Month: April 2010

soccer

MLS Week 4: Cool is a rule, but bad is bad

Posted on by Beau Dure

Did MLS suddenly adopt the Scottish system of splitting the top half of the table from the bottom? That would explain why the bottom four teams in the MLS East all faced off this week in a macabre mini-tournament of sorts. Meanwhile, Los Angeles and Salt Lake played a terrific rematch of last fall’s MLS Cup final.

One of the bottom four matchups, Thursday’s Toronto-Philadelphia game, was already covered. On to the weekend (lineups are estimated from Match Tracker and from what was visible on the highlights; if you see someone who wound up playing elsewhere on the field, please pass it along):

Los Angeles 2, Salt Lake 1

Get Microsoft Silverlight

– LA (4-4-2): Donovan Ricketts; Sean Franklin RB (Bryan Jordan 44), A.J. DeLaGarza CB, Omar Gonzalez CB, Todd Dunivant LB; Charlie Birchall DM, Michael Stephens RM, Juninho CM (Alan Gordon 81), Mike Magee LM (Alex Cazumba 69); Landon Donovan F, Edson Buddle F
– RSL (4-4-2): Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran RB, Jamison Olave CB, Nat Borchers CB, Robbie Russell LB; Kyle Beckerman DM, Will Johnson RM, Andy Williams CM, Nelson Gonzalez LM (Collen Warner 64); Alvaro Saborio F (Pablo Campos 81), Fabian Espindola F (Robbie Findley 59)
– The Galaxy loses their shutout streak on a fluky goal, with Kyle Beckerman’s shot taking a wild skip off the Home Depot Center non-FieldTurf.
– Edson Buddle has scored all seven of the Galaxy’s goals this year. Freaky. Landon Donovan has four assists.
– RSL’s 1-2-1 record is deceiving; the defending champs have had only one home game and a pair of difficult away games, and they haven’t been outclassed at all. Robbie Findley’s shot off the post would’ve been a tough one for the Galaxy to overcome had it been a few inches to the left.

Seattle 1, Kansas City 0 (highlights)
– Seattle (4-4-2): Kasey Keller; James Riley RB, Tyrone Marshall CB, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado CB, Leonardo Gonzalez LB; Osvaldo Alonso DM,  Freddie Ljungberg RM (Patrick Ianni 90), Peter Vagenas CM, Steve Zakuani LM (Michael Fucito 85); Fredy Montero F, Pat Noonan (Brad Evans 70).
– KC (4-5-1, two defensive mids): Jimmy Nielsen; Michael Harrington RB, Pablo Escobar CB, Jimmy Conrad CB (Matt Besler 32), Roger Espinoza LB, Jack Jewsbury DM, Stephane Auvray DM, Josh Wolff RM (Teal Bunbury 82), Davy Arnaud CM, Ryan Smith LM, Kei Kamara F (Chance Myers 90).
– Bad miss for Pat Noonan in the 10th minute as Seattle pressed early.
– Both defenses lapsed in stoppage time. Jimmy Nielsen, who had a strong save earlier, couldn’t make the last save. Kasey Keller did, bailing out Michael Fucito, who Sigi Schmid said was still in a state of euphoria from scoring.
– Not shown in the highlights but mentioned in the recap: Zakuani made contact with referee Jair Marrufo but only saw yellow.
– Jimmy Conrad left in the first half with a calf injury. Think that might have affected the outcome?

Houston 3, Chivas USA 0 (highlights)
– Did you see the Lovel Palmer goal?

Get Microsoft Silverlight

– CUSA (4-4-2): Zach Thornton; Mariano Trujillo RB, Dario Delgado CB, Michael Umana CB, Jonathan Bornstein LB; Jesus Padilla RM, Sacha Kljestan CM, Jorge Flores CM (Justin Braun 46), Blair Gavin LM; Maicon Santos F (Ben Zemanski 46), Chukwudi Chijindu F (Gerson Mayen 78)
– Houston (4-4-2): Pat Onstad; Andrew Hainault RB; Bobby Boswell CB, Eddie Robinson CB, Mike Chabala LB; Corey Ashe RM, Lovel Palmer CM, Geoff Cameron CM (Francisco Navas Cobo 93), Brad Davis LM (Adrian Serioux 86); Brian Mullan F (Danny Cruz 83), Dominic Oduro F
– Not sure why Oduro felt the need to do the “hot boot” celebration after his goal. He could’ve tapped that in with his knee, his backside or just about any other part of his body.

San Jose 2, New England 0 (highlights)
– NE (4-5-1 or 4-2-2-1-1): Preston Burpo; Kevin Alston RB, Cory Gibbs CB, Darrius Barnes CB, Seth Sinovic LB (Zak “No, not Wade” Boggs 82); Pat Phelan DM, Joseph Niouky DM, Sainey Nyassi RM (Kheli Dube 67), Chris Tierney LM; Marko Perovic AM, Zach Schilawski F (Kenny Mansally 85)
– SJ (4-4-2): Joe Cannon; Steve Beitashour RB, Ike Opara CB, Jason Hernandez CB, Ramiro Corrales LB; Joey Gjertsen RM, Brandon McDonald CM, Andre Luiz CM, Bobby Convey LM; Ryan Johnson F (Ramon Sanchez 92), Chris Wondolowski F
– Darrius Barnes, ever-present as a rookie last year, returned from injury. But the Revs were still without Shalrie Joseph.
– San Jose standouts: Terrific work by Ryan Johnson on the first goal, then a late series of saves from Joe Cannon.

New York 2, Dallas 1 (highlights)
– NY (4-4-2): Bouna Coundoul; Jeremy Hall RB, Mike Petke CB, Tim Ream CB, Roy Miller LB; Dane Richards RM (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 81), Seth Stammler CM (Carl Robinson 58), Joel Lindpere CM, Mac Kandji LM; Juan Pablo Angel F, Salou Ibrahim F (Danleigh Borman 71)
– Dal (4-1-4-1): Dario Sala; Zach Loyd RB, George John CB, Ugo Ihemelu CB, Heath Pearce LB (Eric Avila 69); Daniel Hernandez DM; Atiba Harris RM, David Ferreira CM, Dax McCarty CM (Eric Alexander 81), Jair Benitez LM; Jeff Cunningham F
– OK, New York — where’s the crowd? You don’t have Giants Stadium and its cavernous atmosphere, controversial security and lack of mass transit to blame any more.
– MLSSoccer’s anonymous recapper did not enjoy the game. And yet the highlights are 9 minutes long. Especially cruel in the editing — a Mike Petke blunder is immediately followed by a scene in which the electronic dasher boards read “Follow Mike Petke on Twitter.”
– Comeback player of the week is Bouna Coundoul, who shook off a blunder last week to snap right back into his terrific early-season form. (HT: Bill Archer)

D.C. United 0, Chicago 2 (highlights)
– Chicago (4-2-3-1): Andrew Dykstra; Dasan Robinson RB, C.J. Brown CB, Wilman Conde CB, Krzysztof Krol LB; Peter Lowry DM, Baggio Husidic DM, Patrick Nyarko RM, Marco Pappa AM, Justin Mapp LM; Collins John F
– D.C. (4-4-2): Troy Perkins; Carey Talley RB, Devon McTavish CB, Julius James CB, Rodney Wallace LB; Kurt Morsink DM, Santino Quaranta RM, Jaime Moreno AM, Andy Najar LM; Chris Pontius F, Danny Allsopp F
– Already went in-depth on the clinching goal and got some comments from Santino Quaranta (not the ones you’ve seen elsewhere).

And from Sunday …

Colorado 3, Toronto 1 (recap/goal highlights)
– Colo: Matt Pickens; Kosuke Kimura RB, Marvell Wynne CB, Drew Moor CB, Danny Earls LB (Scott Palguta 83); Jamie Smith RM (Wells Thompson 59), Pablo Mastroeni CM, Jeff Larentowicz CM, Colin Clark LM (Quincy Amarikwa 68); Omar Cummings F, Conor Casey F
– TFC: Stefan Frei; Maksim Usanov RB, Nana Attakora CB, Adrian Cann CB, Ty Harden LB; Sam Cronin RM, Julian de Guzman CM, Martin Saric CM (Dan Gargan 80), Nick LaBrocca LM (Jacob Peterson 60); Dwayne De Rosario F, Chad Barrett F (O’Brian White 66)
– Three PKs in this one. The first was, well, wrong. Adrian Cann, who played briefly for Colorado before a long trip through the USL and Scandinavia before TFC signed him a few days ago, was judged to have … handled the ball? Failed to slide safely into second base? Conor Casey then went for the smart-ass chip over the sprawling keeper, and he got a little lucky with the timing. The other calls and shots were much better.
– The non-PK was a Colorado free kick in which Jeff Larentowicz drilled the ball through a hole in the wall vacated by the sideways-jumping Julian de Guzman.
– Match Tracker isn’t showing a single TFC shot from inside the 18-yard box. Stats show six saves for Frei, zero for Pickens. The broadcast crew chose a highlight of Pickens tipping a cross away as the “Save of the Game.”

So if we look at the bottom eight teams in the league, we can give half of those teams a break. Salt Lake is playing pretty well against good teams. Columbus has only played two games. Chicago just has one bad loss at home. Dallas has played a couple of thrillers.

That leaves the following teams making a collective argument — with the usual “Yes, it’s only Week 4” disclaimer — that MLS isn’t really a league of parity:

– Philadelphia: Not easy to build an expansion team, though you have to wonder when they’ll lose the “physical” side of the game and just play.

– Chivas USA: A couple of injuries have made it tougher to replace the lost veteran leadership of Jesse Marsch et al.

– D.C. United: Three years of poor player acquisitions will take a toll on the roster. To be fair, the injury bug hasn’t helped — Bryan Namoff and Clyde Simms alone would make this team more solid, though it’s hard to see where the goals will come from.

– Toronto: Maybe they should get some players who weren’t cast aside by Skonto Riga.

2
soccer

On D.C. United: “We’re not 1996, man”

Posted on by Beau Dure

Early in a 2-0 loss to Chicago on Saturday, Andy Najar — known to no one outside D.C. United’s staff a few weeks ago and now starting in MLS at age 17 — chased a ball down on his own endline and centered it across the face of his own goal.

That’s how things are going for the once-mighty team these days. Three years of atrocious personnel decisions and a recent rash of injuries have left a team that looks incapable of winning.

Santino Quaranta, now an elder statesman of sorts at age 25, pointed to the injuries — Clyde Simms, Bryan Namoff, Marc Burch, Juan Manuel Pena. But he wasn’t pleased with a game in which the only real test for young Chicago goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra was his own blazing free kick.

“If that’s our best chance of the game, that’s pretty sad.”

One thing looks better for United: Their clothes. After the game, every player was changing into a nice suit, though Carey Talley stretched the definition of “nice” with some bright green pants. Simms, who hopes to be back on the field for United’s next game April 28 against Dallas, said he thinks the idea originated with goalkeeper Troy Perkins.

Yet Perkins also has trouble looking sharp on the field. In the first 10 minutes Saturday, he had to scramble to avoid being chipped by Collins John, then flapped at a corner kick. At the end of the half, he raced out of his box to try to prevent a breakaway and couldn’t come up with the ball. And he could’ve done better on the second Chicago goal.

United are 0-4. They started 0-4 in 1996, though the last loss was in the since-discarded postgame shootout, and went on to win the first MLS title.

“Yeah, we’re not 1996, man,” Quaranta said. “We don’t have those kind of players here.”

1
soccer

Anatomy of a goal: Fire’s Dykstra to McBride

Posted on by Beau Dure

Get Microsoft Silverlight

The dagger for D.C. United started with former Woodbridge, Va., resident Andrew Dykstra, the young goalkeeper for the Chicago Fire.

Dykstra, who had 80-100 people coming to watch him, said he was looking for Brian McBride with his long distributions late in the game. He wasn’t able to get the ball to him in the corner a little earlier. Then he saw McBride drift into the box and figured he would aim there.

“I trust the 36-year-old veteran,” Dykstra said, undercounting by one year.

The 37-year-old veteran knew what to do next. He couldn’t see United keeper Troy Perkins, but he could hear him.

“The goalie was talking, so I knew where he was,” McBride said. “I was trying to put it on goal. I didn’t pick out the corner, but I knew where the goalie was, so I was just trying not to put it right at him.”

So now you know, MLS keepers: When a long ball is going to McBride, keep your mouth shut.

1
mma, olympic sports, soccer, tennis

Friday Myriad: What’s going on this week(end)

Posted on by Beau Dure

It’s a relatively slow time for the sports world outside the NBA and NHL, where the Capitals appear to have started breaking my heart. But you won’t be without viewing options this weekend. Read on for all of those (all times ET) and a look at the midweek news:

MLS

Comedy of errors last night in Toronto. Philadelphia keeper Chris Seitz let a Dwayne De Rosario free kick slip through his hands into the goal, and he committed the foul that let De Ro win it from the spot. Danny Califf, the “veteran leadership” for Philadelphia, made a poor backpass and decided to make up for it by slamming his forearm into Julian de Guzman’s face, an obvious red card by any criterion you use. Toronto was lucky to finish the game with 11 men after some gruesome tackles, particularly from Raivis Hscanovics. And Philly blundered by taking off Roger Torres, whose sublime pass set up the game’s best goal, to go for a more defensive shape.

Strong offense = best defense. When will coaches realize this?

Califf took responsibility. Toronto coach Preki snapped back at the media by asking if they would prefer a team of ballerinas. (Toronto Sun)

Grass looks nice, though. And click to #11 in this gallery for the best soccer fan photo so far this year.

This weekend (home teams first; all games Saturday except the last):

  • Seattle (1-1-1) – Kansas City (2-0-0), 3 p.m., DK/MLSS: Pick of the week
  • Houston (1-1-1) – Chivas USA (1-2-0), 4 p.m., TeleFutura: Still a nasty rivalry?
  • D.C. United (0-3-0) – Chicago (0-2-1), 7:30 p.m., DK/MLSS: Which team disappoints you more?
  • New York (2-1-0) – Dallas (0-0-2), 7:30 p.m., DK/MLSS: No, Thierry Henry isn’t playing
  • San Jose (1-1-0) – New England (2-1-0), 10 p.m., DK/MLSS: Any Kraft Soccer demons remaining for Earthquakes fans?
  • Los Angeles (3-0-0) – Salt Lake (1-1-1), 10:30 p.m., FSC: MLS Cup rematch
  • Colorado (1-1-1) – Toronto (1-2-0), 5 p.m. Sun, DK/MLSS: TFC plays twice this week; Columbus idle

WPS

Week 2 games Saturday and Sunday. Am I the only person not playing WPS fantasy soccer?

  • Chicago – St. Louis, 8 p.m. Sat
  • FC Gold Pride – Sky Blue, 10 p.m. Sat (or, if you prefer, Bay Area – New Jersey)
  • Boston – Philadelphia, 6 p.m. Sun, FSC
  • Washington – Atlanta, 7 p.m. Sun — 2003 WUSA final rematch at last!

EUROPEAN SOCCER

Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett are selling Liverpool, and it’s safe to say they won’t be missed by the fan base. Commentator Jim White accuses them of having as much interest in the club as a real estate investor would in a house he’s flipping. (Eurosport)

England

  • Manchester City – Manchester United, 7:45 a.m. Sat, ESPN2: Both teams have plenty at stake in the derby.
  • Blackburn – Everton, 10 a.m. Sat, FSC: Tim Howard and company are on the road, trying to keep faint European hopes alive.
  • Tottenham – Chelsea, 12:30 a.m. Sat, FSC: Tottenham is one point behind Man City for the fourth Champions League berth. Chelsea has a four-point lead for first. Another great derby.

Spain (Barcelona lead Real Madrid by 3)

  • Espanyol – Barcelona, 2 p.m. Sat, GolTV
  • Valencia – Real Madrid, 3 p.m. Sun, ESPN Deportes

Germany (Bayern Munich lead Schalke by 2; both teams face Americans on Saturday)

  • Borussia Moenchengladbach – Schalke, 9:25 a.m. Sat, ESPN Deportes
  • Bayern Munich – Hannover, 4 p.m. Sat (delay), GolTV

Italy (Roma lead Inter by 1, Milan by 4)

  • Inter Milan – Juventus, 2:30 p.m. Fri, FSC
  • Sampdoria – AC Milan, 9 a.m. Sun, FSC
  • Lazio – Roma, 2:30 p.m. Sun, FSC

More global listings at Soccer America.

MMA

Bellator’s second show of the season had a bit of controversy last night with a premature stoppage giving wrestling phenom Ben Askren a welterweight quarterfinal win. But as my colleague Sergio Non points out, you have to answer when the ref asks if you’re OK. I’d have more of an opinion myself if any local networks would pick up the FSN broadcasts. (MMA Fighting Stances)

The big show this weekend, no credit card needed, is Strikeforce on CBS (9 p.m.), which will have three title fights and a “Mayhem” Miller entrance:

  • Middleweights: Former two-division Pride champion Dan Henderson, who postured his way out of the UFC by getting a big head after his unsportsmanlike win over Michael Bisping, takes on current champion Jake Shields, who might be heading the other direction.
  • Light heavyweights: Former wrestler “King Mo” Lawal takes a big jump up in opposition in his budding MMA career, challenging champion Gegard Mousasi.
  • Lightweights: The hard-core fans are drooling over the matchup of Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez and Dream (Japan) champ Shinya Aoki.

BOXING

Why do people freak out when the UFC might go up against a big boxing card, and yet no one seems concerned about this Strikeforce-boxing scheduling conflict? We’re not just talking alphabet-soup champions here — Kelly Pavlik has the actual, legit middleweight title. (OK, so his challenger isn’t in The Ring’s top 10.)

On HBO, 10 p.m. Saturday:

  • The Ring/WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik vs. Sergio Martinez
  • IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (#1, The Ring) vs. Edison Miranda

OLYMPIC SPORTS

The big one’s coming up Monday: Boston Marathon, 9:30 a.m.

  • Diving World Series, 5 p.m. Fri/4 p.m. Sat., Universal Sports online
  • Beach volleyball, AVP Fort Lauderdale women’s final, 5:30 p.m. Sun. (delay), ESPN2

TENNIS

Men’s field seems a lot stronger than the women’s field this week.

ATP Monte Carlo: Rafael Nadal vs. David Ferrer in one semi; top seed Novak Djokovic vs. winner of Fernando Verdasco-Albert Montanes in the other.

  • Semifinals, 7:30/10 a.m. Sat, Tennis Channel
  • Final, 8:15 a.m. Sun, Tennis Channel

WTA Family Circle Cup, Charleston, S.C.: top seeds in quarterfinals are #1 Caroline Wozniacki (vs. #6 Nadia Petrova) and #2 Jelena Jankovic (vs. #8 Daniela Hantuchova)

  • Quarterfinal, 1 p.m. Fri, ESPN2
  • Semifinal, 1 p.m. Sat, ESPN2
  • Final, 1 p.m. Sun, ESPN2

More TV listings (baseball, NHL, NBA, motor sports, golf, rodeo, college baseball, high school basketball)  at USA TODAY.

If I missed anything, please let me know.

1
soccer

Throwing open the U.S. Open Cup

Posted on by Beau Dure

It’s U.S. Open Cup season again, which means it’s also open season for Open Cup reform ideas and lamentations over its lack of popularity.

Like England’s FA Cup, the U.S. Open Cup has a proud history that predates the formation of a viable national league. The biggest difference is that the USA’s viable national league — the old American Soccer League — was only viable for a little more than a decade, so the Open Cup had another long period of giving the only national trophy at stake.

But the Open Cup has had a rocky run through the last 40 years. It suffered an outrageous insult when the NASL (the original, not the new one) ignored it. The pros came back in 1995, with APSL and USISL teams battling for league pride as much as anything else. MLS teams entered the Cup in the league’s first year, with D.C. United winning the “double” of League and Cup in 1996.

So it’s still around, but it’s really a tournament for hard-core fans only. Games at MLS sites usually draw a couple thousand.  The lovingly maintained quasi-official site USOpenCup.com was compelled to change its name to thecup.us for complex reasons.

And so we hear ideas each year — spend more money on marketing, move games in the schedule, etc. Most of these run afoul of a couple of logistical realities:

1. Teams in the PDL and other amateur leagues are often reliant on college talent, and they play a compressed league schedule while those players are available. That leaves little time to play around with scheduling Cup games. (1a. Those who are not in college have jobs.)

2. Many teams are not the primary tenant in their stadiums, again creating difficulties in scheduling. Weekend dates are often unavailable.

3. Where would all this marketing and operational money come from?

Still, the Cup is ripe for tweaking. You may not know this, but MLS teams played qualifiers this week. Real Salt Lake advanced on penalties after a back-and-forth 3-3 draw at San Jose. Wells Thompson scored twice as Colorado beat Kansas City 2-1.

Combined attendance: 3,944.

And who could blame the no-shows? These are play-in games to reach more play-in games to reach the actual tournament. The romance of the Cup is in minnows vs. giants. Not MLS reserves vs. MLS reserves to face more MLS reserves. And don’t claim you’d actually start all your starters in these games if you were the coach. You wouldn’t. Or you wouldn’t have the job.

The best time to play these games might be during the World Cup and other international tournaments. You’ll have MLS teams missing a couple of big-name players who can still field competitive teams. Why not have them play Open Cup games rather than league games? It’ll be something different to go along with a major televised event like the World Cup.

Or, if you somehow believe the NCAA can change, play it in the spring … with college teams facing the pros.

Realistically, the first option is more likely. Get rid of these MLS play-in games. Let the amateurs and lower divisions take their shots at the big boys. Otherwise, it’s just a long, dull MLS event.

Clarification: Technically, these MLS games are not part of the Open Cup itself. These games are set up by the league to determine its entries into the Cup. Maybe a small distinction, but worth making.

5
mma

‘The Ultimate Fighter’: Season 11, Episode 3: Not that there’s anything wrong with that

Posted on by Beau Dure

Two weeks ago, we wondered if Rich Franklin would be replacing Tito Ortiz sometime during this season, and we were all assured otherwise. Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz, and Chuck is excited!

Last week, we got confirmation from the UFC: Chuck Liddell will be facing … Rich Franklin??!!

We’ll have to watch to find out how.

So let’s run through the teams …

Team Liddell:
Kyle Noke – former Crocodile Hunter bodyguard, won first fight
Rich Attonito – good wrestler, quiet so far
Charles Blanchard – wasn’t he a college football player in the 40s?
Josh Bryant – won close decision to get in
Brad Tavares – helped out Crabman and McCray with the air-horn prank last time
Court McGee – Scott Ian goatee
Joe Henle – looks like Chris “Jesus” Ferguson

Team Ort, er, Punishment, er, Franklin?:
Nick Ring – impressive resume
Kyacey Uscola – Mr. 18-15, didn’t like Crabman’s antics
Kris McCray – wins fights quickly
Jamie Yager – Crabman! On a mission to annoy everyone
James Hammortree – won prelim with ground-and-pound
Clayton McKinney – trains with Tom Lawlor and Seth Petruzelli, and he has the green hair to prove. Lost already to Noke and seemed humiliated when Tito tried to make it a learning experience.
Chris Camozzi – dental problems since prelim fight

On to the show, where we get the theme music this time. Anyone already missing the gag of showing Roy Nelson’s belly fat on the word “fitness”?

Continue reading →

8
soccer

What’s better about the Dynamo’s new stadium?

Posted on by Beau Dure

A Twitter debate du jour: What’s so great about the Houston Dynamo finally getting a deal for a new stadium if they’re just going to share it with a college football team?

Answers here via spokesman’s e-mail from Oliver Luck, Dynamo president/GM:

  • we control the scheduling, not UH. [Univ. of Houston, which hosts the Dynamo today at Robertson Stadium]
  • we control the maintenance, not UH.
  • we control the entire fan experience (including hygiene, concessions, etc…), not UH.
  • yes, we’ll have football lines but we will schedule as best we can around them and we can minimize the football markings, which won’t include logos, lettering, end zone painting, etc…
  • we will generate revenue from TSU football games, unlike the situation at UH.  We will also host high school football playoffs in the stadium, as many MLS venues do.
  • most importantly, we maintain the revenue that we generate as opposed to sharing it with UH.
  • of course, it will be a new building, not one built in the 1940’s.

So yes, revenue will be an important part, and that can help the team on the field. Designated Players aren’t cheap. Neither is scouting.

In terms of aesthetics, it’s impossible to judge until we see for ourselves. Seattle’s FieldTurf draws criticism, but despite sharing the field with the NFL’s Seahawks, the Qwest Field pitch generally looks better than, say, the Home Depot Center’s grass. Maybe sharing with the X Games is worse than sharing with a football team?

Also worth noting — the team is getting new practice facilities and can move away from the fields at the University of Houston, which deteriorated to a point that Dominic Kinnear and crew picked up and started practicing at Rice. Read about that situation and see an artist’s rendering of the new stadium here: Houston Chronicle.

It’s true that the term “soccer-specific stadium” shouldn’t really apply any more. More and more MLS teams have their own facilities, but they rent them out for football games, concerts, etc.

From a fan perspective, the best thing about a stadium is the peace of mind that your local team has set down roots. Ask D.C. United fans currently checking traffic between their D.C.-area homes and Baltimore.

4
soccer

MLS: Who’s paying cash for clunkers?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Soccer America’s Paul Kennedy has a provocative piece on Major League Soccer teams’ wild misses in judging talent. Sure, teams make mistakes all the time, but in this new era with more guaranteed contracts, those mistakes can be more costly.

Kennedy singles out Toronto and the signing of Latvian left back Raivis Hscanovics, about whom Wikipedia says the following: “In March 2010 his contract was terminated with Skonto FC because of knee problems. He later joined Toronto FC.” (We’ll have to take Wikipedia’s word for it, because the source cited on that note is in a language I don’t even recognize.) After a messy spring that included a protracted breakup with Ali Gerba and the shock retirement of Jim Brennan, Toronto put out a starting lineup last weekend that looked like a preseason lineup full of trialists.

“What has Preki been thinking all these months?” Kennedy asks. But Preki’s only part of the Toronto brain trust. There’s also “Trader Mo” Johnston, the wheelingest, dealingest soccer director in the business. Players and coaches have come and gone, but Toronto hasn’t yet found the right mix.

The coaches are always the most visible player personnel people. But do they always have the most influence? Hard to say.

In most cases, they have a fair amount of input, always able to bring “their guys” into a roster. Adrian Hanauer is the guy who can be fired by the fans if things are going wrong, but Sigi Schmid clearly has players he wants to keep around. In New England, Mike Burns has the player personnel job but hasn’t been in that position as long as Steve Nicol has been head coach. Curt Onalfo brought Kurt Morsink with him to D.C. United.

D.C. might be the best place to inquire about the brain trust, because it’s not delivering as well as it used to. United hasn’t shaken off the disastrous class of 2008 South American imports — Jose Carvallo, Gonzalo Martinez, Gonzalo Peralta, Franco Niell and designated player Marcelo Gallardo. The younger players on the roster that year also fell off the team, leaving an unsupported core of Jaime Moreno, Santino Quaranta, Clyde Simms, Marc Burch and Bryan Namoff.

Coach Tom Soehn has departed. General manager Dave Kaspar remains. That might be fair to Kaspar, who also has presided over the building of an excellent academy program that is producing solid prospects. But was it fair to blame Soehn?

Generally, the coach/GM relationship is co-dependent. MLS champions Real Salt Lake were built by a pair of Duke classmates, coach Jason Kreis and GM Garth Lagerwey. Where coach and GM are less close — Los Angeles in the brief Ruud Gullit era springs to mind — results aren’t as good.

The new collective bargaining agreement has changed the landscape — not dramatically, but enough so that teams need to adjust. And 15 years of evolution have given the teams plenty of leeway in finding players. For all the braying over the league’s single-entity structure, teams control their own rosters and destiny. And it’s no accident that New England and Houston have been successful in replenishing rosters year after year while others struggle.

1
soccer

MLS Week 3 wrap

Posted on by Beau Dure

Quick programming note: I’m not likely to post daily news wraps every day during the week, especially on a week with little midweek action and a free-lancing deadline. But you’ll still get the Weekend Watch on Friday, Weekend Wrap on Monday, TUF recaps each Wednesday night in season and a wide variety of other stuff. I’m working mostly on original content, which takes a while to develop.

I also share a lot of links on Twitter — keep your eye out for two good ones today.

On to Week 3, where a couple of East teams remained pointless and the Galaxy remained perfect …

Game of the week (in terms of impact): Houston 0, Los Angeles 2 (highlights)
– Edson Buddle must have had some crooked teeth, because he’s collecting braces. Yes, that’s awful, but I’ve never really liked the term “brace” for some reason.
– Luis Angel Landin remains in the running for “worst designated player signing ever” by seeing red for Houston in the first half. LA’s Donovan and Donovan kept calm after the incident.
– That’s three straight wins and three straight shutouts for Los Angeles.
– Postgame records (US-style win-loss-tie): Houston 1-1-1, LA 3-0-0

Game of the week (in terms of highlights): Chicago 1, San Jose 2 (highlights)
– Least expected result of the week. Sold-out crowd in Chicago, Earthquakes seemed to be in shambles early this season.
– Rookies are breaking out all over. Ike Opara gets the winner here on a superb cross from Bobby Convey, who bounced back after fretting over a halftime substitution in the Quakes’ first game.
– Dreadful errors for the Fire. Collins John had an atrocious miss, and the first San Jose goal was a calamity of miscommunication between veteran defender CJ Brown and first-year starting keeper Andrew Dykstra.
– Save of the week goes to Jason Hernandez. No, he’s not a goalkeeper. Fantastic play for the Quakes defender.
– Chicago 0-2-1, San Jose 1-1-0

Salt Lake 2, Seattle 2 (highlights)
– Statistical domination for the defending champs, but they were asleep early to let Steve Zakuani race in alone. The second Seattle goal was an own goal off Nat Borchers (erroneously credited to Tyrone Marshall in the credits).
– More greatness from Kasey Keller.
– Salt Lake 1-1-1, Seattle 1-1-1

Chivas USA 2, New York 0 (highlights)
– Chivas lineup changes: Zach Thornton replaces Dan Kennedy in goal. Jonathan Bornstein up to midfield. Chukwudi Chijindu and Maicon Santos up front.
– Red Bulls keeper Bouna Coundoul has been terrific so far, aside from one play that’ll make blooper reels for years to come. That was the first Chivas USA goal.
– Player to watch: Jesus Padilla, born in the USA to Mexican parents, on loan from the original Chivas after going through their youth system.
– Chivas USA 1-2-0, New York 2-1-0

Philadelphia 3, D.C. United 2 (highlights)
– Sebastien Le Toux gets the first goal in Union history. And the second. And the third.
– Jaime Moreno’s equalizer shouldn’t have counted. He interfered with Philly keeper Chris Seitz on the play. So says U.S. Soccer director of referee development Paul Tamberino.
– Philly home opener draws 34,870 to Lincoln Financial Field. Nearly half that crowd would’ve needed to stay home if the game had been in Philly’s almost-complete soccer stadium in Chester.
– Philadelphia 1-1-0, D.C. 0-3-0

New England 4, Toronto 1 (highlights)
– Rookie forward Zack Schilawski earned my Player of the Week vote with the hat trick. Great set-up work from Sainey Nyassi and Kheli Dube.
– Toronto signed two defenders after this one.
– Anyone reminded of De Ro’s MLS Cup headed goal? He pops up and snaps like a salmon.
– New England 2-1-0, Toronto 0-2-0

Kansas City 1, Colorado 0 (highlights)
– KC newcomer Ryan Smith has a terrific opportunistic streak. He almost caught Matt Pickens off his line, and he made a nice aggressive move to regain the ball (whistled, unfortunately — his reaction earned a yellow card) after a free kick. He also set up the goal.
– KC keeper Jimmy Nielsen, known as “Casino Jimmy,” wasn’t feeling very lucky after making a save with his face. Ouch.
– Colorado managed only five shots in this game, though two were saved in spectacular fashion (one without Nielsen’s face taking damage). KC’s defense is looking sharp, with no goals conceded in two games.
– KC 2-0-0, Colorado 1-1-1

Dallas 2, Columbus 2 (highlights)
– Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman tinkered with the lineup, though the switch in goal of Kevin Hartman for Dario Sala was necessitated by Sala’s hamstring injury.
– Hartman is one of the best and unluckiest keepers in league history. He made a terrific stop of Guillermo Barros Schelotto’s PK, but it rebounded straight to the wonderfully skilled Argentine, who put it home.
– Dallas’ Jeff Cunningham got his first of the season. Time for another streak?
– One of two last-minute equalizers of the week.
– Dallas 0-0-2, Columbus 1-0-1

2
soccer

Ringing of the Division (2) Bell

Posted on by Beau Dure

The first weekend of the USSF Division II Featuring Teams of the USL and NASL went as follows:

– Miami 1, Rochester 1: Disappointing crowd of “roughly 1,000” sees Christian Gomez go the full 90 despite tiring after 70. (Miami Herald – Michelle Kaufman!)

– Vancouver 2, Minnesota 0: The Whitecaps, full of D.C. alumni, took advantage when former D.C. keeper Louis Crayton was injured. Both goals went past the backup keeper. (Vancouver Province)

– Carolina 2, St. Louis 0: When you’re going to a game, be sure to bring all proper documentation so your team doesn’t start with 10 men and concede two early goals. (Independent)

– Austin 2, Montreal 0: No, that’s not the same Eddie Johnson. (Austin American-Statesman)

MLS recapping tomorrow.

0