Soccer Buzz

I saw this game tonight, and I’m still trying to figure out how it happened. In fact, I’m trying to decide if it actually did happen. Yes, MLSnet has posted the box score as well, but I’m still not 100% sure that I believe it.

LA looked horrible against Chivas de Guadalajara this past weekend, but then, once again without Beckham, score 4 goals in the opening 18 minutes against Dallas tonight. Dallas pulls within one in the 82nd minute, but Landon Donovan scores goal number 5 for LA 2 minutes later, seemingly putting the game away. But then, Carlos Ruiz scores one minute into stoppage time for Dallas, Carlos Pavon scores 4 minutes later for LA, but Dallas once again scores only a minute later through Abe Thompson. However, referee Kevin Stott blew for full time shortly thereafter.

I know a lot of fans were there hoping to get a glimpse of Beckham, but I don’t think they have much room to complain after seeing eleven goals!

But just to make sure, can anybody confirm that this result actually took place?

Okay, I have to make at least a quick mention of this.  Mehdi Ballouchy has been suspended for two games for an elbow to the Wizards Sasha Victorine on July 22.  Victorine had to be removed from the match because of the incident, but Ballouchy was only given a yellow card.

Yesterday, the league’s disciplinary committee announced that they were suspending Ballouchy for 2 games and fined him $1,000.  (video of the play)   In addition, Kansas City head coach Curt Onalfo was fined $1,000 and defender Nick Garcia fined $250 for public criticism of the game’s officials.

Personally, this deserved more than two games.  This appeared to be premeditated, and Victorine was fortunate that he did not have to miss any more games because of the incident.  Daniele De Rossi received 4 games for his elbow against Brian McBride last year in the World Cup, and just because Ballouchy didn’t catch Victorine in the face doesn’t mean that the elbow was any less vicious or dangerous.

Also, for those who believe the committee should not add suspensions for incidents that were seen by the referee, first, I don’t think referee Tim Weyland saw the elbow.  Judging by the video, he was likely watching the ball after Victorine played it forward, and while he knew that Ballouchy barged into Victorine well after the ball was played, he was likely not focused enough to see the elbow.

Second, even if Weyland saw the elbow, players should not be able to get away with violent or excessively reckless conduct that results in injury just because of an incompetent referee.  Somebody needs to protect players, and if a referee won’t do it, then the league should.

Andy Herron received four games for his elbow on Jay Heaps in May (and that was probably lenient) so I’m not sure why Ballouchy is only getting two for this one.

Mehdi Ballouchy, Sasha Victorine, Curt Onalfo, Nick Garcia, Andy Herron, Jay Heaps,

The second round of Superliga games has come and gone. MLS clubs have held their own with the LA Galaxy the only team to fall to a Mexican side, but too be fair, their 2-1 loss to Chivas de Guadalajara was nowhere near as close as the scoreline indicates. Every MLS team still has a good chance to advance (well, maybe not the Galaxy) on Tuesday and Wednesday, and perhaps this showing could in some small way convince soccer fans in this country that MLS teams aren’t total pushovers (well, maybe the Galaxy are).

One more Superliga note - it is now confirmed that Beckham will not be playing on Tuesday against FC Dallas, although to be fair, this isn’t a total shock. Becks is now hoping to start training with the club again later this week and shooting for the August 5th match at Toronto. Sorry, Dallas fans.

Freddy Adu has finalized a deal with Benfica in Portugal. I’ll probably talk more about this tomorrow.

In MLS, despite the light schedule this weekend, we saw some pretty good goals:

(Goals in order: Ivan Guerrero for Chicago against Toronto, Kerry Zavagnin for KC against Chivas, Yura Movsisyan for KC against Chivas, the bespectacled Jeff Larentowicz for New England over Real Salt Lake, Ante Razov for Chivas against New York)

New England Revolution 2, Real Salt Lake 1 (My prediction 3-1 Revs)

After Carey Talley converted a penalty in the 72nd minute, ten man Salt Lake looked like they might steal a point after New England looked like the dominant team all evening. Then the Revs won a dubious free kick in a dangerous position. At this point, I asked myself “why the hell is Jeff Larentowicz lining up this free kick? What does he think he can accomplish?” Well, I soon found out when he sent in a laser of a game-winner.

Chicago Fire 3, Toronto FC 0 (My prediction 1-1)

Chicago, who hasn’t won on the road since April, really did a number on Toronto. Cuauhtemoc Blanco seems like he has added some offensive spark to this team. Meanwhile, Toronto really has no depth whatsoever. They seemed lost without Jeff Cunningham and Ronnie O’Brien, and to make things worse, Danny Dichio will now miss a month with a hip flexor injury. Of course, TFC is stuck with some young, unproven goalkeeper with Greg Sutton out for the rest of the season with a concussion. Toronto is back at the cellar of the Eastern Conference, and unless they get several players healthy in short order, I think they will stay there.

Kansas City 3, Chivas USA 2

The week’s best match, and that includes the Superliga games. Things didn’t look good for the Wizards early on after Jonathan Bornstein opened the scoring for Chivas, and then Carlos Marinelli missed a penalty a few minutes later. Then Kerry Zavagnin beat Jeff Larentowicz in the category of “Wonder goals scored by defensive midfielders” when he unleashed an upper 90 left-footed beauty. I didn’t think Zavagnin was capable of pulling off such a shot. Chivas didn’t seem to think he was capable of it either as they gave him plenty of space to line it up, and judging by the goal celebration, I don’t think Zavagnin or any of his teammates believed could pull off that shot either.

Both teams looked like they wanted all three points, and Kansas City was the team to get the victory from Yura Movsisyan’s deflected shot in the dying minutes of the game. The win for Kansas City keeps them within one point of New England in the Eastern Conference before their game this Thursday, and the Wizards also showed that someone other than Eddie Johnson can score goals when Johnson is in the lineup. Chivas, on the other hand, no longer look like weak sisters on the road after beating New York last Thursday and losing a heartbreaker in Kansas City.

I mentioned Freddy Adu playing tonight for Salt Lake.  Well, scratch that.

Steven Goff of the Washington Post is reporting that Adu will not be at the game tonight as he will be flying to meet with his family this evening and then heading to Lisbon to finalize a deal with Benfica.

Salt Lake has been linked with several players that ostensibly would be Adu’s replacement, most notably Jay Jay Okocha.

Superliga continues this weekend with four games.  I’m interested to see if the energy from games earlier this week will continue tomorrow and Sunday.  I’m still somewhat skeptical about this competition, but I did enjoy the four opening round games.

Because of Superliga, MLS has a light schedule this weekend.  The week kicked off with what I thought was a shocking result - Chivas USA defeating New York 2-0 last night at the Meadowlands.  The Red Bulls had most of the possession, but Chivas really took advantage of what few scoring chances they had.  If anyone is still keeping track, that’s an 0-1 start for me on this week’s predictions.

New England Revolution @ Real Salt Lake

Freddy Adu returns to Salt Lake for his first game since the U-20 World Cup, but I doubt he’s totally focused on Real right now with transfer stories flying around.  Plus, it isn’t like he’s been a house of fire for Salt Lake this season anyway.  New England is just a better team, and the only chance for something other than a New England victory is if the Revs get caught looking ahead to next Thursday’s game against Kansas City.  Don’t bet on it.  Revs 3, RSL 1

Chicago Fire @ Toronto FC

Toronto has been very tough at home, and Chicago hasn’t won in six games.  Still, I think the arrival of Blanco (and the eventual arrival of Wanchope) will energize the Fire, at least in the next few weeks.  Fire 1, TFC 1

Chivas USA @ Kansas City Wizards

Chivas will try to follow up their impressive win over New York, but they will find it a rough going in KC.  Chivas could be battling fatigue, which will make defending Eddie Johnson even more difficult.  KC will also want to bounce back from that absurd draw with Colorado last week.  KC 2, Chivas 1

• After being linked with several MLS teams during the past year, the Fire have signed Paulo Wanchope to a one year deal. Don’t look now, but with Chris Rolfe and Wanchope playing up top, Cuauhtemoc Blanco playing behind them, and Justin Mapp on the wing, Chicago might just have discovered a dangerous attack.

• Eddie Johnson wasn’t the only American to reject a move abroad the past couple of weeks. Freddy Adu turned down a move to Benfica in Portugal earlier this week. I know it is somewhat old news, but I wanted to point out once again that the league is willing to sell young, high-profile players for the right price.

• Tonight, New York hosts Chivas USA. Chivas hasn’t played well on the road all season, and with the Red Bulls attack now at truly full strength, it is hard for me to imagine Chivas getting anything from this game. NY 3, Chivas 0

Last week, I reported that Eddie Johnson personally rejected a move to Derby County, and I wondered why we had heard nothing about this. Some people thought that it wasn’t in the best interest for the Wizards to say anything, and others simply thought that I got the story all wrong in the first place.

Well, now Johnson and Wizards Technical Director Peter Vermes have both confirmed that the player, not the team/league, killed the move. Props to Bob Luder, the Wizards beat writer for the Kansas City Star for investigating this even further, especially after Sky Sports ran an article late last week that noted Derby’s interest in buying Johnson.

I suppose there is always a chance another team could come in with a huge deal for Johnson, but I think it is even safer to assume that Johnson is happy in KC and wants to finish this season with the Wizards.

I admit that when MLS and FMF announced the formation of Superliga, I was skeptical about the tournament. I wondered if American teams would be upset about possible fixture congestion, and I wondered if Mexican teams would take games in their preseason seriously despite the prize money involved. Well, last night’s games showed that this tournament has real potential.

Dallas drew 1-1 with Chivas de Guadalajara last night, and the Galaxy (the club The Sun referred to as a “pub team”) defeated Pachuca 2-1. Dallas was unfortunate to only get one point from the match as the Chivas goal from Antonio Olvera could have been disallowed for a handball. The Galaxy were able to defeat this year’s Concacaf Champion’s Cup winner on a late Dino Ciccarelli-like goal from Landon Donovan (yes, I made a hockey reference).

Every team was willing to play entertaining soccer, and both games definitely featured intensity with numerous scuffles breaking out. I was really taken in by the games, and I hope tonights matches (DC United/Monarcas Morelia and Houston Dynamo/Club America) can be as enjoyable as last night’s games.

Okay, an overly busy weekend combined with little to no Internet access kind of threw me off.  Well, let’s look at what’s been happening.

• A nice 2-0 win for the MLS All-Stars over Celtic in the All-Star Game Thursday night.  Yes, I know it was a friendly, but I enjoyed it anyway.

• Beckham made his “debut” for the LA Galaxy in a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea, coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute.  There were questions as to if he would play at all, but I suppose the ankle was good enough to play for twelve minutes.  However, I think we all got our fix of Becks with the Beckham cam following his every move on the bench as well as warming up for his cameo appearance.  If this type of coverage annoys you, I suppose we will just need to get used to it because I doubt it will change for the rest of this season regardless of his fitness.

• Cuauhtemoc Blanco made his debut for the Chicago Fire in a 1-1 draw against Celtic, scoring a goal and helping Chicago actually look like a talented team for the first time this season.  Blanco will probably look even better when/if Chris Rolfe returns from injury.  The question still remains as to which Blanco will show up every game (the brilliant one, or the lazy one).

• An interesting Sunday of MLS fixtures.  Houston and New England put on an entertaining 3-3 draw with a couple of fantastic goals from Pat Noonan and Dwayne De Rosario.  Guillermo Barros Schelotto continued his fine play with the Crew with both goals in a 2-0 win over Toronto.  New York managed to scrape by DC United with a 1-0 win at home despite the absence of a suspended Juan Pablo Angel.  Finally, KC could only get a draw from Colorado in a 2-2 game marred by Colorado’s incessant, hacking tactics, the Wizards overreacting to these tactics, and putrid officiating by Tim Weyland, who allowed Colorado to get away with these tactics despite 8 yellow cards and 1 red card.  Eddie Johnson continued his tremendous season with his 11th and 12th goals of the year (in only 11 games played).  And Mehdi Ballouchy should be expecting a fine and a suspension for elbowing Sasha Victorine before the half (Weyland only booked Ballouchy for the incident).

• Can the Carlos Tevez transfer saga get any stranger?  FIFA was called in to settle the dispute between West Ham and Manchester United, but FIFA has now decided to send the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.  For those of you that have lost track of what exactly is going on, West Ham won’t allow Tevez to move to West Ham because of confusion over who owns the player’s economic rights.  Tevez’s agent Kia Joorabchian claims that he would be entitled to any transfer fee, but West Ham and the Premier League claim that any fee must go to the club.  I’m sure Tevez will end up at Manchester United, but this can’t be good news for the Red Devils as they will have to wait even longer to incorporate him into the team.

• Superliga, the new competition between American and Mexican clubs, begins this evening with FC Dallas hosting Chivas de Guadalajara and the Galaxy hosting Pachuca.  The big story (not surprisingly) is that Beckham is listed as doubtful for this evening’s game as the left ankle is still acting up.  Personally, I hope they give him the night off and try to get him ready for Saturday’s game against Chivas de Guadalajara.

The MLS All-Stars will play Celtic tonight at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (pictured) in Denver (okay, actually Commerce City, Colorado). It should be an entertaining game if you believe the claims from the Celtic camp that they intend to take this game seriously, especially after Chelsea lost 1-0 last year in the All-Star Game. Unfortunately for Celtic, they will be playing in a heat they aren’t accustomed to as well as an altitude that perhaps none of the players have experienced.

The big news out of Denver yesterday, however, is the announcement that the San Jose Earthquakes will return to MLS next season as an expansion club. However, for you NFL fans, the expansion will be similar to the Cleveland Browns brief absence from the league; the Earthquakes name, uniforms, and history (including the team’s MLS Cups in 2001 and 2003) remain in San Jose.

For the most part, I’m happy about this. It shows the strength of the league to be able to return to an area that lost their club, and the fans in San Jose deserve this after the hell they went through in 2005. There is one aspect that I’m not totally comfortable with, however. While new owners Lew Wolff and John Fisher have plans to build a stadium near San Jose International Airport, nothing is set in stone, and next year, the team will end up playing at 2 different venues in the San Jose area for their home games next season although Wolff said that most games would be played at one of the sites.

I’m sure Wolff will eventually get a deal for an Earthquakes stadium, but I believe awarding expansion without a solid stadium deal shows both how much the league wanted to get back to San Jose and how much the league wants to have an even number of teams next season. I doubt the league will allow any other potential expansion team to enter the league without a concrete plan set for a stadium, especially because the league doesn’t want another Salt Lake debacle.

As for the next expansion cities, Don Garber has named so many that it is hard to keep track, and the favorites for expansion seem to change every week. Personally, I still have high hopes for St. Louis since it is my home, and the real Dent McSkimming would have wanted a team here as well.

MLS All-Star Game, Glasgow Celtic, San Jose Earthquakes, Lew Wolff, Don Garber

Thanks for all of the comments about the Eddie Johnson story, both here and on Big Soccer.

Now, I suppose I should review the previous week’s action before the All-Star Game tomorrow. Don Garber will actually be addressing the media shortly, and as always, MLSnet.com should have it up for streaming.

EDIT: To quote Kent Brockman, “Once again, I’ve been had.”  They didn’t stream the address.

Houston Dynamo 4, Chicago Fire 0 (My prediction 2-0 HOU)

Not the start that new Fire coach Juan Carlos Osorio was hoping for. Houston even decided to rest Brian Ching and Dwayne De Rosario, and they still had enough to clobber the struggling Fire. Stuart Holden continues to impress for Houston, and even worse for Fire fans, former Chicago forward Nate Jaqua scored his first goal for the Dynamo. Finally, what a great goal from Joseph Ngwenya, who is born anew since being traded to Houston.

New England Revolution 1, New York Red Bulls 0 (My prediction 2-2)

A solid game for New England with Andy Dorman scoring a nice goal in the first half. The Red Bulls, who started the season so well, have struggled recently, and Juan Pablo Angel in particular is starting to look frustrated after his MLS career like a ball of fire. He missed several great chances, and in the dying moments of the match, he gets sent off for a flying elbow to Shalrie Joseph. If there’s any good news for New York, at least Jozy Altidore is returning from the U-20 World Cup.

DC United 3, FC Dallas 3 (My prediction 1-1)

A wild one at RFK. DC looked like they would go back to the top of the East after taking a 3-0 lead early in the second half, but Dallas, behind a flu-ridden Juan Toja, comes all the way back to grab a point. Dallas may have dropped a couple more points behind Houston in the West, but this almost has to feel like a victory. DC, meanwhile, are hoping that this isn’t a sign that the early season defensive woes are returning.

Kansas City Wizards 1, Real Salt Lake 0 (My prediction 4-1 KC)

Eddie Johnson really does make this Wizards attack work. He expertly controlled a great ball from Jose Burciaga, and after hitting the post, scored off the rebound for the game winner. This game could have been much worse for Salt Lake if Nick Rimando didn’t make some key saves in the first half, but the Wizards play fell off in the second half, giving Salt Lake a chance to steal a point.

Chivas USA 2, Columbus Crew 1 (My prediction 2-1 Chivas)

Chivas continues their dominant play at home with an Eddie Gaven own goal giving Chivas the victory. For Columbus, this snaps a six game unbeaten streak, but even in Saturday’s loss, they have shown the past month that they are capable of doing damage in the Eastern Conference, especially with Guillermo Barros Schelotto getting settled in and adding the creative spark this team needed.

Houston Dynamo 0, Toronto FC 0 (My prediction 2-0 Houston)

Houston was all over Toronto throughout the first half, and it only got worse when Maurice Edu was sent off for bloodying Brian Mullan in a mid-air collision. Mo Johnston decided to play for a 0-0 draw at that point, and to his credit, that’s what his team accomplished despite Houston laying siege to the Toronto goal. The goalless draw also allowed Houston to set the MLS record for most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal, which was fait accompli the moment Johnston brought on defender Chris Pozniak for Danny Dichio after Edu’s red card.

Last week, there were several stories about newly promoted Premiership side Derby County looking to buy American striker Eddie Johnson from the Kansas City Wizards. However, Derby announced that the deal fell through, and that they would be looking elsewhere for a forward. Some thought these stories were unfounded rumors, and many believed that the league’s transfer fee demands were too high.

I’ve learned from reliable sources that the deal was actually set as the league and the Wizards’ owners agreed to sell him for around £2.5-£3 million. However, Johnson himself nixed the deal.

It bears repeating to critics of the league that feel that the players are constantly held hostage by clubs and the league office; Eddie Johnson put the kibosh on this one, not the league.

Why would Johnson not approve a move abroad? First, he was not going to receive the standard cut from the transfer fee that players normally receive. The player normally gets 10% of the transfer fee, but Johnson would have received something substantially less.

Also, Johnson wants to finish the season with Kansas City and then re-evaluate his status. He feels that he is on the uptick as he is having a fantastic season with the Wizards thus far, and he feels that he could have even better opportunities abroad should he continue to keep banging goals.

If I can speculate further, Johnson also appears to be enjoying himself in Kansas City at this season. He has a good relationship with his teammates, and above all, he seems to love playing for new manager Curt Onalfo as his tactics and personality are perfectly suited for a player like Johnson.

My only question is why the league and the club have been reluctant to publicize this. It seems to me that the league would want let people know that the league’s top scorer (and an American international) wanted to stay with the league rather than make a move to the Premiership. I think this would be great propaganda against the detractors of the league, especially with millions of people who have just started paying attention to the league because of Beckham. Perhaps playing in MLS is not as horrid as some people would like to believe.

From the Wizards’ perspective, I can’t believe they aren’t making a big deal of this. After a poor season on and off the field last season, Johnson has won over the fans at Arrowhead this year, and there’s no better way to cement one’s status as a fan favorite than rejecting a big move like this. With owners OnGoal LLC trying to rebuild the team’s fanbase after the previous owners, Hunt Sports Group, seemed content to let the club wither on the vine, this story seems to be great (and cheap) advertising and marketing for the club.

I’ll get to Beckham, MLS, and European transfer news later this week, but today, I’ll look at international competition.

The United States was upset in the U-20 World Cup 2-1 by Austria in the quarterfinals on Saturday. The Americans looked set to dominate in the early going, but they relinquished control, which Austria was more than happy to seize upon. Austria finally broke through in the extra time after Anthony Wallace was sent off for a second yellow card.

I thought the United States was suffering from their extra time win over Uruguay only 3 days prior, which could explain why Austria controlled the last 75 minutes of the game. Still, I thought they could have shown better than they did. Their tactics seem a bit static, especially with Danny Szetela not playing his best game. They seemed to miss his marauding runs forward to support Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore.

I’m disappointed in the result, but there is plenty of talent on that team that can have a solid career with the senior team.

In the Copa America final, Brazil pulled off an upset of its own by defeating Argentina 3-0. This was supposed to be Argentina’s tournament. They brought their big guns to this tournament, determined to win their first international competition in 14 years. Brazil, on the other hand, left Kaka and Ronaldinho at home and looked shaky at many times in this tournament.

However, it shouldn’t totally shock anyone that a Brazilian team managed by Dunga would have a game plan to shut down creative players like Riquelme and Messi. After all, Dunga was the defensive midfielder and captain of the 94 World Cup winning team, a Brazilian team that was criticized for being too tactical and playing enough of the beautiful, free-flowing soccer that Brazil is famous for. On Sunday, Argentina could not get their attack going with Riquelme and Messi constantly being hounded (and often fouled) by the Brazilian midfield. Brazil was willing to concede possession, but they certainly capitalized on their forays into the Argentine half with great goals from Julio Baptista and Daniel Alves.

Brief highlights are featured below. Click here for an extended highlight reel of the match.

U-20 World Cup, Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Danny Szetela, Copa America, Juan Roman Riquelme, Lionel Messi, Dunga, Julio Baptista, Daniel Alves

Okay, I’ll get in my weekend MLS previews.

FC Dallas @ DC United

DC is coming off a loss to Houston which dropped them out of first place in the East.  Dallas hasn’t played since July 4, a 2-0 win over Chivas.  I know I should pick DC to win since they have home field advantage, and Dallas has injury problems.  But for some reason, I have a hunch that Dallas can get a point from this one.  DC 1, FCD 1

New England Revolution @ New York Red Bulls

These are the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, but neither have been playing particularly well as of late.  New York’s 1-0 victory over Colorado last week snapped a 4 game losing streak, but beating Colorado nowadays isn’t exactly a reason to pop open the bubbly.  New England could only manage a 1-1 home draw against Chivas last week.  I think Juan Pablo Angel gets back on track for New York, but the Red Bulls’ defense isn’t strong enough to take advantage.  NE 2, NY 2

Real Salt Lake @ Kansas City Wizards

Kansas City struggled without Eddie Johnson, failing to record a victory in five games without him up top.  Despite rumors linking him to Derby County, Johnson will return to Arrowhead tonight, and I think his presence will not only lead to more goals for the Wizards, but also psychologically galvanize his teammates.  In addition to being a poor team, Salt Lake won’t have Alecko Eskandarian and Mehdi Ballouchy, who are both suspended.  This has beatdown written all over it.  KC 4, RSL 1

Columbus Crew @ Chivas USA

Columbus has been playing some good soccer the past month, but Chivas has been outstanding at home this year.  This should be a good game, especially with Sacha Kljestan and Jonathan Bornstein coming back for Chivas. CHIVAS 2, CREW 1

Toronto FC @ Houston Dynamo (Sunday)

After struggling on the road all season, Toronto has taken 5 points in their last 3 road games.  However, that trend ends here.  Houston has been absolutely fantastic the past month and a half.  They clobbered Chicago Thursday even with Brian Ching and Dwayne De Rosario resting on the bench.  HOUSTON 2, TFC 0

The LA Galaxy claimed they wanted to have a low key event to introduce David Beckham to the media and the public because they want Beckham to blend into the team. Well, if that was low-key, I wonder what they would have done had it been a flashy, grandiose mega-event. Confetti, cheesy rock anthems, politicians - I suppose President Bush, Bun Ki-Moon and the Pope had prior engagements.

In all seriousness, it’s tough to blame them for making a semi-big deal out of this. It is David Beckham after all. His image made Real Madrid number one in terms of marketing popularity in the world, taking over for his previous club Manchester United. Before he even moved to the United States, over a half million of his Galaxy shirts were ordered even though the new design had not yet been unveiled.

I could have done without some of Alexi Lalas’ grandstanding, and did Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaragosa get an icy reception or what? (I guess it doesn’t help that he’s rumored to support intra-city rival Chivas USA.) Still, I thought League Commissioner Don Garber did well, and Beckham himself gave a speech that was well-spoken without sounding slick and heartfelt without sounding corny.

The only one thing that annoys me about the Beckham signing is that some would like to believe that he is some sort of a savior. This league didn’t need a savior. Sure, MLS is not at the same level of popularity of the NFL, Major League Baseball or the NBA, but those expectations are silly at this point in time.

The New York Times had an article this past Sunday that explains why the league has to be considered a success in it’s 12th season. More than half of the league’s teams play in soccer stadiums, and more stadiums are on the way. The league actually receives a rights fee from television networks ($20 million in the US, and at least $2 million internationally), and this season, five teams will turn a profit.

Okay, that doesn’t sound overly impressive, but considering that only five years ago the finacial viability of the league was in serious doubt, this is great news.

One more thing, Beckham started to say “football” during his remarks but quickly corrected himself, calling the game “soccer”. He even made it a point to apologize. David, I personally don’t mind if you call it “football” (you did grow up with the word), but it’s very nice of you to try to blend in.

(By the way, MLSnet.com should have the conference archived if you would like to see it.)