There's a nice feature in the latest Howler and here: http://www.howlermagazine.com/hasta-siempre-chivas/ on the final Chivas game
Fun fact, food for thought, (UCL spoiler) A very interesting and exciting (extreme understatement) 2nd leg UCL knockout match between PSG and Chelsea resulted with PSG winning on away goals and a reported 250,000 Euro bonus to each PSG player. Assuming 18 players and nothing to the coach(es) or the rest of the staff that would total 4,500,000 Euro or about $4,779,000 (at the currently declining exchange rate). Now Paris is a big team with big plans and rich owners but they are in the 4th or 5th best European league depending on where you place them relative to Serie A. The salient point being that bonus for just one match (over the top of salaries and pro-rated transfers) is well above the current MLS salary cap for the whole team for the whole season. It is maybe fairly easy for MLS suits to say we want to be one of the top leagues in the world but for that to happen and have them stay profitable revenues (including ticket prices) need to increase somewhat exponentially before they can break into the top 10 or so in the ability to pay and thus attract top talent on more than a one off or out-lier basis as it is now.
Gold Cup 2015, USMNT vs Panama on July 13. In Kansas City, at Sporting Park. Totally road trip material. Assuming he makes the roster, you could all go root for Gabby at the alter of Saint Zusi. Or root for that other plucky little team, I don't judge.
I just looked. $29 per year includes T-shirt and access to tix for the game at $37 each. Supporters section which means "All singing, all standing, all passion, all the time".
I'm trying to watch the Orlando v Houston match on unimas. Is anyone able to get the SAP to work on directTV? I just spent the whole first half on the phone with direct tv customer service and they just said that it's not available in English.
Be glad, be very, very glad. These are the worst announces I have ever heard listening to a MLS game (and I suffered through the "a red card means he's ejected, right" era of Rapids announcing).
My DVRed version is in English, on Directv, UNIDHD ch. 455. As Jason pointed out it sounds like a couple of college AV Club guys, or the old FSC Fan Zone, but it is in English ...
A few thoughts on Houston v. Orlando City (CAUTION: result hinted in comments) + Orlando City moved the ball much better this match, and the Rapids will have trouble on the back line dealing with their speed and movement away from the ball. + Kaka is fun to watch. He schooled Houston too many times to count. I shudder to think what he will do to the Rapids defense. + Tyler Derek. Ouch. That play was painful to watch. + Brad Davis looks a step slower than last season, not that I'm shedding any tears about it. (I still remember his cheap shot on Jacob Peterson and Kosuke Kimura's fine repayment of the complement a couple seasons later.) + The Shea pet hasn't improved his touch since his FCD era. + After week one I thought the Rapids were about level with the two expansion sides. I don't think so any more, especially when an expansion side starts with a two match unbeaten streak and the Rapids are mired in a fifteen match winless streak. + The announcers eerily reminded me of the perpetual cliche loop in FIFA 2000.
Ah ha... I was watching on channel 14 KTFD. Bet the UNIDHD channel does the SAP and not the broadcast KTFD. I'll check it out next week. Thanks I loved the old Fan Zone of FSC it sounded a lot like what I hear form Jimmydinho from the row in front of me!
The broadcast channel (14.1, which is HD also) definitely does the SAP. I'm loving it so far this season. I must say it's difficult to find on my Toshiba, there's no dedicated button on the remote and it's buried in the menus under digital audio with no mention of the phrase "SAP".
I just want to add that I'm loving the SAP option on DirecTV. I got mine to work using the green button ch 455. Buuut most of the people I've read about having problems with it are watching on a local affiliate.
Taylor Twellman just said that Minnesota (United bid, not NFL team owner bid) will be the announced next expansion franchise. Also said this is to pressure Miami (just one more expansion slot left) into getting Beckham approval on a downtown stadium or Sacramento will be final franchise who have a strong ownership group and have checked all the MLS required boxes.
You have to assume the league will stop at 24 to fall for that pressure, which they won't. But Sacramento will be #24 IMO, followed by Miami (eventually) and probably San Antonio or Indy.
Watching some of the games last night, watching the NYC - NE game now - is it me, or do the refs seem a little trigger happy with the red cards so far this year (too early to say that they are in favor of favored teams...). I hope MLS isn't taking a step back on the ref quality...they've made marked improvements over the 17 years we've had season tickets.
I think it's more rusty players, last guy, tackle from behind, pretty much always going to be a red card.
For whatever reason, Channel 14 on DirecTV doesn't have the SAP, but it you watch it on the antenna, it does. However, those games are also on Univision Deportes, where the SAP does work on DirecTV.
Maybe it's because I'm now older, but I've grown tired of the complex this country has around soccer. Why are clubs trying to include FC in their name? Seriously NYCFC, OCFC, Minn FC United, LAFC - get over it. We call it soccer in this country and that is fine. Quit trying to be somebody else. Call yourself Minn United SC or LASC.
Or just the traditional US team naming such as CO Rapids, LA Galaxy, Houston Dynamo, NY Red Bulls (well...). The habit of feeling the need to emulate so much tradition from England seems contrived in some cases, mostly where we already have our own history of sports language or tradition. The "soccer" vs "football" naming really never bothered me that much as far as use in the US. I'm fine with either, but they do both come from England where "football" was originally rugby (the ball being about a *foot* long) and "association football" was todays futbol/soccer. That's the reason our American grid iron football is called "football", because the play style is derived from rugby. The word "soccer" was derived from the word "association" in association football in England and is still in use in a lot of countries outside the US and Canada including Ireland, Australia and much of the southern cone of Africa. I ramble on like this b/c it seriously irks me when people (especially outside the US and especially from England) condescendingly say "Why do you people call it soccer? It's a game played with your foot so it's obvious name is football. And why do you call grid iron "football" since the game has little to do with your foot?". No one asked for this diatribe, but there it is anyways.