I've grown fond of playing the board game Risk with my family and friends. The concept of the game is simple, try to take over the world like the characters in the cartoon show "Pinky and the Brain" tried to do each week, but their schemes usually ended in some comically disastrous way. Click to continue reading...

It was an amazing night on Thursday, November 12th as John Strong started his regular radio show on Sports Radio 95.5 The Game (95.5 FM). During the spring and summer months, Strong hosts an hour-long sports program from 6 PM to 7 PM that talks about various topics. Click to continue reading...

The Portland Timbers headed into the offseason earlier than expected, but there was a sense of optimism at looking towards the final season of USL soccer before making the move to MLS in 2011. Needless to say, I don't think anyone in the green and white could have imagined that significant changes were going to hit even before the big move. Click to continue reading...

Announced Aztex scouting destinations:
Mexico, Haiti, Colombia & SenegalIf you felt that the 2009 Aztex roster needed a serious shakeup for the team to be a contender next year, you were in good company. At least, management would seem to agree with you. In addition to several international scouting trips, the team just announced that it would not pick up the option on 14 current players. Click to continue reading...

The United Soccer League (USL) First Division owners met this past week at the Nike World Campus in Beaverton, Oregon to start the process of looking towards the 2010 season. Click to continue reading...

The USL First Division owners are holding meetings in Beaverton, Oregon this week in the midst of the ongoing dispute with the Team Owners Association. On the docket was a revamping of the league in...

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Over the past few years, the USL-1 has had franchise issues that have affected the entire league in terms of scheduling and travel. Click to continue reading...

The future of the "second" division of American and Canadian soccer took a dramatic turn today: Alex Papadakis, chairman of NuRock Soccer Holdings, the new owner of USL, told a Canadian radio station...

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The Aztex have returned from their tour of England, victorious in all 3 of their exhibitions there. They also trained at top-flight facilities, attended a couple of Premier League matches, and even left a player behind for a trial in the big league.

• Game 1, Oct. 14 - Austin Aztex 1-0 Stoke City FC Academy
  This game was a bit of disappointment to some fans, as we had assumed that Stoke would field their first team, or at least some level of it, rather than the U18 academy squad.

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Big Story

The Montreal Impact defeated the defending champions Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 at Stade Saputo yesterday to win the USL-1 Final 6-3 on aggregate. First half goals from Tony Donatelli, Joey Gjertsen and Roberto Brown were all Montreal needed to win, although Vancouver defender Shaun Pejic's controversial red card in the 29th minute for hauling down the last man in the area probably helped a mite.

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Today's guest on the Jared Montz Soccer Podcast is Todd Wawrousek. Todd is the assistant coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps in the USL1. This Saturday Todd will try to lead his Whitecaps to their 2nd straight USL1 Championship when they take on the Montreal Impact in Montreal at 2:30pm eastern time.

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This week's guest on the Jared Montz Soccer Podcast is Todd Wawrousek. Todd is the assistant coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps in the USL1. This Saturday the Whitecaps take on the Montreal Impact for the 2nd and final leg of the 2009 USL1 Championship series in Montreal. Having lost the first leg 3-2 in a last minute goal at home this is obviously a massive game and Todd is really going to have to make sure his team are up for the challenge.

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In my last recap of the 2009 season, I failed to mention a couple of successes that merit mention. The 2009 Portland Timbers have two cups to add to their list of awards, as they are 2009 Cascadia Cup champions... Click to continue reading...

Just a quick reminder: the Aztex are in England for the next week or so.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for the Aztex players and for many of them this is the trip of a lifetime," said Rawlins. "Many of them have never even been to England, let alone been exposed to the English game which they have seen and heard so much about.

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I'm still in a bit of shock after Sunday's match because I just didn't think it was possible that the Timbers would be upset in their playoff run. They seemed to have the perfect combination of offense, defense, and goalkeeping that successful teams need to win Click to continue reading...

The drama continues. Following on the first installment, here's a quick update. This post doesn't present any new or breaking news, it's just a summary of events to date. Most links are to Brian Quarstad's estimable Inside Minnesota Soccer blog, which in more pleasant times focuses on the Minnesota Thunder, but which has been all over this whole story from the start, like white on rice. Click to continue reading...

Today's guest on the Jared Montz Soccer Podcast is Joey Gjertsen. Joey is currently the team leader in games played for the Montreal Impact this season. This Saturday, October 10th, Joey and the Impact are playing the Vancouver Whitecaps in the 1st round of a 2 leg USL1 Championship series.

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photo: Patrick MeredithThe Aztex bagged an impressive win last night at the RRISD Athletic Complex, beating Mexico's first-division contenders Monterrey 1-0.
Though just an exhibition match, the win is significant. For one, it ends 2009 play in Austin on a high note. The fact that it was earned from a good Mexican pro team, in the midst of their season, adds to the victory. Click to continue reading...

Today's guest on the Jared Montz Soccer Podcast is Joey Gjersten. Joey is the leader in games played for the Montreal Impact this season in the USL1. On Sunday he helped lead his team to the USL1 Championship series by beating the Puerto Rico Islanders.

On the pod we are going to be talking about Joey's personal season, Montreal's run to the final, why the Impact are such a successful organization, take some user submitted questions, and then of course preview the epic all Canadian USL-1 final against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

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I woke up early on Sunday morning with a mood of excitement and trepidation. Normally, I like to sleep in a bit on Sundays because they have a more relaxed feel, and because our cats give us the morning off and don't bang around our house that much to keep us awake. Click to continue reading...

I mentioned this last week, but don't forget: there's one last chance to see the Aztex play in Austin this year. On Wednesday, Oct. 7, they will host Monterrey's Rayados, of Mexico's Primera División.
Monterrey is doing well in the current Apertura season. They are 2nd overall, with 23 points from 11 games (7-2-2). Click to continue reading...

USL President Tim Holt.

Boy I get back into town and starting seeing more USL headlines today. According to reports (thanks to Inside Minnesota Soccer), the USSF is meeting today with USL officials and TOA officials regarding the ongoing situation with the recent sale of the USL.

Apparently Tim Holt the president of USL sent letters to players for three clubs, the Carolina Railhawks, the Minnesota Thunder and Miami FC.

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USL President Tim Holt The future of USL-1 remains in limbo thanks to ongoing contention between a group of team owners and the leadership of USL. The Team Owners Association (TOA), a cadre of USL-1...

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Big Story

Details are sketchy, but Brian Quarstad's Inside Minnesota Soccer reported on Saturday that USL President Tim Holt sent an email to three USL-1 clubs in the Team Owner's Association (TOA)—Minnesota, Carolina and Miami—terminating their player contracts, which was followed by news from David Fellerath at Triangle Offense that the three club logos had been removed from the USL-1 main site.

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Today the Montreal Impact take on the Puerto Rico Islanders in the 2nd leg of the USL1 Semi finals in Puerto Rico. Game time is 5pm central time. Montreal currently leads the series 2-1 with a victory in Montreal this past Thursday.

Montreal's leader in games played this season, Joey Gjersten, took some time out of his busy weekend to answer a few questions for us.

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Though the 2009 regular season is finished for them, the Aztex are still going strong. A number of players and other individuals were honored at a recent post-season awards banquet, and the team is still looking forward to a few bigger-than-usual exhibition games.
First, the awards:

• Yordany Alvarez - Fans' Player of Year
• Miguel Gallardo - Chantico's Army's Player of Year (more info)
• Eddie Johnson - Players' Player of Year
• Michael Callahan - Clubman of Year
• Ignacio "Nacho" Araujo (Univision Radio) - President's Award

Additionally, Eddie Johnson was just named to the All-League Second Team. Click to continue reading...

I have to admit that I was stunned to read the email as it hit my inbox last Wednesday. Click to continue reading...

Keeping with the unpredictability in the playoff results for the USL, all three clubs hosting matches last night won, which gives them a lead going into the second and final leg on Sunday. Each home squad was the lower ranked... Click to continue reading...

Regular season USL-1 play has now concluded for 2009. The playoffs start tomorrow (Thursday). Sure it would have been nice to see Austin there; but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. We might as well get a head start on looking back.
Both of the league's expansion teams, the Austin Aztex and the Cleveland City Stars, fared poorly in their inaugural seasons, winding up at the bottom of the final standings:
P
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
1 Portland Timbers 30 16 10 4 45 19 +26 58 2 Carolina RailHawks FC 30 16 7 7 43 19 +24 55 3 Puerto Rico Islanders 30 15 8 7 44 31 +13 53 4 Charleston Battery 30 14 11 5 33 21 +12 53 5 Montreal Impact 30 12 7 11 32 31 +1 43 6 Rochester Rhinos 30 11 10 9 34 32 +2 43 7 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 30 11 9 10 42 36 +6 42 8 Minnesota Thunder 30 7 10 13 39 44 -5 31 9 Miami FC 30 8 5 17 26 52 -26 29 10 Austin Aztex FC 30 5 8 17 28 51 -23 21* 11 Cleveland City Stars 30 4 19 7 22 52 -30 19
As you can see, the Aztex escaped the very last spot, if barely. Click to continue reading...

American soccer, just like the big professional sports in the country, follows a franchise model. This means that each club is wholly owned by an individual or group, whom are free to sell or move...

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Photo: VictoriaHighlandersFC.comThe Aztex finish their trip to the northwest still winless against all Canadian opponents. The Victoria Highlanders PDL side is either tougher than one would expect, or the Aztex were showing the effects of 4 games in 8 days and a less-than-stellar conclusion to the 2009 season. Click to continue reading...

Photo: Vancouver Whitecaps FacebookAnd so it ends.
Still feeling the energy from their 2-1 win over the Portland Timbers, our Aztex made a valiant effort in their final match of the 2009 campaign. But it was not to be. Their last game was reminiscent of many this year, as they surrendered their lead late in the game. Click to continue reading...

Hot on the heels of their 2-1 upset of the Portland Timbers, the Aztex head north of the border for their final game of the 2009 season. They'll face the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday evening, Sept. 13, at 6:00 CT. Watch the game free on USLLive.com.
The Whitecaps are currently in the 7th and last playoff slot, though they haven't punched their ticket yet. Click to continue reading...

Sore losers (key word, "losers"): Timbers fans shooting the bird at the Aztex after the final whistleHoly cow! We won!
I mean, er, of course we won, I never had the slightest doubt, it was in the bag, like falling off a log, a walk in the park. (A walk in the park that you're used to getting mugged in, that is. Click to continue reading...

In their first trip to Portland of the year, the Aztex take on the Timbers again on Friday, Sept. 11. Kickoff will be at 9:00 PM CT; as always you can watch online for free on USLLive.com.
Austin fans will already know the result of both teams' last game: the Timbers squeaked out a 1-0 win with a late goal here at Nelson Field on Monday. Click to continue reading...