Late notice on this one thanks to the dunderheads at Comcast and some other issues beyond my control, so as a result, everyone who posts any pick at all gets 10 bonus points today.
Decent lineup of matches in the Champions League today, and like yesterday, these are the reverse fixtures of Matchday 3. Click to continue reading...

Comcast SportsNet's Russ Thaler is a persistent fellow. He tracked former head coach Tom Soehn down at his house and asks him about the decision to step away from United, among other things.

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I'm going to dispense with my normal game recap. Needless to say that if you've seen our last 4 games you've seen this one, with the exception of Noonan finding a way to get a ball across the line. The Rapids gave up two goals off of two free kicks and never looked like they were in a game where a win would have clinched a playoff spot. Click to continue reading...

2:45pm, live in the US on Comcast Sports Northeast and MSG. The game is on Fox Sports regional networks. I've got DirecTV, and the game is on channels 630 or 635. And it's in HD! I wish I could be more help to those with cable. At the least, it's delayed on FSC at 10pm.
Last 3 matches:
Liverpool: 0-1 Sunderland (a); 0-2 Chelsea (a); 0-2 Fiorentina (a)
Lyon: 0-2 Sochaux (h); 2-0 Lens (a); 4-0 Debrecen (a)
Group Stage:
Liverpool: 0-2 Fiorentina (a); 1-0 Debrecen (h)
Lyon: 4-0 Debrecen (a); 1-0 Fiorentina (h)
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (SPA)
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Insua
Lucas Mascherano
Benayoun Gerrard Riera
Kuyt
Yes on Gerrard, No on Torres. Click to continue reading...

Remember that one coach that got busted for driving drunk?
First he got suspended. Well now he got fired.
That's a lesson to the kids.
Now the links:

• Quotes o' the week. [Sanford's Soccer Net]
  
• Aquilani's Liverpool debut coming? [ESPN]
  
• W.

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Comcast SportsNet spoke to Jaime Moreno, Santino Quaranta and Ben Olsen about their involvement in ESPN The Magazine's 'The Body Issue.' Apparently, Benny owes his doc a lunch...?

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The University of Minnesota women's soccer team have headed to Illinois after their 1-0 Big Ten conference opener win on Thursday evening. They will play the University of Illinois in the Illini's conference opener today, Sunday, Sept. 27 at 1:00 p.m.. The game will be covered LIVE on the Big Ten Network which is channel 57 on Comcast in the Twin Cities.

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The University of Minnesota women's soccer team have headed to Illinois after their 1-0 Big Ten conference opener win on Thursday evening. They will play the University of Illinois in the Illini's conference opener today, Sunday, Sept. 27 at 1:00 p.m.. The game will be covered LIVE on the Big Ten Network which is channel 57 on Comcast in the Twin Cities.

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Finally (!), Comcast SportsNet allows you to embed video. Well done, guys. Here's Santino and Devon after training today talking to Sebastian Salazar of CSN (note Devon's shaved head - something he did to support Miss Virginia and cancer research).

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The Under-20 World Cup in Egypt starts this Thursday. ESPN will broadcast all 52 matches on a combination of ESPN platforms including ESPN360.com, ESPN Classic, ESPN2 and ESPN. This is great news even though we still can't access ESPN360 (Not so Comtastic after all, eh Comcast?).

The U.

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Tonight I went to line-up my DVR to record some UEFA Champions League games on Tue & Wed. I knew that DirectTV, the satellite dish company that I use, had access to some extra games from Fox beyond what is being shown on FSC. Low and behold I went to the reserved channels and found not just a couple of extra games, but ALL the games. Click to continue reading...

United kicks off its five game homestand tonight by taking on the Kansas City Wizards (7:30 p.m. ET, Comcast SportsNet HD). The playoff picture right now is a little messy, but a few wins over the five games at RFK Stadium will go a long way towards securing a spot in the post-season.

As you likely know, the team will be without Marc Burch (ankle surgery on Sunday) and Dejan Jakovic (bi-lateral hernia repair) for the next 2-3 weeks.

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So my DVR inexplicably taped nothing but a black screen, and calls to Comcast expectedly got me nowhere (their proposed solution: turn it off and turn it back on). So this reaction will be based solely on MLSnet highlights and comments in the Insider.
With our remaining schedule chock full of home matches, a tie on the road is certainly not the end of the world. Click to continue reading...

D.C. United and FC Dallas meet tonight in a crucial match as both teams try to keep their MLS Cup Playoff hopes alive at Pizza Hut Park. Kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m. ET and you can follow the action live on Comcast SporstNet.

United will look to build upon last week's impressive road performance in Chicago, where the Black-and-Red snapped a four-game winless run with a 1-0 victory over the Fire at Toyota Park. Click to continue reading...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDy3iedI9f4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDy3iedI9f4 This Comcast Sportsnet report from a few years back gives a sense of the atmosphere at Maryland matches.
Here we are on the eve of the 2009 College Soccer season and you'll never believe it, but I am actually a defender of college as a method of player development for certain types of players. Click to continue reading...

CSN is letting me down. My wife and I are on a reduced entertainment budget, so we can't necessarily afford the trip to RFK and the inevitable beers cotton candy. And we have Comcast basic cable... I guess we are grandfathered in on that; is that even offered to new subscribers anymore?
Subsequently I don't get Fox Soccer Channel. Click to continue reading...

I had a discussion last week with a veteran of the soccer television industry, and I asked him whether soccer schedules these days were more or less confusing than how they used to be five or even 10 years ago. His response was a laugh followed by a definitive answer. Things are much more complicated now.

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First of all, if you have Telemundo the match will be broadcast live in Spanish.

If you don't have Telemundo, or you prefer to watch the broadcast in English, it's baby sister station, mun2, will be carrying the match live as well. On mun2, Phil Schoen and Marcelo Balboa will call the game from monitors in a Miami studio.

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I must have missed it while I was on vacation, but ESPN 360 is FINALLY available to those of us who use Comcast as their internet service provider (ISP). I have been frustrated numerous times over the last several years when ESPN made a game available exclusively on 360 and while a good share of the country could watch, we Comcast customers were left wanting.

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I must have missed it while I was on vacation, but ESPN 360 is FINALLY available to those of us who use Comcast as their internet service provider (ISP). I have been frustrated numerous times over the last several years when ESPN made a game available exclusively on 360 and while a good share of the country could watch, we Comcast customers were left wanting.

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EPL Talk is reporting that beginning this season (which is like, next week), Premier League matches from England will be aired on ESPN2 twice a week. They will include the early morning Saturday kickoff, and Monday games.
You may remember many years ago the ESPN family aired the Monday games on tape delay, showing them in primetime here. Click to continue reading...

For the media outlets that do not cover soccer as wholeheartedly as the Big Four (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL), you are bound to get this question frequently: Will the sport ever reach the level of European football?The latest questioner was Comcast SportsNet's David Kaplan in Chicago during a Monday interview with Chicago Fire head coach Denis Hamlett. Click to continue reading...

ESPN360 is now available to Comcast customers a few days earlier than its originally planned August 4th launch date.

This is spectacular news for soccer fans who are also Comcast customers. ESPN360 is only available online to customers of ISPs who have contracted with ESPN to make the service available.

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ESPN today announced that several summer friendlies involving Premier League teams will be shown on ESPN360, its broadband product, this summer.

The games that will be shown live on ESPN360 are:

• Sunderland vs. Atletico Madrid, July 26, 1pm ET
• Chelsea vs. Club America, July 26, 7pm ET
• Manchester United vs.

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In case you missed it yesterday, here is the newest episode of Acess United. Host Tony Limarzi recaps the impressive 3-1 win over Colorado, previews Rochester (we won, we won!) and takes you behind the scenes of a Comcast SportsNet game production. Head over to dcunited.com every week for a new Access United.

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It's D.C. United week on Comcast SportsNet!

Here's the video from Tom Soehn's and Ben Olsen's appearances on Washington Post Live this week. More to come tomorrow..

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Midfielder joins. D.C. after two years in Spain, Italy
Washington, D.C. (July 15, 2009) - D.C. United today acquired midfielder Danny Szetela via its #2 allocation ranking. Szetela joins the Black-and-Red after spending two-plus years in Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie B. The 22-year old is currently with the team and will be available for selection upon receipt of his International Transfer Certificate. Click to continue reading...

It's a big week for D.C. United on Comcast SportsNet... and I mean BIG. Here's the rundown of everything happening..

Monday:Tom Soehn on Washington Post Live (5-6 p.m.)D.C. United vs. Leeds United from May 16, 1997 (7-9 p.m.) Tuesday:Ben Olsen on Washington Post Live (5-6 p.m.)D.C. Click to continue reading...

By CHRISTA MANN

When the midweek match-up between the L.A. Sol and St. Louis Athletica opened Week 16 in Women's Pro Soccer, it set the stage for tonight's games between Sky Blue FC (New Jersey) at the Boston Breakers (6:00 PM on FSC) and the Chicago Red Stars against the Bay Area's FC Gold Pride (8:00 PM Comcast).

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By CHRISTA MANN

When the midweek match-up between the L.A. Sol and St. Louis Athletica opened Week 16 in Women's Pro Soccer, it set the stage for tonight's games between Sky Blue FC (New Jersey) at the Boston Breakers (6:00 PM on FSC) and the Chicago Red Stars against the Bay Area's FC Gold Pride (8:00 PM Comcast).

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Chicago tries to continue climb in WPS standings
Just getting a victory was the hardest part, putting an end to a month-long drought for the Chicago Red Stars. Now that they have a well-played game to latch onto, they head into Sunday's match against FC Gold Pride with some confidence.
Chicago's Women's Professional Soccer game starts at 7 p. Click to continue reading...

In its years of broadcasting in North America, Setanta has been both a godsend and a detriment to the success of the Premier League in the United States. It's been a godsend because, in combination with Fox Soccer Channel, die-hard followers of the league have been able to watch almost every single Premier League for several years.

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We provide the following schedule as part of our ongoing partnership with ESPN360.com to keep you informed on all the soccer you can watch every week via their broadband service.
Below is this week's soccer schedule for ESPN360.com. As always, the entire schedule can be viewed via their RSS feed here. Click to continue reading...

Tune in to Comcast SportsNet's Washington Post Live tonight to see a pre-game interview with Chris Pontius. Host Ivan Carter will connect with Chris via Skype (from my desk, no less) to talk about tonight's game with the Red Bulls (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Are you aware that Chris has three goals and two assists in just two games against New York?

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Comcast SportsNet and United play-by-play man Dave Johnson was recently on vacation in London when he came upon a set of MLS jerseys for sale in a sports store (he snapped the above photo). Included next to Mr. Beckham's Galaxy kit were a number of home United kits - pretty cool!

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