More signs that the MISL season is fast approaching today as the defending MISL Champion Milwaukee Wave announced their first signings of the 2011 offseason. Defender, Fabinho Ribeiro, agreed to a 3 year contract with the team.
"We are very happy to have signed such a talented defender.

We're about halfway through the current season of the Major Indoor Soccer League (yes, there is still an MISL, this is the third version, basically, long story, tell you later) and average attendance is about where it was last year.

Which is to say, not good. Not good at all.

With 27 of the 50 scheduled games in the books as of this morning, the MISL is averaging under 4,000 (announced) per game, following a season that saw the league average dip under 4k for the first time this century.

Baltimore Sun Story about the MISL and Baltimore Blast:
MISL has added stability, five new teams for 2011-12 season

Time for another former Sporting KC update. The Mexican league has kicked back off, so Herculez Gomez is back in action. Will John's time with the Missouri Comets also appears to be over now as well. Nelson Pizarro is still out there, he's been brought on to the San Diego Sockers from the San Diego Fusion.

The Comets' improved defense came at a price as they failed to muster any sort of offense in a pivotal match Sunday afternoon at the Independence Events Center against the visiting Vipers, falling to the visitors from Omaha 6-4. The six points by the Vipers were the least amount of points allowed by the Comets all season long, but the Vipers stifled the Comets offense all day long, holding the team to just four points, the team's lowest scoring output of the season.

The Chicago Riot nearly notched another win Saturday night, valiantly fighting back after falling in an early hole. Unfortunately, it was not enough, as the Riot ended up losing to the Baltimore Blast 18-17. This puts the Riot's record to 2-8 on the season. A silver lining would be the fact that the Riot scored a season-high 17 points against a Blast team that entered the game with a league leading points against average and features the defensive giants of Mike Lookingland and Pat Morris.

Another week of former SKC Wizards update here. First of all some news on two of the newest former SKC Wizards. Second round draft pick, JT Murray was waived shortly after the team's first preseason game. He's landed on his feet as he's been picked up by the Rapids for their preseason. The other former player is Sunil Chhetri who has signed with Chirag United in India.

For the MISL and its newest franchises to consider the upcoming 2011-2012 season a success they will have to increase attendance across the board.
Last season the Baltimore Blast led the way with the highest total and average attendance figures. The former Chicago franchise, Chicago Riot, where the worst of all coming in dead last in total (not even breaking 10k) and averaging a 1/6 of league leaders Baltimore.

Check out this introduction to the new Baltimore Blast roster for the 2011-2012 Major Indoor Soccer League season.
The Blast kick off the season with a home opener against one of the new MISL clubs, the Syracuse Silver Knights on November 12.
See full Blast schedule: click here

Check out this introduction to the new Baltimore Blast roster for the 2011-2012 Major Indoor Soccer League season.
The Blast kick off the season with a home opener against one of the new MISL clubs, the Syracuse Silver Knights on November 12.
See full Blast schedule: click here

Milwaukee Wave coach Keith Tozer, who has won more than 600 games and five indoor soccer league championships, was one of nine people named to the United Soccer Leagues Hall of Fame Class of 2011 on Tuesday.

He is one of three men named in the MISL category of the Hall, joining legendary player Tatu and longtime Baltimore Blast owner Edwin Hale Sr.

Mainly indoor play for players this week, Eddie Johnson is the only outdoor player that got any time this past week. Here's the former SKC Wizards update.
Still looking for:
Nick Cardenas
Pablo Escobar
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Pete Marino
Ryan McMahen
Nelson Pizarro
Akeem Priestley
Indoor soccer.

VILLA PARK, Ill. -- The Chicago Riot posted a late rally but fell to the Omaha Vipers, 13-11, on Sunday in Major Indoor Soccer League action at the Odeum Sports and Expo Center.
In the fourth quarter, the Riot's Fred Degand posted a power play goal and Eric Duda netted a three-pointer to cut a seven-point deficit to 13-11.

Check out some photos from Suburban Life Publications as they dropped by the Chicago Riot's Jan. 9 game against the Omaha Vipers.
Next up for the Riot is a 7 p.m. match on Sunday, Jan. 16, against the Baltimore Blast at the Odeum Sports and Expo Center in Villa Park, Ill.

The Chicago Riot hosts the Baltimore Blast for the first time this season at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16, in Major Indoor Soccer League play at the Odeum Sports and Expo Center in Villa Park, Ill.
The Riot (1-6) begins a four-game stretch where the team faces either Baltimore or the Milwaukee Wave, the top two teams in the current MISL standings.

The Bears vs. Seahawks and the Jets vs. Patriots NFL games are scheduled so that you can catch all your football action while still getting the Chicago Riot vs. Baltimore Blast game in. In fact if you do it just right, you can watch the second half the Jets vs. Patriots game in the very comfortable bar on the upstairs level of Odeum Center and just walk a couple of feet to your seats.

The Chicago Riot put another notch on their winning totem pol Sunday night, defeating the Baltimore Blast by a final tally of 14-12. The star of the game by far, would be new Riot netminder Ante Cop. I'll be honest here. When the writers here at HTIOT saw the YouTube video of Ante Cop talking about how old he was, we were worried about him filling in for injured Chicago Riot goaltender Jeff Richey this weekend.

Chicago Riot goalkeeper Ante Cop netted a fourth-quarter game-winner, assisted a goal and added 22 saves -- including one in the final second -- to lead Chicago to a 14-12 win over the Baltimore Blast on Sunday in Major Indoor Soccer League action at the Odeum Sports and Expo Center. CLICK HERE for the full game recap.

They Riot refuse to say so, but if you buy and wear one of these, I have to think it would increase your chances of getting in front of the lines. Don't blame us if it doesn't happen though.

Another week of former SKC Wizards updates for you. Will John's time with the Missouri Comets is over, the team had hoped to extend the deal but were unable to. Two bits of news that have come out today on former Wizards players, first Carey Talley, who was apparently a finalist for the Real Salt Lake assistant coach position has announced his retirement, ending his long career.

The Chicago Riot (2-6) faces the Milwaukee Wave (7-3) at 6 p.m. Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Arena. Chicago hopes to build off the momentum following a thrilling, come-from-behind victory over the Baltimore Blast, 14-12, last Sunday.
Read the full preview at ChicagoRiotSoccer.com.
Can't get enough of Ante Cop's game-winning goal against Baltimore.

In a game that was a tale of two halves, the Comets fell short at home, losing to the Baltimore Blast 15-13 Saturday night at the Independence Events Center. Things looked pretty bleak for the Comets after falling behind 9-0, but the team fought back valiantly with a flurry of goals in the 4th period in one of the team's most intense and exciting games of the year.

In a game that was a tale of two halves, the Comets fell short at home, losing to the Baltimore Blast 15-13 Saturday night at the Independence Events Center. Things looked pretty bleak for the Comets after falling behind 9-0, but the team fought back valiantly with a flurry of goals in the 4th period in one of the team's most intense and exciting games of the year.

It was a game of runs Sunday afternoon at the Omaha Civic Auditorium as the Comets defeated the Omaha Vipers by a score of 21-20, the most points scored in a game this season in the MISL. The Comets' victory, their fourth of the year, is the second straight for the team on Omaha's home turf. The Comets, who nearly erased a big deficit the night before at home against the Baltimore Blast, did so this time around after being down 18-12 with just under nine minutes remaining in the 4th period.

For those who would like to revisit Chicago's long and distinguished soccer history the Chicago Riot are conducting Chicago Soccer Heritage Night this coming Sunday at the Odeum in Villa Park. The list of local soccer luminaries is one of the most impressive I can recall, managing to gather members of the Fire, Sting, Power, Mustangs, Shoccers, Horizons, Red Stars, Cats, Vultures, Stingers, and Storm all under one roof.

Here's another week of former SKC Wizards updates. First, there were plenty of former SKC Wizards in Omaha late last week when the US 94 World Cup team played an exhibition against the Omaha Vipers. Alexi Lalas, Preki, Roy Lassiter, and Diego Gutierrez all played for the US team, Tony Meola was supposed to play but couldn't make it due to travel.

The Chicago Riot will look to revive their fading playoff hopes but they couldn't ask for a tougher weekend opponent in the Baltimore Blast. The Riot and Blast will square off tonight at 6:35 pm CST in Baltimore and then both teams will fly into Chicago for a Sunday, January 30 match at the Odeum Sport and Expo Center with a 7:00 pm CST kick-off time.

Back for another week of former SKC Wizards updates. Some transfer news for former players this week. First, Yura Movsisyan is on the move, as he has transferred to Russian side FC Krasnodar. The other transfer move is that Eddie Johnson has gone out on loan again, this time to Preston North End for the rest of the season.

The Chicago Riot entered Sunday's match with their backs to the wall. After a tough loss to the Baltimore Blast on the marvelously executed Chicago Soccer Heritage Night (video and picture evidence here), the Missouri Comets rolled into the Villa Park Odeum Center clinging to a half game lead over the Riot for 4th place.

Time for another former SKC Wizards update. MLS is continuing their "What ever happened to" series. This week they catch up with MLS original and original KC Wiz player, Mark Chung. Here's the rest of your update this week.
Still looking for:
Nick Cardenas
Pablo Escobar
AJ Godbolt
Willy Guadarrama
Pete Marino
Ryan McMahen
Akeem Priestley
Indoor soccer.

Recently, I had the distinct privilege to interview Chicago Riot goaltender Ante Cop. It's not every day that you get the chance to interview a professional soccer player who has played all over the world and has been very successful everywhere he has taken the field. It was amazing to hear his personal insights and stories from his soccer playing years.

BALTIMORE, Md. -- For the second time this season, the Chicago Riot's Ante Cop scored a game-winning goal against the Baltimore Blast as Chicago earned an 11-9 overtime victory Friday in Major Indoor Soccer League action at 1st Mariner Arena.
The Riot (5-14) ended a four-game losing streak and became the only team in the league to defeat Baltimore (14-4) twice this season.

It's the end of the former Sporting KC Wizards season. With MLS starting up before next week's update, this is the final week of the former SKC Wizards season. Next week will start a new season and I'll give a break down of some of the highest finishes for a few of the stats for the players. Here's the rest of the former Sporting KC Wizards update.

Here's another update on former SKC Wizards this week. A few new players on the list as it appears that Vicente Arze is going to play in Hungary, while I've also found where Pablo Escobar is playing, he's back with Deportivo Cali. I also forgot this last week, but MLS is back with Salt Lake and Columbus playing in the CCL.

For the Comets, their Sunday evening match against the Baltimore Blast at 1st Mariner Arena would only have meaning if the Omaha Vipers somehow pulled off the upset and defeated the Wave in Milwaukee earlier in the day. Fortunately for the Comets, the Wave took care of business and guaranteed the Comets a spot in the MISL Playoffs.

For the Comets, their Sunday evening match against the Baltimore Blast at 1st Mariner Arena would only have meaning if the Omaha Vipers somehow pulled off the upset and defeated the Wave in Milwaukee earlier in the day. Fortunately for the Comets, the Wave took care of business and guaranteed the Comets a spot in the MISL Playoffs.

The Milwaukee Wave and the Baltimore Blast finished tied atop the Major Indoor Soccer League standings with 15-5 records.

But all but one of the Wave's losses came to the Blast, enabling Baltimore to claim the regular-season title, a playoff bye and the right to host the MISL Championship Game thanks to their 4-2 record against the Wave.

As the Major Indoor Soccer League playoffs start tonight, you almost certainly know that the Chicago Riot will not be one of the three teams competing in post-season play. The Riot finished in last place with a 5-15 record. The Omaha Vipers finished in 4th at 7-13, the Missouri Comets secured the third and final playoff spot with a 8-12 record while the Baltimore Blast and Milwaukee Wave proved to be the class of the league tying at the top with 15-5 records.

Blast to Host 2011 MISL Championship Game on March 25
Baltimore Blast President and General Manager Kevin Healey announced that forward Denison Cabral will return to 1st Mariner Arena for a halftime ceremony on March 25 when the Blast host the 2011 MISL Championship. Cabral, the team's all-time leading scorer with 941 points, began his career in Baltimore during the 1997-98 season and played 13 seasons with Baltimore's indoor soccer franchise.

The Milwaukee Wave's season will be on the line Sunday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Arena.

The Wave dropped the first game of their two-match Major Indoor Soccer League semifinal series against the Missouri Comets, falling 11-5 on Wednesday night in Independence, Mo.

As a reult, second-seeded Milwaukee must beat the third-seeded Comets on Sunday and win a mini-game that would follow to advance to Friday's MISL Championship Game at the Baltimore Blast.