The End.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Dear Sepp Blatter..........
Dear Sepp Blatter,
Why?
Why must you always have something to pick on Major League Soccer's calendar season?
Why are we the target just because we don't follow the European soccer calender season?
Why?
Does it have something to do with Europeans playing here that have to travel back and forth to Europe during the International break?
"You are not in the good international season, specifically in Europe and some other countries. What is the result? The result is that you do not attract star players to play for six-seven months with the exceptional case of [David] Beckham]. On the other hand, your best players are in Europe."
Funny. Because the South American, African, Asian & North American players playing in Europe have to travel back and forth to their countries as well and you don't see them complaining. Yet the European players always have it all when traveling because they have little problems with their travel mileage.
"There is one big problem, as long as you don't have [their] own stadiums in MLS, then you have to use stadia from other sports, which is American football. Therefore, you play the season from March to October."
And since when do you have a interest of what's going on in the state of North American soccer? Do you have any sense of knowledge of what's going on in MLS? Sure you may heard about the league trying to get MLS clubs into their own stadiums instead of sharing with NFL teams. But try telling Toronto, New England, New York & Chicago fans to go to a soccer match in freezing & cold weather during the December-January calendar. You would expect a lot of postponements and cancellations of games let along road closures and fans having difficulties traveling to the game.
"This is not the right solution for MLS. They have to play and to adapt themselves to the international calendar. If they do that, they can have success."
Success? There's a thing called "getting any sports media attention on MLS" away from NFL, NBA, college football & NHL as well as the EPL that makes it even more difficult to get fans into MLS games. Try getting any success into that crowded market during that time period.
And while you're at it, why don't you say the same to Norway, Russia, Sweden, Ireland and other European countries that don't follow your European Calender?
Now mind you that he says during the press conference before the Brazil-USA match (good timing to make your opinion count Blatter) "International" Calender instead of European Calender. Personally I don't buy into his "imperialistic" attitude toward MLS and others that don't follow his idea of how other countries should run their leagues. Don't you have something to pick on the English Premier League? Oh that's right, it's Michel Platini's job. So why are you trying to turn FIFA into UEFA?
Why don't you pick on the way Argentine, Brazilian and Mexican soccer as well as others around the world is running their soccer season schedule? Unless you address the other leagues around the world into their schedule, please don't go on criticizing AGAIN on how MLS should run their schedule. It may not be perfect for all accounts (such as not playing MLS matches during the international games), but we should not be catering towards on how European thinks that we should run the league.
What are your thoughts on Blatter's comments? Is he right about MLS? Am I out of bounds on this subject matter? Please post your comments about this.
Why?
Why must you always have something to pick on Major League Soccer's calendar season?
Why are we the target just because we don't follow the European soccer calender season?
Why?
Does it have something to do with Europeans playing here that have to travel back and forth to Europe during the International break?
"You are not in the good international season, specifically in Europe and some other countries. What is the result? The result is that you do not attract star players to play for six-seven months with the exceptional case of [David] Beckham]. On the other hand, your best players are in Europe."
Funny. Because the South American, African, Asian & North American players playing in Europe have to travel back and forth to their countries as well and you don't see them complaining. Yet the European players always have it all when traveling because they have little problems with their travel mileage.
"There is one big problem, as long as you don't have [their] own stadiums in MLS, then you have to use stadia from other sports, which is American football. Therefore, you play the season from March to October."
And since when do you have a interest of what's going on in the state of North American soccer? Do you have any sense of knowledge of what's going on in MLS? Sure you may heard about the league trying to get MLS clubs into their own stadiums instead of sharing with NFL teams. But try telling Toronto, New England, New York & Chicago fans to go to a soccer match in freezing & cold weather during the December-January calendar. You would expect a lot of postponements and cancellations of games let along road closures and fans having difficulties traveling to the game.
"This is not the right solution for MLS. They have to play and to adapt themselves to the international calendar. If they do that, they can have success."
Success? There's a thing called "getting any sports media attention on MLS" away from NFL, NBA, college football & NHL as well as the EPL that makes it even more difficult to get fans into MLS games. Try getting any success into that crowded market during that time period.
And while you're at it, why don't you say the same to Norway, Russia, Sweden, Ireland and other European countries that don't follow your European Calender?
Now mind you that he says during the press conference before the Brazil-USA match (good timing to make your opinion count Blatter) "International" Calender instead of European Calender. Personally I don't buy into his "imperialistic" attitude toward MLS and others that don't follow his idea of how other countries should run their leagues. Don't you have something to pick on the English Premier League? Oh that's right, it's Michel Platini's job. So why are you trying to turn FIFA into UEFA?
Why don't you pick on the way Argentine, Brazilian and Mexican soccer as well as others around the world is running their soccer season schedule? Unless you address the other leagues around the world into their schedule, please don't go on criticizing AGAIN on how MLS should run their schedule. It may not be perfect for all accounts (such as not playing MLS matches during the international games), but we should not be catering towards on how European thinks that we should run the league.
What are your thoughts on Blatter's comments? Is he right about MLS? Am I out of bounds on this subject matter? Please post your comments about this.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
USA vs Honduras: My At-The-Pub Commentary
* Pre-game: About to head out to Cuatros to join with my other Chantico's Army members for the watching party. But first I wrote down the lineups for the USA's starting 11 and bench players:
Starters:
Howard
Spector; Onyewu; Bocanegra(c); Bornstein
Dempsey; Clark; Mastroeni; Donovan
Altidore; Casey
Bench:
Guzan, Feilhaber, Wynne, Kljestan, Beasley, DeMerit, Davies.
No Adu or Torres???? WTF??? Glad Spector & Casey got to start. But back to the old bucket formation again and I had a bad feeling that a Clark-Mastroeni midfield combo has red card written all over it. Is it to early to call Jurgen Klinsmann?
* 1' Looking at the crowd from Soldier Field, this has 2001 RFK written all over it. A sea of Honduran fans sprinkled with red, white & blue U.S. fans. So much for home field advantage. Thanks U.S. Soccer. Oh and today's referee is from Mexico. Nice.
* 4' Just as I was about to take another bite out of my Cuatros Nachos, U.S. gives up a (Carlos) Costly goal. Great. That was a good way to start the match. UGH! Thanks to Dempsey for giving away the ball which allowed Honduras to score early.
* 10' Another loss possession by Dempsey. He not looking good. At least the Cuatros waitresses are cute.
* 11' Almost a shot on goal by Casey. He needs to finish it.
* 19' Where the hell is the U.S. shooting boots. My blood pressure is rising.
* 20' Yellow card to Casey for giving Costly his fake Oscar acting tips. And after seeing Ramon Nunez's hair, he needs to stop getting hair tips from Arturo "Frosty Tips" Alvarez.
* 21" It's hard enough watching the match while college baseball is on. Especially when UT baseball is showing on the big screen TV while we are watching it on other smaller TV screens. Hopefully by the time the baseball game is over, we are to watch it on the big screen.
* 22' Conor Casey's shot goes high. Wasted chances. And the Nachos are muy bueno.
*24' Typical Latin American time wasting from the goalkeeper for his thigh injury. Might as well get a Brazilian wax on your legs while you're at it.
30' UT's baseball is over (they won if you really want to know) and the U.S. is still losing the game.
* 32' Spector with a nice cross to the box but no one wasn't able to get thier foot on the ball. So close.
* 35' Donovan's cross goes to Altidore who side nets it. But the ref called a foul on Gooch.
* 38' Clark runs towards the box and is foul in there. BUT NO CALL!!!! That's total b***s***! Clear penalty.
* 41' Handball by the Honduran player (#6) in the box. Penalty call! And a yellow card to the player.
* 43' After 2 minutes of Donovan squatting down doing his strange, odd & weird voodoo rituals, he buries the PK to make it 1-1. And my blood pressure has gone down.
* 45' 3 minutes of stoppage time and the Cuatros waitresses are cute.
Half Time: 1-1. Very fortunate to get that PK call. Poor crossing, lack of possession & lack of finishing is hurting the U.S. We going to move to the big screen TV for the 2nd half.
* 46' 2nd half begins and Feilharber is in fot Mastroleni. Thank God. Not that I'm a fan of Benny, but Pablo was not very effective at all.
* 47' Too close for a Honduran 2nd goal from the header but it was cleared by Clark. Blood pressure rising up again.
* 54' Dempsey's shot from Jozy's pass goes high.
* 56' Dempsey's cross too low for Casey in the box.
* 57' very good string of passes but in the end Jozy couldn't get the foot on the ball in the box.
* 61' Was that a shot from Dempsey? God that was awful!!! He was effective playing for Fulham this past season and yet he looks very ineffective playing for the U.S.? I hope it's just fatigue and fitness that's the problem.
* 62' Dempsey's shot goes high.
* 63' Yellow card to Donovan because Mexicans (including the referee) don't like him.
* 64" Another poor cross. This time from Donovan. Need to focus on crossing practices more often.
* 68' GOAL USA!!!! From the corner kick, Donovan send it to Dempsey in the far post who's then sends his header towards a dive Bocanegra for the goal.
* 70' Bocanegra is down injured due to his right hamstring. Jay DeMerit replaces him. And my friend Ed criticizes my handwriting skills on my notebook. Thank Grammar Nazi. I should have been a doctor.
* 71' A good Spector cross forces the Honduran goalkeeper to concede a corner kick. But the corner kick goes begging.
* 75' Beasley in for Casey. CRAP!!! Why is Beasley still on the squad when he's not getting any minutes for his club team due to injuries and fitness?
* 81' Bornstein cramping up and to my surprise the Honduran fans are quiet. And my friend Ed thinks I should have girlfriend. Gee.... Thanks Ed.
* And yes Ladies I'm available. I'm tall, dark, romantic and handsome. I like quiet walks in the park and a very passionate for soccer. Contact me if you interested in a date. ;-)
* 83' Mad scramble and chaos in the U.S.box. Honduras almost got a goal. Come on U.S.!!! And I need to stop writing on my notebook as if I was Juan Carlos Osorio. Otherwise I would go insane. Ed would probably agree with me.
* 85' Honduras is starting to put pressure on the U.S. Did I mentioned that the Cuatros waitresses are cute?
* 88' Shot by Feilharber straight to the goalkeeper.
* 89' Big save by Timmy in the near post.
* 90' 4 minutes of stoppage time
Full Time: U.S.A. 2 Honduras 1. Blood pressure back to normal.
* 96' Ed has left the building.
Summery: And good yet not satisfactory result for the U.S. That type of performance isn't going to cut it when they travel to South Africa for the Confederations Cup. For me, I was surprised that Clark did well in that match as well as Spector. Dempsey needs to find his mojo back again.
So that's my write up. Sorry if it wasn't as good as D.J.'s Steam of Consciousness (can't live up to the legend there), but at least it's worth reading of what's going though my mind during the game. I'm pretty sure Ed does. ;-)
Starters:
Howard
Spector; Onyewu; Bocanegra(c); Bornstein
Dempsey; Clark; Mastroeni; Donovan
Altidore; Casey
Bench:
Guzan, Feilhaber, Wynne, Kljestan, Beasley, DeMerit, Davies.
No Adu or Torres???? WTF??? Glad Spector & Casey got to start. But back to the old bucket formation again and I had a bad feeling that a Clark-Mastroeni midfield combo has red card written all over it. Is it to early to call Jurgen Klinsmann?
* 1' Looking at the crowd from Soldier Field, this has 2001 RFK written all over it. A sea of Honduran fans sprinkled with red, white & blue U.S. fans. So much for home field advantage. Thanks U.S. Soccer. Oh and today's referee is from Mexico. Nice.
* 4' Just as I was about to take another bite out of my Cuatros Nachos, U.S. gives up a (Carlos) Costly goal. Great. That was a good way to start the match. UGH! Thanks to Dempsey for giving away the ball which allowed Honduras to score early.
* 10' Another loss possession by Dempsey. He not looking good. At least the Cuatros waitresses are cute.
* 11' Almost a shot on goal by Casey. He needs to finish it.
* 19' Where the hell is the U.S. shooting boots. My blood pressure is rising.
* 20' Yellow card to Casey for giving Costly his fake Oscar acting tips. And after seeing Ramon Nunez's hair, he needs to stop getting hair tips from Arturo "Frosty Tips" Alvarez.
* 21" It's hard enough watching the match while college baseball is on. Especially when UT baseball is showing on the big screen TV while we are watching it on other smaller TV screens. Hopefully by the time the baseball game is over, we are to watch it on the big screen.
* 22' Conor Casey's shot goes high. Wasted chances. And the Nachos are muy bueno.
*24' Typical Latin American time wasting from the goalkeeper for his thigh injury. Might as well get a Brazilian wax on your legs while you're at it.
30' UT's baseball is over (they won if you really want to know) and the U.S. is still losing the game.
* 32' Spector with a nice cross to the box but no one wasn't able to get thier foot on the ball. So close.
* 35' Donovan's cross goes to Altidore who side nets it. But the ref called a foul on Gooch.
* 38' Clark runs towards the box and is foul in there. BUT NO CALL!!!! That's total b***s***! Clear penalty.
* 41' Handball by the Honduran player (#6) in the box. Penalty call! And a yellow card to the player.
* 43' After 2 minutes of Donovan squatting down doing his strange, odd & weird voodoo rituals, he buries the PK to make it 1-1. And my blood pressure has gone down.
* 45' 3 minutes of stoppage time and the Cuatros waitresses are cute.
Half Time: 1-1. Very fortunate to get that PK call. Poor crossing, lack of possession & lack of finishing is hurting the U.S. We going to move to the big screen TV for the 2nd half.
* 46' 2nd half begins and Feilharber is in fot Mastroleni. Thank God. Not that I'm a fan of Benny, but Pablo was not very effective at all.
* 47' Too close for a Honduran 2nd goal from the header but it was cleared by Clark. Blood pressure rising up again.
* 54' Dempsey's shot from Jozy's pass goes high.
* 56' Dempsey's cross too low for Casey in the box.
* 57' very good string of passes but in the end Jozy couldn't get the foot on the ball in the box.
* 61' Was that a shot from Dempsey? God that was awful!!! He was effective playing for Fulham this past season and yet he looks very ineffective playing for the U.S.? I hope it's just fatigue and fitness that's the problem.
* 62' Dempsey's shot goes high.
* 63' Yellow card to Donovan because Mexicans (including the referee) don't like him.
* 64" Another poor cross. This time from Donovan. Need to focus on crossing practices more often.
* 68' GOAL USA!!!! From the corner kick, Donovan send it to Dempsey in the far post who's then sends his header towards a dive Bocanegra for the goal.
* 70' Bocanegra is down injured due to his right hamstring. Jay DeMerit replaces him. And my friend Ed criticizes my handwriting skills on my notebook. Thank Grammar Nazi. I should have been a doctor.
* 71' A good Spector cross forces the Honduran goalkeeper to concede a corner kick. But the corner kick goes begging.
* 75' Beasley in for Casey. CRAP!!! Why is Beasley still on the squad when he's not getting any minutes for his club team due to injuries and fitness?
* 81' Bornstein cramping up and to my surprise the Honduran fans are quiet. And my friend Ed thinks I should have girlfriend. Gee.... Thanks Ed.
* And yes Ladies I'm available. I'm tall, dark, romantic and handsome. I like quiet walks in the park and a very passionate for soccer. Contact me if you interested in a date. ;-)
* 83' Mad scramble and chaos in the U.S.box. Honduras almost got a goal. Come on U.S.!!! And I need to stop writing on my notebook as if I was Juan Carlos Osorio. Otherwise I would go insane. Ed would probably agree with me.
* 85' Honduras is starting to put pressure on the U.S. Did I mentioned that the Cuatros waitresses are cute?
* 88' Shot by Feilharber straight to the goalkeeper.
* 89' Big save by Timmy in the near post.
* 90' 4 minutes of stoppage time
Full Time: U.S.A. 2 Honduras 1. Blood pressure back to normal.
* 96' Ed has left the building.
Summery: And good yet not satisfactory result for the U.S. That type of performance isn't going to cut it when they travel to South Africa for the Confederations Cup. For me, I was surprised that Clark did well in that match as well as Spector. Dempsey needs to find his mojo back again.
So that's my write up. Sorry if it wasn't as good as D.J.'s Steam of Consciousness (can't live up to the legend there), but at least it's worth reading of what's going though my mind during the game. I'm pretty sure Ed does. ;-)
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Weekend Thoughts
So far my soccer weekend is a little more bad than good in terms of game results. You have the U.S.A. lack of heart & passion let alone their defense in their 3-1 loss at Costa Rica on Wednesday. And then there's last night's Aztex flat effort against the still unbeaten Charleston Battery. I hope both U.S.A & Austin can bounce back tonight and tomorrow and get some wins under the belt. I will post my thoughts about the qualifiers as well as the Aztex games in my next blog.
The bright spot is that the Aztex U-23 put on a clinic against Houston on Thursday in Bastrop. Tony from Chantico's Army has his summery of the match right here. And base on that, it looked like a very good turnout for the match. much props for those attending the match.
And finally I was able to meet with members of the Crocketteers who were at Cuatros for the U.S.-Costa Rica match on Wednesday & the Aztex-Battery match last night. It was a please to meet their leader & founder Michael Macia along with Daniel Rodriguez and others who are trying to get a soccer team in San Antonio. They're having a good time here in Austin and looking forward to good & positive things ahead.
Until then, GO USA !!! COME ON YOU AZTEX!!!!
The bright spot is that the Aztex U-23 put on a clinic against Houston on Thursday in Bastrop. Tony from Chantico's Army has his summery of the match right here. And base on that, it looked like a very good turnout for the match. much props for those attending the match.
And finally I was able to meet with members of the Crocketteers who were at Cuatros for the U.S.-Costa Rica match on Wednesday & the Aztex-Battery match last night. It was a please to meet their leader & founder Michael Macia along with Daniel Rodriguez and others who are trying to get a soccer team in San Antonio. They're having a good time here in Austin and looking forward to good & positive things ahead.
Until then, GO USA !!! COME ON YOU AZTEX!!!!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Quick Notes On The Aztex Coach's Show & Costa Rica-USA Match
Please make sure you tune in tonight at 6:30pm for the Austin Aztex Coach's Show on AM 1300 The Zone. They will recap on last week's 3-1 win over the Puerto Rico Islanders, preview their upcoming two matches on Friday & Sunday against the unbeaten Charleston Battery. And perhaps recap the FA Cup Final between Everton & Chelsea. Sorry Adrian Heath & Ginge. :-(
There is a change in the Costa Rica-USA match. The game has been moved from ESPN to ESPN2 starting at 8:30pm for pre-game and the match will start at 9:05. The change was made by ESPN so that there will be no conflict with the "basebrawl" going over the schedule time slot. Extra innings in baseball = soccer fans worst nightmare. Plus you can thank the University of Washington (Congratulations) for winning the 2009 NCAA Women's Softball Championships last night so that there won't be a game 3 that was schedule for tonight on ESPN2. Please Florida Gator fans do not send me hate letters for that comment.
Please join me and my fellow Chantico Army members along with some traveling Crocketeers members from San Antonio at Cuatros on 24th at 8:30 pm for the Costa Rica-USA watching party.
GO USA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is a change in the Costa Rica-USA match. The game has been moved from ESPN to ESPN2 starting at 8:30pm for pre-game and the match will start at 9:05. The change was made by ESPN so that there will be no conflict with the "basebrawl" going over the schedule time slot. Extra innings in baseball = soccer fans worst nightmare. Plus you can thank the University of Washington (Congratulations) for winning the 2009 NCAA Women's Softball Championships last night so that there won't be a game 3 that was schedule for tonight on ESPN2. Please Florida Gator fans do not send me hate letters for that comment.
Please join me and my fellow Chantico Army members along with some traveling Crocketeers members from San Antonio at Cuatros on 24th at 8:30 pm for the Costa Rica-USA watching party.
GO USA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Yordany Alvarez & Lyle Adams Honored
Congratulations to Yordany Alvarez who was named USL-1 Player of the Week for his 2 goals and 1 assist in the Aztex's 3-1 win against Puerto Rico. Also congratulation to Lyle Adams (who had a goal in the game as well) as him and Alvarez made it to USL First Division Team of the Week.
Aztex Get Ciaran O’Brien On Season-Long Loan From Colorado
Yesterday the Austin Aztex announced that they added Colorado Rapids midfielder Ciaran O’Brien to roster on loan for the rest of the season. For those MLS fans that might remember Ciaran O’Brien is that he's the younger bother of Leighton O'Brien and made his debut against the L.A. Galaxy last season. But only lasted 19 minutes due to being sent off in the 90th minute for a tackle on Carlos Ruiz.
I'm not too sure about getting him, thought Rapids fans are happy that he's not on the team (at this moment) and they probably think that he's a cancer to the squad. I'm going to wait and see on this as I hope that's not a case on him. Personally after last Friday's game, I was hoping that Jean Alexandre would stay on the Aztex. But it's not going to happen as he is returning to Real Salt Lake after his international duty with Haiti.
What are your thoughts about this move? Should we Aztex fans be worry about O'Brien? Please post your comments here.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Busy Austin Aztex & U.S. Soccer Week Schedule
This week is going to be very busy for soccer fans in the ATX. So here is game schedule for the Austin Aztex, Austin Aztex U-23 and U.S. Soccer.
**********************************************************
WEDNESDAY JUNE 3
** The Austin Aztex Coaches Show ** 6:30PM
Radio: AM 1300 The Zone
** World Cup Qualifiers: Costa Rica vs United States **
Estadio Ricardo Saprissa (San Jose, Costa Rica)
8:30 PM ***
TV: ESPN 2 ***
Watching Party: Cuatro's Bar & Grille (1004 W. 24th Street, Austin, TX)
*** NOTE: Time and schedule change in the game.
**********************************************************
THURSDAY JUNE 4
** PDL: Austin Aztex U-23 vs Houston Leones **
Bastrop Soccer Stadium (Bastrop, TX)
7:30 PM
**********************************************************
FRIDAY JUNE 5
** Chantico's Army Pre-match Gathering ** The Nomad (1211 Corona Drive, Austin, TX)
5:00 PM
** USL-1: Austin Aztex vs Charlston Battery **
Nelson Field (Austin, TX)
7:00 PM
TV: Fox Soccer Channel
Radio: AM 1300 The Zone
*** NOTE: SEATING WILL BE AT THE EAST END OF THE STADIUM INSTEAD OF THE WEST END DUE TO FSC TV COVERAGE. ***
**********************************************************
SATURDAY JUNE 6
** World Cup Qualifiers: United States vs Honduras **
Soldier Field (Chicago, IL)
7:00 PM
TV: ESPN & Galavision
Watching Party: Cuatro's Bar & Grille (1004 W. 24th Street, Austin, TX)
** PDL: DFW Tornados vs Austin Aztex U-23 **
Pennington Field (Bedford, TX)
7:30 PM
*** NOTE: THIS REALLY SUCKS THAT OUR PDL TEAM HAS TO PLAY DURING THE WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS!!!!!!!
NEVERTHELESS GO GET THEM AZTEX! *************************************************************
SUNDAY JUNE 7
** Chantico's Army Pre-match Gathering **
The Nomad (1211 Corona Drive, Austin, TX)
3:30 PM
** USL-1: Austin Aztex vs Charlston Battery **
Nelson Field (Austin, TX)
6:00 PM
Online: USL LIVE.
Radio: AM 1300 The Zone
**********************************************************
MONDAY JUNE 8
*** FOOTY BREAK ***
**********************************************************
TUESDAY JUNE 9
** Chantico's Army Pre-match Gathering **
The Nomad (1211 Corona Drive, Austin, TX)
5:00 PM
** U.S. Open Cup: Austin Aztex vs Mississippi Brilla **
Nelson Field (Austin, TX)
7:30 PM
Online: USL LIVE.
Radio: AM 1300 The Zone
**********************************************************
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