Just a couple of completely unrelated bits to pass on... Back to the Future? The always excellent Jonathan Wilson (a review of his latest book is coming soon!) looks at the possibility of the return of the libero given the trend towards... Click to continue reading...

Big news from the bowels of MLS HQ (via MLSNet.com)... Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber has announced that for the first time in its history, MLS will not play League games during the group phase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Fantastic,... Click to continue reading...

Raise your hand if you've worried about how much your kids do in a given year and if you are ruining their lives. Come on you over there. As soccer season kicks off and schedules get busier, it's a common concern. Joel Maners passed on a recent article in the Wall Street Journal that debunks the common belief that our kids are over scheduled:

we have some data about how kids spend their hours.

Click to continue reading...

The Finnish newspapers have been full of talk about Veikkausliiga's apparent 'crisis' in the last few weeks. Domestic football in Finland has long suffered from poor facilities, low attendances, players leaving for richer foreign leagues, but these problems have become more prominent recently, and the football media has not been slow to point out the difficulties.

Click to continue reading...

VPS Vaasa 2 Honka 5

Highlights

TPS Turku 0 JJK Jyväskylä 0

Highlights

The ice hockey world championships is getting quite a lot of media coverage in Finland at the moment, and ahead of today's Czech Republic-Norway game I asked Lars what he thought of the Norwegian team's chances.

Click to continue reading...

(Summary is not available.) Click to continue reading...

I'll probably do another TvT shortly to catch up on some of the stories I've been meaning to address. But for now, it's all MLS, all the time, as Garber and Gazidis strike back. MLS Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes Rosters are reduced from 28 to 24, while the senior roster expands from 18 to 20. Couple that senior roster expansion with some "wiggle room" in summer fixture dates, vague promises of not Click to continue reading...

The two semi finals were played last night, and to be honest I was embarassed for all four teams, everyone that went to watch them, and the competition itself. The game I saw was Haka v Honka, and finished 1-0 to the Espoo side, but it was a travesty of a match. First the positives: Rasmus [...] Click to continue reading...

You wouldn't know it from looking at the results over the last month and a half, but we have three games left in what really is the worst stretch of the schedule all season for the Men in Orange. With games in no less than five countries, thousands of miles of travel, multiple games of high pressure, drama and significant consequence, Dynamo are meeting a challenge unlike that faced by any MLS team ever. Click to continue reading...

Professional soccer in the U.S. from March to August should play a 40 game schedule.  The schedule should exclude any other type of inter-league or international club play till after the American season is completed.  This schedule will keep the U.S. sports fan focused on the beginning, middle and end to the pro soccer season. Click to continue reading...

Dynamo will get their 2007 championship rings Saturday night before the game against las chivitas, but, to my continuing irritation, I will be absent from the ceremonies.
Dynamo have played three games at Robertson so far this season, and despite this being my first year as a season-book holder, I have been to exactly one of these, a frustrating 0-0 tie against Saprissa in CCC play. Click to continue reading...

I was in the process of writing up my preview for the FC Dallas - Houston game, and for some reason I thought it was a weekend game with the other playoff games (I know some think Friday night is the weekend kickoff but its still technically a weekday). But upon further review for my [...] Click to continue reading...

In a rare Monday night game the Houston Dynamo look to rebound after a loss to the LA Galaxy while Real Salt Lake hopes to spoil and chances of Houston moving up the ladder in the western conference standings and passing Chivas USA. Weird kind of scheduling really if you ask me to get a game [...] Click to continue reading...

Maybe Monday will be my big day from here on out....
- Seeing Michael Harrington's name on the score sheet for KC yet again has me thinking about Rookie of the Year for some reason. There's Harrington, New England's Adam Cristman, arguably Robbie Findley...and....and...I'm sure there are other candidates out there. Anyone want to enlighten a lazy man? Click to continue reading...