Colorado Caribous 1978 jersey. Can't wait to see this brought back!

"Party Like It's 1979″, says the usually stone cold sober Kenn Tomasch. "The future of American soccer appears to be the past of American soccer."

Kenn writes this because news broke today that the breakaway second-tier league made-up of nine former USL and new clubs may use the North American Soccer League name for itself, after Miami FC put in two trademark claims.

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The Portland Timbers headed into the offseason earlier than expected, but there was a sense of optimism at looking towards the final season of USL soccer before making the move to MLS in 2011. Needless to say, I don't think anyone in the green and white could have imagined that significant changes were going to hit even before the big move. Click to continue reading...

Photo credit: zz77 on Flickr

Does God care about soccer? There are certainly a good number of players, fans, and teams who think it likely. Take Diego Maradona bringing "his Argentina squad to mass to pray for a World Cup miracle." Or take Fred earning a yellow card for celebrating a DC United goal with the message "Jesus Loves You.

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The list of things to do in the nation's capital grew even longer today, as D.C. United keeper Josh Wicks underwent successful surgery to repair his dislocated shoulder that ended his 2009 campaign. Wicks injured his shoulder in a nasty fall during United's 2-1 loss to San Jose on September 27.

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The list of things to do in the nation's capital grew even longer today, as D.C. United keeper Josh Wicks underwent successful surgery to repair his dislocated shoulder that ended his 2009 campaign. Wicks injured his shoulder in a nasty fall during United's 2-1 loss to San Jose on September 27.

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It's been six days since US National Team forward Charlie Davies was seriously injured in a car accident that took the life of a young woman. As I've written, and as others have reiterated, the...

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Courtesy of OregonLive through WVHooligan comes an update on the Portland MLS efforts: Timbers owner Merritt Paulson is talking tough about a potential stadium deal with the city of Beaverton for his...

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I guess Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson is just playing some hardball with the city of Portland now. According to Oregonlive.com, Paulson told Beaverton officials that the future of Major League Soccer in Portland hinges entirely on whether he can find a new home for his minor league baseball team.

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In my last recap of the 2009 season, I failed to mention a couple of successes that merit mention. The 2009 Portland Timbers have two cups to add to their list of awards, as they are 2009 Cascadia Cup champions... Click to continue reading...

Now that the United States national team has assured itself a place in the 2010 World Cup, the American soccer community can turn its attention back to the domestic game. This season has been unlike any other in any other in recent memory, as both Major League Soccer and the United Soccer Leagues have produced compelling story lines throughout 2009.

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We'll shortly announce officially that we've acquired goalkeeper Steve Cronin on loan from the Portland Timbers (United Soccer League First Division). The club received approval from MLS to obtain the 26-year old as an extreme hardship roster addition. Cronin joined the team at training for the first time today.

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The United States has qualified for every World Cup since breaking their forty year drought back in 1990. That's six in a row, a feat that is impressive in itself, no matter their ultimate...

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No clever title today, and I'm in a bit of a rush to get this out, so you're going to have to take what you can get. Eddie Johnson is desperate for a loan move away from Fulham according to the...

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Yes, the USL-1 Finals are between Canadian teams. This isn't the problem. The problems is that the USL (all levels: 1, 2, PDL, SuperY, WLeague) was purchased by a group that currently does not operate a team NuRock Sports. They do have the rights to operate a team in Birmingham, AL [...] Click to continue reading...

Futty Danso

The reason Mamadou "Futty" Danso wore the rather odd number 98 for the Portland Timbers this year says a lot about globalization and soccer. The story starts in his native Gambia, where he grew up carefully watching African players who found success on the international scene.

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Portland 3-3 Vancouver (Whitecaps take the series 5-4 aggregate)
The USL final is set and it will be an all-Canadian affair with the Vancouver Whitecaps taking on the Montreal Impact.

Brian Farber scored two first half goals for Commissioners Cup champion Portland Timbers but it just wasn't enough as 14,283Â fans watched from PGE Park.

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The USL final is set and it will be an all-Canadian affair with the Vancouver Whitecaps taking on the Montreal Impact.

Portland 3-3 Vancouver (Whitecaps take the series 5-4 aggregate)

Brian Farber scored two first half goals for Commissioners Cup champion Portland Timbers but it just wasn't enough as 14,283Â fans watched from PGE Park.

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I just watched the second leg of the Vancouver-Portland USL1 semifinal, and it was pretty entertaining stuff. Sure it was played on a rug, some of the violence on the pitch was borderline criminal (I'm aware of the MLS glass house I'm living in),... Click to continue reading...

STARTERS
Ugh - The USA U20 team laid another egg at the World Cup. Losing 3-0 to South Korea. And again they looked quite inept on the green. Strange team. Horrible in game 1, very good in game 2, horrible in game 3.
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Official Web Site, and video highlights from all the games. Click to continue reading...

The United Soccer League announced on Wednesday that Minnesota Thunder's Ricardo Sanchez was picked as a midfielder to the All-League First Team.

The USL First Division's 2009 All-League First Team, honoring the top 11 players of the season, is voted on by the league's coaches and general managers.

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The United Soccer League announced on Wednesday that Minnesota Thunder's Ricardo Sanchez was picked as a midfielder to the All-League First Team.

The USL First Division's 2009 All-League First Team, honoring the top 11 players of the season, is voted on by the league's coaches and general managers.

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A heart-breaking Sounders FC loss to New England was sad not just as a result. But it might have been the last time Revolution midfielder Steve Ralston took the field.
The league's all-time leader in games and minutes played tore his ACL on Saturday.
At 35 years old, he could be done. Click to continue reading...

It wasn't as exhilarating as last year, when the Islanders scored 3 goals at home (the last one on the 119′ in overtime) to win the 2008 Semi-Final match up 3-2 on aggregate; but the Islanders duplicated the same feat this year: they knocked out the Rochester Rhinos of the USL-1 Playoffs.

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Three Games took place on Sunday that determined the semifinals of the USL-1 playoffs.

Montreal, Puerto Rico and Vancouver join Commissioners Cup Winner Portland Timbers to fill out semifinal bracket.

Montreal Impact
The Montreal Impact (5th place) qualified for the USL-1 semifinals, with a 2-1 win (4-1 on aggregate goals) over the Charleston Battery (4th place), Sunday at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina.

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Three games took place on Sunday that determined the semifinals of the USL-1 playoffs.

Montreal, Puerto Rico and Vancouver join Commissioners Cup Winner Portland Timbers to fill out semifinal bracket.

Montreal Impact
The Montreal Impact (5th place) qualified for the USL-1 semifinals with a 2-1 win (4-1 on aggregate goals) over the Charleston Battery (4th place), Sunday at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina.

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Assist Leaders – Ricardo Sanchez (Minnesota Thunder) & Wes Knight (Vancouver Whitecaps)

Ricardo Sanchez - Photo by Jermey Olson digitalgopher.net

In his 3rd year in the league and 2nd season with the Thunder, Ricardo Sanchez, the Guadalajara, Mexico native has been honored by the United Soccer Leagues for his league leading 8 assists.

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Assist Leaders – Ricardo Sanchez (Minnesota Thunder) & Wes Knight (Vancouver Whitecaps)

Ricardo Sanchez - Photo by Jermey Olson digitalgopher.net

In his 3rd year in the league and 2nd season with the Thunder, Ricardo Sanchez, the Guadalajara, Mexico native has been honored by the United Soccer Leagues for his league leading 8 assists.

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CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Official Web Site, and video highlights from all the games.
dN
Group Stage
Matchday 4:
-Tue Sep 22
Puerto Rico Islanders 1-1 Saprissa - PRI goal by Josh Hansen. Sap goal by Kenall Watson.
Metapan 0-4 Pachuca - Pac goals by Ulises Mendivil(2), Edy German Brambila & Edgar Benítez. Click to continue reading...

STARTERS
I want to float this idea right now: Next season in Kansas City the head coach should be Preki! You read it here first.
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Official Web Site, and video highlights from all the games.
dN
Cruz Azul got a decisive win in Columbus last night and has officially advanced to the knock out rounds. Click to continue reading...

Regular season USL-1 play has now concluded for 2009. The playoffs start tomorrow (Thursday). Sure it would have been nice to see Austin there; but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. We might as well get a head start on looking back.
Both of the league's expansion teams, the Austin Aztex and the Cleveland City Stars, fared poorly in their inaugural seasons, winding up at the bottom of the final standings:
P
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
1 Portland Timbers 30 16 10 4 45 19 +26 58 2 Carolina RailHawks FC 30 16 7 7 43 19 +24 55 3 Puerto Rico Islanders 30 15 8 7 44 31 +13 53 4 Charleston Battery 30 14 11 5 33 21 +12 53 5 Montreal Impact 30 12 7 11 32 31 +1 43 6 Rochester Rhinos 30 11 10 9 34 32 +2 43 7 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 30 11 9 10 42 36 +6 42 8 Minnesota Thunder 30 7 10 13 39 44 -5 31 9 Miami FC 30 8 5 17 26 52 -26 29 10 Austin Aztex FC 30 5 8 17 28 51 -23 21* 11 Cleveland City Stars 30 4 19 7 22 52 -30 19
As you can see, the Aztex escaped the very last spot, if barely. Click to continue reading...

Portland Timbers Army tifo design

Photo credit: ohhh_yeah808, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

Related posts:

1. Photo Daily | October 3 | Timbers Playoff Fever
2. Photo Daily | October 1 | Tartan Army in Lithuania
3. Photo Daily | November 14 | Houston's Texian Army

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I say (nearly) because there's one game (Austin at Miami, September 5) with no reported attendance. If you know about Miami, there's a possibility there was no actual attendance, but until I get a number, the chart below gives you a fairly good picture of how things went in USL's top division this year:

Team G Total Avg. Click to continue reading...

The Portland Timbers Kids Club held their annual party last Sunday with over 60 members taking part. The 2 hour party included a mini-clinic run by Timbers players, food prizes and a Timbers autograph session. Rick CurwenThe kids listen intently... Click to continue reading...

The Portland Timbers have secured the first seed in the playoffs.
Carolina RailHawks, Puerto Rico Islanders, Charleston Battery will battle in the last round of matches for 2nd thru 4th.
Montreal Impact, Rochester Rhinos, Vancouver Whitecaps will fight for 5th thru 7th place during the final round of regular season matches. Click to continue reading...

Perhaps my most powerful experience of soccer fandom, amidst years of following MLS, the English Premier League, and the World Cup, came in a college basketball arena at the University of Portland (UP) in the early winter of 2005. Along with a thousand locals, I watched a projected ESPN feed from Texas of a national championship game where my little University team (~3500 students) was playing the giants of UCLA (~38000 students).

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