The Missouri State Bears reached #25 in this weeks National NSCAA Poll, one of three teams to break into the Top 25 for the first time. The Bear's host their closest rival, the #26 ranked Drake Bulldogs this Sunday.

In anticipation of this game, the Bear's have teamed with the Ozarks Food Harvest to "Launch A Legacy" designed to promote the game and help Ozark Food Harvest build their food stocks in advance of the holidays.

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The Missouri State Bears reached #25 in this weeks National NSCAA Poll, one of three teams to break into the Top 25 for the first time. The Bear's host their closest rival, the #26 ranked Drake Bulldogs this Sunday.

In anticipation of this game, the Bear's have teamed with the Ozarks Food Harvest to "Launch A Legacy" designed to promote the game and help Ozark Food Harvest build their food stocks in advance of the holidays.

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U.S. National Team forward Landon Donovan made history today by winning the 2009 Honda Player of the Year Award, thus becoming the only six time winner of the most coveted prize in U.S. Soccer. For the last 19 years, the award has honored the best player on the U.S. National Soccer Team as chosen by the American soccer media. Click to continue reading...

Wait...didn't Rubin Kazan direct "On The Waterfront"?
And with that, I complete my UEFA Champions League commentary for the year 2009.
Meanwhile, Landon Donovan has won his sixth Honda Player of the Year award, given to the outstanding US national team player. (I nearly wrote "outstnading," which would have given unearthly delight to our friends who support Mexico. Click to continue reading...

Eddie Gaven scores the game winner at The Monster's Cave

While most people were still nursing their hangovers from a two day orgy of UEFA Champions League matches, the CONCACAF equivalent was contested at sites around Northern and Central America the past three nights. So perhaps you missed what is arguably the finest result yet by an MLS team in the 2009 edition of the tournament.

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Colorado Rapids forward Conor Casey had his wisdom teeth removed on Monday, according to US Soccer media relations. Casey could still be back in time to be selected for the squad that faces El Salvador in Salt Lake City on Saturday. The squad currently in camp will stay the same while Casey's situation is evaluated. Click to continue reading...

EDITORS NOTE: A close MLSR source within the soccer media confirms that the Dynamo will make an official announcement regarding this signing tomorrow.
It's a thumbs up for this guy, he seems to be on his way to the Houston Dynamo.
Thanks to an MLSR colleague for pointing out this article on ESPN Deportes (click here for the original):
Luis Angel Landín of Cruz Azul cement leaving the team to integrate into the Houston Dynamo of MLS. Click to continue reading...

I won't offer my usual two cents/prediction just yet... that can wait until tomorrow's LIVE set-up.What I can do is open the reading room:- USMNT match notes- All the broadcast info, including the free webcast- The US Soccer Media Center, w/ Studio 90 and '05 highlights- Coach Bradley, Howard conference call transcript- FIFA match preview- Howard: We can make history- Mexico feeling the pressure- Click to continue reading...

| INCOMING <--------------------------> OUTGOING |
Longtime, loyal readers of MLSR saw the dismissal of FSC's Fox Football Fone-In host Steve Cohen a mile away. Back in May we published the following:
REPORT: World Soccer Daily's Steve Cohen in Hot Water as Sponsors Abandon Ship
Today we learn from that Eric Wynalda, will replace him
Wynald is a controversial figure himself. Click to continue reading...

Corriere di Livorno is quoting the club president as saying that the deal for Ricardo Clark is done.� He claims that Clark will be staying with Houston because of their league position and their inability to cope with the loss of their star player, so he will be joining Livorno in January, during the winter transfer window.

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Good news for us basic cable types. We won't have to resort to watching the Canada Honduras quarterfinal Gold Cup game on our 10 inch netbooks. Sportsnet says they will be carrying the game live on all Sportsnet channels for us to enjoy in all its full screen glory.

Rogers Sportsnet will broadcast Canada's quarter-final match this Saturday, July 18 from the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

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Could the Columbus Crew winger be headed back to Europe? If the following rumor is correct maybe he will be playing against national team teammate Clint Dempsey in London. Or perhaps he will play against Americans Guiseppi Rossi and Jozy Altidore in Spain?
Rogers has been scouted intensely since a breakout performance at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada and he had an impressive game vs Grenada in the first US match in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup and was named Man of the Match. Click to continue reading...

Grant Wahl is reporting on his blog that FIFA have ruled that Michael Bradley is to serve a four-game suspension� for his post-game confrontation of Jorge Larrionda.� Despite the seemingly harsh penalty, it turns out that it doesn't mean much.� Bradley will be allowed to serve his suspension during the Gold Cup a competition for which he wasn't even called up.

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MLSR has learned from an anonymous but highly placed credible source within the US soccer media the details of a story which if true, and we have reason to believe they are, underscores the inexperience and ineptitude of one member of the Seattle Sounders FC front office.
Could this be the first crack in the wall of an otherwise "model franchise"? Click to continue reading...

Word is our president got a special invite from FIFA boss Sepp Blatter.

Blatter says: "Obama has said: ‘If I can, I will come."'

That was enough to have all the soccer media outlets pick up the story.
But hey, at least FIFA doesn't need a bailout... Click to continue reading...

For the record, I wanted to thank Kartik Krishnaiyer for calling my ¨wise¨ words ¨prophetic¨. It is cool to have a colleague recognize you that way, but I can't take all the credit. I also have to give credit to my friend Ibrahim Dabo. For years, he is the one that told me that the Pharoahs were a team to watch. Click to continue reading...

I know people who are fellow DC United fans who simply do not follow or support the US Men's National team. Typically, they just find them boring, prone to stupidity, lacking character, and led by a coach who is looking more and more over-matched by the game and a federation that typically cannot shoot in any other direction but its own foot. Click to continue reading...

Ruiz eyes return to the City of Angels
We received the following from one of our loyal MLSR readers moments ago:

I read an article on a Paraguayan newspaper about Carlos Ruiz possibly coming back to MLS after the season ends with his current club Olimpia. Here's the link.
By the way you guys rock, love your site!

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Ahead of tonight's USA-Honduras match in Chicago, here's another installment of Fun With Translation. The importance of this qualifier is a heavy focus in the American soccer media (such as it is),...

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Dear American Non-Soccer Media-
Did you know that Major League Soccer was here before David Beckham? Are you aware that Major League Soccer will be here after David Beckham? Do you know that every time you conduct an interview with someone not named Beckham but spend 75% of your interview asking questions about him you only show your ignorance? Click to continue reading...

With the exception of a USL PDL and W-League team, Virgina Beach Mariner's Stadium stands empty, unused.
Could MLS Expansion Force USL-1 Contraction?
Before we get into this rumor we'd like to give you some background. This rumor comes to us from a very well connected, well respected and highly credible source within US soccer media, who has been right before. Click to continue reading...

The fantastic folks at SoccerLens invited me to take part in their weekly podcast. Click here to listen to me ramble with host Stephen Darwin on the differences (and they are many) between MLS and the EPL, soccer media in the US and future of the US game... Click to continue reading...

Don't you just love how the British soccer media tends to obsess over things, eventually beating any rumor or story into the ground?Maybe a lot of this has to do with the fact that unlike their brethren across the pond, Brit journos don't exactly have unlimited access to players on a day-in, day-out basis. Click to continue reading...

Inside Minnesota Soccer contacted US Soccer for an explanation on the decision. IMS also interviewed Tim Carter, Director of Soccer at Shattuck-St.Mary's as well as Manny Lagos, President of the Minnesota Thunder, for their reflections on the decision.

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Earlier this month I reported that the USSF had rejected MTA and Shattuck Academy in their efforts to come aboard the Developmental Academy program with each organization fielding a U-16 and a U-18 team.

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Inside Minnesota Soccer contacted US Soccer for an explanation on the decision. IMS interviewed John Hackworth, Developmental Academy Director, Tim Carter, Director of Soccer at Shattuck-St.Mary's as well as Manny Lagos, President of the Minnesota Thunder, for their reflections on the decision.

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Earlier this month I reported that the USSF had rejected MTA and Shattuck Academy in their efforts to come aboard the Developmental Academy program with each organization fielding a U-16 and a U-18 team.

Click to continue reading...

Hello folks. Sorry for the slow rate of posting recently. In many ways life has prevented me from focusing a lot of attention on FCTP recently. Apologies. br /br /If you don't know about the MLS Confidential blog, you should learn about it. It is run by Soccer America, the longest serving American Soccer media outlet I know of. Click to continue reading...

Earlier today the CBC announced that coverage of CONCACAF Champions League soccer will be drastically reduced next year due to the current financial crisis that is gripping Mother Corp. Whether this means a reduction in the amount of coverage or a complete cancellation of their coverage is hard to tell from the story. Click to continue reading...

Holy crap, what a day! 2 major developments for Canadian soccer - Julian de Guzman blasting the CSA and The Voyageurs issuing a press release calling for Dale Mitchell's resignation. If you have been lurking around the V's forum for the past week or so, then you have no doubt caught wind of the press release [. Click to continue reading...

I've been playing with a FootieFool Twitter account for the past few days. If you use Twitter and want to follow me here I am. If you have no idea what Twitter is, it's a microblogging service to send out short bursts (140 characters or less) of information to a network. In my other life I [...] Click to continue reading...

In all the pre Christmas hoopla I forgot to send out best wishes to former Globe & Mail columnist Ben Knight, who is now free of the corporate media shackles and blogging for himself at Onward. In addition Ben is joining a weekly soccer podcast called "It's Called Football" with Ben Rycroft, who is the National [. Click to continue reading...

First of all, I'd like to thank Grant Wahl for being the first mainstream soccer media guy to say what needed to be said about Bob Bradley's tactics over the last two qualifiers. If U.S. coach Bob Bradley is going to continue leaving young attacking options like Kenny Cooper, Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu off his [. Click to continue reading...

I've been in the ear of a friend at SUM for month's now about an idea I have. After Red Bull Arena opens, Celtic v. Rangers would be amazing for the first non-Red Bull match there. With the Old Firm's history, the stadium's location and an international marketing plan that caters to the Brit's fondness for away games and cheap travel package's to New York for shopping binge's you have many of the required elements to make a big splash amongst the the NYC media. Click to continue reading...

Dave Lifton over at the US Soccer Players Association has an absolutely fantastic Q&A with MLS and Soccer United Marketing executive producer Michael Cohen. (See the full story here.) Thanks to kenn.com for the tip.
This story is a great rundown on everything from why Brand Beckham (and the other guys on the field, remember them, the Beckettes) will be getting so many nationally televised games to the mechanics of camera angles, as well as formerly radical US TV coverage ideas that are now being emulated around the world. Click to continue reading...