Zathras

They're both working models and I think both work well in their environments. The byword for MLS right now is 'parity' and the draft system allows for that.

What is the league below the MLS? I've heard about the US having a 'developmental league' or something where only American youth players play in it what's that about if it's true? There is no promotion or relegation (teams have to 'buy in' to MLS) but there is a professional league one step below MLS which is the United Soccer Leagues Division 1. Below that is the USL Division 2. These are both professional (or semi-professional) leagues. Below each of these is the Premier Development League or PDL. (Although many of the teams in this division are as good as USL-2 teams.) This is made up of players who are NOT professionally compensated. They need to remain 'amateur' players in order to maintain their eligibility to play in college. Mostly its a place where college players play in the summer. It can be very helpful to develop players and some teams bring in professionals to play for them to help the younger players (Juergen Klinsmann played in the PDL for a couple of years.) There are other leagues below that, but they are pretty much entirely amateur. The biggest are the USASA (United States Adult Soccer Association) the NPSL (National Premier Soccer League.) Then there's the MISL (Major indoor soccer league) which is basically glorified 5 a side.

You cannot be too specific, but the methods of limiting foreign players in the squad or what not shouldn't be too difficult to manage, surely? The dramatic improvement in the US player pool is directly related to avoiding the NASL "bring in the big foreign stars" model and limiting the foreign players on each team to (I think it's) six. It encourages teams to look for good domestic talent. Does it hurt the quality of the league? Definitely. A league where journeymen players are guys like Ronnie Eckelund and Tim Curtin is not going to be as good as one with Zat Knight and Matthew Etherington. But in the long run, developing the domestic game is what's important. An MLS team from 1996 (the first season) would've had trouble competing with the likes of Preston and Colchester. Todays squads are limited by the size (18 active players at a time, IIRC) and a dilution given the league's recent expansion, but is MUCH more competative. Hell second division teams in the US regularly trounce Sunderland.

I was going to ask if he still played for them. Didn't he score their first ever goal in the MLS (or some equally amazing fact)? Yes, he scored their first ever goal ........ in their fifth ever game. The fact that he was a big part of their offense probably goes a long way towards explaining why they went nearly 1000 minutes without scoring a goal.

Portland are going to be fucked soon with Seattle heading up to MLS. Unless they go up they won't have the resources to travel if they lose Vancouver too when Toronto's monopoly expires. Then the closest D-1 Team will be mine (Thunder.) The Thunder have been dealing with this for years, and is one of the reasons that since the western conference collapsed, the Thunder haven't been complaining about extra travel. Their costs didn't go up that much. Fuck Richmond and their whining about too much travel.

That is not real; the crest is wrong. They just introduced a new one this year and that's shaped like the old one. But, I can give you. THE CARIBOU! Yes, that is fringe.

I own that one. And the wavy red and white striped alternate kit This looks like something the players would wear on a golf outing. The only good thing about it is that the old shirts are one sale now. It's an away top. Perhaps it would be in Europe, however the USA has never worn exclusively it's "Home" shirt at home and "away" shirt away. Nominally, they've tended to wear the white "homes" when designated the home team at official competitions, however they have quite often worn the "away" shirt at friendlies, smaller cup competitions and the like regardless of who or where they are playing. It's still an away top here sunshine. Just be happy I didn't refer to it as the "New Nats Jersey."

I own that one. And the wavy red and white striped alternate kit This looks like something the players would wear on a golf outing. The only good thing about it is that the old shirts are one sale now. It's an away top. Perhaps it would be in Europe, however the USA never never has worn exclusively it's "Home" shirt at home and "away" shirt away. Nominally, they've tended to wear the white "homes" when designated the home team at official competitions, however they have quite often worn the "away" shirt at friendlies, smaller cup competitions and the like regardless of who or where they are playing.

I own that one. And the wavy red and white striped alternate kit This looks like something the players would wear on a golf outing. The only good thing about it is that the old shirts are one sale now.

I wish. Then I wouldn't have to root for the team wearing it.

Should have taken the Yankees offer back in december. Actually, I think Gomez will end up being a better player than Cabrera, and the twins will make something of the other pitchers we got. I'm not all that unhappy with the deal compared to the Yankees and Red Sox deals in the end, it's just the reality of losing Johan in and of itself. Wouldn't really matter what we'd (realistically) have got in return; it would be disappointing. Who'd have predicted how well the AJ Pierzinski for Nathan, Bonser and Liriano deal turned out? We were slated for taking a couple of prospects and a poor reliever for that deal too. Edited to add: also, it's worth a lot to me to have him in the National League, not the American League. He gets to bat, which is fun to see and I get to still root for him.

God this has been a depressing year. Twins trade the best pitcher in baseball for prospects, lose popular another popular player to free agency, Timberwolves trade Garnett, NUFC get nobody in. All three play like shit.

If 'Beckman' is coming over to UK then he will be going to sunlun. They have a history of going to the Americas and signing the wrong fuckin' player :icon_lol: :icon_lol:

According to an LA reporter who is usually pretty careful about what she publishes, the Galaxy and NUFC have been in talks. She suggests that it had something to do with Babayaro, but I don't know if that's just her trying to figure out something that they were talking about, because the odds of Beckman coming over are slim to none. Anyways, interesting to know that there were actual talks. Allegedly. www.sidelineviews.blogspot.com

13th would be my prediction. Anywhere between 11-14 wouldn't be at all a surprise. Higher or lower and I'll be pleased/upset depending.

Overrated. Speaking of Americans, I'd much rather have Altidore or Dempsey or even Donovan. Johnson is just a faster version of Ameobi.

Windows Vista is dreadful. Released far too early before they'd fnished with it. Sounds like Win 98/2000/Me all over again to me. I was required to get it on my laptop for law school and none of the equipment at the school is compatible with it (printers, etc.) As for iTunes, I just got an iPod for x-mas and dammit I hate all macs and everything to do with them. I can't think of a less user-friendly mp3 interface that I've ever used.

Given the chance, it's where I'd retire. Absolutely love it there.

October 1, 1996. The day after the 4-3 home win over Aston Villa in which Yorke's hat trick was negated by two from Sir Les, and one each from Shearer and Howey. First Premier League Match I ever saw. I have family from Stocksfield, so when I discovered that there was Premier League on TV over here and that NUFC were playing the first game it was pretty much decided. The reason it's the day after the match is that I had to have my dad tape the match at work and bring the tape home for me to watch the next day because we didn't have cable.

I thought you said not cheesy ones There's an unexpected reply.

I'm working on a list of love songs. Partially for my sister, but mostly for myself (to place on a CD for my wife.) I'm hoping to hit ones that aren't too cheesy if you know what I mean. Some of what I've got are: Stevie Wonder - Ribbon in the sky Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight Roy Orbison - You Got it Nat King Cole – Unforgettable Julio Iglesias – Can’t Help Falling in Love Bob Marley – Satisfy My Soul Ben Harper – By My Side Cat Stevens – How Can I Tell You? James Taylor – Your Smiling Face Mason Jennings – Butterfly The Drifters – Save The Last Dance Any suggestions?

Pistone! Am I a horrible person for wanting to hold onto all my old kits?

PS News on this side of the Atlantic is that Arena has said it's a totally inaccurately report. On the other hand, there's a new rumor that replaces "Scotland" with "Ireland."

Nah; he certainly didn't follow the suit's "marketing." He sat Johnson for the most part when he was supposed by the marketing people to be the big thing. He took Ching over Twellman when TT was the guy all the media and MLS pundits said was a sure thing for the roster and the best understudy to McBride. Donovan is the key to the US team; he may have been off-form in all of 2006, but where he goes, so too does that team. Sitting him at the World Cup would have been the worse decision. I think he was hamstrung by his belief that he needed an organizer at the back and that none of his veterans were up to that task; he wanted to play Pope and Onyewu in the middle for speed and size, but neither was the leader he needed. He had to either play Conrad there or slide Bocanegra into the middle, but he wanted everyone on the field, so he shoehorned Bocanegra to left back, Beasely to the right side of midfield and practically negated any chance Donovan had of regaining his form by playing through it by hiding him on the field. If you look at the Czech game, you can see that the overall organization of the team wasn't bad. There was a dreadful pair of mistakes that led to the early opening goal and then it was all over. If Reyna's shot goes in rather than hitting the post and we got into halftime at 1-1, I think it's a totally different game. By the end of the half, we looked back in it, but as soon as the second went in, it was over, and the third was just a breakaway. The Italy game showed even more how well he can plan if he's given adequate scouting--9 men against the champions? We actually had the better of the play I felt and deserved to win on Beasely's shot which was ruled offsides for a player who was not involved in the play (I don't totally disagree with the call, however.) The Ghana game was a shambles with poor refereeing on both sides and squandered chances, bonehead decisions by Reyna, Bocanegra and a couple of others that basically showed that they were desperate. It's that clutch situation where I might have concerns about his squad management. He's scapegoated a lot for Donovan's lack of form and not actually having a striker, which is unfortunate, but I do agree he made some baffling decisions during the world cup. Still, I feel like he'd do a decent job in Europe; he's used to getting every call against him on the road (If you don't believe me, watch the USA v. Panama qualifier from 2005--if those tackles happened to England, the press would be calling for outright war) and completely hostile crowds. He could do just fine with a team like Scotland.