From The Depths Of The Unknown News

I was very upset last night when ESPN2 insisted on calling the month of October, "Soctober". That is so frickin pea brained and lame. Everyone with half a sense knows it's "Rocktober!"

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MLS Boss Don Garber told Sports Illustrated that the league has not discussed expanding the Designated Player rule to include more per team. (see full interview below)

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I have heard nothing about a little film opening today called Bella. It is a love story built around a guy who played professional soccer, got into trouble, and is now trying to make his life work again, and be with a beautiful woman. OK, sounds pretty formula. But the team he plays for in the movie is Metrostars. Yes, Metrostars. What the hell is this? Here is the website and a trailer. (thanks to Doug for the links)


MLS Playoffs
First Round First Leg Matches & Scores:
-Thu Oct 25
Chicago 1-0 DC - goal by Chris Rolfe.
Match report by Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune.
Match report by Nick Firchau of Chicago's Daily Southtown.
Match report from Chicago's Daily Herald.
Match report by Steven Goff of the Washington Post.
Match report from the Washington Times.
Match report from the Washington Examiner.
Post-game quotes by Blanco about the ref's from Arroyave's Red Card blog.
Post-game notes, DC player & coach quotes and DC player ratings by Goff at the Soccer Insider.
-Sat Oct 27
New York v New England - 6:30pm central on FSC & FSE
Dallas v Houston - 7pm on HDNet & Direct Kick
Kansas City v Chivas - 7:30pm on Direct Kick
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Lawson Vaughn of Chivas USA will miss his teams first playoff game due to a Red Card suspension.
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My notes from last nights game:
-I watched the game with a great crew over at Dan G's place. They are Fire fans. We had a very good time.
-How about that camera work where you could actually see the contact lens fly out of Chris Rolfe's eye. Cool.
-The smoke and shit in Section 8 was very good. While it was not Italy, Turkey or Poland good, it was top notch for USA.
-Chris Rolfe showed us all why he should be starting up top instead of either Barrett or Wanchope. Last night it was Wanchope's turn to sit. And Rolfe nailed that goal.
-DC has absolutely no back up in the forward line.
-What happened to last years MLS Defender of the Year Bobby Boswell?
-Which player on these two teams will be the first to have a melt down in the second leg?
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Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune on TV commentator Eric Wynalda's comments about Blanco.
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And Arroyave on his Red Card blog has some scary news for Fire fans. Coach Osorio is leaving the gate open to offers from other clubs.
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Pat Walsh at Goal.com previews Saturdays three playoff matches.
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John Connolly of the Boston Herald looks ahead to the New England v New York playoff series.
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Ivan Orozco of the LA Daily News on the Chivas USA playoff prep.
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Tobias Xavier Lopez of the Fort Worth Star Telegram looks at Dallas's chances v Houston. Does not look good.
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Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports on the Art of being Blanco.
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My pal Paul Demko at City Pages with his playoff preview. I blew it and missed this one yesterday, sorry amigo.
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Jonah Freedman of Sports Illustrated does the Q & A session with MLS Head Honcho Don Garber.
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Chicago's Daily Southtown looks back that the first 10 years of the Fire.
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Filip Bondy of the New York Daily News with an article on NYRB forward Juan Pablo Angel.
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The New York Times Goal blog is guest writing again today by New York forward Jozy Altidore. He is ready for some playoff football.
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Frank Dell'apa of the Boston Globe with a great story on the reign of coach Steve Nicol at New England.
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The Republican of Springfield MA has a story on New England defender Jay Heaps.
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The above story is a perfect example of the new level MLS has grown to. Smaller city newspapers doing original stories. I love it.
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Dave Lifton at the US Soccer Players Assoc does a Q & A with New England defender Michael Parkhurst.
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Goal.com conducts a fairly light hearted Q & A with New York defender Jeff Park.
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Not surprisingly New York named Juan Pablo Angel has their teams Most Valuable Player this season.
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Eddie Johnson claimed this years MVP for the Kansas City Wizards.
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Jaime Cardenas of the LA Times with a story on Chivas USA first year head coach Preki.
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Greg Lalas at Goal.com with his weekly column: 3-5-2.
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Toronto FC has picked up the next year of coach Mo Johnston's deal with the team.
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Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch with some very interesting Columbus Crews news about Argentine players. (Scroll down a little for the section)
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Bill Urban at the US Soccer Players Assoc gets his playoff preview posted a day late. I hope he at least got last nights game right.
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It became official today that San Jose will play next season in Buck Shaw Stadium at Santa Clara University. Here is the press release.
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FC Dallas gives us video of all 51 goals of their season. Cool.
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Bernardo Fallas of the Houston Chronicle gives us an update on a possible stadium for the Dynamo.
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Copa Sudamericana - Quarterfinals
First Leg Matches & Scores:
-Thu Oct 25
Defensor Sporting 2-2 River Plate
Second Leg Matches & Scores with first leg scores included:
-Wed Oct 24
Vasco da Gama 1-0 America - America advance 2-1 on aggregate.
Millonarios 2-0 Sao Paulo - Millonarios adv 3-0 on agg.
-Thu Oct 25
Chivas Guadalajara 1-3 Arsenal - Arsenal adv 3-1 on agg.
-Tue Oct 30
River Plate v Defensor Sporting (2-2)
-America, Millonarios & Arsenal have advanced to the semifinals. Just waiting for the last one now. (America will take on the Arsenal, and Millonarios will play the Defensor v River winner.)
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Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer with a story on Wilmer Cabrera, the new USA U17 coach.
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Adam Spangler of This Is American Soccer with his take on the Cabrera hiring.
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Big Euro games to be enjoyed this weekend:
-Sat Oct 27
Napoli v Juventus - the South v the North, and you can expect more snarky banners aimed toward the Neopolitans.
-Sun Oct 28
Milan v Roma - an old old fierce rivalry, and the visitors have the upper hand.
Zaragoza v Villareal - offense v offense, flair v flair, fun v fun, so lets hope for lots of goals.
Sevilla v Valencia - the two teams with the best chance to beat out Real & Barca for the Spanish crown.
Paris St Germaine v Lyon - sounds like it should be a good old fashioned grudge match doesn't it?
Liverpool v Arsenal - two teams that say they want to contend for the English title.
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The Mexican Superclasico
-Sun Oct 28
Club America v Guadalajara Chivas - 9:30pm central on Univision
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The BBC with a story saying some owners of English Premiership teams are interested in playing some regular season games in the USA.
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The Guardian checks in on the English 2nd division (Championship) race.
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I stole this video clip from Luis Arroyave and his Red Card blog. A dude messes with Dutch fans. Awesome.
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If Sao Paulo win & the 2nd place team loses this weekend they will clinch the Brazilian crown with 5 matches still to be played.
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Gregory Sica of Sports Illustrated looks at the race for the Argentine Apertura title.
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Sevilla coach Juande Ramos is officially the new man in charge of Tottenham.
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The New York Times compares/contrasts Football & Football. The American kind to the International kind.
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Reuters with a story on what the club Barcelona means to many African kids.