Domestic Soccer 2009-10

[STL FANATIC]

I know you're more in the know, but despite all his flaws, I disagree. He's still the reason St. Louis has pro soccer right now (well... he's the reason we had a team for US Soccer to bother bailing out). I still consider that a favor. If that team can get on it's feet, it will have done pro soccer in St. Louis a world of good. St. Louis won't see the MLS in the next 5+ years, but if AC St. Louis can catch on it will not only hopefully grow and solidify St. Louis as a soccer market, but hopefully grab the interest of a qualified investor who could perhaps bring the MLS.

Jeff Cooper's latest blunders certainly tore away at his progress, but St. Louis still has a professional soccer team, and they didn't when he started his efforts.

You may be right that he's no longer the man that can bring St. Louis an MLS team, but he's still done the soccer community a world of good. And I didn't say his goal was to own the MLS team in St. Louis, it's merely to have one in St. Louis, and in my book as long as AC St. Louis still exists, he's still made progress toward that goal.

But I don't mean to turn argumentative with you. You have a bucket-ful of "I told you so"s coming my way if you choose to use them, so you've earned your credibility on the matter.

[Jer15]

You may be right that he's no longer the man that can bring St. Louis an MLS team, but he's still done the soccer community a world of good. And I didn't say his goal was to own the MLS team in St. Louis, it's merely to have one in St. Louis, and in my book as long as AC St. Louis still exists, he's still made progress toward that goal.

It won't, sadly. As far as I understand it, the 2 people Cooper brought in to help him finance his whole venture into D2 soccer were not approved of by the league. He's been stuck with the bill and now he's been told that the league will not be helping him out either. Joey Saputo (Impact owner) has gone on the record to say that he won't give a penny to Cooper.

Sounds to me like Cooper is kind of screwed.

Truth is, it's sad. The guy just wanted to make soccer big in a market that really deserves it (as far as I understand) but due to his poor judgment it's no longer going to happen, not with his name attached at least. I really want to feel bad for the guy and say "he cared so much" but truth is, you need to think before you pull these stunts, they will catch up to you.

[STL FANATIC]

You may be right that he's no longer the man that can bring St. Louis an MLS team, but he's still done the soccer community a world of good. And I didn't say his goal was to own the MLS team in St. Louis, it's merely to have one in St. Louis, and in my book as long as AC St. Louis still exists, he's still made progress toward that goal.

It won't, sadly. As far as I understand it, the 2 people Cooper brought in to help him finance his whole venture into D2 soccer were not approved of by the league. He's been stuck with the bill and now he's been told that the league will not be helping him out either. Joey Saputo (Impact owner) has gone on the record to say that he won't give a penny to Cooper.

Sounds to me like Cooper is kind of screwed.

Truth is, it's sad. The guy just wanted to make soccer big in a market that really deserves it (as far as I understand) but due to his poor judgment it's no longer going to happen, not with his name attached at least. I really want to feel bad for the guy and say "he cared so much" but truth is, you need to think before you pull these stunts, they will catch up to you.

Word around here is that US Soccer (the real people behind the league) is paying the operating costs, not the individual league owners.

It still won't be a long-term fix, but they're paying for it for now and hopefully stable backers can be found. We'll see.

[Jer15]

You may be right that he's no longer the man that can bring St. Louis an MLS team, but he's still done the soccer community a world of good. And I didn't say his goal was to own the MLS team in St. Louis, it's merely to have one in St. Louis, and in my book as long as AC St. Louis still exists, he's still made progress toward that goal.

It won't, sadly. As far as I understand it, the 2 people Cooper brought in to help him finance his whole venture into D2 soccer were not approved of by the league. He's been stuck with the bill and now he's been told that the league will not be helping him out either. Joey Saputo (Impact owner) has gone on the record to say that he won't give a penny to Cooper.

Sounds to me like Cooper is kind of screwed.

Truth is, it's sad. The guy just wanted to make soccer big in a market that really deserves it (as far as I understand) but due to his poor judgment it's no longer going to happen, not with his name attached at least. I really want to feel bad for the guy and say "he cared so much" but truth is, you need to think before you pull these stunts, they will catch up to you.

Word around here is that US Soccer (the real people behind the league) is paying the operating costs, not the individual league owners.

It still won't be a long-term fix, but they're paying for it for now and hopefully stable backers can be found. We'll see.

Do you know if US soccer is just propping it up so they can finish out the season or if they are actively looking for new ownership and that's why they have decided to back this team?

[STL FANATIC]

You may be right that he's no longer the man that can bring St. Louis an MLS team, but he's still done the soccer community a world of good. And I didn't say his goal was to own the MLS team in St. Louis, it's merely to have one in St. Louis, and in my book as long as AC St. Louis still exists, he's still made progress toward that goal.

It won't, sadly. As far as I understand it, the 2 people Cooper brought in to help him finance his whole venture into D2 soccer were not approved of by the league. He's been stuck with the bill and now he's been told that the league will not be helping him out either. Joey Saputo (Impact owner) has gone on the record to say that he won't give a penny to Cooper.

Sounds to me like Cooper is kind of screwed.

Truth is, it's sad. The guy just wanted to make soccer big in a market that really deserves it (as far as I understand) but due to his poor judgment it's no longer going to happen, not with his name attached at least. I really want to feel bad for the guy and say "he cared so much" but truth is, you need to think before you pull these stunts, they will catch up to you.

Word around here is that US Soccer (the real people behind the league) is paying the operating costs, not the individual league owners.

It still won't be a long-term fix, but they're paying for it for now and hopefully stable backers can be found. We'll see.

Do you know if US soccer is just propping it up so they can finish out the season or if they are actively looking for new ownership and that's why they have decided to back this team?

That I do not know. I think Jeff Cooper is looking for ownership, I don't know if he has the help or support of US Soccer in that endeavor, and thus whether they would continue to help past this season.

[TFoA]

The Galaxy are missing Beckham, Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan...yet they are still undefeated and still look just as scary as when they had those 2 and the passing is even better than when they had Beckham lobbing them gift balls last season. They beat Houston 4-1 tonight to improve to 10-0-2.

To say that the Galaxy are on fire right now is an understatement.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I went to the Sounders game tonight, and they scored three goals in the first half, en route to a 3-0 win.

Sounders games are awesome.

[bterreson]

I went to the Sounders game tonight, and they scored three goals in the first half, en route to a 3-0 win.

Sounders games are awesome.

Ah! I was there as well. Such a perfect night to go down, enjoy the game, crowd, weather.. The whole atmosphere was perfect. Plus... Free Haircuts and Tacos! (They have a promotion where- if the Sounders score 3 goals, you get a free haircut at some haircut joint, and a shut-out is 2 free tacos at Jack in the Box.)

Next Thursday we have DC- I'm hoping some of the intensity of that series will carry over to this season- should be a fun game.

[Sodboy13]

Had a fantastic time at the Fire game last night. On a uni note, Philadelphia wore bright orange Flyers-style warmup shirts, complete with white nameplates, for the pregame. EDIT: The 700 Level shows that they actually actually had Flyers' names and numbers on them, so they may have been off-the-rack T-shirts. The Fire responded by playing "Chelsea Dagger" after going up 2-0 on them.

Patrick Nyarko is a fantastic young player to watch on the Fire. He still looks kinda raw, but there were a few stretches where he handled the ball as if it were attached to his foot by a string, and it was mesmerizing.

[Jer15]

Patrick Nyarko is a fantastic young player to watch on the Fire. He still looks kinda raw, but there were a few stretches where he handled the ball as if it were attached to his foot by a string, and it was mesmerizing.

You're not kidding man. I've been watching highlights of this kid, he's got potential to be the best dribbler in MLS.

[Jer15]

A link from a Toronto based blogger who does some work for The Score (sports tv station) about the situation in St. Louis.

[TFoA]

The schedule for the 2010/11 CONCACAF Champions League has been announced:

Agg 1: FAS (El Salvador) vs. Xelaju (Guatemala) 
Agg 2: Brujas (Costa Rica) vs. Joe Public (T&T) 
Agg 3: San Juan Jabloteh (T&T) vs. Santos Laguna (Mexico) 
Agg 4: San Francisco (Panama) vs. Cruz Azul (Mexico) 
Agg 5: LA Galaxy vs. Puerto Rico Islanders 
Agg 6: Tauro (Panama) vs. Marathon (Honduras) 
Agg 7: Seattle Sounders FC vs. Isidro Metapan (El Salvador) 
Agg 8: Toronto FC vs. Montagua (Honduras)  

Group A: 
Real Salt Lake 
Arabe Unido (Panama) 
Winner of Agg 4 
Winner of Agg 8  

Group B: 
Columbus Crew 
Municipal (Guatemala) 
Winner of Agg 3 
Winner of Agg 2  

Group C: 
Monterrey (Mexico) 
Saprissa (Costa Rica) 
Winner of Agg 7 
Winner of Agg 6  

Group D: 
Toluca (Mexico) 
Olimpia (Honduras) 
Winner of Agg 5 
Winner of Agg 1

As far as the MLS is concerned, I'm hoping beyond all hope that they actually take this seriously, because they rarely ever do and it often leads to some disappointment and embarrassment. Last year was terrible, the Red Bulls got eliminated by W Connection from T&T in the prelims & the Puerto Rico Islanders added TFC to their graveyard, and DCU had to struggle just to get by Firpo from El Salvador. And the teams that got to the group stage didn't do much better either. All the other teams got bounced out in the group stages (while fielding, for the most part, B-teams) and the Crew got bounced out in the quarters by Toluca (after being completely owned in the group stage by potential finalists Cruz Azul) which led to an all-Mexico semifinal.

I just want to see what would happen if one MLS team put their all into the CCL for a change, and decided to pull off a Fulham-esque run...either way, I'll be watching until the MLS gets bounced out.

[Don]

The schedule for the 2010/11 CONCACAF Champions League has been announced:

Agg 1: FAS (El Salvador) vs. Xelaju (Guatemala) 
Agg 2: Brujas (Costa Rica) vs. Joe Public (T&T) 
Agg 3: San Juan Jabloteh (T&T) vs. Santos Laguna (Mexico) 
Agg 4: San Francisco (Panama) vs. Cruz Azul (Mexico) 
Agg 5: LA Galaxy vs. Puerto Rico Islanders 
Agg 6: Tauro (Panama) vs. Marathon (Honduras) 
Agg 7: Seattle Sounders FC vs. Isidro Metapan (El Salvador) 
Agg 8: Toronto FC vs. Montagua (Honduras)  

Group A: 
Real Salt Lake 
Arabe Unido (Panama) 
Winner of Agg 4 
Winner of Agg 8  

Group B: 
Columbus Crew 
Municipal (Guatemala) 
Winner of Agg 3 
Winner of Agg 2  

Group C: 
Monterrey (Mexico) 
Saprissa (Costa Rica) 
Winner of Agg 7 
Winner of Agg 6  

Group D: 
Toluca (Mexico) 
Olimpia (Honduras) 
Winner of Agg 5 
Winner of Agg 1

As far as the MLS is concerned, I'm hoping beyond all hope that they actually take this seriously, because they rarely ever do and it often leads to some disappointment and embarrassment. Last year was terrible, the Red Bulls got eliminated by W Connection from T&T in the prelims & the Puerto Rico Islanders added TFC to their graveyard, and DCU had to struggle just to get by Firpo from El Salvador. And the teams that got to the group stage didn't do much better either. All the other teams got bounced out in the group stages (while fielding, for the most part, B-teams) and the Crew got bounced out in the quarters by Toluca (after being completely owned in the group stage by potential finalists Cruz Azul) which led to an all-Mexico semifinal.

I just want to see what would happen if one MLS team put their all into the CCL for a change, and decided to pull off a Fulham-esque run...either way, I'll be watching until the MLS gets bounced out.

MLS rosters are not the size and depth where they can compete with the Mexican teams, and most MLS teams put more stock into the regular season and just hope they dont get injured. That said, it would be nice to see an MLS team go far, I dont think its feasible right now.

[-kj]

I would definitely not say that MLS teams have been taking the CCL lightly; it's just that they've been poor in it.

[Jer15]

MLS rosters are not the size and depth where they can compete with the Mexican teams, and most MLS teams put more stock into the regular season and just hope they dont get injured. That said, it would be nice to see an MLS team go far, I dont think its feasible right now.

That's the biggest problem. MLS has roster restriction and as a result the clubs tend not to have the depth they need.

The rules are different for roster size/limitations for the CCL but the MLS teams don't sign players based on the CCL.

I just hope TFC doesn't go "thump" again this year.

[BrySmalls]

The 2010 MLS Salaries have been announced by the MLS Players Union.

Top Five:

Galaxy MF David Beckham: $5.5 million/$6.5 million

Galaxy F Landon Donovan: $2.05 million/$2.1 million

Red Bulls F Juan Pablo Angel: $1.6 million/$1.9 million

Toronto FC MF Julian de Guzman: $1.67 million/$1.7 million

Sounders MF Freddie Ljungberg: $1.3 million/$1.3 million

Note: The first listing is base salary, the second is guaranteed compensation.

Source

[TFoA]

Hey! You there! Haven't had enough soccer yet? Luckily for you, there's a league still going on right now:

Philadelphia Union vs. Seattle Sounders on ESPN 2. It's the 1st ever game in PPL Park. Kinda surprised that ESPN hasn't done much advertising of the MLS, especially considering that they could definitely get some residue viewers from the World Cup. Hell, MLS barely advertised that they were restarting. The San Jose/RSL game on Friday Night wasn't even a headline on their own website until Friday afternoon.

[tBBP]

Thanks for the tip, Flame. I ain't gon' lie--I got a serious soccer jones going on right now, this game is satisfying that.

And as an added bonus, I get to see those bright-green Seattle Sounders kits I love so much. Added bonus #2, the Philadelphia Union kits--love the black with gold accents and just a hint of blue trim. They'd be better with gold NOB/numbers, but I'll digress. (Also, how often are crests placed in the center of a soccer top? I think that's the first time I've seen that.)

And from the camera shots of the surrounding area, I think I'd driven by that site about 300 times and not once knew it'd be a soccer stadium. Beautiful facility.

[GFB]

Hey! You there! Haven't had enough soccer yet? Luckily for you, there's a league still going on right now:

Philadelphia Union vs. Seattle Sounders on ESPN 2. It's the 1st ever game in PPL Park. Kinda surprised that ESPN hasn't done much advertising of the MLS, especially considering that they could definitely get some residue viewers from the World Cup. Hell, MLS barely advertised that they were restarting. The San Jose/RSL game on Friday Night wasn't even a headline on their own website until Friday afternoon.

That is a beautiful stadium. It's the perfect MLS stadium. Beautiful location, not too big to look empty, yet not small enough to look amateur, have a whole section behind the net devoted to the "Sons of Ben". Well done.

[BBTV]

Hey! You there! Haven't had enough soccer yet? Luckily for you, there's a league still going on right now:

Philadelphia Union vs. Seattle Sounders on ESPN 2. It's the 1st ever game in PPL Park. Kinda surprised that ESPN hasn't done much advertising of the MLS, especially considering that they could definitely get some residue viewers from the World Cup. Hell, MLS barely advertised that they were restarting. The San Jose/RSL game on Friday Night wasn't even a headline on their own website until Friday afternoon.

That is a beautiful stadium. It's the perfect MLS stadium. Beautiful location, not too big to look empty, yet not small enough to look amateur, have a whole section behind the net devoted to the "Sons of Ben". Well done.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm going to assume that you've never been to Chester PA. The location of the actual stadium may look pretty in the staged shots, but Chester is certainly not a pretty city, nor safe - by any definition of the word. I think it's a damn shame that they built the stadium there - I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think that a soccer stadium is going to "revitalize" an area, nor do I think that after the initial attention wears off, people will still find it to be an enjoyable and / or safe place to go to an evening game.

I'm 32, and I don't think I've ever seen a local news broadcast that didn't report on some kind of violent murder or rape, or drug bust, or arson, etc. happening in Chester. Here's an article just from this week.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100623/ap_on_re_us/us_chester_emergency