Final Update From Old Milwuakee

I got home late Monday night after spending time with my sister in Milwaukee on Sunday and Monday. I thought I would bring you all up to date on the subjects talked about at the Saturday meetings.

There was a complete backtrack on concessions. Seeing as a potential owner is a Pizza Hut franchisee, he demanded that all concessions be from Pizza Hut and its fellow food Corps (ie. Taco Bell, KFC & Pepsi) only! The vote was a unanimous "Yes".

The Ferris Wheel is a go, and it looks like the go-karts may have been premature on my part, but a Water Park is almost 100%. They are also talking about a Petting Zoo, and a Milwaukee Sports & Auto Museum.

The big topic of the day was music in the stadium (most people at the meeting love that stuff so expect plenty). A Mascot - probably a mouse (for Cheese!). And how the cheerleaders will look and act! All pretty exciting stuff.

Other uses for the stadium itself will include Music Concerts, Tractor Pulls, Moto-Cross, Snowmobile Races, Rodeos, and a Circus. They are looking to book at least a month or more each summer to do these events, so the team would have to play on the road at that time. Plus many High School events from sports to graduations. The whole idea is to have a real family feel to the place.

There will be a restaurant next to, but not attached to, the stadium. Due to the success of TGIFridays at the Brewer's Miller Park, they are leaning toward a well known franchise, Olive Garden being the most likely. Applebee's, Chili's & Red's Savoy are also strong possibilities.

CSC will definitely do security and will not allow swearing or signs made in poor taste.

They are also planning on a having a moment of silent prayer before each event at the stadium.

The Wisconsin Dairy Board is most likely going to buy naming rights to the stadium, and at this time the name being proposed is Cheddar Stadium.

All in all it was a privilege to attend these meetings, and see the exciting plans.

That's it from the shores of Lake Michigan.

See you in the funny papers.

PS. UPDATE on the Hot Mother-Daughter at the meetings: The hot mom still hates me, but I got the daughters phone number!

ADDITION: Krispy Kreme donuts will be sold at all games.

Checkin' In From The Milwaukee Meetin'

I got a free hour this morning so I thought I better check in with the du Nord horde.

I am here in lovely (not really) Milwaukee for a brainstorming meeting with the folks who are attempting to bring MLS to their town. We are ensconced in a big grand hotel downtown. Nice old place actually. The meetings with the rich dudes who want to put up the money for the team went well yesterday and will continue today.

There are about a dozen of us here from many facets on the periphery of the soccer business. I am here as a fan, along with a weird mother & daughter team who are also fans (mom also used to coach, and the daughter played all the way through college). And on a completely pervy note, they are both hot, even though mom seems to hate me.

We had two meals yesterday, both from Pizza Hut. WTF?? Turns out one of the potential investors is a franchisee. I think most of these rich guys are actually kind of eccentric, although you would probably have to be to own a soccer team. I bet their rich buddies think they are throwing their money away.

Some of the things we discussed: Team Colors - some interesting choices. Logos - I never know what I like, but I sure know what I don't like. What kind of Stadium - the talks were of: close to the field seating, decent size roof over all stands, type of turf (I of course pushed for Kentucky Bluegrass which is my favorite), planting many trees around the outside to give it a "forest feel" (Birch, Dogwood, Ashe, Blue Pine), a Ferris Wheel near the stadium, and one owner wants to build a Go-Kart track, announcers (I kid you not when I say that none other than Bob Uecker is on the short list), and very importantly, concessions. The food and drink would consist of Milwaukee-ish cuisine. Local Beers only, Kopps frozen custard, a Dairy bar with a variety of Cheeses, beer soaked Brats, and a pastry called Kringle (it all sounds great). I didn't have the guts to say "No Pizza Hut!" out loud.

For a couple hours talk was about the "perception" of the club on the community. One woman used the word "vibe" way too many times. The consensus was to use a model similar to a pro-Packers attitude, and stay away from a Brewers attitude. I asked one owner about the Bucks, and he said "What's that?" I said "The NBA!" He said "OK. Bowling's cool."

Everyone there knew up front that I might blog about some of this stuff, and they asked me to keep some things completely off the board. They made those topics abundantly clear. One of those subjects was the names of people pegged for the Front Office, and players & coaches. One thing I will report though, is that they already have a strong link to a pipeline of Venezuelan Players.

During a break, one guy who is a "marketing expert" came up to me and offered to share some info that he had gleaned from a "break out session" that he was in. He had sussed out the fact that I have a bit of a jackass sense of humor, so he told me I should, "...write some real stuff & then make up a couple of "gems" to throw people a curve." I said, "That's unscrupulous!" He seemed a bit baffled. Then I added, "What I write is either all truth or all lies that I just make up. It's either/or with me. None of that mix & match crap." He was still confused, cuz I guess he thought I would love his idea. Marketing guys are idiots.

The whole thing had a pretty good energy going, so we just powered forward a lot later then the original plan. We didn't leave the room 'til nearly midnight, then one of the investors invited me and a few others up to his room to chat some more. We talked about all kinds of shit until about 2:30am. We then decided to walk a couple of blocks over to a 24 hour diner called Fernando's, and have some middle-of-the-night breakfast. Sounded great to me after two meals of frickin gut bomb Pizza Hut. The one local guy with us proudly stated that Fernando's was "...famous for their Runny Eggs!" Everyone was silent for a moment until I said, "That's disgusting!" Everyone laughed. I think he got mad at me.

We ate (I avoided all eggs), and crashed. We have to be back in the meeting room at 9 so I gotta run. More later.

Adios - Bruce.

We're dedicating the news to Jack Bell (now please stop writing about futsal)

Please forgive me if I make mistakes and say stupid things. I am a feeble replacement for El Brucio.

The U.S. faces a tough task Saturday taking on the Ticos in San Jose. They've never won a qualifier at Costa Rico, compiling an 0-5-1 record. The crowds are notoriously hostile. The trip didn't get off to a good start: the U.S. team plane was diverted to Panama because of poor weather and they arrived in San Jose a day late. Why is Kyle Martino on the roster? Were they lacking someone proficient in diving? I hope Ricardo Clark gets a start.

Why doesn't the U.S.A. have a goofy nickname, like the Red Devils (Belgium) or the Indomitable Lions (Cameroon) or the Super Eagles (Nigeria)? Or do they have one and I'm just unaware? I will propose a few: the Super Beagles, the Invincible Owls, the Inscrutable Sparrows. These admittedly aren't very good. Please come up with some additional suggestions. The best ones will be submitted to Dr. S. Robert Contiguglia.

These teams have already qualified for the World Cup: Argentina, United States, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ukraine and, of course, Germany.

All kinds of intrigue heading into the final weekend of Africa World Cup qualifying. Most shockingly Nigeria is likely out. Togo is likely in! The Guardian has a swell rundown.

The European action should be wild as well. Some of the more compelling matches: France visits Switzerland (minus Henry and Trezeguet; have you been to his official web site?); Sweden journeys to Croatia (with a chance to nail down a spot); Netherlands visit Czech Republic (Remember that incredible 3-2 Czech victory last summer during the European Championships? Of course you do. Too bad Pavel Nedved has abaondoned his homeland.) The UEFA site has a complete rundown and all kinds of other good information.

The English are going bonkers as Austria visits Old Trafford Saturday. The home side needs to win their last two qualifiers to insure a booking to Germany. How did it come to this? Rio Ferdinand has been benched. It will be highly amusing if they lose.

MLS continues to play. Here are Saturday's games:
D.C. United v. MetroStars, Kansas City v. New England, Chicago v. Columbus, Dallas v. Colorado, San Jose v. Salt Lake.

The only games that matter much are the first two. K.C. and the Metros are still fighting for the final playoff spot. They both have looked pathetic of late, though. And the Metros craptastic defense will likely get worse as Michael Bradley has to sit owing to yellow card accumulation. They'll also be missing Ante Razov, but the way he's been playing lately that may be a blessing. In the last game against D.C. Razov hardly even touched the ball; then on Wednesday he pissed the game away by acting like a moron--something he seems to excel at.

D.C. is putting on a phenomenal show of late, scoring beautiful goals and driving opponents batty. Their shredding of the Metros last weekend was exquisite. Saturday night we'll get to see their latest Argentinian addition, striker Lucio Filomeno. Say all you want about New England and San Jose and the great seasons they've had ... D.C. remains the team to beat.

A few other items that I found to be worthy of attention.
A profile of third string San Jose keeper Robbie Fulton
Ives Galarcep mulls over who will be the new coach of the Metros. He's big on Mo Johnston.
The mighty Maryland Terrapins get to knock off the dreadful Dukies on national TV tonight
Sir Alex's attempt to trademark his name has been rejected. Poor fellow.

Note To My Adoring Public

Hey everyone,
Just want to let you know that I will be out of town for a couple of days and you will probably not hear from me until next Tuesday. I know, I know. What are you going to do, right? It'll be fine. Go find someone to love in the mean time. As for what I will be up to, I have been summoned to Milwuakee by Peter Wilt to sit down with the group of financial backers wanting to bring MLS to Beer Cheese Soup City and explain the ways & means of fan support. I am being asked to show them why the supporters are the most important thing the Club will ever have. They all seem to get this concept being so close to Green Bay, but it can't hurt to tell them the whole World Football Fanaticism story. Wish me luck. I will also be doing some book shopping at this big crazy warehouse space in downtown Old Mil (sorry, can't remember the name of the place) and doing some record shopping at the amazing Atomic Records (owned by the equally amazing Rich Menning). Our man Demko may drop in to give you some news and views. Good luck with your fantasy team this weekend. Carry on now.
Love and kisses with arrogant swagger,
Bruce Migwire

Who's Got The 10 1/2 News

-The Grown Ass Man, Eddie Johnson, is done for the year. He has two stress fractures that have caused a lot of trouble since May, and specialists have determined he has to stay off that foot for at least 3 or 4 more weeks.
-MLS scores from Wednesday night:
Dallas 2-1 Columbus - knocks the Crew officially OUT of the playoffs (7 of the 8 teams now confirmed). Ramon Nunez continues his great play for Dallas with the winning goal in 2nd half extra time!
Chicago 2-2 Metrostars - The good news is that Mo Johnston picks up a point in his first game as Mets coach. The bad news is that they blew a 2-0 lead as Chris Armas scored in the 90th minute and then Jack Stewart tied it in extra time. Two vital points dropped! Add to that: Chicago point verifies their place in the post season. Both teams had a player tossed - Met's Ante Razov in the 80th for being a dick(?), and Chic's Will Johnson in the 90th for being an idiot(?).
Colorado 1-1 Chivas - My man Dedi scored his 4th(!!!) for Colo, but his teammates gifted Chivas with an own goal for the draw. Dedi Ben Dayan has scored in 4 straight games, while only joining the team 6 games ago, and didn't start in the first two. Over 28,000 attended the game, mainly because a match between Mexican powerhouse's Guadalajara and Cruz Azul followed immediately after. By the way, Matt Taylor of Chivas missed several more good chances that were actually harder to miss than to score. He has done this for 31 consecutive games now. An impressive record.
Salt Lake 1-3 DC - The big black sledgehammer from the District is firing up its engines to full throttle, and the Fake from Salt Lake were in the way. Bobby Boswell got back into the defensive action DC and promptly scored again. Freddy Adu scored again too, then assisted Christian Gomez on the third. I would really hate to go against them in the playoffs.
-ADDITION: In case you haven't seen Freddy Adu's goal against Salt Lake, you can see it here. It's a true work of art. Let me try and describe it too: Adu gathers in a poor pass from RSL in the center of the pitch about 50 yards out from goal. With his back to the approaching defender he flicks the ball up and backwards for a perfect sombrero over the defender. Freddy spins away from his marker and races toward the ball and goal. He touches the ball with his head to control it. Takes it with his feet, flying toward defender Nelson Akwari. Adu splits Akwari and another defender and blows by them like they are road signs, then slides to the left side of the box. As keeper DJ Countess comes out of the net to try and stop the shot, Adu simply left foots it to the far post at full speed. So easy, and yet very few players on earth can do it. Even less can do it that quickly. The whole thing takes 9 seconds. Glorious!
-See all the other Wednesday night goals and highlights at MLS Sights & Sounds.
-Here are the MLS East & West Division Tables:
EAST (all teams have 2 games left to play)
55 New England
53 DC United
49 Chicago
43 Kansas City
41 Metrostars
34 Columbus (OUT)
WEST (all teams have 2 games left to play - except LA & Chivas who both have 1, and are off this weekend ahead)
60 San Jose
46 FC Dallas
45 Los Angeles
41 Colorado
19 Salt Lake (OUT)
18 Chivas USA (OUT)
-With the weekend off Chivas USA is teaming up with the real Chivas from Guadalajara (the Mothership) to play a benefit game on Sunday at Home Depot Center to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Their opponent will be Mexican team Santos.
-The stingy pukes, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, who own the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors are now stepping up with actual money to help build a stadium for their potential MLS team. They want to start play in 2007. Let's hope they are a little more pro-active with this team then they are with the NBA Raptors who have stunk from day one, and show no sign of unstinking.
-Metrostarer Youri Djorkaeff profile from USA Today.
-Santino Quaranta is featured in a video interview today from US Soccer.
-Top 5 Standings in the Argentina Apertura (after 10 rounds):
23 Boca Juniors
21 Argentinos Juniors
20 Velez Sarsfield
18 Independiente
17 Banfield
-Top 5 Standings in the Brazlian Championship (after 30 rounds - some games are being replayed due to a referees admittance that he took bribes to throw matches - those results have been tossed out of the standings):
56 Corinthians (28 played)
53 Goias (30 played)
52 Internacional (29 played)
49 Palmeiras (30 played)
48 Fluminense (28 played)
48 Santos (29 played)
48 Parana (30 played)
-Did ya ever want to know a little more about John Guppy (it probably couldn't hurt since the dude gets so much abuse from so many of us who know little or nothing about him), the new Chicago Pres. The Chicago Daily Southtown does these profiles pretty regularly and they are usually decent. I want to thank them for that.
-Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald went to Chicago last night to see how the Post-Bradley Metrostars performed. Here is his game report.
-Jonathan Woodgate blubbers about how nice the Real Madrid fans have been to him. (Use babytalk voice:) Aaaaaaaawwwwwwwww, isn't that special for wittew Jonny.
-Word from Italy is that AC Milan are in serious discussions to leave Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (aka the San Siro), and build their own somewhere else in the city. They say they like the stadium ("It's one of the least worst in Serie A." - What a brilliant quote that is!!!!!!!) but need their own space.

Here Comes Santa Claus, Here Comes Santa Claus, Right Down Santa Claus News

-The Bob Bradley era of the Metrostars is over. (You might have heard this yesterday.) The heat had been on since the season started after 2 years of little real success. A lot of people thought he was THE man to turn the Mutts into something. When Alexi Lalas come on in mid-Summer to be the clubs new President the heat under Bradley got turned up a lot more. Sadly this good coach could not figure out a way to lift the Meadowlands curse. This past weekends blowout loss at home to DC was the end for Bob. I can't wait to see him get another chance and make it sing somewhere else. So who gets the job? Assistant Mo Johnston has it for this week at least. They have to win or they don't make the playoffs. Simple as that. Once again, Michael Lewis of Big Apple Soccer scooped the whole world (!!!!!) on this story! Michael is amazing at his job and this is the site to read the best info (including Metro player reactions) and analysis!
-MLS Games Tonite:
Dallas v Columbus
Colorado v Chivas
Salt Lake v DC
Chicago v Metrostars - this is the match with true meaning. Chicago is trying to clinch a post season spot, and jump ahead of DC into the 2nd seed. While Metro is merely TOTALLY desperate for a win. Win at all cost desperate. Good luck dudes.
-Our main man JB over at Logan's Revenge says the deal for Sigi to take over Columbus is done and that he has already resigned his job as USA U20 coach. I think its great. I like Sigmund a lot. Back during the USA v Mex match in Columbus I had a long chat with a Crew fan (who for the life of him could not look me in the eye) about who their coach was gonna be. He listed 6 or 7 people, and Sigi was not one of them. I asked him why not, and he said that Sigi was too big for that job (and he didn't mean that in the hilarious way it came out!). I told him I thought it was nearly a lock that Sigi would be their man. Cool to know my hunch was correct. Hope this works for you Crew fans.
-Alejandro Moreno of San Jose has been called on to play for Venezuelan in their two big World Cup Qualifying games against Paraguay and at Brazil.
-Photos from Tuesdays practice, video feature on Taylor Twellman, DaMarcus Beasley injury update, an audio interview with Eddie Lewis & more - find em all at the US Soccer site as the team prepares for Costa Rica.
-A stat from US Soccer: The U.S. Men’s National Team has not allowed a goal in World Cup qualifying in six straight matches, a shutout streak stretching all the way back to the 33rd minute of the 2-1 loss on March 27 in Mexico City. All told, they have only surrendered six goals in the 14 qualifying games they’ve played during World Cup semifinal and final round qualifying.
-Grant Wahl does his weekly MLS team rankings, and always has good notes to go along with em.
-Ashley Cole of the Arse has a fracture in his foot and will be out a month or so. This also means he will miss the two huge World Cup Qualifiers ahead for England.
-Speaking of all the World Cup Qualifiers coming up..... This weekend and next Wednesday we have many World Cup Qualifiers being played around the globe, and most of them will determine the automatic entries. Then in late October and early November we will have the last playoffs for the final spots. Its getting right down there now. Note to teams: Don't choke! I think FIFA has the best site to see every region all mapped out, the schedule for every match, every scenario on how teams can qualify, and all the pre and post game details..
-And further speaking of FIFA's website, they have this story: Word has it that the new Costa Rican sensation is Chiqui Brenes. Will he get another start against the USA? I love seeing the young players like him getting a shot in CONCACAF.
-Another of my fave writers, Mark Zeigler of the San Diego Union Tribune, has some important WCQ game break downs too.
-Dylan Hernandez of the San Jose Mercury News says Dwayne DeRosario should be MLS MVP. I wouldn't expect him to write anything else.
-Andrea Canales looks at the MLS stretch run and how its all stacking up, for Soccer 365.
-Ives Galarcep checks in from his lair somewhere in north Jersey on Bob Bradleys booting.
-I have made up my mind on this one: Michael Parkhurst should be the unanimous pick as MLS Rookie of the Year. The kid has started every game for the second best team in the league at the center of a three man back line. Only a couple other players in the league can even come close to saying that they can do that. I quickly rest my case.
-The legendary (?!?!?!) Paul Gardner, who always has an opinion, lets loose his first shot for ESPNSoccernet: FOCUS: A Lilleshall parallel? I had read that the folks who run Soccernet were looking for more opinionated writer, and boy do they have one here. And as long as they never hire Kent McDill or Jamie Trecker they will never be doing themselves an injustice.

Tinkle Tinkle Go The Ivory Keys Of News

-No Landon Donovan on the squad for Team USA's Oct 8 World Cup Qualifier v Costa Rica at the infamous Saprissa Stadium in San Jose, CR. Here is the full team listing (there could be an addition to this team since Beasley tweaked a hamstring playing for PSV last weekend):
G: Kevin Hartman, Tim Howard
D: Chris Albright, Wade Barrett, Carlos Bocanegra, Danny Califf, Eddie Lewis, Oguchi Onyewu, Eddie Pope, Jonathan Spector
M: DaMarcus Beasley, Ricardo Clark, Bobby Convey, Kyle Martino, Pablo Mastroeni
F: Brian Ching, Santino Quaranta, Taylor Twellman
Word is that some additions will be made to the squad for next weeks match against Panama.
-Photos from the Team USA Monday practice session.
-Last weekends MLS attendance:
Columbus v Chivas 20,548
Metro v DC 27,670
New Eng v San Jose 14,316
KC v Chicago 7,207
Colorado v Salt Lake 14,063
LA v Dallas 25,557
As you can see, the big disappointments are in New England where they have a very exciting team at the top of the East standings playing the very exciting team at the top of the West standings San Jose - the place should have been packed and rowdy! But no. And its really sad to see KC going down the drain. Only 7000 at a game that they HAD to win, and against their rival from Chicago. Bummer dudes (and I was just starting to warm up to those KC people too). The other 4 matches all had great attendance! (Yes I am saying that 14000 in Denver is a great number.)
-With Santino Quaranta joining the USA in Costa Rica this weekend, DC United might debut their new Argentinean striker Lucio Filomeno. His work visa has come thru, and he is over his knee injury. Does Kaspar really have the magic touch in finding these guys?
-San Jose Keeper Pat Onstad with a Q&A after their big win in Boston last Saturday.
-God damn Chelsea are good. Do they have a weakness? Let me know what you think. So are Juventus. Patrick Viera has really helped them. And here I always thought he was a bit overrated. Ask the Arse what they think of that.
-One word: Dedi!
-The 40 teams left in the UEFA Cup were drawn into 8 groups for the round robin stage that begins on Oct 20th. My pick to win it all is Hertha Berlin.
-We now know that Jack Bell of the New York Times reads this fine piece of work I call Du Nord. Last week I demanded to know what Frank Yallop is up to these days, apart from the rigorous task driving his kids to school everyday. Frank himself was too busy using Google Maps to find quicker home-to-school routes to check in with me directly, so Bell, sensing a story in the making, took the preemptive stance on the issue, picked up the phone, and asked Yallop for comment himself. Luckily for all of us, FY obliged. In a personal note to Jack Bell: feel free to steal my ideas any time you want. That's why they pay you the big bucks - to steal from the best! I find it all very flattering.
-This past weekends results from Mexico: (The top teams are starting to sort themselves out after 11 rounds, especially with Club America not losing for the 28th straight week.)
Toluca 0-1 Chiapas
Cruz Azul 0-0 Guadalajara
Monterrey 2-2 Santos
Morelia 0-2 Tigres
Veracruz 2-3 Necaxa
America 3-1 San Luis
Atlas 1-0 Atlante
Tecos 3-1 Pumas
Pachuca 2-1 Dorados
The MFL single table:
29 America
23 Cruz Azul
21 Monterrey
21 Necaxa
21 Pachuca
17 Toluca
17 Tigres
15 Santos
14 Guadalajara
13 Pumas
12 Chiapas
11 Morelia
11 Tecos
11 Veracruz
10 Atlas
9 San Luis
8 Atlante
8 Dorados
-Former one-year LA Galaxy star Andy Herzog is back in the soccer news today. He has joined Austria's national team as a coach. AND... he has made the grand statement that Austria are going to beat England in Manchester this weekend. Alright Andres!! Stick that foot right into that mouth immediately! But I still like it.
-Soccer America's College Top 25 ranking.
-Hercy Gomez from Los Angeles has been named MLS Player Of The Week.
-Minnesota Thunder 2006 season tickets go on sale today, with deals galore for early purchasers.
-The Houston Chronicle's Week In Review
-Who from the current USA U17 team has the goods to go pro. Andrea Canales writes for ESPNSoccernet: Assessing the future pros
-Yanks Abroad says there is no good news for Cory Gibbs and his knee.

Nama Nama Yey News

-ADDITION: Here is a sight to see! Check out this video from the Metrostarts v DC United match played last Saturday night in the Meadowlands. At the 3:45 mark you will see something amazing that you will not see from any other big sport in America. DC United's fantastic midfielder Christian Gomez had to miss the game due to yellow card accumulation, so what does he do? He goes and sits with the DC United traveling supporters and bangs the drums with 'em through out the match! I love that guy even more now!
-Jonathan Spector has been added to the Team USA roster for the WCQ's.
-Juve beat Inter 2-0 in the first big Serie A match of the year. I was sad. Trezeguet and Nedved scored for the Old Lady, who are now 6-0-0 to start the season sitting in 1st place. Inter sit back in 5th place with 12 points from 4 wins, 2 losses, and 0 draws.
-A Danny Callif feature from the US National Soccer Players site.
-Phil Ball unravels the serious nature of Racing Santander v Alaves. It's a big deal! Feel the Flack
-Real Madrid beat bottom of the tank Mallorca 4-0 with the Brazilians getting all the goals: Ronaldo got the first, Roberto Carlos bagged the second and third & Julio Baptista finished the thrashing. What? No Robinho? Did they do The Cockroach dance again? No! They did the Penguin!
-The hideous Seattle Sounders won their 3rd First Division title on Saturday night over Richmond. Rich scored first with a great long distance volley, but Seattle cranked up the pressure and finally equalized. Seattle kept up the pressure, but could not finish off Richmond until pk's which Seattle won 4-3. Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
-Mexico smacked Brazil in the mouth 3-0 to win the U17 World Championship! Arriba Beer!
-Speaking of ass kickings..... Chelsea demolished Liverpool 4-1 in league play. The most boring league in the world sees Chelsea's lead already at 9 points (24 from 8 matches). Charlton and Tottenham both have 15 points, good for 2nd place, which might as well be 15th place for how far back they are. Man U, Bolton & Man City have 14 points for 4th place.
-The old guy, who is a member of AARP already, Preki, is now going to retire from a great career. I got to see him score his greatest goal, in the 1-0 win over Brazil during the Gold Cup. Good luck amigo!
-Team USA have launched their training camp today for the last two rounds of World Cup Qualifying. The matches are next Saturday in Costa Rica, and a week from Wednesday in Boston v Panama. The roster will be announced this afternoon. So no more speculating from me.
-The skies are clearing over MLS post-season races. Only 2 weeks left now (several teams will play 3 matches in that time). With the West almost completely settled, the East is your full-action center. Chicago is nearly secured, leaving KC, Metro & long-long-long shot Columbus fighting for the last spot. This past weekend scores:
Columbus 0-1 Chivas
Metro 1-4 DC
New Eng 0-2 San Jose
KC 0-1 Chicago
Colorado 2-1 Salt Lake
LA 2-1 Dallas
So with KC, Metro & 'lumbus all losing, nothing has changed in the East race. Stay tuned.
Single Table:
60 San Jose *
55 New England *
50 DC United *
48 Chicago
45 Los Angeles *
43 FC Dallas *
43 Kansas City
40 Metrostars
40 Colorado *
34 Columbus
19 Real Salt Lake XX
17 Chivas USA XX
* = offically IN playoffs
XX = officially OUT of playoffs
Leading Scorers:
16 Taylor Twellman - NEW E
14 Jaime Moreno - DC
12 Jeff Cunningham - COLO
11 Landycakes Donovan - LA
11 Herc Gomez - LA
Wednesday games:
Dallas v Columbus - Dallas fighting for playoff seeding, but Columbus has to win in hopes of catching others for playoff hopes.
Chicago v Metrostars - Chicago fighting for playoff seeding, but Metrostars has to win in hopes of catching others for playoff hopes.
Colorado v Chivas - Colorado fighting for playoff seeding, and Chivas is done.
Salt Lake v DC - Salt Lake is done, DC fighting for playoff seeding.
-Eredivisie scores:
RBC Roosendaal 1-2 NAC Breda
ADO The Hague 2-1 RKC Waalwijk - John O'Brien still hurt.
Roda JC Kerkrade 3-2 Vitesse Arnhem
SC Heerenveen 2-3 PSV Eindhoven - but DaMarcus Beasley was pulled early after injuring his hamstring.
AZ Alkmaar 3-2 NEC Nijmegen
FC Groningen 2-0 Willem II Tilburg
FC Utrecht 3-1 Feyenoord - Cory Gibbs has now started light training after knee surgery. They could really use his great defense.
Heracles Almelo 0-4 FC Twente Enschede
Sparta Rotterdam 1-2 Ajax
-In African World Cup Qualifying Liberia were destroyed 5-0 by Zambia
-Claudio Reyna tweaked his neck, and missed the Man City match this weekend. His club beat poor Everton 2-0.
Serie A scores:
Chievo Verona 0-0 Treviso
Udinese 3-0 Lazio
Ascoli 3-1 Parma
Fiorentina 3-2 Livorno
Lecce 3-0 Cagliari
Messina 1-4 Sampdoria
AC Milan 2-1 Reggina
Palermo 2-2 Empoli
AS Roma 2-3 Siena
Juventus 2-0 Inter Milan
-From the Houston Chronicle - Glenn Davis examines Houston's possibility as an MLS city
-La Liga results:
Barcelona 2-2 Zaragoza
Getafe 2-1 Valencia
Villarreal 3-1 Athletic Bilbao
Sevilla 1-1 Espanyol
Cadiz 1-1 Celta Vigo
Deportivo La Coruna 0-1 Osasuna
Real Sociedad 1-1 Real Betis
Racing Santander 1-2 Alaves
Real Madrid 4-0 Mallorca
Malaga 0-2 Atletico Madrid
-Reading beat Sheffield United 2-1 and now standing at the top of the Coca-Cola Championship heap. CORRECTION: the magnificent Incendiarymind of Footcer Socblog has stepped up to show us the light, and make it known that Reading is still, despite the win, 3 points behind Sheff U and in 2nd place. The Reading win also means Luton are now just 6 points back of the top spot, sitting in 3rd place.
-Stevie Cherundolo did not play this weekend because of still-lasting effects of the knee injury he suffered in the Gold Cup. His team Hannover drew Duisburg 1-1.
-Our main man Kasey Keller bagged another clean sheet for Monchengladbach as they beat Mainz 1-0 for their 3rd win in a row.

I Have Created A New Post Just For Posting This News

-Steven Goff of the Washington Post is reporting that Brian Carroll and Santino Quaranta have been called up for USA duty. The boys will get a chance to make the game day roster for the two upcoming World Cup Qualifiers in Costa Rica on October 8, & v Panama on Oct 12. Another rumor has 42 players being called in for the camp! 42! Here are other players on the rumor list: Ricardo Clark of San Jose, Oguchi Onyewu of Standard Liege, Bobby Convey of Reading (but no Marcus Hahnemann - does this open the door for Tim Howard? - another rumor says Yes to that), Taylor Twellman, Steve Ralston, Pat Noonan, Clint Dempsey, Matt Reis, Jay Heaps & Michael Parkhurst all from New England, Wade Barrett, Danny Califf & Brian Ching also of San Jose (why no Eddie Robinson is waaaaaaaaaay beyond me). Stay tuned for more.
-Glorious all new Jimmy Conrad column: Jimmy's screenplay
-Great lil artifact posted on Big Soccer by member Justin O: ....at the San Siro Bar in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the menu has several meals with soccer-related names. A hamburger and a Pepsi is called a "DC United".
-Another great Big Soccer tidbit today comes from our very own Zathras aka the Turkish Zath. He scrounged up the USA XI from the last time we played at Saprissa against Costa Rica in World Cup Qualifying (2001?):
Friedel
Sanneh - Pope - Llamosa - Agoos - Vanney
Williams - Armas - Stewart
Jones - Kirovski
Subs: 56' Moore for Vanney, 71' Preki for Kirovski, 73' Donovan for Williams
-The U17 World Championship is all set for Sunday. Its gonna be Brazil v Mexico. Should be a good one. Brazil beat Turkey 4-3 after blowing at 3-0 lead, and Turkey was reduced to 8(!) players. Mexico beat the Netherlands 4-0 (what does that say about our boys losing 2-0 to the Dutch?).
-Andrea Canales at Soccer365 on the US Open Cup Final: Reporter’s Notes (Soaked in Champagne)
-Another Soccer365 column by Neil from The Young Ones: Are the Earthquakes Getting Signs from Above?
-There were a lot of crazy stories from the UEFA Cup matches yesterday. Being that these were all second-leg matchups, it became D-Day for half the teams. Here are the big surprises and news on the biggest teams:
Feyenord bumped off by Rapid 2-1
Hertha are thru
Roma are thru
Monaco are thru
Galatasaray are out, losing to Tromso 2-1
Middleborough are thru
Bolton are thru
Everton are out, losing to Dinamo Bucuresti 5-2 (the year of ugly misery continues for Ev)
Leverkusen are out, losing to Sofia 2-0
Sorry if I skipped your team (it wasn't intentional, or was it?). Read the whole deal here.
-Taylor Twellman of New England was named MLS September Player Of The Month.
-MLS Schedule for this weekend (all games played on Saturday):
Columbus v Chivas
Metrostars v DC United*
New England v San Jose
Kansas City v Chicago*
Colorado v Real Salt
Los Angeles v Dallas* live on FSC at 9pm central
*These 3 games all have huge playoff implications. Mets have to win to stay alive. KC has to win to stay ahead of Mets. And LA & Dallas are both already in, but fighting for home field advantage in the first round. Speaking of fighting, this will be the third time LA & FCD have met in the past two weeks, and the games seem to get more heated every time, so we can truly expect moronic behavior (something I happen to be well acquainted with)!!!

Is This Candy Free For The Taking? How About This News?

-My love/hate with the LA Galaxy continues in overdrive as they won the US Open Cup last night for the second time. The 1-0 victory over Dallas was deserved. The mythological Herculez Gomes scored the winner on a total Golazo! (You get the bonus of hearing Ray Hudson on the highlight too!) Chris Albright looped in a perfect cross that Herc side volleyed into the net. Dallas played particularly hard, but without Eddie Johnson or Carlos Ruiz they just didn't have the magic touch. I am very happy for LA fans and players, but my loathing for coach Sampson grows more each day! He looked so pathetic on the bench last night. His discomfort was written all over him. He looked like he was bathing in a old moldy can of Dinty Moore stew. Not pleasant. Good job to the team though. Somewhere Sigi was smiling last night. Footballs Are Round! maestro and rabid Dallas fan Dave Walker shares his grief in real time via 3rd Degree.
-His Royal Highness Sir Grahame L. Jones of Lumpy Gravy pontificates on the state of Steve Sampsons mighty Galaxy. And Steve goes down in a heap of bloody rags with bits of brain strewn about. Touche Sir G, touche!
-According to the St Paul Pioneer Press, there are 6 finalists for the head coaching position of the Minnesota Thunder. Here is that list:
Amos Magee - Current Thunder assistant player, and legendary former Thunder player
Tony Peszneker - another former Thunder player with coaching credentials
Ian Barker - director of coaching for the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association
Tim Hankinson - former Rapids and Mutiny coach
Omid Namazi - coach of the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League
Constantine Konstin - a USASA national men's select team coach
If you know anything about some of these guys, please drop me a note.
-Reading, starring Bobby Convey and Marcus Hahnemann, drew 0-0 at Southampton. Hahnemann made great save after great save to keep the clean sheet and be named Man Of The Match. It was a bad night for Southampton and their Bobble-head Doll coach Harry Redknapp, as this was their 6th consecutive draw! I would hate to be a fan of that team! They are so mediocre.
-Watched Inter v Rangers Champions League match. It was very odd. Inter are serving a 4 game ban on fans at home games, stemming from last years debacle v Milan when people threw dozens of road flares onto the field as Milan were winning. So the stands are empty, and you can hear the players yelling to each other very clearly. Its like watching a Metrostars game at Giant Stadium.
-There are literally 40(!) UEFA Cup matches today across Europe. They are second-leg matches. See the full listing here.
-Champions League scores from Wednesday half of Matchday 2:
Schalke 2-2 Milan
Fenerbahce 3-0 PSV
Rosenborg 0-1 Lyon
Real Madrid 2-1 Olympiacos
Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea
Anderlecht 0-1 Betis
Inter 1-0 Rangers
Porto 2-3 Artmedia
-Ugly beating that PSV took. The guy with the best name on the team, Jan Venegoor of Hesselink got the red card in the first half and really sealed the deal for PSV. He is their only true striker, the other guys like Farfan and Beasley are wingers playing outside forwards. I did not see the game, but reports showed PSV having plenty of chances to make this a real game, but no go!
-Artmedia (what kinda hilarious name is that anyway?) winning AT Porto was huge, and Schalke drawing with Milan was almost as huge, even though they had the home field.
-Here are the group standings for the Champions League after 2 (of 6) rounds:
Group A
6 Juventus
6 Bayern
0 Club Brugge
0 Rapid
Group B
6 Arsenal
3 Thun
1 Ajax
1 Sparta
Group C
6 Barcelona
3 Udinese
3 Panathinaikos
0 Bremen
Group D
4 Man United
3 Benfica
2 Villarreal
1 Lille
Group E
4 Milan
4 Fenerbahce
3 PSV
1 Schalke
Group F
6 Lyon
3 Rosenborg
3 Real Madrid
0 Olympiacos
Group G
4 Liverpool
4 Chelsea
3 Betis
0 Anderlecht
Group H
6 Internazionale
3 Artmedia
3 Rangers
0 Porto
-Some more analysis: Arsenal with 6 big points looking good in a very weak group. Villareal with no goals after 2 games is kinda shocking, they are supposed to be an offensive powerengine. Group E is proving to be the group of death. Lyon are for real this year, and after last years semi-final run they are now my darkhorse favorite! Porto has no points after 2 losses, one coming at home to a very small team. (And to think they won it all 2 years ago with Jose at the helm.)
-Matchday 3 takes place on Oct 18 & 19.
-Steven Goff, the great writer who covers DC United for the Washington Post held a live on-line Q&A with the punters. Read on ya bastard.
-Eddie Lewis had another great match for Leeds in their 3-1 win over Derby County (not to be confused with Bunky County). Eddie had some walloping shots, and got assists with great crosses on 2 of the goals. He is really setting himself up well for the World Cup.
-Mexico's Club America beat Toluca 1-0 last night to extend their loss-less streak to 27 straight games.
-Here are the other scores from the Mexican League last night:
Atlante 4-3 Morelia
Chiapas 3-3 Tecos
Dorados 1-3 Monterrey
Pumas 1-0 Atlas
Necaxa 2-1 San Luis
Guadalajara 1-1 Veracruz
Tigres 2-2 Pachuca
Santos 3-2 Cruz Azul
And the games coming up this weekend:
Toluca v Chiapas
Cruz Azul v Guadalajara
Monterrey v Santos
Morelia v Tigres
Veracruz v Necaxa
Atlas v Atlante
Pachuca v Dorados
America v San Luis
Tecos v Pumas
The MFL Single Table:
26 America
22 Cruz Azul
20 Monterrey
18 Necaxa
18 Pachuca
17 Toluca
14 Tigres
14 Santos
13 Pumas
13 Guadalajara
11 Morelia
11 Veracruz
9 San Luis
9 Chiapas
8 Atlante
8 Tecos
8 Dorados
7 Atlas
-Diamond Dave Checketts who owns the MLS team in Salt Lake, has just bought the St Louis Blues NHL hockey team.
-Yesterday in Denver they had the big ceremony to kick off the building of the new stadium for the Colorado Rapids. It was called a "Ground Breaking". But from the looks of this photograph, they literally broke ground quite some time ago. Also in the picture we see Diego Serna kicking balls around. Its Diego's finest moment in years.
-Six months ago Sports Illustrated wiped out their on-line Soccer section, and grouped all the soccer stories in with the "Other sports. Today the section RETURNS! A definite win for us good guys! Hooray SI. Hooray Beer!
-Soccer 365 Q&A with San Jose's Sideburn Expert Wade Barrett, by Lars Lifrak.
-In a revolutionary (aaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahaha) move, New England are dropping ticket prices for next year, AND they are not going to charge for parking in their lots!
-Here's a nice lil insult: The International Federation of Football History and Statistics recently rated each domestic soccer league in the world. Not surprisingly, Spain’s was No. 1, followed by England. And MLS? No. 71, just behind the United Arab Emirates, but one slot ahead of India.
-Next Wednesdays Colorado v Chivas USA match has been turned into a double header, with the second game being a Mexican League match - Guadalajara v Cruz Azul. That could prove to be a very good match to attend.