Update: Source says he assumed PPL, but really only saw that it was going to be in Philly. It could very easily be at the Linc or PPl.
I have a few connections who work down at PPl and may have accidentally overheard their bosses super-secret text messages. They don’t usually do this kind of thing, but they happened to fall upon a pretty useful piece of information today. Apparently PPL was chosen to host the game. That’s all I’ve got but here is the informaiton I recieved with a bit of spelling corrections so I won’t put it in quotes.
PPL got the All Star Game but you didn’t hear it from me. I did some illegal stuff to get that info.
It just got passed 95% done deal from MLS.
august first is the date.
Looks like we’ve got something else to look forward to this summer in Philadelphia. It had been reported that Philadelphia, Montreal, Kansas City and Vancouver were the favorites to host the match. They chose us.
I’ll readily admit that I totally stole this from the700level but the pictures in this article are so strange. Apparently David Beckham was photographed at his kid’s karate match(?)in a Phillies hat. This obviously won’t blow up the way Plaxico did, which is good, but nobody really knows where he’s going. The Union did have a lot of trouble on set pieces though.
Of course I’m mostly kidding it’s presumed he’s goin back to the EPL, staying with the Galaxy or going to a few of the other teams he’s been mentioned with. The Union aren’t one and neither is any other MLS team. It wouldn’t make sense for him to sin with any MLS team except the Galaxy really.
On a side note, because I assume most of my “readers” also are Phillies fans, I can’t begin to comprehend why someone like David Beckham would be wearin a Philllies hat. It’s so wierd to root for a baseball team that wins things and has stuff like this happen. I feel like a Yankees/Red Sox fan and it makes me feel oh so dirty. Why would David Beckham be wearing a hat that has been worn by guys like John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra and David Bell? I really can’t make sense of that at all.
Image by proforged via Flickr
To no ones surprise C.J. Sapong won the MLS Rookie of the Year award that has had his name etched on it since halfway through the season. Sapong led all rookies in both assists and goals and had a huge role in bringing Sporting Kansas City back from the dead. He looked extremely impressive and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in a USMNT jersey before we see his teammate Teal Bunbury in one again.
In the battle for second place Union midfielder Michael Farfan won! He had impressed many of us at home for quite a while. As a rookie in a lineup that was constantly being turned over, Farfan established himself as a starter and a real key to the Union’s offensive . His skill on the ball has impressed many. On another day he’d deserve a look for a wing spot for the USMNT, but with Donovan and Shea starting to look entrenched there and the team having a ton of high quality midfielders available it is unlikely we’ll see him around for a while.
If you were still waiting on having an American be considered the best player on one of the most respected teams in a top European League, wait no longer. Carlos Bocanegra was named player of the month for October by RangersMedia. He won by a pretty substantial margin picking up 55% of the vote with second being Steven Naismith with 17%
Most interesting though is this bit “to focus his defensive excellence alone is to ignore the ease at which Bocanegra distributes the ball from the back…. This was illustrated none better than a fortnight ago, when it was Bocanegra’s pinpoint 45 yard pass that allowed Jelavic to score in a 2-0 win against Hearts at Tynecastle.” I can’t say I’ve ever thought of Bocanegra as a great distributor, (and still don’t) but he is a bit better than we sometimes give him credit for.
Of course MLS is a better league than the SPL. I honestly had serious trouble deciding whether or not to call the SPL a “top European League,” but I figured its still the best in Scotland so it counts.
Either way good for Carlos.
Not sure why I would’ve gotten this, because I generally get Philadelphia related things from MLS, maybe they’re just throwing a really wide net…
 |
| Dear Brian,As the Major League Soccer playoffs build toward MLS Cup, we are busy looking ahead to the future of our League. As a part of this planning, we are conducting research in Baltimore to help determine the viability of the market as a potential future home of an MLS Club. As a soccer supporter from that area, we’d appreciate a few moments of your time to complete the attached survey. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
Click here to take survey now. Sincerely, Russ Findlay |
   Unsubscribe |
Not sure exactly why the league would want to go to Baltimore, considering how much of a crowd DC draws, but apparently its an option. Of course they’ve said they want to expand but also want to sit at 20 for a bit before getting too much bigger. Does this mean the Cosmo’s aren’t as guaranteed as we thought?
Anyway assuming that they’d pick up the NASL team of any city that had one as MLS has tended to do(no complaints from me just pointing out a trend. Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders are much nicer than the Tampa Bay Rowdies though), the team will probably represent the Baltimore Bays who existed from 67-69 or the Baltimore Comets who existed from 74-75. Neither of those team’s left a huge mark on the league, but here’s what they looked like in case its any hint at what an MLS team might look like in Baltimore.
Baltimore Comets
The red’s remind me a lot of Aston Villa jerseys but I like the blue one’s a lot. Also the logo ties in everything NASL added to soccer logo’s, both soccer balls and fire.
Baltimore Bays
This team was around a little longer so I thought it might be a bit more likely to show up again, but its really only three years. Also the look wasn’t quite as cool, not that that really matters to MLS.
First I’m totally confused by the fact that Baltimore is being considered for the league, but if they are they do have a historical set of options. They could do either of these without much complaint from me, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a third option show up from here too. Neither team has quite the ties that some NASL teams created in their time.
Philadelphia sports always tend to have a strong rivalry with DC and New York, but there’s no reason other than conference divisions that we wouldn’t end up with a real rivalry with a team from Baltimore. If they do show up in a few years, it’d definitely be something we might want to follow.
Forward Chris Agorsor was released by the Union today. This opening of a roster spot, combined with the lack of interest in Benny Feilhaber has led some to believe that the Union have plans for a new addition this summer. Whether that be a DP, a homebound USMNT player or even just a young player they want to get a better look at, Agorsor’s spot will not likely sit open for long. From his statistical record, scoring multiple goals in preseason in Greece, it is not likely that he was cut purely for being bad, he was doing well enough but it seems to me at least that the Union have interest in filling his spot.
“We are a supporters club. By definition we should be supporting the club. YSA is having a direct negative impact on the team that we say we support. It cost them another suite holder this weekend. If you support the team and want it to be financially sound, us getting rid of YSA is a no brainer. If the chant means that much to you, I would ask that you start a YSA Supporters Club and hand in your SoB membership. I’m sure the team will be happy to seat you elsewhere. I am that serious about not wanting to be personally affiliated with that chant. Not only is the chant not original or funny, it has little effect on anyone except your fellow fans, especially parents and/or businesses trying to entertain clients in a non-offensive environment. Impacting these patrons impacts the team. If you want to rattle a goalie, learn his wife’s or sister’s name. I don’t mind the Score a Goal chant or swearing in general and will defend our rights to do so. But this chant is loud and lame and makes us all look immature and it is time for it to go.
Ad finem fidelis
Bryan James President”
I know a lot of people don’t like to be told what to do and a lot of people don’t like YSA and are telling you all to stop it, but YSA is really dumb. Generally I hate stealing chants from other places and this is th absolute epitome of that. (Yes we stole Doop, I didn’t like that at the start either, but the energy that’s gone behind that has turned me around a bit.) I absolutely think the best things we’ve done are the most creative things. The Peter Vermes Give Us Your Keys bit last year was absolutely beautiful. Some of the chants and Tifos we’ve had up against the Red Bull and DC United have been just as good, even if many of them aren’t exactly original. Everything we do should have at the very least a personal touch and YSA is the exact opposite. I can’t imagine hearing You Suck Asshole after every kickoff has any meaningful effect on the players because they’ve all heard it so many times. I’d love to hear something more creative come out of the River End. You guys have been great in every other way and I think the push back against YSA is one of the better signs of the things you guys have done. Maybe a specific keeper directed chant ould ork well for each game. Even something like yelling a dragged out “Union” on it would be good. YSA won’t catch on around the stadium, and getting something that could come in from around the full stadium would be awesome. These are the kinds of chants we need.
Of course the best way to end something as dumb as YSA is to actually come up with a much better alternative, which shouldn’t be particularly hard.
A few suggestions,
1. Uuuunn-Ioon. (The closest thing I can think of is Notre Dame taking kick-offs yelling Go on the kick and Irish on the catch. It’s not the most creative but it works and could fill the stadium in a very cool way)
2. Phi-la-delph-ia (I really like the idea of something simple here, especially if it’s just moving something we already do into this spot. These are less suggestions and more nominations really. Although this probably means a few YSA fans still get there’s in as the rhythm is the same, hopefully the rest of us can at least out blow them.)
I know neither of these are particularly creative, but I think that either of them works better than YSA and is much more associated with this team in this town (obviously.) I’m sure other people have more creative ideas, I’ve seen a few on BigSoccer, but this is all I’ve got at the moment. If you’ve got any better ideas put them in the comments.
Here it is. The Red USMNT Jersey’s are officially out. The new motto which is yet to be decided will presumably be on the back, but here is what the kit will look like for this week. Pretty much what we expected, a red version of the World Cup kit, but I’m a big fan of the look.
More images here at US Soccer’s Facebook Page
I want to see this movie, and I’m sure there are enough American soccer fans out there who want to too. I don’t really know Demerit’s story all that well, although I’m told its a good one, and I’d definitely like the opportunity to hear it straight from Jay. The problem is in the licensing and distribution fees. They can’t distribute anything until they get past FIFA’s licensing agreements. Just a few minutes of FIFA play (international or club) costs them thousands to put in the film. Of course its not like they can just take all of the soccer out of the film, as Jay’s story takes place in large part on the field that obviously doesn’t work.
If you could pass this video around to everyone you can think of, or at least just post it on Facebook, maybe we can find a US Soccer fan who is capable of actually bringing this thing out. There’s got to be someone all we have to do is find them.
“We are finished with the documentary film on Jay DeMerit but do not have the licensing rights to take it to theatre or dvd. We are not a Hollywood production company. This film was made by Jay’s friends who want his story to be told. If anyone is interested in partnering for finance or distribution, please contact jaydemeritstory@yahoo.com
“Trailer produced by: Diesel Films http://www.dieselfilmsinc.com
Voiceover by John Heffernan
Cinematography by Zach Salsman
Special Thanks to Chuck Church!”619-318-9996
Image via Wikipedia
I’ve read a lot of talk about how disappointed people were when the Union signed Carlos Ruiz. I for one decided that I had read enough about the legendary and nickname-worthy diving of El Pescadito. I thought I might as well wait until the first game of the season and see what happens. I figured everybody deserves that opportunity before we tear them apart.
I loved what I saw from Carlos Ruiz. I saw many people complaining about his play in the game (The Brotherly Game backed down a bit on their statement later) and in particular the play where he was carded for a careless elbow to the face of Andrew Hainult in the first half of Saturday’s game. The incident is about 2:20 in to this highlight video.
Ruiz went up hard and won the ball. If you want anything less from any player, I can’t imagine why. There may have been a time or two that Ruiz went to the ground with a bit less than a foul but is there any player who has never done that and made it to play professionally? More often than not Ruiz went to the ground on legitimately hard tackles only to garner harsh looks from the referee and diving chatter from the announcers and fans alike. It seems like El Pescadito got to town long before Carlos Ruiz even had a chance to touch the ball.
His reputation came before his actual play and counteracted much of the good he did. Ruiz played well. He may not exactly be in the best shape, but he started the game very well and will surely be better conditioned as the season rolls on.
The only problem I saw with Ruiz, other than his conditioning, was with the formation. Although the Union reported that Ruiz and Le Toux were both playing striker that was far from how it worked out in reality. Le Toux was roaming into a more trequartista like position, leaving Ruiz alone up top. Ruiz is not the force he once was and should not be alone up top, especially if that means excluding Mwanga from the game. Mwanga will do more in a Union jersey than Ruiz over the long term and his growth should not be stunted for a player of Ruiz’s age. If Le Toux will be playing as deep as he did against Houston then Mwanga should join Ruiz up top.
bpmangan
mattsant16
Pat
