Beattie, Losing, and Boo-Boos

My apologies on that last post. I had a 3 month old keeping me occupied while I tried to put together a couple quick posts. I should have the formatting fixed now to better show the link to the original post.

Everton Dupes United

Speaking of apologies, Everton is going to owe one to Sheffield United. Everton just sold the ex-Saint James Beattie to Sheffield United for £4 million. I would imagine Sheffield United want to show they're committed to making the move back up to the Premiership. But spending that much on Beattie? Just a bit over 2 years ago, Everton bought him for £6 million but that was at a time when he had the potential to be an England international. Since then he's show that he's just not that good. £4 million is £2 million too much for Beattie.

Rapids Losing Streak

If the Colorado Rapids fail to win today's game at FC Dallas, their current winless streak will reach 10 and put them in the top 10 list of worst winless streaks in league history. With the anemic offense that the Rapids have had this year, it would seem their best hope for winning will come from FC Dallas' defense. If they play they did earlier this week against LA in the SuperLiga, the Rapids have a chance to score a couple. There are some other things that would give the Rapids a fighting chance, such as Clavijo not starting Niko Hernandez or Jovan Kirovski. But Clavijo's been very consistent about starting those 2 players despite their poor performances. It seems unlikely that he'd change that at this point.

5 Most Overrated American Players

I got a good laugh reading this one. For the sake of the original writer, I hope they don't run into Gooch in a dark alley late at night.

The 5 most overrated US soccer players

5. Brian Ching - Watching Ching play is like watching tree sap solidify. He's so slow he wouldn't even be a half decent international squad's water boy. They would all die of dehydration by the time he got water to them.

4. Taylor Twellman - Slower than Ching and less skilled on the ball. If it wasn't for his Revolution teammate, Pat Noonan, he'd probably be in USL-2 and working part time at a doughnut shop.

3. Landon Donovan - He's fast, compared to the two above, the Mexican squad, and most of the MLS, and sure, he's decent on the ball, but I can easily, off the top of my head, name a hundred players in the world I'd take over him at midfield. Oh, I forgot, he's a great penalty-taker. For fuck's sake.

2. Gooch - He's basically an American football player trying to be a European footballer. Absolutely no skill and all athletic ability. Only a moron would take him over Jay Demerit.

1. Eddie Johnson - He's not even a good poacher. The real reason he turned down Derby is because he's a typical ball-less US soccer player. Speed? Yes. Skill? Seriously? I doubt he can even spell it.

What A Start To My Vacation

I finally had a change to visit my parents, family and some old friends this summer. I flew back to Minnesota in a lil' ol' A319 on Frontier (had Donn the dall sheep on the tail) yesterday morning. About 6pm central time my sister calls to say there will be something more on the news about a call that just went out on Minnesota's emergency network ---> The I-35W bridge over the Mississippi had just collapsed. Soon after that family and friends from across the country were calling to see if we were alright. We are but as you may know by now many others have been injured and there are some unfortunate families that are missing loved ones. What a way to begin a vacation.

I normally don't talk about anything other than soccer. I felt this was one of those things that called for an exception. To those who were injured and especially to those who died in this freak accident, our thoughts and prayers are with you tonight and forever. To those who passed away, may the perpetual light shine upon them.

Beckham No Show...Dallas Gets Burned...

Fans in the Dallas/Ft. Worthless Metroplex wanted to see David Beckham last night in the inaugural MLS vs. MLS SuperLiga match. They didn't get to and they complained with some silly signs.

The British press were even more silly to think the LA Galaxy fans were the ones complaining. I guess they can't read FC Dallas behind the picture of Beckham. But that is another matter.

Silly Texans, you go to a sporting event knowing full well that one or more of the players on the team may not play due to injury. I'm ok giving Texas back to Mexico...you?

I hope after the first 20 minutes the Dallas fans were more upset about the play of their team on the field because they were down 4-0 in that time. However, FC Dallas didn't rollover and play dead and they should be commended for bringing the game back from the depths of a blow out. The final score??? 11 goals between the two teams with LA advancing to the SuperLiga semifinals by winning 6-5.



That's right, the dumb ass fans who were more interested in complaining about a Beckham no show were treated to one of the most entertaining and highest scoring MLS games ever. I'd kill to see the Rapids lose a game after scoring 5 goals...wait 4 goals...wait 2 goals. Yes, all I want in Colorado is to see my team put up two goals. It is a sad state of affairs here in Denver.

This is a notice to sports fans in the US. David Beckham and the rest of his designated player friends are not going to play in ever single game. You can not buy a ticket to an event expecting to see him. Please DO NOT make yourself look stupid by making a sign about how unfortunate it is that Beckham is injured and can't play. It is part of sports. Look at it this way, Bud Selig isn't going to complain when Barry Bonds sits out due to pain from a swelling head...ok, that is different.

Superliga ; FCD - LA Galaxy

Crazy game; I think it's best to let MLS Underground sum it up.

MLS 2007 Team Moves : New York Red Bulls

A while ago we looked at the player moves by the Colorado Rapids for 2007. Since then the Rapids traded Kyle Beckerman to Real Salt Lake for Mehdi Ballouchy. To continue looking at teams around the MLS and the moves they've made this year, today we'll look at New York Red Bulls and the moves that Bruce Arena has made in the off-season and during the 2007 MLS season.

In
Juan Pablo Angel - Signed from Aston Villa & reported to be making $1.5m in salary.
Sal Caccavale - Singed on a free.
Danny Cepero - 2007 4th round Supplemental draft pick.
Kevin Goldwaite - Traded Todd Dunivant to bring him in from Toronto FC.
Hunter Freeman - Traded 4th round pick in 2007 Supplemental draft and 3rd round pick in 2008 Superdraft to Colorado Rapids.
Chris Karcz - Signed on a free... sort of. Another MLS club had his rights and it's unclear if NYRB had to give anything up for him.
Clint Mathis - Traded Colorado a 4th round Superdraft pick and conditional 2009 pick for Mathis.
Randi Patterson - 2007 1st round Supplemental draft pick.
Santino Quaranta - Traded to New York Red Bulls for a conditional pick.
Claudio Reyna - Signed on a free; First Designated Player signed.
Dane Richards - Selected by NYRB in 2nd round of 2007 Superdraft.
Dave van den Bergh - From Kansas City in exchange for a 3rd round pick in 2007 MLS SuperDraft.
Sinisa Ubiparipovic - 2007 3rd round Superdraft pick
Ronald Waterreus - Signed on a free.
John Wolyniec - From Los Angeles for a 4th round 2007 Superdraft pick

Out
Edson Buddle - Traded to Toronto FC for Tim Regan. Since then Buddle was traded to LA.
Youri Djorkaeff - Retired
Todd Dunivant - Traded to Toronto FC for Kevin Goldwaite.
Taylor Graham - Released on a free. Back with Seattle Sounders (USL-1).
Amado Guevara - Traded to Chivas USA for a designated player slot for 5 years.
Tony Meola - Retired
Danny O'Rourke - Selected by Toronto FC in the expansion draft. Since then traded to Columbus.
Marvell Wynne - Traded to Toronto FC for a partial allocation and a 2nd round pick in 2008 Superdraft.
Note : I'm sure there are players missing that were released after the 2006 season. Any help in listing those is appreciated.

Clavijo, Still Employed

The Colorado Rapids are still in the worst winless streak in the clubs history. They haven't had a win in 9 games and have been outscored with the Rapids only scoring 5 to their opponents 14. They've only won 4 of their 18 games in 2007. They're the 2nd worst team in the league (points per game). In fact, the Rapids have only won 8 of their last 35 games. Yet not a peep out of Kroenke Sports Entertainment, owners of the Colorado Rapids, on replacing Clavijo. What more can it take?

For more information on Clavijo's atrocious performance with the Rapids check out FireClavijo.com.

Crazy Hooligans

Ever wonder what the hooligans in Moldova are like? Now you know.