Portuguese Americans/Canadians who follow MLS [R]

TV NEWS: 'Hours and hours of soccer'

From the Toronto Star:

How things have changed.

In one of the many great SCTV sketches from the '80s, unscrupulous station boss Guy Caballero tried to extort money from viewers during a pledge drive.

Give us money, he threatened, or we'll start showing soccer.

"Hours and hours of soccer," he cackled, anticipating the viewers' horror.

Well, 20 years later station bosses are airing hours and hours of soccer, not as a threat but as a lure to subscribers ...

Soccer around the clock, Chris Zelkovich (Toronto Star)
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...3&call_pageid=1044529386722&col=1044529386490

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WWW.SOCCERAMERICA.COM

NEWSLETTER

. WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"Steve hadn't coached in MLS before. It takes awhile to understand that it's a different game. To his credit, he adapted. Early on, he had a style that he wanted to impose. He kept a lot of what he wanted, but he also changed a lot. A lot of coaches don't do that."
-- Forward Landon Donovan of 2005 MLS champion Los Angeles on his coach, Steve Sampson, whose job looked in serious jeopardy during the Galaxy's .500 regular-season campaign. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

"Our interest is in the future, starting an FC Barcelona team or obtaining a franchise in MLS. We are at the beginning of the process and phase of starting. ... I don't know time, date, where. We are only thinking about the possibility. I love the States."
-- Barcelona president Joan Laporta, who attended the MLS Cup in Texas. (mlsnet.com)

"For the first 20 minutes they were by far the better side, they were first to the ball, their passing was sharp and they put us under a bit of pressure. But we started to play a bit after that and gain a bit of confidence."
-- Scotland coach Walter Smith after is team's 1-1 tie at home with the USA on Saturday. (AFP)




2. WINNERS & LOSERS: Los Angeles takes MLS Cup with Pando goal

Winners:

The LOS ANGELES GALAXY, which finished the regular season in fourth place of the Wetsern Conference, is MLS champion thanks to a 1-0 overtime win over New England on a goal by late sub Guillermo "Pando" Ramirez, who saw only 30 minutes of action in the Galaxy's previous seven games. Ramirez had taken a team-high 62 shots in the regular-season but scored only once, on a penalty kick.

The USA's tie 1-1 against Scotland in Saturday's friendly gave several players who hadn't figured in the qualifying campaign to impress Coach Bruce Arena. Left back JONATHAN SPECTOR defended solidly and launched several forays down the flank. Also showing well enough to stay in the picture during World Cup preparations was defensive midfielder BRIAN CARROLL.

In the first-leg of playoffs for the final spots in World Cup 2006, SPAIN thumped Slovakia, 5-1. SWITZERLAND upset 2002 World Cup third-place team Turkey, the CZECHS eked out a 1-0 win over Norway. BAHRAIN picked up a 1-1 tied in Trinidad. URUGUAY managed only a 1-0 win over Australia in Montevideo.

Losers:

NEW ENGLAND's MLS Cup history now reads 233 minutes of play without scoring. The Revs, who fell, 1-0, to Los Angeles in overtime on Sunday, lost in similar fashion to Los Angeles in 2002, when it was another Guatemalan, Carlos Ruiz, whose goal in overtime - then sudden death - downed the Revs.

American defender OGUCHI ONYEWU of Standard Liege has been handed a four-game suspension by the Belgian federation for two red cards he received earlier this season.

World Cup favorite ARGENTINA fell, 3-2, to England in a friendly in Geneva despite leading 2-1 until the 88th minute, when Michael Owen scored the first of his two goals.




3. COLLEGE-MLS WINNERS: Sampson joins Schmid & Arena

The Galaxy's MLS Cup victory gives Coach Steve Sampson a championship during his first full season as coach of a pro club. Sampson, the USA's coach at the 1998 World Cup, replaced Sigi Schmid late last season.

Sampson guided Santa Clara to the 1989 Division I NCAA title, which the Broncos' shared with the University of Virginia, coached by Bruce Arena, who won two MLS titles with D.C. United after five titles with Virginia.

Schmid, who guided the Galaxy to the 2002 MLS title, won three NCAA titles at UCLA. That means all three coaches who entered MLS with NCAA Division I titles under their belts also succeeded in lifting the pro crown.

The late Tom Fitzgerald won an NCAA Division I title with UCLA after his stint at the helm of the Columbus Crew, which has not won an MLS title.

4. MAKING A LIST: MLS champions

MLS Cup history
2005 Los Angeles 1 New England 0
2004 D.C. United 3 Kansas City 2
2003 San Jose 4 Chicago 2
2002 Los Angeles 1 New England 0
2001 San Jose 2 Los Angeles 1
2000 Kansas City 1 Chicago 0
1999 D.C. United 2 Los Angeles 0
1998 Chicago 2 D.C. United 0
1997 D.C. United 2 Colorado 1
1996 D.C. United 3 Los Angeles 2




5. SCOTLAND-USA: Soccer America Report Card

The USA settled for a 1-1 tie in its friendly with Scotland in Glasgow on Saturday in its final game of 2005.

DaMarcus Beasley was taken down in the penalty area and Josh Wolff converted the penalty kick as the Americans took the lead in the ninth minute at Hampden Park.

But the Scots equalized in the 39th minute when Andy Webster's header off a free kick beat Kasey Keller on their only shot on goal.

Soccer America Report Card
(1=low; 5=average; 10=high)
STARTERS:
Kasey Keller 4
Steve Cherundolo 7
Gregg Berhalter 6
Carlos Bocanegra 6
Jonathan Spector 6
Eddie Gaven 3
Brian Carroll 6
Kerry Zavagnin 5
DaMarcus Beasley 7
Josh Wolff 6
Brian Ching 3

SUBS:
Ben Olsen 4
Santino Quaranta 4
Chris Rolfe 5
Heath Pearce nr
Jimmy Conrad nr


6. OFF THE POST: Man U locker room bugged

Manchester United is launching an investigation and may involve the police after discovering its locker room was bugged on the day of its 1-0 win over Chelsea by a "gang" that had planned to use the tapes of two hours of conversation for extortion.

The Sun tabloid, through a middle man, acquired the tapes, which included Manager Alex Ferguson's halftime advice -- clamp down on Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele, avoid John Terry -- the players' laughter while hearing Ferguson swear during a post-game TV interview, and the players' screaming abuse at the TV screen while Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was making postgame comments.

 

www.socceramerica.com newsletter


1. WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"At the recent MLS Board of Governors meeting in Frisco, Texas, the Anschutz Entertainment Group was granted approval by the Board to move the San Jose Earthquakes to a number of potential cities, including Houston, Texas. In order to ensure that the team will have the appropriate time to prepare for the 2006 season, a final decision on the location of the team will be reached within the next 30 days."
-- Statement by MLS Commissioner Don Garber.

"The players are not allowed to shoot from outside the area -- that's because they miss most of the time. I am glad he ignored me on that one."
-- Bolton coach Sam Allardyce forgives Kevin Nolan for breaking a team rule because his 25-yard shot gave Bolton a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur. (BBC)




2. BY THE NUMBERS: The champion Galaxy

3
Teams that have done the double, winning the MLS title and the U.S. Open Cup in the same year: Los Angeles (2005), Chicago (1998), D.C. United 1996)

4
Number of the Galaxy's five goals in five MLS Cups scored by foreign players: Guillermo Ramirez (Guatemala, 2005), Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala, 2002), Luis Hernandez (Mexico, 2001), Eduardo Hurtado (Ecuador, 1996). American Chris Armas scored the Galaxy's other goal in its 3-2 loss to D.C. United in 1996.

5
MLS Cups in which Cobi Jones appeared with the Galaxy, including winning efforts in 2002 and 2005.

14
MLS record number of postseason goals scored by Landon Donovan. Four came this season for the Galaxy. Ten came while helping San Jose win titles in 2001 and 2003.

45
MLS record number of postseason games played by Cobi Jones.

3,270
Minutes of MLS soccer left back Todd Dunivant played in 2005 - every minute of every regular-season and postseason game.




3. MLS: Playoff Ratings Leaders

The following are the MLS playoff ratings leaders, based on the SOCCER AMERICA Report Cards of each game. (1=low; 5=average; 10=high)

1. Donovan Los Angeles) 7.25
2. Cancela (New England) 6.67
2. Mastroeni (Colorado) 6.67
2. Guerrero (Chicago) 6.67
2. Thiago (Chicago) 6.67
6. Djorkaeff (MetroStars) 6.50
7. Marsch (Chicago) 6.33
7. Curtin (Chicago) 6.33
9. Ihemelu (Los Angeles) 6.25
10. Vagenas (Los Angeles) 6.00
10. Marshall (Los Angeles) 6.00
10. Parkhurst (New England) 6.00
10. Rolfe (Chicago) 6.00
10. Guevara (MetroStars) 6.00
15. Hartman (Los Angeles) 5.75
15. Reis (New England) 5.75
17. Kirovski (Colorado) 5.67
17. Cannon (Colorado) 5.67
17. Cullen (Colorado) 5.67
17. Brown (Chicago) 5.67
17. Segares (Chicago) 5.67
22. Nagamura (Los Angeles) 5.50
22. Jones (Los Angeles) 5.50
22. Albright (Los Angeles) 5.50
22. Twellman (New England) 5.50
22. Cunningham (Colorado) 5.50
* Minimum of two games.

 

I almost post the wrong item on this thread,

 

New Rochester stadium in the USL league, the lights are on it
The lights are on and the field is in...

http://www.rhinossoccer.com/photos/data/2/3044_lr.jpg

http://www.rhinossoccer.com/photos/data/2/2915_lr.jpg

http://www.rhinossoccer.com/photos/data/2/2846c_lr2.jpg

http://www.rhinossoccer.com/photos/data/2/2875c_lr.jpg

http://www.rhinossoccer.com/photos/data/2/2889c_lr.jpg

http://www.rhinossoccer.com/photos/data/2/2902_lr.jpg

http://www.rhinossoccer.com/photos/data/2/3007_lr.jpg


ROCHESTER RAGING RHINOS CHOOSE FIELDTURF
http://www.fieldturf.com/feature.cfm?featureID=1

 

LA Galaxy honored at Kings Hockey game

http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20051118&content_id=48607&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp