The 2008 MLS schedule is just a few weeks away from release, but there are a number of problems they need to overcome. Here are the scheduling issues as presented by Steve Davis:
- SuperLiga
- Concacaf Champions League
- US Open Cup
- 2008 Olympics
- ESPN2 Thursday night broadcasts
- World Cup Qualifying (the league will play on international dates)
- No national broadcasts from San Jose
- Stadium scheduling conflicts
- Beckham
- International friendly competitions
That's a lot to cram into a 31-week regular season and no doubt some items (US Open Cup) are going to get the short end of things.

Hearts stopped for a moment all over the stadium in the 84th minute as a clash of heads sent Pat Phelan to the ground with no movement whatsoever.
Defending a Pachuca corner kick, Sainey Nyassi rose up to clear a header and caught Phelan with a head under his jaw. The impact lifted Pat off the ground.

The New England Revolution have an extra One Million clams in the bank after downing the Houston Dynamo in a nail biter of a final.
The two MLS teams bested their Mexican league competition as well as MLS compatriots DC United and Chivas USA over the last month for the right to battle for the second SuperLiga trophy and the one million dollar purse.

Welcome to the brand new CONCACAF Champions League. Concacaf has announced the plans and dates for the first CCL starting this September. Twenty-four teams in total will participate in the inaugural go around. There will be four teams each from the USA's Major League Soccer and Mexico's First Division, three Caribbean sides, two from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama; and one coming from Canada, Belize, and Nicaragua.

The New England Revolution remain undefeated on their way to the semi finals of the 2008 SuperLiga.
The first half saw a lot of good, attacking end to end football from both the New England Revolution and Pachuca CF.
The first 20 minutes of the second half were all New England as they put on a passing clinic for the fans at Foxborough Stadium.

I hate it when a match is decided by a stoppage time penalty kick. Sure it's going to happen, especially at the late stages of the match; players are tired after 90 plus minutes, they make stupid mistakes, etc. So I understand it, but I don't like it.
What's worse? When the stoppage time penalty is awarded because of a bad call.

This one turned in to an ugly affair folks and at the end of the match, it was Pachuca CF who came away with some legitimate grievances.
The first half was certainly all Houston Dynamo but, as I stated last night, while their penetrating runs were effective, particularly the work of Dwayne DeRosario, their final passing was never really on target.

Judge for yourself:

The second edition of the cross-border showdown is booked and if 2007's tournament is any example, we can expect some of the best games of the season.
The four teams representing MLS have been known for some time as they were based on last season's performance, so the main part of today's announcement was the Mexican teams.

Here is a video of the key highlights of the SuperLiga Group B match. The controversial handball is at minute 3:35.
BONUS: Cool 70's porn music for the introduction

D.C. United 2 : 3 AtlanteSuperliga, Match Day 2
Six Word Novel Recap

Superliga is done. Play the reserves

Media, Traditional and Otherwise
The Washington Post, Steve Goff: "Luis Gabriel Rey scored twice in the first half and Christian Bermúdez added a second-half strike from beyond the penalty area for Atlante.

The two winners and the two losers will face each other tonight as Group B play resumes.
The New England Revolution try to earn another victory against a high flying Pachuca CF at Gillette Stadium while Chivas USA will try earn a win against Santos Laguna at the Home Depot Center.
Tickets here ->

In the all MLS / all Primera División SuperLiga derbies tonight, the Houston Dynamo will take on the all but eliminated DC United at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C at 8:00PM Eastern.
On the other side of the country Atlante will play CD Guadalajara at Buck Shaw in Santa Clara (beware of all the damned vampires) at 10:00PM Eastern, with all four teams in the group looking at chances to advance.

If we want a positive spin, it's this. Everything went wrong from United, and they only lost by a goal. Twice shots rattled off the woodwork. A Jaime Moreno penalty was saved. The first Chivas goal was a result of Clyde Simms and Bryan Namoff falling down one second and twenty yards apart. The second was some muddled attempt at breaking out.

CD Guadalajara 2 - DC United 1
Omar Arellano and Gonzalo Pineda scored for CD Guadalajara to get the winning started for the Mexican Primera División side last night at RFK Stadium.
Luciano Emilio slotted home in the 76th for United and DCU looked to draw even one minute later but Jaime Moreno's penalty kick was saved by goalie Luis Michael.

Surrender.

I hate to say it, but some people are right, we're done with Superliga, regardless of the result of the Houston-Chivas match. Yes, I know there might be a mathematical chance, but we don't deserve to advance. Run up the flag, play the subs, we're done like a Five Guys burger. Sometimes you need to know when you're throwing good money after bad, and so it is with Superliga this year.

According to a New England Revolution press release, Pat Phelan suffered a concussion and nothing more last night in 2008 SuperLiga action.
According to the press release, "he was momentarily unconscious, but regained consciousness before being stretchered off the field. He was taken by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was further evaluated.

Houston Dynamo takes on Pachuca CF for the first semi-final of SuperLiga 2008 - I have no idea how I let this slip up on me. I'll follow this up with a quick summary.

New England earned a shot at the 2008 SuperLiga million dollar prize Wednesday night with a victory over Atlante.
A Shalrie Joseph header was the only difference in the win over the Mexican league side, setting up an all American final against MLS rivals Houston Dynamo, but the result took a back seat to the final minutes and subsequent post game melee.

Did you ever think that old hockey joke would make its way to the soccer fields of America?
If the two SuperLiga semi final matches are any indication of the current emotional state between Mexican and American club football, then I'm afraid unless something is done, the SuperLiga tournament will continue to have this major black eye (and bloody nose, and busted mouth, etc.

The second running of the North American SuperLiga is set to kick off tonight at 8:00PM EST when D.C. United take on CD Guadalajara at RFK Stadium. The other Group A match begins a couple of hours later as Houston Dynamo kick start their run for the million dollar prize against Atlante at Robertson Stadium in Houston.

The New England Revolution get Group B action started tonight as they take on Santos Laguna at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Kick Off is at 8:00 p.m.
On the west coast, Chivas USA represents MLS against last year's cup winner, Pachuca CF. Pachuca are coming off a fresh victory against the Silverbacks earlier this week and are looking to repeat.

DC United lost by a margin of 3-2 in a tough battle to Atlante in Tuesday night's Group A match up.
DCU's fate now rests largely in the hands of others as they sit firmly at the bottom of the Group A table.

Just shy of 29,000 were in attendance last night at Robertson Stadium to find out which of these two sides would rise to the top of Group A.
After a dominating performance over Atlante, many Dynamo fans were I'm sure hoping that orange would carry the day; however an Omar Arellano strike in the 71st minute dashed those hopes and instead, the Mexican league side, CD Guadalajara is in the best seat.

A wonderfully executed Sacha Kljestan cross found an onrushing Ante Razov in the box in the 73rd minute of play. Razov made no mistake as he flicked a great header in to the corner of Santos' net to give Chivas USA the 1-0 lead.
In spite of missed chances and arguably missed calls by the referee, the Guerreros from Torreón could not equalize.

According to an FBI statement, an American Airlines flight from Boston to Los Angeles was diverted to Oklahoma City on Friday after a passenger got naked and tried to open an emergency exit door.
None other than Major League Soccer's New England Revolution were on board traveling to LA to face Chivas USA in their final group match.

After watching a fair amount of the SuperLiga games from the group stage I think its safe to say that the tournament's sophomore year has been a pretty big success. Many, if not all of the games have been very exciting and high scoring. As a DC United fan it has been hard at times, but I think the games have been enjoyable overall.

The All American 2008 Super Liga final kicks off tonight at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The New England Revolution will face the Houston Dynamo for the one million dollar prize as we reach the crescendo of the month long eight team tournament.
According to the pre match press release, "Houston beat New England in the previous two MLS Cup Finals, but the Revs, who have never lost to the Orange during the regular season, are perfect in the SuperLiga tournament and have been the best overall team in North America since the beginning of the MLS regular season.

If there is any interest, I'm happy to set up this post as a live match discussion thread...so I'll start with - why is the feed from MLS not working??!! Is anyone else having a problem with the connection.

The first 45 minutes of Group B SuperLiga action in Foxborough showcased choppy football at best and cheap shots at worst. In what may have come to characterize the Mexico – US rivalry, a 41st minute elbow to the face of Nyesi courtesy of Juan Pablo Rodriguez earned the Primera División and occasional Mexican National team star a red card for his trouble.

D.C. United 1 : 2 C.D. Guadalajara
Superliga, Match Day 1
Six Word Novel Recap

Lights go out with United's hopes.

Six Word Novel Literary Criticism of Six Word Novel Recap

That recap is over-dramatic, too sentimental.

Media, Traditional and Otherwise
The Washington Times, John Haydon: ".

Pachuca CF defeated Chivas USA last night at the Home Depot Center by a 2-1 margin to close out the first round of Group B matches. All the scoring happened in the first half as Ante Razov got on the board first for Chivas in the 16th minute. Pachuca equalized 7 minutes later as Gerardo Rodriguez set up a Bruno Marioni strike.

For those trying to catch 2008 SuperLiga matches on live television in the US, they're only on Telefutura - which incidentally is a great way to beef up on your Spanish. However if you're like me and your cable tv company doesn't carry Telefutura, all is not lost as Plan B is not too shabby.
I was able to tune in to the online MLS feed the night before last and I've got to say the picture and sound quality coming across the computer was pretty darn good.

Group A play resumes tonight, Tuesday, July 15 as D.C. United tries to earn a victory against Atlante at RFK Stadium while Houston will want to continue their winning ways while facing CD Guadalajara in Robertson Stadium.
Tickets here ->

And with that, the Houston Dynamo sit on top of 2008 SuperLiga's Group A standings and will be followed in to the semi finals by second place finisher and Mexican league stand outs, Atlante.
The Dynamo ensured DC United's exit tonight with a 3-1 victory while Atlante dispatched fellow Primera División side CD Guadalajara 2-0 to secure the second place spot.

Last night's Group A matches concluded with one MLS team, the Houston Dynamo and one Primera División team, Atlante, earning semifinal spots in 2008 SuperLiga. Tonight, Group B action concludes as the second set of all MLS / all Primera División SuperLiga derbies gets underway.
Chivas USA will take on the high flying New England Revolution in Titan Stadium at Cal-State Fullerton.

D.C. United eliminated from Superliga 2008

I suppose that there should be some feeling of grief, but really there isn't. Tom Soehn did the right thing and sacrificed this match, and I imagine most of us had already gritted out teeth and pulled the bandage off that hairy bit of the arm. It hurts, but not as bad as you might think.

The New England Revolution and Pachuca CF both advanced last nigh in the final Group B matches of SuperLiga 2008. Everyone scored a goal as both games ended in 1-1 draws, but single points were not enough for some so going home are Chivas USA and Santos Laguna.
The Semi finals are set with two MLS teams and two Primera División teams facing off:
Tuesday, July 29 Houston Dynamo vs.

Tonight the New England Revolution will attempt to continue their winning ways against a game opponent in Mexican side Atlante as the 2008 SuperLiga Semis close out. The winner of this match will determine who meets Houston in the final.
Gillette Stadium has been kind to the Revs in this tournament as they arrive as the only undefeated side still standing, but Atlante will be riding high after their 2-0 defeat against CD Guadalajara in SuperLiga action as well as their 2-1 defeat of Toluca in Mexican league action a few days ago.

Before last night's exciting finale of an otherwise hot and cold 2008 SuperLiga tournament, officials had been talking up the "one million dollar purse" quite a bit.
Of course in most American professional sports, one million dollars is a drop in the bucket, but (sadly) to the average MLS team, that's no small chunk of change.