MLS Week 5
Come, join me on a shoddy week of match reporting! Luckily, I have more than match recaps in my head.
Week five started with a great match in our nation’s capital between DC United and the Revs. Sadly, this match was marred by a ridiculous straight red card handed to Shalrie Joseph on an all ball tackle from the side in the 59th minute. Even with a man advantage, misfiring United could only manage a 1-1 draw and lost big addition Fred to an injury that is expected to keep him four a few matches. Facundo Erpen was back in the line-up for Tommy Soehn’s side but failed to hand any clear goal scoring opportunities over to the Revolution.
Some refreshing atmosphere was added to Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday afternoon as a vocal Argentinean contingent was on hand to witness the Wizards down the Crew 1-0 on a dramatic extra time goal from Jose Burciaga Jr. The beautiful game was not on display in KC though as the teams combined for 34, mostly ugly fouls. While the Argentineans seemed to be rooting (all game) for the home side, it was unclear if their attendance was driven by the presence of Carlos Marinelli, the debut of Guillermo Barros Schelotto or the aura of Ryan Pore. Either way, the Wizards to keep selling those tickets as well as about 10,000 more per game. KC has yet to crack 8,000 tickets sold in each of their first two home games with one of the highest paid American players in top form again.
Oh, to see RSL’s stunning comeback versus the Flagship with two goals in added time. Unfortunately, I only purchased the Direct Kick package that gives you access to all the games on TV. Try to go with this. All the MLS games this season are televised according to Garber the Don many, many times during the off season. Therefore, I couldn’t get the game, because for some idiotic reason only some of the HDnet games are broadcast on Direct Kick. I can mention that the Brown goal should be goal of the week, not only for the skill involved, but also for the circumstances under which it was scored.
Also eluding my eyes this weekend was the Houston vs. Colorado match. Apparently, DeRosario was notified that if he wants DP money he better start playing like a DP. DeRo responded with two goals. The first was a vintage DeRo blast from well outside the box. The second was some good follow-up that surprisingly didn’t result in a major head injury for a Colorado players. After a collision between goalkeeper, defender and attacker, the ball was still free and rolling ever so slowly towards the line. Humorously, the Colorado defender who was buried underneath the wreckage tried to head the ball off the line while lying flat on the ground. DeRo finished the goal scoring sequence ensuring the defender the “I’ll bite your ankles” award of the week.
Sunday’s DC – Chivas match witnessed some great finishing from Christian Gomez and Mykiel Galindo. Jamie Moreno converted another penalty kick and DC rolled on to a 2-1 win over the Guevara-free Goats in a fairly even match. Ante Razov fired some threatening balls toward the net, but Troy Perkins, easing back into form, was not troubled. (Unfortunately this game kicked off at the same time as the Real Madrid vs. Sevilla tilt and I missed a great deal of the MLS match. Can ESPN please pay Ray Hudson what ever it takes to be part of their MLS broadcasts? Is he ever really that far off of the John Belushi news desk stints in the early days of Saturday Night Live? I fully expect at any moment he is just going to start spewing unintelligible words then go flailing off of his chair. Here’s a classic Ray line during the RM match about Guti, “This player is bringing tears to my eyes with his performance. The flamencos will be singing his name throughout the streets of Madrid this evening”
Now we go from the sweet strains of Ray Hudson to the Sominex duo of Kenn and Kenny who broadcast the Fire matches for Comcast Sports in Chicago. These two are a better fit for a golf broadcast or perhaps competitive chicken hatching than a futbol contest! Regardless, the match was very well played despite the choppy play in the opening minutes. The early star had to be the pitch. The roll on the high tech field turf seemed to play very true. Jeff Larentowicz stole the spotlight in the 16th minute with an amazing diving volley to beat Matt Pickens. The Fire pulled a goal back on another blasted goal by Chris Rolfe at the best possible time, right before the half. As much as I try I can’t erase the second half from my mind. Stevie Ralston and the Rev’s used a twelve minute span to convincingly bury the previously unbeaten Fire. Ralston never should have scored in the second half. Pickens elected to stay on his line as a slow cross rolled past him onto the foot of the hard charging Ralston who put it into the back post. That ball HAS to be Perkins’. The Revs sealed the deal when Wells Thompson scored his first MLS goal in the 81st minute. Up until that point, all Thompson did was draw fouls by putting his butt between the ball and Chicago defender. This match will not be mentioned again.
Salaries Posted
The players union posted salaries this week and they’ve become the hottest webpages this side of D-listed. This has been so dissected and mis-analyzed that there isn’t much to add except that Andy Dorman is the best value in the league since the first days of the Little Fish (who might be on the move again). 30K for three goals already this season. You’ve got to figure this young man may also be working his way in to the Welsh picture. Andy! Get yourself a real agent! Of course, this salary release draws out the boo birds who like to point out the discrepancy in the numbers. You know the folks who never pay attention to the league for 364 (or perhaps 362 after Beckham) days a year. Which brings us to award winning Philadelphia Daily News columnist John Smallwood’s column. Below is my response to Mr. Smallwood
John,
Thanks for writing the column on MLS and the similarities at the far ends of the payroll bell curve. Luckily for us soccer fans, the similarities with the defunct NASL do end at the payroll for the most part. Only the NY Red Bulls are stuck in a terrible stadium lease agreement these days. That will be rectified within three years when the team moves into its own stadium which is already under construction. By the time the RedBulls move into their new stadium, only four MLS teams (DC United, Kansas City, Houston and New England) will be playing in stadiums designed for American Football. All of these teams are in the process of looking for places to build their own stadiums. The soccer specific stadium is the key component in differentiating then from now in American professional soccer. MLS is getting rights fees from ESPN, Telefutura and Fox Soccer Channel. The league has other revenues sources including its licensing of television and marketing of soccer matches through its subsidiary Soccer United Marketing. According to all reports out of Los Angeles, Mr. Beckham has already generated enough revenue to not only justify, but also pay off his year one salary. Mr. Blanco has yet to generate that level of income, but based on his reception in Chicago, it will not take long!
While Beckham and Blanco rightly fall into the category of those who need to be successful on and off the pitch, neither of the two NY pick-ups meet that criteria. Juan Pablo Angel will attract Columbian fans, however, he is far from a household name for casual American soccer fans. Claudio Reyna, despite his national team pedigree, will not draw fans in on name recognition or on his play because of its unflashy nature.
The side effect of the Designated Player rule is raising the level of play in the league, not only through the players acquired through this rule, but through residual signings. Players the quality of Carl Robinson (Toronto), Fred (DC), Carlos Marinelli (KC) and Guillermo Barros Schletto (Columbus) would likely not be in this league had it not attracted Beckham to it in the first place.
The days of questioning MLS’ viability and whether it will be around next season are long gone. Now the only question is, when will the league rise to the level of the top leagues in the world.
Ngwenya and Moreno Swap Cities
Alejandro Moreno stated after his trade to Columbus for Joseph Ngwenya that it was “no secret that (he) had fallen out of favor” in Houston. Ali! Could that be due to your finishing that leaves the fans in back of the goal hiding under their seats? Sorry, Sigi, you got fleeced on this one.
OPEN CUP ACTION
Now on to the best kept secret in American Sports, the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Talk about stars on the pitch, at one time or another Landon Donovan, Cobi Jones, Claudio Reyna, Juan Pablo Angel and Clint Mathis were on the pitch. From the match reports, all but the school night capacity crowd of 10,774 at the Home Depot Center missed out on a thrilling Open Cup qualifier between the Flagship and the Galaxy. The intensity of this game must have been off the charts as Jones was ejected in the 54th. Arena quickly put Angel in for Altidore. Yallop countered with Donovan off the bench. This was followed by the long awaited first Dema Kovalenko ejection of 2007 in the 73rd.. The match was scoreless at the end of regulation largely due to the efforts of LA’s keeper Steve Cronin who entered double digits in the save column. The match was decided in extra time by a final score of 3-1 in favor of the Galaxy who exploded for three in the extra thirty. Angel making his North American debut in this match, scored the lone RedBulls goal. I have to give Bruce Arena respect for fielding a full strength Red Bull side, while his adversary Frank Yallop put out a B-team that should have lost the match. Perhaps Yallop was looking to give his team a breather during the summer by bowing out of Open Cup play early. The fact that a MLS B team held a team of starters with two Designated Players (DP) to a draw in regulation, speaks volumes about the quality of the league and the depth that LA has quietly built.
MLS Prediction Central:
Season Record thru yesterday (8-13)
Last Week (2-4)
Saturday –
Chicago at Toronto – The Fire recover from their NE loss to down the expansion team. The atmosphere again delivers as 200+ Fire fans, egg on the Canucks. Mass beer drinking ensues.
Chivas at Crew – Chivas’ road odyssey takes another bad turn and the Crew tops the Californians.
FC Dallas at Wizards – KC delivers another masterpiece and rewards my buddy Joel for bringing his family out for the evening.
Revolution at Galaxy – Revolution top a dead and depleted tired Galaxy side.
Sunday –
Colorado at RBNY – The Rapids draw the Flagship, who are still trying to catch their breath from the Open Cup fixture.
PODCAST :
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
Showing posts with label Red Bull. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red Bull. Show all posts
Friday, May 11, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
US Soccer Snobs Bi-Weekly Update -4/28
Good news! I managed to pull myself away from the X-Box 360 for a moment, even though I’m in the midst of guiding a significantly revamped Recreativo side to a third straight Champions League Title!
MLS Week 4
I finally had the opportunity to watch Toronto FC for a full game and what a disaster this side is! Clearly Greg Sutton and Marco Reda are in over their heads in MLS. It is shocking that Mo let Jon Busch go in favor of Sutton! Reda was victimized on all three KC goals. On the first, he lost track of his mark and allowed Eddie Johnson his second of the season virtually unmarked. Johnson just owned Reda all night. The middle of the Toronto FC defense was completely exposed on the second goal as Johnson easily beat Reda to the sideline and blasted a shot into Sutton. Unable to deflect the ball into a friendly area, the ball popped into the middle of the box. After Toronto’s other lost sheep, Marcelo Saragosa, wiffed at a clearance KC’s Kerry Zavagnain calmly put away his first goal since 2003. Another disappointment for TFC has to be the play of their some of their hailed English Championship signings, Jim Brennan and Carl Robinson. Brennan was completely invisible during the game and Robinson was just a bystander most of the time who seemed completely overwhelmed by the pace of the match. The news isn’t all bad for the expansion side! Late substitute, Miguel Canizalez impressed. His play led to the majority of Toronto’s quality chances. I though that Andy Welsh had a very solid game as well.
KC has got be enthused by their MLS start. They rebounded well from the previous week where they were booted from Open Cup play and fell to a dominant Fire team. The most dangerous player on the pitch against Toronto had to be newcomer Carlos Marinelli! This kid has class coming out of his ears! God help the rest of the league when he starts really gelling with EJ. There were flashes of that understanding on the night, but I’m sure that is only the beginning.
On Thursday, the Flagship is surprising everyone by not giving up a goal in its first four matches. RBNY keeper Ronald Watterrus has yet to be significantly tested, but none the less, zero goals is zero goals! The whole team turned in a solid match, but the standout (again) was the goal scorer Hunter Freeman. His crushed late second half goal gave NY all they needed to put down a limp Dallas side.
MLS PREDICTIONS:
TFC – KC: KC continues to roll over the league doormat.
COL – DCU: Draw here as DC’s struggles continue and Columbus continues to improve.
GALS – CHIVAS: Chivas with a superclasico victory!
REVS – DAL: Revolution top an exhausted Hoops
CHI – HOU: Sides draw as a hard fought game can’t find a winner.
RECORD – (2-4)
MLS Week 4
I finally had the opportunity to watch Toronto FC for a full game and what a disaster this side is! Clearly Greg Sutton and Marco Reda are in over their heads in MLS. It is shocking that Mo let Jon Busch go in favor of Sutton! Reda was victimized on all three KC goals. On the first, he lost track of his mark and allowed Eddie Johnson his second of the season virtually unmarked. Johnson just owned Reda all night. The middle of the Toronto FC defense was completely exposed on the second goal as Johnson easily beat Reda to the sideline and blasted a shot into Sutton. Unable to deflect the ball into a friendly area, the ball popped into the middle of the box. After Toronto’s other lost sheep, Marcelo Saragosa, wiffed at a clearance KC’s Kerry Zavagnain calmly put away his first goal since 2003. Another disappointment for TFC has to be the play of their some of their hailed English Championship signings, Jim Brennan and Carl Robinson. Brennan was completely invisible during the game and Robinson was just a bystander most of the time who seemed completely overwhelmed by the pace of the match. The news isn’t all bad for the expansion side! Late substitute, Miguel Canizalez impressed. His play led to the majority of Toronto’s quality chances. I though that Andy Welsh had a very solid game as well.
KC has got be enthused by their MLS start. They rebounded well from the previous week where they were booted from Open Cup play and fell to a dominant Fire team. The most dangerous player on the pitch against Toronto had to be newcomer Carlos Marinelli! This kid has class coming out of his ears! God help the rest of the league when he starts really gelling with EJ. There were flashes of that understanding on the night, but I’m sure that is only the beginning.
On Thursday, the Flagship is surprising everyone by not giving up a goal in its first four matches. RBNY keeper Ronald Watterrus has yet to be significantly tested, but none the less, zero goals is zero goals! The whole team turned in a solid match, but the standout (again) was the goal scorer Hunter Freeman. His crushed late second half goal gave NY all they needed to put down a limp Dallas side.
MLS PREDICTIONS:
TFC – KC: KC continues to roll over the league doormat.
COL – DCU: Draw here as DC’s struggles continue and Columbus continues to improve.
GALS – CHIVAS: Chivas with a superclasico victory!
REVS – DAL: Revolution top an exhausted Hoops
CHI – HOU: Sides draw as a hard fought game can’t find a winner.
RECORD – (2-4)
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
US Soccer Snob's Bi-Weekly Update - 4/18
MLS Week 2
Spectacular entertainment burst from RFK stadium as the KC Wizards started the season in grand fashion and everybody’s championship pick, DC United, again was doubled up by their opposition again. Although the great crowd of 22K plus didn’t go home happy they were treated to high quality soccer by two very talented teams. The train wreck that is Facundo Erpen proved his worth to the opposition getting torched throughout the match. I really think Erpen went downhill after the All-Star game last year where he was a Man of the Match candidate. His play in CONCACAF was horrific and now is approaching hackish levels during the early season. The flip side of United is the continued great play of Luciano Emilio. This guy is going to be torching nets all season and based on United’s backline play, they are going to need all the goals they can get.
From a presentation and fan comfort standpoint, the RBNY home opener lived up to what we’ve come to expect from a NY franchise: Massive embarrassment on some sort of scale. A Nor’easter that blew through the upper Atlantic states and cancelled every baseball game scheduled, did nothing to deter the Telemundo game of the week from kicking off on time. Next time someone want to rip on soccer just show them a video of this match and let them know that while the baseball players were warming their feet by the fire, MLS players were out earning a living at the expense of their health. That’s right, Ronald Watterus and Clarence Goodson had to be subbed out due to experiencing hypothermia type symptoms! All that to entertain perhaps the 2,000 or so fans that showed up. Anyone who was in that building should be commended!
In other game related news, who had Claudio Reyna and Marvelle Wynne (more on this later) out for the RBNY’s home opener? Reyna was almost a given, but Wynne made that an exacta that was hard to pick! Although all went well for the Flagship on the pitch as they plastered (K)FCD 3-0. The colonel’s men looked depleted from their road odyssey and bewildered by the weather. Almost as shocking as the weather was the performance delivered by Clint Mathis. Mathis was the lynchpin of the RBNY offense, setting up the first goal with at wicked corner kick that was well finished by Josemer Altidore. Shortly after that, Mathis was the recipient of a lovely backheel from Altidore, which he slammed in to the back of the net to put the Flagship up 2-0. Dane Richards and Hunter Freeman filled the shoes of Reyna and Wynne quite admirably by flying up and down the field, RBNY ran a tired KFCD into the ground. Too bad for RBNY that once, Reyna plays, he’ll slow up that attack and play some of that possession that his proponent seem to love so much.
Then there was the Fire in windy Colorado. The Fire are handed a great opportunity early in the match and then proceed to do their best to squander that opportunity throughout the rest of the game. The Fire were again anemic when the offense was being run by Chris Armas. I’m convinced that something has to give with Armas and Diego Gutierrez in the midfield. I can’t see the Fire offense generating more than one goal with both of these defensive minded midst in the game. Following his red card, Colorado’s Roberto Brown found himself locked out of the home locker room and had to wait for a team rep to buzz him in. Mad ups to the Fire fans who made it out to DSG park. I think they each brought a ten foot banner with them! There has been a great trend this year in decent road support for visiting teams, however, it will be hard to top the Houston 12 that represented their team and the league in Pachuca.
Only in MLS Observation of the Week
The Designated Player Rule is passed! Beckham is signed! Captain America is coming home! Arriba Blanco! Hype, love, hysteria!! Major League Soccer has finally arrived! Exactly ZERO DP signees played in their home opener. Viva la Revolution!
Other DP News: Send me an Angel
Sorry about the title, but at least I didn’t use something with the term “gets wings” like every other media outlet in the world.
The Flagship signed Juan Pablo Angel for and undisclosed sum that was immediately disclosed through sources. Strange to see a signing in NY that might actually have a positive effect on the box office. During Angel’s press conference he sounded very confident and seemed to know more about the league than Becks did at his presser. RBNY needed an established striker and they got one. It doesn’t hurt that he’s Columbian too. The drawback is that Angel had trouble making the Aston Villa bench during the new year and has not been in form for quite a while.
Meanwhile Guillermo Barros Schelotto, signed a two year pact with the Columbus Crew. Can he fill the shoes of Sebastian Rosenthal? I’m trying not to laugh too. Somebody get the Discovery Channel on the line, because this will be a hell of a more interesting geographical switch story than what the Beckham’s have going. From Buenos Aries to Columbus! How long until Schelotto tries to order a Malbec and gets a Becks? Nice to see a flood of passionate futbol players from south of our borders continue make their way over here. There really has been a great tradition being established from Valderrama to Etch to Moreno to Gomez.
Anybody else notice that the most maligned DP signing, Cuauctemoc Blanco, is the only DP that has been consistently in his former/current club’s starting line-up over the past year?
Under the Radar
Il Bruce has been a busy man! In the fog of all these DP signings, star-to-be, Wynne, was shipped to Toronto to help them shore up a defense that has given up six goals in two games. Funny that both the pre-season champion and surprise team picks have given up six goals in two games, while C-Bus has yet to be scored upon. The defending champs have one goal, Colorado, Chicago, KC, and NYRB are undefeated, and a team that has never played a home game leads the league in season tickets sold.
COMING UP: It will be the “Two for the Money” MLS style. I’ll start embarrassing myself on a weekly basis with result predictions!
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
Spectacular entertainment burst from RFK stadium as the KC Wizards started the season in grand fashion and everybody’s championship pick, DC United, again was doubled up by their opposition again. Although the great crowd of 22K plus didn’t go home happy they were treated to high quality soccer by two very talented teams. The train wreck that is Facundo Erpen proved his worth to the opposition getting torched throughout the match. I really think Erpen went downhill after the All-Star game last year where he was a Man of the Match candidate. His play in CONCACAF was horrific and now is approaching hackish levels during the early season. The flip side of United is the continued great play of Luciano Emilio. This guy is going to be torching nets all season and based on United’s backline play, they are going to need all the goals they can get.
From a presentation and fan comfort standpoint, the RBNY home opener lived up to what we’ve come to expect from a NY franchise: Massive embarrassment on some sort of scale. A Nor’easter that blew through the upper Atlantic states and cancelled every baseball game scheduled, did nothing to deter the Telemundo game of the week from kicking off on time. Next time someone want to rip on soccer just show them a video of this match and let them know that while the baseball players were warming their feet by the fire, MLS players were out earning a living at the expense of their health. That’s right, Ronald Watterus and Clarence Goodson had to be subbed out due to experiencing hypothermia type symptoms! All that to entertain perhaps the 2,000 or so fans that showed up. Anyone who was in that building should be commended!
In other game related news, who had Claudio Reyna and Marvelle Wynne (more on this later) out for the RBNY’s home opener? Reyna was almost a given, but Wynne made that an exacta that was hard to pick! Although all went well for the Flagship on the pitch as they plastered (K)FCD 3-0. The colonel’s men looked depleted from their road odyssey and bewildered by the weather. Almost as shocking as the weather was the performance delivered by Clint Mathis. Mathis was the lynchpin of the RBNY offense, setting up the first goal with at wicked corner kick that was well finished by Josemer Altidore. Shortly after that, Mathis was the recipient of a lovely backheel from Altidore, which he slammed in to the back of the net to put the Flagship up 2-0. Dane Richards and Hunter Freeman filled the shoes of Reyna and Wynne quite admirably by flying up and down the field, RBNY ran a tired KFCD into the ground. Too bad for RBNY that once, Reyna plays, he’ll slow up that attack and play some of that possession that his proponent seem to love so much.
Then there was the Fire in windy Colorado. The Fire are handed a great opportunity early in the match and then proceed to do their best to squander that opportunity throughout the rest of the game. The Fire were again anemic when the offense was being run by Chris Armas. I’m convinced that something has to give with Armas and Diego Gutierrez in the midfield. I can’t see the Fire offense generating more than one goal with both of these defensive minded midst in the game. Following his red card, Colorado’s Roberto Brown found himself locked out of the home locker room and had to wait for a team rep to buzz him in. Mad ups to the Fire fans who made it out to DSG park. I think they each brought a ten foot banner with them! There has been a great trend this year in decent road support for visiting teams, however, it will be hard to top the Houston 12 that represented their team and the league in Pachuca.
Only in MLS Observation of the Week
The Designated Player Rule is passed! Beckham is signed! Captain America is coming home! Arriba Blanco! Hype, love, hysteria!! Major League Soccer has finally arrived! Exactly ZERO DP signees played in their home opener. Viva la Revolution!
Other DP News: Send me an Angel
Sorry about the title, but at least I didn’t use something with the term “gets wings” like every other media outlet in the world.
The Flagship signed Juan Pablo Angel for and undisclosed sum that was immediately disclosed through sources. Strange to see a signing in NY that might actually have a positive effect on the box office. During Angel’s press conference he sounded very confident and seemed to know more about the league than Becks did at his presser. RBNY needed an established striker and they got one. It doesn’t hurt that he’s Columbian too. The drawback is that Angel had trouble making the Aston Villa bench during the new year and has not been in form for quite a while.
Meanwhile Guillermo Barros Schelotto, signed a two year pact with the Columbus Crew. Can he fill the shoes of Sebastian Rosenthal? I’m trying not to laugh too. Somebody get the Discovery Channel on the line, because this will be a hell of a more interesting geographical switch story than what the Beckham’s have going. From Buenos Aries to Columbus! How long until Schelotto tries to order a Malbec and gets a Becks? Nice to see a flood of passionate futbol players from south of our borders continue make their way over here. There really has been a great tradition being established from Valderrama to Etch to Moreno to Gomez.
Anybody else notice that the most maligned DP signing, Cuauctemoc Blanco, is the only DP that has been consistently in his former/current club’s starting line-up over the past year?
Under the Radar
Il Bruce has been a busy man! In the fog of all these DP signings, star-to-be, Wynne, was shipped to Toronto to help them shore up a defense that has given up six goals in two games. Funny that both the pre-season champion and surprise team picks have given up six goals in two games, while C-Bus has yet to be scored upon. The defending champs have one goal, Colorado, Chicago, KC, and NYRB are undefeated, and a team that has never played a home game leads the league in season tickets sold.
COMING UP: It will be the “Two for the Money” MLS style. I’ll start embarrassing myself on a weekly basis with result predictions!
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
Monday, February 5, 2007
US Soccer Update
RSL Stadium Falls Through
Hopefully, this isn’t the type of groundbreaking that Becks will be making in the US!
How can anyone the majority of Utah residents and their legislators to have vision? Look at some cities that play it safe: Cincinnati and Kansas City. Let’s look at cities that have had vision: Cleveland, Indianapolis, Denver. See any difference between the three. The last three used a combination of sports facilities and urban infrastructure investment to completely revamp their dying downtowns. Cincinnati and Kansas City have had opportunities to do the same thing, yet allow their visionary plans to become so tied in legislative red tape that poor decisions were inevitably made and once in a half-century opportunities were squandered.
Overall I though RSL, concert projections were a tad bit high, particularly given the poor concert schedule at Toyota Park in year one (2 concerts with about 20K average). However, that entire complex would have been a boon for Sandy and the entire Valley. Yes, some taxpayer money would have to be spent, but isn’t that contingent on a massive private investment by RSL? A park like this would have been a win-win. Now RSL will be off to St. Louis for 2008 and good! The legislators deserve the loss of the tax dollars that this franchise has raised for them over the past two years. Here’s hoping that RSL makes a deep playoff run and then pulls the plug on the town. Salt Lake deserves nothing less for jerking around a true visionary and chance taker.
RBNY Signs Watterus
I know there are plenty of puns with making a splash and a guy named Watterus, but that would assume that a splash had been made. Certainly the Energy Club upgraded their goalkeeping situation, but I can’t help but be disappointed by the clubs poor initial foray into the big-time transfer market. Reyna and Watterus are guys that could have been signed with or without the Designated Player rule. Plus, does anyone think that Claudio Reyna is worth $1M? With his injury rate, that will work out to be about $250,000 a game. Isn’t that more than Beckham? The whole Arena/Reyna thing has made me sick for the last nine years and anyone that sees this as anything other than a gift from Il Bruce to Captain Worthless needs a wake up call. Moving on, RBNY has one senior international slot and one designated player slot left, let’s see if they can attract anything other than B level talent. Now, it seems that Il Bruce has his sights set on DaMarcus Beasley. This can mean one of three things: 1. Arena is a closed Man City fan and is intent of picking off the whole team one at a time. 2. Arena is looking for a central defender (or right winger). 2. Arena is looking for someone to throw under the bus once the annual tanking of the New York franchise occurs. Let’s hope that Run DMB sends Bruce some of his choice quotes from this past summer in response to the transfer request.
MLS Adopts Qualification System for Open Cup
The rational for this move is to clear up some time on every teams schedule; however, I’m not sure how much time it will free up. It takes one game off the docket for the top three clubs in the divisions, but will add an extra game for the Galaxy and the number of matches will remain the same for the NYRB. On a separate, but related issue, the biggest problem with the US Open Cup is lack of promotion and reward for the participants. One of US Soccer top priorities, other than naming a full-time National Team coach, should be obtaining main sponsorship and expanded television coverage for the Open Cup. The tournament is a big deal in non-MLS cities and certainly there are benefits to offer a main sponsor, such as tournament naming rights, banners, etc. The sponsor money could be used to boost the paltry purse for the final participants. This bounty currently sits at $100,000 for the winner and $50,000 for the runners-up. Broken up between the players that are fielded during the tournament (lets say 20), we are looking at $5,000 per player on average, which in a league where the average salary is between $80,000 and $100,000, is certainly not “bust my ass” money. The thanklessness of becoming an open cup winner certainly doesn’t help either. If there is any country where this format should work well it is the US. This tournament is Hoosiers and Rocky rolled into one. An NCAA style tournament crossed with baseballs hierarchy system! Even better, upsets happen all the time. Lest not forget when an absolutely loaded Fire team dropped a 1-0 decision to Milwaukee Wave United in Beer Town with Pitor Nowak, Carlos Bocanegra, Run DMB and Hristo Stoitchkov on the pitch.
Awards:
Absurd Foreign Press Story of the Week:
Donovan Quits Galaxy in Response to Beckham Move – London Daily News
Idiot of the Week:
Peter Corroon – Who is looking the gift horse in the mouth? Without RSL, neither the national team nor Real Madrid would spend one day in your city. That is two days without the tax dollars or economic impact generated by 45,000 fans. Nearly 300,000 fans go through RSL gates every year for all competitions. In 2008, it may be zero.
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis: http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/blogs/sportscast/podcast_soccer013007.mp3
Hopefully, this isn’t the type of groundbreaking that Becks will be making in the US!
How can anyone the majority of Utah residents and their legislators to have vision? Look at some cities that play it safe: Cincinnati and Kansas City. Let’s look at cities that have had vision: Cleveland, Indianapolis, Denver. See any difference between the three. The last three used a combination of sports facilities and urban infrastructure investment to completely revamp their dying downtowns. Cincinnati and Kansas City have had opportunities to do the same thing, yet allow their visionary plans to become so tied in legislative red tape that poor decisions were inevitably made and once in a half-century opportunities were squandered.
Overall I though RSL, concert projections were a tad bit high, particularly given the poor concert schedule at Toyota Park in year one (2 concerts with about 20K average). However, that entire complex would have been a boon for Sandy and the entire Valley. Yes, some taxpayer money would have to be spent, but isn’t that contingent on a massive private investment by RSL? A park like this would have been a win-win. Now RSL will be off to St. Louis for 2008 and good! The legislators deserve the loss of the tax dollars that this franchise has raised for them over the past two years. Here’s hoping that RSL makes a deep playoff run and then pulls the plug on the town. Salt Lake deserves nothing less for jerking around a true visionary and chance taker.
RBNY Signs Watterus
I know there are plenty of puns with making a splash and a guy named Watterus, but that would assume that a splash had been made. Certainly the Energy Club upgraded their goalkeeping situation, but I can’t help but be disappointed by the clubs poor initial foray into the big-time transfer market. Reyna and Watterus are guys that could have been signed with or without the Designated Player rule. Plus, does anyone think that Claudio Reyna is worth $1M? With his injury rate, that will work out to be about $250,000 a game. Isn’t that more than Beckham? The whole Arena/Reyna thing has made me sick for the last nine years and anyone that sees this as anything other than a gift from Il Bruce to Captain Worthless needs a wake up call. Moving on, RBNY has one senior international slot and one designated player slot left, let’s see if they can attract anything other than B level talent. Now, it seems that Il Bruce has his sights set on DaMarcus Beasley. This can mean one of three things: 1. Arena is a closed Man City fan and is intent of picking off the whole team one at a time. 2. Arena is looking for a central defender (or right winger). 2. Arena is looking for someone to throw under the bus once the annual tanking of the New York franchise occurs. Let’s hope that Run DMB sends Bruce some of his choice quotes from this past summer in response to the transfer request.
MLS Adopts Qualification System for Open Cup
The rational for this move is to clear up some time on every teams schedule; however, I’m not sure how much time it will free up. It takes one game off the docket for the top three clubs in the divisions, but will add an extra game for the Galaxy and the number of matches will remain the same for the NYRB. On a separate, but related issue, the biggest problem with the US Open Cup is lack of promotion and reward for the participants. One of US Soccer top priorities, other than naming a full-time National Team coach, should be obtaining main sponsorship and expanded television coverage for the Open Cup. The tournament is a big deal in non-MLS cities and certainly there are benefits to offer a main sponsor, such as tournament naming rights, banners, etc. The sponsor money could be used to boost the paltry purse for the final participants. This bounty currently sits at $100,000 for the winner and $50,000 for the runners-up. Broken up between the players that are fielded during the tournament (lets say 20), we are looking at $5,000 per player on average, which in a league where the average salary is between $80,000 and $100,000, is certainly not “bust my ass” money. The thanklessness of becoming an open cup winner certainly doesn’t help either. If there is any country where this format should work well it is the US. This tournament is Hoosiers and Rocky rolled into one. An NCAA style tournament crossed with baseballs hierarchy system! Even better, upsets happen all the time. Lest not forget when an absolutely loaded Fire team dropped a 1-0 decision to Milwaukee Wave United in Beer Town with Pitor Nowak, Carlos Bocanegra, Run DMB and Hristo Stoitchkov on the pitch.
Awards:
Absurd Foreign Press Story of the Week:
Donovan Quits Galaxy in Response to Beckham Move – London Daily News
Idiot of the Week:
Peter Corroon – Who is looking the gift horse in the mouth? Without RSL, neither the national team nor Real Madrid would spend one day in your city. That is two days without the tax dollars or economic impact generated by 45,000 fans. Nearly 300,000 fans go through RSL gates every year for all competitions. In 2008, it may be zero.
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis: http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/blogs/sportscast/podcast_soccer013007.mp3
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