Statement tonight from the United Soccer Leagues:

"In response to the Team Owner's Association (TOA) announcement that the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Crystal Palace Baltimore will be joining a prospective new professional soccer league, United Soccer Leagues (USL) has issued the following statement:

"Both the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Crystal Palace Baltimore have contractual commitments to USL to play in the 2010 USL First Division (USL-1) season.

I like the Galaxy to beat Real Salt Lake.

I asked my friend Dan Loney, who is a huge Galaxy fan but hates David Beckham like people who really hate things hate things, "Would you be conflicted if Becks scored the game-winner Sunday night?"

Dan said, "HE OWES US.

The future of American soccer appears to be the past of American soccer.

It's being reported that the new breakaway league consisting of several former USL clubs has registered the name North American Soccer League, apparently with the intent of using it at launch next spring.

There are those of us old enough to remember the original NASL (if you're not, go here).

Yes, that was a handball. Deux handball, no less. Thierry Henry's last-gasp equalizer sent the French through to South Africa and sent Ireland scrambling to try to force a replay "in the interests of fair play."

I agree that's the fair thing to do. I don't think there's any way in hell it'll happen.

It was twenty years ago today that Paul Caliguiri struck the hyperbolically-named Shot Heard Round the World. This goal in Port of Spain gave the US men's national soccer team a 1-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago and put the Americans into the World Cup for the first time in forty years:

American soccer fans, please look around you.

So, thanks to my man Dan Loney, I am reminded that Soccer Hall of Fame ballots are due tonight. Last year, I apparently had until early December. Caught me off guard.

Anyway, last year I voted for Jeff Agoos, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Raul Diaz Arce, Marco Etcheverry, Joy Fawcett, Robin Fraser, Pato Margetic, Victor Nogueira, Preki Radosavljevic and Carlos Valderrama.

Well, that was fun. Ohio State won the Big Ten men's soccer tournament title with a last-minute, 1-0 win over Penn State in Sunday's final. The Buckeyes get an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, while Penn State, Indiana, Northwestern and potentially Michigan State can also stake claims to spots in the field of 48 (which will be announced at 5:30pm today on ESPNEWS).

From Goff, about the earliest goal you can have.

That's Al Hilal's Nawaf Al Abed, last Saturday in a Prince Faisal bin Fahad Cup tie against Al Shoalah. The first goal in a 4-0 rout, so says the Times of London. That really set the tone, huh?

This tool....

Congratulations, Snapperhead, you got on television and your friends got to see you. Good for you. The video is here.

The split between the United Soccer Leagues Division I (USL-1) teams and those in the Team Owners Association (TOA) is now official after the TOA folks announced their plans to seek USSF and CSA sanctioning for a new, seven-team league to begin play in 2010.

The new league would have the (reborn) Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, St.

Elizabeth Lambert, junior defender for the University of New Mexico's women's soccer team should be red carded for life. Brandon Spikes has gotten the heat lately (deservedly so), but there's no excuse for this.

The National Indoor Soccer League is now the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Sound familiar? It should.

This will be - if you're multi-point scoring at home - the third outfit to call itself the MISL. The most recent two have lineage that gets intertwined, but it's basically MISL 3.0. I'd question the wisdom of announcing the change 10 days before the season opens, but, whatever.

The National Soccer Hall of Fame has announced the ten former stars on the ballot for this year's Veteran Player election. I don't vote in this one (Hall of Famers do), but here are some thoughts on the ten veterans up for election (they're the exact same ten as last year, when no one was elected):

• Desmond Armstrong: I don't think he's going to make it.

Once again, I live in state where no switching of the clocks is required, so - voila! - we woke up this morning in Mountain Time. This means that the Big Ten Network match from Friday night - which I called with Kyndra de St. Aubin - airs today at 10am Mountain, Noon Eastern.

Seriously, I've been so busy this fall that I think I've watched maybe one MLS match in the last two months. So take this look at the playoff picture for what it's worth, unless I get something right, in which case, yay me.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
#1 Columbus v. #4 Real Salt Lake
This, of course, completes the trade that saw New York compete in (and win) the Western Conference bracket a year ago.