STARTERSFantastic news from Denmark as Michael Parkhurst & Nordsjaelland overtook the big boys from
Kobenhavn in the penultimate round and then got another win last night in the season finale to seal
the Superliga championship! Huge congrats to them!
STORY OF THE DAYSo much has happened since I was last able to make a proper post on Friday!
In what was shaping up the be one of the most promising seasons and competitive teams the Beat
had put on the field in recent years everything crashed to a grinding halt. On Monday, January
30th 2012 the league issued a statement to suspend the 2012 season citing the pending legal issues
with former magicJack team owner Dan Borislow.
An undisclosed location in Kansas City. A temporary Sigi-bunker has been erected in an
underground location and is currently host to a predraft party. The computer monitors are flooded
with bright colors and visualizations mixing with a reel of Sounders highlights. My World by Iggy
Azalea is pumping through the speakers, continually being remixed over with bits of Justice and
LMFAO by the Sigibot who is serving as DJ for the night.
It took me too long, but I cracked open Long Range Goals, by Beau Dure last night. An inability
to sleep combined with strong writing meant that I also finished the book. Dure you may know if you
read USAToday, frequent SB Nation's MMA blogs or read ESPNw, or if really dedicated you read his
blog (SportsMyriad).
Busy few days in Major League Soccer as teams have been aggressively signing players, preparing
for the re-entry draft, unveiling jerseys and generally trying to remain relevant in the news
cycle. While I've never personally understood the excitement around the release of a new kit, the
oft criticized Revolution front office handled their unveiling rather well, usual social media to
spread the word.
Women's Pro Soccer may not be failing, but it is in danger. Their sanction is in doubt as there
are only five teams in the league for 2012. There is a lawsuit against WPS from a former team
owner. While attendance was significantly up after the Women's World Cup there is an issue about
revenue not being greater than costs.
Amanda, Rachna, and Kirsten return to review the final weeks of the MLS regular season and
speculate about the playoffs and the MVP race. Fans of DC United and/or DeRo and/or New York may
want to fast forward to our second segment, where Amanda talks with Beau Dure of Sports Myriad
about David Downs' comments on WPS, Hope Solo, and the state of women's soccer.
Demetrius Johnson, like so many, wasn't born in Washington, but he lives here now. As much as a
fighter lives in any specific city. That, and an XBox sponsorship means that he's sporting a
Seattle Sounders top at his pre-fight press conference. Thanks Beau Dure for making me aware.
Via Jenna Pel, Beau Dure and Jeff Kassouf, the initial hearing in Magicjack's suit against WPS
has been postponed. Hal Habib reports in the Palm Beach Post that there's a "high likelihood" to
the suit being withdrawn, with quotes from team owner Dan Borislow.
Regarding reasons for the withdrawal, Pel speculates on venue filing problems (i.
I've written very little on the running feud between WPS and the Dan Borislow, owner of
Magicjack (née Washington Freedom), but events just after my last piece on the uncertain future of
women's pro soccer have rendered me past due. Beau Dure's post will bring you up to speed on how
the troubles with magicJack and Borislow started and then expanded earlier in the year:
Borislow moved the team to South Florida and renamed it after his product, magicJack,
the device that allows users to make phone calls over the Internet.
Whoever wrote the headline to Beau Dure's latest piece, "Women's soccer seemingly has options
for growth," has a sunny disposition I don't share. First, WPS owners have radically different
ideas about the way forward and think this arrangement can work in the long run:
"We [owners] don't all agree all the time," Philadelphia owner David Halstead
said.
It sounds a lot like you do
Always saying shit I know is not true
It sucks me in
It spits me out
I try to shut it up
'Cause I must let it go
-Poe, Choking the Cherry
I was a little confused about Beau Dure's piece on choking.
Their Words Overall, we were very disappointed not to get the three points at home but getting at
least one point is still a plus. San Jose coach Frank Yallop. Other Sources Marta has her Diego
Maradona moment - from ESPN.com's Beau Dure: Marta scored her first goal with some nifty work in
the box, but only after shoving a defender to win the ball in open space.
I love the predictions game! Truth is, as Beau Dure points out,
no one knows anything when it comes to season predictions. Since I accept this truth to be self
evident, I have decided to make my predictions with a heavy DC United bias. Thus, let me present
the MLS award predictions for the 2011 season with Black and Red colored glasses.
While we're getting close to the start of the 2011 MLS season -- official First Kick for the
League is tomorrow night with the Galaxy at Seattle on ESPN -- our focus today should remain in
Japan. If you haven't already, please, donate whatever you can however you can. As we mentioned
yesterday, you can text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross efforts in Japan.
From the Evansville Courier Press, January 30, 2011
The formula for developing soccer players shouldn't be like trying to solve the Rubik's cube — it
shouldn't be a series of twisting, turning and guessing.
There is one club in the world that churns out world-class players more than any other.
Beau Dure of ESPN writes about Claudio Reyna's vision for the future of US Soccer.
In the ballroom of the Baltimore Convention Center, nervous soccer players of varying backgrounds
smiled and held up scarves for the teams that had just picked them in the MLS SuperDraft.
At the same time, one floor below at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America
convention, Claudio Reyna, Youth Technical Directo for U.
On his twitter feed today, Beau Dure said, "Just saw an NFL ad that looked quite a bit like the
YouTube montages of people celebrating Donovan's World Cup goal."
So, here are the two videos - you be the judge:
