So, Over There, That Would Be The News Then, Huh?

-There are certain types of players I would never want on MY team. By MY team I mean a team that I got to run with no one looking over my shoulder. Here is a perfect example of the type of player that I am not the least bit interested in: Alan Smith! Here's why: I am sitting here watching the Champs Lg match - Man U v Benfica - and a Benfica player has smashed into MU keeper Van Der Sar and knocked him to the ground, earning a yellow card. But that is not enough for Alan Smith. He is screaming at the player and the ref and looks like he wants to kill. Eventually play resumes and about a minute later Smith comes in hard for a vicious retaliatory tackle on a Benfica player just outside the top of the MU box. Smith gets a yellow. Benfica gets a free kick from a very dangerous spot. Of course Benfica scores with a beauty of a curling free kick. And now Benfica is fired up and MU are back to feeling all nutty in the head. Good job Alan!! Did you learn that crap from yer old buddy Lee Bowyer when you guys sucked together at Leeds?? So, to anyone who likes Alan Smith and his type of play, you can have him!
-Copa Sudamericana second-leg games tonite:
Banfield v Fluminense (Flumi leads 3-1)
River Plate v Corinthians (tied 0-0)
Cruzeiro v Velez Sarsfield (Velez leads 2-0)
And on Thursday night its:
Internacional v Rosario Central (Inter leads 1-0)
Boca Juniors v Cerro Porteno (tied 2-2)
-Via the Turkish Zath and his Fool's Prerogative comes a message for Minnesota Thunder fans written by the radio announcer for Real Salt Lake after the Thunder's US Open Cup win over RSL: Apart from the score I have good memories of the Thunder. Calling the game was so funny, we actually called the game from outside on the side of the scoring booth, (it simply wasn't going to work in that heat in a place with no ventilation or air) and we were right next to the loudest fans I have heard outside of RSL and Kansas. But without question they were the funniest, they had the best chants I have ever heard, I was laughing so hard (not as hard as watching The Office, but still hard) I could barely focus on the game - which with hindsight wasn't a bad thing. Yer welcome dude!
-Speaking of the US Open Cup. The final is tonite. Los Angeles v Dallas from the Home Depot Center in Carson. See it live on GolTV at 10pm central time. If yer in the Twin Cities, we will be watching downtown Minneapolis at the Local.
-Yesterday started off Matchday 2 in the UEFA Champions League. The star of the show was Ronaldinho for Barca who nailed 3 goals in a easy win over Udinese. The two other stories were Arsenal winning at Ajax, and Swiss unknowns Thun getting a win against Sparta from Prague. Here are the scores, and today's matches:
Bayern 1-0 Club Brugge
Juventus 3-0 Rapid
Ajax 1-2 Arsenal
Thun 1-0 Sparta
Panathinaikos 2-1 Bremen
Barcelona 4-1 Udinese
Man U 2-1 Benfica
Lille 0-0 Villarreal
Fenerbahçe v PSV
Schalke v Milan
Real Madrid v Olympiacos
Rosenborg v Lyon
Anderlecht v Betis
Liverpool v Chelsea
Porto v Artmedia
Inter v Rangers
-My current fave new MLS player Dedi Ben-Dayan will not play for Colorado in their last regular season match (Oct 13) against Salt Lake cuz the game date is the same as Yom Kippur. Stand up for your rights.
-If LA's magic-goal-scoring-boy Herculez Gomez was not named Herculez (say maybe, Jose) would he be developing such a rabid cult following? I don't think so. He is decent though.
-Soccer America has a look back at the 2003 USA U17 World Championship squad and asks: Where are they now?
-Huge news out of Denver today. This from MLSnet: Kroenke Sports Enterprises, which owns the Colorado Rapids, will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for a new soccer-specific stadium that is to be built at the Prairie Gateway Complex in Commerce City, Colo., on Wednesday. The complex, which will include a 20,000-seat stadium as well as additional fields for training and community use, is scheduled to open in time for the 2007 MLS season. Colorado Governor Bill Owens, Commerce City Mayor Sean Ford and Denver Councilman Michael Hancock will join KSE executive VP Paul Andrews, Rapids general manager Charles Wright and Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber at the event, which is set for 12:30 p.m. ET. Read the rest of the press release here.
-Top Goal Scorers in European Leagues:
La Liga: Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona & David Villa of Valencia with 5 each.
Serie A: Luca Toni of Fiorentina with 5, and Andriy Shevchenko of Milan, Enrico Chiesa of Siena, Emiliano Bonazzoli of Sampdoria, & Christian Terlizzi of Palermo all with 4.
Bundesliga: Miroslav Klose of Werder Bremen & Halil Altintop of Kaiserslautern both with 7, Ivan Klasnic of Werder Bremen & Roy Makaay of Bayern Munich both with 6, and Ebi Smolarek of Borussia Dortmund & Dimitar Berbatov of Bayer Leverkusen both with 5.
Ligie 1: Pedro Pauleta of PSG with 6, Mamadou Bagayoko of Nice of 5, and Sebastien Grax of Troyes & Frederic Piquionne of St Etienne each with 4.
Eredivisie: Shota Arveladze of AZ Alkmaar with 9, and Dirk Kuijt of Feyenoord Rotterdam, Rick Hoogendorp of RKC Waalwijk & Kenneth Perez of AZ Alkmaar each with 6.
Premier League: Ruud van Nistelrooy of Man Utd & Darren Bent of Charlton with 5 each, Frank Lampard of Chelsea, Marlon Harewood of West Ham & Geoff Horsfield of West Brom with 4 each.
-We are down to the final 3 weeks of the regular MLS season. And I think the teams have sorted themselves into three distinguishable groups. Here is my break down:
TOPS: New England & San Jose
DECENT: DC United, Chicago, Kansas City, Metrostars, Dallas, Los Angeles & Colorado
NEXT: Columbus
AWFUL: Salt Lake & Chivas