15 league games this week with almost a full slate on Wednesday to start things off. Including a couple of oddball non-holiday Wednesday afternoon games. Wednesday, July 18 New York v. Chicago 12:00 pm Chivas USA v. Portland 3:00 pm Toronto v. Colorado 6:00 pm Montreal v. New England 7:00 pm Houston v. Kansas City 7:30 pm FSH/KHLM-43 Vancouver v. Los Angeles 9:00 pm San Jose v. Dallas 10:00 pm NBCSp Saturday, July 21 New York v. Philadelphia 1:30 pm ESPN/Deportes Columbus v. DC United 6:30 pm Kansas City v. New England 7:30 pm Houston v. Montreal 7:30 pm KPRC-2 Dallas v. Portland 8:00 pm Los Angeles v. Chivas USA 9:00 pm TeleFutura Salt Lake v. Colorado 9:00 pm Sunday, July 22 Vancouver v. San Jose 6:00 pm A couple of huge match-ups in the top five of the Eastern Conference (HOU/SKC and NYR/CHI) are your top league games.
My rooting interests this week. Fire over Red Bulls, a tie would be perfect but I prefer to root for a winner Timbers over Baby Goats, meh Reds over Rapids, no real reason other than I almost always pick TFC this year Impact over Revs, let's keep NE down Whitecaps over Gals, easy Quakes over FCD, even easier Union over Red Bulls, almost like rooting for TFC these days Crew over DCU, every little bit helps Revs over Sporks, keep SKC within reach Timbers over FCD, it just seems right Baby Goats over Gals, I can hope, can't I? Rapids over Royals, I'd like to see Colorado jump over LAG for the last playoff spot Whitecaps over Quakes, I guess
Didn't the MetroStars do a couple of those random mid-week afternoon games? Looks like Chivas and NYRB are attempting some sort of kid's/camps special. Still doesn't seem like a particularly good idea for attendance, but we'll see.
Week 20 is underway. They have kicked off in Harrison, NJ. 100F at kickoff. There appear to be 100s of fans there. This was an excellent idea.
Wow, that does look like a winner of a plan there. On a side note, I recognize the voice of the play-by-play guy on the MSG (direct kick) feed... it's Steve Cangialosi, whose main job is announcing New Jersey Devils games with Chico Resch. Though I think Steve has done an admirable job taking over for the legendary Doc Emerick as the main Devil's PBP guy... I'm glad the Dynamo have soccer people doing our broadcasts. edit: From what I've heard so far Steve seems to be doing a pretty okay job at doing soccer... I've heard much worse.
I've had the game on the MLS 2012 app, hoping for a nice distraction during work. But when I watch, it starts to put me to sleep. It's first-division pro soccer played with virtually no running. (I've seen similar games played in 100 degree heat at times in the state leagues in Brazil, but there they've figured out that you take an extended "injury" break about half-way through each half, so that everyone can go get water on the sidelines. That's sort of like that water-break game we had with, I think, RSL a couple years ago. But that was an official break, IIRC.)
First result of the week: Wednesday, July 18 New York 1-0 Chicago Chivas USA v. Portland 3:00 pm Toronto v. Colorado 6:00 pm Montreal v. New England 7:00 pm Houston v. Kansas City 7:30 pm FSH/KHLM-43 Vancouver v. Los Angeles 9:00 pm San Jose v. Dallas 10:00 pm NBCSp Saturday, July 21 New York v. Philadelphia 1:30 pm ESPN/Deportes Columbus v. DC United 6:30 pm Kansas City v. New England 7:30 pm Houston v. Montreal 7:30 pm KPRC-2 Dallas v. Portland 8:00 pm Los Angeles v. Chivas USA 9:00 pm TeleFutura Salt Lake v. Colorado 9:00 pm Sunday, July 22 Vancouver v. San Jose 6:00 pm Updated Standings: East 1. SKC 19 g.p. 36 pts +8 2. NYR 20 g.p. 35 pts +6 3. DCU 19 g.p. 33 pts +8 4. CHI 20 g.p. 31 pts +0 5. HOU 19 g.p. 28 pts +2 -------------------------- 6. NER 18 g.p. 22 pts +1 7. CLB 17 g.p. 22 pts -2 8. MON 21 g.p. 21 pts -10 9. PHI 17 g.p. 20 pts +1 10.TFC 19 g.p. 16 pts -13 West 1. SJE 20 g.p. 40 pts +17 2. RSL 21 g.p. 36 pts +5 3. SEA 20 g.p. 31 pts +4 4. VAN 20 g.p. 30 pts -2 5. LAG 20 g.p. 26 pts +1 ------------------------- 6. COR 19 g.p. 22 pts +0 7. CHV 17 g.p. 20 pts -7 8. FCD 20 g.p. 19 pts -9 9. POR 18 g.p. 19 pts -10
Yup. I'm planning on having the Chivas game on, too. But every time I watch one of their games from the HDC it makes me sad to see those tarps. They're owned by a billionaire and play in one of the markets that big-name foreign players want. It seems like that club should be competing more effectively with LAG for relevance that market.
One of the worlds biggest blunders. 1. Don't get involved in a land war in Asia 2. Never take a bet with a Sicilian when death is on the line 3. Don't alienate 75% of your potential fan base by nameing your club after another, Polerizing, club from their home country.
I agree with the basic concept, but having named the team what they did, they still had some pretty good attendances at the start. They averaged about 17,000 in 2005, and about 19,000 in 2006. IIRC, they may have had some double-headers that raise the averages a bit, but they were still doing ok. They also set the MLS local sponsorship record at some point early in the existence, although I suspect they didn't hold it long. Anyway, my point is just that even if their branding was a big mistake, they should still be doing better than they are in their current tarp-covered state. Tarping a stadium that was built for MLS is just a massive admission of failure, and basically surrender in terms of attendance. I agree that the branding is an issue. But they just seem to have given up even trying.
It's all about winning games. If you want an excited fan base you better be able to win at home consistently.
They never seemed to be able to build on Bob Bradleys success there. But Anderson has a point, when you hear about the Drogba's of the world, they want to play in LA or NY. Chivas needs to get themselves out in front of that.
Wednesday games are done: Wednesday, July 18 New York 1-0 Chicago Chivas USA 1-0 Portland Toronto 2-1 Colorado Montreal 2-1 New England Houston 2-1 Kansas City Vancouver 2-2 Los Angeles San Jose 2-1 Dallas Saturday, July 21 New York v. Philadelphia 1:30 pm ESPN/Deportes Columbus v. DC United 6:30 pm Kansas City v. New England 7:30 pm Houston v. Montreal 7:30 pm KPRC-2 Dallas v. Portland 8:00 pm Los Angeles v. Chivas USA 9:00 pm TeleFutura Salt Lake v. Colorado 9:00 pm Sunday, July 22 Vancouver v. San Jose 6:00 pm Updated Standings: East 1. SKC 20 g.p. 36 pts +7 2. NYR 20 g.p. 35 pts +6 3. DCU 19 g.p. 33 pts +8 4. HOU 20 g.p. 31 pts +3 5. CHI 20 g.p. 31 pts +0 -------------------------- 6. MON 22 g.p. 24 pts -9 7. NER 19 g.p. 22 pts +0 8. CLB 17 g.p. 22 pts -2 9. PHI 17 g.p. 20 pts +1 10.TFC 20 g.p. 19 pts -12 West 1. SJE 21 g.p. 43 pts +18 2. RSL 21 g.p. 36 pts +5 3. SEA 20 g.p. 31 pts +4 4. VAN 21 g.p. 31 pts -2 5. LAG 21 g.p. 27 pts +1 ------------------------- 6. CHV 18 g.p. 23 pts -6 7. COR 20 g.p. 22 pts -1 8. FCD 21 g.p. 19 pts -10 9. POR 19 g.p. 19 pts -11
Did anyone see the MTL game? The ref made Bernier take the penalty three times before he let it count.
Wow. I haven't seen the highlights yet, but I looked up the ref. Fotis Bazakos is another of the newish refs.
And don't alienate 24% of the remaining 25% of the fan base by trying to have only Mexican players on the roster in America.
Didn't know where else to post this so here.... http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/8183171/son-former-us-midfielder-claudio-reyna-dies-13 A parent should never have to put their kid in the ground. More sadness on whats already a tragic weekend.
Saturday results: Wednesday, July 18 New York 1-0 Chicago Chivas USA 1-0 Portland Toronto 2-1 Colorado Montreal 2-1 New England Houston 2-1 Kansas City Vancouver 2-2 Los Angeles San Jose 2-1 Dallas Saturday, July 21 New York 2-0 Philadelphia Columbus 1-0 DC United Kansas City 0-0 New England Houston 3-0 Montreal Dallas 5-0 Portland 8:00 pm Los Angeles 3-1 Chivas USA 9:00 pm TeleFutura Salt Lake 2-0 Colorado Sunday, July 22 Vancouver v. San Jose 6:00 pm Updated Standings: East 1. NYR 21 g.p. 38 pts +8 2. SKC 21 g.p. 37 pts +7 3. HOU 21 g.p. 34 pts +6 4. DCU 20 g.p. 33 pts +7 5. CHI 20 g.p. 31 pts +0 -------------------------- 6. CLB 18 g.p. 25 pts -1 7. MON 23 g.p. 24 pts -12 8. NER 20 g.p. 23 pts +0 9. PHI 18 g.p. 20 pts -1 10.TFC 20 g.p. 19 pts -12 West 1. SJE 21 g.p. 43 pts +18 2. RSL 22 g.p. 39 pts +7 3. SEA 20 g.p. 31 pts +4 4. VAN 21 g.p. 31 pts -2 5. LAG 22 g.p. 30 pts +3 ------------------------- 6. CHV 19 g.p. 23 pts -8 7. COR 21 g.p. 22 pts -3 8. FCD 22 g.p. 22 pts -5 9. POR 20 g.p. 19 pts -16
Steve has been doing the studio show since Metro days-he took over the PBP full time when JP bolted for Philly. NY has always has great PBP and analysts. Best pairing IMO was Healy and Tommy Smith-damn they were funny.
Weed 20 is complete: Wednesday, July 18 New York 1-0 Chicago Chivas USA 1-0 Portland Toronto 2-1 Colorado Montreal 2-1 New England Houston 2-1 Kansas City Vancouver 2-2 Los Angeles San Jose 2-1 Dallas Saturday, July 21 New York 2-0 Philadelphia Columbus 1-0 DC United Kansas City 0-0 New England Houston 3-0 Montreal Dallas 5-0 Portland 8:00 pm Los Angeles 3-1 Chivas USA 9:00 pm TeleFutura Salt Lake 2-0 Colorado Sunday, July 22 Vancouver 2-1 San Jose Standings after week 20: East 1. NYR 21 g.p. 38 pts +8 2. SKC 21 g.p. 37 pts +7 3. HOU 21 g.p. 34 pts +6 4. DCU 20 g.p. 33 pts +7 5. CHI 20 g.p. 31 pts +0 -------------------------- 6. CLB 18 g.p. 25 pts -1 7. MON 23 g.p. 24 pts -12 8. NER 20 g.p. 23 pts +0 9. PHI 18 g.p. 20 pts -1 10.TFC 20 g.p. 19 pts -12 West 1. SJE 22 g.p. 43 pts +17 2. RSL 22 g.p. 39 pts +7 3. VAN 22 g.p. 34 pts -1 4. SEA 20 g.p. 31 pts +4 5. LAG 22 g.p. 30 pts +3 ------------------------- 6. CHV 19 g.p. 23 pts -8 7. COR 21 g.p. 22 pts -3 8. FCD 22 g.p. 22 pts -5 9. POR 20 g.p. 19 pts -16