Good evening folks. I'm coming to you from Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. The new home for Real Salt Lake is hosting its inaugural match tonight and the best word I can use to describe the stadium is stunning. From the seats to the grass to the mountain back drop, Major League Soccer's newest venue is breathtaking.
Now, whether the soccer played tonight will be worthy of the stadium remains to be seen. Real Salt Lake and the New York Red Bulls are both in desperate need of points in the playoff race and three points for either squad tonight will offer up some breathing room in a crazy MLS playoff race.
The New York Red Bulls come into the match short-handed, missing Jorge Rojas and Gabriel Cichero (Venezuelan national team) and Dane Richard (Jamaican national team). Real Salt Lake will be without Andy Williams tonight, but will have all the rest of its key players available.
I will be providing a running commentary throughout the evening so feel free to follow along here. If you will be watching the match tonight (10pm, ESPN2), please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

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With a win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday, Frank Yallops Earthquakes could move into a playoff spot in the Western Conference, a remarkable accomplishment for an expansion team. Photo: John Todd, centerlinesoccer.com/isiphotos.com. 
Santa Clara — Its just a few days after the Earthquakes most physical match of the season and adrenalin is running a bit high in practice. The team is squared off in an 11 v 11 scrimmage, and John Cunliffe wins possession with an aggressive, two-footed tackle that sends Ryan Cochrane flying through the air, onto the ground, and back into Cunliffes face, with the defender stating in no uncertain terms that he disagreed with the intensity of the challenge.
Its an awkward moment until San Jose coach Frank Yallop steps into the fray. Unrushed, and using a voice that can barely be heard in the stands just 30 yards away, Yallop says a few words to remind the players that theyre all on the same team and just as quickly as it started, the situation is defused, nerves are calmed, and play continues.

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I am hoping you were able to tune in to the Fire against LA last night on ESPN 2. If you did that means in Houston you have electricity back. As for those of you in our hurricane stricken city and around the country what did you think? Here are my thoughts:
What we needed to know heading into this gamw was that Chicago was a team with serious issues coming into last nights game.
There proud defense had been getting riddled with goals and they had lost 3 out of 4 and the question of even making the playoffs has come up.
In Houston they were emotionless a few weeks ago and last Sunday were embarrassed by FC Dallas to the point that they were booed. (Which by the way, we need more booing of home teams if you dont think your team is putting in the EFFORT).
The
IAN MC
IDE trade has turned into a new coaching challenge for DENIS HAMLETT that needs to be figured out quickly. More on that in a minute.
Back to HAMLETT he made some interesting moves last night that could reap benefits. The GALAXY may not be the team to judge these moves on just yetCUAUHTEMOC BLANCO is fatigued from the long season and was moved into a deeper role behind MC
IDElimit his running and hope to get plays out of him. They did, he had less influence in the game overall and you sometimes wondered if he was there yet in the end he produced a goal and a beautiful flick that unbalanced the LA defense and led to a CHRIS ROLFE goal. Two plays, two goals, economical running and HAMLETT looks like a genius. Overall Chicago defending better but one wondered if LANDON DONOVAN was even at TOYOTA PARK last night? GALAXY attack for the most part tame and you have to credit the FIRE yet the GALAXY have not been the best of road teams.
The goals CHICAGO scored clearly all came off poor defending from LA. The first CHICAGO goal ROLFE was allowed to move his away to the top of the box. A feeble ANTE JAZIC, hesitant defenders who clearly did not look confident or protective of this area of the field and Rolfe is allowed to shoot. 1-0 FIRE
The second FIRE goal gets created because of the poor communication between JOSH WICKS and LA defenders BLANCO sticks it in and empty net. Gifted goal 2-1
The third goal is a BLANCO backheel with a sucked in center back taken out of the play and ROLFE is found and scores his second 3-1
The overall night was exciting with a packed house at TOYOTA PARK and the place rocked. Tremendous atmosphere thanks to the arrival of BECKHAM, the playoffs looming and the FIRE fans lived up to it in a big way.
MC
IDE TRADE REMAINS AN ISSUE
Here is why..As a target player
IAN MC
IDE last night was wandering around aimlessly almost disconnected from his team. He got a little service from JUSTIN MAPP who remains in my humble opinion the key to McBrides (run of the play) future in Chicago. He has had only a handful of balls in front of him to attack since his arrival in Chicago. This is his lifeblood and you can sense his frustration
To beat the better MLS teams the FIRE are going to need to get something out of the legendary US striker. The Dynamo, Revolution and Crew will not present and gift opportunities to the Fire like they got last night if they encounter them upon getting into the playoffs .
DENIS HAMLETT has to pray that MAPP can find some of the best soccer of his career or MC
IDE and his impact will not include goal scoring.
This is a trade that is still being worked out but credit Hamlett for coming up with something different last night pushing BLANCO higher up the field. Mapp and Rolfe as wide players in midfield must bring it in the attack from wide areas in order to get the best out of McBride. In short the team needs more width in their attack. Playing both Mapp and Rolfe wide brings some questions with the balance of defending and attacking in midfield which teams have identified.
A simplified version of what I think are the FIRE issues.
Its all getting interesting. As for LA the win at home against DC was a nice moment of hope, maybe a tease. Cant see this team making the playoffs even with Donovan and Beckham.
Has McBride been effective in your eyes and is he getting the correct support.

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The indispensable American Soccer News had a good story on Don Garbers plans for MLS 2.0, which will be discussed later this year with the leagues board. While Commissioner Garber deserves lots of credit for steering MLS away from the troubled waters that threatened its existence a few years back, the arrogance and hubris of the league which weve recently editorialized on this site threatens its long term credibility in the football world.
Some points from this story:
Garber says In regards to the CONCACAF Champions League, our credibility is being attacked but we want our clubs to focus on MLS…In reality, we are a business developing and to reconfigure our business model is not in our best interest.”
Im not sure how he can spin this in MLS favor. The reality is it was Commissioner Garber whose comments were out of line when MLS teams failed in the forerunner tournament of this, including DC United against Pachuca this past Spring. It was the commissioner and league seemingly anxious to buy international credibility that emphasized these results.  Now the Champions League performances are all the more embarrasing not because Mexican or Costa Rican teams are showing up MLS sides: those are clearly better and deeper leagues than MLS, but because the United States own second divsion, with which MLS broke off a relationship thus scuttling the American Club football pyramid has been so successful in this event. Sides from the United Soccer Leagues have actually defeated Mexican and Costa Rican sides in this tournament while MLS is winless in the event. I have for many years maintained that the soccer press in this country was ignorant of USL and discounted the quality in that league partly because of the obsession with representing MLS as something it is not. For years I have maintained that while MLS is on the whole stronger than USL the typical gap between a first and second division doesnt exist in this country, thanks to the limited budgets and poor scouting of MLS teams. The league may not like it but its credibility is in the gutter based on its embarrasing performances in the Champions League. The bottom line is this: we live in a Global world where Football from all over is on TV: the best leagues in whatever region rise to the top in their regional club tournament, be it the Argentine teams in Copa Libertadoras or the English teams in the UEFA Champions League. The fact that USL teams are showing more than MLS teams in the champions league for CONCACAF speaks volumes about the overall quality of MLS.
There will be no promotion or relegation unveiled at that time and the league would prefer another Midwest team such as St. Louis to provide more balance geographically. Interest in a Miami franchise has resurfaced and Garber reiterated the demand in the Pacific Northwest is strong as well.
MLS expansion continues to dilute talent and the quality of the product on the pitch. No doubt exists in the my mind that MLS sides would have been more competitive in the CONCACAF Champions League had for example Chivas USA not lost Preston Burpo and Jason Hernandez in the expansion draft, and been forced to replace injured players with guys who are essentially being paid a semi-pro wage.
I can say this from the Miami perspective. MLS can work in South Florida but only if the quality of the product improves rapidly. The same for a second team in New York. If MLS is going to continue to to put out a product where defending is shambolic in almost every match and the pace is like watching paint dry, bigger more sophisticated football markets are going to tune out the product. Id put Miami, New York and even Boston at the very top of this list.
Garber also expressed that the Superliga is a priority for the league based off of attendance and television ratings. 
This line speaks for itself and to the priorities of the league. SUM makes money that sustains the league and thus MLS puts a priority on all SUM related events even if it means promoting a Mexican National Team game will for example cut MLS attendance for the games in the same market around the El Tri matchup on the calendar.
Currently, there are no short term solutions however, in 2009, there may be a possibility that teams will be more carefully selected to avoid fixture congestion so there may be more balance and variety in the Superliga, CONCACAF, and US Open Cup competitions
So no Apertura/Clausura at least for 2009. Even more disturbing I see no mention amending the squad limits or the salary cap in this piece.
What are our readers thoughts about MLS 2.0.

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While the mid-week days over here in the UK have been full of some entertaining Carling Cup action that lets us see some of the young talent starting to emerge with some of these clubs, back home in the U.S. it brought another tough go for MLS clubs in the CONCACAF Champions League.
D.C. United traveled to Honduras and went down 2-0 to CD Marathon for their second loss in as many games in the group stage of the competition. Meanwhile, the Houston Dynamo managed a scoreless tie in Panama City against San Francisco FC in their first group stage game (their first scheduled Champions League game was postponed due to Hurricane Ike). While the Dynamo managed a point, United is off to a very poor start and in danger of wrecking their campaign if things don’t turn around quickly.
As this competition continues, it’s worth looking at the past history of U.S. teams in the Champions League. Only D.C. and the L.A. Galaxy have reached the finals (L.A. twice), and both have a title to their name. But 2000 was the last time that a U.S. team made it (L.A.’s title year), as Mexican and Costa Rican clubs have dominated in recent years......Read the rest at:
http://www.examiner.

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Arsenal set to begin play in 2009
QUEBEC CITY, QC At Québec city hall, in the présence of François Picard, vice-president of the Québec executive committee, the club board has announced the name of the team that will represent the Québec area in the W-League in 2009, the Québec Arsenal.
The W-League presents the highest level of womens’ soccer in North America, and will give athletes from the Québec area access to first-class competition. The team will wear white, black and gold and will begin its first season in May at Séminaire St-François’ new stadium.
”The W-League has had tremendous success in Canada over the years,” said W-League Director of Operations Melanie Fitzgerald. “USL has been wonderfully supported when friendlies have been played in the city of Quebec and we expect the community to rally behind the Arsenal when they begin play next spring.”
The team will be playing other W-League teams in Northeast Canada and the United States. The official alignment will be released from the USL office following the 2008 AGM in Tampa, FL.
The club has also announced the nomination of Maxime Barabé as its general manager. “We are enthusiastic to play in a well established league and we believe we will be competitive as soon as 2009. We wish to bring together the best players in our area, but also attract the best talent in eastern Canada. We also want to bring back players from the Québec area playing elsewhere in the league so they can play in front of their families and friends,” Maxime stated.
“We are happy to offer to soccer fans of the Québec area a very interesting, spectacular, family-oriented product, in the superb environment that is Séminaire Saint-François’ stadium. We will be able to host nearly 1,500 people and make each game a true soccer experience,” said Stéphane Alain, member of the Arsenal board.
The club’s logo features the silhouette of famed hotel Chateau Frontenac, which opened in 1893 and has become a symbol of the city as one of its most popular attractions. The club will now look to hire its head coach, and then begin player recruiting.
The Québec Arsenal is a non-profit organization created to ensure the development of regional soccer in the Québec and Chaudière-Appalaches regions. The Arsenal is an original idea from a team of four promoters: Samir Ghrib, David Desloges, Stéphane Alain and Maxime Barabé. The team’s five-person board will consist of three individuals from the Association Régionale de Soccer de Québec (ARSQ).
Maxime Barabe, who holds a CSA national B License, began coaching for the Dynamo de Quebec U17 womens team in 1993 - 1998. In addition, he coaches the Quebec provincial U-17 girls team. From 1994-2005 he coached FX Garneau College Elans women who were national champions in 2002, 2003 2004. He was the ARSQ assistant to the technical director from 1998-2002 and has been the ARSQ executive director since August 2002.
Michel Valle is an infrastructure specialist for Quebec Transportation who has been involved as a coach and manager since 1998. He was the Dynamo Womens manager from 2000-2007 (National Champion 2007). Valle served as Dynamo De Quebec President from 2000-2005 and has been the ARSQ President since January 2006.

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While the mid-week days over here in the UK have been full of some entertaining Carling Cup action that lets us see some of the young talent starting to emerge with some of these clubs, back home in the U.S. it brought another tough go for MLS clubs in the CONCACAF Champions League.
D.C. United traveled to Honduras and went down 2-0 to CD Marathon for their second loss in as many games in the group stage of the competition. Meanwhile, the Houston Dynamo managed a scoreless tie in Panama City against San Francisco FC in their first group stage game (their first scheduled Champions League game was postponed due to Hurricane Ike). While the Dynamo managed a point, United is off to a very poor start and in danger of wrecking their campaign if things don’t turn around quickly.
As this competition continues, it’s worth looking at the past history of U.S. teams in the Champions League. Only D.C. and the L.A. Galaxy have reached the finals (L.A. twice), and both have a title to their name. But 2000 was the last time that a U.S. team made it (L.A.’s title year), as Mexican and Costa Rican clubs have dominated in recent years......Read the rest at:
http://www.examiner.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com
Ever since Major League Soccer established the program that allowed MLS teams to sign players from their youth academy programs, Red Bulls fans have been wondering when some of their high-profile prospects would start working their way up the pipeline.
Despite the presence of highly-regarded prospects Matt Kassel and Johnny Exantus, the Red Bulls have stood pat rather than sign either of them to a Generation adidas contract, the only mechanism other than via a developmental contract that a team can sign a youth academy graduate. With Exantus recently being linked to a club in Belgium, and Kassel flourishing for nationally-ranked University of Maryland, the Red Bulls are facing more scrutiny for not signing one of their home-grown products.
Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio insists that he understands the value of the youth academy, but also points out that the rules governing how teams acquire academy graduates are what has kept the team from signing any academy players to date.
The rule says that once we sign one of those players basically we are closing the door to everybody else, Osorio said. We try to make sure that, whoever we sign, we absolutely think that he is special because we, as a coaching staff, don't want to fail as far as that.

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Forbes.com recently released a report that looked at the economic side of MLS and also put a value on each of the Major League Soccer franchises.
At a macro level, things are looking up for MLS. Seven of the league’s 14 teams play in soccer-specific stadiums, five of which have been built since 2002. Expansion franchises in Seattle and Philadelphia recently agreed to pay $30 million each to join the league, three times what Toronto FC paid to join MLS three years ago. Commissioner Don Garber says the next two expansion teams, to be announced in 2009, will cost $40 million. Some team owners are even floating a $50 million price tag.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com
Ever since Major League Soccer established the program that allowed MLS teams to sign players from their youth academy programs, Red Bulls fans have been wondering when some of their high-profile prospects would start working their way up the pipeline.
Despite the presence of highly-regarded prospects Matt Kassel and Johnny Exantus, the Red Bulls have stood pat rather than sign either of them to a Generation adidas contract, the only mechanism other than via a developmental contract that a team can sign a youth academy graduate. With Exantus recently being linked to a club in Belgium, and Kassel flourishing for nationally-ranked University of Maryland, the Red Bulls are facing more scrutiny for not signing one of their home-grown products.
Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio insists that he understands the value of the youth academy, but also points out that the rules governing how teams acquire academy graduates are what has kept the team from signing any academy players to date.
The rule says that once we sign one of those players basically we are closing the door to everybody else, Osorio said. We try to make sure that, whoever we sign, we absolutely think that he is special because we, as a coaching staff, don't want to fail as far as that.

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After having meetings with Houston officials, the police departments of both the University of Houston and the city, Major League Soccer's two-time defending champion Houston Dynamo announced Wednesday their home game against the San Jose Earthquakes, set for Saturday at Robertson Stadium at the University of Houston, will now be played October 15 and tickets for the originally scheduled game will be honored.

The move was made after local officials asked the Dynamo to honor a request by Houston police chief Harold Hurtt that all events, sporting venues and cultural institutions suspend operations until Monday to allow the city's basic infrastructure, such as street lights, to be repaired following the damage caused by Hurricane Ike.

The Dynamo are also waiving their no-exhange ticket policy and allowing fans the opportunity to exhange their tickets to the Earthquakes game for tickets to one of four other games -- an October 7 game against San Francisco FC of Panama City, Panama in the CONCACAF Champions League, an originally scheduled October 12 home game against DC United, an October 22 Champions League game against Pumas UNAM, or a home playoff game in November -- by e-mailing a request to info@houstondynamo.com.

With Saturday's game now postponed, the Dynamo's next MLS game will be September 27 when they travel to Toronto FC.

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What else is new? Another night of CONCACAF Champions League Action and another loss for an MLS side while another result is recorded by a side from our second division, USL-1. However we must all cut DC United some slack: without so many key players and then down a man after Devin McTavish’s strange sending off, the Red and Black fought valiantly against a superior Saprissa side. This stands in stark contrast to the New England Revolution who two weeks ago disgraced themselves and their league with their failure to show for a match against Joe Public. Puerto Rico welcomed skipper Peter Villegas, of Metrostars fame back to its side to beat Tauro FC 2-1 despite being a man down for much of the match. Villegas made an instant impact with a goal, and one wonders after how he played last night how the Islanders advanced to this stage without him. After all MLS sides save Houston have proven losing one key player in CONCACAF events is a pretense for excuse making.
But something has to be addressed. MLS apologists continue to make excuses about this tournament after building this event up before it started. The argument was that MLS continuously lost to Mexican sides in the defunct CONCACAF Champions Cup because the event was in the Mexican pre season. But the few Mexican fans I spoke to always countered that their teams were so beat up then and focused on their Clausura tournament that the fact that they beat MLS sides was a strong indication that the gap between the two leagues was actually wider than Americans fans wanted to claim. Considering MLS has now been shown up by its regions second division in the competition MLS apologists were pointing too, I don’t think MLS fans should be chanting “bring on Cruz Azul,” or even “bring on the Montreal Impact.”
USL-1 sides suffer from similar fixture congestion to MLS team. While they do not have Superliga to contend with, the single table format of USL means trips from Bayoman PR to Vancouver are possible, much longer than the longest MLS trip from Foxboro to Carson. Secondly USL-1 generally plays games on Friday and Sunday each weekend to save on travel costs. For example Miami FC will play @ Seattle and @ Portland the same weekend. This scheduling format has been perfected by the PAC 10 in College Basketball who uses a Thursday/Saturday scheduling format.
My round about point is these same scheduling issues have not affected USL sides whose regular season is actually about to end and who are in the middle of a playoff race. For example the Islanders have a must win game this weekend to ensure winning the Commissioners Cup and getting a playoff bye. However they still played brilliantly last night. The week the Montreal Impact faced Real Esteli of Nicaragua, they played at home to the Nicarguan side, home to Miami, at Atlanta and at Real Esteli in Honduras all within six days Yet somehow they survived and used the success to gain momentum for their push in the league. However when MLS sides have similar fixture congestion they tend to collapse and then make excuses. This is a phenomena I cannot explain other than the theorize that MLS teams are so used to justifying failure and trying to oversell the quality of their product the whole spin cycle becomes second nature.
As USL-1 continues to achieve success on the pitch while MLS achieves more and more monetary and marketing success the two models must be integrated together and not merely through MLS expansion to USL cities. MLS must understand why USL teams are having so much success in the CONCACAF Champions League, despite limited budgets and similar fixture congestion.

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Soccer is a sport with a global reach and presence. It is a sport steeped in culture and tradition, with a unique ability to connect fans from around the world, said Melnyk. We want to bring the world's game to Ottawa and there is no better way to do that than to become part of Major League Soccer.
In July of this year, MLS Commissioner Don Garber noted that Ottawa was one of nine North American cities that would be considered for two expansion teams to enter the league in 2011.
As a pre-requisite to bringing MLS to Ottawa, Melnyk also unveiled plans for a world-class outdoor stadium. The Ottawa MLS stadium will seat up to 30,000, and feature a natural grass pitch and five community soccer pitches located next to the stadium that together will create a major soccer complex for the community. The stadium will be situated adjacent to the Melnyk-owned, 19,153-seat Scotiabank Place, the home of his Ottawa Senators.
We are incredibly fortunate to have the option here in Ottawa of leveraging the expertise of Senators Sports Entertainment and the operational and design synergies associated with situating the new stadium next to Scotiabank Place. We intend to take full advantage of those synergies, said Melnyk.
Melnyk emphasized that building a stadium of this scope and calibre requires broad community support, strong operational management, a solid business plan and collaboration between the private and public sector.
The stadium is a focal point to bringing Major League Soccer to our city but the need for a stadium extends far beyond that. Every world-class city has a world-class outdoor stadium. The stadium is a major investment in our community so we want it to be a multi-purpose entertainment facility. It needs to be a sophisticated hosting venue providing our community with the ability to attract major international sporting events, outdoor concerts and festivals to the nation's capital, highlighted Melnyk. Ottawa is Canada's capital and the second-largest city in Ontario. Our community needs and deserves a world-class stadium.
To help educate and rally the city to support his vision, Melnyk launched a Bring the World to Ottawa campaign as a way of calling upon the Ottawa-Gatineau communities for their collective support in helping make the stadium and MLS team a reality. More details on the campaign are available at www.BringtheWorldtoOttawa.ca.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com
As you may have read elsewhere on Tuesday, there is a Belgian soccer team claiming to have signed New York Red Bulls youth prospect Johnny Exantus (left in photo). Just how legitimate a claim that is remains very unclear.
While the signing was announced by Real Racing Club of Montegnee on Sept. 2, Exantus is currently attending Columbia High School in New Jersey and has been playing for the school's soccer team. He has scored in each of the team's first two games.
Not only that. There is also some question about the professional or amateur status of the club in question, Real Racing Club, which plays in the Belgian Fourth Division. (The club calls itself a professional club, but claims that the program
So if a player signs with an amateur club, has he really signed a thing? More importantly, why would a player regarded as one of the top youth prospects in the nation sign with a fourth-division team in Belgium? And if he did sign, why is he still playing high school soccer in New Jersey.

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The 2007 season was one of the most significant for MLS ever. David Beckham signed with the Gals (but didnt play much) and his popularity increased the leagues average attendance per game by a whopping 1,000 fans. Commissioner Garber was finally delivering on his promise of growth to a league that had toiled in near obscurity for over a decade. 
The 2008 MLS Season was supposed to build on 2007s success and many predicted this would finally be the year MLS achieved relevance. Mr. Beckhams first full season was supposed to turn casual sports fans on to the league and put their butts firmly in the seats when the Galaxy rolled into town. The hope was that after fans came out to the park to see Becks, they would have such a good time they would return the next week. It was a good plan, but the 2008 attendance results indicate it will not be a successful one.

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By
IAN LEWIS and MARK EVERSON
The Red Bulls have traded defender Hunter Freeman to Toronto FC in a deal where the little-used fullback gets some much-needed playing time, shorthanded Toronto gets immediate help, and New York gets something for the talented Texan before he makes his offseason move to Europe.
For Freeman _ whose deal expires New Year’s Eve and has already signed a pre-contract to join Norway’s IK Start on New Year’s Day _ the Red Bulls got third and fourth round picks in next year’s supplemental draft. But it’s a fairly complex deal, one MLS is still sifting through before giving the stamp of approval.
“This was a way to strengthen our squad. We knew he wouldn’t be here next season; we wish him the best for his temporary move to Toronto and his move to Europe next season,’’ said Juan Carlos Osorio, who made this deal with an eye toward gathering assets in his quest for a striker.
Toronto FC retains his rights until Dec. 31 of next year. If he comes back to MLS before then, the Red Bulls get a second round pick in the 2011 SuperDraft. If he returns after that _ and the 23-year-old's deal with IK Start runs out July 1, 2010 _ his rights revert back to the Red Bulls and Toronto gets no compensation.
“Hunter has informed us that he wants to experience the challenge of playing overseas next season,'' sporting director Jeff Agoos said in a release, "and we felt that this deal gives us roster flexibility moving forward, opening up our options as the league transaction deadline nears.

Similar posts: mls soccer

The 2007 season was one of the most significant for MLS ever. David Beckham signed with the Gals (but didnt play much) and his popularity increased the leagues average attendance per game by a whopping 1,000 fans. Commissioner Garber was finally delivering on his promise of growth to a league that had toiled in near obscurity for over a decade. 
The 2008 MLS Season was supposed to build on 2007s success and many predicted this would finally be the year MLS achieved relevance. Mr. Beckhams first full season was supposed to turn casual sports fans on to the league and put their butts firmly in the seats when the Galaxy rolled into town. The hope was that after fans came out to the park to see Becks, they would have such a good time they would return the next week. It was a good plan, but the 2008 attendance results indicate it will not be a successful one.

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Talk about adding insult to injury: Real Salt Lake forward Fabian Espindola thought he had scored a goal in a Sept. 6 game, so he launched into a celebratory backflip. But Espindola landed wrong, severely spraining his ankle - and then an offside call wiped out the goal.
MLS
Chicago White Sox batter Carlos Quentin breaks his bat against Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Cliff Lee in the ninth inning in a baseball game, Monday, Sept. 1, 2008, in Cleveland. Quentin was removed from the lineup before Tuesday night's game and hasn't played since. The team says he has a broken wrist and could be out for the remainder of the season.
Tony Dejak, AP
DALLAS - JANUARY 2: Monta Ellis #8 of the Golden State Warriors looks on during the NBA game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on January 2, 2008 in Dallas, Texas. The Mavs won 121-99.
Ronald Martinez, Getty Images
ANAHEIM, CA - AUGUST 26: Daric Barton #10 of the Oakland Athletics warms up before the game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium on August 26, 2008 in Anaheim, California.
Christian Petersen, Getty Images
CHICAGO - MAY 9: Chris Snyder #19 of the Arizona Diamondbacks walks to the mound during the game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois on May 9, 2008. The Cubs defeated the Diamondbacks 3-1.
Ron Vesely, MLB/Getty Images
DETROIT - MAY 22: Brandon Inge of the Detroit Tigers prepares to take batting practice during the game against the Seattle Mariners at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan on May 22, 2008. The Tigers defeated the Mariners 9-2.

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Kei Kamaras goal against Houston may have been the high-water mark of his Earthquakes career, but hell be wearing orange on Saturday. Photo by John Todd, centerlinesoccer.com, isiphotos.com.
I went fishing with Quakes assistant coach Ian Russell yesterday. Ian is a fly fishing master and I tag along to learn and record his epic catches.  (Epic is his word, not mine.)  Over the years, weve fished together in Colorado, Montana, and Idaho as well as a number of spots in Northern California. For this epic outing we hit the Lower Stanislaus River, which is about two hours away, subject to the driver.  (I drive painfully slowly.) Inevitably, our conversation turned to soccer.  Ian has a keen eye and truly understands the game — he gets it, as I like to say.  When we spoke of the upcoming Houston matches all he could muster was a man, this is gonna be a tough one.  Ian gets it — this is going to be a tough one.

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By
IAN LEWIS and MARK EVERSON
The Red Bulls have traded defender Hunter Freeman to Toronto FC in a deal where the little-used fullback gets some much-needed playing time, shorthanded Toronto gets immediate help, and New York gets something for the talented Texan before he makes his offseason move to Europe.
For Freeman _ whose deal expires New Year’s Eve and has already signed a pre-contract to join Norway’s IK Start on New Year’s Day _ the Red Bulls got third and fourth round picks in next year’s supplemental draft. But it’s a fairly complex deal, one MLS is still sifting through before giving the stamp of approval.
“This was a way to strengthen our squad. We knew he wouldn’t be here next season; we wish him the best for his temporary move to Toronto and his move to Europe next season,’’ said Juan Carlos Osorio, who made this deal with an eye toward gathering assets in his quest for a striker.
Toronto FC retains his rights until Dec. 31 of next year. If he comes back to MLS before then, the Red Bulls get a second round pick in the 2011 SuperDraft. If he returns after that _ and the 23-year-old's deal with IK Start runs out July 1, 2010 _ his rights revert back to the Red Bulls and Toronto gets no compensation.
“Hunter has informed us that he wants to experience the challenge of playing overseas next season,'' sporting director Jeff Agoos said in a release, "and we felt that this deal gives us roster flexibility moving forward, opening up our options as the league transaction deadline nears.

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