Hard to imagine Fratelli d'Italia being played in Oakland, but OK

The US Bid Committee for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups (whose awarding is less than 2 years away), has released through its site http://www.gousabid.com/ the cities who are still in the running to host a World Cup game should the United States be awarded either tournament. This list is down from a prior list of 70, which frankly included just about every NFL and major college stadium in a town with more than two stoplights.

Did anyone really think Fayetteville, AR would host the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres?

The list has been narrowed to 27 cities, of which likely 12-14 will likely be chosen to host matches.

Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York City, Oakland, Orlando, Philadelphia, Glendale-Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, and Washington, D.C.

Just a few notes
12 cities on the list host MLS teams in their metro areas (Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC). The only US Cities with an MLS team that failed to make the cut are Columbus, Salt Lake City, and Portland.

All 9 sites of the 1994 World Cup are still eligible (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Orlando, Chicago, Detroit, Washington, New York, Boston)

Should each city use the venue that most would assume they would use, then 22 of the 27 potential host cities are using venues constructed or substantially renovated in the 15 years SINCE the 1994 World Cup.

21 of the 27 potential host cities have hosted a major soccer event (MLS game, International friendly, Club friendly, World Cup Qualifier, Gold Cup game) since 2006.

Read more...

Detroit Lions: Super Bowl Contenders

Because now that they've changed their logo, it's only a matter of time.

Arizona Cardinals changed logo in 2005: Made Super Bowl in 2009.
Seattle Seahawks changed logo in 2002: Made Super Bowl in 2006.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers changed logo in 1997: Made Super Bowl in 2003.
New England Patriots changed logo in 1999: Made Super Bowl in 2002.
St. Louis Rams changed logo in 2000: Made Super Bowl in 2002.
Baltimore Ravens changed logo in 1998: Made Super Bowl in 2001.
New York Giants changed logo in 2000: Made Super Bowl in 2001.
Tennessee Titans changed logo in 1999: Made Super Bowl in 2000.
Denver Broncos changed logo in 1997: Made Super Bowl in 1998.
New England Patriots changed logo in 1993: Made Super Bowl in 1997.

Results may vary. See: San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons.

Read more...

As Long As You've got that map out...

Steve Davis on the near-certainty for the United States to host either the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cups, and assessing the viability of the other bids.

Davis thinks it is a slam dunk that England will host the 2018 World Cup, but then says of dark horse Qatar's bid...

"Qatar: The oil-rich Arab emirate has the world's highest GDP per capita, according to some estimates. Although money isn't an issue, physical size could be. Qatar occupies only about 4,400 square miles, roughly the size of Pennsylvania."

So if physical size is a major obstacle to hosting a World Cup, then we wouldn't want to have it in a country like...England, which is roughly the size of North Carolina, and only slightly larger than Pennsylvania.

If anything is going to kill the Qatari bid, it will be the average triple-digit temperatures that are routine in the Persian Gulf in June and July, when the World Cup is held.

Read more...

Mike's End-Of-Season MLS Awards

We've been at a dearth of material recently, and history of this 2 1/2 year old blog has shown that nothing gets the creative juices firing like a soccer post. After a soccer post, seemingly every other staff member pens something to knock the beautiful game off the top of the patch, so let's get at it.

With the Cup Semifinals this weekend, now's the best time for my end-of-season MLS awards. I'll award some of the awards MLS does, along with some of my own superlatives.

MVP: Juan Pablo Angel, Red Bull New York

While his statline (14 G, 3A) may not be impressive as Golden Boot Winner Landon Donovan's (20 G, 9 A), this belies the way in which Angel has singlehandedly taken New York on his back and led them to the final four. One in every three goals scored by New York this regular season (and playoffs) has been scored by Angel. Without him, the Red Bulls are nothing. With him, they are one win from their first-ever MLS Cup Final.

Most Outstanding Player: Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy

You can't say much about Donovan's play this year because it speaks for itself. What makes Donovan's Golden Boot title all the more impressive is that Donovan played 5 fewer games than his closest competitor (FC Dallas' Kenny Cooper) and STILL managed to beat him by two goals to win the scoring title. Donovan did this all while playing on arguably the worst team in the league. Donovan is presently training (or perhaps on a 10-day trial?) with German superclub Bayern Munich. If he jumps ship I would not be surprised.

Newcomer of the Year: Darren Huckerby, San Jose Earthquakes

Coming over from English side Norwich City in midseason, Huckerby rejuvinated the playoff aspirations of the Earthquakes. Without Huckerby it would have been a sad, lonely second half of the season in Northern California.

Goalkeeper of the Year: Joe Cannon, San Jose Earthquakes

Cannon's return to his former club gave them at least a fighting chance. While this award ended up going to Jon Busch of the Chicago Fire, I have to give it to Cannon. As a former keeper myself, I know that most keepers are only as good as the 10 men in front of them. Without taking anything away from the great season Busch has had, he has a top flight backline of Conde, Soumare, Segares, and Prideaux in front of him, along with a tenacious midfield. Cannon had NOTHING in front of him. One of the worst teams in the league, San Jose surrendered more shots than any other team. Yet Cannon only allowed 4 more goals on the season than Busch. Cannon posted a respectable 1.27 GAA, and finished fourth in the league in shutouts with 9. It should be noted that the three keepers who finished above Cannon in shutouts this season were all on playoff teams (Kevin Hartmann, Kansas City; Will Hesmer, Columbus; Jon Busch, Chicago).

Supporters Section of the Year: Section 8 Chicago, Chicago Fire

Sure, level all the homer accusations that you want, but the bottom line is this season Section 8 doubled in size, sent sizeable away contingents (20 or more fans) to Columbus (twice), San Jose, Kansas City (twice), New York, Toronto, New England, Colorado, and Salt Lake. That's more than even the vaunted Red Patch Boys of Toronto FC, who sure, brought 2,000 to Columbus and another couple hundred to Chicago, but were otherwise nearly invisible this season aside from some small trips to New England and New York. The Fire's playoff game against New England featured nearly 1800 screaming Fire fanatics in Section 8 yelling for 90 minutes. Flares, smoke, and new, more complex tifo displays brought a continental European atmosphere to Toyota Park, and reminded the suits at MLS what a big game is supposed to, and can look like given the proper environment. On that front, few organizations have had to face what Section 8 has had in the past year. Deaths of members, dicking over from the Fire front office at every turn, racist abuse and instigation by stadium security, etc. The group holds a banner at each game reading "Per Infinitas Incendida" which roughly translates as "Forever through the flames," and Section 8 has done just that.

Honorable mention: El Battallon/Texian Army, Houston Dynamo

Most Improved Supporters Section: Nordecke, Columbus Crew

Sure, for years when the Crew were terrible, everyone loved to rag on Columbus. They were a soccer mom town with only a few fans who were generally viewed as the laughingstock of the league. They have shed that label and while not yet in the company of Chicago, Toronto, DC, and Houston, Columbus is charging up the ladder and is an away trip to be reckoned with. The removal of seats at Crew Stadium consolidated the supporters groups and forced them to work past their various differences (seating preference, language, etc.). In many ways, this is the model of Section 8. Columbus mounted their first large-scale away trip in recent memory by sending a couple hundred fans to Chicago after the Fire sent a couple hundred fans to Ohio over 4th-of-July weekend.

Honorable mention: Loyalists, Real Salt Lake; Empire Supporters Club, Red Bull New York

Biggest Disappointment: DC United's South American cadre
In my preview piece, I boldly predicted that DC United would be the first team to win the Supporters Shield 3 years in a row. They finished 9th and failed to make the playoffs. Their vaunted South American signings from Argentina, Peru, and all other corners of the continent proved to be largely ineffective due to underperformance and injuries.

Honorable Mention: MLS Teams' performance in the CONCACAF Champions League.
DC United finished last in the group stages. New England and Chivas USA lost in the qualifying round to teams from Trinidad and Panama respectively. Only Houston has a chance to advance beyond the group stages.

Goal of the Year: Hard to vote against Cuauhtemoc Blanco's 35-yard blast against DC United.

Honorable mention: Danny Cepero, Red Bull New York for being the first Goalkeeper to ever score a goal in MLS.

Read more...

Not So Fast Lunchbucket Lunchpail Blue Collar Hard-working tough

MLS washout and SI.com's resident soccer blowhard Greg Lalas praises the virtues of the Columbus Crew, a perennial MLS doormat who at the 1/4 pole of the MLS season has the best record in the league.

He doesn't really attribute it to anything other than using an excessive amount of "blue-collar" adjectives to describe their play. I suppose it's easy given their Village People-esque badge. Greg is right on one thing Columbus certainly is the early-season success story of MLS. For years, a trip to Crew Stadium meant a pretty good chance of coming out with a result. (16-19-11 over the last three years at home)

In addition to improving in the standings, their supporters' section is growing. Things are looking up in Cowtown. Lalas attributes most of the positive change to a change in mentality (from a Coach who had been at the helm for two years already), to players who have been playing together for a while (but only two years), and of course to their Lunchpail, Hardhat, gung-ho attitude.

However, I am convinced it is something else entirely. While soccer admittedly does not have a stat-geek side like baseball or football, there is one thing staring everyone in the face over America's Hardest Working Team's 6-1-0 start that no one seems to be mentioning. Strength of schedule. MLS is admittedly a parity-driven league (DC's First-to-worst turnaround in the East this season is one example). However, a quick glance at Columbus's schedule so far reveals the following

Toronto FC (Win 2-0)

@ New York (Loss 0-2)

Chivas USA (Win 4-3)

@ DC United (Win 2-1)

Houston Dynamo (Win 1-0)

Kansas City (Win 2-1)

@ San Jose (Win 3-2)

Aside from noting that their only results away from Crew Stadium are a loss, and wins against the worst teams in the East and West, let's examine those seven sides' relative positions in the MLS table. Teams Columbus has played are in bold. Losses are in Red.

2008 MLS Single Table as of May 12

1.) Columbus (6-1-0, 18 pts)

2.) Chicago (5-1-1, 16 pts)

3.) New England (4-3-1, 13 pts)

4.) New York (3-1-2, 11 pts)

5.) Kansas City (3-3-1, 10 pts)

6.) Toronto FC (3-2-1, 10 pts)

7.) Colorado (3-4-0, 9 pts)

8.) FC Dallas (2-2-3, 9 pts)

9.) LA Galaxy (2-3-2, 8 pts)

10.) Salt Lake (2-2-2, 8 pts)

11.) Houston (1-2-3, 7 pts)

12.) DC United (2-5-0, 6 pts)

13.) Chivas USA (1-4-2, 5 pts)

14.) San Jose (1-4-1, 4 pts)

So on further examination, Columbus has not played a very rough schedule. Four of their six wins are against the four worst teams in the league. Another win came against Toronto in their first game of the year. This was before TFC acquired 2004 MLS MVP Amado Guevara, and French international Laurent Robert. These moves substantially altered the outlook of TFC's midfield and attack; turning them from a definite doormat to a potential playoff team. Since the signings, Toronto is undefeated in 4 games (3-0-1). In the end, Columbus is left with one noteworthy victory...over a .500 Kansas City team.

Combined with the Crew's loss to New York, Columbus has not yet beaten a single team that is over .500. They'll get a real test at BMO Field this weekend with their rematch against Toronto FC. TFC is unbeaten at home so far this year (2-0-1), and BMO is fastly becoming one of the loudest venues in North America.

Read more...

Who's your MVP of the over-40 crowd?

I was watching the Phils-Cubs game today, and I couldn't help but notice that Jamie Moyer, the oldest active player in the MLB, is actually still being paid to play the game.

As one of the least knowledgeable and least regular contributors to this blog, I won't try to offer any insight or wax poetic on older players in baseball. I will however ask all of you to vote for your MVP of the MLB over-40 crowd and briefly justify your choice.

Your nominees are as follows:
Jamie Moyer - 45
Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux - 42
John Smoltz, Doug Brocail - 41
Jeff Kent, Kent Mercker, Luis Gonzalez, Tom Gordon, and Trevor Hoffman - 40

I couldn't help but notice that four of the five starting pitchers from the '95 Braves are on the list. It's too bad Steve Avery didn't stick around too. I'd still take Maddux because (1.) he's Maddux, and (2.) good starting pitching is harder to come by.

Read more...

FSC's Studio Announcers hurt my head

Yes, I know I'm probably the only one on this blog who watches FSC, but earlier today, with Fulham up 1-0 at halftime (and having not won on the road in 34 games), the studio host with his British accent said,

"It's been 34 games since Fulham lost one on the road."

I sat stunned. He got the storyline of the game completely wrong. Then I translated into American English.

"It's been 34 games since Fulham LAST WON on the road."

Damn English...

Read more...

It's like raaa-iii-ain... on your wedding day

One of my favorite English language foibles is misuse of the word and/or concept of irony. (Others include: "literally" when one means "figuratively" and the term "ill-afford")

Recent irony-misuse example (approximately four seconds ago):

"Lofton now has four 3s, and Foster has four 3s. And the lead for Vanderbilt is now 3. How ironic."

A-woozle-whuzzle?

Anyway, I have some real posts fermenting, which I'll post soon enough when I feel like it. But for now, filler. I just wanted to bump that weird cannibalism thing I posted Sunday night.

And I've got one hand in my pock-et, and the other... is in down pants, in the vicinity of my junk. (So how am I typing???)

Read more...

NBA Re-Alignment Pick

Calling it right now. The word is that the Sonics are moving to OKC to the collective yawn from the Puget Sounders. Doesn't make a lot of sense to move the team to within driving distance of Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, then tell the local populace their rivals are in the Northwest Division, featuring Portland and Minnesota.

So here it is.

• Seattle moves to Oklahoma City.
• OKC Sonics move from Northwest to Southwest Division (Texas rivals as well as former NOLA/OKC Hornets).
• Replaced by Milwaukee, who moves from the Central to the Northwest (rivalry with Minnesota?)
• Milwaukee is replaced in the Central by Memphis.

Northwest Division
Portland, Utah, Denver, Minnesota, Milwaukee

Southwest Division
Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, New Orleans

Central Division
Memphis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Indiana

Speculation? Dadgummed right (gave up swearing for Lent), but no different than Joe Lunardi filling out a bracket in July.

Read more...