Right about now is a probably good time to start another serious discussion of finding a better way to determine a winner in a soccer match of enormous magnitude besides the dreaded PK shootout.
Someplace else.
Not that I'm a fan of the thing - far from it. It's just that the gut punch delivered to the Fire and their fans last night after 120 minutes of emotion, drama and desire seems worthy of something more than just another tedious discussion of the rules of the game. Click to continue reading...

Pity poor Don Garber.
No, not because he has to put up with reporters all the time; he handles himself pretty well amongst the unwashed, freeloading, neck-plastic wearing keyboard bangers of the world:
YouTube- Don Garber comments nd gets into shouting match with reporter YouTube- Don Garber comments nd gets into shouting match with reporter
But so far, the Conference Championship weekend, one of the biggest TV ratings grabs of the MLS season, has been, if not a disaster then the next best thing to it. Click to continue reading...

Virginia kept playing until Wake Forest imploded in the penalty kick shootout
NC State scored in the seventh minute and held on against Boston College
Final is at 1pm ET on Sunday Click to continue reading...

Germany and the world footballing community are in shock this morning at the news that Hanover 96 captain and German national first choice goalkeeper Robert Enke apparently committed suicide yesterday by stepping in front of a speeding train.
German police sources have confirmed that a suicide note was found. Click to continue reading...

Press Release from the United Soccer Leagues:
USL Statement regarding USL First Division
TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues issued the following statement regarding the USL First Division in response to the announcement of an application before the United States Soccer Federation for a new Division II Men's Outdoor Professional League submitted, in part, by former USL-1 franchises. Click to continue reading...

Press Release:
OWNERS OF PROFESSIONAL SOCCER TEAMS IN ATLANTA, CAROLINA, MIAMI, MINNESOTA, MONTREAL, ST. LOUIS AND VANCOUVER FORM NEW PRO SOCCER LEAGUE TO BEGIN PLAY IN 2010
Nov. 10, 2009 – The owners of the Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina Railhawks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps, formerly of USL-1, together with St. Click to continue reading...

National Soccer Hall of Fame Press Release:
ONEONTA, NY (November 9, 2009) – The National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum distributed the 2010 Player Ballot today to all voters. The ballot features 24 retired national team and professional players who all have contributed to the growth of soccer in the United States. Click to continue reading...

The morning after a team gets knocked out of the playoffs there's always a good deal of finger pointing, blame seeking and what-iffing.
As dutiful, diligent, longtime fans of the Beautiful Game, we all know perfectly well that blaming a loss on any one play or one call is simply unfair.
What about this or that pass or this or that shot or this or that run that someone did or didn't make? Click to continue reading...

The Big Puma was Back, at Least for a Night
Rare is the sight in Mexican futbol of a stadium packed to capacity. It happens in some places with regualrity: the two Monterrey stadia, Santos, and San Luis Potosí seems to have sell outs every game. The big teams, on the other hand, only seem to pack the place when it's either a rivalry game or a late rounder in the liguilla. Click to continue reading...

ESPN is running a college soccer feature this morning.
But before the nice folks in the various BigSoccer forums concerned with such topics get too terribly excited about NCAA womens' soccer finally getting the serious recognition it so richly deserves, they might want to take a look at the segment:
YouTube- Cat fighting gets ugly during BYU vs. Click to continue reading...

Normally, we try not to give rank stupidity a link, for obvious reasons.
In this case though, if I did not, people would claim I was making it up.
So here you go:
MY LINK OF THE YEAR.
I am forever indebted to BS loyalist "evangel" for passing along this article which, I admit, I read several times because I couldn't believe that it was not a parody. Click to continue reading...

With only 3 weeks left in the Mexican Apertura regular season, we can be certain of one thing: we still have no idea who is going to make the liguilla. Some call it parity, others call it mediocrity. I call it chaos.
Only one team is assured of a post season birth: Toluca. Mexican futbol's cooky, crazy group system, though, offers no guarantees to the other teams that are in the top 8 slots of the table. Click to continue reading...

Over the next few days bloggers far and near are going to be offering up their opinions on the MLS Year End Awards nominations.
The main reason for this isn't that they honestly care that much. Almost no one really does.
But for a blogger - and I know whereof I speak - this provides one of the "automatic topics", like the traditional six part "Preseason Preview" or more recent "Playoff Preview", whose main value is to relieve the author of the nerve wracking chore of coming up with something to write about. Click to continue reading...

National Soccer Hall of Fame Press Release:
ONEONTA, NY (November 2, 2009) – Two FIFA Women's World Cup champions, two men from the 1990 FIFA World Cup squad, five North American Soccer League alumni, and a 7-time winner of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in the 1920s and 1930s are featured on the Election 2010 Veteran Player Ballot the National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum announced today. Click to continue reading...

Well wasn't that ugly?
For those of you who TIVO'd the Real Salt Lake vs. Columbus Crew last night, a warning:
STOP! For the love of God, don't try and watch this match. Don't even risk trying to erase it. I recommend that you yank the box out of the wall, go out back and burn it. Click to continue reading...