The Official Website Of Pet Rock News

Today is UEFA Champions League Final day in Paris!
Arsenal v Barcelona
You can watch it live on ESPN2 at 1:30pm central time
-Some people call this the Super Bowl of World Football, and while I don't want to insult people with pure Americanism, I nearly agree. The difference being that the importance of this for everyone (teams, fans, leagues, etc) is on the game purely, where with the Super Bowl the game is only the pure focus of the teams who are playing and their most die hard fans, for the rest of us it's is all spectacle. So being a snob I give the Champions League final the top thumbs up!
-One of the two linesman refereeing the match today was fired last night after his picture showed up in the newspapers wearing a Barcelona shirt. That's a good one.
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The Raleigh News Observer has been covering the Team USA World Cup training camp with stories every day. Today they feature long-time star defender Eddie Pope from nearby High Point NC.
-Anyone know of other newspapers from that area that are covering the camp?
-The TriSoccerFan weblog dedicated to that area of NC has obviously also been covering the camp very seriously. Great stuff to read from Jarrett.
-Jarrett also linked (and I am stealing) to a video clip of that unbelievable Champions League cup final that Manchester United won over Bayern Munich in the dying seconds back in '99. It is quite incredible to watch again. I remember sitting at my house watching the match with a Man U fan who was nearly devastated by the 1-0 defeat that seemed inevitable, when out of nowhere the magic happened. Watch it now.
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The AP has a story on Claudio Reyna's roll on the US squad.
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FIFA.com chats with Bobby Convey.
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John Henderson of the Denver Post on the USA World Cup security detail.
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The Houston Chronicle checks in to see how the training camp is going for Dynamo striker Brian Ching.
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Marc Connolly of MLSnet looks at the quiet environment North Carolina gives the USA players for their WC preparations.
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All new, and fairly crass, to be updated whenever I feel like it......
The du Nord rankings for the first MLS coach to get the boot in 06:
1 Steve Sampson
2 Mo Johnston
3 John Ellinger
4 Colin Clarke
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MLS top goal scorers
7 Brian Ching
4 Alecko Eskandarian
4 Jovan Kirovski
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New York has slapped midfielder Amado Guevara around a little for his inappropriate actions in last Saturdays game v Chicago. After being subbed off in the 55th minute, Guevara slowly walked off the pitch, past the coach & bench, into the dressing rooms to shower and then went up into the stands to sit with his wife and friends. His fellow players are pissed off, mainly cuz this has now become an ongoing attitude. He was fined a chunk of change and suspended for the next match. Big Apple Soccer has the whole debacle story.
-This oughta be good: Ives Galarcep at the North Jersey Herald actually talks to Amado Guevara - who of course doesn't know what all the fuss is about.
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LiberianSoccer.com has a nice story on Salt Lake's new kid Willis Forko who is getting his shot the past few games at the teams left back spot and is succeeding with fine aplomb! Huzah Willis!
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The Columbus Dispatch has an article on Sigi & the Crew's new game winner Ned Grabavoy. (What a great name that kid has!)
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Real Madrid will be in Utah in August to play a friendly with their namesakes Real Salt Lake. More details soon.
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Andrea Canales of Soccernet talks to the newest Galaxian, Kyle Martino, who is in desperate need of a second chance to make his career happen.
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The KC Star looks at the ongoing, slow moving mess that has the Kansas City Wizards dealing with another summer not knowing if they will still be a team next year, and who will own them, and where they will play. Most people assume this same uncertainty is what crushed them late last season when they did not win in their final 8 matches and missed the playoffs entirely.
-What actually crushed KC last year was the 3-1 home loss to my beloved Minnesota Thunder in the US Open Cup. After that thrashing, KC never won another game all season in any competition! As Justin Timberlake would say, "Cry me a river."
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One of my soccer obsessed brethren here in Minneapolis, Anthony, has a piece in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune on our Thunders defensive centerback brother combo Dustin & Brett Brannan! Nice going Zath.
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The Guardian reviews the Cosmos documentary film, Once In A Lifetime.
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Jack Bell at the New York Times looks at the player decisions national team coaches had to make on World Cup roster submission day, and a couple other topics in his weekly column.
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Goal.com talks to American's Kasey Keller and Oguchi Onyewu about alleged sports corruption in Europe.
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Mexican Clausura Finals
Thursday (first leg)
San Luis v Pachuca - see it live at 8:30pm central on TeleFutura
Sunday (second leg)
Pachuca v San Luis - see it live at 5pm central on Azteca America
-Armando Perez of Soccer365 previews the final.