Major League Soccer

Fans do the Supporters Shield, no reason there couldn't be a wooden spoon if ppl are willing to make it happen. Naming it would be fun.

i love it. it'd be apt if it were like, a weird broken grill you have to lug around to every tailgate or something

congrats govern yourself accordingly! hope you decided to make the trip, can't imagine what that must have been like for the DC supporters in attendance.

thanks! i couldn't go due to a crazy work project. i live in new york now and don't make it to many games, and missing this one really hurt. a ton of people made the trip though, including some district ultras guys who apparently DROVE from dc. i had to work late anyway, so i found a bar in midtown and made a fool of myself.

the win obviously doesn't accurately reflect how bad we've been this year, but we're a much different team with thorrington and neal healthy. they were an obvious nuisance for RSL to defend in the first half and it paid off. super happy this season didn't turn out to be a lost one after all.

This sums up the tournament rather well imo: http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/76533/we-went-there-the-100th-u-s-open-cup-final

Good article on the Fire's MVP this year http://soccer.si.com/2013/10/05/mike-magee-mvp-candidate-chicago-fire-mls/3/

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/USA/MLS.html

i believe that i am ready now for the sigi schmidt era to be over here in SEA. not this moment, but at the end of the season, regardless of what happens. i don't hate him (would rub that magic belly for luck if i could) but at some point it's best to move on, no matter the level of success. i think players tune out over time, hearing the same patterns, same admonitions, same rhetoric. imagine having the same lead instructor for even a year of college. no way you wouldn't tune him out on some level.

still need to say SIGI OUT in fine ilf tradition though right?

I have no idea what has happened the last few games. The defense was a sieve at home against Vancouver last night. It's such a weird collapse.

Sigi seems to be slightly hamstrung by the "big club" noise around him in Seattle. When he was at Cbus he was lord & master of that team, had absolute power to bring in his own players and build the way he wanted. I don't think that's quite the case in the PNW.

And, at any rate, fuck 'em.

For all the hype it was kind of a dull match last night between PDX and SEA. Liked Alonso finally getting caught for being a dirty player, seems like that should have happened a long time ago. Couldn't understand Sigi's strategy at all, anky u must be upset.

And then there's this:

WINTER BREAK
Major League Soccer is inching closer to adopting a European-like schedule that could be implemented by the start of the 2014 season.

The plan, which has the full support of FIFA, the sport’s governing body, would have the MLS season begin play in either late July or early August and include a six- to eight-week winter break. The championship would either be played in late May or early June. The MLS season currently begins in March and runs until the championship match in the first week of December.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber has been considering adopting the calendar used in Europe for several years but talks have intensified in recent weeks, according to a league source. The move would also placate FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who has been an outspoken — and often unfair — critic of the country’s fastest growing professional league.

“It would be better for U.S. soccer, and specifically also for the (United States)national team,” Blatter once said. “And the popularity inside the country.”

Most European domestic leagues begin in late August and end in early May. A winter break is necessary for the MLS since it has franchises in several cites — including Chicago and Toronto — where playing matches in December and March is a risky proposition.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/soccer/isola-futbol-monday-bad-sign-real-madrid-bale-article-1.1484559#ixzz2hi598Co0

Going to be an insane final week. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/10/21/playoff-shield-scenarios-heading-final-week-2013-regular-season

http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/10/25/mls-opportunity-lost-once-again-no-simultaneous-kickoffs-for-final-match-day/

^otm

Sounders were lucky to win vs Crapids last night imho. Looking forward to tonight's game. So relaxing to watch w/ no team in it.

FRANK YALLOP announced as new Fire head coach this morning btw.

that portland/seattle game is gonna be something, huh

dcu declined their 2014 option on de rosario, which isn't totally surprising (at roughly $700k iirc) - still i'm kinda getting resigned to the fact that they're not spending money until the stadium gets built

Pathetic crowd at Houston for this playoff.

Houston's comeback surprised me.

very good article despite being from buzzfeed

http://www.buzzfeed.com/djpeisner/the-low-budget-high-pressure-life-of-an-mls-rookie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np1JCxG_xvA

fffffffffff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np1JCxG_xvA

Fuck a Kansas City whichever state it's in, but that was a pretty entertaining final.

defoe is not the usual prem burnout that flees to the mls. his goal today is testament to that.

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/2010869/PlayerAcquisition1-14-14.jpg

Watching janky preseason streams, good stuff.

Got a Tottenham lad making a case for a loan to the Fires this year.

Julio Cesar signs for Toronto FC

starting to worry about this TFC rebuilding campaign, I knew once they hired Tim Leiweke it'd be on

i'm ready

so are they: ‏@StumptownFooty · 9m As the VAN/SJ line-ups are announced there are a small group of fans on hand to boo Steven Lenhart

small group of fans otm

https://twitter.com/BlackArmy1850/status/439435612093837312/photo/1

good luck guys

Lol Chad Barrett winning the game for Seattle

DC looks almost as bad as they were last year

two hours in the rain, all made good by...chad barrett.
excited about okoli. yedlin is picking up where he left off. dempsey even had some nice moments
all my fellow sounder fans are all "lol we always do kc like this in stoppage" and i keep thinking yeah but aren't you forgetting the shootout heartbreak of the usoc final? that was way worse
i don't think i've been to a sporting event quite that rainy. fucking miserable. i still feel like crap bcz of it.
the tifo was so wet and heavy they barely were able to unfurl it

what else happened? lots of goals. NE & DC got rolled. philly looked better than i expected.

Fire fought back from 2-0 down to tie things up with Chivas and then shit the bed with 2 minutes left.

Chicago's gonna be dire this year once again, I'm afraid. Hope I'm wrong. There's enough of a youth movement on that it could pay off, but who tf knows in this league.

That said, I'm going to the match in Portland on Sunday. Pretty stoked for a fun trip even tho we're likely gonna get owned.

he's sharp this defoe lad

my favorite bit of that game
http://cdn2.mocksession.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/CLINT-DEMPSEY-NUTSHOT.gif

CLINT-DEMPSEY-NUTSHOT.gif

fact

must read article regarding the referee lockout and the wider unfair labor practices perpetrated by the people who run the league

http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/2014/03/happening-referees-important.html

i'm shocked that a league with a $35k minimum salary has shitty labor relations

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/article/2014/03/25/bob-kraft-worst-owner-new-england-revolution/

shots fired (get it?)

salaries are out http://t.co/rPHDEpdLgt

http://havethetimberswonamatchyet.com/

Atlanta 2017 huh

I guess so
Orlando makes enough sense but the rest are feeling forced. and this one's another turf stadium, what shit.

I was under the impression down south they couldnt give a flying one about soccer

New York Cosmos (7): 6859
San Antonio Scorpions (7): 6763
Carolina Railhawks (7): 4708
Atlanta Silverbacks (7): 4364
Fort Lauderdale Strikers (7): 4224
Tampa Bay Rowdies (7): 4051
Minnesota United FC (7): 3679
FC Edmonton (7): 2760

avg attendance fall 2013 NASL

go scorpions

btw we have a real grass SSS that can be expanded to 18000+ fuck atlanta and their football stadium

I've heard Atlanta isn't gonna be the silverbacks.

And I think the prevailing wisdom is the south is shaky ground for soccer. MLS has already failed in Florida before, and the growing expansion fees are starting to be compared to the growth of the original NASL. But, if you've got established rich ppl tossing down money, as an existing league investor-operator (which is what all the "owners" really are)... Gotta be hard to say no to lining your pockets.