Barry Gordy Made Great Records News

Jimmy Conrad uses his regular Soccernet column to pay tribute to Mooch Myernick, Part 1 (of 5).

MLS Cup Final - Sunday November 12 - 2:30pm central time - See it live on ABC.
Houston Dynamo v New England Revolution
-I hope to see many of you there. It will be a great time!
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Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram says Dallas won't be bringing back coach Colin Clarke.
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I have been hearing rumblings that a business in Houston is going to sponsor free bus rides to the game in Dallas! Don't know how many busses they are going to provide, but this should surely add to the madness.
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle looks at the sensation the Dynamo have quickly become in their new home town.
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Don Cuddy at Soccer365 seems to think that there is more to Clint Dempsey not playing for New England than an ankle injury. Intrigue!!!!
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Going into last years final I said that New England would have a tough time with all of their walking wounded. And they lost, having no spark throughout the whole game. This year they are not much healthier. Taylor Twellman still has the groin tweak. Pat Noonan has hip, and hamstring injuries. Steve Ralston has a hamstring injury. Clint Dempsey has an ankle injury. Daniel Hernandez has an ankle injury. Shalrie Joseph has a hand injury. We shall see how this affects them against a very healthy and lethal Houston team. Several New England players have made reference lately to this being their "last chance", indicating that they, like others, believe several key players are on their way out the door to bigger and better opportunities.
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Frank Dell'apa from the Boston Globe with a profile on the two Scot's who will meet up in the MLS Cup final: Coach Steve Nicol of New England, and striker Paul Dalgish of Houston.
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Andrew Hush at the Boston Herald on the strong New England defense.
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Steven Goff of the Washington Post asks, Now what do they do in DC?
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Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald reviews the New York Red Bulls season by grading the players performances.
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Yanks Abroad with a really good look at Bruce Arena and his lasting effect on soccer in our country. His influence is very deep and wide, plus the guy is a fantastic coach. The article also talks about the prospects already in the Red Bulls system that will benefit from Arena's talent. I really hope to meet Arena someday and have a little chat.
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The BBC with a profile of LA Pres Alexi Lalas. Still using those same old lame pictures I see.
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Nick Green of the Carson Daily Breeze with his weekly column, calling for more older European players in MLS to improve the quality. Ugh.
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A cool new picture from outside Colorado's new stadium, by Bonji at Big Soccer.
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More info strolling in regarding the expansion draft for Toronto:
-Mon Nov 13 - the league will open up 1 day for teams to trade players.
-Tue Nov 14 - all teams will turn in their list of players to be protected from and made available for Toronto to choose.
-Again, each team can only lose 1 player.
-The draft will take place on Fri Nov 17.
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The college soccer championship tournament bracket has been finalized. It starts this week and ends Dec 3 in St Louis. The top four seeded teams are: #1 Duke, #2 Wake Forest, #3 SMU and #4 Virginia. Thanks to Demko for sending me this.
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Bolton's Senegalese winger El Hadji Diouf has been taken in for questioning by police for allegedly hitting his wife. He is known for his bad temper.
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Gregory Sica of Sports Illustrated talks to one of my favorite South American players, Rodrigo Palacio of Boca Juniors. And somehow his rat-tail doesn't make me want to throw up either.
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Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune looks at the newest financial hotbeds of soccer like Qatar, and maybe America(?): Balls, players and coaches bob up in odd places