With the NBA schedule in fult tilt since Christmas, the season has never seemed this action-packed. The reason is because the games are coming closer together and delivered faster to consumers.
There is more back-to-back scheduling for teams than other years, meaning they play two nights in a row and some back-to-back-to-back, meaning they play three nights in a row at times throughout the season, as well.

Puebla winger DaMarcus Beasley's first goal of the young season has put the visitors up just three minutes into their tilt at Jaguares (and, subsequently, compelled me to bastardize a Run DMC lyric).- Greg Seltzer

Quick name the top ten players who shouldn't become coaches when all is said and done.

Did Zlatan fall on anyone's list? Or maybe...did Zlatan fall on everyone's list? To say he has a prickly personality would be to call the old Ronaldo, now new Ronaldo, a bit chunky.

And yet.

Serie B: 20° giornata, analisi e commento Di Stefano Lazzarato Cade il Torino che limita i danni per i tanti pareggi altrui. In coda punti pesanti per Modena e Ascoli mentre il Livorno sconfitto in casa dal Brescia è in tilt. Nell'anticipo, secca sconfitta casalinga del Livorno contro un Brescia altrettanto in crisi.

The 2011 Generation adidas tour team will be special guests at the key Ajax v Real Madrid Champions League Matchday 6 tilt tomorrow night. I will be talking to a couple of those MLS rising stars before they head down to the game, and then more throughout their stay in the Netherlands.And just to tantalize you a little further, tomorrow's Postcard From Europe subject is none other than white-hot

Admission: Tuesday came and went and passed me by entirely. For me, it's a rarety for me not to follow a game in some way. I go to most home games, and watch or listen to most of the others. Those matches I can't go to, see or hear I will follow via Twitter etc, as many of us do. But on Tuesday, as the match kicked off, I was out meeting football-agnostic friends (they do exist, it seems) in a pub with pleasant steak and kidney pies but no telly, and although I briefly toyed with the time-honoured gadget switch-off so I could play the match as live when I got in, I knew my resolve wouldn't last and sure enough, it didn't.

Will Newcastle 'do another Carroll' and cash in on Tiote, Coloccini or Simpson in January?

"You can never think you're OK. The Andy Carroll thing brought that home more vividly than most." That's Alan Pardew summing up his feelings on the January transfer window last week.

I'll begin with a caveat. I'm not a gamer. Not anymore, at least. My one remaining vice in the genre is the Football Manager (née Championship Manager) series, which I shuffle up to the till to purchase every year, a process that has grown increasingly frictionless. Given such a limited gaming habit and the fact that I'm on a Mac, I've never had any use for Steam and have always bought a physical copy of the game.

From Brian Lewis' piece in the New York Post over the weekend on MLS ratings:

"The top-viewed league game on ESPN _ not including World Football matches _ was the Red Bulls' June 26 tilt against Chicago, which drew 622,000 viewers, to edge out the Galaxy's March 15 game vs.

Our current defensive pairing have been talking about our aims for this season and while Younes Kaboul is gearing up for a tilt at the top four, Sebastien Bassong admits it will be tougher than ever to get back into the Champions League.

Speaking on Talksport, Kaboul said: "We're doing quite well this season and for us our target, most importantly, is to get back into the Champions League next season.

In this post game video blog I take a look at the "almost perfect" preparations Coach Aron Winter made Saturday evening for the upcoming Champions League tilt in Dallas on Tuesday.
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

According to reports in Spain, Liverpool are looking at signing David Villa of Barcelona and Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain in January.
The report by Spanish radio station Cadena Ser claims that Liverpool is concerned at the lack of goals by Andy Carroll, Dirk Kuyt among others so far, this season and are preparing big bids to land the top-class striking duo in the January transfer window in order to push for a tilt at the title.

There's not a whole lot of major stuff to talk about right now, as we're still enjoying a nice win, while looking forward to what should hopefully be our easiest Champions League match of the group stages.
The first news item is a rare piece of good news on the injury front. Walcott's knee injury has been described as minor, and he's supposedly available for the match on Wednesday.

Doesn't want to face Pumas eitherTHE BUZZ:
The only real prize for the winner of tonight's match will be for overly optimistic Goats or Robins supporters (yes, we are trying call TFC "The Robins" for sh*ts and giggles) to pretend for one week longer that they have a playoff hope.

Well, here I am, once again reeling from another disappointment, trying to figure out just how to sum up yet the latest uninspired performance by New York. I swear, with all the talk of how great this team is better on paper, I propose we so all go out and cover RBA in 8 ½ x 11's on Saturday...

Going into their match against the Columbus Crew, the Philadelphia Union and their supporters talked up tonight as perhaps the most important in club history. The first-place Crew came into Chester leading the Union by five points in the standings, with one match in hand. A Union victory would do two things: snap an eight-match winless streak in MLS play, and put the Union right back in the thick of the race for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

When Harry said he was going to play the kids, I didn't think he meant kids. They did us proud last night, Livermore and Carroll in particular performing with integrity and application helped out towards the end by a goalkeeper old enough to be their dad. Not everything worked but that's only to be expected.

Major League Soccer teams already have two wins in Mexico in the last few weeks, but the Los Angeles Galaxy will look to make it a third when it defends its place atop Group A at Morelia in a CONCACAF Champions League group stage match.

The Colorado Rapids also hope to maintain their grip atop their group as they welcome Santos Laguna to their home turf for a Group B tilt after starting their CCL group run with a 1-0-1 record.

While the high lights of the game with San Marino flashed by, Marco van Basten started to talk faster and faster. The ex-team manager and former Top scorer even had a tilt in his voice when he said: "Sneijder is probably the best midfielder Holland has had, ever...."

The old crew [read more]

A look ahead at to the Champions League tilt versus FC Dallas focusing on what might be a different set of motivations for both clubs and how this might help TFC get the win they need.
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Liverpool season preview: Can Kenny crack the Top Three or even take a tilt at the title?

The Premier League kicks off this weekend and we've got the Daily Mirror's top football writers to give you their thoughts on the new season. Today David Maddock assesses Liverpool's chances.

Our opening game in League 1 is against a familiar friend in the shape of Exeter City. Whilst many are looking forward to going up against the big boys of Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton, Preston and Sheffield United this season, our first test in the 3rd tier of English football is against the Grecians, who we battled in the Conference just a few years ago.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Pavel Pardo's long-rumored move to Major League Soccer is complete.

The Chicago Fire signed the Mexican midfielder, adding the veteran who turned 35 years old on Tuesday.

Pardo's decorated career has taken him from the Primera Division in Mexico to Stuttgart in the Bundesliga and back to his home country, where he most recently played for Club America.

Following on from yesterday's look at players moving clubs on a regular basis, it is interesting to look at a couple of those moves retrospectively and ask whether they were the right decision. Darren Bent left a Sunderland side in January, a Sunderland side who have been very busy adding quality to their squad this summer.

Before today's massive RBNY away fixture @Colorado, make it a point to listen to the latest episode of Seeing Red. This one sees Mark & Dave discuss the the 0-0 @Chivas, the Da Luz trade, Mr. Backe's job safety , preview today's tilt @Colorado & Saturday's home fixture against FC Dallas.

Another great episode of this, the latest RBNY-themed podcast. This week, our own Matt Conroy (aka Who Shot Sam) and Once A Metro's Ben Schneider discuss the last away game @San Jose, Wednesday's destruction of Toronto FC, preview tomorrow's home tilt against DC as well as next Tuesday's Open Cup fixture @Chicago.

Toronto FC won their third consecutive Canadian title on Saturday

Toronto FC secured their third consecutive Nutrilite Canadian Championship title on Saturday. With the first leg tied at 1-1, the champions had to come from behind in their second leg 2-1 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps in order to win the Voyageur's Cup yet again.

It's Friday going into the Fourth of July weekend and it's time for a few orange fireworks.

Dynamo head to Colorado on Sunday to take on the defending MLS champ Colorado Crapids. (I'm sorry. No matter how many times I say, read or write that, I just cannot believe it. Oh well, thanks to George John, at least I'm not applying that label to Frisco!

The Talking Bull lads return! It's another fantastic episode of this, the latest RBNY-themed podcast. This week, Matt & Ben discuss the previous week's matches, vs Portland & Seattle, sub-par referees, sub-par goalkeeping, sup-par set-piece defending and examine the Erik Soler statement & fine.

Coming off the heels of a rather unconvincing (but welcomed) win against New England, the Red Bulls are off to embark on their longest trip away from the friendly confines of Harrison. First up, the rowdy crowd at JELD-WEN Field, home of the Timbers.

Thanks to an own goal and some inspiring football from Thierry Henry, New York finally snapped their winless streak and finally took home the full three points.

It's a win or else scenario for the U.S. men's national team tonight in CONCACAF Gold Cup action as the Americans take on Guadeloupe needing a victory to avoid an embarrassing tournament exit, or a brutal quarterfinal match-up against Mexico.

The United States needs a win or a draw tonight at Livestrong Sporting Park (9 p.

Three weeks ago the Phoenix Sport Club Majors team punched their ticket as one of the USASA entries in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Tournament. Tonight they get to show their stuff, as they travel to Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, NY for a first round tilt with the Rochester Raging Rhinos.

The match kicks off at 7:35pm and is being streamed live on Rochester ESPN 950 radio.

Fresh off their third win of the season, the Revolution (3-3-4, 13 pts.) head west to face off against the San Jose Earthquakes (2-4-3, 9 pts.) Saturday night at Buck Shaw Stadium.

In what projects to be a low-scoring affair between two goal-starved sides, the Revs and 'Quakes both enter the match coming off much-needed wins but claiming them in very different fashions.

The league doesn't lie; it merely reveals an incontestable truth that Udinese (and heavens forbid Lazio), deserve a tilt at Champions League football certainly more so than the Giallorossi. Now, and with one game remaining, the question for Roma is whether or not the prospect of Europa Cup football is a blessing or a curse.

Old Firm matchday number seven. Rangers v Celtic. Old friends never get tired of meeting up.
By any footballing standards today's Easter clash provides drama enough. To the winner, it looks, goes the league title and a tilt at the Champions League.
Sadly Scotland in 2011 relies not on footballing drama alone.

So the question runs something along the lines of ... Was this a big response after a challenging week or were we pitched a softball by a TFC side that's clearly struggling tactically and was coming off a mid-week tilt? I'm going to split the difference and take a little from both piles. United clearly came ready to mix it up and put pressure on a back line that TFC head-man Winter has been coaching to play things short, controlled, and on the deck.

So the question runs something along the lines of ... Was this a big response after a challenging week or were we pitched a softball by a TFC side that's clearly struggling tactically and was coming off a mid-week tilt? I'm going to split the difference and take a little from both piles. United clearly came ready to mix it up and put pressure on a back line that TFC head-man Winter has been coaching to play things short, controlled, and on the deck.

Mirko Slomka's hardworking side have overcome tragedy to give themselves a chance of Champions League football.
Hannover emerge from the shadows for tilt at European dream.

FC Dallas Homegrown Players Ruben Luna and Bryan Leyva each scored in the second half to lead FCD over Real Salt Lake in the Reserve League opener for both teams on Tuesday.

Luna converted a penalty kick seven minutes into the second half, and Leyva converted a volley from distance 11 minutes later to double FC Dallas' lead.

Chicago FIre vs. Red Bulls pre-season games streamed live starting at 10:00 AM CST

You can watch the Chicago Fire in action this morning as the New York Red Bulls are live streaming the two exhibition matches the two teams are playing this morning at Lockhart Stadium. I wish it were the Fire that were doing the live streaming but something is better than nothing, right?