as always, great job out of you passionate but misguided Fire fans who showed up Wednesday night. I even enjoyed the booing of Landon when he led the Galaxy to the stage to collect their second-place medals. Wonder how quick a few of those things got posted on eBay, by the way.
Anyway, your singing came through loud and clear on the Fox Soccer Channel broadcast, and really added some atmosphere to the affair.
I know Fire players can't wear numbers over 20 because you Fire fans would run out of fingers and toes to see which player was which, but you were on good form nonetheless.
Some other thoughts, notes and quotes while watching the Fire cheat their way to another trophy:
Catch former Fire GM and current super-fan Peter Wilt there with the Fire faithful behind the goal?
Wow, just realized I razzed Tony Sanneh about what he's got left in his tank and I used to play soccer and basketball against him in high school. Guess I shouldn't make fun of his age anymore.
Lubos Kubik. Sometimes I still just like saying that.
Did you catch Peter Crouch's goal for Liverpool against Galatasaray in the Champions League this week? When I think of Crouch trying an overhead kick, I think of a lanky giraffe going head over teakettle on a sheet of ice, but he really pulled this one off.
OK, quick aside, because I always get asked about this via e-mail. When I mention a goal, if you want to find it, here are some tips. If it is an MLS goal, it will be on this site. If it is an international goal, my two places to go are the Fox Sports World Report on Fox Soccer Channel, and now thanks to the new media world we live in, try You Tube, a great place for footie highlights. Now leave me alone.
Reports say Canuck goalkeeper Greg Sutton could be headed to Toronto (don't call me Inter) FC. He currently is with Montreal in the USL.
Hey, speaking of the USL, did you hear Bermuda is getting a second division side next year? I feel that MLSnet.com needs to improve its coverage of that league, and I for one volunteer to get sent on a few road trips to remedy the situation. That's your old pal, Tino, always taking one for the team.
After watching a good amount of World Cup action on the network, I for one am happy to see Univision coming back into the MLS and U.S. national team fold.
If you are not cheering for the underdog, battered Minnesota Twins to win the World Series, well, you are a Communist.
Good news for anyone that has Sirius: the satellite radio service just started airing Champions League games. Column regulars know I already love waking up early on weekend days on Planet LA and taking in a Premier League game on Sirius before I can drag myself out of bed to turn on FSC or Setanta.
Speaking of footie on the radio, so I've been training for a half-marathon in a couple weeks. I figure Jeff Bradley runs full marathons and I am about half the writer -- and man -- he is, so a half marathon seemed appropriate. Anyway, found a great way to pass the time on the long runs: I download the BBC's Football 606 call-in show from iTunes. It is a simple sports radio call-in show from Eng-er-land, and it is really good fun.
And speaking of footie across the pond, see Fulham is trying Carlos Bocanegra at defensive midfielder?
Oh, one quick note about my last column. I mentioned The Bruce doing a mea culpa on all of his harsh comments lately in a Grant Wahl piece, and wrote that he used Wahl as his mouthpiece. Typical of my sub-par writing skill (I was raised in Minneapolis and we get some Chicago brain-depletion spillover), I didn't mean by any means to say that Wahl is Arena's mouthpiece. Bad choice of words. A mouthpiece is more like what I am for The Hoops, In'N'Out Burgers and Erika Christensen in the new ABC show, Six Degrees.
Anyone know how I can get one of these Burger King/MLS soccer balls?
The rest of this site will be going on about how big this weekend is in the league, so I won't try to match up with everyone else's analysis. But I now find myself pulling for Los Goats so we can have some good playoff soccer on Planet LA, and I can see The Hoops come through here on the way to the crown. This just in: The old Honda Super Clasico this weekend has some serious importance.
I know I pick on the Galaxy a lot because, well, they stunk this year, but no one expects them to stay down for too long. Plus, Frank Yallop will have a lot of pressure on him in the offseason to help turn things around. Remember how the MetroStars mess dragged down Bob Bradley's reputation. Bradley would be a much stronger candidate for Juergen Klinsmann's U.S. job if things had gone differently in New Jersey. While Bradley's stellar work with Chivas USA has rehabbed his rep, Yallop has to be careful the same thing doesn't happen to him.
Speaking of the U.S. job, I should never have mentioned that stupid Sven Goran Eriksson report. Man, I get it, you guys don't want him to coach the Yanks.
For the record, I have always been a huge Clube Atletico Paranaense guy.During the season, The Clean Sheet runs each week on MLSnet.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column views and opinions are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com. Send any questions and comments to tcsresponses@yahoo.com.
