News and Views

Major League Soccer Awards Tracker -- Week 24 This is the first time I have linked to the awards tracker, and now I am wondering why I never bothered to do so before!

(Un)balancing act working for Rapids

The Cheap Seats: Immodest proposal Good article...except I am not a San Jose fan, and though I am not a starving artist (yet), I am a college student. (Do you have any idea how much things like tuition and textbooks cost? I got lucky this semester - my most expensive textbook (paperback, at that!) cost a mere $70 (US). But enough of that.) Anyways, I think that putting the team "up for sale" is a good idea, provided that there are people who have big enough hearts and pocketbooks to do so.

The Clean Sheet: Who's in first? What's in second...wait a sec; that's baseball, not soccer! Anyways, Drew Carey is fond of saying "Cleveland rocks!" I'll put my own little spin on it: "Columbus rocks!" :D Yes, Tino Palace, the Crew are top in the Eastern conference. They were finally able to break out of their ugly trend of starting well and finishing poorly. Still, the season is not yet over, so of course that can change at any time. Let's just hope that Columbus does not screw up between now and the playoffs! That aside, the rest of the article is also worth reading. This article gets my recommendation!

MLS should pay more heed to international dates The U.S. is of course unlike any other soccer market in the world, and sometimes things have to be done in this country that are a bit different so as to attract the biggest possible audience; both in stadium and on television. What a way to state the obvious! This article is the kind that I like - i.e., it is written by a soccer purist, who does a fine job of critiquing MLS! Regarding playing MLS matches at the same time as US FIFA matches, I like this statement: As hard-core soccer fans, we are all global thinkers, and follow the world game as passionately as the domestic one. Why then make people choose between one soccer match over another? Why pit MLS versus the World Cup? Excellent point! I am still trying to figure out why MLS does not pause for the World Cup! After all, the World Cup is the pinnacle of world soccer and happens only once every four years!

Chicago Fire shifting soccer stadium plans