September 3, 2009
Behind the Badge - Kevin Payne after the match
It will be interesting to see if US Soccer gives DC United goalkeeper a lengthy suspension thanks to his stomp on Fredy Montero following his opening goal in last night's 2-1 win for Seattle in the US Open Cup final.
Beyond that, it was a great game with a great atmosphere. Seattle's win has even spawned a new website!
It will be interesting to see if the energy that surrounding this match leads to a rebirth of interest in the US Open Cup. I certainly hope so as Cup competitions are always fun.
Rhinos v Portland
It seems like Groundhog's Day with the whole "will the Rhinos break through against a top tier team?" storyline.
But, that question will keep getting asked until the Rhinos finally breakthrough against one of the top tier teams in the league.
The Rhinos will have no shortage of motivation this evening against the Timbers. Whether it's the sting of Portland spanking them 3-1 in Rochester on July 31st or the PK call in stoppage time in Portland on May 14th, the Rhinos should be ticked off and ready to go tonight. Plus, the Rhinos would likely love to be the team to end Portland's 24 game unbeaten streak.
And then there is Andrew Gregor who has his own reasons for being fired up tonight.
Hopefully tonight is the night that the Timbers' streak and the Rhinos' slump come to an end.
Some more on the USL 1st Division turmoil
The news is slowing down to a trickle at this point. But, with Rob Clark doing the chat tomorrow at noon with Jeff and coming on Kick This! on Saturday, there hopefully will be some more to talk about soon.
I still think that both the USL and the TOA have their plus's and minus's and both sides need to work together to try and make both sides happy moving forward.
News & Notes:
- This week, Peter Wilt is grading WPS after Year 1 of the league over at Pitch Invasion. Here is a radical idea: Have Peter Wilt help work things out between the USL & the TOA!
- MLS Talk breaks down what the USMNT has ahead of themselves to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
- Landon Donovan previews El Salvador. This is a match where Landon Donovan will get the most WCQ caps in USMNT history.
- Montreal beat Carolina last night and Martin Rennie did his best Arsen Wenger!
- Only three reasons why pro athletes should use social media?
- Chris Rolfe is headed to Denmark after the 2009 MLS season.
- It looks like Heath Pearce could end up in Dallas after all.
- TFC fans are scouting out Seattle.
- Clint Dempsey has to be proud to see the next generation of Revs rappers.
- The anti-Chelsea fans have to be celebrating today.
- What's the big deal? This is the US where everybody wants the best of the best!
- With my indoor season starting up soon, I'll review some indoor kicks if anyone wants to send a pair of size 11s my way!
- This link is for Devo.
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.
