April 6, 2007
MLS Opening Day 2007 is tomorrow. And with a trio of nationally televised games, I hope to get to see a few of the new storylines develop with DC United (Luciano Emilio and Fred make their MLS debuts) taking on the Colorado Rapids at brand new Dick's Sporting Goods Park on ABC at 3:30, the New York Red Bulls (Claudio Reyna makes his MLS debut) at Columbus (Robbie Rogers makes his MLS debut ) on HDNet at 7pm, and if I'm awake that late, Toronto FC has it's first ever MLS match in LA versus Chivas USA (Preki's debut as head coach) on FSC at 10:30.
Amongst the host of new items for 2007 will be the MLS anthem to be played while the teams march onto the field. The teaser on MLSNet.com leaves something to be desired, but it's certainly better than "Cotton Eyed Joe".
On Sunday, Telefutura will have the Beckham-less LA Galaxy at the 2006 MLS Cup champs Houston Dynamo. It will be interesting to see where Houston's heads are at after their stunning loss to Pachuca last night .
The good news is that some of the major sports sites are all over the start of the MLS season. SI.com has two solid pieces up. One from Jonah Freedman and the other from Ryan Hunt. And the man that US soccer fans love to hate has his overview up on Fox Soccer.com as Jamie Trecker breaks down all that is new with MLS this season.
Another good read while getting ready for tomorrow is an interview by a fan with Eric Wynalda. The interview was so good that Eric had to issue an apology to Jim Rome!
And finally, there is a good little article on one of the men that has kept MLS afloat in AEG king Phil Anschutz aka Uncle Phil .
USL signings of the day
Toure re-signs with the Thunder
That answers that question after Toure was not offered a contract by the New York Red Bulls despite an impressive performance during the MLS pre-season. This makes me really wonder what else the Rhinos have up their sleeve.
Carolina makes the Stokes and Dombrowski signings official
Former DC United defender David Stokes and Chad Dombrowski have been known to be in RailHawks camp for a while. But, the team finally made their signings official yesterday.
A great piece by US Soccer.com on Kenny Cooper upholding a family tradition
US Soccer.com comes up with another great All Access video piece. This time it's about FC Dallas and US Men's National Team forward Kenny Cooper who's father Ken Sr. was a goalkeeper for the Dallas Tornado of the NASL. From Kenny watchign video of Pele kicking the ball out of his dad's hands for the first time to Ken Sr. talking about the experience of watching Kenny play for the USMNT, scoring versus Denmark, and then giving his dad his jersey after the match was awesome stuff.
I can't wait to see what they come up with next!
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.
