June 15, 2007
- Thomas Rongen has named the US roster for the U-20 World Cup. Michael Bradley and Gabriel Ferrari were the only two big name guys that didn't play Argentina at PAETEC Park.
- Eddie Pope is joining Cobi Jones as long time MLS veterans that will be hanging up their boots after the 2007 season. It will be interesting to see what Pope does next in his career. Jones looks to be a media darling. But, I'm guessing that Pope is more likely to end up in an MLS front office or on the sideline as a coach.
- Cubans and Haitians going AWOL from their national teams in the US??? Am I the only one hoping that the Rhinos are getting some talent on the cheap?
- Scott Palguta gets out of the pool long enough for another blog entry. Scott goes over the travel nightmare that was playing in Carolina on Friday night and at PAETEC Park on Saturday. And then having to play Long Island in the Open Cup on Tuesday. Thank goodness the team is off until Sunday!
- It looks as if New York City will get an MLS team before Rochester does. All those that are stunned by this news, please stand up. Personally, I would have been more shocked if Rochester got a mention. And it has nothing to do with Steve Donner getting sued with how he's run the Amerks and Knighthawks and everything to do with the way the Rhinos have been run on a shoestring this season and how that's hurt the gate.
- Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen is NOT the American looking at buying Blackburn Rovers. I'd love to see Allen and Bill Gates own teams and make things really interesting in the EPL.
- Run DMB is back! It has been great to see DeMarcus Beasley wrecking havoc on the US opponents in Gold Cup group play. Hopefully he can do the same thing against Panama tomorrow and likely Canada in the semis.
- Coach Calloway needs to get in Sigi Schmid's ear and send Jose Angulo the Rhinos' way after his trial with the Crew is complete.
- Montreal is continuing to do the forward shuffle by acquiring Alen Marcina from Puerto Rico for Lars Lyssand and "other considerations". Former Rhino Charles Gbeke is Montreal's leading goalscorer with 3 goals in 9 matches. The funny thing is that a former member of the Impact and the Rhinos is currently leading the league in goal scoring. Edy Sebrango's 6 goals is leading the league right now.
- Tune in to Fox Soccer Channel tonight and you're likely to see a few former Rhinos in action as Greg Howes and the Seattle Sounders travel east to take on the Carolina RailHawks with Frankie SanFilippo, Chris Carrieri, Jonny Steele, and Connally Edozien.
- I did a podcast with Rhinos forward Matthew Delicate last evening. It was supposed to be the first edition of the Kiwi & Deli Show, but unfortunately Aaran Lines didn't answer his phone. Hopefully we'll get that hooked up in the future.
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.
