July 14, 2009
I was a slacker yesterday, so to make up for it, here is a really long post.
Rhinos stuff:
There was a sweet gallery of pictures at D&C.com after the Rhinos-Puerto Rico match on Friday night.
We had Brent Sancho and Andrew Gregor on Kick This! on Saturday and neither guy pulled any punches with regards to the officiating both on Friday and this year.
With the Rhinos transferring Maurico Salles to Kuwait, Matthew Ford said on Kick This! that they hope to add a left/center back and a forward with the budget space created.
With the Rapids needing to open up a roster spot to fit in three more signings, I wonder if shipping Ty Harden to Rochester for the remainder of the season is an option? I hope so!
Devo has a piece in today's D&C about who will be running the Rhinos tomorrow night with Darren Tilley and Brent Sancho both receiving red cards versus the Islanders.
The Beckham Experiment
With today being the day that Grant Wahl's first book, The Beckham Experiment, goes on sale, I have to link to like the 80 million internet items that have come out in the wake of excerpts being published and Beckham returning to the Galaxy this week. Heck, the book is already listed as 6th and 7th on the Amazon Sports Book list. If you take out the duplicates, it's 4th!
Adam Spangler at This Is American Soccer.com has Part I of a two part interview with Grant Wahl about the process of getting the book written. The only problem with this interview is that Adam asked Grant a ton of the questions that I want to ask Grant when we get him on Kick This! in the next week or two!
Beau Dure at USA Today.com also has a nice little Q&A with Grant about the book.
And I have to agree with Adam's take about book reviews that turn into Cliff's Notes versions of the book. While many reviews are mere suggestions about whether the reviewer thinks the book is a good read or not, some get into way too much detail for my taste. Just tell me whether it's worth reading or not!
Now for the reactions to the book. You have Beckham on Donovan , Donovan saying he's done talking about it to the media, Norman Chad at SI.com calling Beckham in LA a scam, and then just a bunch of brilliant takes like the ones from No Short Corners , IDSNews.com , Paul Oberjuerge , Ridge Mahoney at SI.com, Andrea Canales at SI.com , PE.com, and Nick Green at the Daily Breeze.
And now Beckham is talking about sticking in LA through the length of the contract. Personally, I'd be stunned if Beckham doesn't join a European club after the 2009 MLS season to improve his chances for making the 2010 World Cup squad for England. Once next year's World Cup is complete, then I could see Beckham returning to LA.
News & Notes:
- Sandro Grande has been suspended by Montreal for going after player/assistant coach Mauro Biello in their 3-0 loss in Minnesota on Saturday.
- It looks like Seattle is going to make a serious bid to host the US Open Cup final should they advance past Pat Onstad and the Dynamo.
- I hope you missed the US needing a stoppage time screamer by Stuart Holden to tie Haiti in the Gold Cup. Who cares if it wasn't our A squad. It's HAITI!
- This anti-Designated Player take is very thought provoking, IMO.
- Apparently Qwest Field has a Pat Onstad Fathead!
- The MLS All Star Starting XI is out and it appears that Seattle's attempts to stuff the ballot box were foiled.
- Real Salt Lake beat Club America in a card filled "friendly".
- Gooch passed his physical with AC Milan.
- Toronto FC has had their liquor license at BMO Field suspended for one game due to selling beer to a minor. Oops.....
- It will be interesting to see how Danny Szetela does with his return to La Liga side Racing Santander.
- Not only is Iran's head coach an American citizen, but he's a USL vet as well.
- President Obama hosted the MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew at the White House. I like the Obama 44 jersey!
- The 2nd hour of Saturday's show seems to be locked down with the Washington Post's Steven Goff confirmed and USWNT stars Christie Rampone and Abby Wambach pencilled in as long as training finishes on time.
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.
