wolf stansson

everyone who has athletic ability there plays rugby. soccer probably just gets the dregs of whoever isn't playing rugby or going mountaineering. I know you think you know stuff because you live in the region or lived or whatever, but that's nonsense. Obviously Rugby is king, but NZ has produced some great players for their population. Common thread for NZ and Australia, overachieving in sport.

Don't want to spoil it for you, but it's going to be the white guys. correction: out of shape white guys He's in good shape but Omer Asik would look awesome with that hair, that dopey face etc.

Sounds like Scotland didn't want to get punked again so they just Scotland' it up and got a boring, physical draw.

Don't want to spoil it for you, but it's going to be the white guys. Besides Chandler Parsons, you mean. Yeah, he's exempt from all of my self-hating white guys are lame jokes.

Don't want to spoil it for you, but it's going to be the white guys.

The East is just depressingly bad. I feel bad for CST and EST NBA fans who can't stay up to watch west coast games.

Not really. Their schedule has been cake so undefeated is an overly simplistic way of evaluating their strength and when you play their kind of defense you slow the game down, reduce possessions and thus reduce your own scoring chances.

Seattle is shopping Eddie Johnson. Smart. They should still get rid of Martens too.

The idiot before you did. An idiot would be someone who struggles to understand the difference between possibility and probability. Is anyone flipping out?

Kind of surprised I was able to beat N&G in here to point out that hamstring strain is a common injury for knee rehabbers because it is a major, compensatory stabilizer for that joint so if he came back last year it probs wouldn't be an issue now. In conclusion: "Uh doyyyyyyyy." -Reggie & Derrick Rose

Solid plan. Also, re-sign Rosales cheaper, if not, let him walk.

Judging by the comments coming from Adrian Hanauer's presser today, heads are going to roll in Seattle this winter.

Oh hell yeah. Agudelo has secretly been the most dynamic player in the league this year. I'd rather have him than Valeri, Magee, Cahill, Morales or any of the other MVP candidates people talk about. His goal coversion/chances rate has been incredible and the difference between the Revs with him on the field and off is huge. There's a reason Diego Fagundez has had so much room to operate and get a bunch of attention from the media and fans. Agudelo has been great. In fact, at this point it's even money as to who ends up the EPL season with the most goals, him or Altidore.

Part of me thinks it's to keep EJ humble and show him a less talented but more productive MLS striker nipping at his heels.

I think you have a fair amount of that one-time novelty crowd, but there isn't anything wrong with that. I know quite a few fathers that have gone to Red Bulls games strictly because of the affordable "family friendly" environment. The kids generally play soccer but there isn't much passion for the red bulls themselves. It's odd though, that I live about a 10 minute drive from the stadium but really have no idea when they play, or what their upcoming schedule looks like. I would think they would be more proactive to drive interest. We drove right by the stadium last week when going to a friend's house and I mentioned that I'd like to go soon. But my 4-year old was indifferent. The NYC area is the biggest culprit for apathy about MLS vs interest in European leagues. NYRB/the Metro Stars haven't done a good job cracking the market either. I wonder if NYC FC will do better. A lot of bad excuses are made for why the Red Bulls aren't doing better - the stadium is in Jersey, the sports market is saturated, they've never won MLS cup, blah blah blah. It's all nonsense. The MLS teams that invest in professional marketing and PR kick the Red Bulls ass in attendance and local tv ratings with a fraction of the population to build a fan base. There's no reason MLS can work so well in Seattle, Portland, Kansas City and do so relatively poorly in NY/NJ. Chicago and LA don't do as well as they should either. Maybe there's some population ceiling where cities that have too many options don't choose MLS at the rate as smaller big cities do. I don't know, but I do know that MLS itself is spending tons of money trying to figure out how to crack the New York egg.

That's definitely a valid point. I view attendance at MLS as something that shows it's quality as a game day experience. People who go keep going. It's not a one-time novelty experience by and large. It's not where the NHL is yet, though it's regionality and struggles with TV ratings are analogous. The NHL is more established and popular than MLS certainly. Friendlies roster: U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION - Detailed Roster GOALKEEPERS (3) : Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Everton), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire) DEFENDERS (7) : DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest), Michael Orozco (Puebla) MIDFIELDERS (7) : Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Michael Bradley (Roma), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Schalke), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht), Brek Shea (Stoke City) FORWARDS (6) : Jozy Altidore (Sunderland), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar), Eddie Johnson (Seattle Sounders FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

MLS inhabits an interesting place in the American sporting landscape. It's underrated by soccer fans who only watch European leagues, it's overrated by it's fans that only follow MLS and it's ignored by almost every casual sports fan who doesn't live in an MLS city. The way it's hyper-regionalized is reflected in TV ratings. MLS playoffs have been getting about 180,000 viewers while a big Premier League matchup will get around 900,000, yet attendances at the gate are relatively high compared to a lot of established American sports. It's higher than hockey, it's on par with the NBA and in some markets they outdraw baseball. I think that proves that when people go to a game or experience a matchday atmosphere, they are drawn to it, but the quality and excitement isn't high enough to bleed out to regions where people don't get to see the game day experience. That's why Don Garber and MLS have been pushing expansion so hard. They're trying to fill in the map. It's worked well so far, but I think they're running out of hungry soccer markets and the last few cities are a bit of a reach. Especially Miami and Atlanta, but more on that later ([expletive] "Brand Beckham"). Unfortunately for the league, big money only rolls in with TV ratings and right now, they have a lot of work to do to improve that. Soccer, as in the sport itself, has been espoused to be this sleeping giant that is someday going to explode in America since the 70's, but in reality, it's been a slow burn that has grown and grown steadily. It's inevitable that it will be considered a huge sport and it's legitimacy in the eyes of casual sports fans has grown a lot since I started following the pro leagues and internationals in 2006, but how much of the diluted soccer viewing landscape can MLS fill when you can watch every major league in the world on cable? I don't know, but I do know that MLS is an incredibly competitive, fun league to watch and follow. The DIY ethos of media coverage and fan communities that has grown by necessity from being ignored by mainstream media is very relateable and fun to be a part of. It's the best fan experience in American pro sports for my money, but as the sport grows, that access and relatability will go away as more money comes into the league. While I acknowledge the author's point that the salary cap restrictions are a little over-protective at this point, I don't agree that the league is ready to pull off the restrictions and let team's spend whatever they want. The league's parity is it's most attractive quality and having 5 teams willing to spend like huge clubs and 15 teams trying to spend like they currently do is not the way forward. I agree with the league's measured approach. The next step is not removing salary caps. The next step is allowing more free market player movement between teams and getting rid of the single-entity system. They have a long way to go before it can be a free-for-all. Soccer already has a comfortable place in the American sports landscape. MLS will always have a place within soccer's piece of the pie, but I have a hard time seeing it ever be as big as American Football, the NBA or even the Premier League. As for the "Brand Beckham" boosting interest or being a great fit for Miami, that's bull [expletive] propaganda from a media outlet that doesn't understand the limits of Beckham's appeal outside of England. First, we have tons of evidence to prove that Beckham doesn't move the needle in terms of TV ratings or attendance after the initial novelty of his arrival wore off (eventually, his greatest contributions to MLS were on the field, which we're hardly the stuff of legend but he fit in nicely as a complimentary player to Landon Donovan on those Galaxy championship teams), secondly, Miami barely supports American pro teams like the Heat, the Dolphins and the Marlins and third, an MLS team has already failed there once. Florida is the worst and Miami is the worst of the worst. Beckham is an idiot if he thinks he can make that city love an MLS team. He'd be better off starting a team in St. Louis or Minneapolis, but those cities aren't sexy so he wants to put it in Miami. Good luck to him and his PR machine. Much like his initial season as a player in MLS, I think he'll find it a much bigger challenge than he expected to be successful.

Really looking forward to the Bradley-Gil CM pairing after the World Cup. That kid is class.

And center backs. Brad Evans, Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson and Ozzie Alonso are the only players they should write in for next year.

Peace out, Sigi. Let the Bob Bradley campaign begin. Portland/Porter have done so much in one year. It's remarkable.

It's poppin in Portland. The anti-Salt Lake. RSL's crowd put me to sleep.

Not as ridiculous as this comparison.

If [expletive] Dom Kinnear somehow gets the Dynamo past KC and into the final AGAIN... That guy is the Gregg Popovich of MLS. Coasts perfectly in the regular season and then locks down his team's D in the playoffs and gets them in position to win trophies. Every. Single. Year. I'm tired of it, frankly. I hope KC finally beats them so we can get some decent soccer in the final. RSL v KC would be great. Portland v KC would be great. Really anything other than stupid Galaxy v Dynamo is all I'm asking for. I can't take another 2-0 Galaxy win with two perfect counter attack goals from LD and Keane.

Roma play great soccer. Man. DDR anchors a pivot point in front of the back 4, Bradley and Strootman make up the right and left points of the diamond and cover the most ground like prowling wolves, Pjanic is the tip of the diamond distributing to the forwards and the outside back get wide and high. The great possession and bottomless lungs of Bradley/Stroot give them liberty to get into the attack while DDR drops in between the CB's to make a defacto back 3. So disciplined.

Bradley starting for Roma vs Torino in 10 minutes on BEIN.