Domestic Soccer 2009-10

[tBBP]

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

It's funny...the commentators acually did mention that a good many times during the broadcast--that even with it being a beautiful facility (which it is), it's also not in the best part of town, that the team and the facility has plenty of security personnel and such, and that the team's owner is banking on the Union's success helping to revitalize tha place. Meanwhile, I'm chuckling the whole time, because I know what goes on in Chester, done been through there a gazillion times, and yet the commentators acutally felt the need to mention all that. Usually people try to hide the truth on TV, but they put it out there. Just struck me as a lil' funny was all.

[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.co...ester_emergency

It's funny...the commentators acually did mention that a good many times during the broadcast--that even with it being a beautiful facility (which it is), it's also not in the best part of town, that the team and the facility has plenty of security personnel and such, and that the team's owner is banking on the Union's success helping to revitalize tha place. Meanwhile, I'm chuckling the whole time, because I know what goes on in Chester, done been through there a gazillion times, and yet the commentators acutally felt the need to mention all that. Usually people try to hide the truth on TV, but they put it out there. Just struck me as a lil' funny was all.

Security at the facility is pretty irrelevant. I haven't been to the stadium site, so I can't comment on the parking situation, but I can't imagine feeling comfortable walking more than a very short distance into the place. I can't see how a soccer stadium that's drawing from everywhere other than Chester is going to revitalize a community - nobody in their right mind is going to take the family out after the game anywhere near there. I guess it's easily accessible from the blue route, so you can get on the highway and get back to either the southern 'burbs or I-95 quickly... and that's what I figure will happen. I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see this thing working out (from a revitalization standpoint at least. I think that the team will be successful, but it'll be an "attend then leave" type of thing.) I really think they should have figured out a way to build this thing either in the City, near a college campus (Villanova would have been perfect - accessibe from blue route and Schuylkill), or further out in one of the nicer suburbs.

[BBTV]

More violence in Chester, right before the "state of emergency" was supposed to be lifted. The place is simply horrible, and I simply can't believe that anyone would take their young children to a game there at night, unless somhow, the stadium area is totally isolated, which even if it is, the parking probably isn't.

Also, there's no good public trans to that area, so City dwellers sans cars can't go.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20100630_Cop_is_wounded_in_Chester__gunman_shot_dead.html

[BB61]

Added bonus #2, the Philadelphia Union kits--love the black with gold accents and just a hint of blue trim.

That would be navy, not black, Buc.

I was at the game on Sunday afternoon. The game itself was great, obviously. The stadium itself is beautiful, the location makes the surrounding ambiance stunning (if you ignore the fact that you're in Chester), and the Sons of Ben, who are immediately to my right from my seats, kept up for 90 minutes in some brutal Philadelphia summer heat.

BBTV mentioned the parking situation, and it is, indeed, atrocious. The team offered season ticket holders a chance to pre-pay for parking in one of the three pre-paid lots. One is literally right next to the stadium, another is behind it about a block or so, and a third is three blocks away. All other fans were to park in one of four designated lots. Two of them were about five-six blocks away, and the others were more than a mile away but accessible via a free shuttle bus. I missed out on the permit parking, so I was kind of on my own.

We got down there two hours before the game started and both of the closer "open" lots were already full. I didn't want to take a shuttle bus, so I tried parking in the street adjacent to the lot, but was changed my mind after seeing that doing so would put my tires, among other things, at risk. I also got a very stern look and shake of the head from a woman who was standing beside her house blocking a parking spot. I saw a few orange cones and garbage cans out, which in Philly is the international symbol for "this is my parking spot and you're not allowed to park here, so says I!".

Finally, a found an "unmarked lot" that was charging the same ($15) as the other lots, so I just parked there. It was about 3/4 of a mile away. It was awful. In the survey that the team sent out, I replied that the parking situation needed to be fixed or I wouldn't be coming to any more games. That, and the whole "no bottles of water in the stadium thing". That's a joke on a 100 degree day.

I think the whole idea that one soccer stadium will turn things around in that city is a bit of a stretch. It was a cheap place to put a stadium and it was in a place that was accessible to Philadelphia, for the most part. My feeling is this -- if the Devils can make Newark work, the Union can make Chester work.

[Don]

Added bonus #2, the Philadelphia Union kits--love the black with gold accents and just a hint of blue trim.

My feeling is this -- if the Devils can make Newark work, the Union can make Chester work.

If United can make Southeast DC work, any stadium anywhere can work.

[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.

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

Ah, thanks for the info. I've never been to Philadelphia, I just saw the pans from the ESPN broadcast showing the bridge, river, and the soccer park right on the waterfront. Just proves that looks can be deceiving.

[GFB]

(Double Post)

[TFoA]

Results from the Round of 16 of the US Open Cup:

New York Red Bull 0-1 Harrisburg City Islanders (USL 2)

Rochester Rhinos (D2) 1-2 Columbus Crew

Charleston Baterry (USL 2) 0-0 Chicago Fire (Charleston advances 3-0 on penalties)

Miami FC (D2) 0-1 Houston Dynamo

AC St. Louis (D2) 0-2 LA Galaxy

Austin Aztex (D2) 0-1 Chivas USA

Richmond Kickers (USL 2) 0-2 DC United

Seattle Sounders FC 1-1 Portland Timbers (D2) (Seattle advances 4-3 on penalties)

Also, impressive to see that the Timbers/Sounders contest drew 15,000+. To put that in comparison, the next best attendance was around 3,000.

Quarterfinals Matchups are as follows (July 6-7):

Harrisburg City Islanders v. DC United

Charleston Battery v. Columbus Crew

Chivas USA v. Houston Dynamo

Los Angeles Galaxy v. Seattle Sounders FC

[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.co...ester_emergency

Ah, thanks for the info. I've never been to Philadelphia, I just saw the pans from the ESPN broadcast showing the bridge, river, and the soccer park right on the waterfront. Just proves that looks can be deceiving.

Note that Chester is it's own city, it's not Philadelphia. I'm not sure the exact mileage, but it's probably 25 from Center City. Not even North Philadelphia compares to what goes on in Chester. Well, maybe some streets. Either way, even one of the local newscasters (former national personality) made a comment this morning about never setting foot in Chester and not being sure why anyone would.

[GFB]

Note that Chester is it's own city, it's not Philadelphia. I'm not sure the exact mileage, but it's probably 25 from Center City. Not even North Philadelphia compares to what goes on in Chester. Well, maybe some streets. Either way, even one of the local newscasters (former national personality) made a comment this morning about never setting foot in Chester and not being sure why anyone would.

Oh, well that's even more info... as I said before, the closest I've ever been to the Philladelphia-area is Hershey, so my geographical sense of the area is very limited at best.

You do have yourselves a nice young core over there at Union... should be fun to watch over the next two or three years.

[Still MIGHTY]

Quarterfinals Matchups are as follows (July 6-7):

Harrisburg City Islanders v. DC United

Charleston Battery v. Columbus Crew

Chivas USA v. Houston Dynamo

Los Angeles Galaxy v. Seattle Sounders FC

Interesting that these two will meet in LA on Sunday only to rematch a few days later.

[TFoA]

The Sounders are streaming the US Open Cup game.

Click there if you want to check out the action. Hell, it's worth watching to see the Sounders in the electricity green kits.

[WJMorris3]

San Jose just dominated the Union - the 2-1 score was closer than it should have been.

[TFoA]

Thierry Henry signs with New York Red Bull.

This has been a hot rumor for at least 1-2 years now, so it's good to see that it finally happened.

Also, the 2010 SuperLiga between the MLS & the Primera División de México will start tonight:

GROUP A

New England Revolution v. UNAM

Chicago Fire v. Morelia

GROUP B

Houston Dynamo v. Pachuca

Chivas USA v. Puebla

The Group A games are tonight, & the Group B games are tomorrow night. You can check here for a detailed schedule & explanation of the tournament itself.

[Breakwood]

The 3rd edition of the Concacaf Champions League gets underway tonight with the Preliminary Round.

3 MLS teams are playing in the preliminary round.

Toronto FC vs. Motagua (Honduras)

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Puerto Rico

Seattle Sounders vs. Isdiro Metapan (El Salvador)

In my personal experience, these are the best games of the season. I'm really upset I'm unable to go to the game in Toronto tonight or the game in Tegucigalpa next week.

[BrySmalls]

An MLS REEL A LINE MINT Post:

Commissioner Garber has confirmed that in order to make room for Vancouver and Portland, two clubs from the West (perhaps Dallas and Houston?) will be shifting to the East. Seeing both Texas clubs in the East would be as awkward as the previous two MLS Cup Finals (New York vs. Columbus and Los Angeles vs. Real Salt Lake); however, does this shift imply a return of the Central Conference?

[BrySmalls]

Puerto Rico leads 3-0 early on in the 2nd half. Way to take this competition serious, Los Angeles!

[AJM]

Big MLS news for the end of the weekend...

Rafa Marquez to leave Barca...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/07/30/marquez.barcelona/index.html

Sounders deal Ljungberg to Fire...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/07/30/ljungberg.chicago.ap/index.html

Sounders add Uruguay MF Fernandez in DP slot

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/07/29/sounders.fernandez.ap/index.html

[WJMorris3]

An MLS REEL A LINE MINT Post:

Commissioner Garber has confirmed that in order to make room for Vancouver and Portland, two clubs from the West (perhaps Dallas and Houston?) will be shifting to the East. Seeing both Texas clubs in the East would be as awkward as the previous two MLS Cup Finals (New York vs. Columbus and Los Angeles vs. Real Salt Lake); however, does this shift imply a return of the Central Conference?

Why would they need to send two? One makes more sense, to make it 9 and 9.

Although I agree, the Central Conference is probably the best solution here.

WEST: (SEA, VAN), (LA, CHV), (POR, SJ)

CENTRAL: (COL, RSL), (DAL, HOU), (CHI, KC)

EAST: (CLB, TOR), (DC, PHI), (NY, NE)

And go to a 34 game schedule, top two from each division make the playoffs, plus two wild cards, seed by overall record (but division champs are guaranteed a top 4 seed), and go from there.

You'll notice that I paired teams up in parenthesis. This is in case MLS decides they still want a 30 game schedule. Each team would play their division twice, and two out of the three pairings in each division twice each. The other pairing would be a single game, home to one, away to the other.

[Don]

An MLS REEL A LINE MINT Post:

Commissioner Garber has confirmed that in order to make room for Vancouver and Portland, two clubs from the West (perhaps Dallas and Houston?) will be shifting to the East. Seeing both Texas clubs in the East would be as awkward as the previous two MLS Cup Finals (New York vs. Columbus and Los Angeles vs. Real Salt Lake); however, does this shift imply a return of the Central Conference?

Why would they need to send two? One makes more sense, to make it 9 and 9.

Although I agree, the Central Conference is probably the best solution here.

WEST: (SEA, VAN), (LA, CHV), (POR, SJ)

CENTRAL: (COL, RSL), (DAL, HOU), (CHI, KC)

EAST: (CLB, TOR), (DC, PHI), (NY, NE)

And go to a 34 game schedule, top two from each division make the playoffs, plus two wild cards, seed by overall record (but division champs are guaranteed a top 4 seed), and go from there.

You'll notice that I paired teams up in parenthesis. This is in case MLS decides they still want a 30 game schedule. Each team would play their division twice, and two out of the three pairings in each division twice each. The other pairing would be a single game, home to one, away to the other.

I know I'll sound like a Eurosnob here but...SINGLE TABLE.