SoccerBlogs

When the goals rain in, they pour against the Philadelphia Union.

As if nothing could get worse after the problems the team has had tonight, the third goal that the Union gave up was mired in controversy.

Referee Mark Geiger, much maligned in American soccer circles for what has been criticized as inconsistent and incorrect game calling, pointed to the spot after a Carlos Valdes challenge on Will Bruin.

Photo: Paul Rudderow

What does Peter Nowak expect from Colorado? "As I said to these guys (post-game) in the locker room in Portland, the Colorado team is going to be even more physical than this team. The game is going to be fast, they're going to go up and down, they're capable of doing good things.

Photo: Paul Rudderow, from Wednesday night's Fan Fest. Look for our photo essay of the event later today.

Peter Nowak says not to rush to judgement of the team after just one game. "I've said it before, I think we have the right pieces to make a run, but we need to progress and I think that is going to come with time.

Find out why Kyle Martino is the next Ryan Seacrest and Austin Berry wished he had taken some lessons in Turkish vocabulary before heading to Spain.

Roche kicks off the 2013 season by talking to Stars in Danger host (and NBC Sports Network soccer analyst) Kyle Martino about the current U.

The Memorial Day holiday is upon us and that includes a full slate of games on national television.� In addition to Major League Soccer, the USMNT will play a friendly versus Scotland at Everbank Filed in Jacksonville.� The Scotland match will be televised by NBC Sports Network and will feature the network's lead soccer tandem of Arlo White and Kyle Martino.

Photo: Earl Gardner

Danny Califf says of Monday's game, "It's always really exciting every time the games come around," said Califf, who will be 32 on March 17. "It's the first one, especially when things are buzzing. Portland the place is going to be crazy. They're going to be flying.

On Wednesday afternoon NBC hosted a conference call to discuss its upcoming first year of Major League Soccer coverage. Footiebusiness contributor Dave Laidig was on the call and presents this summary of the event.

NBCSports starts their coverage this Sunday with FC Dallas and
NYRB , and previewed their coverage to the press on Wednesday.

Every season the Sports Business Journal provides an excellent in-depth look at the upcoming Major League Soccer season.� A link to the excellent grouping of stories is here. The lead story is about the new relationship between NBC and MLS.

In August MLS and NBC� announced a three year television rights agreement that will put Major League Soccer on the Peacock and its affiliated sports channel from 2012-2014.

NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) has found Arlo White's broadcast partner in Kyle Martino, according to a tweet by Grant Wahl.

The Sports Illustrated columnist reports that he is "hearing Kyle Martino to sign with @NBCSN as analyst for MLS/US broadcasts."

Wahl went on to say that it "sounds like FOX doesn't want to let Martino out of contract as Sounders did with Arlo White.

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

What: Union vs DC United

When: 8pm ET

Where: PPL Park, Chester, PA, USA

TV: ESPN2

Radio: I'm still waiting for the call

Only one team in the East has more than three wins on the road.

Click here to view the embedded video.

"And I applaud the team because there was a lot of heart, even in a very difficult situation, a very physical game, they did the job done so it's a very positive sign especially being behind and then also the young group we have."

Well said, Peter Nowak.

One of the biggest off-season stories was the start of the NBC/MLS relationship.� To date, the broadcasts have been high quality, the announcers first rate and the ratings slightly better than expected.� Most impressive has been promotional efforts of the Peacock.� The NBC Sports Network has done an excellent job putting MLS in front of their NHL audience and during other telecasts.

Editor's note: The following piece was originally published in November of 2010. In light of the allegation about Peter Nowak and the Philadelphia Union perhaps risking the health of players, TSG republishes it here today.

This is a guest post by Fox Soccer host and former USMNT player Kyle Martino

Visit Kyle's new web site here.

After finally winning a game again, the Philadelphia Union (9-7-12) will travel to Kansas City tonight and will vault back in first place tonight with a win against Sporting Kansas City (10-9-10). Kickoff at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park is scheduled for 8:36:30 PM ET.

If you have not already, be sure to check out the following preview from The Brotherly Game staff: [Ben's Match Preview] [Friday Afternoon Union Freekicks] [Scott Has A Conversation With The Enemy].

By ADAM SERRANO

CARSON, Calif. --Pat Noonan scored in stoppage time to help the Los Angeles Galaxy steal a late point from FC Dallas in a 1-1 draw at Home Depot Center on Saturday night.�

Shea converted a penalty kick in the 61st minute after Galaxy back-up goalkeeper Bill Guadette brought down forward Blas Perez in the box a the Panamanian drove towards goal after a defensive miscue by the Galaxy's David Junior Lopes.

• Mastroeni is experiencing post-concussion -like symptoms and has been held out of practice the last two days.

At 3:00 Eastern on Sunday, NBC kicked off its three years of MLS coverage on Sunday with a live broadcast from Frisco, Texas.� As we often do for big soccer telecasts, we prepared a business blog of the event.� Generally, the reviews of NBC's fist broadcat were extremely positive.� Both the booth and studio teams drew high reviews and production values were first rate.