Over the past few years, the USL-1 has had franchise issues that have affected the entire league in terms of scheduling and travel. Click to continue reading...

The Crew outshot United 8-2 in front of 16,000 rain soaked fans last night at RFK Stadium.

None of The Massive's shots found the net.

Columbus, who needed the win to secure their second-straight Supporter's Shield, played as sloppy as the marsh-like field. There was little spark to be found all night, and the few times The Crew threatened to score the chance was squandered.

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Going into this season many football critics debated which league was the strongest in the world.� Is it the Premier League or La Liga?� The Premier League is usually considered� the best by fans of the game regarding� the even play of the entire league, but with the additions that Real Madrid and Barcelona have acquired over the last off-season it looks like La Liga could have the two best clubs in all of the world.

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So after months of wondering what the second season of the W-League would bring, now Round 1 has come and gone. It had a grand final rematch that went all too much the same for Canberra fans at Ballymore and the rest of the girls all had a chance to play on the best pitches in Australia as curtain raisers for A-League games. Click to continue reading...

We all know yesterday's loss was a big blow to United's playoff hopes. The difference now from Saturday is that the team no longer controls its own destiny. D.C. has to win and hope a few key results go its way the last weeks of the regular season. The amazing thing about this year's campaign is how close the standings are, top to bottom (well, almost the bottom - sorry NYRB). Click to continue reading...

It was a busy week in Major League Soccer with a full set of matches starting with a midweek match (KC Wizards at DC United). The Columbus Crew played the Houston Dynamo in a matchup of the top teams in both Conferences which was the marquee match of the weekend. Overall the playoff races are getting closer and closer with only another month left in the regular season.

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In other more detached news, the Daily Mail say that we have beaten Celtic, Blackburn and and Man City to sign Marc Janko.� Note the word "beaten".� Not "beating", "beaten".� � If so, this is quite exciting.� � Janko, you see, scored 39 goals in 34 games for Salzburg last season, and while Austria is Austria, not many people score goals like that.

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Congratulations to Valencia Club de Futbol for winning the 2009 LLTO Most Improved Club Award.� Valencia was able to have a good year moving up four spots in the total rankings and have an opportunity to play in the UEFA Cup next season.� �

A year ago Valencia was a struggling club that at season's end were among the middle of the pack in the top-tier rankings.

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SPECIAL NOTE FROM NBC REGARDING MEXICO V USA WORLD CUP QUALIFIER ON AUG 12
Match: Wed Aug 12 Mexico v USA - 3pm Central time on mun2
NOTICE: According to NBC Universal TV, the obscure channel mun2 will be free for the day of the game via your regular cable or satellite system. Click to continue reading...

Everton manager David Moyes has admitted that he is treading with caution ahead of the pre-season friendly against the MLS All-Stars on Wednesday. The Toffees will come up against the best of the MLS players and Moyes is aware that Dominic Kinnear's squad could be very dangerous.

"It will be a tough game to face the select players from the entire league," Moyes told the club's official website.

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It should be no surprise that the LLTO Coach of the Year is none other then young rookie La Liga Primera Division manager Josep Guardiola of Barcelona.� Guardiola suceeded Frank Rijkaard as Barca's coach for the 2008/2009 season and the former Barca star� defensive midfielder brought with him his championship winning ways.

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When: Today 5pm
Where: Silverbacks Park, Atlanta, GA
The Tampa Bay Hellenic will find out real quick whether they have what it takes to compete with the elite in the W-League when they square off against the Washington Freedom this afternoon in an Eastern Conference semifinal match. Click to continue reading...

The entire league has now dragged themselves across the halfway mark, save the Revs (c'mon, guys, pick up the pace!). And while the Parity Pileup isn't quite as severe as it was last year, the potential is still there for it to get pretty... Click to continue reading...

I have a guest post this morning on Sport Is a TV Show on the subject of not liking anything and wanting to replace the entire league season with a penalty shootout. It's not what you'd call a serious argument, but I think it gets at the kernel of something true, which is that the league season wound up being relatively boring this year and it would have been better to replace the entire thing with a penalty shootout.

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With about a third of the Major League Soccer season, Chivas USA remains on top in the Western Conference while the Eastern Conference is very crowded. The top 4 teams are all within 2 points of each other. On Saturday there are 6 games with one on Sunday. Here's a full preview of this weekend's matches (all times are EST).

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It's almost 2 months into the season with a full slate of games this weekend in Major League Soccer. Western Conference leaders Chivas USA hosts Eastern Conference leaders DC, Chicago travels to Toronto, and many more. Here's a full preview of this weekend's games. All times listed are EST.

DC United at Chivas USA - Saturday - 11:00 PM - Fox Soccer Channel - A battle of the top teams in each Conference but Chivas clearly has been the best team in the entire league.

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It's the final weeks of the Premiership with Liverpool looking to catch Manchester United, and the last spot for the Europa league still up in the air. Here's a preview of the top games in the Premiership this weekend.

Liverpool at West Ham United - Liverpool have been in good form in the Premier league while West Ham has struggled lately.

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Charlie Davies was the lone American in midweek action in European soccer as Hammarby took on Kalmar FF in the Swedish Allsvenskan. Here's a full recap (along with video highlights) of Davies in Wednesday's match.

Charlie Davies - Hammarby IF - Swedish Allsvenskan - Hammarby moved to 15h place in the league table with a 1-4 loss against Kalmar FF on Wednesday evening.

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There are two games tonight in Major League with DC United facing Kansas City and the LA Galaxy traveling to Rio Tinto Stadium to play RSL. Here's a full preview of tonight's game.

DC United (Comcast SportsNet) at Kansas City Wizards (MetroSports) - Wednesday - 8:30 PM EST - Both teams started slow but have are now at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

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Cosmos' owner wants bygones to be bygones, and someone to take the team into MLS

In the May issue of Britain's FourFourTwo magazine Welsh midfielder and onetime New Englander Andy Dorman lists his MLS highlights as such: Winning the US Open Cup, playing against Cuauhtemoc Blanco, and "also, one time New York brought the old Cosmos players over and I met Pele and Beckenbauer.

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Cosmos' owner wants bygones to be bygones, and someone to take the team into MLS

In the May issue of Britain's FourFourTwo magazine Welsh midfielder and onetime New Englander Andy Dorman lists his MLS highlights as such: Winning the US Open Cup, playing against Cuauhtemoc Blanco, and "also, one time New York brought the old Cosmos players over and I met Pele and Beckenbauer.

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No Wizards soccer this week so I decided to dip my toes in the editorial waters of general soccer news.

So last week MLS President Don Garber was talking to the A.P. about how the downward economy has affected sports. As an example he mentioned that in the new Yankee Stadium (the house the Ruth didn't build and probably could not afford to watch a game in) there were empty seat.

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Who can compete with this?

"Don Garber discussing Yankee attendance must be a joke. We draw more people in a year than his entire league does in a year. If he ever gets Major League Soccer into the same time zone as the Yankees, we might take him seriously. Hey Don, worry about Beckham, not the Yankees.

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You catch the little spat between MLS commish Don Garber and New York Yankees prez Randy Levine?
Garber started it off by poking fun at the empty seats at the new Yankee Stadium. Levine did him one better:

"Don Garber discussing Yankee attendance must be a joke," Levine said yesterday.

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Friends, Romans and Canadians, I come to bury Carver, not to praise him.
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
As everyone knows by now, the John Carver era in Toronto officially ended on Saturday. CHRONICLE LIVE IN THE UK says "fans at the BMO Field club (are) gutted" over his departure. Click to continue reading...

Yes, those Yankees, or at least their president Randy Levine. As part of his comments at the Associated Press Editors Conference, Major League Soccer commissioner referred to empty front row seats at Yankee Stadium as "incomprehensible." Levine responded. "Don Garber discussing Yankee attendance must be a joke," the Associated Press quoted Levine as saying. Click to continue reading...

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Well, well, well.
It seems that the New York Yankees, as represented by their chubby, pasty-faced President, Randy Levine, have a pretty thin skin and don't allow outsiders to make germane observations about their operations, even when said observations are patently obvious to anyone with functional eyes. Click to continue reading...

Ooops, the Commish sticks his foot in his mouth:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Mention those empty seats at Yankee Stadium at your own risk.

Don Garber did.

A day after the Major League Soccer commissioner raised the subject, New York Yankees president Randy Levine blasted back.

"Don Garber discussing Yankee attendance must be a joke," Levine said Friday.

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It is not often that MLS Commissioner Don Garber seldom pisses off people in other sports. But yesterday he did.
Courtesy of ESPN:

NEW YORK -- Mention those empty seats at Yankee Stadium at your own risk.
Don Garber did.
A day after the Major League Soccer commissioner raised the subject, New York Yankees president Randy Levine blasted back.

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Wow ... talk about blowing a statement out of proportion.
Yesterday, Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber told the Associated Press Sports Editors that he'd noticed many unfilled seats at New York's two new baseball stadiums. The New York Yankees' premium seats were more than half-empty for the five games following their home opener. Click to continue reading...

There are pair of midweek games in Major League Soccer, with Toronto hosting Chivas USA Wednesday night and the Wizards hosting the Red Bulls on Thursday. Here's a preview of both games (times listed are Eastern US).

Chivas USA at Toronto FC - Wednesday - 7:30 pm - DirectKick/GolTV Canada - Toronto hosts Chivas USA at BMO Field looking to rebound from a loss at FC Dallas.

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While David Beckham is a forgotten man in the English Premier League, the world's most popular man is still causing controversy around Europe. When he signed for the Los Angeles Galaxy, he promised to make a splash into the American sports market. Being here in America, I witnessed the entire episode first hand, including seeing the reception he received in person at Gillette Stadium just outside Boston, Massachusetts. Click to continue reading...