Been tossing this idea around for a while now, figured I would flesh it out a little bit here. Note: this is MLS only. Today's Entry: The Front Office Front Office Peter Bridgwater I'll let his Wiki page do the talking: "He had been involved with professional soccer in San Jose since 1984, when he was named [. Click to continue reading...

Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) became the first major professional sports league in the world* to create its own social networking site today with the launch of the online WPS Fan Zone branded for now as "Beijing Now, WPS Next".

This is another indication that this League is going to be very smart and efficient in the way it connects with its fan base. Click to continue reading...

It must be an amazing feeling to be a rookie and score your first career goal. Amazing. Patrick Nyarko got that feeling tonight while playing in his fifth career match. Prior to tonight he hadn't started a game and he had not played more then 65 minutes of professional soccer. That didn't stop him from scoring for the Fire. Click to continue reading...

I arrived in Philadelphia on Thursday excited to represent the Women's Committee at the NSCAA Board of Director's meeting. When I got there, I was cordially welcomed by Al Albert, the NSCAA President. He asked me if I'd be willing to accept a position on the BOD as the Women's Professional Soccer representative. Click to continue reading...

Injured USWNT star Leslie Osborne spent yesterday in Chicago promoting the Chicago Red Stars and Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). She flew in from LA ridiculously early and was picked up by Red Stars Head Coach Emma Hayes who took her to the IWSL Fall Seeding Meeting in Schaumburg, which started at 7:30 am. Click to continue reading...

An interesting move by the Chicago Fire as they acquire the rights to Brian McBride from Toronto F.C. The Fire won't actually get to have McBride play for them until after the Olympic games are over, but that will serve as a good way to get him into game shape and ready for the stretch run and the playoffs. Click to continue reading...

The Toyota Park Annex (aka as the Chicago Red Stars office) has been rockin' with action lately. Consider:

* The interior rehab was recently completed with the addition of cubes for our sales staff and interns.
* The exterior design was completed yesterday with the addition of Red Stars and Toyota Park logos, Women's Professional Soccer word mark and a number of red stars. Click to continue reading...

Yawn. I think the most exciting soccer-related thing I've come across recently was the head wound I picked up at my game on Monday. Seriously, y'all.

Anyway, I figured it was time for another periodic update from the Great White North...

Toronto FC's extended streak of mediocrity continues, as they drew 1-1 with the Montreal Impact yesterday in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship (god, what a stupid name). Click to continue reading...

New signings to make a difference at Sengkang
Syahrom Sulaiman info@sleague.com
All season long, Sengkang Punggol's well-documented problems up front became a major talking point in the S.League. Currently occupying the last spot, the Dolphins' inability to convert the chances in front of goal is putting them in danger of finishing the season on a new low. Click to continue reading...

My new friend, Chris Courtney from Letters From Vagabondia, has written a great piece tracking the evolution of the American player in Europe. Chris had the enviable job of actually getting paid to cover US Players in Europe as a writer and reporter for Soccer Times! He has done a great job of capturing the trends and key names in his Part 1 post (1980s to the mid 1990s). Click to continue reading...

Chase Hilgenbrinck's decision to leave MLS for the seminary and eventual priesthood was surprising but not sudden. The former Revolution defender tells the story ...

Why?
Because I feel called. I've actually had my calling. I've been discerning this decision for several years now.

Click to continue reading...

Claudio, we hardly knew you. At least as an American player in an American league, we didn't get to see you in action till the very end, and even then we barely go to know you. Claudio Reyna is expected to announce his retirement from professional soccer and the New York Red Bulls tomorrow. I must say that I have mixed feelings about Reyna's career. Click to continue reading...

I just received the following in my inbox from RBNY's communications dept.

***MEDIA ADVISORY***

SECAUCUS, NJ (July 15, 2008) – Red Bull New York Designated Player and captain Claudio Reyna will hold a news conference on Wednesday, July 16 at 2 PM in the first floor Board Room at St. Click to continue reading...

Chase Hilgenbrinck has retired from professional soccer to become a priest.
(From the Revs press release) "After years of discernment, I feel strongly that the Lord has called me to become a priest in the Catholic Church," Hilgenbrinck said. "Playing professional soccer has been my passion for a long time and I feel blessed to have successfully lived out this dream. Click to continue reading...

Goff alerted me to a unique story today.

According to the New England Revolution, 26-year-old defender Chase Hilgenbrinck has retired from soccer to pursue his goals of becoming a Catholic priest.

Here's a snippet from the release:

"After years of discernment, I feel strongly that the Lord has called me to become a priest in the Catholic Church," Hilgenbrinck said.

Click to continue reading...

CHICAGO (July 8, 2008) –Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) announced today the details of its player selection process leading into the kickoff of its inaugural season in April 2009. The Chicago Red Stars and all other WPS teams will build their rosters through an allocation of U.S. Women's National Team stars, a draft of international players, combines, additional League drafts and local team tryouts. Click to continue reading...

The Springfield Soccer Club has initiated their Under 23 Men's Program, which will open their season with a pair of games in St Louis this weekend and one in Bentonville on Sunday. For the 2008 season the team will play six away matches and three home matches at the Lake Country Soccer Complex.

The objective of the program is to provide a professional soccer environment for college age players.

Click to continue reading...

The Springfield Soccer Club has initiated their Under 23 Men???s Program, which will open their season with a pair of games in St Louis this weekend and one in Bentonville on Sunday. For the 2008 season the team will play six away matches and three home matches at the Lake Country Soccer Complex.

Click to continue reading...

So you read in today's story that Women's Professional Soccer may add an eighth and ninth team for its 2009 launch. Which cities are in the running? Let's ask WPS commissioner Tonya Antonucci:

- San Diego: "We're really actively involved in conversations with a group in San Diego.

Click to continue reading...

A few quick items to finish the day:

*Red Bull New York has sold more than 40,000 tickets for its July 19th game against the Galaxy. Last year you'll recall New York prevailed 5-4 on a Juan Pablo Angel goal two minutes from the end of regulation despite a dominating performance by David Beckham that included two assists before a crowd of more than 66,000.

Click to continue reading...

What was first alluded to here, is now in fact out in the open. According to this story:


"A professional soccer stadium could be coming to Somerville to jumpstart commercial development in a long-underutilized business district. Last week city officials announced a study, funded by Herb Chambers and the Kraft Group, "designed to help the City promote economic development in both neighborhoods" of Inner Belt and Brickbottom according to the June 23 release. Click to continue reading...

The headline topics are not related (hopefully anyway) except that they're the two topics in this post:

Instead of road tripping with Section 8's buses to Columbus for the Fire's frustrating 2-2 tie with the Crew yesterday, i took in the historic reunion tour of seminal 60's British invasion band The Zombies at their Summerfest stop on Milwaukee's lakefront. Click to continue reading...

The best team in Europe won the European championship. But before we defend this (hardly controversial) claim, a discussion of the pregame ceremony is in order:

First, that techno-waltz thing. Okay, I get it: Austria is the home of Mozart and other famous musicians like Falco, and Vienna was where they were playing the game. Click to continue reading...

When I first heard about the Major League Lacrosse exhibition at Wake Med Soccer Park, I wasn't surprised (as Triangle Professional Soccer explicitly negotiated their lease with the Town of Cary to include Lacrosse rights), but I have to admit that I was worried that it might be the first step in the imminent investment by TPS in an MLL team in the Triangle. Click to continue reading...

No, I'm not talking about a player or coach. The key signing that MLS should make if it really wants to establish itself within the sporting world of the United States and within the world of soccer is English, but his name is not David Beckham, its David Dein. You can get a sense of David Dein's accomplishments by reading about him on the link that I've enclosed, but the man was vice-chairman of Arsenal, vice-chairman of the English Football Association, and chairman of the G14. Click to continue reading...