April 26, 2010
Random thoughts after the Rhinos first win of the 2010 campaign:
- Can't wait to see Hamilton & Hoxie up top on Saturday
- You gotta love Bob Lilley getting on these guys about playing better with the lead. Can't let these young kids get a big head after a win.
- Tyler Bellamy gets two yellows in a span of three minutes late? My guess is that he's going to get stapled to the bench and Aaron Pitchkolan becomes Troy Roberts' partner in crime at center back.
- Vallow with the veteran move of stalling late until the ref hits him with a yellow.
- Hoxie starts to make good for the handball in Portland by converting the PK early.
- They did well to keep Eddie Johnson & Jamie Watson off the score sheet.
- The USL Conference of the USSF Division 2 Pro League is off to the much better start. USL Conference - 32 pts & +8 GD (17 gp) vs NASL Conference - 13 pts & -8 GD (15 gp)
Now it's on to Minnesota where the NSC Minnesota Stars are coming off a win in their first hoem match versus FC Tampa Bay.
News & Notes:
- NASL.com has the weekend in review. The Rhinos win is probably the closest thing to a surprise result of the weekend, really. Montreal getting a late PK to tie Portland at home. Not a surprise. Puerto Rico destroying Crystal Palace Baltimore. Not a surprise. Vancouver defeating AC St Louis. Not a surprise. And NSC Minnesota getting the 1-0 win at home over FC Tampa Bay. Not a surprise.
- Abby Wambach joined the Coast Guard for a day.
- Herculez Gomez tied for the goalscoring lead in Mexico and now he's training with Chivas USA. The big question is has he earned a spot on the US World Cup team?
- There were some negatives to the weekend in Toronto despite Toronto FC's 2-0 win over Seattle. First, there were some empty seats at BMO Field. Second, another moron chucked a bottle at Ljungberg and Seattle supporters are not happy . Nor should they be.
- There were also some empty seats in NY . But the biggest attendance issue in the league continues to be in Dallas where theyare struggling to draw 10,000 a game despite the construction of Pizza Hut Park. Although, Chicago, Chivas USA, Columbus, and Colorado are also teams with soccer specific stadiums that are sitting in the bottom half of the league in attendance.
- I know I shouldn't laugh at a story of a fan bus being pelted. But, it's Philly fans that are on the receiving end here.....
- Revs MF star Shalrie Joseph has taken an indefinite leave from the team.
- I hope Jozy Altidore has this out of his system before the World Cup starts.
- Grant Wahl had a piece on Freddy Adu in a recent edition of SI and it's up on SI.com now. How long before Freddy is playing in the US 2nd Division?
- If you can't wait to see the new Manchester United shirts for 2010-11 with AON on the front, click here.
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.
