September 20, 2010

This past week not only saw Miami FC knock off the Rhinos 2-1 , but Austin drew Tampa Bay FC 1-1 and then lost to AC St Louis 2-1. Did I mention that all three of the winners are on the outside looking in at the playoffs (Miami & St Louis have been eliminated and Tampa Bay is close to being out)?

It's going to be interesting to see how the standings shake out over the next couple of weeks. The Rhinos could end up facing NSC Minnesota, Montreal, or Puerto Rico at this point.

And personally, I don't want anything to do with foreign officials in a leg of a playoff series.

News & Notes:

- Jurgen Klinsmann talked about his discussions with US Soccer about the potential for him to replace Bob Bradley. Apparently things broke down because US Soccer was unwilling to put in writing that Klinsmann would have 100% control of the technical side of things.

That seems curious to me unless Klinsmann's definition of "technical side" is much broader than what I think of when Ihear that term being used in this context.

- Vancouver may be talking to Jay DeMerit about making the move to MLS for the 2011 season.

- Cleveland may be planning an MLS calibre stadium. If MLS really wants their 20th team to be in the NY City market, I don't get the point.

- FC Dallas may be close to having a residential academy ala Real Salt Lake.

- Clint Dempsey scored his first EPL goal of the season for Fulham over the weekend.

- Amy Rodriguez scored in the 120th minute to end the season of Abby Wambach and the Washington Freedom. Philadelphia travels to Boston on Thursday night with the winner advancing to play FC Gold Pride on Sunday in the WPS Championship game.

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.

Struggling down the stretch