Grabby Gabby News

Hello Friends, I am having a very busy day, with a house full of family. Nieces and a nephew running around, brother & sister, and parents all in the house too. Little production is getting done.
What does this mean to you? Very little du Nord to hand over from me. So you are on your own beyond these few gems that I give you right now.
Enjoy and take care.

MLS Thursday score:
Columbus 2-2 New England - 'Lumbus goals by Ned Grabavoy (with a wicked deflection off Shalrie Joseph) & Kei Kamara. New Eng goals by Andy Dorman & Taylor Twellman.
-Match report by Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch.
-Match report by Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe.
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Notes from the MLS Thursday night game:
-First off, it was a pretty damn decent game, with a great deal of energy exuded from both teams. Ok, it was sloppy at times, but high energy sloppy, not the sluggish indifferent kind.
-Broadcaster Tommy Smyth was not obnoxious at all. In fact he was quite good. Hooray Tommy.
-But where was that mythical ESPN2 production with the cool offside line technology??? Nowhere to be found, thats where! Remember what a big deal they made out of their shithot production tools. There were a couple chances last night where it could have been vital viewing.
-Andy Herron throws the major league elbow at Jay Heaps. What was that? I am sure we will hear plenty about it, and Andy will ride the pine for a while.
-Apparently the referee made a visit to both teams locker rooms at half time to warn them about retaliating for the elbow incident. The second half was relatively cheapshot free.
-Twice during the game announcer Rob Stone said "Andy" Cristman, when it should have been Adam.
-And Tommy Smyth could not say Ngwenya. He didn't really even try. He said something like "N-ya". Huh?
-You sure can tell that Eddie Gaven has the skills this year, but he is still a long way from having the confidence to get it done. I hope it happens for him.
-Great credit to Columbus for not giving up. At one point, down 1-2, they looked dead and buried.
-Frankie Hejduk was a frickin machine for the Crew! He never stopped running & playing hard, and then he put in a great cross for the late tying goal. He is a very good captain for Columbus.
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Ives Galarcep at Soccernet previews the weekends MLS games. With a feature on the New York Red Bulls.
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Tino Palace finally graces us with his presence on MLSnet and gives us a new episode of The Clean Sheet. This week he is paid in carnival ride vouchers from the Mall Of America.
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The US Players Assoc has a Q & A with Chicago Fire forward Chris Rolfe.
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Jonah Freedman at Sports Illustrated chats with USA & Gladbach keeper Kasey Keller about his desire to play in MLS this summer. And he would love to make it Salt Lake. How likely is that to happen?
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Like we alluded to here yesterday, potential new San Jose Earthquakes owner Lew Wolff has decided it's impossible to try and deal with San Jose State University and will no longer pursue a plan to build a new soccer stadium on the college grounds (link fixed) and share it with the school. AEG fought the same battle for over 3 years and finally walked away. Wolff thought he could get a deal done, but has come to the same conclusion. What now? The San Jose Mercury News with more.
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MLS Week 3 matches:
Sat
New York v Houston - 6:30pm on FSC
Chicago v Kansas City - 7:30 on HDNet
Chivas USA v Salt Lake 9:30 on Direct Kick
Sun
Dallas v Colorado - 2pm on Telefutura
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USL First Division matches this weekend:
Friday-
Charleston v Minnesota - live at 7pm central on Fox Soccer Channel
Saturday-
Carolina v Minnesota
Atlanta v Montreal
Portland v Puerto Rico
Vancouver v Seattle
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American forward Brian McBride says his Fulham team will hold strong and not get pulled into the English Premiership relegation zone.
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Copa Libertadores - The defending champions Internacional are OUT!
Here are the week's matches:
Apr 18
Flamengo 1-0 Real Potosi
Parana 2-1 Maracaibo
Banfield 0-1 Libertad
Alianza Lima 0-1 Sao Paulo
America 2-1 El Nacional
Apr 19
Internacional 1-0 Nacional
Velez Sarsfield 1-0 Emelec
Gimnasia 3-0 Defensor Sporting
Santos 3-0 Deportivo Pasto
-Nacional, Velez Sarsfield & Defensor Sporting join the others in advancing to the knock out stages.
-Flamengo, Santos, Colo Colo, Caracas, Libertad, America & Parana have already qualified for the next round.
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Big Euro matches this weekend:
Saturday
-Tottenham v Arsenal - the old classic north London derby!
-Charlton v Sheffield United - an English relegation battle, #18 v #17
-Real Madrid v Valencia - #3 v #4
-Stuttgart v Bayern Munich - also #3 v #4
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Stan Kroenke bought another 1% stake in Arsenal yesterday. He sits at just over 12% right now. It seems pretty obvious he is moving in for the takeover.