MLL: Midweek Edition
July 31, 2008
Check out some shtuff around the MLS neighborhood while you wonder how a Canadian woman can give birth to her 18th kid (couldn’t they just crawl out at that point?!):
- Daryl eloquently describes the elation of Houston once again facing New England in an important final (this time, its Superliga!)
- James with the Crew gives an excellent, in depth analysis of their shutout victory over Colorado - and heaps some praise onto Will “Ricky Bobby” Hesmer.
- Sean with the Fire lets Tom Petty do the talking, as they welcome home their prodigal son, and now US Legend, Brian McBride!
- While Akeem celebrates in another excellent Salt Lake win, Robert with TFC laments on what could have been, and gives some much deserved love for Sutton.
- Sean over with San Jose has found hope in numbers! San Jose do have a shot! Check it out. And while your doing that, enjoy some tunes from Seans collection.
- And finally, I do a quick Red Bulls roundup, talk about the season ending injury of Oscar Echeverry, and give the Red Bulls Blog a helping hand.
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Major League Links: 7/22
July 23, 2008
Once upon a time . . . there was a Major League Links. Since I am waiting for my laundry, I figured why not revive the old bugger!
MLS Offside has a bunch of stuff going down, so lets just jump into it like a pair of feat in a carp pedicure tank!
- Will Landon Donovan be making a move to the EPL? Well, visit Laurie for the 411 . . .
- I am highlighting Thomas Binkley today - 2006 Red Bull Fan of the Year, who has found himself banned for life. Check out his story.
- Remember all the commotion last year in the Weighted Lottery Draft of Israel Sisay? Well, the same thing is happening now. But, as Sean from the San Jose Offside says, no one seems to be paying attention to Bruno Guarda . . . why?
- Daryl over at the Houston Offside talks about the rollercoaster ride that has been the past few weeks for his boys in Orange. Oh - and Chivas G fans have no respect.
- Robert with his Reds highlights a wonderfully written and expressed letter from a supporter to TFC, demanding they take the Voyageurs Cup with a great deal of respect. Its very compelling - a great read. Check it out.
- Meanwhile, The Sounders continue to put together their media infrastructure, announcing deals with local outlets. Steve has the info for you.
- Akeem Samuels with RSL is loving the Fine China - 2 Salt Lake players are making their way to the Olympics. Read up on who they are.
- Take out your dictionary - Sean with the Fire has his review of this weekends Chicago / Chivas showdown. And he uses the word “ubiquitous.” Whoa.
- Kyle at the Colorado Offside also has his post game thoughts, as his boys Colorado tied Dallas.
- James with the Yellow and Black Crew is highlighting a bunch of news - some Olympic love, some rumors, some podcast love . . . go check it.
- “Balls! (For Kids)” - Curious? Check out Jon with the DC United Offside
- Finally, Alex over at Chivas goes over the success of Chivas USA in the Superliga.
Now, the FC Dallas and 1st place New England Revolutions sites are looking for some fresh faces - could you be the person we are looking for? Leave us a comment, fill in the email void, and we will contact you.
Be Passionate. Be Dedicated. And Be More Funny.
There. I’ve said my piece!
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ESPY Awards: Becks, Adu and Ronaldo
July 20, 2008
images courtesy of ZUMA/KEYSTONE Press, Reuters
Last night Los Angeles played host to the ESPY awards, which were full of sexy-ass big, tall and weathy men who like to date hoochies. Damn it, what we wouldn’t have done to have been there.
Here are a few of the footballing community who came out to represent for their sport: David and Victoria Beckham, Freddy Adu and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The show was compèred by Justin Timberlake, and he had the following to say to Becks while doing one of his monologues:
“Dude, I got to give you props. Single-handedly you made soccer in America this much more popular,” Timberlake said, holding his thumb and index finger an inch apart. “I call it soccer because in America we already have a game dudes play called football.”
Hmm. Way to play the football/soccer joke, JT. That’s never been done before.
Side snark: For those of you who say Becks is too girly-metrosexual for your liking, please take particular note of the pic of him with actor Zac Effron. He looks positively unwashed caveman next to Zackette.
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Week 16 Recap
July 15, 2008
Lots going on last week with four different kinds of games to report. First the hardly talked about Open Cup saw four teams make it to the semifinals on Tuesday, Thursday a couple of league games to get every prepared for the weekend’s SuperLiga action, with a few friendlies (ok, one friendly) also in the mix. The startling news from this weekend? How about Real Salt Lake landing on top of the West. That is not a typo, ladies and gentlemen. Quite impressive from a squad that had, well, very underwhelming expectations, at least in my humble opinion. However, thanks to some classy home form - read: undefeated - they now sit on top of the West, which I think makes them the fifth different team to be in first place so far this season (please correct me if I’m wrong - but I think I’m not).
MLS won 2 from 4 this weekend in the “nobody cares” Super Liga. The Revolution and Houston both came out victorious. Highlights and post game notes are available here. Not going to spend too much time on it, as two more games are scheduled for it today. Go MLS, I suppose. Now onto a quick look at what went down this weekend:
Kansas City 2-1 New York
I really like the stuff going up on the Red Bulls Offside page about a win equaling a new player. That seems to be the case with New York, as a 2-1 loss to the Wizards sees the arrival of another signing. Heck, there have been so many of them that I can’t even keep track. In all honesty, they can thank only Kevin Hartman for their loss, who made a couple of saves to preserve the win for the Wizards, who have been making a little bit of noise on their own in the transfer market. Josh Wolff will probably make his return this Thursday against the Crew. A good win for the Wizards, who needed it to remain within shouting distance of the playoffs. New York must be pressing hard to keep the wheels on this season’s ride. We’ll see what these new recruits can do soon - that is, if they are let in the country on time.
Chivas USA 1-1 Los Angeles
A blockbuster showdown? Not really, although it was a much more sedated match than the previous game. A gorgeous shot by Ante Razov gave Chivas a lead that they couldn’t hold onto for the remainder of the match, as the ever tenacious Edson Buddle equalized in the 72nd minute. It was a chance for the winner to take over first place, but neither team delivered. On another note, every can now bid farewell to Brad Guzan, who looks like he’s heading off to the EPL. Best of luck to him, and more importantly to Chivas in replacing him between the sticks.
Real Salt Lake 2-0 Columbus
Check out a few views from this match. Frankie Hejduk decided to do the twist right after Javier Morales’ free kick, opening up a path for the ball to elude Hesmer. To the credit of Morales it was a well struck ball, and it set the tone within the first five minutes of the match. The Crew were not without chances, but couldn’t get anything by Rimando, as there would be no Emmanuel Ekpo magic. That and they were playing against RSL’s 12th man - the turf. That aside, they’ve held their own at Rice Eccles and that reason is why they sit on top of the West. If they could get something, even anything going away from home they could steal the top seed. Not saying that will happen, I’m just saying it. Props must go to Jason Kreis for pulling the squad together and getting them to work hard, week in and week out.
Chicago 2-1 Toronto
Toronto with the almost-point on the road. They were literally minutes away from grabbing just their first point on the road since a 3-2 against the Galaxy on April 13. That’s a long time between away points if you ask me. They’ll still be searching next time on the road. A great goal by Chris Rolfe opened up the scoring, before 16 year old forward Abdus Ibrahim equalized off a brilliant through ball from Amado Guevara. Unfortunately for the Canadians, John Thorrington stole the three points for the Fire, knocking in the winner from close range. It was a relief for Chicago, who were in need of a win to bolster their position in the table. Meanwhile, Toronto must improve away from BMO to have a shot at the playoffs.
San Jose 1-1 Colorado
Yawn. This game bores me. The exciting thing about it was the fact that San Jose scored off a Ryan Johnson header. That makes it a whopping 11 goals from 16 games. They were denied a win thanks to Conor Casey, and some hard work in front of the net. Reinforcements are on the way for the Earthquakes, with Darren Huckerby and Scott Sealy moving out West. The Rapids hold on to fourth, which means very little considering they are only three games behind Real Salt Lake for first place. Interesting to see how things will shape up out there.
Goal of the week
Impressive entries for this week. For me, it’s neck and neck with Razov’s dazzler against the Galaxy, or Chris Rolfe’s laser - yes, I know those adjectives are cliche - against Toronto. I’m going to have to go with Razov, simply because it was a one-timed, beautifully-guided strike. There isn’t a goalie in the world who could have saved it. The highlights aren’t up on YouTube, but as soon as they are I’ll chuck it up. Of course, never forget to vote.
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