Look, I get that Marvell Wynne is an extraordinary, maybe even world class athlete. I get that. I'm not blind. I'm not cruel. I'm not stupid.
But I think it's quite clear that he's just not a very good soccer player. Quite honestly, I thought he was the kind of "one-tool" player that MLS had passed by at this point, and yet there he was tonight, stumbling around aimlessly in the penalty area and directly responsible for Chile's lone goal.

It may "not exist," but Brooklyn Black Ops is oh so good.
Let's lighten the mood a bit around here. This blog and blogging in general can get a bit dark and grumpy at times - I admit.
So let's stray a bit from soccer. It's the off-season in North America anyway, so why not avoid all the "usual" arguing, ranting, and invective for one post at least?

If you've been following the rip-roaring excitement that is my Twitter feed, you'll know that I've been aghast at the amount of publicity this "team" called the Cosmos has received despite having no professional players, no home field, and no league to play in.
Like seemingly the rest of the American soccer community, I had a bit of fun at the club's expense today.

So this weekend, I watched most of Akron's two matches en route to the school's first ever National Championship in any sport. I must admit, I was gob-smacked by what I saw.
With the proviso that I was too young to remember Arena's teams at UVA, Akron was the single best college team I have ever seen - seriously.

As one of Sunil Gulati's chief defenders over the years, I think I ought to come out of hiding to discuss the near-majority position of American soccer fans (at least those on Twitter and Bigsoccer), that US Soccer head Sunil Gulati must "go" for his role in the US 2022 World Cup bid failure.
Here's what I think.

Well, say this for MLS Cup 2010..... no one was killed.
So there's that.
Yay.
Okay.
Sigh, I've got to actually talk about this match?
Jesse Hertzberg from offstage: Yes!
Can I trash Toronto too?
Jesse again: Yes, but try talking about soccer first, please.

Since we all know that most, not all, but most of the actual soccer on offer during the NCAA Tournament will be unwatchable dreck, let's liven it up with some casual gambling.
That's right, it's the 2010 Fighting Talker Men's Soccer Bracket Contest. Sign up, and this time I promise, I swear, there WILL be an actual (small) prize on offer for the winner.

So yesterday evening I had a brief conversation with someone in MLS who tends to know things. He said that while he doesn't think anything is brewing quite yet, it would be wrong of DC United supporters to think that Marco Etcheverry has no chance of ending up as the team's head coach in 2011.

So rumors are flying out of KC that they're going to get a new name along with a new stadium. The rumored name?
Sporting Kansas City.
Seriously.
That's it.
Okay, I get that MLS teams are currently on a "let's make ourselves sound as European as possible" jag now.

It was a melancholy night at RFK Stadium Saturday, as it always is for DC United supporters when the season finale hits, and we know going in there's no playoffs to be had.
Beyond simply being the final game, it's the final tailgate, and in many cases, the final time you'll share stories and beverages and food with friends until hope springs to life again in March.

... It's been the question on everyone's minds (maybe not everyone's) for a week now.
Where is Wayne Rooney going to take his talents?
Chelsea?
Manchester City?
Real Madrid?
Arabe Unido?
... and it turns out, at least for now, that the answer is .

As I am not an expert in corporate law in this country nor any other, I don't want to delve too deeply into the Liverpool ownership case before a judge today in London.
But, one aspect of this has made me think a bit. Yet again, we've seen the risk of relegation make a well-capitalized and intelligent owner potentially think twice about investing in the sport because the risk of relegation and its associated financial calamities is just too much to bear.

Charlie Stillitano just won't go away
Remember ChampionsWorld? It was an organization setup by disgraced former MetroStars executive Charlie Stillitano to promote and organize friendlies between European and South American teams. After three years of promoting these matches, it went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

First of all, I am getting to this dreadfully late. I've been just hammered at work and with travel and thus have been terribly behind on writing here on the site. I am reminded by the saying my old Ohio State journalism professor Rose Hume used to bat dated story ideas down.
"This is a newspaper, not and oldspaper.

Ives Galarcep absolutely flips his shit over CONCACAF's proposed changes to its World Cup qualifying process. I'm feeling lazy, so I'll let Ives summarize.
Quote: Under the new format, which is awaiting approval from FIFA, CONCACAF would do away with the six-team, ‘Hexagonal' format in the final round of World Cup qualifying, replacing it with a two groups of four.