"Goodbye pal... And yeah, He's cool."PLAYERS CUT, PUNS TO GO UNUSED
A sad day for four young men as Toronto FC made their first four cuts of pre-season today. Sadder still is the effect it will have on blogs as some quality nicknames will forever go stale in Toronto.

The United States will play Canada on June 3rd at Toronto's BMO Field (7pm ET - NBC Sports Network), the US Soccer Federation announced on Thursday. The game will be part of the Canadian Soccer Association's 100th anniversary. "First of all, we are honored to be chosen to be part of Canada's Centenary Celebration," US National Team coach Jurgen Klinsmann said.

The Canadian Soccer Association championship club series will have a new logo and title sponsor this season. Amway Canada has returned as sponsor of the tournament that determines the Canadian club representative in the CONCACAF Champions League for its 2012-2013 competition. While the Canadian competition will change names from the Nutrilite Canadian Championship to the [.

The excitement is building for the 2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament and the Canadian Soccer Association has been busy promoting the eight-team competition. The CSA is featuring two U.S. players with strong northwest ties -- Seattle resident Hope Solo and former Portland Pilot star Megan Rapinoe -- as part of an advertising campaign titled "Made for This.

Nevio Pizzolitto, captain of the Montreal ImpactArguably, it's the fans which keep football/soccer alive. The thousands which pack stadiums, the millions which watch on their TV, they are the ones which keep this game running. Not only is it the ticket sales and the merchandise bought, but it's also the passion and the love which fuels the players to play their best.

J Hutcherson writes of five things to look at following the US 2-0 victory over Canada in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
In the aftermath of the USA's clinical treatment of Canada in the opening night of Group C, we look at five things to carry forward into the second set of games on the Gold Cup schedule.

The Sounders are back in action this Saturday against Real Salt Lake. They'll be battling fatigue for the full 90 at one of the hardest stadiums in MLS to get a win. Also, some are calling this a must-win match for RSL as they attempt to arrest a spat of poor form in league play. It would be nice to come back from the disappointing loss on Wednesday to Dallas FC with a road win, but it will be a tough challenge for a fatigued team.

Support Local Soccer

IMS friends Ben Rycroft and Duane Rollins from Canadian Soccer News had this piece on the CSN site the other day.

This is a really nice video that was put together at a local bar in Toronto called the Football Factory. I think Canadians should be behind their team.

Canadian Soccer Association officials have deemed the surface at BMO Field unplayable, and the second leg of the Canadian championship between Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps has been rescheduled for July 2.

Vancouver held a 1-0 lead in the 60th minute of Wednesday night's second leg, but torrential downpours and repeated lightning forced the game to be abandoned.

The Smolderings have been piling up high since we last posted an edition. The pile was so high, it has to be split up into two so it won't start a fire. MLS scores from last night, soccer news from around the globe and a bit of other sports bits are all after the jump. Chicago soccer news will be smoldering away later today.

The Canadian Soccer Association has announced the format for the upcoming Nutrilite Canadian Championship, which will feature MLS clubs Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps along with NASL clubs the Montreal Impact and the expansion FC Edmonton team. The winning team not only receives the Voyageurs Cup but gains entrance to the CONCACAF Champions League tournament.

EDMONTON, Alberta — Canada has a 50-50 chance of hosting the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2015. Canadian Soccer Association General Secretary Peter Montopoli confirmed only Canada and Zimbabwe are left in the bid process. A decision is expected March 3. The FIFA Women's World Cup is FIFA's second biggest property, behind only the men's [.

*** Sepp Blatter hints that 2022 World Cup will be played during the summer. During a BBC radio interview, Blatter explained that the question of whether the 2022 World Cup would be held during the summer was "settled" and that the matches would occur at their normal time. Supporters who die of heat stroke can thank him later.

STORY OF THE DAY
Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America considers the Adidas influence on MLS.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"One day we went to Maradona's assistant's house for a barbeque, and we all played some soccer. That was so cool to meet Maradona. He was a lot different than I thought he'd be.

More photos » Kim Stallknecht - AP

Browse more photos »

As you can see in today's linklove post via Dizzo, Ben Massey at Eight Six Forever has a post up looking at MLS' new Canadian player quota for Canadian teams and comparing it to the lack of opportunities for Canadian coaches.

NEW YORK, NY Major League Soccer announced today that the Houston Dynamo will move to the Eastern Conference in 2011. Combined with the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps FC joining MLS as expansion clubs in 2011, the League now has two conferences of nine teams each. Upon joining MLS in 2006, Houston became the [.

VANCOUVER, BC Support is building for staging the 2015 women's World Cup of soccer in Vancouver. At a meeting on Feb. 3, city council will vote on a parks board recommendation to endorse the Canadian Soccer Association's bid to bring the big event to Canada. The bid includes Vancouver as one of the six [.

FC Politehnica Timisoara forward Tosaint Ricketts (UW-Green Bay) earned his first call-up to the Canadian national team, his club announced.

Canada plays a friendly in Greece on Feb. 9 in Larissa – the Canadian Soccer Association hasn't yet announced a roster for the match.

After a number of years of donning adidas gear, the Canada soccer team has switched to Umbro starting with the 2011/12 season. According to the SCA website: The Canadian Soccer Association has announced a new partnership with kit supplier Umbro. The partnership will help launch a new national uniform that will be worn for the first [.

It was at the Queen and Beaver pub last night. I don't normally go to these sorts of to-do's, but under present circumstances I thought it would be neat to see a hefty chunk of Canadian soccer mashed into a pub with an open bar. The Umbro Canada kit launch itself was perfunctory—the real critical work was being done on the comments section of this post—and I have to say I was largely indifferent to the designs.

The Canadian Soccer Association has announced a new partnership with kit supplier Umbro.