.com I hope to see you there.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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June 5, 2008 by f4denz.

Real Salt Lake News

Findley gets dual honors: Player of the week & Goal of the week as well as being part of the SBI Best XI for week 10
He truly deserves all the accolades as this was Robbie’s coming out match of the season, much like his first match last season, lets hope this one leads to as many good results as last years match did.

Real Salt Lake Looks to Conjure up Win against KC Wizards on Saturday oursportscentral .com
After returning to the win column last weekend, Real Salt Lake (3-5-2, 11 pts.) will look to post back-to-back victories for the first time in 2008 this Saturday, June 7, when Utah’s side welcomes the Kansas City Wizards (3-4-2, 11 pts.) for their lone visit to the Wasatch Front during the 2008 campaign.

RSL inches up Western Conference Standings newsnet.byu.edu
Real Salt Lake kept their perfect record at home intact Saturday, handing another loss to the San Jose Earthquakes, with a 3-1 win. The win gives RSL a much-needed three points, helping them climb back into contention in the Western Conference race.

Robbie Findley is MLS player of week cbc.ca
Real Salt Lake striker Robbie Findley is Major League Soccer’s player of the week.
Findley posted one goal and one assist in last Saturday’s 3-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes, entering the contest in the second half as a substitute.

MLS News

All about Jozy:
Spanish Soccer Team Strikes Deal for Altidore nytimes.com
The Spanish club Villarreal reached an agreement in principle with Major League Soccer and the Red Bulls to sign Jozy Altidore, an 18-year-old striker, a team official said on Wednesday. Ivan Gazidis, the league’s deputy commissioner, confirmed the agreement.

MLS and Villarreal Agree Terms for Altidore goal.com
Major League Soccer and Spanish side Villarreal have agreed terms for the transfer of New York Red Bulls young striker Jozy Altidore, according to a US Soccer source familiar with the situation contacted by Goal.com. The final price is reportedly $10 million.

Red Bulls, MLS Agree to Transfer Fee with Villareal for Jozy Altidore oursportscentral.com
Red Bull New York announced today that Major League Soccer and 2007-08 Spanish La Liga runner-up Villarreal CF have agreed in principle to a transfer fee with Red Bulls forward Jozy Altidore. Altidore must agree to personal contract terms and undergo a physical with Villarreal before the deal can be completed.

Villareal Gets Altidore, Plans to Loan Him Out sports.aol.com
Jozy Altidore’s European dream begins now.
The New York Times is reporting that Spanish club Villareal has a reached an agreement with MLS and the New York Red Bulls to acquire Altidore for an MLS-record transfer fee of $10 million. The teenage striker has to pass a physical and work out contract terms with the club, but it appears he will not finish the season with the Red Bulls, who are currently five points behind Toronto for the last playoff spot in the Eastern division.

Other MLS News

MLS commissioner statement web.mlsnet.com
Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber issued the following statement today regarding an incident involving a spectator in Columbus at the Crew versus New England Revolution match on May 24.
“MLS and the Columbus Crew have extensively reviewed an incident that took place during the Crew versus Revolution game on May 24 where there is audio of a spectator at Crew Stadium using vulgar language and an unacceptable and offensive racial epithet.”

Dynamo vs. DC United postponed web.mlsnet.com
D.C. United and Houston Dynamo did their best to play a soccer match on Wednesday night, but a nasty summer storm front had other ideas as constant, heavy rain and intermittent thunderheads forced a rare postponement at soggy RFK Stadium. After waiting more than half an hour for the weather to clear, both teams took the field at 8:01 pm and gamely tried to play on the saturated field — but match officials suspended play after just 16 minutes as the rain and lightning refused to depart.

MLS Power Rankings csrnusa.com/ussoccerspot
1- New England
Coming from a two goal deficit late to salvage a draw shows the character of a winner.

2- Chicago
A week off and a week to focus on the possibility of brining in Brian McBride. But do you really want to upset the chemistry of this side right now?

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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May 29, 2008 by f4denz.

RSL Updates

RSL, Quakes look to gain ground real.saltlake.mlsnet.com
Real Salt Lake return home to take on the San Jose Earthquakes with both teams looking to start the climb back up the Western Conference standings. With just one win in their last six games, both of Real’s victories have come at Rice-Eccles Stadium, last three weeks ago against FC Dallas. The Earthquakes put an end to their four-game winless streak last week, defeating Houston Dynamo at Buck Shaw Stadium in an emotional night for their first home victory since their return to the league.

Quakes announce player injuries web.mlsnet.com
The San Jose Earthquakes announced that they have placed forward Peguero Jean Philippe on the season-ending injury list and defender Jay Ayres on the six-week disabled list. The two players are now not currently on the Earthquakes active 18-man roster.

Quakes sign Lowery and Benton web.mlsnet.com
The San Jose Earthquakes have signed former Kansas City Wizards defender Amir Lowery and goalkeeper Dan Benton. Lowery will occupy a spot on the developmental roster, while Benton will be placed on the senior roster. Per team and league policy, terms of the contracts were not disclosed.

Sandy moving forward without county funds for Real stadium deseretnews.com
This city is moving forward with plans to provide $10 million for the Real soccer stadium despite a Salt Lake County decision to opt out of the funding package.
The city plans to create a commercial development area to fund a 20-year bond for the money, economic development director Randy Sant told the City Council in a work session Tuesday.

RSL at FC Dallas Player Grades deseretnews.com/blogs
Here are the grades for RSL’s starting 11 and substitutes:
Nick Rimando (5) — Made a couple timely saves, but he was mostly helpless as things broke down defensively in the final 10 minutes.
Chris Wingert (6) — Put forth a solid 90-minute effort playing right back in the first half and left back in the second half.

Battle of the Bottom-Feeders quakes.american-soccer-news.com
Nine days after the San Jose Earthquakes claimed their first home win, the team travels to Real Salt Lake Saturday to play a team unbeaten at home.

Last Thursday against the Dynamo, San Jose was temporarily relieved of its offensive struggles, resulting in their third two-goal game of the season. Unfortunately, the Quakes have not scored in any other game. The Quakes’ measly six goals are by far the least of any team. No other side has netted less than ten. This has pushed the Quakes into a last place spot in the Western Conference. Many predicted the expansion Earthquakes would have paltry offensive production.

2008 Real Salt Lake Roster Maps thebesteleven.com
These maps show where the players on the 2008 Real Salt Lake roster are from. Foreign-born players are mapped by their nation of birth and players born in the USA are mapped by their hometown, as listed at the official MLS player pages.

RSL vs. San Jose Game Guide

Midweek MLS action

United look to keep their winning ways going

DC United fresh off their 3-2 win at home over TFC play their 3^rd game in 8 days as they travel north to face the Revolution, but New England has a share of first place and a win tonight would put pressure on Chicago and Columbus to have to keep pace with them. Let’s face some basic facts, first DC United is better than their record and have traditionally been slow starters, second New England is always one of the top teams in the East. So this really is a match between two powerhouse teams with a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, it should be an exciting match, but I am going to pick a 2-2 draw.

Dallas falls victim to last minute goal

Turnabout is fair play and I have to admit even with my pick for Dallas to win 2-1, I was very happy to see them give up a 93^rd minute goal and have to settle for a 2-2 draw. It seems not only can FCD score in extra time, but they can give up goals as well, I did smile as DeRo evened the score.

MLS News Updates

Last Call MLS: Allocation Methods ussoccerplayers.typepad.com
Brian McBride’s impending return to Major League Soccer has produced multiple theories, and Mo Johnston joins a soccer show. As we expectantly wait for a thorough explanation of how Brain McBride will end up in Chicago, it might be worth remembering that Danny Szetela was a lock for North Jersey just before he ended up in Columbus. 

SBI MLS Best XI: Week 9 soccerbyives.net
After thrashing the New York Red Bulls 5-1, the Chicago Fire figured to have a few selections on this week’s MLS Best XI. How many? Try a season-high four selections, with two more Fire players earning honorable mention.

MLS Rumors: Editorial Piece on the Racial taunts from Columbus fans mls-rumors.com
Over the last 5 days a lot has happened since someone posted a video of an anonymous Columbus Crew fan hurling racist epithets at an African player for the New England Revolution. We decided that rather than shy away from the story we’d report everything we could find out about the incident and any linkage between Crew fans and organized hate groups after someone sent us some artwork for a band associated with Nazism that had a striking resemblance to a Crew supporter’s logo.
ON MY SOAPBOX
I would like to think that this type of crap would not happen in MLS, but it does and will, MLS and clubs must step up and take action. The sad part is that this will be used by some to try and censor a lot of speech at soccer matches, those who find anything objectionable will say that it will lead to this type of behavior. Some will say this is what happens when you serve alcohol at sporting events, others will say this and recent events at Toronto matches, should lead the league to crack down on supporter groups. I think this is a call for supporter groups to do a much better job of policing themselves, something far too few of them do. What is the line that can be drawn? Can the “… has herpes” be seen as too far over the line? How about the famous “wings of an eagle” chant? I say no, but I do think a line can be drawn at anything racial, or threatening violence, fans will have to decide on issues like the F-bomb, sexually suggestive chants, and others that may be deemed “over the line”. One thing is sure if the fans do not control the behavior in the stands the teams, stadium staff, and league will, and that is something that no fan should be wanting.
OFF MY SOAPBOX

MLS coaches sleep uneasily after season’s first sacking guardian.co.uk by Shaka Hislop
It’s better to be lucky than good, goes the old saying. The new FC Dallas stand-in head coach, Marco Feruzzi, will certainly be feeling that way after seeing his side come from behind thanks to two late strikes by super-sub Dominic Oduoro to snatch all three points at home to a decent Real Salt Lake team, coached by former Dallas standout Jason Kreiss.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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May 19, 2008 by f4denz.

MLS week 8 in review

Chivas USA Makes The Points ussoccerplayers.typepad.com
DC United once again get to be part of the main story for all the wrong reasons, dropping a 1-0 lead to end up losing against a club that has never - NEVER - come back to win an MLS game.

MLS Weekend Review: The Sack Rack csrnusa.com/ussoccerspot/
Another sign of Major League Soccer’s evolution is the development of a tradition reporters and pundits have in the motherland, the UK. That is the sack race. American soccer reporting and writing is generally not as negative or cynical as our British counterparts. This is largely because we have neither the history, the football infrastructure nor sharp critical historical lens they have en mass. But as MLS gets more attention albeit from non-mainstream sources, coaches face more pressures than in MLS first decade of existence.

SBI MLS Best XI: Week 8 soccerbyives.net
You just never know who you are going to see on the weekly MLS Best XI.

First there was Chad Barrett, then there was Alan Gordon. Now you can add Atiba Harris and Edson Buddle to the list of forwards who have made MLS Best XI this year.Buddle is joined on the squad by fellow attacking players, and MLS Best XI regulars, Landon Donovan and David Beckham, who both played their parts in the Galaxy’s 5-1 distruction of FC Dallas.

The Good, The Bad, The Coyote Ugly (week8) blog.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider
THE GOOD

*Edson Buddle’s hat trick.
*Marcelo Gallardo’s change of direction and well-placed goal.
*TFC Coach John Carver, on Columbus’s tactics: “They’ve come to spoil the game. They’ve come to take their time. They’ve come to fall over and dive all over the park, and I think that’s what they did. Any team to go six wins out of seven and have a game plan like that surprises me a little bit.”

Other MLS news

Qualifying Format Unveiled for 2008-2009 CONCACAF Champions League™ concacaf.com
The new CONCACAF Champions League™ will be comprised of 24 teams, representing each of CONCACAF’s regions. The CONCACAF Champions League™ will feature four teams from Mexico and USA; two clubs each from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama; and one representative from Canada, Belize, and Nicaragua and three teams from the Caribbean.

The following is the qualification process, which will be completed by mid-July 2008, in preparation for the start of the Preliminary Round of the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League™ this coming August.

ON MY SOAPBOX
So am I the only one who thinks the timing of this tournament will stink for MLS squads? The group stages take place at the same time as the MLS playoffs, and even worse the next phase Quarterfinals and start of the Semifinals take place before the MLS season starts. I like the concept of something better than what current Champions Cup offers but this really seems like a stretch, USL teams from Canada get to try and qualify, but USL teams from the US are shut out (unless they can become the 2^nd USL team to win the LHUSOC-Rochester did it in 99-since the MLS started competing in the tournament). Perhaps a better solution would be a smaller tournament, 12 teams instead of 24, or trying to get leagues to adjust their schedules to allow teams to better compete in the tournament? I am not sure, but we will see how this first attempts goes, I am not holding my breath for MLS success in this format.
OFF MY SOAPBOX

Another MLS team in Canada? (Commissioner’s Vancouver Statement) web.mlsnet.com
Following today’s announcement in Vancouver that BC Place will undergo renovations, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber issued the following statement: “We believe Vancouver is a potential market for a future Major League Soccer expansion team. There is no doubt the market for professional soccer exists in Vancouver, as we saw last November when nearly 50,000 fans attended the exhibition match between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Whitecaps.

ON MY SOAPBOX
Listen I think that the success of TFC is great, they have a great fan base, and while I am not sure how they are able to get a roster with so many international players (god knows the MLS rules get bent and broken more often than they get followed), but is that enough to bypass major US cities that have been waiting for expansion? St. Louis, Las Vegas, San Diego, Atlanta, Milwaukee, and others have had interest, some cities have funding already in place for stadiums, a few have even offered MLS their expansion fees, but the commish playing politics makes statements like this and leave fans scratching their heads.

Now add in the news that the recent partnership with FC Barcelona includes rights for them to own and control a team (read more here -”If you want to be a global brand, you have to be in the United States,” said FC Barcelona vice chairman Ferran Soriano, the club’s executive responsible for marketing. “We want to have a permanent presence here, and maybe that permanent presence will mean a team here someday.”), and add in the fact that as part of his deal with MLS that David Beckham also can become a franchise owner. Where is the talent going to come from for these teams, this could lead to a 20 team league within the next 4-5 years, and with the current salary cap in place this type of expansion could lead to MLS becoming a weaker league, at least when it comes to on field performance. I would urge Garber to deal with the issues current teams are facing and worry less about expansion beyond Seattle and Philly.
OFF MY SOAPBOX

RSL Updates

ON MY SOAPBOX
I will be doing a full ¼ season review over the next couple days but here are a couple of the things that stick out. Of all the new 2008 players, it is the defense that seems to be the most improved, but at the same time we have given up more goals to this point of the season than in the past, so is the defense really improved? We bring “Dr. Goal” to Salt Lake, and fail to get him the ball MLS has had very few pure strikers, and we get one but have no clue that he is not like most of the forwards in the league who want the ball 20 yards out, he will crash the box looking for either a ball over the top, or a cross into the box that he can use his height and skill to head into goal. We must figure out how to leverage him, before like many other players he gets frustrated and quits trying or leaves. I find that while our numbers look better than last year for overall performance, they still do not measure up to expectations.
OFF MY SOAPBOX

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May 12, 2008 by f4denz.

Kreis was right, so says US Soccer

U.S. Soccer Referee Week in Review Week 6
Referee team performances were solid in 5 of our 7 games.  In two of the games, the referee’s performance failed to match the intensity level of the game and, consequently, the games lacked the entertainment value that has been a hallmark of many matches thus far this year.  Referee teams need to sense the flow and “atmosphere” or spirit of the game and recognize the danger signals as the game develops.  In the two aforementioned games, the referee relied too much on personality and too much on flow to manage the game.  Referees must recognize that, as the game/situation changes, they must adapt their personality to EXCEED the intensity levels of the players.

Video Clip  9:  Galaxy at RSL (38:43)

This example illustrates the mechanics outlined above.  It also, however, shows how the manner in which the referee signals “wait for my whistle” (ceremonial free kick) can be misinterpreted by the defending team as an indication of Indirect Free Kick.  Look at the height of the referee’s arm.  His signal to hold the kick is similar to the indirect free kick signal.  For this reason, US Soccer recommends that the referee hold the whistle no higher than his face and point to it clearly distinguishing an indirect signal from the “wait for my whistle” signal.  In the press, the coach was quoted as saying the goal should have been disallowed because the free kick was indirect.  Also remember that a foul that looks like dangerous play can be a direct free kick when contact is made with the opponent.

Video Clip 12:  Galaxy at RSL (42:15)

This decision is very unfortunate as it takes away a potential game winning goal as the score is tied 2-2.  At the professional level, this type of decision cannot be made as the attacker is at least 1 yard onside when the ball is passed by his teammate and there is plenty of time and space for the AR to make a proper decision.  Notice the ARs position, 2 or more yards behind the second-to-last defender.  Therefore, the ARs view of the goal scorer is skewed.  With the ARs position, the goal scorer will seem to be in a more advanced position than he is in actuality.  We must get this right!

ON MY SOAPBOX
One has to wonder why it took so long for this report to come out? Normally this report is finished and published mid week, but this report was a full 5 days late and after another weekends matches, was this done to gloss over the mistakes and hope that a weeks action would steer attention away from the injustices? MLS and US Soccer have to come up with a way to do better than just apologize for the mistakes, if you can fine and suspend a coach for pointing out the truth, what punishment is levied against the officials who make the errors and cost a team a victory? If you want the league to be taken more serious around the world, then getting these issues resolved has to be a top priority.
OFF MY SOAPBOX

RSL vs. FCD fallout

RSL Wins Ugly Over Dallas American-soccer-news.com
Real Salt Lake preserved its undefeated home record on Saturday night with a 2-1 victory over FC Dallas, overcoming a weak start and a Dallas equalizer to earn what was characterized as an “ugly” win.

RSL head coach Jason Kreis said, “That’s probably one of the worst games we’ve played this season, in my opinion. And maybe that’s a good thing because maybe we need to learn how to win ugly, and tonight was that case.”

RSL earns ugly win sltrib.com
There were a number of milestones achieved in Real Salt Lake’s 2-1 win over FC Dallas on Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium, and not all of them were good. On the negative side was the fact that RSL coach Jason Kreis thought it was the worst match his team has played all season.

Wodraska: Give me wins, losses – not ties sltrib.com
I had a great time at the Real Salt Lake game recently when I was assigned to write a column on David Beckham. The game started out great with two goals by the home team, then got even better when Beckham scored twice in a five-minute span with two kicks that displayed the accuracy and strength that once made him the best player in the world.
ON MY SOAPBOX
OK, first I don’t know who Lya Wodraska is and to be honest after reading her option piece on soccer I don’t care. First David Beckham has never been the best soccer player in the world, not now, not at Real Madrid, not for England, and not at Man U, not once has he been the best player in the world. Next please do not send someone who has no or little understanding of soccer to cover the sport, ties are a part of the sport and always have been, not every sport needs to cater to the typical American sports fan. Changing rules has not helped the NHL get a larger impact on the US sports market, and never will. Understanding that soccer is about the accomplishments of a season, and not an individual match, while MLS has catered in part to the US need for a playoff, when you look at the top tier of world football, seasons are won or lost without playoffs. If you’re going to offer opinions please take time to at least learn a little about the history of the sport.
OFF MY SOAPBOX

RSL picks up an ugly, much needed victory deseretnews.com
Real Salt Lake has definitely proven since its inception that winning doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time — and in RSL’s case — years to figure it out. Amid a tumultuous week in which coach Jason Kreis was suspended and captain Carey Talley was traded away, RSL might’ve taken a step in the winning direction Saturday night.

Real Salt Lake backups fall to Dallas deseretnews.com
For the second straight weekend Real Salt Lake’s reserves found themselves in the midst of a goal-scoring fest Sunday morning at Quinn’s Junction. This time, however, it was RSL’s defense that did most of the breaking down. Leading by a goal at the break, Real’s reserves surrendered three goals in the second half in falling to FC Dallas’ reserves 5-3.
(I love that the local media is providing some coverage of the reserves, good job)

FC Dallas at RSL player grades By James Edwards at deseretnews.com
Here are the grades for RSL’s starting 11. There were some tough choices because even though his team won the game, coach Jason Kreis thought it was one of the the team’s worst performances of the year: The only thing that matters at the end of the day are wins.

FC Dallas suffers first road loss of season Dallas Morning News
FC Dallas suffered its first road loss of the season Saturday, dropping a 2-1 decision to Real Salt Lake at Rice-Eccles Stadium. “A frustrating loss, a disappointing loss,” said Dallas coach Steve Morrow, whose squad fell to 2-2-3 overall and 1-1-2 away from Pizza Hut Park.

Game Grades: FC Dallas vs. Real Salt Lake 3rdegree.com (a very good FCD blog)
I did not see all of the match so grades won’t be forthcoming, but from what was witnessed it’s pretty obvious that it was more of the same.

Please note that Cooper’s fantastic strike came yet again from a ball behind the defense that allowed Kenny to run into the box. Again, it was a fantastic goal and came from Rocha’s smart, quick decision making - but it highlights this team’s total inability to score a goal via a build up from midfield.

Other RSL & MLS news

Beltran and Seitz named to U.S. U-23 roster RSL Media Relations
U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team head coach Peter Nowak has named the 22 players who will participate in the Toulon International Tournament in Toulon, France, a squad that includes a pair of Real Salt Lake players - D/M Tony Beltran and GK Chris Seitz. The bulk of the U.S. team will arrive in Toulon this Thursday, May 15, and will have five days of training before their opening match against Turkey on May 21, at 3:30 p.m. local (7:30 a.m. MT). However, Beltran and Seitz will travel with their Real Salt Lake teammates to Denver for Thursday’s Rocky Mountain Cup clash at the Colorado Rapids (7:30 p.m. kick-off, live on ESPN2) before departing for France on Friday morning.

The Commissioner Speaks web.mlsnet.com
Like many of you, I watched the recent episode of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption when co-host Michael Wilbon vilified the practice of MLS fans throwing streamers at opposing players when they’re getting ready to take a corner kick. PTI showed video of Red Bulls midfielder Claudio Reyna with dozens of streamers around him. Wilbon, who has been a supporter of MLS and the sport of soccer in the past, was literally outraged at this practice and referred to it as ‘minor league.’ Clearly, I disagree.
(this article has some nice comments from Garber’s visit to Salt Lake)

Steven Goff’s “The Good, The Bad, The Coyote Ugly” blog.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider
THE GOOD
*Columbus scoring three goals in 10 minutes to win its fifth straight and improve to a league-best 6-1-0.
*After two losses and four ties, the two-time defending champion Dynamo has a victory.

MLS Weekend: No Threat Of Relegation ussoccerplayers.typepad.com
Red Bull New York, New England, and Houston finally got help from the usual suspects.  Juan Pablo Angel got his first goal of the season, Taylor Twellman made his 2008 debut for the Revs with a game winner against Chivas USA, and Brian Ching and Dwayne De Rosario got their first goals seven weeks in.

SBI MLS Power Rankings: Week Seven soccerbyives.net
As if the Eastern Conference wasn’t already strong enough, Juan Pablo Angel and Taylor Twellman finally opened their goal-scoring accounts to give yet another boost to the stronger of the two MLS conferences.

Yes, the domination of West by East continued last weekend, with East teams going 3-0, all on the road, against the West. The standings don’t lie. The two teams with the best records in the West, Colorado and FC Dallas, would both be in seventh place in the Eastern Conference. Wow.

MLS Philly makes hires as it grows web.mlsnet.com
Keystone Sports and Entertainment, LLC, just became a whole lot stronger. And more experienced. The ownership group for Major League Soccer Philadelphia 2010 announced the hiring of two more key executives on Monday — Rob Smith as director of operations and Dave Debusschere as chief financial officer. Both executives will officially begin their assignments on June 2.
( I really could care less about the hires, but check out the link for sketches of what their stadium might look like, very cool)

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