Two weeks ago Commissioner Don Garber made some very disturbing remarks to the Associated Press. He indicated that MLS has to sign more foreign players and resemble European football more than it does currently to win over masses of football fans in the United States. My sense is that this is absolutely the wrong course for the first division of American football to undertake.

The good ol' Wiz jerseys on Carlos Valderrama day.
This one is worth a chuckle. The folks over at UniWatch have put us up against the Colorado Caribous and the USMNT from 1994 for the worst-ever soccer jerseys. What do you think? Were they right? Which of our former jerseys is your favorite awesomely bad uniform?

For those of you who don't know him, the Wikipedia entry on Carlos Valderramma reads: Carlos Alberto "El Pibe" Valderrama Palacio (born September 2, 1961 in Santa Marta, Colombia) is a former Colombian footballer. He was instantly recognisable for the mass of blond, permed hair that he habitually sported.

Michel's unusual claim to fame Despite the fact that I witnessed them coming within one crap penalty of beating Real Madrid last week, Getafe have parted company with manager Victor Muñoz. And they have been quick in bringing in a replacement in the shape of former Real player Michel. The ex-Spanish international provided one very OTP [.

One of the very first posts I ever made on this blog was the Youngest MLS Player Timeline. Now, it's time to look at the other side of the equation. Who has held the record for the oldest MLS player, and when was it broken?
This is not the same as the lists of the Oldest MLS Players or the Oldest MLS Debuts.

1. Celtic, Aston Villa, Celtic (current club). Whose career?
2. Which was the last team to win back-to-back European Cups? And, for a bonus point, name the years.
3. Which club's ground is located on Sir Tom Finney Way?
4. What links: Carlos Valderrama, Thomas Ravelli, Frankie Hejduk and Frank Yallop?

USA midfielder Tab Ramos attempts a sliding tackle on Colombia's Carlos Valderrama during a group game at the 1994 World Cup finals, held in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. [Photo: PA] The US won the game 2-1, thanks to...

I found an on-line bio for El Pibe [right] that summarizes the career of one of the best soccer players to ever play for a Tampa team (not to mention the best mane).
Those who supported the Mutiny will probably never forget when Carlos was the hub of an attractive, fluid, passing team that was a joy to watch.

Just for grins I thought I would put a list of foreign based coaches with Tampa connections for the Rowdies management to consider as candidates for their first head coach. For those of you who might be bit slow on the uptake, I know that most of these guys are not serious candidates. This is just a bit of fun to kill boredom.

I won't lie to you all, I've had a case of the Mondays. As much as I want to post a big long edition of things tonight I just for the life of me don't have the time to do so tonight. Instead I have a couple links with very short comments on them.

McCarty Re-signs with FCD (link) Good stuff by Dallas to get one of their better midfielders back for next year.

Background: Much like my main man, Carlos Valderrama, a big reason I like Steve Ralston for this list is the fact he was one of the original Tampa Bay Mutineers. Ralston would probably be on this list even if not for his TB heritage, as he is the league's all-time games played and assist leader.

Coach Eduardo Lara knows the urgency of the matter for the Cafeteros. For this reason he is bringing in players that are making their debut with the national team as well as returning to international duty. With this callup, Colombia might be focusing more on the Miss Colombia beauty pageant than on the national team come November.

Ex Parma and Newcastle striker Faustino Asprilla got a huge send off at a farewell match with the best players of Colombian football past and present.
The match which featured Columbian greats such as Rene Higuita, Faryd Mondragon, Mario Yepes, Carlos Valderrama and Adolfo Valencia as well as Brazilian duo Roque Junior and Ailton, featured some nifty bits of skill from the old veterens as well as some of the worst goalkeeping known to man!

One of the very first posts I ever made on this blog was the Youngest MLS Player Timeline. Now, it's time to look at the other side of the equation. Who has held the record for the oldest MLS player, and when was it broken?
This is not the same as the lists of the Oldest MLS Players or the Oldest MLS Debuts.

When we were kings - Colombia were the first to ever beat Argentina at home in a qualifierAfter all the build-up and all the hype, once the mud-slinging

Gabriel Batistuta, Carlos Valderrama, Iván Zamorano, Alex Aguinaga, Rafael Dudamel y Teófilo Cubillas, todos retirados, filmaron una publicidad de Direct TV para el Mundial 2010 en un asilo de ancianos. La empresa de televisión satelital lanzó su última pieza, denominada Viejos, con el objetivo de comunicar cómo será la transmisión de los partidos de la Copa.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The National Soccer Hall of Fame released its final ballot for the Class of 2010 and the 24 former soccer players chosen represent a vast array of teams and eras.

Former U.S. national team standouts Earnie Stewart, Peter Vermes and Thomas Dooley, Women's national team stars Cindy Parlow and Shannon McMillan, as well as foreign-born MLS pioneers Marco Etcheverry, Peter Nowak and Carlos Valderrama are just some of the candidates on the ballot.

Here are the 24 finalists, courtesy of Goff:

Mike Burns, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Raul Diaz Arce, Thomas Dooley, John Doyle, Marco Etcheverry, Robin Fraser, Chris Henderson, Eduardo Hurtado, Dominic Kinnear, Roy Lassiter, Shannon MacMillan, Joe-Max Moore, Victor Nogueira, Peter Nowak, John O'Brien, Cindy Parlow, Preki Radosavljevic, Mike Sorber, Earnie Stewart, Steve Trittschuh, Carlos Valderrama, Tisha Venturini-Hoch, Peter Vermes.

The final game as members of the New England Revolution for Leonel Alvarez and Mauricio Wright was the 2001 U.S. Open Cup. They were performing for the Revolution in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy in Fullerton, Calif.
Alvarez would return to Colombia to conclude his playing career and Wright would go on to play for Costa Rica in the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and also to deliver some impressive performances for AEK in the UEFA Champions League.

Much has been made on this site and others about Bob Bradley reluctance to call in MLS based players (except those he is 100% comfortable with) for qualifiers, while continuing to call in footballers from European Leagues that some US fans believe are of lesser quality. For example, no objective analyst of the game would choose Danny Califf or Jay DeMerit over Jimmy Conrad, Chad Marshall or Michael Parkhurst (when he played in MLS) based on club form, nor would they pick Eddie Johnson ahead of Kenny Cooper, nor would they choose Benny Feilhaber over Kyle Beckerman or Davy Arnaud based on the same criteria.

Background: Let me admit my bias right up front. Other than a slew of US MNT greats, Carlos Valderrama is my favorite soccer player ever. How could he not be? I grew up in Tampa when MLS was created, and he was the Mutiny's first (and only) superstar. Despite my bias, I still think he belongs on this list, and I'll tell you why.

I was conversating with Kartik Krishnaiyer after a Miami FC game and this topic emerged. Although people don't want to admit it, there is quite a history in this town. Memory Lane was a place that we visited and all of these names started to surface. It was incredible as the history we started to retell came to life in my childish mind as Valderrama was the most relevant one.

Our first ever poll question was who was the best player to ever suit up for the Mutiny. The overwhelming winner was Carlos Valderrama [right in that sweet Kappa bicycle jersey] with 73% of the vote. El Pibe is in my opinion one of the best play makers to ever play in MLS.
He was one of those special players that only comes around once in a generation or so in a country.

National Soccer Hall of Fame Press Release:
ONEONTA, NY (November 9, 2009) – The National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum distributed the 2010 Player Ballot today to all voters. The ballot features 24 retired national team and professional players who all have contributed to the growth of soccer in the United States.

..........................Photo by ISIphotos.com

The National Soccer Hall of Fame released its final ballot for the Class of 2010 and the 24 former soccer players chosen represent a vast array of teams and eras.

Former U.S. national team standouts Earnie Stewart, Peter Vermes and Thomas Dooley, Women's national team stars Cindy Parlow and Shannon McMillan, as well as foreign-born MLS pioneers Marco Etcheverry, Peter Nowak and Carlos Valderrama are just some of the candidates on the ballot.