September 6, 2007
Sorry that I've been slacking.
But, I need to read this book apparently.
So where were we?
The Rhinos may be in the playoffs, but after getting spanked at home and on the road by Montreal, they are limping in.
Right now they are tied with Puerto Rico for 5th place and each team has a game left. The Islanders play at Charleston and the Rhinos host Montreal.
If I had to lay down a benny, I'm betting that the Rhinos finish 6th and end up facing Montreal, Seattle, or Portland in the first round.
And 2007 is starting to look a lot like 1997 to me. One could only hope that 2008 looks like 1998. But, I wouldn't bet a penny on that one.
USMNT woes
Nobody wants to go see US-Brazil on Sunday and the US-Catalonia friendly is out.
I am surprised by the former and not at all by the later.
The fact that they've only sold 28,000 tickets for the US-Brazil game is stunning to me given that Brazil is bringing big name guys like Ronaldinho and Kaka to Chicago.
Heck, US Soccer is even charging $20 a head for people to come watch Brazil train.
One touch news & notes:
- US Soccer.com has announced that a Studio 90 show on Fox Soccer Channel will debut Monday evening. There will be a Day in the Life of Abby Wambach section of the show, so Rochester fans should tune in, if only for that.
- Ives Galarcep has a good story on Danny Szetela's decision to move to La Liga. It will be interesting to see how this move works out.
- The Chicago Fire have new owners. MLS is growing up when the number of teams that AEG and HSG own keeps getting smaller.
- Speaking of the Fire, their newest addition may be looking to join the USMNT pool.
- In case you thought Beckham's injury would keep him out of the press, here are not one, not two, but three nuggets to give you your Becks fix.
- Who should TFC target as a designated player, TSN asks? How about Cristiano Ronaldo? Doesn't every potential DP story need one unrealistic name involved? And with the whole questions about Ballack's future at Chelsea floating out there, I'm surprised that his name wasn't brought up.
- The new owners of the Wizards take European scouting to a different level. I wonder if they'll have their own stadium before 2012?
- The WUSA 2.0 delay to 2009 shouldn't have shocked anyone, right? And what are the odds that the plan falls apart should the USWNT have a bad showing in China?
- And I'm going to leave you with quality, higher quality, and the highest quality in soccer entertainment that I've seen today.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
