Earlier today, me, narcissistically posting in Pitch Invasion's Sweeper, which was awesome enough
to link to me three times, and oh, yeah, had a bit about the depressing match fixing revelations
coming out of Europe:
Anyway, Declan Hill is working on his "told you so" blog entry right now.
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Really good interview with Mark McCullers by Columbus Alive's Chris Deville. Are you watching,
Grant Wahl? The whole thing is pretty good, particularly if you're a Crew fan, but the best part
for me was the comment on youth development:
But if [the youth we develop] sign other professional contracts and they haven't signed
a contract with MLS, then yes.
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Getting autographed scarves from Kasey Keller in random places turns into a crappy promotion for a
crappy beer. Gag me.
Keller's web page reads: "Where in Belltown can you grab a Bud Light, a burger with sweet potato
french fries and watch a ton of sports?"
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How is this guy one of the best regarded soccer writers in America? He's sure as hell not a good
interviewer:
SI.com: Without being too self-conscious about it, I wanted to ask you what you thought
of my book, The Beckham Experiment?
I mean, honestly. And check out the picture Wahl posted on twitter:
Does Wahl not look creepy as fuck, and does Don Garber not look as though he's contemplating
calling the police?
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A few weeks back it made the news that Shawn Francis, purveyor of "The Offside Rules" would be
making the jump to MLS to act in an editorial role for their new digital media initiative. Earlier
this week, the first public fruits of that hire were unveiled with the new MLS Insider blog.
I have to admit that I never found The Offside Rules all that interesting.
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So what did I spend today doing? Bringing the rest of you up to snuff. First I had to correct Wilt
on when Columbus Crew Stadium was built and how much it cost in his "Top 20 MLS Stadia" post (it
was completed in 1999 at a reported cost of around $27 million [Ed. Although Wikipedia says $28.5
mil]).
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We already knew this, but Avoiding the Drop crunches some numbers to show how Guillermo was the
most productive and economical designated player in the league last year:
He had more goals (14), more combined goals and assists (17), and – probably the
biggest factor for the Crew – was the cheapest on a per-goal basis* ($38,235).
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A lot like last year. Teams can protect 11 players, must protect up to 3 international players if
they have them (although if a team has 3 or less they can leave at least one unprotected);
designated players, generation adidas and home grown players do not have to be protected (unless a
DP has a no-trade clause); teams can not lose more than one player, and the draft will go ten
rounds.
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Overall, a really good article:
Lambert said she was shaken and appalled by some of the responses she received in
e-mail messages, telephone messages and on blogs, which included the publishing of her parents'
home phone number in Southern California and one suggestion that "I should be taken to a state
prison, raped and left for dead in a ditch.
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In case anyone else didn't notice, we've got the most expensive team in MLS going up against the
least expensive team in MLS in the Cup final this weekend. From one of my posts earlier in the year
on team wage bills:
1. LA $9.4 million
15. RSL $1.86 million
Of course that's with designated player salaries.
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Is to wait and see how this one plays out. To the Columbus fans, welcome to the silly season.
Lest we forget, everything in the transfer window is dramatic with Guille. Remember when he first
came to Columbus? It took forever to get the deal signed, McCullers was back and forth, the deal
was announced before it was finalized, and yours truly was beside himself:
So McCullers can introduce this guy to the press.
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According to Goff, the Crew want him to take a massive pay cut:
In a meeting this week, the Crew told the 2008 MLS most valuable player that, in order
to remain with the club, he would have to agree to cut his salary by at least 50 percent, the
Insider has learned. The decision was apparently made by upper management.
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A nice piece from Whittall today on the digital media transition, with an intelligent critique of
the Clay Shirky article I linked to a while ago:
And this where Shirkly's article bugs me: while he's right in seeing present
circumstances for what they are, he ends the article the way many of these articles tend to, with
the realization that the medium for journalists has to be replaced and "who knows what will replace
it, only time and innovation will tell!
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From SBJ, via FootieBusiness:
Although three teams (Dallas, Kansas City and San Jose), didn't provide numbers, the
rest of the franchises did report their rates of renewal for 2010. Not surprisingly, Seattle and
TFC lead the pack with more than 90% renewal rates. Perhaps also not surprisingly, New England
trails the pack as the only reporting team below 50% at a dismal 30%.
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