Landon Donovan returns to MLS action. (Getty Images)

Its a holiday weekend for Major League Soccer. Typically the 4th of July is a big one for the league and it's clubs. This time around the holiday falls on the weekend so that should mean a good bump in attendance as various clubs are doing their usual celebrations.

Brek Shea is having a solid second season for FC Dallas. He's getting consistent playing time, he's improving his performance, he's scored three goals and has one assist. He even won a MLS Player of the Week Award. Well done Brek.
Then came Saturday, July 3rd against the Kansas City Wizards, when it all went horribly wrong.

MLS announced the 2010 schedule today. For the first time the teams will play each other twice each, once home and once away. The league will shut down from June 11th-24th for the group stage of the World Cup. Of course this year will be our first look at the Philadelphia Union, this year's expansion team.

Much has been made this season about the Rapids attendance. Less than 12K at the home opener followed last weekend by a sub-10K crowd has people talking. Multiple threads at BigSoccer plus blog posts as well have stirred the pot. The "conventional wisdom" is that the problem is that the Dick is all the way out in Commerce City.

Austin 360 At Ford's, the 4th of July and South Africa New York Times (blog) The event gave a special nod to South Africa , which has become the first African country to host a major international sporting event–in this case,the FIFA ... Obamas attend Ford's Theatre gala The Associated Press all 257 news articles

Video of the Harrisburg's game-winning goal has appeared on YouTube, courtesy of their local news, WGAL-TV. Just in case anyone wanted to see it. They've disabled embedding on this clip, so to see it, click here. You don't see the play leading up to it, which saw two great shots, well-blocked by Greg Sutton.

To all the loyal parents, followers & fans, HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!! GO SODIUM!!

Good afternoon! The Red Bulls are back in action @The Dick, aka Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. The mighty Colorado Rapids are their oponent, of course, and the Red Bulls are looking to extend a three match win streak, in MLS play. The Rapids are unbeaten in their last four MLS games (3-0-1) and will be looking to justify their annual fireworks display (after the game) by handing the Red Bulls a big, fat Red, White & Blue loss.

Kige Ramsey, a semi-regular guest on the Sean & John Show on 1560 The Game in Houston, has, over the past couple weeks, put together several videos concerning the 2010 World Cup finals. I've been meaning to post some of Kige's videos here, but just keep forgetting or having other matters require my time.

I think today is a fitting day 4th of July to pay homage to the hard work and determination put into the 2010 World Cup in South Africa by the US men's soccer team. I have now been living in the US for 7 years and I have seen first hand the growth of the game in this country.

• The Dutch prepare for their World Cup semi, how will you prepare for life after the World Cup?

Having returned home after two days away celebrating the 4th of July with family and friends, I find my humble abode in it's normal state of comfort, totally empty of anything resembling normal nourishment, and not a soccer match to be found here, there or anywhere.

Conor Casey takes a try at the goal as rain pounded the players during the Colorado Rapids and New York Red Bulls 4th of July game at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The game ended in a tie 1-1. (Photograph by Jessica Taves/coloradosoccernow.com)

On a sodden Fourth of July night, the fireworks were in short supply as the Colorado Rapids tied the visiting New York Red Bulls 1-1.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, World Cup fans of all ages, the greatest holiday of the year is rapidly approaching. No, I am not talking about Canada Day (fuck those Sidney Crosby loving buffoons, but Pam Anderson is cool.) I am talking about the 4th of July. We celebrate independence from our former colonial oppressors like no one else in the world.

The 4th of July game was more of a fizzle than a bang, largely due to the torrential downpour that hovered over Commerce City most of the night. The Rapids started well, getting a beautiful goal from Omar Cummings in the 15th minute. Casey got loose on the right on a counter-attack and Cummings read the play well, sprinting all the way down the field to take the pinpoint cross from Casey and tuck it past a diving Bouna on the near post.

As an admittedly huge soccer geek, it will surely surprise nobody that I'm a bit of a stadium aficionado, too. Over the past two years or so, I've been to, by my count, eight different professional grounds. They all have their attributes and their flaws, but there's something the older grounds, like RFK and Crew Stadium have, that set them apart.