The Offside 22 November @ 04:21 PM EST
This is what MLS has been waiting for; a chance to show off their trophy player and their showcase
franchise, on the grandest stage they have to offer. In front of what is expected to be a
tremendous audience at QWest Field in Seattle, MLS stars will be shining brightly in one of the
[...]
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The Major League Soccer season comes to a close on Sunday, November 22, 2009 with the Los
Angeles Galaxy v Real Salt Lake. The two teams meet in the MLS Cup Finals at Qwest Field in
Seattle. The Galaxy feature David Beckham and Landon Donovan while Real Salt has had a great run to
make it into the finals.
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Match Fit USA 22 November @ 09:28 AM EST
The entirety of the MLS season comes down to tonight at 8:30 ET (ESPN2) when the Los Angeles Galaxy
face off against Real Salt Lake at Seattle's Qwest Field. Over 40,000 are expected to be in...
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Image via LA Galaxy
Normally I like to post something ahead of time for my podcast guests but since I just got back
from my honeymoon and MLS Cup is Sunday I didn't have any time to post this one ahead of time.
Having said that this week's guest on the Jared Montz Soccer Podcast is Sean Franklin.
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SEATTLE -- The teams arrived in Seattle last night, all staying near the teeming town center,
presumably to be close Pike Place Market in case they get the urge to throw some fish.
From a competition standpoint, I find it interesting that the teams didn't arrive a little
earlier. On the one hand, I do get it: they want proper training during the week, and that's more
manageable in nicer conditions.
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With J Hutcherson -- And some eyes turn to Seattle. More than you would think if the Western
Conference Final rating is an indication. That game was scheduled at an inconvenient time for the
East Coast, so maybe prime time on Sunday works out. The major competition is NBC's Football Night
In America.
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FINALLY on the ground in Seattle no thanks to 2 hours sitting on the runway upon departure (damn
you crashing air traffic control computers!). I've got to run downstairs and try to catch the
Galaxy arriving at the hotel but I didn't want to forget that punk rock business I mentioned
earlier in the day so here you go.
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Du Nord 19 November @ 06:40 AM EST
SEE YOU IN SEATTLEIt's MLS Cup Weekend - So come and party with your friends on Friday night!
The Designated Players - du Nord, Soccer by Ives, The Original Winger, This Is American Soccer and
The Offside Rules - will be hosting a get together on Friday night in Seattle at Kells Pub.
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From the Galaxy press release:
"As part of the tour, the Galaxy were scheduled to face FC Kaiserslautern on Thursday,
November 26, and a second opponent on Tuesday, December 1 in Germany .
"We are very disappointed to announce the cancellation of our 2009 Postseason Tour due to a lack
of communication and performance by the tour's organizer and promoter IMC Group, Inc," said
President of Business Operations Tom Payne.
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This weekends MLS Cup final in Seattle is David Beckham's biggest game in the U.S. So how is
Becks preparing for the game? In a cast of course!
I was shocked when I saw this picture from Splash News of Beckham with a cast on his foot, a la
Tom Brady before his last SuperBowl game. And we all know how that turned out for Brady.
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It's on. The first ever full meeting of the 5 Designated Players families is finally set to happen
at MLS Cup. Ives, Bruce, Adam, Beans, Dunny & the rest of the TOW crew will be posted up along with
yours truly at Kells Pub from 9pm on Friday night. If you're in town and have $5 to spare (they
charge a cover on Friday nights, out of our control) come through and hang, drink & talk trash with
us; we're looking to make some new friends and meet some old ones.
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With J Hutcherson -- Let's set aside the grandstanding that goes along with anything advertised as
a "State of...." Nobody in that position is going to start riffing on trends and topics. It's a no
risk, some reward scenario even when questions are taken. So what did we learn from Major League
Soccer commissioner Don Garber's State of the League?
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Soccerblog 16 November @ 09:17 PM EST
Why is this man not in the All XI?
Its the numbers you produce and not the little things that you do on the pitch to improve your
team which seems to drive the MLS All XI. Even when you factor in stats it does not seem to add up
to why Cuauhtemoc Blanco was left out.
Blanco played 21 matches, started in 15 of them and in 1452 minutes of playing time he scored 5
goals and 8 assists.
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I have referred to these two as Substitutes in my tiering of Starter, Rotational, Substitute and
Reserves, but honestly, Nathan Sturgis likely belongs here as well. All three are almost always on
the available bench, but rarely see time. In Sanna's case he is still quite young, just entering
the years where he would make or break in the US system.
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On Tuesday, Major League Soccer announced the League's Best Eleven players for 2009. Zach Thornton
(Chivas USA) Chad Marshall (Columbus) - Wilman Conde (Chicago) - Geoff Cameron (Houston) Dwayne De
Rosario (Toronto) - Landon Donovan (Los Angeles) - Stuart Holden (Houston) - Shalrie Joseph (New
England) - Freddie Ljungberg (Seattle) Conor Casey (Colorado) - Jeff Cunningham (Dallas)
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WVHooligan 16 November @ 09:30 AM EST
Kyle Beckerman and RSL are going to MLS Cup 2009. (Getty Images)
Looking back on this past weekend that was the conference finals I must say the result isn't as
shocking as it initially was. The thought of a LA Galaxy-Real Salt Lake MLS Cup final was something
no one would have called back in March, hell or even back at the beginning of this very month.
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Real Salt Lake?
Wow.
What a run for the underdogs. They survived (barely) a crazy last weekend in the regular
season.
Then they eliminated the defending champs in the first round.
Finally, on Saturday they went to Chicago and eliminated the Fire via shootout (thank you Nick
Rimando).
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WTF is going with the Space Needle? It's a mystery...but I know the answer. I can't say right now
because I would be fired --and that would so not be a good look when I am on the cusp of a trip to
MLS Cup on the company dime-- but here's a peek. All will be revealed in due time though kids so
keep it locked.
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The playoff numbers look like this...
5 year comparison Conference Semifinals 1st Leg Avg +/- Home Teams 2005 12,147 NA
Chicago NY Colorado Los Angeles 2006 9,533 -21.52% Chicago NY Colorado
Chivas USA 2007 14,245 49.
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El título de la MLS se decidirá en Seattle Los Ángeles Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake- Domingo 22 de
Noviembre, 8:30 p.m. / Galavisión; ESPN El Real Salt Lake ha alcanzado la final de la Copa MLS al
superar al Chicago Fire por medio de tiros a penal anoche en el Toyota Park de Chicago. El partido
por [.
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After a pair of gripping conference finals, our MLS Cup match-up for next weekend takes the
all-East flavor from last year's final out west. It will be the Los Angeles Galaxy (yes, THAT L.A.
Galaxy... paging Sky, BBC, iTv and every rotten paper rag to the airport, pack as if staying in
London) pitted against upstarts Real Salt Lake at Qwest Field in Seattle a week from today.
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As in the guys that aren't Mr Kasey Keller. Due to injuries Keller played essentially all
competitive matches. Next year with the potential for a dozen more matches in the season and Kasey
passing 40 in just a few days the back-up keeper will be much more important. While he does feel
healthier at the end of this season than in the past, he made many statements that it was due to
the nature of MLS playing basically once a week.
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The lights went out twice in Carson, California last night, but LA scored twice in the overtime
portion to eliminate Houston and win the west.
I would like to salute myself for tactical wizardry in the area of PVR programming. I did not stay
up all night to watch this, I pvr'ed it to watch Saturday morning.
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My voice is officially gone. I literally can't speak at the moment. I'm going to MLS Cup in
Seattle next weekend. Nah Nah Nah Nah NAHNAH!
Original post blogged on b2evolution.
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Flawless logic, no assumptions:
The 2008 MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew might seem like a team that is destined to
return to the playoffs next year, but all it takes is a few decisions to turn any powerhouse into
another team in the middle of the pack. Conversely, the expansion Seattle Sounders stand poised to
return to the playoffs next year and a second good off-season of player moves could turn the
Sounders into a serious title contender.
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Un gol del salvadoreño Arturo Álvarez, jugador del San Jose Earthquakes, puede valerle un premio.
Se lo hizo el 3 de julio al Real Saltk Lake y está nominado como uno de los mejores del año. En
total son 32 goles, uno por cada semana. El de Arturo corresponde a la semana 11.Otros nominados
son Claudio "Piojo" López (Kansas City), Freddy Montero (Seattle), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy) y
Jeff
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The MLS announced today that the start time for the Western Conference final at Los Angeles will
take place at 10:25 p.m. CST Friday. That's right, 10:25 P.M.! It STARTS at 10:25
p.m. WTF is that all about? Good luck watching that one, East Coast.
I'm guessing the time slot was already reserved prior to Houston's victory over Seattle.
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I know we had one yesterday, but so much has been going on that we have another. And I meant to
have it up sooner, so a few of these may be old news to some...#1 - The National Soccer Hall of
Fame has unveiled this year's list of nominees, which includes the two gentleman pictured at
left.#2 - Yesterday, MLS tabbed Seattle forward Fredy Montero as Newcomer of the Year and Chivas
USA keeper Zach
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A busy show as Brian Zygo brings us a locker room report from Robertson Stadium after Houston's
1-0 win over Seattle in the MLS Playoffs.
Aaron Davidson, the President of Miami FC joins us to answer questions about today's press
release from the TOA declaring the intent to form a new professional league in the US and
Canada.
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Nutmegged 10 November @ 02:29 PM EST
Check this out from Freddy Ljungberg's blog people:
THE BRAWL IN HOUSTONI'm sorry that it has taken quite some time after the game to post something, but I have
actually been quit pissed off and in a bad mood after the game and wanted to think things through
before I said anything. Click to continue reading...
Soccerblog 10 November @ 12:23 AM EST
Ljungberg was the target of some tough tackles. Playing in a dust bowl also did not help. He was
not happy.
"The game was a big brawl, it was not much of a football game," Ljungberg said. "I don't
want to be a bad loser. I congratulate them and I wish them all the best, but it was mostly a big
brawl and probably the pitch didn't make it any easier.
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In Major League Soccer a team can control the rights to a player even if they are unsigned.
Below you will see capsules of the players for which the Sounders control their rights, but who did
not see much time, nor are they under contract for 2010.
These are players who for one reason or another the Sounders will not likely use for their next
season, but who might have minor value to other teams in the league.
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With J Hutcherson -- One of the great things about this edition of playoff soccer is we have four
ousted teams that all genuinely believe they were hard done by. Over the weekend, New England,
Seattle, and Chivas USA joined Columbus in the over and out club. Three of those quarterfinal
series were decided by a single goal.
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Los Angeles 1 - 0 Chivas USA
Donovan penalty sends Galaxy to semis
Chicago 2 - 0 New England
Blanco leads Fire surge
Houston 1 - 0 Seattle
Ching strikes in extra time to end Seattle's dream
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