Roy Hodgson Courtesy Wikipedia

When I read about Roy Hodgson's appointment as the new England manager I was hoping my calendar said April 1st not May 1st. This news would have been ideal on April Fool's Day. Now, I have nothing against senior citizens. I believe they're a major reason why Britain is prefixed by the word Great.

The LA Galaxy are in last place of the Western Conference. After being bounced out of the CONCACAF Champions League to the hands of Toronto and suffering yet another league defeat, AEG President Time Leiweke awoke to another bit of bad news concerning his LA Galaxy.
Both Bruce Arena and Landon Donovan have decided to part ways with the club.

Rachel Buehler plays Whitney Engen as Amy LePeilbet closes
The U.S. WNT held an intense and physical two-hour training today in the late morning as the team continues to acclimate to the time change in Japan in preparation for the April 1st match vs. Japan in Sendai (6:30 a.

The future certainly appears to be bright at the goalkeeper position for Sporting KC. Not only is KC's current back up, Jon Kempin, only 19 years old, but on the current Juniors team, Sporting KC also has another keeper that is going to spend time with a US youth national team. U18 goalkeeper, Jacole Turner has been invited to a camp with the US U18 team in Carson, CA.

United States Under-18 National Team coach Javier Perez has called 35 players into a camp that will run from March25th through April 1st at the Home Depot Center. GK: Santiago Castano (New York Red Bulls; Union City, N.J.), Ethan Horvath (Stoke City, Eng; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Zackary Steffen (Philadelphia Union; Dowingtown, Pa.

Colorado announced its TV plans today, and once again their on Altitude. Not a surprise since KSE owns both the Rapids and Altitude TV. 28 games will air live on Altitude. One game, April 1st, will be live on Altitude2 which is only available in SD on Comcast. April 1st is a home game against the Fire though so I'll be seeing it live in person.

David N'gog, born April 1st, 1989, turned 22 earlier this year. Andy Carroll, born January 6th, 1989, also turned 22 earlier this year. Last season with Liverpool, N'gog started nine matches in the league and made a further 16 substitute appearances, playing a total of 1057 minutes. He scored twice, once every 529 minutes—or roughly once every six games.

Alan Shearer had eight games in charge at Newcastle, from April 1st, 2009 until the last game was played on May 24th, and Newcastle were still relegated. Alan Shearer - too picky about a management job? Alan won one, drew two, and lost the other five, and it was just one point short of saving [...]

The Portland Timbers come into Toyota Park on a downfall from a once mighty rise. Portland's victory over the Fire back in April launched the Timbers' 5 game home winning streak that prompted JELD-WEN Field to be called a fortress. Between April 1st and May 21st, Portland went 5-1-2 and even took a draw from Seattle on the road.

Tom Davidson, and daughter Morgan, Ozark Tigers (2011 May)

Congratulations to Coach Tom Davidson on reaching 600 wins in his career tonight. He came into the game with an 8-7 record this season, his fourth with the Lady Ozark Tigers who also delivered his 500th win. Tom earned his 500th victory on April 1st, 2008 when the Tigers defeated the visiting Catholic Fightin' Irish by the score of 1-0.

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 4, 2011) US Soccer Players -- As of midnight, April 1st, European Central Time it's official that Mohamed Bin Hammam will be the only challenger to standing FIFA president Sepp Blatter. The two candidates have between now and June 1st to sway enough voters to get elected.

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For those who have been signing up for the Newsletter, thank you. I should get the first one out next week. I anticipate it will be a weekend report offering an early look at the following week along with some pointers to the previous weeks games and other items of interest.

Shaquille O'Neal has been out injured since February 1st with multiple right foot ailments. Whenever he's able to get healthy and return, expect him to start at center for the Boston Celtics. The question is when will Shaquille O'Neal be ready to go. The good news for Shaq and the Celtics is it sounds like the Big Bostonian should be back within a couple weeks.

Introducing the 2011 Philly Union Talk 2.0 Inaugural Contest-o-rama-thon! The contest will run from Saturday March 26th to Friday April 1st, with a winner picked by random drawing at the end of the week. Said winner will be revealed on Monday, April 4th.