Blue Blooded Journo - Unofficial New England Revolution Blog And Soccer Hub

Blog Has Officially Moved

2007-12-03T21:31:00.000-05:00

BLUE BLOODED JOURNO HAS MOVED

New address: http://bluebloodedjourno.com

Is It Racists To Call Kraft Cheap?

2007-11-30T14:07:00.000-05:00

This post is also at bluebloodedjourno.com. Please update your links.

Probably not. However, the cabal of tight-pursed MLS team owners, led by Robert Kraft, blocked a potentially decent salary cap raise. According to David J. Warner at AOL Sports, the league was poised to raise the cap much more than the $200,000 bump it got. The new cap will be $2.3 million, excluding LA Galaxy of course. Well, they'll follow it until they get permission to break it.

Kraft was particularly called out in the article, citing his NFL team's salary :

"Let's start with Robert Kraft, a billionaire who owns both the New England Patriots and New England Revolution and pays Tom Brady two and a half times what he pays the entire Revolution roster. "

That's actually not a very valid point when considering the way Kraft used to pay his Patriots players before this season. He was quite stingy compared to teams like the Redskins or the Cowboys and will continue that philosophy in the future. So, compared to other NFL owners, he is rather cheap.

The problem is, even non-squad NFL players earn a great wage. There is a distortion when you compare the top tier American players and their designated player counterparts. Going even further down the pecking order, MLS journeymen make around $100,000 a season when they could be making three times as much in places like Norway or the second tier league in England.

The article addresses a potential labor dispute looming in 2009, when the current agreement expires:

"Major League Soccer is setting itself up for a massive labor dispute -- one in which its players might decide to head for Europe en masse, without the approval of their bosses, much like locked out NHL players did in 2004. If that happens, it could force FIFA to get involved. Do these billionaire cheapskates really want let Sepp Blatter, already one of the least popular FIFA bosses in recent memory, to have a legal and binding impact on their fledgling business"

I have to disagree with that assessment. The pay scale for reserve and development players is absurdy low. However, so is the pay for most minor league players in baseball. The league could easily reclassify such players to avoid any legal recourse from the union. Also, the collective "mainstream" American sports community would laugh it's butt off during a MLS player strike. Then again, so would I.

MLS owners should have raised the cap to at least $2.5 million to get pay more competitive with foreign leagues. With the added exposure MLS got with Beckham's arrival, comes more interest in players from richer leagues. To keep our players, they need to be paid more. Period.

Switching To Wordpress

2007-11-30T08:38:00.000-05:00

Just to let everyone know, this blog is in the process of switching over to a new domain. I've spent a lot of time tweaking the template and I'm in the process of putting as much from this blog onto that one. We'll still be posting here for awhile, though. If you get a chance, tell me what you think of the new site:

bluebloodedjourno.com

Nicol Makes $175,000 A Year

2007-11-28T17:05:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Frank Dell'Apa, we finally know what MLS coaches make. Revolution coach Stevie Nicol makes $175,000 a year. A few years ago, that made him the highest paid person on the team. Now, it puts him behind Twellman ($350k-ish) and Joseph (Tellman-like pay).

The worrisome aspect of this to Nicol backers, like myself, is how other MLS coaches are outpacing him. I wake up in cold sweats to the idea of him going over to Red Bull. If they were willing to pay Arena $600,000 (and buy him out for $1.2 mil to fire him), then they would be willing to give Nicol at least a 300% pay raise.

I hope Bob Kraft takes notice of these new numbers and doesn't have a memory too short to remember what the Revolution were like pre-Nicol.

Dorman's Going Home, Riley Leaves In Expansion Draft

2007-11-25T11:09:00.000-05:00

Looks as thought Andy Dorman will be headed back to England to ply his trade where he grew up. The 2006 Midnight Riders man of the year faded during this past season, eventually losing his starting spot to Wells Thompson. I wish him well, and hope to see him work his way to the Premiership. With the lousy pay he's been receiving in MLS, karma dictates he'll get his payday. He leaves behind a younger brother, Richy, who's a standout for the Boston University soccer team, Andy's alma mater.

James Riley was San Jose's selection in the expansion draft last Wednesday. Riley has been an on again, off again starter all over the field during his three year stint with the Revs. Although mostly a left defender, Riley offered coverage and depth at central and right defense, as well as some time at left midfield and holding mid. He's a very intelligent player and person, and I hope he becomes a full time starter for San Jose.

With Avery John's future uncertain, this leaves some holes to fill for New England. Hopefully, Amaechi Igwe becomes the stud he's supposed to be and takes over left defense. Granted, he may be better suited in a 4-4-2 as he played forward in his one year in college with much success. He could always beat out Khano Smith for left midfield, but coach Steve Nicol is insistent on keeping that area of the field their glaring weakness.

Speaking of which, the coaches are scouting in Argentina before watching the college tournaments and playoffs. To his credit, Nicol has had an eye for picking players out of college. However, he's yet to bring in a skillful player which could provide the service to take the Revs over the top. You can't find one of those in college.

Revsblogger's Expansion Draft Rant

2007-11-20T19:26:00.000-05:00

Well, the list is out, thanks to Goff over at The Washington Post:

Exposed
Byrne, Bryan
Dorman, Andy
Flood, Gary
Franchino, Joe
Gonzalez, Miguel
Helton, Kyle
John, Avery
Knighton, Brad
Leonard, Marshall
Loftus, Chris
Mansally, Abdoulie
Nyassi, Sainey
Riley, James
Sims, Willie
Warren, Doug

Protected
Reis, Matt
Heaps, Jay
Parkhurst, Michael
Thompson, Wells
Larentowicz, Jeff
Joseph, Shalrie
Smith, Khano
Ralston, Steve
Noonan, Pat
Twellman, Taylor
Cristman, Adam

This is about what I expected. I was slightly worried that Wells hadn't done enough during the year to get himself protected, but he went and did just that. Good job to all of our protected guys.

A name I was slightly surprised to see on the list, although he didn't perform great, was Andy Dorman. He is going to go. Period. He may not have worked out for the Revs, but at the very least San Jose will need a quality center mid, and that is what Andy provides. I fully expect to see him go in the draft.

Note to FO: fight to keep Gary Flood. The guy is pure gold, and while he is still unproven he can and probably will prove to be a good, long-term quality center defensive mid like Shalrie and Jeff before him.

Another note to FO: Jose Cancela is unprotected. Anyone smell a bit like nostalgia?

Later.

Revsblogger's Recap

2007-11-19T10:36:00.000-05:00

As I was flying home from D.C. last night with a fellow rider, I was asking myself some questions about this team.

After the initial, selfish, "Who are you to make my $400 investment a loss?!" question and the inevitable, "How can you keep on making yourself feel this bad?" question, I realized that there are quite a few things on the horizon for our beloved yet slightly aimless team.

Let's start off with the negatives, it's easier when we all feel bad:

After scoring to make it 1-nil, our coach decided to go defensive, something that hasn't worked in the past and will never work if you want to win championships. Three goals from four postseason games? That is not playing to win.
Michael Parkhurst to Fulham. As an Arsenal fan, I could care less because we will still beat them any day of the week but as a Revs fan I would be devastated by this loss. Parky brings so much cohesion and balance to the back that it would be killer if we lost him. Hopefully it is just a rumor.
Paul Mariner. Frankie D said in the Globe this morning that he may be off to Red Bull to fill their coaching void. Again, devastating.
Steve Nicol. Now, do not get me wrong, he is the best coach in MLS, the best coach I've seen for the Revs and the best chance for us to be successful in the league. I do think that a change in mindset is required. No back on this team (except for Parkhurst, if he's still on the roster) can play like he and the Liverpool back four did in the 80's. Period. The way we are going to win games is if we push our team forward, fill the box and play the game with attacking spirit. This loss illustrates that resting the weight of victory on our backs and defensive mids almost guarantees a collapse.
Jimmy Eat World.
Philadelphia. What bastards they are. The Sons of Ben showed up and, in our section, cheered for Dynamo to win it. Cheered their non-existent team on. Cheered and cheered against us. And then pelted us with bottles, cans, flags, and other assorted hard goods. If they are allowed in the league they would quite easily be my most hated supporter's group (if you want to call a bunch of classless hooligans without a team a supporter's group). I will personally never forget what they did and how they acted.
The Texan Army. You want to fly the American flag upside-down, go home. Bastards.

So, a whole bunch of negatives. Who needs a drink?

There were, however, plenty of positives to take from the game:

What a great game. Honestly, I think that if MLS had to deal with another Revolution overtime game in it's premier competition, we would have lost a lot of fans. It sucks that we lost, but I can't tell you how awesome it is that the game was a classic.
Great presentation. If you're going to hold a final, take notes, because they did it right this year. Everywhere we went in RFK, it was well-organized, well-thought and -planned out, and it was just a really fun experience.
The March. Epic. Absolutely epic. A good 400-500 people marching in, screaming and singing at the top of their lungs. The priceless images I remember were when we crossed the street with about a quarter mile of traffic backed up and people goggling at us as we passed. The other one was when we were going in our side and marching past the thousands of passive supporters who were noticeably stunned at our group. Epic.
I shook Don Garber's hand, and passed him a Revolution song sheet so he could sing along with us. I think I may have called him Steve. Damn Magic Hat.
Bobby Kraft. Way to turn a complete U about how he's handling this team. Out of nowhere, he scrubs Gillette for our playoff games, he pays for 200 people to go enjoy the game and then shows up wearing a Rider's scarf. What a great guy.
For the first time I felt like I was part of something huge. Sitting next to Connie and all the visiting TFC fans (who are pure class, great people, I love Canada now), they were loving the atmosphere. There were FC Dallas guys with us. Crew supporters. Basically, everyone we don't hate was there with us, supporting us.
Kind of a spin-off of the last bullet point, I just had the funny feeling that during the course of the season, MLS grew and matured massively. Great players play in this league, great fans come out to see games that their teams have nothing to do with, and it just felt so much bigger than before. This cup had the largest attendance since 2002 at home, which says a lot because both teams were at the very least a very long car trip and hotel stay away. 40,000 in a cup final at a neutral site? I'll take it.
The train into D.C. post-game. Packed full with Revo fans, people at the stops couldn't board. It was like a massive, shame-filled, tear-greased sardine can. Awesome.
THE POPULARITY OF THE GAME THAT SEEMS TO HAVE COME OUT OF NOWHERE. I was in BWI for a good six hours before getting on my flight home and man, it was sweet. Everyone seemed to know what my shirt was about, everyone knew the score, I got a good deal of "Bad luck, eh?"'s and a few "We'll take them next year!"'s. I was stunned.
Ricardo, Anthony and Jiminez, three Dynamo fans who I was hanging out with in the airport. Really good people, we had a few laughs about our teams and it was as civil as I could have imagined a meeting like that going down. Hope more like them populate Texan Army someday.

And that's it, really. Another season ended with a loss, which is becoming almost as routine as the Fire's season ending at Gillette. What can you do? You can write angry letters, read Steve Ralston's post game comments with a you-deserve-to-feel-like-this smirk on your face, or you can hang back and say there's always next year. The offseason begins now, and I fully expect that Bob being at the game and feeling our pain will make sure that a lot of money and time and care goes into rebuilding this team. It seems like this is going to be the year that a few people are going to jump ship out of grief or frustration, and good players will be given deals that we can't meet. I do hope that the front office takes a little time to make the little moves that will help this team to win. We are good, we just need a new mentality and a few new players to replace the holes.

Here are some keys I am looking at for the offseason:

Khano had a very solid postseason and a fantastic game. I do not expect him to get replaced.
I see a DP move, possibly a #10 CAM but more likely a defender, because
I see Parkhurst bidding farewell.
I think Nicol will stay on and I think that Mariner will leave to establish himself as a head coach, whether it be at Red Bull or somewhere else (hopefully Seattle, which would be a nice place for him and his last name).
Wells Thompson will be our right winger next season, possibly splitting time with Ralston if he becomes ineffective. Wells had a great season and it is tough to remember that it was his first professional year.
Depending on offseason moves, I suspect that an interleague trade involving Dorman will be in the cards. Andy has flashes of brilliance, but as long as Nicol remains head I think that his ineffectiveness last season will end his Revolution career.
Shalrie Joseph will stay in town.
Apparently the Revs have opened up lines of communication between them and a notable supporter's group. I want flags, smoke bombs and confetti. That is what I want for the Fort next year.

Who knows what will happen next year, but I suspect that the FO will work hard this offseason. I think that the league's growth this year has been incredible and I think that it will show in Kraft's bank account. That will show up on the pitch in some way, and we may have a cup-winner next year.

Bottom line. We make home in Boston. I'm not throwing myself off of a bridge, I'm too used to this feeling. We lost, in full time, we're done, the season is over. Moving right along.

Me and Chowda will try to get you all the news from the offseason. I think everyone owes Jimmy a whole lot of thanks for his devotion this season, and here's to next year!

Talk to you all later.

Devastated: Revs Fall Again in Final

2007-11-19T09:23:00.000-05:00

This is a tough post to write. After such losses in the past, I would hide myself from anyone or anything that would mention the game in any way. This time, instead of a self-imposed blackout, I'll try and face the result and expound on what I think went wrong.

First of all, congratulations to Houston. They took the game from the Revs in the second half. Sure, the first goal was created by a cross that was going nowhere until Avery John headed it into open space which sent the New England defense scrambling. However, the second goal was a perfectly executed header by Dwayne De Rosario. With the way the Revs came out in the second half, those chances were going to present themselves for Dynamo and they seized the opportunity.

Did anyone really doubt the second half was going to play out the way it did? The Revs were surely going to stay tight in the back and let Houston press the advantage. The problem with that is, you need one of your three attacking players to trap and control the clearances. The Revs haven't had someone who can effectively counterattack an over committed midfield since Clint Dempsey left, something I'll address in a later post. At times in the first half, the Revs were running their opponents off the pitch. They needed to capitalize on the chances they had to put Houston away, but they failed to do so.

The Revs are a team in a league where they are basically equal with most of the teams. It was 50/50 in every game in the playoffs. Yesterday, their luck just ran out.

On the positive side, The Phoenix Landing was packed for the game and I only recognized maybe 10% of the people there. Here's hoping the Revs have a lot of afternoon away games next year, because they'll be happy to have us before it turns into hip hop thugster electric boogaloo at night.

Shipping Off To Boston

2007-11-18T07:24:00.000-05:00

Well, today's the big day. I'm heading up to Boston to watch the game at The Phoenix Landing. There should be a decent crowd there to cheer on the Revs as they go for their first championship.

Prediction? For Houston: pain.

The Revs will will 3-0. That's what I predict. Too many people base predictions off how teams match up (i.e. 1-0 for a close defensive game, 3-2 for a close offensive game). I find those people unimaginative and gutless. I say the game will be closely contested, but the Revs will get some lucky bounces. Besides, who else is predicting that? I'll be a genius when it happens.

COME ON YOU REVS! TAKE THE CUP HOME!

Revolinks - 11/17

2007-11-17T10:01:00.000-05:00

As I watch the US National Team play in Johannesburg, I can't help but think of the irony in the LA Galaxy's latest uniform change. South Africa's kits are in the same color scheme as LA's old ones. Alexi Lalas wanted a more "worldly" look to his club, so he went with what Real Madrid would be wearing in 07-08. Correct me if wrong, but wasn't the musical mega-gathering which recorded "We Are The World" called "USA For Africa"? It doesn't get more worldly than that. But hey, every team in the entire sporting world will eventually convert to red or blue because that's what focus groups usually come up with as their favorite colors.

As for the MLS Cup, both teams look ready. Ching may still get a late run out, but I highly doubt it. Jaqua wasn't suspended, nor were they going to suspend anyone the Thursday before a championship game.

This will be one of the last "Revolinks" before the preseason camp gets underweigh. I highly doubt it will be a daily feature next season due to the time it takes up, but I'll try to make sure it's there 3-4 times a week.

Boston Globe Finalists looked within
Kraft is going for perfect attendance
Boston Herald Twellman: Legacy Time
Tops in middle
ESPN A healthy Joseph could be the difference
De Rosario regaining his old spark
Expect another nail-biter in this year's MLS Cup
Goal.com MLS Cup Preview: Houston - New England
Fan v. Fan: New England v. Houston
Cape Cod Times MLS Cup notes: Revs downplay rematch with Dynamo
Globe and Mail De Rosario has become a real Dynamo
Houston Chronicle DYNAMO NOTES: Jaqua has D.C. ties
Soccer New England Revs Ready To Roll
RevsNet 2007 MLS Cup coverage: The (added) pressure to win
New England Soccer News REVVED UP & READY
Center Holds It My MLS Cup Pick…Drumroll, Por Favor
WVHooligan MLS Cup Preview

Clown of the Day

Today's CLOD goes to KOMO in Seattle for preempting MLS Cup tomorrow morning to meet FCC regulations. If every other station in the country found a way to show the game, why can't you? I'm sure covering that mentally ill mom who dropped her baby while using it as a human shield against military shipments qualifies as children's programming (seriously, why was that baby eating beef jerky?). Oh wait, you didn't cover that. Showing crackpots like that might diminish your political agenda. Speaking of which, I wonder who George Stephanopoulos has on his show during that time? I'm guessing it won't be Barney the Dinosaur. With an expansion side announced just this week, you would figure something would be arranged to air the showcase game for the league coming to town in 2009. Nah.

Garber Gabba Jibber Jabba

2007-11-16T16:06:00.000-05:00

Don Garber just got finished with his anuual "state of MLS" address. There's probably better coverage elsewhere, but a few things stuck out to me:

* MLS is willing to field a fifteen team league in 2009.

* Part of the "founding priciples" of MLS was to have two teams in New York. Huh?

* St. Louis is the front runner to get the sixteenth team.

* No word on the progress of the Revs stadium hunt. Probably Kraft telling Don to keep his yammer shut.

* I think they tweaked the playoff format with the top three, not two, teams in each conference getting bids regardless of record versus teams in the other conference.

* The first few questions from the press were given by Transformers. Not the coherent cartoon versions, the movie abomination versions.

Q&A With A Pair Of Dynamo Diehards

2007-11-16T11:15:00.000-05:00

I frequent a Celtics blog/message board/megasite called, imaginatively enough, CelticsBlog. One of the very cool features they have is before most games, they exchange a quick five questions with an opposing team's independent blog. I'm seriously contemplating doing that next season. I thought I would try it out for the MLS Cup. So, I separately asked two Dynamo fans, CeltTexan and Martek, to answer some questions about the upcoming contest. What I got back far exceed my expectations:

Jimmy Chowda: Much has been made about Brian Ching's injury. Some say Nate Jaqua is almost interchangeable with Ching. Is there anything Ching has done over the past few seasons that Jaqua is unlikely to provide?

CeltTexan: Yes of course, I have yet to see Jaqua sprint his ass off for 47 yards to get cranium to cross right after the opposing team has scored. Ching does this type of thing.

Martek: The main thing that Chingy brings to the game that Jaqua does not is
winning big game experience. It helps that Jaqua has played in a Cup final. However, Ching was the man last year. You Revs guys do not need me to recite the particulars of the Flyin' Hawaiian's performance in the '06 final. But suffice to say that Chingy, especially with the way he was playing recently, was on track to repeat that very performance. At the very least, he is an attacker that brings instant respect. Now, that being said, Dynamo has played with so many different lineups this season through national team call-ups, SuperLiga (Hopefully, you guys will be a part of that next year as well. THAT was fun.) etc. that losing a player of Ching's caliber may not be as devastating as it might otherwise be. I've said it before, Dynamo losing Ching is not as devastating to Dynamo as the Revs losing Twellman would be. The team's depth is incredible and has carried Dynamo for long stretches this season. Dynamo has played many, many games this year and met with a great deal of success without Ching, and they are very confident they can do so again. And confidence is so frequently the key in as a free-flowing a game as soccer is. Jaqua and Ngwenya played extremely well as a tandem many times this season (Find the goal they combined to score against Kansas City in early September at Robertson. A thing of beauty.) I have no doubt they'll do so again if Ching can't go.

Jimmy Chowda: Because I watch most Houston games on the low res MLS internet service, I often confuse Mullen, Waibel, Mulrooney, Cochrane, and Davis while on the field. To me, they are a well-oiled, yet visually homogenized unit. Are there any glaring differences in their play that a Revs fan can look for to distinguish between those players on Sunday?

Martek: There is plenty. Let's look at this one by one.

Brian Mullen and Craig Waibel. Quite simply, Dynamo's attack relies on excellent center service from the wings. You will see Mully pairing with his road roommate Waibel along the right and Wade Barrett mixing with Brad Davis on the left. Mullan and Waibel work exceedingly well together, much better than any other paring Houston has tried on that side. They just flow up and down the field. Mully, though, you'll notice because of his work rate and speed. Other midfielders may match him in speed up the flank from time to time, but as idiot Wynalda even noticed at one point this season, the thing about Mullen is that in any collision, he's the first one back to his feet and at full speed. As for Waibel, you will rarely see a more canny defensive performer. His positioning is always right on, which is necessary as they make defenders faster.

Barrett/Davis. Not for nothing is Barrett the captain of this team. He has the whole defense playing with a high work rate, with excellent and canny positioning and play. Barrett is a shorter guy, a little like Celtic's former captain Neil Lennon. You'll go the whole game without realizing he's there except for the fact that you've noticed that the other team never came at the goal from that side. As for Davis, another tireless worker and easily the best at centers and free kicks. Deadly with the left foot.

Brian Mulrooney. For more on Mulrooney, check out an excellent piece on the Houston Chronicle today at www.chron.com/sports/soccer. I couldn't put it better myself except to say that we've hardly missed Ricardo Clark. Rico is faster than Brian, but other than that, both are among the best.

Let, see, who am I missing? Ryan Cochrane. Cochrane and Eddie Robinson in the center are mostly interchangeable. Robinson is a better player than Cochrane, though I have several friends who swear by Ryan, I do not. His positioning is not as dead on as center mate ER, but he has excellent physical skills and smarts.

CeltTexan: Mully is everything a U.S. Coach dreams up when teaching young players how to be an effective, textbook right mid. He will never stop running and always tracks back to cover his right back.

Davis on the other wing is a pure lefty with a little more craftiness on the ball. He does not cover the distance Mullan does but is with DeRo when dead balls are taken. Tremendous Free Kick taker.

Waibel looks, when head is shaved and yet with scruff, like one of the founders of the AB (Aryan Brotherhood if not known) and he plays like a hard man who keeps it simple in the tackle and pass. He is the most distinguished of 'em all from the stands.

Mulrooney is Mr. Utility and will cause confusion for other teams as he can play anywhere across the mid or outside backs.

Cochrane, well he is paired with Robinson at the center backs and he is an odd player in that he gets so much trust placed on him by Coach Dom and does earn his paycheck at defense. The one glaring problem for him is that he get's caught ball watching a lot and out of the well oiled unit you speak of he would be the one cylinder not firing with the others every now and then.

Jimmy Chowda: Khano Smith is frustrating for us to watch, but has scored some spectacular goals in the past. Normally, that's the type of opposing player who would scare me. What will your emotions be when you see a crossing pass to Smith in space on Sunday?

Martek: Scared as usual, and then hoping that Eddie Robinson or Captain Wademerica will swoop in to save me as they have all year!

CeltTexan: Smith is the one X factor man that you guys have now that Dempsey has gone to Fulham. Ralston is a meat and potato middie and Joseph plays a deep lying midfield role, both bring their A game each week but scouting them is easier, we know how they will approach their role. From our point of view, Smith is the one that has to be forced to run 18 to 18 over the 90 minutes. He must be forced to defend more than given the option to attack. It was his run and then very clever cutting ball to Twellman that got y'all on the board in last year's Cup Final. I've watched him all year and he has the goods to be a tremendous presence in our league. When talking of him it is where a Houston die hard like me knows we really could use Ricardo Clark to keep pace with Smith and give him no looks.

Jimmy Chowda: Barring injuries, do you expect any substitutions to make an impact for the Dynamo?

CeltTexan: Stuie Holden has been tremendous off the bench. He is a local Houston product that has great technical ability and a riflemen's mentality outta midfield. Patrick Ianni could also be used to clog the middle in the center late on if we are looking to protect a lead. He is a second year defender that has very good technical ability and can actually play a Stopper position right in front of the back 4.

Martek: Stuart Holden, Stuart Holden and Stuart Holden. He started the center part of the year when Brad Davis was hurt. He is a great worker, possesses a deadly right foot and is sneaky quick. If you guys see Holden getting into the game, you should be concerned.

Jimmy Chowda: If you could take one Revolution player and slip him into Houston's best XI, who would it be and how would you play that unit tactically?

Martek: Well, other than Taylor Twellman, who is the obvious answer because of his knack for producing clutch goals, I would choose Shalrie Joseph. His skills at shutting down an opposing attack and delivering deadly passes the other way make me as a Dynamo supporter more than a little concerned. As much as I like Richard Mulrooney and as much total faith as I have in Ricardo Clark (who is not available of course for doing the right/wrong thing to Carlos Ruiz), Shalrie is a weapon who would blend seamlessly into the Dynamo midfield. He would spring De Rosario and, joined by Robinson/Cochrane behind him, would completely close down the central part of the field. This is my early thinking for next year's fantasy team!

CeltTexan: Easy, Parkhurst. Defender of the Year. Pair him with the man who should have at the least shared the honor in Eddie Robinson and I would go to war with that centerback paring any day of the week.

I would like to thank both CeltTexan and Martek for their time. Martek attached these kind words to his answers:

"And Jimmy Chowda, thanks for the chance to post these thoughts on your very fine blog. I think Dynamo and Rev supporters go into Sunday with total respect and on Monday we both will go into the offseason looking forward to another great year in 2008."

Revolinks - 11/16

2007-11-16T08:56:00.000-05:00

Forget to take the MLS Cup survey over at Climbing The Ladder? I did until I went looking for links this morning. Ching went for a light jog yesterday. Houston's still hoping he can play in some capacity Sunday morning. Speaking of Houston, a neat little feature will be up shortly. Check back for it. Here's the links:

Boston Globe Part and parcel, Revolution ready
Dynamo can be cut down to size
Boston Herald Calm and collected Revs head to D.C.
SouthCoastToday.com A bonus for giddy New England sports fans: the Revs
MLSnet Revs are relaxed and ready to go
The Rebublican Heaps, Revolution show their strength
USA Today Revs aren't dwelling on 2006 MLS Cup loss
Houston Chronicle Same teams, but same outcome?
Soccer Y Futbol Video: Dynamo update: Ching has 'light jog'
ESPN MLS Cup scouting breakdown
Center Holds It MLS Cup Preview: The Revs’ O versus Houston’s (Formidable) D
Dan Loney Says It All Broncos v. Bills
Soccer New England Midfield the Key to MLS Cup
Gloucester Daily Times New England's unknown superstar Twellman is spotlight as Revs go for title

I can't think of a good CLOD today, so I'll just post a live weather map for DC. It will update on it's own, so there's something you can follow over the next two days. It's supposed to be partly cloudy and 45 degrees at kickoff, ten degrees lower than the average. This is after raining on and off throughout the night, so the pitch may be a little slick.

MLS Cup Key Matchup #2

2007-11-15T12:49:00.000-05:00

The next key matchup involves how well New England's central midfielders can contain Houston's attacking midfield.

Players Involved

New England: Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz

Houston: Dwayne De Rosario, Brad Davis, Bian Mullen.

Although Houston lines up in a 4-4-2 formation, De Rosario often plays ahead of Mulrooney and shoulders most of the attacking responsibility from the center of the pitch. This formation also allows wide midfielders, Davis and Mullen, to bring the ball in from the wings in an attacking posture. When this attack is clicking, it has been known to produce a non-stop barrage on the opposing goal. When it isn't, attacking players can become isolated and ineffective.

Tasked with controlling this part of the pitch for the Revs are Shalrie Joseph and Jeff Larentowicz. Joseph has been known to shut down key attacking midfielders in the past. Such examples have been Amado Guevara, Christian Gomez, and most recently, Blanco. The last on that list may have been more of a result of Jeff Larentowicz. Larentowicz has really made great strides this year and has become one of the best holding midfielders in MLS.

Houston maintained the pressure on the Revs in last year's cup, especially in the first half. Larentowicz looked like he was playing very nervous at times, something I don't expect from him this time out. At this point last year, Daniel Hernandez was edging out Larentowicz for that last midfield spot for much of the final months in the season. He had only been playing in spurts, and he was giving the Dynamo attack way too much space in the final. For this game, Larentowicz comes in as a seasoned starter and a true leader on the field. That may be the difference is stopping Houston's assault in it's tracks.

Without Brian Ching in the lineup, a Houston goal likely won't be coming from garbage in front of net. To score, they will need to create opportunities from the midfield. If Joseph and Larentowicz can shut down DeRo from the start, the Revs can finally take the initiative in a final. Conversely, Houston could see this and bunker down themselves.

If Houston wins this battle, we'll see a repeat of last year's encounter until the first goal is scored. That's something Revs fans, and neutrals alike, are hoping doesn't happen.

Revolinks - 11/15

2007-11-15T09:11:00.000-05:00

No update on Ching's condition since Tuesday. It looks as though Houston's getting ready to play without him. In today's links, I highly recommend Jim Dow's column on RevsNet. He brings a certain sophistication to his prose not often found on the web:

Boston Globe John gets down and (not) dirty
Boston Herald Revs’ Thompson sheds rookie tag
Goal.com Give & Go: New England's Khano Smith
MLSnet With Ching ailing, Jaqua prepares
Refocused Revs laud stingy defense
Soccer New England Revs Healthy Heading into Final
RevsNet Can One Flash Of Brilliance Bring Home the Bacon? Plus An Interview With Paul Mariner
Soccer365 Thompson Confident With Revs Win
Houston Chronicle Waibel is so tough ...
Center Holds It MLS Cup Preview: The Battle of Midfield
Climbing The Ladder Take The MLS Cup Survey
Dan Loney Says It All Sweet Revenge

Clown of the Day

Today's CLOD goes to West Ham defender Anton Ferdinand for first denying being in a fight, then admitting in court he threw the first punch during a brawl outside a nightclub a few weeks back. By brawl, I mean his posse beat down someone he thought was eying his bling. Replace nightclub with strip joint, and you've got a Pacman Jones incident sans the gunshot wound to the spine. Some people say freedom, some say movies. I think violent celebrity entourages are our finest export.

Revs Offer Free Bus Ride To MLS Cup

2007-11-14T16:59:00.000-05:00

Check out this offer: Free Bus Trip

If you are able, I recommend going. The bus lets off near a subway stop, so you can stay wherever you want in DC overnight. You'll likely return to Gillette Stadium a little after midnight Monday morning.

If you can't free up enough time in your schedule, you can watch the game from inside the Fidelity Clubhouse at Gillette Stadium for free: Free Viewing

These are both great deals. Bravo Zulu to the Krafts for making these offers!

2007: New England Sports Heaven

2007-11-14T15:00:00.000-05:00

Remember "Dot Com Guilt"? It was a media-created condition to describe the handful of people who needed therapy because they couldn't cope with the financial windfall they received from the technology bubble during the late 90's. Although the vast majority of people who jumped tax brackets during that time either went on to tackle new challenges or retired happily, Dot Com Guilt was a serious condition for a few irrational people. Now, a new version of Dot Com Guilt is manifesting itself in widespread fashion up here in the Kingdom of Kennedy. Although this time, the victims couldn't be happier.

The parallels are striking. For the longest time, we in New England had been conditioned to hope for the best, but to know failure is lurking around every corner. Every year, there was always one team a little better and a little smarter. If a local side was lucky enough to approach the promise land, the cheering masses would have their hopes dashed, usually in painfully dramatic fashion.

The 2001 Patriots started to change things and the 2004 Red Sox dispelled absurd assertions of being cursed (if the definition of "cursed" is "stuck with incompetent management", I'll concede we were cursed). However, the Patriots seemed to win every game by half a point during the three of four years and the Sox's 2004 run was nothing short of miraculous. In other words, watching our teams was a nail-biting, irregular heart beating, turning pale experience. Even though this region had experienced championships for the first time in a decade and a half, we had the feelings of hopelessness from a few years earlier fresh in our minds. We were very grateful for what our teams had delivered to us and seemed almost embarrassed by all the "best sports city" monikers offered up to Boston by the national media.

Prior to all this happening, I had the fortunate experience to have rooted for one truly great team in my lifetime: the Boston Celtics of the mid 80's. They were something every other local team had never been: dominant. The Patriots were never dominant in their three Super Bowls run and the 2004 Sox certainly weren't. The problem with the Celtics was they ran into other dominant teams, namely the Lakers, Pistons, Bulls, and maybe even the early 80's Sixers. When the Celts played these teams, you never felt "safe".

"Safe" is something I had never felt while watching my local sides. I could only imagine what fans for teams like MJ's Bulls, Jimmie Johnson's Cowboys (was there ever a safer pattern than the Aikman to Irvin sideline route?), and the deplorable 99-00 Yankees felt like while watching them play. I had watched with envy as those teams demolished opponents with impunity and wondered what it would be like to be a fan of a team that you just knew would win.

Well, now I know and it feels great! A little empty, but still great. The Patriots are just like those first two Chelsea teams under Moreno, but they are playing in a sport where might can demolish an opponent nearly every time out. In soccer, a bad bounce can lose you a 1-0 game while outshooting an opponent 25-2. That happens at least five time a year in the EPL. American football is a whole different animal. The Pats are dominating and it took ten absolutely rotten calls for the second best team in the league to lose to them by only four points at home. The Red Sox worked pitchers all year, which won them anywhere from two to ten extra games and did the reverse to divisional opponents. They went into the post season and stepped up every time they had to. That was exciting enough, but no way nearly as emotional as when they used to fail. I could envision success when guys like Lowell and Youkilis stepped into the batters box, and then they delivered. Again, unfamiliar territory for me. Maybe a once in a lifetime feeling. Now, the Celtics are getting into the act courtesy of a gift trade with our favorite GM, Kevin McHale, to bring Kevin Garnett to Boston. You watch them and you just realize how much better they are than their opponents. They don't need to rise up to win games. They are just taking them from their opposition because they are better.

So there's the backdrop of where the major New England sports scene is at in November, 2007. Now you can see why I feel like we've been given a load of wealth out of nowhere and don't know what to do with it. There's an uneasy backdrop to that feeling, as if we are undeserving of all this sports glory. There's definitely some truth to that, as no one is deserving of such riches without building at least some of it on their own. New Englanders were passionate losers for so long, building a somewhat maniacal fanbase that may or may not have brought players to our teams. More realistically, it attracted competent owners and GM's to our teams which made the right decisions which won the championships. They saw the payoff for being successful, and have now built juggernauts to keep our teams rolling. In that sense, I guess we can feel responsible. However, when we watch the Patriots run it up on the rest of the league, or watch Sox fans outnumber the home team's, there is a sense of guilt. It's the feeling of guilt one gets when they cheat and get away with it in poker. Winning the game may still feel good, but not nearly as good as when you don't know the outcome ahead of time.

Surprisingly enough, the Revolution have actually benefited from the New England sports success. Sure, all of this has buried the Revs in the media throughout the year. Then again, you have to be above ground to get buried. However, amidst all the mainstream sports hoopla, the Revs are getting more coverage than they did for the past two MLS Cups. The reason: for the first time, the outcome does matter on the New England sports landscape.

How can this be? Well, it's rather simple. If the Revs win, the region will be home to yet another champion. It's something to pile on the heap of evidence when we talk about great eras in American sports history. It's something to add to the smack talk when we nab yet another franchise player from Minnesota, Johann Santana, in a few months. If the Revs lose, they would have lost three straight finals. That would somewhat tarnish the image the area has right now. Sure, the soccer haters will dismiss it, but they are becoming less and less prevalent in the local media. Many more writers and radio hosts are at least becoming open to soccer, in the same way they are open to hockey. Sure, they'll never cover it extensively, but they do acknowledge that a championship holds some importance to a portion of the population. As the Revs continue to have successful seasons, more and more people have at least turned an eye to them.

People will be watching on Sunday just because they know what a championship would mean and what a loss would mean. A lot of these people are indifferent towards soccer and MLS, but they know a championship game is important. If this weren't their third straight final, I'm not sure the Revs would be getting the hype, or even the acknowledgment, it is getting up here. The region will be watching on Sunday with a good deal of pride and a lot of faith.

As well as a little guilt.

Revolinks - 11/14

2007-11-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the day that both MLS Cup teams provided representatives for a tele-press conference call (or something like that). Stevie Nicol, Shalrie Joseph, and Pat Noonan confirmed that Matt Reis indeed has a sense of humor. Compelling stuff. Houston's reps, Dominic Kinnear and Dwayne De Rosario, provided even less compelling answers to the series of inane questions provided by the soccer media. We'll know soccer has "made it" when there's real jerks in the media who ask tough, inappropriate questions. Until then, we'll have to live with the notion that most who cover soccer are good people who form a symbiotic relationship with the teams and leagues they cover due to the low level of coverage allotted by their publishers. Here's the links:

Boston Globe Just one goal has eluded Twellman
Boston Herald 4th time a charm?
ESPN Revs will feel at home at RFK Stadium
Cape Cod Times No DP, no problem for Revs
Soccer New England OPINION: Twellman, Revs Are Thing of Beauty
Associated Press 2006 MVP Ching doubtful for Dynamo for Sunday’s MLS Cup
The Canadian Press Canadians Onstad, De Rosario will play major roles in Sunday's MLS Cup
Houston Chronicle Ching doubtful but hopes he can play in MLS Cup
Dynamo dismiss award snubs
Soccer365.com Parkhurst: 100% Focused on MLS Cup
USA Today Revolution enjoy relaxed practice before title game with Houston
Goal.com Walsh: Designated for Success
Center Holds It Revs v. Dynamo: First Preview of Four (on the Way to Brainwashing); The ‘Keepers
RevsNet 2007 MLS Cup coverage: It's not 2006 anymore
Yahoo Sports Another banner season in New England?

Clown Of The Day

Today's CLOD goes to the new ownership group in Seattle for not really knowing how Barcelona is set up or how to mold a MLS franchise in that image, but taking a good five minutes out of the press conference to fumble through a convoluted business plan. They were also so bold as to go into the kind of tactics the team would employ. Attacking, of course!

MLS Cup Key Matchup #1

2007-11-13T19:00:00.000-05:00

Alright, I'll start with the one that keeps me awake at night. The one that gives me a rotten feeling in my stomach every time I think about it. The one that penetrates my very soul... Am I getting too melodramatic? Sorry. For the record, I've dreamed about MLS Cup the last two nights, both teams winning once. Anyhow, the key matchup I'm talking about is New England's left flank versus Houston's right side.

Players Involved:

New England: Khano Smith(LM), Avery John(LD)

Houston: Brian Mullen (RM), Craig Waibel (RD)

There are two potentially scary elements in this matchup: 1.) Khano Smith has been known to be the Bermuda Triangle for offensive-minded passes and 2.) Avery John could commit some early fouls, be warned either verbally or with a yellow card, and then give Houston's right flank way too much space to operate.

The first part, if it holds true, could be the difference as to which team has the run of possession throughout the entire game. If Khano is able to make deep, dangerous runs down the left side, Houston has to compensate. That will open up the middle a lot more for the Revs attack. If Waibel stuffs him on every attempt, the Houston defense can really put the clamps on Twellman, Noonan, and Ralston making scoring opportunities sparse.

Khano looked awful in the first leg at New York. Dane Richards used his speed to run rings around Smith, who looked like he was going through the motions. Hopefully, that won't be the case on Sunday. Khano has scored some of the most brilliant goals in team history. He needs to be a factor in this game. In that game in New York, the Red Bulls completely underplayed him which had a severe impact on New England's offense. Houston will try and stop him with Craig Waibel, who is a competent defender. If Ryan Cochrane and Richard Mulrooney need to help contain Smith, holes will open up for Ralston and company to create serious scoring opportunities as opposed to dumping in crosses to Twellman and hoping for the best.

The second part of the matchup depends greatly on how well Brian Mullen can generate space away from Avery John when he makes deep runs. John has been a lock down defender when he has bodied up to his mark. When he has to play an attacking player running at him, he has been known to slide tackle way too aggressively (see 2006 World Cup). As long as Khano holds his own ahead of him, Joseph and Larentowicz will be able to neutralize the Houston attack up the that wing. John will be needed elsewhere in the box before the game is over, so he'll need to prevent himself from being carded early on to shut down the Houston right flank.

We'll see how this plays out. If Houston dominates this side of the field, it'll be a long, nervous lunchtime for Revs fans.

Should Jaqua Be Suspended?

2007-11-13T15:12:00.000-05:00

No.

That's my answer at least. Even as I watched the game, I thought the foul was borderline red. In other words, not something which would warrant an ejection during an important playoff game. However, that hasn't stopped others from insinuating differently, and there appears to be a disciplinary meeting on Thursday to review the play.

Here's a video of the foul (1:27):

The replay looked bad from that angle, but it was a bang-bang play and I highly doubt Jaqua wanted to hurt Jack Jewsbury. It looks to me like the contact was initiated first, and then Jaqua followed through. Then again, I'm not a referee and I never want to be one. I just don't want to have reverse lasik and spine removal surgery.

Others have sounded off on this topic. Today's version of "In The Net" covered it extensively with host Brad Feldman and guests Greg Lalas, Glenn Davis, and more offering their opinions on the subject. Check here for the podcast. There should also be a link to it in the right sidebar on this blog.

Revolinks - 11/13

2007-11-13T09:40:00.000-05:00

So, the Seattle expansion's a done deal and Drew Carey's one of the owners. They should do a Seattle coffe snob version of The Price Is Right. Everyone in the audience can boo until "A NEW CAR!!!!" is confirmed to be a hybrid. Seattle will play at Qwest Field for at least a few seasons. On the bad side, it's a huge NFL stadium with fieldturf. On the good side, the partial roof is much better at trapping noise than stadiums like Gillette and Giant. Hopefully, they can add another team with them in 2009 so they don't have to drop back to 30 games again due to an odd number of teams. Here's the links:

Boston Globe Revolution played their cards right
Keeper of faith, Reis emerged
Soccer New England OPINION: Twellman, Revs Are Thing of Beauty
ESPN Dynamo's depth shines against the Wizards
Dynamo and Revs are models of stability
New York Sun MLS Needs an Immediate Dose of 'Sexy Soccer'
SI.com Dynamo-Revs is a mouth-watering MLS Cup rematch
Houston Chronicle Coach helps in building a Dynamo tradition
DCenters US v SA viewing in DC during MLS Cup weekend
Fox Sport's John Q Public Public Knowledge

Clown Of The Day

Today's CLOD goes to whoever decided to kickoff MLS Cup a little after 12:00 on Sunday. Except for games in Toronto, were there any games played that early this year? I know they are trying to get the jump on NFL games, but it's going to be a bit embarrassing getting smashed in the ratings by the three main NFL pregame shows. It would suck to be waking up in the league's newest city, Seattle, and tuning in at 11:00 only to realize the game is almost over. Does heroine from the night before even wear off by then? They really need to move the game to Saturday night in the future.

Revsblogger's Pregame: Begin!

2007-11-12T17:29:00.001-05:00

What's the deal with all this talk about a rematch?

I heard Houston v. New England, but this is no rematch. Face facts, people. For one thing, the game is taking place at 12 noon. Sheesh.

Besides kick-off time, it seems that Danny Hernandez, Joey Franchino and Clint Dempsey will all be out of this 2006 MLS Cup. And, in a stunning development, the Revs have announced that they are backing out of contracts with all rookies, because they are not supposed to have signed them yet.

In all seriousness, though, this MLS Cup could be shaping up to provide us with the most interesting pre-game assessment madness that the league has ever seen. I fully expect ESPN to mention the match during the week three times, once in passing to Boston success, and then twice more whilst talking about the match.

The game itself is shaping up to be a very even matchup of teams determined to come away with the trophy. Houston is coming off of a 2-nil win against a solid team in KC, and the Revs followed their most successful training session of the year with the bicycle-kick win over a red-hot Chicago.

This game will be very different from the one played last year. For one, the Revolution defense has held in situations it is known for failing in. One needed not look any further than the spectacular play of Avery John on Thursday to see how determined this defense was in not giving up the late goal to a team very capable of scoring. It was their best display as a unit this season, and they are very much the reason why we are going to D.C. in the first place. Reis continued his stellar postseason performance with quite a few difficult saves. It is still hard to believe that in three postseason games this year we have, I believe, 10 shots on goal to the Fire and Red Bull's 16, yet we have scored twice and they have scored none at all. Matt Reis has been a solid regular-season performer over the years, but his postseason play has been as amazing as Tom Brady's.

And Twellman, while not amazing on his feet, showed his ability to still get in the right place at the right time in order to get the job done. We all know what happened, we have all seen the replays, and you can clearly see that he made a split-second decision, that it was the only way a striker his size was going to get a shot off against Pause. His soccer smarts will definitely be tested on Sunday.

Twellman could not be entered into a conversation in THIS game without mentioning Brian Ching. The man has been a stand-up guy, and it is going to be a huge loss for Houston if he cannot play. While I cannot say I like him (see 2006 MLS Cup equalizer), he has a smaller mouth which tends to run off less than others, and I can only imagine that not getting to play is killing him worse than it is his team. Ching has been very much like Taylor over the last couple of seasons, not too great on his feet, but with great soccer smarts that puts him into good positions to capitalize on poor defending. Last year it was our death. This year, regardless of if Ching plays, the defense will not collapse as it had last year.

While one battle will be raging on the pitch it seems as if another one will be brewing in the stands. D.C. fans effectively declared war on the Revolution and are joining Dynamo in their hatred of us. I would be concerned about this development, but I remembered that they're rather sore about being spanked. Power to them, I say, they can boo me and my team all I want, but I'll be smiling, sitting in THEIR home ground watching MY TEAM play in the Cup Final.

More when we get closer to match day.

Ching Doubtful For MLS Cup Final

2007-11-12T09:27:00.000-05:00

As reported by the Houston Chronicle, Brian Ching will likely miss the championship game with a calf strain he suffered during Saturday night's 2-0 win over Kansas City.

"At this point, it seems unlikely (that Ching will play)," team trainer Bruce Morgan said late Sunday. "But I don't want to rule it out as a possibility.

"We're trying to be as optimistic as possible. It's a significant muscle injury, but I'd like to believe there's still a possibility that he might be available for selection come Sunday, as unlikely as that appears at this time."

This will likely result in Joseph Ngwenya getting the selection at forward next to Nate Jaqua. Ngwenya, who joined Houston this spring in a swap with the Columbus Crew for Alejandro Moreno, has scored six times while working mostly off the bench and substituting for Ching during US call ups and injuries. Ngwenya is a threat, but much less of one than Ching who has given the Revolution fits in the past.

Nate Jaqua has also been a thorn in the Revs' side while at Chicago, but wound up in Houston after a July trade with LA Galaxy. Alexi Lalas traded for him at the start of the season to be a target forward for David Beckham. Of course, Lalas needed to make his five transactions per month quota to receive a brokerage discount, and traded him to Houston before Beckham even stepped on an MLS pitch. Jaqua has also scored six goals for Houston this year.

It has yet to be seen what this strike partnership can do in an important game. They have had some success this year, but they don't have a ton of minutes playing together. With the lack of open space the Revolution scheme has allowed opponents as of late, they may be relied upon to create goals on their own. For Revolution fans, that may be a bit of relief as they have scored mostly amidst the chaos of a Dynamo midfield rush.

More on the Ching injury situation as it develops.

Revolinks - 11/12

2007-11-12T07:53:00.000-05:00

Happy "Day After Veteran's Day Sleep Late Day"! As a veteran, you can thank me with money, beer, or both. It's also the Monday of MLS Cup Week and Official Expansion City Announcement Eve. Man, no wonder the banks are closed today. Here's the links:

Boston Globe Revolution played their cards right
Globe and Mail Millson: MLS Cup rematch
The Sun Chronicle Revs at peak for rematch
RevsNet "GOLAO" DE TWELLMAN DITOU O RESULTADO
Climbing The Ladder History of the MLS All Time Table (Plus Current Edition)
RevolutionSoccer.net Ralston One Game from History
Soccer Y Futbol Ching doubtful for Cup; impact on Dynamo
Houston Chronicle Ching likely to miss Dynamo's MLS final
WVHooligan Monday Morning Free Kicks: Dynamo and Revs To Battle Again
Goal.com The Monday MLS Breakdown: It All Comes Down to Philosophy
Fifa.com Déjà vu in MLS
Metrowest Daily News Revs get ready for another title shot

I'm slowly developing a method to gather the links. In the process, I'm figuring out which blogs I've overlooked in the links section of the sidebar. Baby steps.

Clown of the Day

Today's CLOD goes to the entire footballing institution of the nation of Italy. How many more have to be stabbed, beaten, or killed before you wake up and get control? England received a five year ban from European competition to clean up their deplorable situation. Maybe it's time to do the same to Italy. Can anyone ensure the safety of foreign supporters in that country? Can anyone even sort of promise they will only be assaulted?

The problem is, Italy doesn't have the resources to do what Great Britain did from a security standpoint. It would probably take a modern-day Mussolini to install such an infrastructure in that country at the expense of another segment of Italian society.

MLS Cup Poll

2007-11-11T20:14:00.000-05:00

Last week's poll has closed and it appears most of you thought DC United have been bigger chokers than the home side since 2004. That's who I voted for. Unless the Revs give up a two goal lead in the final, I'd still go with them a week from now, too. The final tally was DC United: 61%, Revolution: 39%

This week's poll asks your MLS Cup Final prediction.

Clown Of The Day / Revolinks

2007-11-11T13:02:00.000-05:00

Clown of the Day (CLOD) - A self-explanatory award given to a worthy recipient in the soccer world. Original concept developed by those who came before me in the engine room onboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71).

The first CLOD goes to Jair Marrufo, the ref in last night's Western Conference Final for allowing violent play to go on because of the impact cards would have on the championship game a week later. Oh, and before the hate mail flies, this is today's CLOD. It didn't exist two days ago.

Revolinks:

Boston Globe Houston, We Have An MLS Cup Rematch
Wells may help end drought
Boston Herald Revs Ride Along On Twellman's Bike
Center Holds It Jair Maruffo Is a Fraud
Climbing The Ladder HOU vs NE: Best Method For Predicting the MLS Cup Winner?
Soccer y Fútbol Dynamo are MLS Cup-bound ... again (w/ video)
Final: Dynamo 2, Wizards 0 (w/ video)
Down The Byline Wizards Bow Out of the Playoffs
Seattle Times Champion Dynamo returns to final
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Another title for Beantown?
MLSnet Dynamo rout Wizards, return to Cup
Dynamo defense rules the day

Like the format? Nice and concise in my opinion. More sources to be added as I find them. If you are writing or blogging about the Revs or MLS Cup, let me know and we'll exchange links.

MLS Cup Rematch

2007-11-11T12:10:00.000-05:00

Houston won tonight to set up a rematch with the Revs for the MLS Cup Final next Sunday. Here's my initial thoughts:

* Not a soul mentioned the irony of KC playing in this game. Not a soul (see previous post).

* Houston were clearly the better team on the night. They dominated for stretches, especially in the first half.

* A lot of Houston's success was due to Kansas City's inability to control the ball. Their first and second touches were atrocious. Luckily for Revs fans, that's one of our strong suits.

* So is defending set pieces. The first half goal made KC look like they were stuck in rough surf. And drowning.

* If indeed Brian Ching tore his calf, I feel for him. He's a stand up guy, and that injury is a bitch. Huge break for the Revs if true, but it's still bad to see.

* The ref was lenient with cards like on Thursday, but there was one challenge by Mullen (or was it Barrett? I always confuse them) from behind that was clearly a yellow, maybe worse. Shortly afterwards, the ref called a yellow on Marinelli for getting his legs tangled and fouling from behind. Yes, that's a cardable offense, but the foul from the Houston player was also cardable, yet much more egregious. I'd love to know what his yellow card status was going into the game.

* New England will have a tough time breaking down Houston's defense, but they can if players besides Taylor Twellman step up. Thompson and Smith are going to need to be dangerous.

* If no one steps up for the Revs, this game will be a mirror image of 2006. New England will defend better than KC, and they sure as heck will control the ball better. This has logjam written all over it if there isn't a first half goal.

So there it is. The Revolution have their work cut out for them. Funny enough, they are going into this one from a less prestigious position than the previous two. They will be slight underdogs, especially if Ching is alright. However, they will be in much better shape physically than those games. In 2005, they went in beaten up and exhausted. In 2006, Clint Dempsey had to come off the bench due to injury. This was after he put the team on his back from September on. There's no excuses this time. Here's hoping the team does the business this time around.

MLS Cup Week: Blogging Our Arses Off

2007-11-11T10:22:00.000-05:00

The Blue Blooded Journo Blog is committed to ramp up coverage in order to provide the reader one of the best resources for the upcoming MLS Cup Final in a week's time. The usual opinion will be offered up by myself, Jimmy Chowda, as well as some of the past contributors. Links will be provided to all things MLS Cup, especially from the blogosphere, or as they call it over at ThroughBall.com, the "Soccersphere". I like that name. I wonder if it's copyrighted?

Speaking of links, I'll be using the increased coverage to try out a number of formats and ideas for next season. I have a number of people who want to contribute, but we have to get organized and develop a system before this thing is taken to the next level.

In case you were wondering what will happen to this blog during the off season, there's big plans in the works. The "20 People Who Rocked The Fort" contest will relaunch, as well as a potentially hilarious series I won't announce yet. If you want to cover a team no one's ever heard of, playing in a country most US Americans can't find on a map, Blue Blooded Journo is willing to adopt one or two teams during in the off season in a tongue and cheek manner. There's also the potential move to wordpress to provide a cleaner presentation and a fan resource/database. Stay tuned.

So, I hope you enjoy MLS Cup week at the Blue Blooded Journo Blog, and continue to visit during the off season.

Let's Go Wiz-zids, Embarrass MLS HQ!

2007-11-10T12:16:00.001-05:00

I need something to keep me warm tonight. It sure as heck isn't going to be the oil heating system at my house. It's a tad mind boggling that the elected representatives of the most oil dependent people in the country are usually the ones to block any sort of oil exploration when it comes to a vote in DC. Oh, but the Senate just ratified a UN Treaty which will effectively allows Chinese companies to drill a few miles off the shore of Florida. It's OK, though. NBC logos are green this week and The Today Show flies people around the globe to lecture us on our carbon footprints.

But I digress. The absurdly high heating bill (not including electricity) has caused me to look for alternative sources of warmth. There's an outside chance I'll be warming myself to the Fox Soccer Channel broadcast of the Houston - Kansas City match tonight. The Wizards have a chance to truly embarrass MLS and their complete lack of foresight. Kansas City, the fifth place team from the Eastern Conference, could actually win the Western Conference championship. If that were to happen, I'm putting the trophy presentation on loop and turning off the furnace. I'll be set for weeks.

FATCOC. That was the watchstanding principles mnemonic I learned while I was a reactor operator with the Navy. The "A" stood for anticipation. It basically meant asking "what if" whenever conditions changed and to know all the possible ramifications resulting from systematic anomalies. MLS may have seen this possibility and took their chances, but that really tweaks my sensibilities. Then again, I spent a decade in a community where there was no room for such carelessness, and you couldn't put a positive spin on poor planning with a press release.

Many journalists have justified changing, or abolishing, the playoff system based on boring play or DC choking once again. Guess what, soccer is hit or miss when it comes to excitement. You can't artificially generate non-stop action. Tweak it all you want, there's just no way you can use outside forces to create the 1982 World Cup semifinal classic. Games like that will happen regardless of the setup.

As for abolishing the playoffs, that's definitely not happening. What should happen, and to credit MLS is happening, is getting the word out on the importance of the Supporters Shield. The winner of the league's top record gets a spot in the international competitions MLS is invited to. They now have a trophy celebration at the winner's home ground (as opposed to handing it to the head car parker like Columbus did a few years back). They seem to be leaning towards a home and home schedule when the league gets big enough, which will help to legitimize the Shield from a competition standpoint. These are important steps. What MLS needs to continue to do is promote that trophy so it becomes much, much more important than, say, the one they hand out to the team that has the best record in the NHL. To point out it's level of prestige, I can't even remember it's name (President's Trophy, maybe?).

For those that hope the league "comes around" to the way the rest of the world crowns their champions, give it up. As long as sports like baseball and football have expanded their playoffs and reaped the rewards of more teams being in the hunt for longer into the season, MLS will chase that red dragon. And I don't blame them. Look, winning the Supporters Shield is actually a greater accomplishment. You need to win out in a league where everyone is basically equal. It shows you were the best team over the course of six months. Winning MLS Cup, conversely, is actually a tougher task. It's hard enough to win back to back games in MLS, much less four. Both have merit, but the playoffs are much more exciting which is why they'll never go away.

Getting back to the lack of foresight which lead to the set of circumstances surrounding tonight's game, that problem can be fixed. Oodles of journalists, bloggers, and internet commandos have offered up their resolutions. Why should I be any different?

If I were to make changes, it would start with renaming the first round the quarterfinals, and the next round the semifinals. MLS HQ got a woody from the DC United - New England Eastern Conference Final in 2004. The problem is, they thought the playoff system "created" that game. That's not how it works. Yes, the playoffs add the importance which makes those games exciting, but classics happen on the field, not at the Board of Governors' meeting. What's to say that game in 2004 wouldn't have happened if the two rounds leading up to MLS Cup had the same number of games? Nothing. Either team could have taken a lead into RFK that night or it could have taken place a week earlier. Which leads me to my next change: make the playoffs make sense.

Since Taylor Twellman's fantastic bicycle kick, there's been a little buzz about the Revs in the New England sports scene (given the state of other teams in the area, that's actually quite a leap forward). This buzz has lead to commentators and sports fans actually looking at the MLS playoffs a little more closely. When a lot of people have done that, both on the radio and through anecdotal evidence, they have all gotten confused with the setup. Typically, you'll get the soccer-haters saying something like "just another reason to hate that sport". Those who make that conclusion can pack sand, and I'm someone who actually understands why most Americans can't get with the sport. However, the mass confusion over the setup is what bothers me.

MLS made a marked improvement in their playoff format by having the top eight teams league-wide make it instead of four from each conference. They need to be commended for that. Going into the last two weeks, five teams were fighting for two spots and four were still alive on the last weekend. However, the playoffs themselves need to make sense not just for the fans, but for the teams that compete in them.

They should either have the first round one game or the second round two games. I'm fine with having MLS Cup as one game. That's the annual big game and the only real shot the league has at hyping it's product. If they went to two games per round, I would make it so the lower seed hosts on a weekday (Wednesday or Thursday) and then the higher seed hosts on the weekend. They could rework the ESPN deal to cover two games on both weekend nights (how's that for buzz?). The higher seeds would benefit from a better attendance draw, and the colder weather teams could play during the day before temperatures drop into the 20's like it did at Gillette on Thursday. Having this setup would also shorten the playoffs by one week, allowing for more scheduling versatility which will be needed as MLS clubs take a more serious attitude towards international competitions.

In the meantime, get rid of the "conference final" moniker. Tonight, it's a misnomer. No one takes that glassware seriously, anyhow. Unfortunately, MLS would get away with it as long as Houston wins.

From a competition standpoint, both teams will have just as good a chance at beating the Revs as the Revs have in beating them. However, there's one important fact to consider: Missouri sports teams have been New England's bitches when it comes to championship games since the 70's and they have been the unfortunate losers in these landmark titles:

1957: Boston Celtics defeat St. Louis Hawks to win their first NBA title.

1970: Boston Bruins defeat St. Louis Blues to win their first Stanley Cup in 29 years.

2002: New England Patriots defeat St. Louis Rams 20-17 to win Super Bowl XXXVI, their first ever.

2004: Boston Red Sox sweep St. Louis Cardinals to win their first World Series in 86 years.

In other words, we need to play Kansas City in the final before they move across the border to Kansas next season. The Missouri Mojo (momojo) is still intact as long as they played their home games at Arrowhead this season.

So now there's two big reasons I want Kansas City to win tonight. As the cheerleaders at my high school used to chant: Let's Go Wiz-zids!

Twellman's Goal

2007-11-09T11:29:00.000-05:00

Here's the goal that sent the Revs to the MLS Cup Finals:

No explanation needed. Simply incredible.

Props to Adrian over at Politics & Soccer for finding the clip.

On To The Finals!

2007-11-08T23:08:00.000-05:00

I guess we deserved it a little more than Chicago. One gleaming shot in an otherwise empty scrum. A boring, stereotypically incompetent MLS game overtaken by one glorious goal by the likely hero, Taylor Twellman.

It has to be pointed out: four straight years. Four straight years where the Fire have met their demise. Four straight years that the Fire have ended their season by losing to the Revs at Gillette Stadium. Man, they must hate us.

Especially the twenty or so people who represted Section 8. Hey, next time you belittle our fanbase, send more than 22 people to represent you. Then again, RBNY said there would be over a hundred when they sent about sixty. I should have known better.

I guess this is the alcohol talking, but who cares? The Revs have a birth in the championship game and have two extra days to prepare for it. The Fort was hopping and the team took it home.

I need to sleep before some important meetings tomorrow. To the Midnight Riders, to Rev Army, to my boy Rob from New Hampshire, to the people who hooked me up right before game time, to Fran who was erroneously ejected, to the people who splurged for category 1 (Category 2 and 3 were sparse tonight), to everyone who doubted this team:

THIS ONE'S FOR YOU!!!!!!

Much more in the lead up to MLS Cup!

Tonight's The Night

2007-11-08T00:01:00.000-05:00

Tonight's the night. The night we find out if the 2007 incarnation of the New England Revolution has the moxy it's predecessors had in the playoffs. The night we see if they have that certain, oh I don't know, je ne sais quoi to defeat the Chicago Fire and end their season for the fourth straight year. The night we cheer the boys on from The Fort in frigged temperatures. The night the team mans up to Blanco's bobos and stops their unbeaten streak in it's tracks. The night NBC pats itself on the back for proclaiming Al Gore's movie 100% factual.

OK, so I'm dvr'n the last part and won't get to it until next week. The other stuff in that opening paragraph has me freakin pumped. This is what MLS, in it's current format, is all about. Take away the complete waste of time the last nine months were. Going into training camp, we all knew who the best eight teams were. Maybe Colorado had a say and anyone who bought into LA's hype would have yelped, but not the rest of us. We all knew there would be eight teams in the playoffs capable of beating the other seven. And we all knew Chicago and New England would meet up again, ready for another round of foul and stall.

So now it comes down to tonight. To the winners: a trip to MLS Cup with more than enough time to rest their tired carcasses. To the losers: ten extra days to work on their Halo 3 rankings (no one still golfs, right?).

The matchup isn't that hard to break down. New England will attempt to control the middle of the field with Joseph and Larentowicz while looking for holes to pace through balls to their forwards and wings. Chicago will answer with the muscle of Chris Armas, and Blanco will try to go around the Revs' big boys and launch quick strike attacks.

I can see this one being a grind. However, both Chicago and New England have been known to pack the box if they grab a quick lead. The timing of the first goal, if there is a first goal, will mean everything for the neutrals. However, Chicago relied on quick counterattacks against DC United. The Revs probably won't commit as many players forward as DC did. I can't predict how this game will go, but I'm not alone in thinking this one will be rough and low scoring.

Chicago has made a remarkable run up to this point. They haven't lost since a game in New York at the beginning of September. That was also the last time they played on an artificial surface. Seeing how New England has played nearly every game on the fake stuff for over a month, that could be an intangible. Their timing could be off at the start of the game, and the Revs could capitalize on that advantage. Another bonus for New England is obviously the home field.

Chicago counters with an extra two days off. The Revs also played in inclement weather on Saturday which wears you down. The Fire have to be more fit physically. I would have expected MLS to have seen this unfair setup when ESPN told them what the schedule would be. Then again, I expect my dog to piss on the pee mat, but I gave up being disappointed when it doesn't happen.

So this one, like any matchup possible for the Revs in the MLS playoffs, is a tossup. The Revs have a chance at a bit of history by making three straight finals. They already have made six straight conference finals which is a nice little achievement. But they don't hand out rings for making it there. The Revs are still chasing their elusive first MLS Cup championship. It comes down to the last two games. The first in less than 24 hours. Get down to the stadium after work. It's gonna be a cracker.

Previews

Revolutionsoccer.net
Brad Feldman Breaks It Down Even More
Center Holds It
USA Today
Goal.com
The Sports Network
Boston Herald
Boston Globe
ESPN
Chicago Tribune

ECF: Q&A With Myself

2007-11-07T08:54:00.000-05:00

As the Eastern Conference Final quickly approaches, there's numerous questions floating around my head. Who better to answer them than myself:

Q: Why do Revolution fans hate the Chicago Fire so much?

A: That's a fascinating question which would require a 20-part series to answer fully. Since you asked, I'll keep this as concise as possible.

To be honest, the current level of hatred is far less than it was a year ago. At that time, Shalrie Joseph was suspended for the deciding playoff match after MLS, for some reason, went back and punished him for elbowing a player who thought Shalrie wanted to give him a piggyback ride. The suspicion was that weasley manager Dave Sarachan was the one who asked for the review. This was after a suspension was levied against Clint Dempsey a few months earlier in similar fashion. To complicate matters, Chad Barrett wasn't suspended for shoving Jay Heaps to the ground after the whistle that August, because the referee (the same for all three incidents) gave him a yellow card which gave him immunity from a punishment review. So, we felt cheated by MLS and pissed off at the Chicago manager going into that match. There's other issues about Sarachan that I won't go into here, because that's all in the past.

Today, Chicago has a new, less irritating manager. However, they did pick up aging Mexican sensation Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who's the bane of many US Soccer supporters. I'm not as big a Blanco hater as others, but when he starts looking to draw fouls by the bushel on Thursday, the vitriol will flow. All in all, the fact that we have ended their season for three straight years, they aren't as hated as they could be.

Q: So, why do so many people hate Blanco?

A: There's a number of reasons. The main one is he plays with incredible fire on the field and has killed the US in the past. His current incarnation relies on his guile (diving) more than his athleticism, and people don't like some of his simulation antics.

Q: His face got wicked rubbery. Did he have reverse botox or something?

A: No. Every time you go into extreme agony, you make a face that puts a ton of tension on the skin, especially the cheaks. The same is true when you fake extreme agony. Seasons of pretending he got shot in the thigh from a hunting rifle every twenty minutes has taken a toll on Blanco's face. The craters were just an added benefit as I hear he's been used to get those playdough stains out from the Fire's romper room floor.

Q: Is it OK to have a crush on Chris Rolfe if you are a 14 year old girl?

A: Strange question given the source. No, it's not OK. He'll be starting for Real Madrid really soon, according to Fire fans, so hold your affections until then.

Q: What's with Fire fans? Are they the best fans in the league or the worst?

A: Depends on your point of view. From both perspectives, DC has them beat in fan support and in random degenerates looking to start trouble and then running under mommy's coat. I'd also put Toronto ahead of them in the fan support category.

Chicago's got great support by MLS standards. Do they have annoying fans on BigSoccer that are unable to comprehend the loose etiquette standards? Yup. In fact, they've probably got the most. That's just the cyber world, though. Who cares. They'll probably have a good-sized group there on Thursday night. How many show up will vastly depend on the number of people trained at Whopper-board in the Chicagoland area. Critical job skills are scarce these days and Lord be damned if there's a shortage of flame-broiled goodness due to missing fast food operators.

Q: How will the Revolution score against that Fire defense?

A: The Fire defense has been tight as of late, but they broke down in the second half against DC, allowing two goals. It'll probably be another low-scoring affair. The Revs will need to convert two of the six or seven chances they get.

Q: Will there be a large crowd for the game?

A: Unlikely. ESPN was banking on DC United advancing, not Chicago. New England hasn't been known to draw large crowds for weeknight games, and I doubt a four day sales effort will yield a large crowd. Expect around 10,000.

Q: Why would someone go watch a game in 40 degree weather instead of on tv?

A: The ESPN2 broadcast makes you feel sorry for/uncomfortable about soccer in America. Avoid it at all costs. The cold air is also great for your eyebrows, spleen, and Alzheimer's.

Manatee Season

2007-11-06T09:40:00.000-05:00

It didn't take long for clueless Red Bull to sack Bruce Arena. Good new for the Revs as their rivals from New York will begin fresh yet again next year, stifling any chance of building a solid foundation. Sure, Bruce did a lot more sweating from his folds than coaching, but his replacement will be their fourth manager since Bob Bradley was erroneously sacked by Alexi Lalas just over two years ago.

Frankie Yallop has left LA Galaxy for re-expansion side San Jose Earthquakes, so there's speculation Arena would go there. That would be funny if it happened, but only expect that if LA can't nail down a high profile coach. I wouldn't hold you breath.

As a Revs fan, I can't help but feel responsible as my team most likely cost chubby his job. Responsibility is a good characteristic.

In other news, Micheal Parkhurst won MLS Defender of the Year. I didn't see that coming. Congratulations to Mike! I just hope this doesn't put too much of a spotlight on him from foreign clubs at a time he needs to concentrate on finishing out the playoffs. Coach Steve Nicol said it would take a lot of money for a team to swoop in and take Parkhurst away. We may see just how much money that is during the off season. My guess: over $3 million. Former MLS players are proving themselves all the time overseas. Parky's also extremely valuable to the Revs. I'm not sure a team would pay that much for him, but New England considers him way too valuable to let go without a major financial benefit. We'll just have to wait and see.

Verdict's In: We're All A Bunch Of Homers

2007-11-05T00:03:00.000-05:00

The poll results are closed, and the overwhelming winner for the most resent poll question of "How will the Revs finish the season?" was "MLS Cup Champions".

I guess if you look at it from a realistic perspective, the poll's actually a lot closer to 50/50 in regards to positive/negative. A lot of you probably figured the Eastern Conference final would have been held in DC, so that was the easier choice of exit at the time. Still, the poll was more positive than I expected. Good on ya Revs fan!

Personally, I had them out in the first round. My rational was sound. The Revs are as good as anyone they play. They just aren't significantly better than anyone. With the current status of professional sports in New England, something had to give at some point. Well it hasn't occured yet. Just look at what happened with the Pats and the Celts on Sunday. The B's are irrelevant and in case you are outside of New England, at least a third of the region hates BC for one reason or another. About another third may favor them in football, but hate them in hoops and hockey. In other words, the sports gods who supposed to even things up, and are apparently asleep at the switch, don't count BC sports in their karmic calculations.

So, the clock's going to strike midnight on our sports teams at some point. I just thought it was going to happen on Saturday night during Hurricane Noel.

Getting back to DC, the new poll question asks which team has been the biggest chokers since the end of 2004: DC or the Revs? Now, there's a few things to consider (yeah, I realize this post will be buried in a few days):

This will be mostly from an American sports view of choking. Such choking involves either losing in an important playoff or championship when you are favored or blowing a lead in such an important game. I realize there may be a paradigm shift going on in regards to the Supporters Shield, but get real. The vast majority of people consider MLS Cup the only true championship.

To me, it's a tossup at this point in time and that's why it's the poll question. DC has gone in to every playoff they've lost in that time as the favorite. The last two years, they had the league's best record. The Revs have lost the last two MLS Cups, once as a favorite and once blowing an overtime lead in 71 seconds. Then again, the Revs did bounce DC on their home field last year. They also lifted a minor cup tournament trophy this year, though that's probably irrelevant to this discussion.

This poll will close in a week, so if you want to wait for Thursday's game, I can understand. I'm curious to see any comments on this topic

1-0 Is Still 1-0!

2007-11-04T00:13:00.000-04:00

Just got back from Gillette. The Revs earned their place in the Eastern Conference final on Thursday. The goal was freaky, but I'll take it. Red Bull didn't look dangerous at all. I guess the Revs won the series by finishing one of their two or three chances they had. New York didn't and that was the difference. I would love to see the play that knocked out Angel. I sure hope Joseph isn't suspended as a result. I missed what happened, but since he wasn't carded, he's vulnerable to a punishment after the fact. Go MLS!

I'm exhausted, yet wired at the same time. There will be a more informative recap within the next day or so.

See everyone on Thursday!

Off To Gillette To Get Wet

2007-11-03T13:21:00.000-04:00

Well, this should be fun.

For the third straight year, the Revs home leg for the first round of the playoffs will be hindered by extreme weather. Granted, the torrential rains stopped just in time for the game last year, but we don't appear to be as lucky this time around. The storm formerly known as Hurricane Noel is beginning to slam into Southern New England and it doesn't look pretty. The most severe weather is scheduled for a few hours before kickoff, an ominous sign for those peddling popcorn and super pretzels at the game tonight.

So the crowd will be about half the expected 16,000. Big deal. Those of us who will brave the elements will have the chance to witness firsthand another chapter in Revolution history, before the sport "takes off" and prices out the working man. Though this has been a disappointing trend for the front office (also, the 2004 home leg was during game one of the World Series), the onfield heroics have been legendary for the team. In 2004, they surprised Supporter's Sheild winner Columbus Crew 1-0. In 2006, they bested bitter rivals Chicago Fire in a shootout after going behind 2-0 on aggregate.

However, the most famous has to be the 2005 game against today's opponent's former incarnation, the Metrostars. Fans had to drive through blizzard-like conditions to even get to Foxboro. The Revs went into the game down 1-0, and Youri Djerkoff scored a second half goal against the run of play. Words can't describe what happened next, so I'll just let you watch the video:

Good stuff, huh. A repeat by Khano would negate his 2007 performance in my eyes.

So, keys to the game:

* Get lucky with the weather
* End of keys to the game

Seriously, the wind is going to create havoc. Both teams are fairly evenly matched and it'll be nature deciding this one.

Get out to Gillette. The season is on the line and the winner gets to host the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday (thanks for the choke, DC). History will be made tonight. Will you be watching at the stadium or searching for matches to light candles when the power goes out? I hope the answer is obvious.

Soccer Bloggers: Get With Blogrush

2007-11-03T01:30:00.000-04:00

Blogrush is a free traffic generating network. It works by installing a small widget in your blog's sidebar which displays four other blogs in the network. I subscribed to it a little over a week ago when I read an article on Widgets Lab which stated how it cleansed over 10,000 blogs which didn't comply with it's terms of service. That earned my temporary trust, so I decided to give it a shot.
(click title to read more)
I have been pleasantly surprised with the widget thus far. The biggest thing that impresses me is how quickly it loads. I've tried various widgets since this blog's inception and I've had to scrap most of them because they've killed load times. That's clearly not the case. They also rolled out a fantastic statistics page which shows you how many times one of your specific articles was syndicated and how many times it was clicked. There's other stats such as credits (mostly accumulated through page loads) and bonus credits, but the syndication stats is the most useful.

Up until now, my widget has been in the "sports" category. That's why I keep it so far down the page in my blog. It just doesn't fit my soccer orientated blog. I've used it to find a ton of good blogs from other sports (and a few soccer blogs), but I doubt very highly the visitors we've been getting have even noticed it. Hopefully, this changes today as "soccer" is now one of the categories.

This is where I need you, the soccer blogger to get in on the action. If enough soccer bloggers get in the network, it would expose our articles to a broader audience of real soccer fans around the world. If I notice that the articles being loaded into my widget are 100% soccer, and not overflow from the abundance of MMA blogs out there, I will move the widget to either first or second position in one of my sidebars.

That last part is important. For this to really work, we must place the widget in as good a spot possible. If not, you'll see 1000's of syndications on your stat sheet with no reads. There's also an embarrassing "cold" in your article's hype meter on your personal Blogrush page. You don't want that.

Oh, and this is by no means a replacement for the SoccerBlogs site. The widget's display is fairly random and is only a small sample of what's on that great aggregater site. If you have a soccer blog and aren't on that site, get on it ASAP.

So, please check out Blogrush by clicking on the link below or clicking on the link at the bottom of my widget. Be sure to watch the video showing off the newest features. With enough soccer bloggers getting onboard, we'll all benefit.

http://www.blogrush.com/r74063839

Sour Manboobs

2007-11-01T00:17:00.000-04:00

Red Bull New York manager Bruce Arena seems a little cranky these days. After the recent 0-0 snorefest, the former national team gaffer was recently described as indifferent. The gist of the article laid some of the blame for New York's boring performance on the team he assembled: (click title to read more)

"The team is not a bad team. But it is, usually, a dull team. Quite similar, in fact, to the dull team assembled by former coach Bob Bradley."

The problem with that is he coaches the only team in MLS with two designated players: Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna. Granted, the latter of the two has been showing his age and gets pushed around more than Rob Stone did in middle school. However, Angel has been a revelation having the best scoring rate in the league and is a finalist for MVP. Arena has no one to blame for having a subpar attack but himself.

Arena also seemed to make matters worse with some slights at his star here:

"New England did a good job," said Arena during his press conference in the bowels of Giants Stadium. "I don't think Juan did a good job of showing for the ball and we told him that at halftime. I think Juan could have done a better job of making himself available as well as (fellow striker Francis) Doe."

Not a good way to talk about your star who took a modest pay cut to play on astroturf in front of 16,000 fans in a stadium that seats 70k+. Speaking of which, I love this baffling quote from our favorite manatee (source):

"I don't think an MLS Cup is going to fill up Giants Stadium," Arena said before the match. "We'll try to get one and see, but the day this team gets credibility is when it moves into a soccer stadium. If Yankee Stadium was a dump, nobody would be going there."

First off, RFK has sold over 30,000 seats to MLS Cup. If Giants Stadium's a dump, RFK's a cesspool in Little Italy after the Feast of San Gennaro. And Yankee Stadium's always been a dump. They play top level baseball in a major metropolitan area. They have history and people care about them when they aren't beating their wives (couldn't resist). There's a lot more keeping people away from the Meadowlands for soccer than the stadium. Try looking at your history of failure and your owners forcing out several sponsors when they took over. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Hopefully, Arena causes enough distraction and dissent during the week and the Revs can capitalize on Saturday. Although, sometimes things like an asshole coach can galvanize a locker room.

Either way, Manboobs better look in the mirror for answers before placing blame elsewhere. If not, he'll be mumbling over the game from the announcers booth for the opening of Red Bull Park instead of from the bench. In 2011.

Parkhurst Wins Fair Play Award

2007-10-31T14:00:00.000-04:00

I guess the MLS Fair Play Award is based more on statistics and performance than sentimentality as Michael Parkhurst was the winner for the 2007 season.

In 25 league appearances, Parky committed an astonishingly low 5 fouls with no cautions or ejections. That's incredible considering he is the anchor of a three man back line. Granted, he was cautioned in the first playoff game, but everyone slips up now and then. (click title to read more)

The sentimental pick would have been Cobi Jones, who has been with the LA Galaxy since the league's inception. However, the dreadlocked old-timer committed 22 fouls and was cautioned once. The other finalist Eddie Pope, also retiring, committed 27 fouls.

Parkhurst is in his third season with the Revs. He may be one of the most unsung players in the league. This is undoubtedly due to the way he quietly negates opposing attacks by always being in position, organizes the defense, and always seems to keep his heartbeat at 40 beats per minute.

Ireland dropped the ball for not taking advantage of his Irish passport earlier in the Cranston, RI native's career. The Irish defense has been very disorganized as of late, and they would be getting an intelligent defender in the Gareth Southgate mold. Luckily for the US, he earned his first cap for the national team over the summer and Ireland in SOL. That's also good for Revs fans. If he had been showcased on the European stage earlier, he would be playing in the Premiership right now.

Sans Gridirons?

2007-10-31T00:17:00.000-04:00

Word on the street is the New England Revolution organization is hard at work removing the football markings as best they can for the playoff game on Saturday. This is another positive sign for a front office that has, in the past, been viewed as sacrificing the promotion of soccer in this country in favor of the bottom line. The upcoming game will be televised nationally on Fox Soccer Channel, and there is an outside chance of hosting the next round on ESPN2 on Thursday. Needless to say, it's a step forward for the Krafts to be spending the money towards the presentation of a showcase game. (click title to read more)

To acknowledge this as a positive sign, you must look at the environmental conditions which preceded our current circumstance. Robert Kraft was a charter owner in MLS. At first, the novelty of the league sold itself and the Revs had one of the league's best followings. As the new car small faded four years later, what was left was a league that appeared to be in jeopardy, a dwindling fanbase dejected over a poor team and non-existent customer service, and an owner bitter from the Patriots' Boston stadium fight.

It was around this time that AEG, Hunt Sports Group, and Kraft decided the league was worth saving. The first two joining with MLS to form Soccer United Marketing (SUM) in what would prove to be a very successful attempt to control all important soccer events in the United States culminating with the grabbing of TV rights to the 2002 and 2006 World Cup. Kraft, on the other hand, was content with financially backing his soccer operations, sharing losses with the other MLS owners, all while trying to run the Revolution as an entity separate from his other, more successful ventures. This meant running the Revs with a reduced budget while waiting for soccer to take off. The other two ownership groups weren't waiting for the sport to take off, they were trying to get it to take off, cost be damn. After all, they were backed by a recluse billionaire and an aging billionaire willing to take huge losses. That's just not how the Krafts do things.

How bad did it get? Well, there were years without replica jerseys in the pro shop, trouble getting walk-up tickets on game day (loads of seats, no ticket booth attendants), draconian security guards, a lack of any high profile import since Walter Zenga, unused allocations, and a downward trending attendance which seemed destined to be the league's worse sometime in the future. Luckily, the team's on field fortunes turned around with the permanent hire of manager Stevie Nicol in 2002 and they never looked back. The league signed a uniform contract in 2005 which largely lifted the merchandising burden from the team. Also, the growing numbers in organized supporter groups forced the front office to acknowledge some of the widespread concerns. Still, the Revs have always seemed to be the team resisting positive change in MLS. Such recent initiatives such as the designated player rule and the establishment of youth teams haven't been touched by the Revs. They are also the only team never to speak of serious concrete plans to build a soccer specific stadium.

The straw seemed to break the camel's back last November when it was announced the natural grass surface at Gillette Stadium would be replaced with fieldturf. Sure, it's the Fifa approved newer style, but one of the major gripes with the artificial surface is that NFL markings look gawdawful when soccer is being played on it. To make matters worse, front office personnel had stated that removing the lines require too much time and manpower to complete in short order.

With the word that they are at least attempting to dull the lines, it shows they are attempting to address the soccer fans' needs. Couple that with the rumored hiring of temporary sales personnel for the playoff game, and the Revolution appear to finally be "getting it". Now, if they can only sign a proven playmaker at midfield, announce the construction of a stadium, and loosen some select security restrictions, we'll be in business.

Four Revs Up For Awards

2007-10-30T11:13:00.000-04:00

Four New England players are up for end of season awards in MLS: Matt Reis, Michael Parkhurst, Pat Noonan, and Adam Cristman.

Matt Reis is nominated for Goalkeeper of the year. Although Matt has come up big several times this year, his GAA is around half a goal higher than his competition. He's not going to win this award, but he's far from unsung among Revolution supporters. "We all dream of a team of Matt Reis(s)" and "Don't cha wish your goalie was just like Reis" have gotten regular play in the supporter song rotation this year.

Adam Cristman is up for rookie of the year. The late round pick had four goals and four assists this season. However, he didn't have the minutes to compete with Toronto's Maurice Edu or New York's Dane Richards. Keeping of the new songs tip, we'll probably have to change the last line of "You wish you had Adam Cristman" from "the rookie of the year" to something like "the mullet has no fear". That's contingent on him growing it back, of course. I'm thinking his wife made him cut it off at the wedding. Women are evil like that.

Michael Parkhurst is up for two awards: Fair Play and Defender of the Year. The 2007 Fair Play Award will be Cobi Jones' send off medal, so that isn't happening for Parky, even though he once again put up a remarkably low 27 fouls for a central defender. He may have a shot at DOY, but Claudio Suarez at Chivas has gotten a lot of pub and Eddie Robinson has anchored a lights out defense at Houston since June.

Pat Noonan rounds out the list of Revs award nominees as he is up for Comeback Player of the Year. That award usually goes to someone who came out of nowhere. Noonan was hurt for much of last season, but made an impact during the 2006 playoffs and signed a phat contract during the off season. Not exactly under the radar stuff.

All of this is a dog and pony fluff-off, especially in a thirteen team league. Real accolades come from lifting MLS Cup in November. The players will tell you as much.

Revs Superliga Bid Doubtful

2007-10-29T00:46:00.000-04:00

Superliga, or "Super League" for those engaged in legal commerce in the United States, is an annual competition between MLS and FMF (Mexico) clubs. Last year was the inaugural competition, with eight teams playing in two group stages and four moving on to the semifinals.

Last year, despite some lame justification after the fact (Don Garber tried to say LA Galaxy "earned" their spot by being runners-up in the USOC over the two MLS Cup finalist, both which had much better regular seasons), the MLS participants were hand-picked. In essence, it was a dry run which Mexican side Pachuca won. All in all, it's a great idea which will provide some intriguing matchups in years to come during the summer grind. In short, it's something the Revs should want to be in and for Revs supporters, something they should be excited to go watch.

According to MLS commissioner Don Garber, the teams in next year's Superliga will consist of those with the four best regular season records in 2007. The Revolution finished comfortably in fourth, so that should mean qualification, right?
(click title to read more)
Not so fast. First off, Garber stated the qualification method in one or two announcements/press releases. In other words, this is by no means set in stone. In the great scheme of things, there aren't a heck of a lot of people in the media who listen to what comes out of MLS central and hold their feet to the fire. They can just as easily go back on their word if the right situation presented itself.

Enter the New England Revolution. They are the team with the worst record of those that supposedly qualified. They are also a team who has been accused in the past of dragging their feet when it comes to moving the game forward in America (i.e. lack of soccer specific stadium, fieldturf, no serious youth program, quarantining fans to one side, etc...). Also, the president of Kraft Soccer is Sunil Gulati. Gulati hold several other hats in the soccer world, including president of US Soccer. He was instrumental in creating Superliga and would need to make a decision which is not only best for the Revs, but for the competition.

The most likely scenario denying the Revs Superliga participation involves a team seeded lower than them winning MLS Cup. That's a very real possibility with every lower seed save Red Bull New York holding a 1-0 lead heading into the return legs this week. Last year, Chicago Fire were initially in Superliga (originally "justified" by winning the US Open Cup). That selection had everything to do with their soccer stadium, which would have been fine if they were just up front about it. However, the Mexican delegation justifiably raised a stink because the MLS Cup champions, Houston Dynamo, were left out. Since both teams were then owned by AEG, it was an easy switch. The same thing would likely happen this year if the champs were on the outside looking in. To be honest, the Revs would have no one to blame for that situation but themselves. They foolishly dropped at least three easy points in the last two games. If they had one extra point, they would have tied Houston, who they got the better of in head to head play for the tiebreaker.

MLS is serious about having a legitimate qualification process for Superliga. However, they often fail to ask those "what if?" questions. For example, the 2007 Western Conference trophy could go to the Kansas City Wizards (DOH!). Don Garber certainly had the best intentions when he said the top four regular season records will be in Superliga. However, someone forgot to ask him what would happen if the eighth seed ran the table. They could, and almost surely will, backtrack in this scenario. As a qualification process, I have no problem with that. I just have to ask why on Earth they went out and made the "top four" comments.

There's also a few other unlikely possibilities which would boot the Revs, but those would involve shenanigans of the highest order. I have a bet with a friend involving one such scenario. According to him, LA Galaxy will receive a bid based on the fact they made it to the finals of Superliga last year. They are desperate for ratings (it aired on one of the Univision-owned stations), and having David Beckham involved would be a huge boost. You could also throw Chicago and Blanco in that conversation, but they would definitely have to win it all to get in, in my opinion. On that bet, this is a soft reminder that I haven't forgotten about it. You know who you are.

If this were to occur, it would set the competition back a ways in legitimacy. You can't announce qualification standards and then completely throw it out the window for marketing purposes.

Any of the above scenarios can be negated if Sunil Gulati sticks up for the MLS side which employs him. He is probably the only one who can hold Garber to his word. For that to happen, others in the Revolution organization need to let owner Robert Kraft in on the benefits of hosting this event. These games can always be coupled with international doubleheaders. Sure, some fans will only be there for the other game, but playing a game that serves as a measuring stick for MLS's progress in front of an "international audience" wouldn't be a bad idea. Just a thought. It also wouldn't be horrible to offer some special events that aren't mostly doubleheaders with games that were already included in the season tickets package.

We'll concentrate more on this during the off season. I'm just giving those Revs fans who trust Don Garber and are excited about the team's Superliga participation a little heads up.

Revs Blank Themselves, New York

2007-10-28T21:01:00.000-04:00

The Revs escaped New York Saturday night with a 0-0 draw. Surprisingly, they are in a better position heading into the 2nd leg than any other higher seeded team in the MLS Cup playoffs. Although the Revs hold a slight advantage going into next Saturday's return leg, it's hard to argue this series is anything but a toss up. I made the bus trip and joined some seventy fellow Revolution supporters in the Meadowland to cheer on the boys. A few things stood out while watching the game from high atop the away support quarantine zone. (click title to read more)

The first thing that should be obvious to everyone who watched the game is how much the right side of Red Bull New York, led by rookie midfielder/Arnold Drumman stand-in Dane Richards, dominated our left side. Khano Smith just couldn't get anything going, was run ragged, and was out of position far too often. Avery John had his worst game in a Revs kit in quite some time, compounding the situation. The local side was one bad field turf bounce away from being down in the series. Maybe that should read "one natural bounce" as the Red Bulls fell prey to the turf monster several times, ending more than a few attacking sequences. That new stadium can't come soon enough. Back on the original point, in the short term, our left side will cost us the series if it doesn't play better. In the long term, it needs a major overhaul. Hopefully, Amaechi Igwe's the answer next year, but I don't want to rely on a youngster curing our left-sided woes.

The second major thing I noticed was how much the Revs indeed bunkered down for the draw. It probably wasn't so apparent on TV, but during many attacks, Joseph and Larentowicz hung back around midfield leaving huge tracks of land in between them and the inevitable errant cross behind the single attacking wave. At least they didn't put ten men in the box like we've seen in the past. Actually, the New England defenders were very aggressive and physical with the Red Bull attack. One of the positives from last night was how much they frustrated Juan Pablo Angel. However, it's yet to be seen how they will handle him when the field is stretched in a game where the Revs are actually trying to score a goal.

We'll have more on this series later on in the week, as well as a recap of the road trip. It was a good time with a lot of new faces, which is damn good to see.

Recaps

The Sports News Network
ESPN Soccernet
Fox Soccer
New England Soccer News
Soccer New England
RevolutionSoccer.net
Soccer Source Blog

Introducing, Revs Playoff Preview

2007-10-25T09:09:00.000-04:00

Hello all, I am Ben (SuperRevsGooner for those of you with BigSoccer accounts). I'm introducing myself because now I will be popping in pretty often to subject you to my thoughts and opinions. Enjoy!

Now that that's out of the way, I've got a bit of a different playoff preview for you.

The winning gods are smiling on New England these days. What, with the Red Sox destroying the Rockies in Game 1 of the World Series, the Pats doing what they do best (making Vince Lombardi poo a little), and the Bruins...well, I don't watch hockey.

Point is, the Revs go into New York with a shadow on their shoulders. Not only did they go their last three games losing to Fire, Crew and drawing to Canada-eh, but they haven't ever won it all. Despite so many teams killing so much playoff fodder, we still haven't found a way to win it. We need October, God.

That's a bit of a disappointment, right? We are the guys who touted JMM and Demps and Twells and Noons and all those guys, and we couldn't find a way to win. And now the league is even more difficult; with the exception of the Crew, every single team in MLS has one or two decent players who can really change the course of the game, which wasn't true in all of those seasons we looked so good at the end of the year. MLS went from a crappy, third-rate league four years ago to a very strong second- to lower-first-rate league this year.

The Revs are going to really have to step it up in NY to get a win there, so they can come home and hopefully build some momentum before moving along in the bracket. It's going to be very tough to get a win against Chicago or D.C. if we don't have momentum, so its time for the boys to start building it.

Wells Thompson told me that the older guys on the team aren't too worried, that "they know it takes time to win the playoffs, they're not wasting any energy early on." Well, I disagree. They wasted a whole lot of energy and momentum on getting a DRAW against quite possibly the worst team MLS has ever fielded (I really do like TFC when they're not playing us, their first season just caught them wrong and they'll be dangerous next year). Its not a great thing to fly to Toronto to play in that stadium, mind you, but they really should have opened up more chances or at the very least hold a 2-nil advantage. It has been the Achilles heel of this team all season and last year's playoffs, and they really need to figure out how to fix that.

How, though? The older guys haven't played in a non-3-5-2 formation since Nicol came here, and it doesn't seem like we should start changing it all up, now. I say, 3-5-2 till the first goal, then Ginger can drop back to be an upper-center half and Dorman can drop back to CDM. Kind of like a 4-4-2, except with wingers and a perfectly useful CAM playing defensive.

Of course, I'm not Steve. If I was, I would be doing completely different things than blogging, like maybe kicking my own arse for signing Khano Smith. Or speaking English no one can understand.

The Playoffs: Who I'm Rooting For

2007-10-23T13:05:00.000-04:00

The MLS Cup Playoffs are upon us. Starting on Thursday night in Chicago, the regular season means little to nothing as the eight surviving teams enter a knockout competition for the only trophy that really matters in American soccer: MLS Cup. So, who am I cheering on in their respective series? It's pretty obvious I want the Revs to win, but here's a breakdown on who I want to win in the other pairings:
(click title to read more)

DC United - Chicago

If the Revs make it out of the first round, they will play the winner of this match up. This should be a no-brainer, as the Revs would be looking at a home game against the Fire if they were to win.

Not so fast. Chicago have been major twats over the last few seasons. They have also picked up Blanco, a player who's as infamous as any among US National Team supporters. Personally, I'm not as big a Blanco hater as many of my com padres. He adds personality to the games in which he plays in, and will be contributing to his MLS side for a lot longer than most people think. Also, the Fire finally, err, fired a-hole head coach Dave Sarachan, who was the target of much of my derision over the years. So, I don't hate Chicago as much as I used to.

From a competitive standpoint, Chicago is playing as good as anyone in MLS. This makes the "weaker opponent" argument a push. Sure, we handled them at home in May, but that was a long time ago. DC beat us twice at home this year, but that will also mean little in a one-off game.

Still, I would sure like to end Chicago's season at Gillette for a fourth straight year.

Who I'm rooting for: Chicago Fire

Chivas USA - Kansas City

I was looking forward to this, but it seems MLS usurped my steam. Due to the new playoff system, the "Western Conference Final" could involve a team from the East. Now, that's according to the schedule on MLS's official site. However, I think they anticipated this and quickly printed up championship t-shirts for the CDC-Houston game Saturday night. The playoff system needs a little tweaking to fix this exploit (and why does Chivas get to play a lower seed when their conference proved to be worse?), and I would love to see Kansas City win to make a change imperative. Also, while I'm on the subject, they need to make the semifinals a home and home series.

Anyhow, I'm indifferent on both of the teams from an emotional standpoint. Chivas doesn't offend me in the least. In fact, I would love to see them really tap into the Latino market and start drawing players from the local community. It can only help the US team in the long run. I guess one of the problems is the huge rent they pay to AEG each year, which leaves them with limited funds. As for KC, I'm not nearly the Jimmy Conrad mark that most Revolution fans are. Sure, he's a good guy off the pitch and I enjoy his show. However, on the field, I hate his guts when they play the Revs. I'll save my fan mail for when he retires.

Who I'm Rooting For: Kansas City

Houston - FC Dallas

The battle of Texas. Texas is a place that I dig how their citizens think... from afar. In my naval experience, the Texans who I served with who acted like "typical Texans" are insufferable and really tough to work with. I still have great friends from Texas, but few of them epitomize what us New Englanders picture when we think of the Lone Star State. In reality, they act more like the people on Friday Night Lights during the first season. NBC writers should be defenestrated for murdering that show. They turned it into one of those shows which don't last four seasons on Fox.

Seriously, this is an easy one for me. The FC Dallas fans are easy to get along with, we seem to find our way through their defense when we play them, and I do not want to play Houston again in the final, especially after they have consistently played some of the best soccer in MLS since June.

Who I'm Rooting For: FC Dallas

Somerville Stadium?

2007-10-22T22:49:00.000-04:00

Somerville's incumbent mayor, Joe Curtatone, looks to be cruising towards re-election in November having won the preliminary election by a landslide. This could prove to be good news for Revolution fans looking for the team to move into a stadium of their own, especially for those in the Boston metropolitan area.
(click title to read more)

The Revolution have stated their desire to eventually move into a 20,000 seat soccer specific stadium. Learning from their botched attempt to build a stadium for the Patriots in South Boston, they are keeping their dealings under wraps. However, an article appeared in the Boston Herald in August suggesting the Revs were developing a stadium deal with the city of Somerville, MA. Now, I don't know a whole lot, and I'm going to tell you even less (loose lips sinks ships). However, one thing I do know is the current administration is very excited about the project. We'll know a lot more as to the validity of the mayor's commitment in the months that follow the election in November.

Let's back things up for a minute. Would this be a good thing for the Revs and, more importantly, the city of Somerville?

The answer to the first half should be obvious: yes. The prospective location, while not technically in the city limits, enjoys many of the amenities that Bostonians enjoy. Let's look at an overhead view of the site:

The key strength to this location is the easy access to two different T (subway) stops. Having light rail access will open up the exceptionally large portion of the Boston population that doesn't own an automobile. It also moves home games to a much more densely populated area than Foxboro. The drawbacks would include a longer ride for those coming from Rhode Island and parts of Connecticut. There would also likely be a lot less on-site parking for tailgating, but the total size of the area slated for redevelopment is 121 acres so who knows? All in all, though, this would be a very positive move for the Revs and it's fanbase.

The crucial question is whether or not this would be a good deal for the city of Somerville? Somerville, like many municipalities in Southern New England, is dependent way too much on property values when it comes to it's balance sheet. This is the result of the region's citizens demanding a relatively high standard of living which makes a competitive business environment tough to come by due to higher costs. Thus, major companies are usually only lured to the area by specific tax breaks. That's the usual trappings associated with urban regions in the Northeast.

So, to get a major deal like this done, you need to win a series of political victories. In this case, you would need to get funding, both city and state, approved while dismissing claims that the negatives will outweigh the positives. The major negative being excess traffic on game day.

Such a project could nab state funds. The good news is that Mayor Curtatone was one of the first elected officials to endorse Governor Patrick at a time when he was an underdog to receive his party's nomination. The governor has seemed ambitious about several projects, especially on the casino front. Although the casino endeavor may stall in the Assembly, it shows the executive branch is keen to support entertainment venues. Getting back to traffic, state funds would be mandatory for infrastructural upgrades needed to handle the excess traffic coming off I-93. Having a friend in the Governor may come in handy for the Mayor.

This project is still in it's infancy and few things are known for sure. If this develops into the Revs' future home, it would be a dream location.

Hopefully, I'll have more on this in months to come...

Parky Goes Deep, But Revs Fade Again

2007-10-21T11:59:00.000-04:00

I'll start with the good. First and foremost, Michael Parkhurst scored his first MLS goal yesterday and it was a goal of the year candidate to boot (go to #1 at the end of the video):

Wow. It doesn't get any better than that. The other good thing about yesterday was the team, for most of the game, withstood the attack from an opponent putting in a playoff caliber effort.

However, that didn't stop the Revs from failing another late test by giving up an injury time goal. Yeah, the game was meaningless, but that's three disappointing games on the bounce since the US Open Cup victory. That's also seven of eight games the team has given up at least two goals.

They can ill-afford to give up two goals in the first leg against New York next Saturday. If the past is any reference, the team will bunker down and play for the tie. New York has players that can pull goals out of nowhere and they could be poised to stun our local side if they keep up their current defensive form.

Well, it's time to put the past behind and get ready for the playoffs. If you are a Revs fan, I implore you to make the trip to the Meadowlands. If the last few weeks in any indication, they'll need all the help they can get.

Also, I have to point this out:

I didn't need to prove that I'm a genius, because that's been firmly established. If you're still one of the non-believers, here's where I used mathematics to predict the future.

Sure, RSL didn't get to 32 points, but the variables changed during the summer.

SHALRIE PAID!!!! (Heaps too)

2007-10-18T13:35:00.000-04:00

Well, well, well. I didn't see this happening at this point in the season, but the Revs have signed Shalrie Joseph to a contract extension along with fellow veteran, Jay Heaps. Terms and salary were not disclosed, as per MLS policy of being very insecure. These deals mean the nucleus will be intact going into next season. Management can now focus on bringing in a true No. 10 during the off season to add even more potency to the Revs attack or, in reality, hope for the best from the draft.

Joseph is the big one here. Earlier in the season, his agent tried to talk him into holding out. That practice is barely accepted in "American" sports, but is alien to soccer. I'm sure glad Shalrie's judgment got the best of him. His old contract had him signed through 2008 on a salary he found unacceptable. One can only assume his salary is in the neighborhood of $300K/yr, a value which he has proven to be worthy of.

Heaps's extension will go a long way in providing depth in the back line, especially if Amaechi Igwe isn't ready to step into the starting role next season. Jay may have lost a step or two, but he does bring grit to the pitch every time he plays. He's also as classy a person as they make them, providing a strong role model for the younger players.

The only key player left unsigned is Andy Dorman. One has to wonder where he will be playing next year. He's greatly underpaid, and the Revs may be hurting for cap space if Joseph's salary is as high as it appears to be. The Revs like to keep their options open which means having enough wiggle room to fit a DP under the cap. If paying Dorman how most valuate him would put the team too close to the cap, that may not be a possibility. I don't want to see Dorman go, but he has to do what's best for himself and his situation.

Revs Vortex / Revsreport

2007-10-18T11:37:00.000-04:00

Here's a couple of good examples of web 2.0 being utilized to promote our local side:

The new Revs Vortex, which is a widget that you can add anywhere on the web. A good place is on your personal page (myspace, facebook, etc.), your homepage, or your blog. I tried placing it on one of the sidebars here, but there's already a lot there and it was severely impacting load times. I'll put it on my facebook page when I get around to making one. Installation is a piece of cake, unless you are from Jersey, a moron, or both.

This particular widget is run from the Revolution site and offers news and highlights from a slick interface:

http://www.revolutionsoccer.net/mediacenter/index.cfm?ac=vortex

Now here's what I'm talking about! A Revs fan, who I don't think I know, has a vlog (video blog (web log)) which expresses his opinions on the team. He seems to have posted one for every game here. This is the latest installment:

Pay him some youtube love when you get a chance.

Twellman Plays Against Swiss. Was Bradley Bribed?

2007-10-17T19:29:00.000-04:00

Taylor Twellman played nearly eighty minutes for the US National Team, which won 1-0 today. It was good experience for him, and while he played alright you have to question a crucial player on an MLS side nearing the playoffs being flown out to Europe on short notice to play a friendly at high altitude. For Twellman, the playing time with the team's European-based players is important. There is a certain cohesion that must develop for a quick-strike forward, like Taylor, to begin receiving the kind of service he needs to score. If he is to ever become a starter for the team, that understanding has to develop over a number of games. This game, along with the games over the summer, hopefully contributed to this understanding.

However, this game came at the wrong time for the Revolution. The team needs to be ready for the playoffs next week, especially since New York will be coming off two extra days of rest. The team can ill-afford to have it's star striker burned out when he needs to be peaking.

So was this a case of Bradley giving Twellman the nod out of kindness, or did he have ulterior motives? In my opinion, the fact that this call-up could help out coach Bradley's good friend, Bruce Arena, lends me to believe that could have come into play here.

This is all circumstantial, but let's face it. Arena took the fall after the 2006 World Cup. Bradley is a good friend of the former national team coach, as well as a former assistant. They are still in very close touch and the only bridge Arena has to the USMNT is through Bob (he burned the rest on his way out). Bradley has to feel Arena received a raw deal, and would be looking for any way possible to prop up his former mentor. There's also rumors that a young Bob developed the "Bob Bradley Face" while staring at Bruce's manboobs during those long, hard two-a-days at the University of Virginia.

Now, this could be the ramblings of a paranoid Revolution supporter. However, it's hard to argue this call up will have no negative impact on Stevie Nicol's side heading into the post season.

Revs Limping Into Playoffs

2007-10-15T22:36:00.000-04:00

Some teams rise to the occasion only when they have to. Champions rise to the occasion because they are champions. Unfortunately, the Revs have been the former vice the latter in the Stevie Nicol era. Granted, they never had much to play for before the great Scot arrived at Foxboro. However, it's tough to argue that the Revs are finishing strong in the second best season in team history. The best, 2005, ended in similar fashion. At least this time around, the team is limping to the finish line, vice being carried to it on a stretcher.

The Revs have taken only one point in their last three MLS encounters, thus bowing out of Supporters Shield contention. That's OK by me. However, it would take a Revs win and a Houston loss on the last week to solidify third place overall. Meaningless this year, but we don't want to be the odd team out when MLS decides to give LA a Superliga seed "for the good of the competition". Unlikely, but you never know with the marketing gurus who run the league.

All of that is secondary to form, which the Revs haven't actually been atrocious. After all, they did achieve the greatest victory in team history by winning the US Open Cup two weeks back. A legitimate cup in the trophy case was much needed to put to rest any jinx talk. However, there's only one truly major cup in US soccer, MLS Cup. To win it, you have to get hot going into the playoffs.

The Revs can't exactly claim that they are on a tear. They are a team that has fourteen legitimate MLS starters. The problem is, they aren't all that interchangeable. Andy Dorman started Saturday's game on the bench, so Wells Thompson could start at right midfield. That meant Steve Ralston moving to attacking mid. The Revs have had only a few decent AM's in team history, and I only count the 2006 version of Dorman as one of them. You can tell the difference when he's not in there and performing well.

Another area the Revs are slipping is in defense. They haven't fielded a back line with Avery John in awhile and I'm curious as to why. The regular three of Riley, Parkhurst, and Heaps have looked week, allowing at least two goals in every game for a month. Reis has been fine, but not perfect in net. The game-winner against Columbus caught him sleeping.

The good thing is there is only one hot team in the East, Chicago Fire. The great thing about that is they will probably face DC United in the playoffs and I like their chances. If the Revs get by New York, they could host the Eastern Conference Finals. Red Bull is also ho-humming it, so our series is a toss up. If you haven't been planning to make the return leg on November 3rd, what the heck is wrong with you? The Midnight Riders are also planning a bus trip to Jersey for the first leg. If you are from the area and want to sit with the Revs fans, you need to get tickets through the Riders, also. If you can't do either, take TO's advice and get the popcorn ready. It's going to be fun.

Reason For Blackout / Future

2007-10-15T15:42:00.000-04:00

If you can't figure it out, this blog has been dormant for quite some time. The reasons for this were both technical and personal. The technical aspects involve my laptop breaking and today's computers being designed so you can't even fix a power supply input card yourself. Seriously, the Navy trained me to solder to NASA standards and there's no way in hell I could have fixed it.

I won't go into the personal, but don't worry, I wasn't in jail or anything like that. I just needed some time off. I've actually been back and going to games for close to two months now. I just haven't gotten back into the blogging thing yet.

Speaking of which, I plan on bringing this blog back. I'm just not sure in what capacity. I'm looking for help, especially with game coverage. If you are interested, e-mail me at jimmychowda@gmail.com.

I'll be back shortly with my take on the Revs' playoff aspirations and the big US Open Cup win. That "20 people who rocked the fort" contest will be conducted in the off season. I still have the 40 or so votes I received and if you voted then, you can vote again. Stay tuned...

We're Still Kicking...

2007-07-09T14:46:00.000-04:00

Yes, a bit of a slow time, and if you're wondering why there's been no posts from me lately, it's because I voluntarily took a week off after the Chivas away game because if I had written a column then, it would have been something like.

"@U$)@ those @&*$)@ played *$_@$*_@ awful, they couldn't hit the @($*%*&@)% side off a *$)@&$@& barn. No one gave a *@)%@*& and they all played like )@$*&_@$*"

Don't worry, a week later, things are back to normal. Every year around this time, the Revs seem to slump. Hopefully, they'll break out soon.

Nice to see Stevie Nicol earn the right to coach the All Stars against the team from Glasgow, Ireland (**), Celtic FC.

The Summer of US Soccer is coming to an end, the US followed up their defeat of Mexico in the Gold Cup final by sending a D team to Copa America, and scored twice.. while allowing 8 goals and finishing last in their group.

Could be worse, I guess.. we could have our goalie sent off in the third minute of a knockout game, like Paraguay did against El Tri.. 6-0 and the scoreline coulda been worse.

If you haven't watched the U20 World Cup, I strongly suggest you do.. The "Young Yanks" followed up a scrappy 1-1 draw with South Korea by thrashing Poland 6-1 (with some of the prettiest goals you'll ever see), and then beating prohibitive favorites Brazil on national TV (the game was shown on ESPN), 2-1. Nice to see the Wunderkid, Freddy Adu, live up to the hype, with some of the most beautiful play I've ever seen. They play their round of 16 game midweek, back on ESPNU, either against Uruguay or Costa Rica..

Now, for Saturday's game. Twellman started the game on the bench due to jet lag, but he made all the difference in the 2nd half. Stevie must have torn a few strips from the team at halftime, they played like they had a set in the 2nd half that they didn't in the first.

(**) Yes, I know it's Glasgow, Scotland.. but I couldn't resist.. if you ever want to see a Celtic fan pissed, sing em a couple bars of "Where in Ireland is Glasgow". Then I recommend you duck.

All's Well with the World

2007-06-24T18:41:00.000-04:00

Let's see.. a couple weeks ago.. we were panicking.

First it was the tie against RSL where we dominated.

Then it was the game against Columbus where we blew a 3-1 lead.

And things were about the same on the USMNT side. With a new coach, and perennial favorites Mexico looking to chop us down, were we going to lose our stranglehold on the ugliest trophy in the Beautiful game?

Well.. coming into this weekend, Maalox was being chugged by the gallon and Rolaids tablets were being eaten like Tic Tacs..

Then the Revs stepped up and dominated Toronto from whistle to whistle, and the Reds left Gilette for the 2nd straight time without a goal, losing 3-0 as Dorman (2) and Noonan laid a kickin in to our Northern neighbors..

And spurred on by the Greatest Gold Cup Goal EVER, the USA defeated Mexico 2-1 to lift the Gold Cup once more.

By the way, if you didn't see the Benny Feilhaber goal live.. watch it tonight (replay at 11 PM on FSC), or catch it on YouTube or something. it is definitely a must see goal. Complete and utter class.

edit: Thanks to the fine folks at BigSoccer, here's a YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qETrlNYxjyM&NR=1

So.. crisis averted.. at least for now.

20 People Who Rocked The Fort

2007-06-09T09:32:00.000-04:00

20 People Who Rocked The Fort: The Twenty Most Influential People In New England Revolution History

The Blue Blooded Journo blog is pleased to announce a contest to determine the twenty most influential people in New England Revolution franchise history.

Somewhat borrowing the name and spirit of a similar undertaking by Liverpool fans last year, this will be 100% fan determined. The voting will take place by email and the results will be released in a similar fashion as the Top 100 Red Sox Project. In other words, there will be a few articles every week featuring each of the people chosen starting with #20 until the entire list is revealed.

The rules are simple. Send in a list of your top ten followed by a list of up to ten people (in no particular order) who you feel deserve honorable mention. The scoring will be as follows:

1. 35 pts
2. 25 pts
3. 20 pts
4. 15 pts
5. 12 pts
6. 10 pts
7. 8 pts
8. 7 pts
9. 6 pts
10. 5 pts

Honorable Mentions: 1 pts

This will make the order or your top ten list extremely important, so choose wisely.

The list will obviously be player dominated. However, coaches, front office personnel, press/media types, etc... are all fair game if you feel they are responsible for making the franchise what it is today. Voting commences immediately and will end on Sunday, June 24.

All Revolution fans of all shapes, sizes, and experience are invited to participate. Also, if you are just a fan of MLS and feel you have enough of a grasp on Revolution history, by all means cast your vote. Please limit one vote per person.

If you want to add comments to your list, feel free to do so. There's a good chance those comments will be included in their profile if that person made the list.

Send your votes to BlueBloodedJourno@gmail.com

But wait, there's more! The person whose top ten most closely resembles the actual top 10 will receive a free t-shirt of their choosing from the soon to be reopened Blue Blooded Journo supporter t-shirt shop. Tie breakers will be determined by honorable mentions on the list. You don't need to send in your contact info with your list. I'll contact the winner when the results are tabulated.

So get your votes in. This is a great way to honor those who have given us, the fans, so much to cheer (and cry) about over the 11+ years of Revolution soccer.

Commies Won - Freedom Of Expression Nil

2007-06-08T12:52:00.000-04:00

Nobody comes to Blue Blooded Journo for politics, and I mean nobody. In fact, a lot less soccer fans would stop by and a lot more wackos with their high horses on soapboxes would if I ever began spouting off my brand of politico. That's something I do my best to avoid. However, I'm making an exception this time after reading about what occurred at the friendly between RSL and the Chinese national team last night in Salt Lake City.

According to a first hand account on the Fire John Ellinger site, several RSL fans and Tibetan ex-pats were told to put away their ROC (Taiwan) and Tibetan flags. This was followed by someone who appeared to be a PRC political officer demanding the flags be removed and a Tienanmen Square protest banner be taken down. The game was actually stopped in the 60th minute with the Chinese team threatening to walk off the field. One fan was booted from the stadium and several people were asked to relinquish their flags to security even after they stopped waiving them.

I'm usually hard on RSL management, but I can't blame them for not seeing this coming. In my opinion, they were just reacting to a situation in which they were blindsided. If they did nothing, the Chinese team may have walked off the field and it could have created an international incident. However, this does raise some issues in regards to freedom of expression.

In this country, you have the right to speak your mind, but you don't have the right to be heard. In other words, you can't interrupt a funeral of a fallen soldier to yell "I'm happy he's dead" if you are a hippie and you can't walk on stage at a comedy club and preach the Bible just because you feel the audience needs saving. However, you do have the right to non-intrusively voice your political opinions, which is what occurred last night. In China, you absolutely can not speak out against the government. Even if it's in a social setting, voicing your opposition will result in you getting "taken away" by the police.

So why does China get a free pass on the world stage? Besides the normal grievances by Amnesty International, little is said about these basic human rights violations. The reason is that, although it still has an authoritative political regime, China has moved to a strong free market manufacturing-based economy. The world's largest economies rely on cheap goods from their country. In return, China does the right thing and reinvests it's surplus cash in foreign government bonds, thus stabilizing the world's currencies. If they hadn't done this, there would have been crippling inflation in China and erratic fluctuations in world markets. China has also allowed foreign corporations to take up shop in their country and participate in their growth. In other words, China has been a a good economic partner to the world and there is a symbiotic relationship which world leaders don't want to break up.

Politics and soccer are no strangers. Opposing fans will often use such issues to dig into their opponents. Mostly, it's done just to get a reaction and throw them off their game. Supporters, for the most part, do not have political agendas. They just hate their opponents on gameday. The most vivid example of this for American soccer fans would be the 2005 World Cup qualifier in Mexico. Their fans were very vicious with their "9/11" and "Osama" chants. There was enough animosity to fill three dump trucks, but that was all about riling up our players as opposed to advancing a political agenda.

However, there have been rivalries down the years which have had deep political roots. Rangers-Celtic, Barcelona-Real Madrid, and River Plate-Boca Juniors are some of the more famous ones. Opposing fans have had conflicting views on important issues and these rivalries have reached a boiling point resulting in bloodshed. To Americans, this is a foreign concept. The only thing like even remotely close to it in American sports would be the Canadiens-Maple Leafs rivalry a few decades back and that has mellowed out over the years.

Getting back to last night, protests have been an important part of American culture since the 60's. We in this country take pride in the fact we can voice our opinion as a group when we feel it is necessary. We also know the rules and often work within the system to ensure our voices are heard, yet no one will have their own civil liberties violated in the process. What went on last night wasn't large enough in scale to cause a disturbance. RSL has every right to remove anything they feel is offensive. However, a simple flag isn't offensive unless it's a symbol of hate. I guess the Chinese officials were taken aback by the fact they weren't allowed to take those fans into custody, which is surely what would have happened in their homeland. Sorry guys, that's not how we do things here.

Take this opportunity to educate yourself on the history of Taiwan and Tibet, as well as human rights violations in China. The 2008 Olympics are in Beijing and the world will be talking about these things soon enough. Just be sure they aren't trying to pull the wool over our eyes when they do.

Twellman Sets Up Dempsey - They Couldn't Do That Here?

2007-06-08T10:46:00.000-04:00

Last night, the US national team won their Gold Cup opener by defeating Guatemala 1-0. The lone goal came from a Clint Dempsey tap in which was set up by a Taylor Twellman pass:

This begs the question: why couldn't they do that enough here? Dempsey featured as a forward with the Revolution in his fair share of outings with the team. He was mostly used as a midfielder, but saw extensive time at forward in 2004 and 2006 due to injuries. The results were comme se comme sa with the Revs attack usually looking inept. This was especially true last season with Deuce and TnT pairing up top with Pat Noonan spending so much time on the DL.

It's good to see Twellman delivering a nice set up like that. Let's hope that's the start of a trend, not just an aberration.

In other former Revs news, Pepe Cancela scored a goal from the spot in Colorado's 2-1 loss in Houston last night. This game ran opposite the US game and also featured Dwayne DeRosario calling part of the game from a sports bar via his cell phone. DeRo was in Miami with the Canadian national team and couldn't make the game for his club. I hope this shines the spotlight even more on MLS's reluctance to schedule a few weeks break every June to allow for international competitions.

Is There a Cure for the Off Week Blues?

2007-06-07T14:41:00.000-04:00

There's a comforting nature to the MLS season. Just about every weekend, the Revs will be playing someone, somewhere. Sure, there's sometimes midweek games, which are an added bonus, but every weekend, you will find me in the Fort, or in front of the TV, cheering on the Revs.

This weekend, however, the Revs are off. This is undoubtedly a good thing for the Revolution. Between the call ups for the Gold Cup and the recent off-form of the Revs, a week off to recharge the batteries is EXACTLY what the doctor ordered.

But for their fans, there's a huge Revolution-shaped gap in our weekend plans. What the bloody blue blazes are we supposed to do with all this free time? I've put together a list of things that Revs fans can do to pass the time this weekend.

5) Watch Real Madrid versus Zaragosa (3 PM, GolTV. Six Months ago, David Beckham's coach promised that he would never play again for Real Madrid. The chairman basically called Beckham an overpaid fraud and said Beckham only signed with MLS because no REAL team would have him. Excuse me boys, would you guys like ketchup or A1 with your crow? Real Madrid win La Liga if they win their last two games, and it would be the biggest FU ever if Beckham (who has done all the right things lately, both on and off the pitch) leads them to a title before leaving.

4) Follow the Gold Cup (USA games on FSC, rest on Galavision/Telefutura). The North American country championship kicked off yesterday with two games, and the USA will have probably played their first game by the time you read this. The big 3 in CONCACAF (US, Mexico, and Costa Rica), may have just been joined by Canada, who defeated Costa Rica 2-1 yesterday.

3) Yard work and chores (Just kidding)

2) Root for Chivas USA (FSC 8 PM Saturday) Why? Because they're playing Chicago, who snapped a five game losing streak last weekend. Rooting for the Goats feels unnatural, but at least it's MLS on TV.

And the #1 thing to do to cure the Revs Off Week Blues?

1) DRINK HEAVILY. After all, we have five games to get ready for! (Doubleheader Tuesday Night, Tripleheader Saturday Night)

Avery John Banned From Gold Cup

2007-06-07T10:34:00.001-04:00

I was a little surprised when I didn't see Avery John's name on Trinidad and Tobago's Gold Cup roster. It would have been nice to see him play in more international matches after the Soca Warriors' brave display at last year's World Cup. I just figured that their national team program was going to break in some younger players and Avery John's time had past. He is 32 years old, after all.

However, that isn't exactly the case. According to Frank Dell'Apa in today's Boston Globe, several T&T players have been blacklisted because they want the money that had been promised to them from last summer.

After doing some digging, I came across this article in the LA Daily News explaining the situation in greater detail. There are some shenanigans going on down there:

"The dispute stems over a three-tiered agreement between the players and the T&TFF that was signed before the team qualified for the World Cup, according to Townley.

It called for a 50-50 split of the FIFA participation award of $7 million Swiss francs (about $5.5 million in U.S. dollars), a 50-50 split of profits from warm-up matches leading up to the World Cup, and, most lucratively, a 50 percent cut for the players of licensing and endorsement deals the federation would receive.

The T&TFF has told the players it was necessary to deduct expenses and set aside funds for 2010 World Cup qualifying, and they've distributed all that's left - about $5,000 apiece.

A big problem, says Townley, is that nobody's really sure what the players should be getting. He said an adidas press release touted an $11 million agreement with the T&TFF, but the federation produced paperwork showing less than $300,000 income from the deal."

The least surprising part about this ordeal is that veteran soccer bureaucrat Jack Warner is behind this whole mess. Whenever there's a financial scam involving CONCACAF, he's usually there. Whether it's vastly overselling games in his native Trinidad or scalping World Cup tickets which should have gone directly to supporters, Jack Warner has greatly abused his authority while climbing the ladder of soccer's governing bodies. He's currently a vice president with Fifa as well as president of CONCACAF.

It's good for the Revs to have the services of Avery John during the month of June. Although he hasn't seen a lot of action as of late, he should be starting at left back when James Riley moves to central defense in Micheal Parkhurst's absence. However, seeing him miss out on one of his last chances to represent his country in a meaningful competition is quite a shame.

New Home Away From Home

2007-06-06T15:04:00.000-04:00

Boston is a baseball town. We are Revolution fans. The two are generally not in opposition of each other… until we’re trying to find a nice place to grab a pint or two and watch the Revs away games when the Sox are on. This is when being a soccer fan makes you (at best) a second class citizen.

As of this season though, we revolutionaries have found a place where we can go to watch the Revs with like minded comrades. This place is The Swan in Kendal Square, Cambridge. The Swan sits very inconspicuously across from the parking garage of the Kendal Sq. Cinema. Those familiar with the area perhaps might remember it as the spot Kendall Café used to occupy.

After selling the Kendall Café in 2004, having owned the property for 10 years, Michael Tallon watched his former property close. He then decided to buy it back and renovate the space into the more upscale Swan. It seems fair to say that when he was going through the renovation process a soccer pub was not the final goal, but that being said, given the chance, I really would not change a thing about it. Michael also seems not to mind his establishment becoming the adopted home of die hard Revs fans, as he bought a round at the bar for all in attendance at the first game of the season.

Firstly (and most importantly) The Swan has an excellent beer selection with around 20 beers on tap and features a full bar. Drinks are very reasonably priced with the average pint being 4 dollars, but be sure to account for leaving a large tip as you are certain to be impressed by the very attentive, friendly, (and cute) staff. For the discerning beer drinker The Swan serves Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Hoegaarden, and the Boston staple Sam Adams (seasonal brew), amongst others. And for the more frugal beer drinker there are two dollar pints of Pabst Blue Ribbon and bottles of Narragansett, which brings me to my next point…The Swan is conveniently located within walking distance of public transportation. (Kendal Sq. stop on the red line)

For those who build up a hunger while cheering on the Revs, The Swan also has a late night kitchen. The food is definitely a step or two above typical bar food. My personal routine during a game is the basket of onion rings and a pint of Sam Adams to start the game off. There are even patrons who come to The Swan solely for the food, a claim which I doubt many other soccer pubs could make. It often makes for an interesting interaction when a dinner is forced to wade through the sea of blue and beer to make it to the much more subdued dinning area in the back.

The Swan has been so gracious and accommodating over the course of this season that many of the game day regulars, myself included, have started grabbing a pint and some food there even on non game days. This Thursday (6/7) there is a group of us who are planning on watching the US v Guatemala game there, which will mark my and most others first non-Revolution soccer game at The Swan and hopefully another step in the development of a long lasting relationship between Revolution fans and The Swan. See ya there. Viva la Swan!

The Swan
233 Cardinal Medeiros Ave
Cambridge, MA

Revs supporters at The Swan for an afternoon away game last month

RSL Clown Cabal Fined Over Joseph Mention

2007-06-06T12:54:00.000-04:00

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Real Salt Lake was fined $5000 for making these comments about attempting to aquire Shalrie Joseph. They were also fined $20,000 and lost a 2009 pick to FC Dallas for illegally hiring a goalkeeping coach!

Seriously, what the heck is going on in the Real Salt Lake front office? They have a very strong fan base by MLS standards, but how long will they continue to support a substandard team run by incompetents? They appear to be in a rebuilding year, which is very funny considering they were never good in the first place. It's more of a dismantling year. Whoever thought Freddy Adu was ready to put an MLS team on his back and lead them to glory should have their head examined. His presence has only negated their only other creative source on the team, Medhi Ballouchy. Then, they traded away their only true scoring threat in Jeff Cunningham. Dave Ellinger was kicked upstairs, but does that mean he'll still be doing the drafting?

And we only manged a draw to them last Saturday? Dear Lord.

Exciting Changes Coming To Blue Blooded Journo

2007-06-06T11:45:00.000-04:00

Well, exciting to me at least.

If you have noticed, there is a list of contributors where my profile used to be. The Blue Blooded Journo blog is currently in the process of adding contributors in order to better the coverage and commentary of the site. David "SirFozzie" Yellope has already written a pensive piece on the Gillette Stadium field surface situation. He'll be popping in every now and then to offer some of his unique viewpoints. The other new name on the list is Jimmy Chowda. That's actually me. I'll be using that name from now on unless I'm making some sort of site announcement.

A few other contributors will be added shortly. The goal is to make Blue Blooded Journo the place on the web for alternative New England Revolution coverage. We hope to provide more detailed game coverage in the future, articles on the supporter culture, and much more satire than there has been in the past.

I am still looking for more contributors. If you are a Revs fan, or maybe an ex-pat from the area, and you are interested in making regular or irregular contributions to a blog with a growing readership, send me an e-mail. Here's some of the things I would consider welcome additions:

* Statistical analysis (google docs works seemlessly with blogger)

* Previews and/or game reports (more actual coverage than the "impressions" I usually give)

* Rants (angry or comedic)

* Revs historical pieces (past game reports, where are they now, etc...)

* Mediawatch (headline links with comments)

* Supporter culture and issues

* Anything else that would add to the site: power ratings, predictions, player pieces, opposition scouting, etc...

Also, I plan on running a contest or two in the near future. The t-shirt shop will be reopening soon and I've been compiling some obscure Revs facts for a potential trivia contest. I'm also seriously thinking about running a banner design contest. This blog is monetized, and I've been looking for ways to use that money when I get paid for it. (Editor note: artificially generated clicks will result in those accounts being closed. Clicking a link that you are generally interested in will not). I feel one of the best ways to use the money generated at a fan blog is to spend it on something that will add to the atmosphere on gameday.

Again, if you are interested in participating in the fun, give me a holla. For the reader, stand by for bigger and better coverage.

Fantasy Soccer Bootroom - Gold Cup Survival Guide

2007-06-06T09:15:00.000-04:00

Fantasy Soccer Bootroom will be back in full force next week. In the meantime, here's a guide to help you maneuver through the month of June, a month filled will international call ups:

CONCACAF's Gold Cup will be the first major drain on your fantasy roster. Players are already in their respective camps. Right off the bat, if you have any players from Toronto, check the Canadian roster because they have a bunch of them. The US roster has been well talked about, but there are a handful of other MLS players on other teams:

New England: Taylor Twellman, Micheal Parkhurst, Steve Ralston
Chicago: Ivan Guerrero, Justin Mapp
Toronto: Greg Sutton,Chris Pozniak,Marco Reda, Adam Braz
Kansas City: Eddie Johnson
Chivas USA: Brad Guzan, Jonathan Bornstein
Columbus: Frankie Hejduk
Colorado: Roberto Brown, Pablo Mastroeni
LA Galaxy: Landon Donovan, Ante Jazic, Kevin Harmse
Houston: Brian Ching, Ricardo Clark, Dwayne DeRosario
FC Dallas: Carlos Ruiz

CONCACAF GOLD CUP SITE

Although the Gold Cup doesn't end until June 24, some of the US players may have an opportunity to play in their MLS games. The Revs may catch a break on June 16, when they host the Columbus Crew as part of a triple header. If the US wins their group, they will be a part of that triple header and there is a good chance at least one of their players will be available. The same could be said for the Crew's Frankie Hejduk. The other quarterfinal date is the following day in Houston. Unless I missed something, the only other matchday which is shared with MLS is on June 9, when LA and Dallas play at the Home Depot Center.

The other big drain on your fantasy team will be Copa America. The US roster was once thought to be a B team, consisting entirely of MLS players who weren't called up for the Gold Cup. However, it appears that many European-based players have asked to be a part of that team and Bob Bradley is keen to have his captain Landon Donovan there. That is something to keep an eye on as the rosters are due to be submitted shortly.

The U-20 World Cup will also be in the month of June and a few MLS regulars, most notably Freddie Adu and Josie Altidore, will be participating.

So which teams will benefit from this competition? Well, for starters, Red Bull New York will only be losing Josie Altidore to international duty (World Youth Cup) unless Juan Pablo Angel plays for Columbia during Copa America. They also have a lot of games in June and if they continue with their current form, they will surpass New England and Kansas City and be top of the table by month's end. DC United should also be relatively unscathed and could make a run. Look to add players fro those teams during this stretch to survive this tough period.

Fantasy rosters are due in today, because NY is playing in Toronto tonight. So be sure to get your rosters fixed before then.

Gillette Stadium: A Pain in the Grass

2007-06-05T00:54:00.000-04:00

Over the last ten years, the teams occupying Gillette Stadium have tried every trick in the groundskeeping book short of sacrificing a live goat to keep the grass field at Gillette from turning into a sandbox worthy of a Cape Cod beach.(I'm sure if they thought that it would have helped, they would have done that too!). (click title to read more)

So late last year, after trying everything, they did the unthinkable. They tore up the grass field, and put in a blend of Field Turf.

"Unthinkable!" We thundered.

"A Moral Outrage!" We blustered.

"A defacement to the Beautiful Game!" We yelled.

"We'll never host a US game ever again!" We cried.

Some anonymous wag on a Revs forum board (that has absolutely nothing to do with the writer, honest), even changed his signature to read "If you can't smoke it, you shouldn't be playing soccer on it"

But did it matter? Nope. The Pointy Ball coach was tired of not only the horrid field conditions, but the insinuations that it was all a devious plot to give the Pointy Ball team an advantage.

So... fast forward to this season. We watch the revs, and are ready to collectively condemn the team the first time someone so much as gets a rug burn, never mind turf toe...

And it's really not that bad. In fact, It plays true, and with no hidden bounces. It turns out the team plays well on it.

And then, a couple weeks ago, the announcement that for six weeks, the good old grass days would be back.

It seems that the international teams of Bolivia, Ireland, and the various CONCACAF sides that make up the Gold Cup don't want to play on the fake stuff any more than we did when the announcement was made.

"Huzzah!" We yelled

"The good old days have returned" We shouted to the rafters.

The Beautiful Game is Beautiful again! We cried!

Unfortunately, the pain in the grass has returned. The field was already coming up in huge tufts Saturday night, and I lost track at 15 of the number of weird bounces that the ball took off the grass.

And worst yet, the Revs look lost playing on it.

Now, don't get me wrong, this is a highly sub-optimal sitaution. The grass is just laid out over the turf. But still.. if you can't keep grass for six weeks, you can't keep it at all.

So here's to the 16th coming and going, and the return of FieldTurf. (at least, until someone gets injured.)

How To Expand MLS

2007-06-04T19:11:00.000-04:00

Depending on which day it is, MLS commissioner Don Garber will tell you different benchmarks and timetables for expansion, as well as which cities are in the lead. A few weeks back, he said there was no timetable, and threw out a few cities he felt were in the lead.(click title to read more)

"San Jose is at the top of the list," Garber told me. "Then Philadelphia and the Pacific Northwest. The good thing about expansion is there is no deadline."

Fantastic. The fact is, MLS is nearing the end of it's drive to build the league's infrastructure. They say they are stopping at either 16 or 18 teams to "take a breather" for a host of plausible reasons. Besides the grueling political struggles they have grown tired of, rapid expansion isn't wise both financially and from a quality of play standpoint. The problem is, this will leave huge gaps in the footprint MLS has in this country. Soccer United Marketing, the wider-reaching marketing arm of MLS, will also be left out of several key markets. The scramble to win the lottery for the last three spots, which will have everything to do with what the ownership will be and nothing to do with which markets will be best for the growth of soccer in the US, will leave some important markets out in the cold. (click title to read more)

The solution to this would require MLS to take another major step in developing the game in this country. That would be creating a second division. With a second division, it would make it easier to attract investors to MLS. They wouldn't be required to construct expensive stadiums, their expansion fee would be much less than the $15 million Toronto FC paid last year, and they would have the financial stability and marketing power which comes with being a part of MLS. From there, any expansion to the first division would come from existing teams in the second division. They would have to meet tougher stadium requirements, have successful attendance figures and financial results, and then pay another expansion fee for the "economic promotion" to the top flight.

The right time to launch something like this would be when MLS expands to 16 teams and then takes that breather Garber talked about. For the sake of argument, let's say that San Jose, Las Vegas, and Seattle get teams (completely random). MLS would still be out of large markets like Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Atlanta. The league has talked to investor groups in the past about having teams in those cities. Most of those groups need a lot of public assistance to build a suitable MLS stadium. A few USL-1 teams like Charleston and Atlanta have privately funded small soccer stadiums without affluent ownership groups. This would be much easier to accomplish than the prolonged political dances and backroom deals associated with building a 20-25k stadium.

USL

If this were to be successful, at least handful of USL-1 teams (and maybe a USL-2 team like Charlotte) would have to jump ship and become charter members of the new division. USL has a goal to be a competitor of MLS, but that's just not going to happen with SUM's monopoly on top flight soccer. USL could go on to form regional leagues like USL-2, which is based in the east. They do a great job in player development, and can continue to do so with the PDL and semi-pro leagues.

Absorbing those teams would be a little tricky. For those of you hoping for a quick death to MLS's single entity structure, it'll be a long time before that will come to an end. For this to work, the players would have to sign with the league. However, the ownership groups would probably have to remain separate. Current MLS owners probably don't want to absorb any more losses. Also, a prime target for this would be Montreal. They are actually set up as a non profit organization. Their new stadium is being funded partly by grants given to such groups. Jumping into a system set up like MLS would negate their status and could cost them millions. So, something would need to be worked out. In return for joining, those teams would get a disciplined cost structure in exchange for long term security.

USL teams I feel would make the initial switch to MLS: Rochester, Montreal, Atlanta, Charleston, Portland, Vancouver, Puerto Rico, and Carolina.

Relevancy

The key to pulling this off is to prevent the stigma that all it would be is a minor league. I'll go into the semantics of promotion/relegation later, but if that were to ever have a chance of happening, MLS-2 would need to be both economically viable and relevant. There's also the fact that most teams would never earn economic expansion to MLS-1, so there would be good cause to make this division prestigious enough to attract investors.

My idea for this would be quite revolutionary. After the initial one or two seasons (shakedown period), I would begin having the top two teams earning a place in the MLS Cup playoffs. The division would be immediately relevant and would reward the top two teams with a home game against one of the top two teams in MLS-1. It would also create a David and Goliath situation which is always interesting television.

Also, they could start running a league cup during the preseason in warmer weather cities. They could maybe expand that in future years and give the winner a place in Superliga. Throw in the usual rounds of US Open Cup action and all the MLS-2 teams would have some competitive games against the first division clubs and a chance to win some of the biggest trophies in American soccer.

Economic Expansion

So how would economic expansion into MLS-1 work? Well, the clubs would first have to get the approval from the league. Teams would first need to show superior fan support, have control over key revenue streams in their stadiums, and have set up both a reserve team which competes with MLS-1 sides and a youth pyramid structure with the potential to produce home grown players. Then they would need to pay a promotion fee, maybe over a number of years, and then they are in.

The key to this is that MLS-1 would be getting strong ownership groups, not someone with a bag of money unaware of what they are getting into. This kind of expansion would work well in expanding MLS-1 to 18, and then maybe 20 teams.

Second Division Setup

MLS has over a decade of experience keeping afloat a fledgling league, so it knows the tricks of the trade. This will come in handy during the first few years of MLS-2. For instance, there would have to be an unbalanced schedule to save money on travel costs. With a little luck, it could look something like this after a few years:

Philadelphia, Montreal Impact(USL-1), Rochester Raging Rhinos(USL-1), Carolina Railhawks (USL-1), Atlanta Silverbacks (USL-1), Charleston Battery (USL-1), Puerto Rico Islanders (USL-1), Portland Timbers (USL-1), Vancouver Whitecaps (USL-1), Phoenix, Milwaukee, Miami FC (USL-1)

(Assuming the three cities I mentioned earlier were already in MLS-1, I just threw in the USL teams I think would make the initial jump with some strong candidate cities.)

Promotion/Relegation?

If you look around the world, nearly every national league has a ladder system with promotion and relegation. For the most part, this was brought about because the supply of top fight capable clubs exceeded the demand when those leagues were formed over a century ago. It's nearly impossible to set something like that up from scratch here. Believe me, if they were forming the top flight in England today, it would look more like the NFL than the EPL. Financing would be easier and the owners would be assured to rake in gobbs of money without worrying about relegation. Granted, the ladder system is an important part of the footballing culture in those nations, but it was brought about in another time. For American soccer, you just couldn't relegate Red Bull New York to the USL to bring MLS to Puerto Rico. However, there are a few more modern examples of soccer leagues setting up pro/reg.

The best example of how to set up a second division is the way the Japan's J-League did it in 1999. Essentially, there was already a great number of serious amateur and semi-pro clubs in the country. The J-League invited the ones who qualified to form J-2 with immediate promotion and relegation. This allowed some of the smaller market clubs time to build and they are now mainstays in J-1. While this kind of setup would make things very interesting in MLS, I just don't see it happening without a successful second division already established. Even then, teams would still need to economically qualify for top flight status and probably pay a one-time promotion fee.

Other Benefits

Besides providing a breeding ground for future top flight clubs, a second division would benefit American soccer in many other important ways. First off, MLS-2 would be a heck of a lot more visible than USL-1 is right now. First division clubs would have better access to game footage and the scouting network which the league is currently building would be greatly enhanced. MLS-1 teams could loan out some of their younger players to MLS-2 teams and vice versa. There would also be more coaching positions in MLS for prospective managers to prove themselves.

Conclusion

The expansion sweepstakes are tough and could yield some peculiar results. There are just too many prospective markets where MLS could be successful. Why leave up to political circumstance which fans are blessed with teams? A second division would be the answer to enlarge MLS's footprint in the US and Canada. It's the next logical progression in establishing a world class infrastructure, anyway. When the mickey mouse antics of growing the league to 16 teams is finally accomplished, they should give this idea a shot.

Nil To Nil

2007-06-03T08:32:00.000-04:00

Going by last night's box score, it would have appeared the Revs put on a stunning offensive performance the way Manchester United dominated inferior opponents during the past EPL season. You would be led to believe Real Salt Lake's keeper made a plethora of world class saves and the woodwork played an important role in robbing the Revs of all three points.

That wasn't the case.(click title to read more)

Although the Revs were clearly the better team, they didn't produce many (if any) clearcut chances resulting in the team being held scoreless for the first time since the opener. Sure, the Revs outshot RSL 23-8 (13-2 on goal). However, most of those shots had little chance of finding the back of the net. In fact, the shots stat was padded by numerous scuffed balls and even some poor passes. The Revs even played a man up for over ten minutes and couldn't produce a game winner. (click title to read more)

There were some positives from the game. The Revs did dominate the midfield. Salt Lake had no answer for Shalrie Joseph who muscled around his adversaries all night. It was also very satisfying watching Steve Ralston strip the ball away from Freddy Adu on numerous occasions. Micheal Parkhurst had another classy performance anchoring the defense and rookie Bryan Byrne didn't embarrass himself during his first MLS game. In fact, after he was wrongfully given a yellow card 17 seconds into his debut, he drew a red card from Ritchie Kotschau who had just made his RSL debut. I got a chuckle, which is always positive.

The Revolution moved the ball forward much better than last week, but they still seemed rather lethargic at times. Andy Dorman wasn't invisible like in previous weeks, but he clearly suffers from a lack of confidence as he failed to take the ball at the RSL players. He touched the ball off to teammates with decent efficiency, but that took him out of the attack far too often. Andy has the potential to be that spark the team needs, but he's just not playing up to last year's form.

Khano Smith embarrassed 2005 #1 draft pick folly Nick Besagno twice down the left wing which seemed to scar him for life with the way he was defending afterwards. However, Khano's success rate was hovering around the Mendoza line. By success, I mean the plays resulting in an offensive threat or a safe pass back to a teammate versus him getting the ball, stopping, sizing up his defender, and proceeding to look remarkably foolish on way to losing the ball. Twenty percent ain't going to cut it. I also take issue with the fact that the game stands still when he gets the ball. The opposing team has a chance to get back, mark the forwards, compare Mormon law with blue laws, eat a sandwich, and determine what needs to be done to make Gillette feng shui compliant all while Khano is determining if he's going to try and beat Besagno down the sideline to the left or down the sideline to the left (I think he has another move which involves going left down the sideline). The stipulation the FO has put forward for getting a DP has been a player that will attract fans and win us a championship. If I were Steve Nicol, I'd get on the phone with Ryan Giggs's agent and Sir Alex figuring out what would need to be done to get him in New England. I'm guessing $1-2 million, a decent salary, and releasing him for a testimonial in Manchester during August. Get it done. Substitute Giggs for Smith last night and tell me the Revs don't easily win that game by three goals.

This was the second straight scoreless game on the road for RSL, which can be seen as encouraging. However, I have to ask RSL fans where the heck they are going to get goal production from? They traded away Jeff Cunningham who looked dangerous in Toronto's 2-1 win over Colorado. You can't mistake Salt Lake's attack for anything dangerous last night.

The Revs stumble into the bye week with only one point from their first two games of the home stand. What ever happened to the whole "Fortress Gillette" concept? Luckily, they are only one point back of Kansas City who beat a 10-man New York side last night. Things are really heating up in the east. Can New England stay in the kitchen? We'll see.

Other Recaps

ESPN
MLSnet
Soccer New England
New England Soccer News
Revolutionsoccer.net
Fox Sports
The Olympian
AP
RSLFM Report

Beckham Plays Stunningly - Is MLS In Trouble?

2007-06-02T13:41:00.000-04:00

Yesterday marked the return of David Beckham to the England lineup against world powerhouse Brazil. Earning his national team spot by producing a run of good form to finish out his Real Madrid career, Beckham seems to have sealed his place for the important forthcoming Euro qualifiers. (click title to read more)

Should MLS be worried? After all, AEG put up big money to bring him to LA and every other team altered their ticket structure to account for his arrival. Heck, the league even drafted the schedule so everyone could get to see Old Spice. Andrew Hush wrote a brilliant piece sizing up the situation before yesterday's game. The last two lines are foreboding:

It remains to be seen whether 'David Beckham of the Los Angeles Galaxy and England’ is a passing trend or something we have to become used to. After all, if he flops over the next five days in the red, white and blue, LA has nothing to worry about.

Well, it looks like they have something to worry about. As Hush's article points out, LA can refuse to let Beckham play in any friendlies unless they are on Fifa sanctioned dates. So, we here in New England who would like to catch a glimpse of the svelte soccertarian should have no fear. However, the upcoming Euro qualifiers will eat into the Galaxy's home schedule, which is already sparse during Beckham's first season. That has to be a hard pill to swallow for those who bought season tickets expecting to see him regularly. Most hit would be those who have had season tickets, and only endured the outrageous price hikes because the team signed Becks.

There's another scenario that LA has to worry about. If they fail to make the playoffs, Beckham will have 5 1/2 months off from MLS action. That's not a schedule conducive to a footballer getting prepared for the second biggest international competition in the world. He'll probably want a two month loan to an EPL side to stay sharp. That would probably conflict with the Galaxy's Asian trip scheduled during the offseason. The team would lose out on millions. If Beckham was prevented that opportunity, it would lead down a slippery slope leading to a disgruntled Beckham buying out his contract. AEG would recoup it's money, but the embarrassment for MLS would take years to recover from.

Alexi Lalas stated yesterday that a loan was out of the question. Of course, that's just Alexi trying to sound important. The decision won't be up to him. Beckham will choose his destiny. What he chooses is the question.

Landycakes Being Landycakes

2007-06-01T13:40:00.000-04:00

According to this article, Landon Donovan is poised to turn down an invitation to grace the US national team's presence in Copa America later this month. Invitation? Since when did the captain of a team need an invitation? Any player with half a pair just needs his marching orders and he's off to play for his country. (click title to read more)

The reason he wants to stay (according to him) is that he's already going to the Gold Cup and his club team, the LA Galaxy need him. Hey Landon, you're team has needed you during the first six matches this season. They needed more than the five points you have delivered for them.

The real reason he doesn't want to go, besides the lack of testicular fortitude, is that he doesn't want his club team to be usurped from him by David Beckham. Here's a news flash for you: it's already Beck's team and he hasn't even stepped foot on an MLS pitch yet. Get over it.

The only thing that really pisses me off about all this is Landon Donovan is the captain of the US team. Supposedly, coach Bob Bradley will be bringing 10-12 players from the Gold Cup roster. This runs contrary to the belief he would be bringing a completely new B team to the event. In fact, some European based players are also willing to stick around, especially players like Jay DeMerit and Frank Simek, whose clubs were relegated and need to earn a place on the team. A team Landon Donovan has no business captaining. Even our boy Clint Dempsey wants to be on the Copa America team and his Fulham side will need him to stay up next year

If I were Bradley, I'd sit Donovan during the Gold Cup to teach him a lesson.

Revs - RSL Preview

2007-06-01T09:10:00.000-04:00

It's gut check time. This is where we see what kind of mental toughness this New England side has. Coming off a very sloppy 4-3 defeat at the hands of Kansas City, the Revs will look to go into the bye week on a high note against Real Salt Lake. (click title to read more)

On paper, this looks to be an easy victory. The Revs are tied with Red Bull New York with 17 points at the top of the table with New York having a game in hand. Salt Lake is winless and holds the worst record in MLS. However, RSL seems to have battened down the hatches, and will look to do the same in Foxboro on Saturday. They held Chicago scoreless on one of the slowest surfaces in MLS last Sunday and will try to repeat that performance on the slowest surface in MLS. If they can slip in a goal, they can steal all three points.

Real Salt Lake recently traded away their biggest scoring threat, Jeff Cunningham. This should be a relief to the Revs as he carved up the New England defense last summer in a surprise 3-1 away victory played under similar circumstances in regards to the build up. In that one, RSL was on a horrific losing streak and the Revs seemed poised to break out following a return to health of several key starters. What occurred instead was Cunningham ripping New England a new one, continuing a summer of substandard play.

In return, RSL picked up our old friend Alecko Eskandarian. He's still waiting to "get his revenge" on Matt Reis for that collision which gave him a serious concusion. In the past, that has resulted in him franticly rushing shots. Let's hope that continues. I'd be reminisced if I didn't mention Freddy Adu. Lately, he's taken a back seat to other young players such as Josie Altidore. Moving to Utah didn't really help matters. He's not good enough to dominate games, so the thought process behind sending him somewhere that it would be "his team" seems to have been in error. He's never done well against New England (probably due to lack of size). The New England midfield can't let him control the ball, but I don't expect they will.

As for New England, there's a few questions as to which players will get the call. Avery John has been riding the pine as of late. With KC's four goal outburst, it would make sense John would get the start. Daniel Hernandez played 60 minutes in the 3-0 reserve team victory over KC on Sunday. With Jeff Larentowicz's form slipping and Shalrie Joseph's knocks, I wouldn't be surprised to see him make his season debut.

The real question is if Nicol now truly favors Adam Cristman over Pat Noonan up top alongside Taylor Twellman. The Revs attack seemed to come alive when Cristman came into the game in the second half last week. However, Noonan's still a better passer. The problem I have with Noonan is he seems to disappear at times. Cristman lets everyone know he's out there by continually banging bodies. This has helped free up Twellman from time to time. It's a tough decision. If I had a choice, I would start Cristman and sub in Noonan for this one. Noonan will be called upon to play 90 minutes when Twellman's gone playing for the US in the Gold Cup. I would want to keep the injury risk to Noonan at a minimum if I were the gaffer. It'll be muggy on Saturday, so we'll probably be seeing a lot of both of them.

All this is pure speculation. In reality, all those players probably had to earn back their spots this week after last game's debacle.

Projected Lineup

Reis
Heaps
Parkhurst
John
Ralston
Larentowicz
Joseph
Smith
Dorman
Cristman
Twellman

Other Previews

Boston Herald
Revolutionsoccer.net
MLSnet
AYL Soccer
OurSports Central
Fox Soccer
SL Trib (best. abbreviation. ever.)
Cristman Vs Noonan
Brad Feldman (more from revolutionsoccer.net)

Jonathan Kraft On WEEI Log

2007-05-30T13:12:00.000-04:00

I'll be logging the Jonathan Kraft interview on the WEEI Dale and Holly Show as it happens. Here it goes: (click title to read more)

- Jonathan Kraft exchanges shirt complements with Dale and Holley.

- Talks about Patriots Place being a "lifestyle center" which will be a first to the region.

- Patriots Place was the brainchild of Papa Kraft who wants to make Foxboro a "destination". Getting Bass Proshops was huge and will be the anchor. God help us. Didn't we fight the Civil War to banish rednecks from the area forever?

- Asked if the current situation is better than Boston would have been (for the Pats). JK was a little apprehensive because it would have been better from the start. However, this new project would never have happened.

- Not a direct relationship with the project and the sports teams save the medical centers that will be built.

- Now talking about the Pats museum. Can't they save that for tomorrow's interview with Bob Kraft? JK seems really into it if that matters for anything. Don Shula Steakhouse should be there right next to a monument to that blizzard game as suggested by Dale. John Smith kicked the winner in that one. That's soccer related, right?

- Holley asked how the Revs turned around. JK attributes it to Steve Nicol. "He's a real mucker in the mold of the old Bruins". I have to agree. SN would dive in front of a slapshot face first. JK also talked about how Nicol is superb with American players.

- JK likes how they don't have to scour the Earth for players. Dear Lord.

- JK talks about Beckham impact and explained the DP rule. Stressed how they are meant to not only add good players, but they had to add something else off the field. Claudio Reyna? Talks about how AEG owns Beck's image rights.

- Beckham game is almost sold out. I'm thinking that's the 30k number.

- Holley asked about Joseph situation and why the Celtic offers were rebuffed: SJ is too valuable to the team. Hey JK, then freakin pay him!

- Asked if it's better if Beckham coming or big clubs wanting MLS players. JK mentioned that the goal is for MLS to be a power. He mentioned that it's important for the US to compete for a World Cup before the league is taken seriously. He believes MLS is a second tier league. Someone should force him to watch some Argentine or French league games sometime.

- Asked when the normal players will start getting recognized on the streets of Boston. JK mentioned he overheard a lot of Revs talk at a youth tournament which is a huge change from 5-10 years ago.

- TV ratings: MLS is "holding it's own" on cable. Right there with NHL's. Aspiring to approach NBA's level. People want to watch soccer and JK thinks production value will help.

- Thinks MLS will be in 16 cities shortly. Talked about how ESPN2 Thursday night is important branding, especially with the out of market audience. Sort of dissed Direct Kick as unpopular and not many parents buy it for their kids. You think?

- Dale doesn't think Gillette is good for soccer. JK agrees and thinks SSS's add atmosphere. Gives a shot out to the "fan club" in The Fort. JK wants a SSS, and mentions they are working on one.

- JK would be happy to share a SSS with the Breakers (new women's team next year).

- He would also love to get a SSS next to public transportation.

- A number of other towns have approached them. They aren't going public with it because of the Patriots experience. Brian Bilello and the company that built Gillette are leading the charge.

- Krafts were "very close" to doing something with Liverpool a few years ago. The time just wasn't right for it. They are still open to something like that in the future.

- On youth development, he talked a lot about the structural setup for some reason. He mentioned Sunil Gulati and how MLS is absorbing some of the youth setups and JK mentioned the importance of that. A lot of rambling with no specifics.

- Dale asked about hosting the World Cup. JK said the soccer bigwigs are focused at getting it in the US in 2014 or 2018. Brazil may have something to say about that.

- Holley asked about the overhyped 2006 US team and why we should think things will be different. JK pointed out that we tied Italy. Fantastic point. I'm sold.

- Kids that can be great short stops and point guards can become soccer players instead! Good luck with that, man.

That's all for the interview. Not a lot of new information. It's reassuring they are somewhat actively working towards a SSS. Besides that, it was pretty generic.

Audio

Part 1
Part 2

Revs Put Up A Stinker So I Retreated To The Ocean

2007-05-30T12:25:00.000-04:00

I woke up too late on Sunday for a proper review of that atrocity on Saturday night. I visited friends down the Jersey Shore from Sunday until this morning, and I'm glad to be back. Here's some quick thoughts on the happenings over the weekend:
(click title to read more)

* The Revs seemed surprised by the way the ball was sticking to the pitch and were unable to cope.

* KC wanted the game more, plain and simple. There was an obvious lapse after the Revs went up 2-0, and the Wiz made them pay.

* Jay Heaps got owned by Eddie Johnson. James Riley looked lost at times. What the heck was Avery John doing on the bench?

* With Chicago in freefall, it's a three team race in the East. I think the Revs look the weakest leg of the pyramid right now.

* The Revs deserved to lose the last two games. Getting three points out of those matches was fortunate.

* Andy Dorman continues to become less and less a part of the New England attack.

* I'm hoping Stevie Nicol is putting the boot to the team this week. They better destroy Salt Lake.

* At least the reserves won 3-0 on Sunday morning. It also looks like Daniel Hernandez will be back shortly. With Jeff Larentowicz's substandard performance as of late, he may be a welcome addition to the lineup (I can't believe I just typed that).

Fantasy Soccer Bootroom will be back soon. My schedule's been hectic as of late and I've been neglecting it. Check back Monday for the next installment.

Patriot Place News

2007-05-26T11:04:00.000-04:00

With the Foxboro town meeting over and the vote going overwhelmingly in favor of granting the new liquor liscenses, the Pats are beginning to pimp the Patriots Place project on their website and in the media.

For the Krafts, this is a legacy project that all but cements their presence in Foxboro. For Revs fans, this will enhance the gameday experience for fans. Hopefully, there will be an appropriate pub in the complex to house those who want to continue the postgame tailgate longer than the town police usually allow.

As discussed in this blog's stadium series, if this project succeeds, especially when it comes to gameday crowds, the only site for a Revs SSS will be in Foxboro. Some disagree with that assessment, notably RevsNet's Brian O'Connell who believes this means the team will never get a SSS under the ownership of Kraft. I think his points are a little shortsighted. It's not an either/or situation and they'll be looking to expand the number of the events there at some point. A second venue will be the way to do just that. It may not be next year, but somewhere in the 5-10 range after they know the economic benefits the project has.

Success of this project is a slam dunk. I known this because they have already nailed down a Christmas Tree Shop as a tenant. For those not in the know, they offer Walmart prices without all the fat shoppers proudly displaying their ankle fat. In fact, if you are into women in their fifties (who isn't?), you can pull some trim while you buy oven mitts at a 60% discount.

Revs - Kansas City Preview

2007-05-25T09:57:00.000-04:00

A real battle awaits the Revs at Gillette Stadium tomorrow as the Kansas City Wizards come to town. New England needs to win to regain their 3-game lead over Red Bull New York, while KC will be looking to bounce back after drawing to Colorado. Kansas City seems to be rejuvenated since hiring Curt Onalfo as head coach over the offseason. The Wizards represented the Western Conference in MLS Cup 2004, but have failed to make the playoffs the last two years since moving to the East. They are playing some exciting soccer, too bad nobody's watching.
(click title to read more)

Eddie Johnson's resurgence has grabbed most of the headlines, but the addition of rookie midfielder Micheal Harrington has just as much to do with it. The former UNC player has added a much needed spark down the wing. Another addition who should feature Saturday is Carlos Marinelli. The much traveled former Middlesbrough player brings the distribution and touch of class that was desperately needed in the KC midfield. That was before he strained his hamstring in Toronto a few weeks ago. Marineeli should be back in the starting lineup as he played 37 minutes in the Wizard's 1-1 tie with Colorado.

KC comes into the game a bit banged up, especially in the back line. Jimmy Conrad will be missing the game due to a hamstring strain. Conrad also injured his jaw a few weeks back. I like Conrad, but if you continually go head first into 50-50 balls instead of using your arms to keep separation like your adversary is doing, you're going to get your jaw broke from time to time. Essentially, what makes him a good defender, also makes him reckless at times. Scott Sealy is also listed as out. This is good news for the Revs who already had enough offensive firepower to worry about. Midfielder Jose Burciaga is questionable with a shoulder strain (Parkhurst thinks he's a wuss) and our favorite kung fu artist, Nick Garcia, is probable with an abdominal strain. That's good news for Andy Dorman. The next time Garcia chops him in the throat to prevent a goal scoring opportunity, it won't have as much impact.

For the Revs, Shalrie Joseph is listed as questionable with a knee contusion. The word earlier in the week was he'd be good to go. It's also rumored that Daniel Hernandez would be ready. However, with the team's current depth at defensive midfielder, it wouldn't be prudent to rush him back. Wells Thompson has been listed as questionable with a broken wrist. Although I'd normally consider a footballer to be a wimp for missing a game with that kind of injury, he should probably be rested with Stevie Ralston likely to miss games in June due to the Gold Cup.

If New England is to be successful, they are going to have to win the battles on the wings. KC has exploited teams out wide and this has to be neutralized. Also, Shalrie Joseph and Jeff Larentowicz need to disrupt Marinelli. If the Revs can achieve those two things, Eddie Johnson will be left on an island up top.

The Revs have a real opportunity to take it to Kansas City's defense in this one. Although it's not wise to mess with a good thing (if the last game can even be considered "good"), I would hope Pat Noonan gets the start next to Taylor Twellman up top. Adam Cristman has been solid, but college rookies tend to burn out early and it may be a good idea to give him some rest. Granted, there's a bye week after the next one, but Cristman will need to play the full 90 minutes in a few of the upcoming games and will need to kept fresh. Starting Noonan would also bring the short passing in the box between him and Twellman that will likely produce goals in this kind of game.

The thing that worries me here is the Revs didn't play well last week and still won. While that was great last week, it doesn't provide much of a catalyst to improve upon going into this one. There's also natural grass installed at Gillette for the Gold Cup. It's an unproven surface, which could create a wildcard element. If the grass isn't properly settled, it will get a bit torn up during the Ireland-Bolivia game that will take place immediately before the Revs game.

Probable Revs Lineup:

Reis
Heaps
Parkhurst
Riley
Ralston
Larentowicz
Joseph
Smith
Dorman
Noonan
Twellman

Other Previews:

Boston Globe
Revolutionsoccer.net
Fox Soccer
MLSnet
Our Sports Central
Monsters & Critics
Covers.com
Down The Byline (KC Blog)

Three Revs Make Gold Cup Roster

2007-05-24T12:03:00.000-04:00

US National coach Bob Bradley announced his 23-man Gold Cup roster today. Taylor Twellman, Steve Ralston, and Micheal Parkhurst were all on it. The roster is considered his "A team" with the USSF firmly behind winning the championship of CONCACAF over Copa America which will be played shortly afterwards (more on that later). (click title to read more)

No surprise with Twellman. He's been on form to start the season with six goals in eight games. His body of work, which should have earned him a World Cup spot, is second to none in regards to MLS forwards over the past five years.

Parkhurst is a slight surprise and may have a lot to do with Jimmy Conrad's current injury woes. It would be nice to see him line up next to Oguchi Onyewu in central defense. Parky will provide the coverage while Gooch provides the muscle. He will have some competition from Simek and Demerit. However, play time is over and Bradley has been instructed to win the tournament. Players won't get special treatment because they are based in Europe and won't be going to Copa America.

Steve Ralston may be the biggest surprise. He's surely earned the spot with his current MLS form. However, he won't be in the USMNT picture much longer. This just goes to show how much emphasis the US is putting on this cometition.

No word yet if there will be any overlap with the Copa America roster, which won't feature any players from Europe. Reis and Noonan may be sure a sure bet for that team, and it would be a tremendous hit to the Revs if they lost the other three for another two weeks.

So, does the US Soccer Federation have it's priorities in the right place? Winning the Gold Cup earns the US a birth for the next Confederations Cup in 2009. The logic being, that is where they would face the best roster that teams like Brazil and Italy would throw at them. The consensus is that many teams won't be sending their best to this year's competition. It's played at the absolute wrong time for those players based in Europe who need a month off before the ten month grind starts up again. Many of the South American federations are resigned to that fact and haven't invited their best.

Just don't tell that to Lionel Messi and Robinho, who seem desperate to play in it. Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico (who always try to win whatever competition they are in) will all be fielding rosters which will likely have an easy time with the US B team. Our A team would actually have an outside chance at winning Copa America, which would be a lot more impressive than beating Cuba and Canada in our own stadiums.

They are also passing up the opportunity to seriously compete in a meaningful competition in a hostile environment. This year, it is in Venezuela. Not only will they be chanting "Osama" and throwing rocks at our bus, they'll be sniffing the air while shouting "Satan was here yesterday! I smell Sulfur". There's a similar environment that the US competes in every four years and always seem to lose: Mexico City's Azteca Stadium. Am I the only one who thinks it would be a heck of an experience to seriously prepare for, and be successful in that type of environment?

I don't place all the blame on the USSF, though. The scheduling for Copa America stinks (not as bad as W's sulfur undies apparently). They are missing an absolute golden opportunity to set up a competition opposite the European Championship every four years. Just imagine if they invited a certain amount of CONCACAF teams who in turn made this year's Gold Cup the basis for qualification? Both tournaments would then take a quantum leap in importance. That's something they both need, but sadly, it's something we will never see.

In the meantime, it'll be nice to see which newcomers will succeed when called apon and which will crash and burn. We're likely see Byrne get some time at RM, and we'll probably find out who Nicol rates as the fourth best forward on the team. Gary Flood will see some time, especially if Avery John gets called up to the Trinidad and Tobago team. I'd also like to see if Ryan Solle has what it takes yet.

Time will tell. Until then, congrats to Twellman, Ralston, and Parkhurst. You've earned it.

RSL Wants To "Take A Run" At Joseph

2007-05-23T17:22:00.000-04:00

Real Salt Lake, unsatisfied with being one of the worst teams in MLS, traded their only proven goalscorer today for a flash in the pan crybaby. Congratulations RSL, you're #13 and you've earned it. The aim of Salt Lake's deal was to free up salary cap by sending Jeff Cunningham to Toronto in exchange for Alecko Eskandarian, their first round pick next season, and cash. It's a clear sign that they are looking into the distant future on this one. (click title to read more)

Or maybe not. This quote at the end of the article threw me for a bit of a loop:

A high-ranking RSL official said, "Parting with Jeff [Cunningham] was hard but we are in a much better position now to improve our team. If you think of the cap room we've created not only from this deal, but also from Jason's [Kreis] retirement and [Luis] Tejada's departure, we've got the cash to possibly make a run at Shalrie Joseph or another player looking for the right change of venue."

Now, I could be wrong here, but that comment is all sorts of wrong. First off, as discussed here, Shalrie Joseph is under contract with the Revs until the end of the 2008 season. If this were Europe, it would be a clear instance of tampering if a club official made a statement like that. The setup is completely different in MLS, where all contracts are owned by the league. The survival of the league up until now has been dependent on a system where individual teams haven't had to bid for players. Some may say this has held MLS back, but this business plan has been vital in keeping the league afloat by keeping costs down. Some of the owners and league officials swear by it, and I highly doubt they feel the league can stand to let the floodgates open with so many unknowns about the economic impact of the designated player rule, youth setups, etc...

I'm a bit surprised this "high ranking team official" was so liberal with throwing Shalrie's name out like that. Joseph's situation has indeed been the most public, but two other MLS stars, who may be on the downside of their careers, are also unhappy with the lack of new contract offers: DC's Christian Gomez and Houston's Dwayne De Rosario. He may have been thinking about the other two, but one thing I know: not mentioning someone has no effect on their contract negotiations. That's where this will wind up hurting the Revs. Ron Waxman, Joseph's agent, can use comments like that to their advantage. The main negotiator on behalf of the Krafts is Sunil Gulati, who just so happen to be on the league's audit committee (among 12 other positions of varying degrees of importance). Sunil also has to think about the league's finances when making these deals. Real Salt Lake doesn't have an employee embedded at MLS HQ quite like Gulati. Although this situation is a sore spot with me, the fact remains comments like that one are not in the league's best interests. It would be interesting if anything becomes of this.

So what would it take for Real Salt Lake to wrestle control from us? Well, it would require a trade. What's funny about the whole thing is it probably would require giving up cap space which would make it hard to give Joseph the raise he deserves. All that aside, I would imagine one of their first round picks in 2008 would be involved, and probably the better of the two. RSL will be at or close to the bottom and Toronto, although better off coming out of that trade, will at worst be a 6th or 7th pick. That has to be enticing for Steve Nicol, who has had success bringing along American talent. Imagine if it was a straight-up trade for their two first round picks? That would almost be worth it from our end if Daniel Hernandez comes back strong from his nagging groin injury.

Another scenario could develop from all of this. The Revs could nail down a designated player this summer. Needing cap space, they could make a trade with RSL sending Joseph there in exchange for one draft pick. I would expect the return from such a trade would be lower if New England had to make it in short order like that.

If not, teams are going to have to be prepared to give the Revs a ton in return for Joseph. He's quite possibly the most important player on the team. He's under contract for awhile and is going nowhere unless it makes the Revs stronger in the process.

Revs Fill Out Roster, Sign Helton

2007-05-21T15:50:00.001-04:00

The Revs signed Kyle Helton on Saturday, their sixth and final pick of the 2007. Helton is a speedy defender, and will be reunited with former Duke teammate Chris Loftus on the developmental roster. Given his draft position, he elected to finish out his degree at Duke before giving MLS a try. Helton will most likely play right back on the reserves and will join a large crop of promising youngsters being groomed to step in when some of the aging Revolution players begin to fade.

Although some may think this closes the door on the Revs landing a designated player during the summer, Helton's arrival has no effect on that possibility. A DP would have to go on the 18-man senior roster, which is already full. The team would have to waive a player, most likely Marshall Leonard or Daniel Hernandez, to make room.

Speaking of Hernandez, rumor has it his groin is finally healed and may see action as soon as this week. It would be nice to see him eased into the lineup in a similar fashion to how Pat Noonan has been used. We don't want Joseph or Larentowicz burning out.

Revs Squeak By Houston 1-0

2007-05-19T22:36:00.000-04:00

In a game reminiscent of last year's Eastern Conference final, the New England Revolution scored early and then hung, hung, hung on for a 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo tonight. Shalrie Joseph scored the lone goal before the Revs fell back into their version of the Maginot Line. Although our defense proved just as porous as that bit of French engineering, the outcome was different as the good guys repelled wave after wave of second half assaults from our orange adversaries. (click title to read more)

My immediate reaction is that we can't keep doing this. Then again, maybe we can. The way I see it, there will be at least another ten games this season where we will go into halftime with the lead. We have become so accustomed to this tactic, we have to be getting good at it, right? If we can only drop 6-8 points in those games, and have a few come from behind victories, we'll be close to the top of the table all year. How's that for a positive spin? Truth is, our form was piss poor tonight.

Khano Smith may have been ready to keel over and die from exhaustion towards the end, but he sure did play a lackadaisical game. Most of his passes seemed wasteful and without purpose. Andy Dorman had a bad game and came off for rookie Wells Thompson who looked even worse. Shalrie Joseph didn't exert himself much in the midfield, and came out around the hour mark. I hope he's not injured. Joey Franchino held himself admirably in his place. Riley continued to look shaky in the back and Adam Cristman disappeared in the second half. This is the type of game Taylor Twellman was ineffective in last year, and tonight was no different. Did I miss anyone?

Oh yeah, Micheal Parkhurst had a standout performance at central defense and Matt Reis played maybe his best game of the season between the sticks. Both were co-MVP's in my book. Without that duo, Houston would have probably won 3-1.

The only great thing the team can take away from this is they played poorly, yet still won. They have proven to be explosive at times, and are going into a very long homestand. Even with the national team callups, they should fare well over the next few months. A poor performance sometimes translates into hard, effective training sessions. Let's hope that is the case as the Revs get ready to host Kansas City next week. There should be a good crowd with Ireland playing beforehand, so let's hope the home team puts on a good show.

Other Recaps:

Boston Herald
Boston Globe
revolutionsoccer.net
Houston Chronical
ESPN Soccernet
Monsters & Critics
MLSnet

Finishing Up On Local Announcers: DC United

2007-05-19T17:47:00.000-04:00

After an emotional roller coaster of a day, I sat down to watch the Toronto-DC United match. This gave me an opportunity for some closure on my MLS local announcer critique I had done earlier. DC won the game 2-1, but they had to come back to do it. It also took reverting back to a 3-5-2 in the second half, something that one would figure was obvious given the success teams had with it against the expansion side vice lining up in a 4-4-2 and slugging it out. Anyway, here's my very unfairly biased critique of DC's announce team: (click title to read more)

First off, let me say I was emotionally drained going into this, so I had no tolerance for the typical trappings I despise about American soccer commentary. I had watched my favorite insignificant Football League side, Blackpool, win to go on to Wembley and possibly get promoted to the Championship. Why Blackpool? Well, that's the home of legendary wrestler and elasticface, Sir William Regal, that's why. I also played them extensively in Fifa '05. Their new digs look nice after moving out of "Generic Lower League 3". That's where the game told me they played, anyhow. Then, Manchester United lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup during extra time. Even though I favor United, I called that one perfectly in an e-mail read out on World Soccer Daily on Friday. What made it so painful was watching the game play out exactly as I had called it: boring play, few chances, Drogba with an extra time winner. Then, the good Lord made it up to me as the Red Sox demolished the Braves with Daisuke Matsusaka cruising to his sixth victory. Has any team worked pitchers like the current Sox lineup? Then again, one bad game in October and they're the 2001 Mariners. Needless to say, I was a little wiped heading into this one.

DC United

Announcers: Dave Johnson, Thomas Rongen

Dave Johnson is the "IT'S IN THE NET!!!" guy. To his credit, he made that call when Toronto scored. Rongen's a decent analysis, but his timing deteriorated as the game went on. So did Johnson's. When the game got heated, Rongen quizzed Johnson: "What does DC United stand for?". Johnson responded" "pride and, uh, passion?". Very weird moment which also caused some bile to rush up my esophagus. Their crew gets low grades for showing a montage of Moreno penalty kicks before he tied the all-time goals record. Granted, you would have to go back a few seasons to see him score a nice goal from the run of play in MLS, but he did have a nice one in the CCC. Show that one. All in all, they are a decent team by MLS standards. I just wasn't up for 90 minutes of standard MLS announcing this afternoon.

Calling the game: 7, Homerism: 8 (mostly for that stupid exchange)

Rank: 5

So the final tally looks like this:

1. Toronto FC
2. Chicago Fire
3. New England Revolution
4. Houston Dynamo
5. DC United
6. Kansas City
7. Red Bull New York
8. Chivas USA
9. FC Dallas
10. Real Salt Lake
11. Colorado Rapids
12. LA Galaxy
13. Columbus Crew

As the Revs game inches closer, I'm getting a little nervous. We're really going to find out if the team is for real, or just another middle of the pack team that just happened to go on a run to start the year. We'll find out in about two hours time.

Message To Houston

2007-05-19T10:07:00.000-04:00

Nothing new to add to yesterday's preview. In the meantime, here's a little message to Houston.

That was made at mushygushy.com.

Revs @ Houston Preview

2007-05-18T08:15:00.000-04:00

Nearly nine years ago, as soon as I stepped onboard my warship, my new coworkers made it clear to me the evilness of the number 71. Most of the people I served with over the next five years didn't take as positive an outlook as I did. Much of their angst was directed towards the ship, whose hull number was CVN-71. I chalked it up to silly superstition, but I did notice the number 71 popping up in a lot of places. However, that's mostly because it's a relatively high prime number. I also realized the Nostradamus prophecy of "floating city 71" sinking at the start of the millennium was a silly rumor spread through gullability after I heard the same thing repeated by people from other aircraft carriers, with their hull number replaced with ours. Needless to say, I thought those people just needed an object to focus their discontent. Our number just so happened to be 71.(click title to read more)

That all changed with MLS Cup last November. Taylor Twellman's extra time goal seemed to end the team's championship drought. That sense of euphoria was ended 71 seconds later as Brian Ching haded in a deflected cross to tie the game up and send it on to penalties, the Revs eventually losing. A few days later, I sent out an e-mail to some of my former shipmates (I can call them "shipmate" now and not worry about being taped up and thrown in a laundry bag). The overwhelming response I got was "now you see!". As I type this, the Red Sox are having maybe their best season ever. What's their magic number? Yup, it's 71. I fear the worst.

The Revs come into this game on quite a roll. Since they lost the opener (while they were undermanned), the team has only dropped four points in six games. This trip to Houston will be their last road game for over a month. Three points would be nice, but any amount of points would be a victory in this one. Houston lost to Toronto midweek, where they were run ragged. However, they had an extended layoff before that game and will be fit.

For New England to take away points, they have to contain Houston's strikers. Brian Ching is one of the best target forwards in the league. They have also recently picked up Joseph Ngwenya from Columbus who appeared out of sync with his new club against Toronto. Hopefully, the two day break isn't enough time to resolve that situation. Houston has one of the strongest midfields, where this game will probably be won. If Joseph can exert his dominance, the Revs should be in good shape. If Dwayne De Rosario can control much of the action, New England's in for a long night.

I'm curious to see who gets the start up top next to Twellman. Adam Cristman has allowed Pat Noonan ample time to heal, and scored his first ever goal last week. Noonan may keep his role off the bench until the Revs return home. This may be the last game US coach Bob Bradley will evaluate before he decides on his Gold Cup roster. Guys like Micheal Parkhurst and Matt Reis are on the bubble and can't afford a bad game (although Reis wouldn't be called in to be a backup). Twellman may be a lock for that team, so resting Noonan to ensure he's 100% for Taylor's upcoming absence may not be a terrible idea.

MLS teams usually have a letdown after an exciting performance, but the Revs can gain some distance from their competitors with a win. A win would give them 17 points, which is 71 in reverse. That's good luck, right?

Projected Revs lineup:

Reis
Heaps
Parkhurst
Riley
Ralston
Larentowicz
Joseph
Smith
Dorman
Twellman
Cristman

Other previews:

Game Guide
Revolutionsoccer.net
Boston Globe
Boston Herald
Royal Gazette
MLSnet

Rating MLS Local Announcers

2007-05-17T12:24:00.000-04:00

I watched the Toronto-Houston match last night on MLSnet which used the Houston telecast feed. It was the first game called by the Houston announcers I've caught in quite some time, and I think I've heard all the local announce teams this season so I've decided to rank them.

The criteria will be how well they call the game being played on the field, how much they gear their announcing towards the home side, and a completely subjective ranking by me. The final rank takes a lot more into account than the first two categories. And yes, I'm a biased Revolution supporter. (click title to see rankings)

So in no particular order:

Houston Dynamo

Announcers: Charlie Palillo, Glen Davis

Decent broadcast last night. Glen Davis, who hosts one of the best soccer radio shows in the country, provides color commentary that is very relevant to the play on the field. He can also break down plays in a concise manner. What I didn't like was the length of the advertising plugs Palillo was forced to read. God bless his soul, he tried to find good opportunities to squeeze them in, but if it takes 30 seconds to read them, the game will change from he starts to when he finishes. There was one such plug where he spoke over one or two legitimate scoring opportunities.

Calling the game: 7, Homerism: 5, Rank: 4

Kansas City

Announcers: Sean Wheelock, Brian Roberts

I was surprised when I heard how long Sean Wheelock has been at the announcing game. I first heard of him a few years ago through Fox Sports World (now Fox Soccer Channel). As it turns out, he's been calling Wizard games for quite some time. Of all the local announcers, he's the hands down leader in putting the game first. He calls the game in a similar fashion you would find on an EPL broadcast. The problem is that his voice is rather annoying and the gravity he exudes doesn't typically match the vibe emanating from the stands.

Calling the game: 10, Homerism: 1, Rank: 5

Columbus Crew

Announcers: Dwight Burgess, Dante Washington

Along with Brian Roberts and Robin Fraser, it's nice to see a former African-American player getting a broadcast gig without the media whores at MLS HQ embarrassing themselves with parallels to Jackie Robinson. That's about the only thing positive I can say about the Crew broadcast team. The game I watched was a home match against DC. They talked over the game, and what they were saying wasn't at all interesting or relevant.

Calling the game: 3, Homerism: 8, Rank: 12

Salt Lake City

Announcer: Bill Riley, Robin Fraser

Fraser doesn't fill the telecast wish superfluous banter, which is good. It's standard issue stuff from a FSN braodcast and pretty low key. Not a lot to hate, but not a lot to love.

Calling the game: 6, Homerism: 5, Rank: 9

Chicago Fire

Announcers: Kenn Tomasch, Kenny Stern

I remember catching a game of theirs a few years ago and was completely turned off by the homerism. They have changed their act in a big way. Both of the games I've watched them call were against the Revs. There was only a hint of bias and nearly equal time was spent on both teams.

Calling the game: 8, Homerism: 2, Rank: 2

LA Galaxy

Announcers: Jim Watson, Mark Rogandino

Rogandino's getting his chops in at FSC announcing lead-in's to EPL matches. I wish some of those announcers rubbed off on him. The broadcast talked over last Saturday's game and was riddled with inaccuracies. LA beat the Revs in the 2005 MLS Cup final. I really don't think the announcers knew that with the way they threw around superfluous stats.

Calling the game: 3, Homerism: 6, Rank: 11

Colorado Rapids

Typical FSN stuff. Something that really bothered me was the number of advertising plugs and graphics on the screen about other Colorado sports teams.

Calling the game: 5, Homerism: 6, Rank: 10

Red Bull New York

Announcers: JP Dellacamera, Shep Messing

I've already shared my thought on Messing here. The thing that makes this broadcast stand out is the team's voice quality. You can tell they are pros who have been at the announcing game for some time. I still think a lot of Messing's comments would be better served in the studio, but the broadcast is one of the better ones in MLS.

Calling the game: 6, Homerism: 7, Rank: 6

New England Revolution

Announcers: Brad Feldman, Greg Lalas

Make no mistake, Brad Feldman is our Homer. He's also quite a talented announcer who my not be limited to calling Revs games in the future. Greg Lalas does what some of the other color guys should do and that's keep his partner's home team bias in check. They make a great team. It's almost too good because the little inside jokes the two pals have spills into the telecast at times.

Calling the game: 8, Homerism: 8, Rank: 3

Chivas USA

Announcers: Christian Miles, Bernardo Osuna

It's tough playing the latino angle on the English broadcast. Chrisopher Sullivan is busy with the FSC game of the week, so that was an experience drain this season. Christian Miles is an odd choice given his inability to distinguish between Latvia and Lithuania on entire WC qualifier broadcasts. However, they do give the game proper respect. There's also something about Osuna's style that I love. He's in and out quickly with his comments, which is rare in MLS.

Calling the game: 7, Homerism: 7, Rank: 7

FC Dallas

Announcers: Brad Sham, Dave Dir

Dave Dir is a wealth of knowledge. It's a decent broadcast, but sometimes Brad Sham doesn't seem like he's all that into the game. The "Dave's Dir-ections" feature does make me chuckle whenever I hear it, though.

Calling The Game: 6, Homerism: 6, Rank: 8

Toronto FC

Announcers: Nigel Reed, Craig Forrest

The English play by play guy brings a touch of class to the broadcast. For awhile, I've thought that American announcers should call games like the do in England. I still do. However, this team makes me think that it may be the manner in which Englishmen approach speaking is better suited to calling soccer than the way Americans approach verbal communications. The Cannuck color guy is a bit of a homer, but overall it's probably the best in MLS.

Calling the game: 9, Homerism: 5, Rank: 1

DC United

Whoops! I haven't actually caught any of their telecasts this season. When I was stationed in Viginia, I caught them all the time on Comcast and loved the run of poor form they were experiencing. I also really enjoyed Thomas Rongen's color commentary when he was on. However, it wouldn't be fair to rank them here.

Rank: n/a

Final Rankings:

1. Toronto FC
2. Chicago Fire
3. New England Revolution
4. Houston Dynamo
5. Kansas City
6. Red Bull New York
7. Chivas USA
8. FC Dallas
9. Real Salt Lake
10. Colorado Rapids
11. LA Galaxy
12. Columbus Crew

Not ranked: DC United

Scouting Our Next Opponent

2007-05-16T14:33:00.000-04:00

Wicked slow news day in Revoland. The only soccer news even remotely related to our players is Bob Bradley's promotion from interim to full time US coach. No big surprise, and I'm not in the ranting mood. There's plenty of that here.

If you want to scout our next opponent as they take on Toronto, and don't subscibe to Direct Kick or MLSnet's service, you might be able to pick up the CBC feed here. It worked for the game last week, so it may be worth a try. If it's dead, look on BigSoccer and maybe one will show up.

I'm really interested in seeing how much Brian Ching plays tonight. He was used sparingly in New York because of the fieldturf. Toronto's rug is in better shape than the one at Giant Stadium, but it'll be interesting to see Houston's starting XI.

Taylor Twellman was MLS player of the week, but I'm not the biggest fanboy when it comes to that award.

Steve Ralston was on In The Net yesterday and so was Glen Davis. There's a link to the mp3 in the right sidebar. It was a good episode and I recommend checking it out.

Does New England's Success Add Up?

2007-05-15T09:46:00.000-04:00

Roughly a fifth the way through the MLS season, the New England Revolution sit atop the MLS table for the first time. This makes me giddy. Granted, the teams sitting just below, Kansas City and New York, have a game in hand. Given the team's stellar run of results since the opener, it's tough to argue the case the team is not in MLS's elite. The team hasn't gotten off to this good of a start since 2005, the only year in the team's existence anyone could make the claim the Revs were "great". It's tough not to get elated with the Revs winning three out of four, with a tie on the road to a desperate team mixed in. However, this raises the question whether a team in MLS, a single entity league designed for parity, can even be considered great. (click title to read more)

The vibe going into the 2005 and 2007 seasons were very similar for the Revs. Both teams hadn't made any proven additions. Both teams didn't make any proven additions. Pre-season predictions often had both teams in the middle of the pack because nothing left gave the pundits any reason to be high on them. Both teams needed at least one rookie to become a full-time starter. In 2005, our defense looked very weak going in, but Micheal Parkhurst exceeded everyone's expectations and has been one of the best central defenders right out of the gate. This year, the Revs needed a competent strike partner for Taylor Twellman while Pat Noonan healed, and have got it from fourth round draft choice Adam Cristman.

Relying on players from the draft is risky. Just look at the picks from 2006. Not many are left, and Willie Sims is at best the team's fourth best striker. However, the Revolution have built their team almost entirely through the draft. This would give credence to the theory that Steve Nicol and Paul Mainer have an eye for talent, that they have made the required additions through the draft to make New England a superior MLS side. This would be the easy way to look at it:

(Revolution) - (Dempsey) + (Thompson + Cristman) = small point loss

If this is true, so is this:

(Real Salt Lake) + (Freddy Adu) + (Chris Seitz) = playoff team

This approach treats players like they are commodities who's value relies on where they play and who they play with. It doesn't take into account that players, especially young ones, are developing all the time. How much they progress depends heavily on good coaching. That is where the Revs have had an edge. They have a very good coaching staff that has taken a multi-year approach towards it's players.

Let's revisit those math equations. We'll give Nicol's staff a variable of 1.2 because their coaching helps the team, and Real Salt Lake's staff a 0.8 because John Ellinger was a twat and Jason Kreis is unproven. We'll also say that the original equations gave New England a schedule length adjusted 42 points and Salt Lake 40 points to make the playoffs (many preseason predictions went that way):

1.2[(Revolution) - (Dempsey) + (Thompson + Cristman)] = 50 points

Now, look at the change for RSL:

0.8[(Real Salt Lake) + (Freddy Adu) + (Chris Seitz)] = 32 points

That wouldn't be a bad prediction at this stage of the season, huh?

Although far from scientific, the coaching variable needs to be part of the equation. It's far more mathematically sound than the simple commodity method most people use in their preseason analysis. It's also better than the standard "we need time to gel" line that is often spouted off when a team gets off to a bad start. While often true, who do you think is responsible for getting the players to gel? That's right, the coach.

So the coaching is largely responsible for continual improvement of our home team despite no real proven acquisitions. However, there's one other major factor to take into account, and that's the quality of the league.

Going back to 2005, many of the teams were going backwards. There were also two expansion sides that had dreadful first seasons. It's hard to argue that DC, New York, Columbus, Chicago, and Kansas City started the 2005 season in better shape than their 2004 counterparts. In fact, many of those teams made offseason trades that destroyed their chemistry. The Revs finished 2004 strong, and built on the success of their young nucleus. You could say that Noonan, Twellman, and Dempsey all made the jump from "promising young talent" to legitimate allstars that year. The way the league is set up for parity, all it takes is a slight rise in quality coinciding with other teams taking a step back to propel you to the top. That's what I attribute the team's remarkable rise in form during the first half of 2005 to.

However, success in a league where everyone is somewhat equal makes you a target. From the summer of 2005 all the way through the start of the 2006 season, teams stepped it up when playing the Revs. They figured out that you could stack the box and play the counterattack with success. Just ask DC United about this. They had one of the best starts ever in 2006, but their record has been mediocre ever since.

So that brings us back to this season. Just how good is this team? Several years of playing together has yielded a cohesive unit. A few rookies have stepped up to contribute. Khano Smith entered the season on time without a broken leg and has solidified his starting position. Taylor Twellman is happy and has scored six goals in seven games. These are some of the reasons that make the Revs better than last year. However, the league is also much better, especially compared to 2005. Given that, the improvements the team have made aren't enough to consider them "great".

Looking forward, the Revs do have the most promising group of youngsters in their short history. With the coaching strengths I mentioned above, that will reap dividends in seasons to come. The current first team is in the upper echelon, but it's tough to say they are tops in MLS. We'll just have to wait and see.

Fantasy Soccer Bootroom - Week 6

2007-05-14T09:05:00.000-04:00

The results in Major League Soccer this week were a dream from a New England Revolution standpoint. However, that didn't prevent my fantasy side from looking foolish. Chowda United may have produced an OK 18 points and held respectively in the top ten of the RevsMFLS division, but some of my logic turned out to be incorrect and could have cost me much more than it did. (click title to enter the bootroom) (click title to enter the bootroom)

As you can see, losses by Chicago, New York, and (to a lesser extent) Kansas City squelched any hope of a big week. In fact, it took a big night from Taylor Twellman in LA from making it my first single digit tally. The biggest hit I took was with Chicago's loss to Toronto. I banked heavily on that game, and lost out big time. The Fire weren't ready for the game, and it showed. New York appeared to be nothing without Claudio Reyna. His fantasy stats leave a lot to be desired, but he distributes the ball as well as anyone who has ever player in MLS. I'll need to keep an eye on his injury status.

Looking ahead to this week, I'm definitely sticking with Perkins in goal. Chicago will make the necessary adjustments. The real question is whether or not those adjustments will keep Kenny Cooper off the scoring sheet. Chad Barrett will be dropped from my starting XI, but I have Emilio and Brian Ching waiting in the wings.

In fact, forward may be my biggest dilemma. I'm actually seriously pondering sitting Taylor Twellman, whose been the top point getter the last two weeks. Success breads attention, after all. Brian Ching is a lock up top with two matches, one against Toronto. No, I haven't abandoned the "beat on the canucks" philosophy. They won't have the rested legs on Wednesday to repeat their effort last Saturday. The caveat to this is Brian Ching did not start in New York because of the fieldturf. I have to wonder if the same will be repeated in Toronto? That's something I'll need to know in two day's time. Emilio may not even be a first choice starter anymore. He came on in the 66th minute of their only win of the season a week ago. Granted, he played the full 90 against the Revs on Thursday. If Twellman does get the start, it will most likely be in favor of Kenny Cooper, who will be on the road in Chicago.

At midfield, Andy Dorman is all but assured to reenter the lineup, especially if I sit Twellman. I may not want to rely too heavily on the Revs for another road win, so I'm probably not going with the two players at the same time. Landon Donovan should continue his dominance over Chivas, so he's a lock. I'll also be keeping Justin Mapp, because I have a hunch about Chicago bouncing back on Thursday night. Dane Richards will be going back into mothballs, so that leaves one spot open. Ironically, Kyle Beckerman and Davy Arnaud will be squaring off this week. I haven't decided who I'm going with yet. Right now, it's Beckerman because his team is at home and I already have Michel Harrington on my team. The game will test KC's ability to bounce back and Colorado's capacity to handle success. Right now, it's a toss up.

I'll be swapping Wade Barrett for Alex Yi in the back for similar reasons I'm going with Brian Ching. Harrington's a keeper because he's actually an offensive-minded midfielder. Seth Stammler will also be staying due to him being a midfielder (albeit a defensive one) and Arena's "defense by ball control" system.

One thing's for certain, I do need some big weeks if I'm to close the gap with PSC United at the top of the table. Their reliance on New York players should have cost them huge. However, they racked up 23 points and gained distance from most teams. Seeing that the top overall tally in MFLS was 36 points, that amount was very respectable.

As for RevsMLS Cup, I managed to beat my opponent, Plantsville Saints 18-10. That win assures my place in the next stage, so I won't need to worry about gearing my lineup towards that competition for another few weeks. The win also brought a smile to my face as my opponent didn't field any Revolution players, which is a little worrisome in a division comprising of fans of the team with the most points in the league. My next opponent is Puddlemere United, who seems to be a bit more loyal than the last one.

My team seems to be doing fairly well in my first serious attempt at fantasy soccer. However, I do need a new angle if I am going to get ahead. I'm keeping an eye on how well the new foreign players are doing with their respective clubs. The lesser knowns of that group may become good value pickups in the future. Players I'm specifically looking at are:

Carlos Marinelli: Injured right now, but should rack up assists with KC.
Guillermo Schelotto: A tad expensive, but looks a class above most MLS players.
Maykel Galindo: Not exactly foreign, but new on the scene and could be a good bench forward at his price.
Pascal Bedrossian: When all things are settled after Blanco arrives, he could be a starter and a playmaker.

That's it for this week. I hope the next round of games goes better than the last. No teams are off this week, but get those squads fixed by Wednesday ahead of the game in Toronto. Peace.

George Best's Son's Agent Thinks We're Shite

2007-05-13T10:07:00.000-04:00

Here's an interesting little doozy I came across in the Daily Star: Calum Best, son of the late, great footballer George Best, thinks he can give MLS a go! I had to stop typing in my name on the online Paris Hilton amnesty petition to read the story, and I'm glad I did.

(click title to read more)
For those not in the know (like myself until I googled his name ten minutes ago), Calum Best is a fashion model known for his antics in the British tabloids. He's more famous for who he's dated and for being a self-publicizing whore than for actually being talented at something. He's like the male version of Lindsey Lohan. Not surprisingly, he's dating Ms. Lohan as we speak. It would be the perfect storm of celebrity idiocy if a decent portion of America knew of his father, much less his privileged ass.

The story about him coming to MLS is nonsense to us, of course. It's hardly worth noting. It's a widely held belief among outsiders, especially the British, that our brand of soccer is crap. There's is better, I'll give them that. I'm a big fan of one and a fifth of their five national club systems (SPL's nothing after the Old Firm). Seeing how much money is being thrown at Beckham reaffirms their superiority complex. Think about it, if a Korean baseball team signed Barry Bonds for A Rod money, what would we think? Korean baseball sucks, that's what we'd think. We already knew that, but it would be in the front of our minds after the deal.

This quote from his agent did interest me:

“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. It’s certainly an option for him.”
The ambitious Red Bulls might be a goal too far for Calum.

They have just signed former Aston Villa striker Juan Pablo Angel on a £800,000 a year contract and also boast US national team hero Claudio Reyna.
But the struggling New England Revolution could snap him up. A source there said: “If he’s a tenth as good as his old man he’ll go straight into the team."

I'm not nearly as insulted as you might think. In fact, I'm rather flattered and encouraged. The agent had to think of an eastern team off the top of his head, and New England Revolution came to mind. I attribute that to Steve Nicol's name popping up in any American transfer gossip. Granted, it's due to the fact the "reporters" are just being lazy and throw in the name of the only manager they know of. However, by hook or by crook, the Revs are getting their name out across the pond. I'll chalk that up as progress.

Besides, his agent is probably wired into the fashion world and knows of our struggles in that area. The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that's what he meant.

Here's the part that frightens me:

“It’s going to be an interesting time and he’s pencilled in for trials at both clubs."

God, I hope that's not true. Sure, we'll give anyone a trial. However, I don't want to see him penciled in as anything to do with the Revs save "Slyde the Fox celebrity host body".

Then again, wouldn't Calum Best and Stevie Nicol make a great Dennis the Menace-Mr. Wilson duo in a reality show? Just as long as they throw in a talent contest with three judges. That angle hasn't been overused yet.

Revs Beat LA Galaxy 3-2, Move To Top Of MLS

2007-05-13T00:37:00.000-04:00

The Revs haven't played a game like that in quite awhile. Sure, last week's scoreline was 3-1, but both teams deserved a slap on the wrist for their performance. The game that just finished at the Home Depot Center in LA had what most Revolution games have lacked since 2005: pace. There were glimpses of that quick-passing possession team of old, as well as Adam Cristman really exerting himself physically on an opponent for the first time. The Revs defense did look weak when LA countered, but for the most part, it was their best performance of the season. (click title to read article)

LA took a 1-0 lead into halftime with a well-placed Kyle Martino volley in the 14th minute. It was one of two chances the Galaxy had on net in the first half. However, the other, which was also on the counter attack, came about by Landon Donovan simply outplaying James Riley on the right side of the goal mouth. Luckily, Landycakes flubbed the shot wide.

The Revs did have their chances in the opening period. Most notably, Adam Cristman somehow missed a sitter resulting from a miss-timed cross to Twellman. On another occasion, Cristman beat his mark through shear man-strength and had a clear chance on net only to have his shot deflected out by a diving Ty Harden.

Luckily for New England, LA didn't come out for the second half quite as motivated as the boys in blue. Adam Cristman scored his first career MLS goal when he boxed out his defender to turn on a Steve Ralston flick-on header. The assist puts Stevie at #2 on the all-time MLS assists list, just one behind Carlos Valderrama. Oh, and did I mention he set the all-time games played record for MLS regular season games played tonight, also? Way to go Stevie!

New England didn't wait too long afterwards to take the lead. In the 52nd minute, Taylor Twellman headed a Jay Heaps feed off the crossbar and then finished off the rebound by heading the ball in the net. The Revs dominated the action for the next ten minutes, before falling into their all to familiar "protect the one goal lead shell". LA evened up the score sheet with a Tyrone Marshall short post header off of a corner kick.

The Revolution response was quick. Pat Noonan, who was substituted in for Cristman ten minutes earlier, fed Taylor Twellman a perfect pass in front of net where his fellow Missouri native finished for the winner. That was the way the game ended as the Revs moved to the top of the MLS table with 14 points.

It's hard to find a lot to fault after a fine, energetic showing on the road, but I'll give it a whack. James Riley looked shaky in the back, even before his nemesis, Nate Jaqua, came on. LA seemed to find a way to create space on his side all night. I thought Jeff Larentowicz was invisible for most of the night, and the pace of the game may have been too quick for him at times.

That's about all the negatives, though. Khano Smith worked Chris Albright hard on the left side and you could see the effect that had on him. Smith may have not won every battle, but he was a positive factor. He also made a few moves beating defenders to his right. The scouting report on him will have to be updated, as overplaying his left foot may not be a successful tactic in the future.

The rest of the team looked sharp, especially when passing to create space. That may have been a hit against LA's lack of a presence in the midfield, but the Revs just haven't looked that good in so long.

Lastly, Micheal Parkhurst may have been the key to victory. His marking and positioning squelched many the Galaxy attack before it could start, and I can't say too many good things about his timely tackling.

Next up is Houston in a rematch of MLS Cup. Win that one, and they'll look like world beaters heading home to Foxboro in two weeks time.

Other Recaps

New England Revolution Official Site
MLSnet
ESPN Soccernet
Boston Globe

What The Bloody Hell's A Widget?

2007-05-12T09:01:00.000-04:00

I say it's a theoretical manufacturing good used in an economics class scenario. They say it's a name for buttons, sliders, menu bars, title bars, and all the other paraphernalia that windows can have or contain, hence short for "windows gadget". Confused? Don't worry, I am too. What I do know is that widgets have the potential to reduce the dependency we have on internet browsers to get to the information we typically seek. Although this technology is relatively new (at least for point and clickers such as myself), there's already a handful of widgets useful for soccer fans out there. Here's a review of some of them available to dullard consumers like myself, as well as a few I have created myself. (click title to read more)

Applications

First and foremost, I'll explain how I discovered widgets in the first place. It all started when I opened up a Google account and began customizing my Google homepage (now called iGoogle). I started out with a few RSS feeds from messasgeboards and from blogs I read (RSS feeds will show the X most recent headlines or post titles and link to them). I found those to be particularly useful. However, I also discovered more advanced applications such as clocks, calenders, and even games to place on my homepage. Those are all essentially widgets. It may be worth pointing out that, like most streamlined applications, widgets were first introduced on Macs.

Most people, even those who write blogs, don't know how to use code. Places like iGoogle and Yahoo make it possible to easily install and then drag and drop widgets right where you want them. Once installed, these applications make the internet experience much easier, especially for the casual user.

Where To Get Widgets

I already mentioned iGoogle and Yahoo, which have an easy to use interface to find and install them. I also started using Widgetbox to both download and publish widgets. That single table I had been maintaining by manually installing the code to my blog has been turned into a widget thanks to Widgetbox. What makes this service nice, besides the fact it's free, is that it makes installing to the popular services such as myspace, yahoo, and blogger idiot proof. As long as you have a site where you can install code on, it's really easy to add widgets from Widgetbox. There's also a "blidget" feature which easily converts blogs to widgets. If you re interested, you can subscribe to this blog's widget here.

Yahoo also has a popular service. I plan on experimenting with the program soon to see if I can improve on that MLS Table widget. Although, it appears that their widgets can only be installed on the Yahoo Widget program.

(If anyone knows of any other good widget hosting services or creation programs, please leave a comment and I'll amend this section)

Soccer Widgets

Here's some widgets that may interest the soccer fan out there:

Soccer Scores: just what it says, very concise module, yet extensive coverage
Soccer Shoes: blog rating soccer shoes, very unique
Maradona England Fixtures Widget: I think it displays England's fixtures, but what interests me is the graphic
SoccerXScores: another score display (Yahoo only)
SoccerStats: another Yahoo widget. This one's quite extensive.
Unreal Soccer: cute soccer game widget

Ideas

There are a few neat widgets covering other sports that I would like to see for MLS. If I could figure out a way to easily set up and maintain a stat tracker widget, like this one, I'd do so. The problem with the way I'm currently maintaining the MLS Table widget is I manually set the table up in Dreamweaver, and then post the code to Widgetbox. I can't see myself doing that for any number of stat trackers. If I can find a better program, I may just go for it.

Something that I would love to do is design a widget to count down Stevie Ralston's bids for most games played and all-time assists record. That would be very easy to do and it'd be tough to mess up the stats because there's only two to keep track of.

Revs @ LA Galaxy Preview

2007-05-10T21:36:00.000-04:00

Saturday will be the first trip for the Revs to the Home Depot Center since the opener last season. That one was a fairly drab affair with the Revolution coming out the better in a 1-0 affair. However, Steve Nicol's boys won't have Clint Dempsey to tip the scales this year as they take on Landycakes and some other superfluous players going through the motions until Beckham arrives in a few months. (click title to read more)

Due to the wonders of marketing-based scheduling, LA will have only played one MLS regular season matchup between their second game (April 12) and their fourth game (May 12). They did play, and beat, New York in the US Open Cup on Wednesday. If you're one of the 30,000 or so people in the country who care about it, they won 3-1 while down a man with all four goals scored in extra time. Some of the Galaxy starters saw a good amount of action, but not enough to have an effect on their output on Saturday.

Speaking of rest, Shalrie Joseph is fresh off his one game suspension and Andy Dorman was substituted out early in the second half during Sunday's game so both key midfielders will be ready to go. What is anything from a sure bet is the health of Pat Noonan, who missed Sunday's game after starting the game in DC last Thursday. Noonan is a first choice starter for the Revs, but with Adam Cristman providing a different (more physical) look up top, it'll be interesting to see who lines up in the first eleven Saturday night.

Another good question is who the gaffer now favors at left back, a position the team is suddenly almost too deep at. With Micheal Parkhurst returning and bumping James Riley from central defense, it is unclear if Avery John is favored over Riley. John won the spot after returning from the World Cup and through Riley's injury problems early last summer. When Riley returned, his form was off from the spring and he lost the starting role for the rest of the year. Riley has been playing very well in Parkhurst's stead. He has also allowed John to have reduced minutes in the last three games, and it'll be interesting to see who lines up at 10:30 EDT tomorrow night. Joey Franchino is another option at left back after returning from his leave of absence. Although, he is more likely to supplement the midfield, possibly giving Larentowicz some time off.

LA has been known to play an up-tempo game, especially at home. For this reason, I suspect the Revs will look to play defensively and then try to exploit them on the counter attack. However, if they allow players like Landon Donovan to dictate the game, they'll come away with a loss. It is very important for Joseph and Larentowicz to impose their physical presence early on. Donovan has been known to cower and disappear when faced with a tough battle. Give him space, though, and the Revs are in for a long night.

Another matchup problem for the back line to worry about is Nate Jaqua. He was pish for the Fire at times in his career, but he's done well against New England at times due to their size differential, especially with Riley. Jaqua hasn't found his groove with LA yet, and here's hoping it takes him a bit longer.

Other Previews:

Revolution Preview
MLSnet Preview
Fox Soccer
LA Soccer News

Probable Revs Lineup

Reis, Heaps, Parkhurst, John, Ralston, Larentowicz, Joseph, Smith, Dorman, Twellman, Noonan

MLS To Vegas? Hells Yes!

2007-05-10T09:54:00.000-04:00

It was bound to happen. One of the unfortunate byproducts of David Beckham coming to the league is the amount of would-be investors, who know little about the game, popping up. In the past, MLS has taken the high road, claiming that expansion teams would only be awarded to ownership groups with a good business model and a plan to build an appropriate stadium.

However, that was before they had a lot of serious investors knocking on their door. Does the league office, made up almost exclusively of non-soccer guys, believe it's own hype? They already plan on charging much more for an expansion fee than the $10 million Toronto paid last year. Do they think that they are the reason the league is beginning to take off and all they need is some seed money from a handful of quick expansion fees to make soccer a major sport in the US? I hope not. There are many pitfalls in that approach, and I hope the bigwigs have the ability to turn down tens of millions of dollars to avoid the same trappings which doomed the NASL to failure.
(click title to read more)

However, my usual reaction didn't apply when I read this story. In short, they plan on building a retractable roof stadium somewhere near the Las Vegas strip, in conjunction with a casino, which would house a Las Vegas MLS franchise. I have no problem with this.

Other American sports don't want any part of Las Vegas. Gambling isn't accepted as a part of mainstream American culture. The owners in the other leagues won't let their colleague anywhere near the gambling, including owning horse tracks where you can't even bet on team sports. I'm not sure if this would be a problem given the single-entity nature of MLS's business model with our very own Bob Kraft, who also owns the Patriots. I doubt it, because he'd be separated from the operation of any casino built into a Las Vegas stadium. He may benefit from it's success, but not directly.

MLS commissioner Don Garber has no problem with Vegas, though. He seems all for the plan. The spokesman seems to be former US international Paul Caligiuri and Alan Rothenberg & son seem to be backing this effort. MLS would be the only professional sports team of note in a city that has been been adding permanent residents by the truckload as of late. It has the potential to represent the city well, if done right.

Besides, if you could only make one away trip a year, would it be to Las Vegas or Columbus? I thought so.

The league needs to careful when choosing expansion cities. If not, they will have rapid expansion, followed by huge losses when Beckham's star fades. They keep saying they will take a break from expanding at 16 teams. Besides the financial aspects, this is also a good idea because the US player pool just can't support a top flight league that has 32 teams, like the NFL has. I may go into this further in the future, but they should really think about building a second division in the next decade and then slowly economically promoting two provenly successful teams at a time. MLS needs to get a larger footprint in this country, but not at the expense of the league's financials or the quality of play.

In the meantime, they really need to get this deal done in Las Vegas. Dealer, I would like change for my tax return, please.

Revolution Stadium Prospect Part 4 - Foxboro Superproject

2007-05-09T10:49:00.001-04:00

What do you do if you are Bob Kraft and have just constructed a $300 million entertainment/retail/commercial development next to Gillette Stadium which is dependent on big events? Build a multi-purpose venue that can host a lot more big events, that's what. Incorporate a retractable pitch for the Revolution in a modestly-sized dome and you now have a stadium which could host a wide range of events, some of which this region has never seen. (click title to read more)

Seem too "pie in the sky"? Possibly. It would take a good amount of risk and public funds to pull something like this off. There would also be some political hurdles to overcome. However, there is the potential for substantial economic reward for both the stadium owners and the region. This part will be separated in two. The first segment will deal with the various kinds of events the stadium could host and the effect it would have on other event venues in the area. The second will deal with the engineering problems and some ideas on how to solve them.

Overview

Last December, an attempt to squeeze a cigarette tax through the Ohio legislature during a lame duck session was defeated. If it had passed, the money generated would have been used to build a $180 million retractable roof, retractable field stadium which would have housed a Cleveland MLS expansion team. 100% of that money would have been used for stadium construction as the Wolfstein Group had investors lined up to privately buy the land and build a mixed-use development.

While the deal failed, it did offer a ballpark figure on what a stadium like that would cost (although probably a conservative estimate). It also showed that someone actually figured out how to make a stadium like that work for a cold weather city like Cleveland. As I will discuss later on, there are a few other such stadiums around the world.

For the sake of discussion, assume a stadium with a roof (possibly retractable) and a retractable natural grass field which would hold around 20,000 people for MLS games and up to 40,000 for large events. I'll be getting into the engineering specifics in he next segment, but this wouldn't have to be a mini version of University of Phoenix Stadium. There were actually a few predecessors to the Cardinal's new home around the world in climates very similar to ours.

The one that stands out to me is the Sapporo Dome in Japan. They actually hold both baseball and soccer games in a region that once hosted the winter olympics. They've proven a grass field can be maintained for soccer (the baseball field is artificial) and the engineering obstacles they overcame were far more difficult than what the Krafts would face.

So, it's not impossible to maintain something like that here. Let's talk about what it would mean to the region.

Events

The events such a venue can host range from trade shows to pro wrestling, conventions to concerts. However, let's first talk about the sport of the facility's primary tenant: soccer. Besides Revs games, this would be the only appropriate place to host US National Team games during the winter for literally thousands of miles. Although a fresh surface would probably have to be brought in for games during the dead of winter, the chance to host the Brazilian, Argentinian, or Mexican team once a year would be enough incentive to bring in a pitch for a little over $100k and schedule one or two more friendlies around it. It would also be an ideal place for MLS teams in the northeast to play early CONCACAF Champions Cup games or Copa Libertadores group stage games if the league ever gets invited.

The major target for this facility, and probably the biggest bargaining chip to get something like this done, is the NCAA basketball final four. It has been estimated that the final four has a $40 million economic impact on the region which hosts it. New England has never hosted the Final Four, and never will as long as the Boston Garden is New England's largest basketball facility. This could also be a regular host of the regionals, which has roughly a $10-15 million impact.

Another great idea that would be unique to the region is hosting a college bowl game each year. The capacity could be around 25-30k for such a game, which is a little low for a bowl game. However, seeing the nearest bowl game is in Detroit, that may not be a problem. If they could line up the 2nd or 3rd choice Big East team and the 5th or 6th choice ACC team, they would have a good chance to get a local team or a team who's fans travel well like West Virginia, Georgia Tech, or Virginia Tech.

The Krafts are getting into the convention/trade show hosting business and this would drastically expand their ability to hold a much wider range of events. What they have over Boston and Providence is they can host conventions the week leading up to Patriot games and the attendees who stay in on-site and nearby hotels don't have to worry about transportation to the game. This would raise some political issues in regards to stealing business from those two cities, so the economic benefits of other events would have to be used as a bargaining chip.

The other events it could hold regularly are: year-round concerts (20-40k), NCAA women's final four and hockey frozen four, various NCAA basketball conference tournaments, Massachusetts high school finals for soccer, football, basketball and wrestling, pro wrestling, and rodeo/bull riding. The latter would fit in nicely with the annual country music festival at Gillette held the weekend of the NASCAR race in New Hampshire. On top of those, two other unique and lucrative events this could host are WWE Wrestlemania and the ACC conference tournament.

Political Factors and Funding

As I mentioned, Providence and Boston wouldn't be too thrilled about Foxboro cutting into their convention business. Providence can't really do anything about that. However, Boston could stand in the way in getting state funding, something that would probably be needed. Arrangements would need to be worked out on the state level. An exclusivity agreement with the Boston Convention Center and providing a sweetheart deal to host high school sporting events and community functions could be good enough to satisfy all sides.

With concerts, the Tweeter Center is just a few miles away and wouldn't like their concert business undermined. They could work a deal out to only host large concerts in Foxboro during Great Woods season (preferably at Gillette) and then host concerts in the dome to their heart's content during the colder months.

There's also issues with the town of Foxborough (I do indeed know that's the correct spelling) not wanting to give up it's bedroom town lifestyle. There's a very interesting website for their bargaining angles in the Patriots Place project negotiations. The town seems willing to change, but there's some problems they need to overcome. One of the biggest issues is the town will stand to lose a good portion of their state education money with the rise in property value from the new project. Yeah, they're almost sure to get far more in return from tax collection, but nothing is guaranteed. Even if the money collected equaled the lost aid, change costs money regardless and they would lose out.

The Town of Foxborough police get supplemented with state troopers for Patriot games, but that is only 8-10 times a year. It would be tough to justify doing that 20-30 times a year. One of the solutions mentioned by the town police is establishing a private security force for the man mall. That force could be expanded to patrol more of Gillette Stadium and this project to free up the real police to do their jobs. That could also be cheaper for the Krafts in the long run.

Something that is favorable to this is a lot of the civil engineering improvements are being accomplished for the Patriots Place project, so it wouldn't take a great deal more for another stadium.

As for funding, some state aid would probably be required. At least some of the parking lot would need to be displaced, so either more land would be needed or a parking garage would needed to be built. I'm estimating the absolute lowball figure would be $180 million depending mostly on the type of roof. History shows that most of the funding would be private. However, a project like this would need to involve all levels of Massachussetts government in some way.

Another possibility is that a venue like this may be enough to tip the scales in favor of regular commuter rail access to Foxboro. Access by train to large indoor concerts during the winter could only help the Boston and Providence convention business, not hurt it. The man mall would take a little bit of retail business away from those cities, but there's still drastically more places to shop and dine in those two locations.

That's most of the abstracts involved in this stadium idea. Check back soon as I go into the engineering involved in such a project.

Franchino's Quiet Return

2007-05-08T08:43:00.000-04:00

Joey Franchino's second half substitution for Avery John may have been the spark the team needed to obtain their 3-1 victory over the Chicago on Sunday. It allowed Micheal Parkhurst to move back from an unfamiliar holding midfield role to his favored position of central defense. It also provided the physical deterrent needed to free up Jeff Larentowicz who began creating attacking opportunities. That performance, combined with the brief runout against DC last Thursday, solidified the rather anticlimactic return of the former Revolution captain from his mysterious five week "leave of absence for personal reasons". (click title to read more)

So where has he been? Well, the appropriate question should be why hasn't anyone in the press made a serious effort to find out? There's a very good answer for that. There's also a reason why a blogger like myself, who's relatively free to speculate all he wants and spread rumors and half-truths around the blogosphere, hasn't tackled this issue until now.

You read about them all the time. College basketball players stealing laptops, MLB players fathering children in various cities, NFL players making it rain money in a gentleman's club and then bouncing a stripper's head off of the stage, European footballers getting really bad mullets. The press seems to have a fascination with some of the unfortunate things athletes do in their private lives. The reason for this is simple: it sells newspapers. Reporters can make names for themselves or solidify their reputation by breaking such a story. So why didn't the press dig deep enough into the Franchino situation to find out the specifics?

As much as we like to praise the growth of MLS, it is still not anywhere near important on the national landscape. I recall an Eric Wynalda interview on the Jim Rome Show from 2005 where the host asked if there would ever come a time when he would pick up the sports page and MLS was featured on a regular basis. Wynalda, to his credit, said he wasn't sure if that would ever be the case. He then went into some of the negative byproducts of professional athletes automatically achieving celebrity status and how MLS could develop a niche in the short term to benefit as an alternative.

Like it or not, Joey Franchino isn't a celebrity. No media outlet would make any kind of money from uncovering the truth behind his absence. They are better served getting the inside scoop of the songs on Big Papi's iPod than delving into the private lives of MLS players. Not a qualified celebrity, Franchino has the benefit of keeping his private life private if he has the opportunity and chooses to, within reason. To the team's credit, they have stood by their player and kept the reasons quiet. The press has asked about it periodically, but coach Steve Nicol has been tight-lipped and the front office has issued a statement saying they wouldn't comment on the situation.

Writing a New England Revolution blog, you would figure I would be all over this issue. There was the original article which gave a few clues, a mention in MLS Underground that mentioned he was in rehab in a matter of fact kind of way (When I inquired, a "source" gave them the info. The wording has since been changed.), and several second hand rumors on messageboards mentioning very personal issues.

Besides the fact that tabloid issues don't get me that excited, the main reason I haven't been fanning the fading embers of this story is I don't wish to speculate on this issue, and then be wrong. I've seen my fair share of rumors float around in my personal and professional life. They usually get legs when there's a scenario that is logical and people, for one reason or another, want to believe it. I have seen a handful of those rumors seriously backfire on those gleefully spreading them when they turned out to be false.

Several fans around the league don't like the aggressive way in which Franchino plays. Some of those people loved hearing bad things were happening in his personal life and he was taking a leave of absence. Something that did surprise me was the amount of people who were despicable enough to start rumors and the amount of people who were gullible enough to take those rumors as fact. It's a good thing the number of diehards on the BigSoccer boards are limited to the triple digits and these antics don't spread to the household of joe america yet. Again, this is one of the few positive aspects of MLS failing to live up to the expectations the founders had when it kicked off in 1996.

So where does that leave the Revs in regards to this issue? Joey has done surprisingly well coming off the bench. He will prove vital for the team when the inevitable injury occurs seeing he can competently play at least five positions on the field. His ability to be an effective leader behind the scenes is most likely seriously diminished. However, he can be a leader on the field which will be important throughout the season.

Odds are, we will eventually find out the truth. Having this information released on his own terms is a luxury few professional athletes possess. Most MLS players hold the status of role model only when they choose to based on their own involvement in the community. They aren't celebrities who have that status thrusted on them based on who they are. The trade-off is they are allowed a certain amount of privacy in these situations so they can go about their lives like normal people.

We American soccer fans suffer from an inferiority complex at times. Take solace in the fact that we can afford to behave like humans in these issues. Fans of other "major" sports certainly can't make that claim.

Fantasy Soccer Bootroom - Week 5

2007-05-07T10:18:00.000-04:00

It was a push for most teams in my fantasy soccer division. Besides the superb week by table toppers Narragansett FC and PSC United, most teams struggled to get over the 20 point mark. The same was true for the rest of MFLS, seeing how Chowda United is still in the top 50 after a modest 21 point tally. (click title to read more)

Of the two Revs in my lineup, only Andy Dorman's goal on Thursday was a boon. In fact, Dorman was sitting on the bench for the two second half goals yesterday. It's good he's not getting overworked, but that doesn't help my fantasy team. 20/20 hindsight dictates Jeff Larentowicz should have been in my lineup. However, staring at a hungry DC team and a rough Chicago team, I would have chosen to sit him 10 times out of 10. I defy anyone to show me any predictions of a goal and an assist going into yesterday's game. Common sense foretold twenty fouls and two cards on the week for Jeff.

DC's Emilio is actually becoming quite the liability. He chalked up another yellow card this week and only came off the bench in time for his team to allow a goal to Chivas USA. Matt Pickens had a rough time in Foxboro yesterday, but his team will give him better support in the future.

Dane Richards made my lineup for the first time this year and didn't disappoint. I also benefited from Houston's route of Colorado.

Looking ahead to this week, both DC United and Houston are off. That puts a few holes in my lineup. In my continuing attempt to gang up on Toronto, I'm thinking about starting Chad Barrett. I'm also thinking about transferring Davy Arnaud and reacquiring Justin Mapp now that he appears to be healthy again. That would be more of a contrarian move than anything else. KC is hot just like Chivas was before week 4. Single entity has a way in working those things out and Dallas could beat KC away this week seeing how they are well rested for a change. Both of those moves will depend on injury information. Barrett appeared to have cramped up yesterday, but it could be something worse.

Landon Donovan will be playing again, and I may sit Andy Dorman. That has more to do with the unpredictability of playing a team that had so much time off than a negative evaluation of Dorman's performance.

Red Bull New York has been getting the job done and will play yet another game against a team coming off of markedly less rest. I'm almost certain to keep the two RBNY starters I had this week. That won't prevent me from dropping Beckerman, though. He's sure to grab at least one assist at home to Salt Lake on Thursday or in New York on Sunday.

In the RevMFLS Cup front, I cruised to another victory this week. I have my first challenging opponent this week in Plantsville Saints. I'm almost certain to make the next round, so it's way too early to be gearing my lineup to counter my opponent's tendencies. I'll save that for the knockout rounds. If I did take that approach, I'd play more Revs and hope for a win. I'm far from desperate so I don't need to worry about such things yet.

That's all for this week. See you next Monday.

Revs Beat Chicago 3-1

2007-05-06T21:36:00.000-04:00

I woke up late this morning so I didn't have time to do a proper preview of this afternoon's game. I'm glad it worked out that way. I was going to have a picture of a rugby scrum and predict the inevitable 1-1 bloodbath at Gillette Stadium as the two heated rivals pushed and shoved their way through another lethargic contest. Luckily, I couldn't have been more wrong. (click title to read more)

Although far from beautiful soccer was on display at Gillette Stadium, the game was anything but physical as the Revs danced their way to a 3-1 victory. The referee called the game very tight and didn't allow either team to infringe excessively on the other (A frickin men). Those who saw Chicago's game a week ago in Houston can attest to my fears going into this one.

All three goals had nothing to do with Taylor Twellman or Andy Dorman which is a first from the run of play this year and a very good sign. Skipper Stevie Ralston had a goal and an assist, Wells Thompson sneaked his way through a defender to score his first MLS goal, and Adam Cristman made his presence known throughout the afternoon.

For my money, the player of the game was Jeff Larentowicz. He held the midfield rather admirably with Shalrie Joseph sitting out due to suspension. He also distributed the ball flawlessly at times and always seemed ahead of his Chicago counterparts.

Pat Noonan sat the game out to avoid aggravating his injuries and Andy Dorman was subbed out at the hour mark. For the Revs to score two goals in the second half with so many veteran players out of the game speaks volumes. Although, it's safe to say Chicago didn't bring their A game.

The Revs are now second in the MLS table on goal differential ahead of New York, although they have a game in hand. Their next contest is this weekend in LA who will be playing their second game in 3 1/2 weeks (the league back-loaded their games for Beckham). It'll be interesting to see how that one plays out.

Revolution Stadium Prospect Part 3 - Foxboro

2007-05-05T15:26:00.000-04:00

The most affordable solution to giving the Revs an appropriately sized stadium would be to build one right on the land the Krafts already own in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Some of the problems, such as the lack of public transportation, would still exist. However, building a soccer stadium like the one in Bridgeview, IL would give the fans a better gameday experience, allow both Kraft-owned teams to go back to natural grass, and keep the Revs faithful within walking distance of the new Patriots Place project. (click title to read more)

The good news is a top-notch SSS can be built for $30-50 million provided you already have the land, which they do. There are some financial drawbacks to consider, though. The Revs already play at Gillette Stadium which is privately owned and financed by the Kraft family. Building a stadium in the same spot isn't guaranteed to have any effect on attendance. The owners may feel that a new stadium in Foxboro is superfluous and, unless a smaller stadium is much cheaper to operate, a waste of money.

That point is a serious one for them to ponder. With the Tweeter Center just down the road, they would probably face political opposition if concerts were to be an intricate part of the business plan. That may rule out a ton of concerts during the summer, thus preventing a new revenue stream.

However, with the Revs out of Gillette, that frees up a lot more weekends to schedule huge concerts without worrying about rushing to set up/take down the stage and prep the field for soccer. In fact, one of the reasons the field got in such bad shape was that soccer games prevented the field from recovering after such big events.

A project like this would probably require a partner. A partnership like AEG and Red Bull have for the new stadium being built in Harrison, NJ is probably ruled out unless they plan on holding a lot of concerts and whoring the stadium to motocross. An obvious partnership would be with a company to build a hotel right into the stadium. Think about it. The new Patriots Place project is getting off the ground and would get business from the guests, the hotel is guaranteed to be at capacity for Patriots home weekends, and a major hotel would be a good step in making Foxboro the "destination" the Krafts envision. To be honest, that's probably the best chance for the Revs to get a SSS in Foxboro because it would add cashflow, increase the value of Kraft's plot of land, and offset the investment Kraft would need to make.

Design

If they were to build such a stadium, they really need to do something to make the exterior stand out. The reason I say this is Gillette Stadium looks like your standard NFL venue from the outside: fairly drab, but they dress it up with player pictures, flags, etc... Having a soccer stadium that looks the same from the outside, yet 1/3 the size, would give it a "papa stadium-baby stadium" effect which should be avoided.

Even if they don't go with a hotel, I'm willing to bet they'll at least have office space inside the stadium. Making the exterior sharp looking would attract interest from potential companies. Here's some examples of stadiums that have nice exteriors:

SK Brann's new stadium in Norway

IK Start's Sor Arena (also in Norway)

Both of those stadiums, when completed, will have a classy facade and will look anything like an afterthought (a stigma Kraft has with some fans in regards to how he feels about the team).

In regards to the interior, most of the ideas I put forth in the last segment still apply. A roof over every seat is mandatory, in my opinion, to get people to come out to the stadium when it rains. Also, the ability to quickly upgrade seating capacity would ensure the venue gets it's share of big games while keeping scarcity and intimacy for the standard MLS games.

Luxury suites may be a problem, especially if they can't promise a lot of concerts. Most corporations want them for the NFL games. Although, I'd be willing to bet the Krafts would raise the prices to some of the ones in Gillette, and then make some of the richer clients buys suites at the soccer stadium. I'm sure some of the suites would sell to people/companies just for the Revs, but not anywhere near the price seen at Gillette.

As you can see, there are still obstacles facing SSS construction in Foxboro. If this was a no-brainer, they would already have built one. My next installment is quite an interesting one which would require quite a gambit by the Kraft family, and it doesn't involve a move to Boston. Check back for part 4 shortly.

2007 Revs Player Salaries

2007-05-04T11:05:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Steven Goff for publishing a link to the 2007 MLS player salaries. He did this the last two years, which has help us fans see the pay issues previously hidden from the public eye.

Here's the Rev's base salaries:

1. Taylor Twellman------$325,008
2. Pat Noonan-----------$225,000
3. Shalrie Joseph-------$170,625
4. Daniel Hernandez-----$155,000
5. Matt Reis------------$150,000
6. Steve Ralston--------$150,000
7. Jay Heaps------------$110,000
8. Joey Franchino--------$90,000
9. Micheal Parkhurst-----$80,575
10. Avery John-----------$63,000
11. Doug Warren----------$50,000
12. Marshall Leonard-----$47,500
13. Amaechi Igwe---------$45,000
14. Khano Smith----------$44,100
15. Willie Sims----------$35,500
16. James Riley----------$30,870
17. Andy Dorman----------$30,870
18. Wells Thompson-------$30,000
19. Bryan Byrne----------$30,000
20. Jeff Larentowicz-----$30,000
21. Ryan Solle-----------$17,700
22. Adam Cristman--------$17,700
23. Chris Loftus---------$12,900
24. Miguel Gonzalez------$12,900
25. Arsene Oka-----------$12,900
26. Brad Knighton--------$12,900
27. Gary Flood-----------$12,900

Total------------------$2,092,945

Please check my math on that total, but it appears the Revs are a little more than $100,000 under the cap (it was $2.2 million in 2006 and had a "modest increase" this year). What's more intriguing is the rumor that they are waiting to see if they can land a DP before renegotiating Joseph's contract. Non-DP's can only count as $325,000 against the cap, so he would add $155,000 more towards the cap if he maxed out. If it ever came to it, they could always put Hernandez and his $155,000 salary on waivers to make room for a marketable player.

Now, they do have to make sure they leave enough to sign Dorman and Parkhurst to $150-200k deals in the near future and players like Jeff Larentowicz to a $100k deal. However, with all the contract moaning coming from the league's top players, MLS would be crazy not to raise the cap by at least $200k over the next one or two years. That would help the Revs keep most of the players they are currently grooming.

By the way, I have my doubts about the $2.2 million cap figure seeing how a lot of the teams are over that amount. I'm guessing it's closer to $2.5 million.

This list also points out the standard salaries for developmental players and senior journeymen. That pay needs to be augmented before decade's end. I sure hope those salaries come with benefits.