Article By Lee Camblin
MLS is a league that is in its infancy compared to many other Soccer leagues around the world. When you think that other league structures found in England, Spain, Italy, France, Germany have been around 40,50and even over 100 yrs.
MLS started back in 1993 as part of the USA bid to host the 1994 world cup, which they did host.

If you don't fully understand the ins and outs of the MLS SuperDraft, don't worry. It is not a sign of stupidity. I hear Stephen Hawking is struggling to understand it.

Few can understand the craziness and fluctuating criteria which make up the behind the scenes world of bringing an American football style draft to the world of soccer.

It seems generally accepted in the MLS community, if not the US Soccer community, that soccer specific stadiums are key to the growth of soccer in the USA.

The reasons are many, and include everything from the emotionally-relevant display of faith in the sport in this country, to the very practical ownership of parking and other associated revenue streams.

This may seem blasphemous on its surface. I mean, who doesn't love Kasey Keller? Who doesn't think he isn't the greatest American keeper, and maybe best U.S. player of all time? He is a legend, an American Legend. He is one of the greatest keepers in his MLS play (playing time caveat). Tens of thousands showed up to see him off, enough to make it the 4th largest soccer crowd in the world.

Brazilian attacking midfielder Kaka signs an Adidas Footballfor Mickey Mouse, while also getting in some American Football practice.

Gold Cup 2011 – 'Handicapped Soccer'
Dr. Joel Rookwood
The beautiful game known globally as 'football' has a patchy history in America, barely permeating the sporting world so often dominated by baseball, basketball and American football. 'Soccer' (allegedly taken from asSOCiation football) has become a reference to a lesser sport, distancing language employed in USA and in other countries with a more dominant national variant.

Some follow-up observations:

The team was hell-bent on keeping shape, which gave us some perhaps surprising (but perhaps not) tackling information. Etuhu and Murphy, and the entire back four, really didn't go for many tackles. Instead Dempsey, Dembele, and to a lesser extent, Ruiz, were doing a lot of the actual harrying.

Make some tea or crack a can of lager, and read the preview.

Our kids and fringe players (and Vermaelen and Santos) are in Greece, looking to get some experience against a good side that needs to win to ensure they get anything out of the group stage.

I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (not to be mistaken for Coquelin), Frimpong and Coquelin, as well as Yennaris and Miquel, who I thought played fairly well out-of-position against a strong City side in the Carling Cup.

If you're a subscriber or a regular reader of the Kansas City Star you may have noticed a small, column-sized advertisement in the sports section of Sunday's paper. It was wishing the local National Football League's Chiefs good luck in their afternoon match up against the Baltimore Ravens in the first-round of the playoffs.

BBC Sport - Football - Stan Kroenke set for Arsenal takeover dealFrom the sounds of this article on BBC.com Arsenal is about to be taken over by Stan Kroenke who also owns some or all of the Denver Nuggets (basketball), Colorado Avalanche (hockey), St. Louis Rams (American Football), and Colorado Rapids (Major League Soccer).

"Annual Salary" represents only base salary from the most recently completed season or calendar year from each sport, and excludes any other source of compensation, unless otherwise noted. In countries where official salary figures were unavailable, we estimated the number based on information from multiple sources, including leagues, agents, consulates, embassies, sports federations, cultural centers and the U.

Union

Sounding a bit like a new age mystic or feng shui adviser, Peter Nowak says the reason the Union have only scored six goals in nine games isn't poor finishing or a still incomplete midfield. Rather, it begins with "ineffective energy:"

"We spend a lot of time defending, and I think we need to change our perspective on doing certain things.

Occasionally, there's a debate among fans just how far soccer has come in the United States. It's clearly more popular than ever, and the country now boasts a league that, according to some scouts, is on par with the English Championship (Division 2). Another way to chart the progress of soccer in the U.

Well, we're about to find out what happens when mommy and daddy give the keys to the new BMW to their punk teenage kids. Or something. Let's just hope we get it back into the garage safely. But seriously, our new group is attempting to do the impossible, which is fill the shoes of our outstanding predecessors, the Martin and Sairax.

Hope Solo und ihre US-Nationalmannschaftskollegin Alex Morgan sind seit dem Ende der Frauen-Weltmeisterschaft 2011 in Deutschland gefragte Damen. Aber nicht nur Männerherzen lassen die beiden Schönheiten höher schlagen, sie verzücken ganz Amerika, vom American Football bis zum kleinen Manager im Großraumbüro.

If you're the sort of person who likes to discuss the history and future of the US National Team, you know you're never far from a discussion about the quality of the US player pool. Specifically, people want to understand - and argue about - why the leading economy in the world (at least for now) with the fourth largest population doesn't have a more successful international soccer pedigree.

By CALEB SONNELAND

With his contract set to expire at the turn of the year, David Beckham is allegedly in talks with Ligue 1's Paris Saint-Germain, according to the clubs sporting director Leonardo.

The 36-year-old was a staple in the LA Galaxy midfield this year and played a massive part in the team's successful campaign toward a MLS Cup.

A version of this post originally was previously published Nov. 26, 2009 and Nov. 25, 2010.

Episkyros

Before soccer there was football. Lots of different kinds of football, many of which also involved handling the ball: Episkyros in ancient Greece; Harpastum in Rome; Zhu Qiu in China; Sepak Raga on the Malay Peninsula, Kemari in Japan, Calcio in Italy (which was revived by Mussolini), not too mention the various kinds of folk football that could be found throughout the Celtic world, some of which survive as the Shrovetide games of Britain.

The day after a match typically means a regeneration session for players that involves some version of hydrotherapy, which usually takes place pool workout. After all, pools are usually the most accessible for a team, especially one on the road. But if there happens to be water nearby ...
And so it was that the U-23 team found themselves on the beach in Sarasota, doing stretching and other exercises in the Gulf of Mexico.

It's rare to see highlights from a Barcelona match in which the Catalan club's players don't hog the spotlight. But when Levante's Christian Stuani was subbed on for Levante, he decided to give Barca a taste of its own medicine. Despite Stuani's heroics, Barcelona held on for a 2-1 victory. New year, same old story.

A recent survey of high school sports reported that concussions accounted for around 9% of all injuries. Concussion rates are generally highest in contact sports such as American football. Despite soccer being considered a non-contact sport, head injuries are also fairly common. It is estimated that 6-7% of all US high school players suffer a concussion every year.

Though teams like the United States and Mexico qualify automatically for CONCACAF's Gold Cup, other countries have to enter through qualifying tournaments. For the seven nations that make up the Central American Football Union (UNCAF), that means participating in the Copa Centroamericana. That's the old UNCAF Nations Cup, getting a name change for 2011.

There are 11 reasons that football is better than football. Or, football is better than American football. Or, even still, Soccer is better than American football. Why 11? Well, that's an odd, obscure, uneven number. And there are 11 men on a soccer pitch.

1. The Name Makes Sense

In football, they actually use their foot to kick a ball.

If soccer had a Super Bowl, who would win it? Since this year's Super Bowl - the final for the U.S. National Football League (NFL) championship - is happening on Sunday between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, I thought it'd be fun to treat soccer as a version of American football - only for a laugh, of course, lest you think I'm trying to blaspheme the best game in the world.

If soccer had a Super Bowl, who would win it? Since this year's Super Bowl - the final for the U.S. National Football League (NFL) championship - is happening on Sunday between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, I thought it'd be fun to treat soccer as a version of American football - only for a laugh, of course, lest you think I'm trying to blaspheme the best game in the world.

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers beat Ben Roethlisberger and his Pittsburgh Steelers to win the Super Bowl XLV. The Packers held a 21-10 half-time lead, and finished the game with a 6-point victory, 31-25.

Green Bay Super Bowl at Bizrate.com

Sunday's Super Bowl was seen by a record number of American TV viewers.

By comparison, soccer has a way to go - in this country.

But the Super Bowl pales in comparison to World Cup soccer on a global scale.

And, in terms of passion, American football doesn't really compare anyway.

This goal had to be on the list really didn't it. Thanks to Liam Blackburn for doing the business. You can follow Liam on Twitter @LiamBlackburn ...

"Instinct is action taken in pursuance of a purpose, but without conscious perception of what the purpose is"

Instinct can sometimes be a wonderful thing.

In baseball, it's called 'watching the ball into the glove'. In American football, it's called 'watching the ball into your hands'. And in football football, it's both, with the repercussions typically far more costly.

This weekend's Belgian Pro League fixture between Kortrijk and AA Gent saw Damien Lahaye do neither in the 82nd minute, and in the process not only conceded a howler, but allowed the own goal to fly betwixt his open legs.

Watching Barcelona v. Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League yesterday, I texted back and forth with friends about what makes Barcelona so unique:
* they defend with the ball - when they can retain the ball for such long stretches of time (70-30 possession advantage in the first half), they make it impossible for opposition to mount an attack.

I remember when Sky first happened. They showed American Football (then very fashionable in the UK), NBA basketball, WWF (wrestling), and all sorts else besides. It would have been amazing to have a dish, but Mum wasn't interested in that. She claimed that she didn't want a dish on the side of the house, and this may very well have been true, but I suspect that it was also true that we watched more than enough TV as it was, and the subscription fee (which I'd have been oblivious to) was not inconsiderable either.

NFL v Premier League: Socialism v Capitalism in sport format is a post from: Just Football

by Roger Domeneghetti

Whisper it (just so you don't upset Sarah Palin and her Tea Party chums) but there's a small corner of good ol' America that's looks a bit, well; socialist and that would be the NFL.

The Glazers have revealed that they will lower ticket prices for Tampa Bay Bucs by as much as 30% after complaints from the fans.

"We have spent a lot of time listening to fans at a time when our team is thriving and our economy is not," said Joel Glazer. "As a result, we are now offering several pricing changes in response to our community's needs.

Peteca, Tlatchi, Cuju, Shrovetide, the human history is filled with games that involve a chasing a ball. Whether at one point we all started off kicking it or throwing it, or if it was oval shaped or round, it seems to be unknown to history. Or perhaps instead of branching off from one main descendant, the game spontaneously evolved at multiple points in the world.

I thought I'd take "Soccer By The Numbers" literally for a change. How? For years, Google has been busy digitizing books and printed materials, and they've been going back into historical archives. So now, researchers (and, well, anyone with access to a computer, like me) can search for words or phrases that have occurred in print over the past several hundred years, give or take.

I thought I'd take "Soccer By The Numbers" literally for a change. How? For years, Google has been busy digitizing books and printed materials, and they've been going back into historical archives. So now, researchers (and, well, anyone with access to a computer, like me) can search for words or phrases that have occurred in print over the past several hundred years, give or take.

Getting to see extra time due to a tie in a sporting contest is what sports fans live to see. It's the driving force to watching sometimes. Fans want to see how long can it go. The longer it goes, the more dramatic and more memorable it gets.

Which is precisely why this free kick somewhere in the general North American region is so damn effective.

No, not a soul on the planet has any idea what is going on. At first look, it seems some odd onside kick routine the American football field does wonders to push the theories in this direction but then collisions happen, someone leaks into the box and everybody is distracted into allowing him a free look on goal.

La Copa Oro de la CONCACAF es el torneo de naciones que se lleva a cabo cada dos años para Norte, Centroamérica y el Caribe, y es el máximo torneo de la Confederación. La Copa Oro evolucionó de una serie de campeonatos en la región desde 1941.
Antes de fundarse la CONCACAF, fútbol en la región se dividió en pequeñas zonas.

Football, originally known as Association football and commonly called soccer, has no real origin. There are records of the Chinese around second century B.C. playing a game called Tsu' Chu that involved kicking a leather ball through a small hole in a silk cloth strung between two large poles. This was believed to help train the military.