No, there isn't thing officially saying that MLS is coming to Detroit, and I'm not insinuating that it is.

Today the Pontiac Silverdome was sold for peanuts, really. $583,000 for an 80,000-seat stadium. The Silverdome certainly has aged, and it hasn't aged well, but it could always be upgraded and when it's all said and done this firm, which at the moment is still anonymous, got it for a steal.

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Yesterday we found out that the new League was a go and today a number of sites confirm that the TOA will play the 2010 season in a new league.
Teams such as Miami FC, Atlanta Silverbacks, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, Carolina Railhawks and the Vancouver Whitecaps will soon be joined by a St. Click to continue reading...

Inside Minnesota Soccer has learned that the Minnesota Thunder have released all players from their contracts last Tuesday, November 3.

According to one player who was contracted with the Thunder, the team were forced to release the players as they could no longer pay their contracts and because they are free agents.

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Inside Minnesota Soccer has learned that the Minnesota Thunder have released all players from their contracts last Tuesday, November 3.

According to one player who was contracted with the Thunder, the team were forced to release the players as they could no longer pay their contracts and because they are free agents.

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The Minnesota Thunder have no general manager, no coach, 3 employees and a boat load of bills. Will they survive, and will Dean Johnson ask for help?

Four weeks ago, Inside Minnesota Soccer conducted a phone interview with Minnesota Thunder owner Dean Johnson while he was in Chicago trying to close a business deal.

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The Minnesota Thunder have no general manager, no coach, 3 employees and a boat load of bills. Will they survive, and will Dean Johnson ask for help?

Four weeks ago, Inside Minnesota Soccer conducted a phone interview with Minnesota Thunder owner Dean Johnson while he was in Chicago trying to close a business deal.

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Living in the shadow of a parent who was a professional athlete is never an easy thing to do. But Minnesota native Teal Bunbury is making his own mark on the soccer world.

Teal, the son of Alex and Kristi Bunbury is a sophomore forward for Division-I Akron of Ohio and this year leads his team with 10 goals and is also top for points with 23.

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Living in the shadow of a parent who was a professional athlete is never an easy thing to do. But Minnesota native Teal Bunbury is making his own mark on the soccer world.

Teal, the son of Alex and Kristi Bunbury is a sophomore forward for Division-I Akron of Ohio and this year leads his team with 10 goals and is also top for points with 23.

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As we are all awaiting the future of our top professional leagues in MLS & the USL when the 2010 calendar starts this coming January there will be some questions before their respective seasons start. At the same time we are going to also await the future structure of the next edition of the US Open Cup.

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Photo: VictoriaHighlandersFC.comThe Aztex finish their trip to the northwest still winless against all Canadian opponents. The Victoria Highlanders PDL side is either tougher than one would expect, or the Aztex were showing the effects of 4 games in 8 days and a less-than-stellar conclusion to the 2009 season. Click to continue reading...

With DC United in the process of finalizing a loan for Tiyi Shipalane from the Harrisburg City Islanders, I was pretty darn confused as to the status of our roster, since we'll now have 27 players listed on our first team roster when the league maximum is 24. Sounds like a good time for a late season roster reset!

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J P Rodrigues was born in Tampa and has played much of his professional career in the Sunshine State, but he is currently looking forward to playing in the great white North this winter. He has signed with the Milwaukee Wave of the National Indoor Soccer League, with the season starting in November. Click to continue reading...

Question #3 was: What will be the result of the sale of the USL?
Results:
35% - USL 1 will see steady growth
35% - Doesn't matter, we are all done for when the Mayan Calendar ends in 2012
10% - USL 1 will now prove its dominance over MLS
15% - Nothing will change
5% - Rowdies will find themselves without a league again, just like 1985
A full thirty-five percent of you think that USL 1 will have steady growth as a result of the sale by Nike to NuRock Soccer Partners. Click to continue reading...

As we have seen from the excellent reporting by Kartik and Brian Quarstad this week, the future of the United Soccer Leagues is very unclear and very much up in the air.

Whether or not some will admit it, the USL is very important to American soccer. Some have said the USL has no reason to exist, and that Major League Soccer and the USSF the latter of whom sometimes seem to be allergic to work can hand both the professional game and player development.

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On Monday, Inside Minnesota Soccer, in conjunction with Kartik Krishnaiyer, released the first of a three part series on the United Soccer Leagues. The series describes where the league has come from, where it might be going, and some of the behind-the-scenes events that have taken place over the last several years as the league and its USL-1 owners struggle for control and direction.

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On Monday, Inside Minnesota Soccer, in conjunction with Kartik Krishnaiyer, released the first of a three part series on the United Soccer Leagues. The series describes where the league has come from, where it might be going, and some of the behind-the-scenes events that have taken place over the last several years as the league and its USL-1 owners struggle for control and direction.

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Yesterday, Simon Evans of Reuters confirmed  that the disaffected TOA clubs are seriously contemplating forming a breakaway league. We also learned of the Ottawa Fury's application to move from the PDL to USL-1. Inside Minnesota Soccer and Major League Soccer Talk continue to provide the background that brought us to this point in time.

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Here's a link to the press release.

I know, this is MLS Talk, not USL Talk. But given recent events, this is newsworthy.

This has been rumored for awhile, not always the Fury, but that a party in Ottawa was interested in entering the USL First Division. But they picked a really strange time to do it, didn't they?

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Over at USLnews.com they have posted a press release from an outfit called the Team Owners Associaton (TOA). This cabal was formed in January 2008 to push for reform within the USL to get the heavy handed league ownership (was Marcos, then Umbro/Nike, and now NuRock) to relinquish control and ownership of the USL to the member clubs. Click to continue reading...

Since it was announced last week that the United Soccer Leagues had been put on the block by their parent company, sportswear behemoth Nike, I was curious in the outcome, but wanted to withhold speculation until the sale was completed. Nike came to own the USL by virtue of their takeover of Umbro in early 2008. Click to continue reading...

Everton Biggest Ins: No one of major note has come in for Everton this summer...that is unless you are a fan of the PDL. Cody Arnoux and Anton Peterlin come in with David Moyes giving them a one year look to see if they work. If what happened...
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This man is all smiles thinking about coming back to MLS.
According to Steve Goff's SoccerInsider Twitter, former San Jose Earthquakes and Ventura County Fusion 5'11" speedy Liberian forward is on trial with DC United.
Smarte only played 3 games in 2008 with the Quakes and was released last year ending up with the Ventura County Fusion. Click to continue reading...

Indulge me.

It has been a traumatic weekend for those of us who are fans of Norwich City, perhaps the worst in club history.

This weekend City suffered its worst home defeat of all time, occurring on the opening weekend of play in inaccurately-named League One, the lowest level of English football Norwich have seen in 50 years.

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Saturday, August 8, 2009 - USL Soccer.com

VENTURA, CA The Ventura County Fusion won the 2009 USL Premier Development League title Saturday night at Buena High School, beating the Chicago Fire 2-1 despite playing for nearly an hour with just 10 men. Fusion midfielder Alfonso Motagalvan scored the winning goal deep into injury time to send the sellout crowd into raptures.

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Saturday, August 8, 2009 - USL Soccer.com

VENTURA, CA The Ventura County Fusion won the 2009 USL Premier Development League title Saturday night at Buena High School, beating the Chicago Fire 2-1 despite playing for nearly an hour with just 10 men. Fusion midfielder Alfonso Motagalvan scored the winning goal deep into injury time to send the sellout crowd into raptures.

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Friday, August 7
W-League Final
Pali Blues 2:1 Washington Freedom
Pali repleats as W-League champs USLsoccer.com
Charleston Battery 2:1 Vancouver Whitecaps
Charleston chews up weary Caps Vancouver Sun
Battery beats Whitecaps, 2-1 Charleston Post and Courier
Crystal Palace Baltimore 0 - 0 Harrisburg City Islanders
City Islanders go goalless again PennLive. Click to continue reading...

This action packed episode of the Major League Soccer Talk Podcast features post match audio from Juan Carlos Osorio after Red Bull was dumped out of the CONCACAF Champions League, as well some analysis by host Kartik Krishnaiyer about the advancement of DC United and Puerto Rico Islanders into the group stage of the CCL.

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The Wizards once again defeated Kansas City's PDL team, the Brass today at the Swope Park training complex 7-1. KC started their first game under Peter Vermes with what could potentially be a starting lineup against Chicago a week from Sunday.
Hartman
Watson - Conrad - Hohlbein - Besler
Hirsig
Harrington - Jewsbury - Gomez
Zoltan - Wolff
Adam Cristman apparently missed the game due to being sick, while Davy Arnaud, Claudio Lopez, and Roger Espinoza are recovering from minor injuries. Click to continue reading...

But this time Puerto Rico beat an MLS team in CONCACAF play, once again reigniting a debate which MLS apologists do not want to have.
I have to say I am somewhat offended that many of my colleagues and friends in the soccer blogger community have seemingly chosen to ignore the success of USL sides in CONCACAF competition while continuing to discuss MLS' failures in a vacuum. Click to continue reading...

Don Garber

The Big Story

Don Garber's been all over the place on the anniversary of his ten years as MLS Commissioner. A particularly interesting in-depth interview is on Reuters Soccer Blog. Garber all but confirms Montreal as the next expansion team ("A very strong position yes.

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Some good news concerning Les Rosbif friend Lloyd Butler. Having been released by Geylang United in Singapore, the former non-league striker has turned up playing for the Prime League (reserve) side of crack team Singapore Armed Forces FC. It could represent a great move for young Butler, who, if he impresses, looks a good bet [. Click to continue reading...

The Ventura County Fusion will host the 2009 PDL Final after crushing the Bradenton Academics 6-1 in Laredo, Texas. The neutral site game which was played approximately halfway between the two teams home sites in California and Florida respectively was surprisingly a rout. Ventura County's success in these playoffs is even more remarkable given the fact that the team lost Anton Peterlin midseason to Everton of the English Premier League.

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The final sweep of Les Rosbifs has led to as few more players leaving the list, the most notable of whom is Tommy Mooney. The former Watford, Aston Villa, Scarborough, Southend United, Birmingham City and Walsall (to name many) striker has decided to hang up his boots after an extensive career spanning the English leagues. Click to continue reading...

Rochester, MN – Forward Teal Bunbury was honored with the Rochester Thunder's first-ever post-season individual award last week as he was named to the Premier Development League's Central Conference All-Conference team. The team is composed of players from the PDL's Heartland and Great Lakes Divisions.

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Rochester, MN – Forward Teal Bunbury was honored with the Rochester Thunder's first-ever post-season individual award last week as he was named to the Premier Development League's Central Conference All-Conference team. The team is composed of players from the PDL's Heartland and Great Lakes Divisions.

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