Your inaugural WPS All-Star Team:
Karina LeBlanc GK - Los Angeles Sol, Canada
Tina Ellertson D - Saint Louis Athletica, United States
Amy LePeilbet D - Boston Breakers, United States
Alex Scott D - Boston Breakers, England
Camille Abily M - Los Angeles Sol, France
Sonia Bompastor M - Washington Freedom, France
Shannon Boxx M - Los Angeles Sol, United States
Lori Chalupny M - Saint Louis Athletica, United States
Kelly Smith M - Boston Breakers, England
Eniola Aluko F - Saint Louis Athletica, England
Marta F - Los Angeles Sol, Brazil
The first order of comedy, of course, is that half of this team won't be available for the All-Star game itself, or for the WPS championship, thanks to the UEFA Women's Championship.

Fox recently beat out ESPN for the rights to broadcast next year's Champions League fixtures. Footsmoke has been getting a lot of mail about the implications of this potentially lucrative swoop. I answer some of the responses below.

USAWC2030 writes: What was ESPN thinking?

Who is the real target demographic of professional soccer in the U.S.? Is it Soccer Moms? Is it Soccer players? Is it Latino people?

Sure, Soccer Moms, Latinos and Soccer players make up some of the peripheral targets, but who makes up the core target?

One U.S. pro soccer fan thinks he's the core target demo.

In 2007, David Beckham, the golden boy of soccer, shocked the international sports world when he signed a five-year contract with an American team, the Los Angeles Galaxy. Under the direction of his manager, Simon Fuller, the mastermind behind American Idol and the Spice Girls, Beckham was ready for a monumental challenge and a risky adventure–ready, as Fuller put it, to earn his stripes Stateside.

Remember if you have any questions for the players or coaches, post here before halftime and I will do what I can.
Location:
Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
Referees:
Head Ref: Ricardo Salazar (USA)
Asst Ref: George Gansner (USA)
Asst Ref: Chris Strickland (USA)
4th Official: Kevin Stott (USA)
Actual Lineups:
Chelsea
GK Peter Cech
DF Branislav Ivanovic
DF John Terry
DF Ashley Cole
DF Ricardo Carvalho
MF Michael Essien
MF Frank Lampard
MF Jon Mikel Obi
MF Florent Malouda
FW Salomon Kalou
FW Didier Drogba
Subs
Andrey Shevchenko
Franco Di Santo
Claudio Pizarro
Scott Sinclair
Deco
Ross Turnbull
Daniel Sturridge
Alex
Juliano Belletti
Nicolas Anelka
Sam Hutchinson
Michael Mancienne
Inter Milan
GK Vid Belec
DF Ivan Ramiro Cordoba
DF Javier Zanetti
DF Cristian Chivu
DF Davide Santon
MF Thiago Motta
MF Sulley Muntari
MF Patrick Viera
MF Esteban Cambiasso
MF Mikel Jon Obi
FW Mario Balotelli
Subs
Ricardo Quaresma
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Rene Krhin
Paolo Orlandoni
Deigo Milito
Marco Materazzi
Alessandro Amantino "Mancini"
Mattia Destro
PRE-GAME:
-Will Farrell among others in the stands.

Richie Williams ... why can't the longtime Red Bulls assistant land a managerial post? Good question.

View full size photo »

Also file under: Who did Richie Williams piss off?

Today is a very important day for the seleção because Dunga is slated to announce the official squad list for the qualifiers and the Confederations Cup! We know right.... it's almost like American Idol!

Anyway, Nilmar has told the Brazilian press that he hopes to be called up to the national team.

Steve Goff of the Washington Post reports that the US-Brazil final on ESPN garnered a 2.7 overnight rating. (I had received a text message earlier in the day that the match had received a 2.8 rating) which is the highest rating ever for a non World Cup, US game on ESPN.

What is most surprising however is that the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market received the highest market share nationally and that the West Palm Beach market ranked 4th.

Welp.
In the interests of fairness, the Galaxy weren't a good team when Beckham found them. But...you know, how does one process this?
Quote: Most of the players were confused. Who was this British guy who looked like the comedian Ricky Gervais? When Donovan asked whether the players would need to change their Thanksgiving plans, it was this guy, not Lalas or Gullit, who answered him.

Victoria Beckham jets out of LAX. She's due to appear as a guest judge on American Idol; and it looks like Anna Wintour has decided she's in Vogue.

Carlos De los Cobos estuvo presente en el estudio de Las Voces Vip, un concurso del tipo American Idol que emite Televisa Monterrey y cantó a dúo con Paulina De los Cobos, su hija. Luego de dos programas, la hija del entrenador de la Selecta aún sigue en carrera. Paulina tiene a quien salir, ya que Carlos De los Cobos es un muy buen cantante.

American Idol is back, and so is MLS SuperDraft! Full disclosure: I rarely watch American Idol. In fact, I haven't watched it regularly since one of my ex-girlfriends used to guilt me into becoming a regular viewer. She used to say that I was "obligated" to join her on the couch for Idol because she watched sports with me all of the time.

Man Utd have come up with an innovative method for replacing Alex Ferguson once the old fella finally calls it a day. Though the big job is expected to go to a big name - Martin O#8217;Neill and Jose Mourinho have been mentioned more than once - the club are also guaranteeing a formal interview to [.

Right, what's occuring in the whacky world of South East Asian football this weekend? Actually the action has already begun with Albirex Niigata beating Geylang United in the SLeague with goals from Taisuke Akiyoshi and Kenji Adachihara.
Tomorrow night the action switches to Brunei when local heroes DPMM try to bolster their goal difference when they take on Young Lions, thumped 5-0 last time by Super Reds.

Victoria Beckham and her son Romeo at the American Idol finale. May 20, 2009. Image via Getty

Man, I've really been remiss in blogging lately. Sorry.

But these things caught my eye this morning:

• Huh. Didn't see this coming.
• This podcast with Adam Carolla and David Alan Grier had me laughing hysterically on the commute in this morning.

Here at the BigSoccer World Journalism Headquarters and Storm Door Company, where we leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of truth, justice and a decent pastrami on rye, we like to think of ourselves as chameleons. (Except for Ollie, of course. He's a karma chameleon. He comes and goes.)
So when it's important - or when we've got nothing else to talk about - we're more than happy to cross reportorial boundaries and cover items of interest from fields besides soccer.

Last week was Disco Week on American Idol, honoring an era which occurred before most of the contestants were born, so this week they went even deeper into the archives for Rat Pack Week. I was dealing with burning eyes and a fever while this was on, so this entry will be brief - thankfully there are only five of these people left - but just snarky enough, hopefully.

After Saving Private Giraud last week, American Idol was still at seven contestants for Disco Night last night. During which we discovered that Donna Summer recorded at least 43% of all the songs during the Disco Era. Seriously, people. Do you spend more than eight seconds choosing songs?

Victoria Beckham and her son Romeo at the American Idol finale. May 20, 2009. Image via Getty

Yo nunca abandono.
El ex arquero de la selección alemana, Oliver Khan, ya tenia casi todo cerrado con la televisión china para conducir un reality de formación de arqueros, pero la La Administración Estatal de Radio, Cine y Televisión no ve con tan buenos ojos la emisión de estos programas y ha decidido revisar los contenidos.

Victoria Beckham jets out of LAX. She's due to appear as a guest judge on American Idol; and it looks like Anna Wintour has decided she's in Vogue.