Rugby is one pointy-ball sport I can watch. and the rugby world cup is great fun...

Hey...a David Stokes sighting!

They should target crouch. Just because he's tall doesn't give him the right to brain people with those elbows of his. Also, they should have targeted Jan Koller.

Re: Crouch -- It needs to be pointed out that Poll has a book coming out.

Re: Crouch -- It needs to be pointed out that Poll has a book coming out.

Posted by: RK | September 5, 2007 09:19 AM
---------------

It's out already in the UK. FSC promoted, excuse me, reported on it.

Goff, just wondering about the stadium situation and if there is any sort of deadline that has been set where we find out one way or the other what is going to happen?
Signed, beyond frustrated...

I agree with RK that Poll is probably pimping his book. Don't the refs discuss other players too, vis-a-vis diving? Where's the mention of that? Poll is simply inciting the British masses to buy his book.

"I tried to defend him, being English." Nice to see that Poll maintained his impartiality on the biggest stage.

I hate blatant time wasting, and that was some of the most classless time wasting by Dallas in the extra time vs Seattle. I had no opinion about FC Dallas before that game, but they are my least favorite MLS team now.

"Nice to see that Poll maintained his impartiality on the biggest stage."

To be fair, he wasn't doing that on the 'biggest stage.' He was defending Crouch in a small, closed meeting. There's no real issue of impartiality since he'd never be assigned to ref an England match.

I guess they didn't do a good enough job looking out for Crouch considering his hair/dreadlock pull on his goal in the T&T game...

"I hate blatant time wasting, and that was some of the most classless time wasting by Dallas in the extra time vs Seattle. I had no opinion about FC Dallas before that game, but they are my least favorite MLS team now."

Posted by: Irritated | September 5, 2007 09:40 AM

Hmmmm. Classless and Dallas. Yep, I think you got it.

Crouch should give Gooch a call, they can form a support group for gigantic men spurned by refs.

You guys have got to check out Gaelic Football.

Literally a combo of Futbal(Soccer) and Rugby. They even have a goalie in the net(yes they have a net at the bottom at what looks like the rugby goal post). but most of the times, team chooses to kick overhead for 1 point just like rugby.

i believe Setanta TV shows it every now and then.

Hey, do either Dallas or New England have any significant silverware? I have a fuzzy recollection that Dallas may have won a US Open Cup, but NE doesn't have any, right? If that's so, then I'm pulling for Dallas so that NE's case keeps the cobwebs... Please clue me in...

Gaelic football is awesome! I think at some point in its history football was one game played like Gaelic football. It was split into rugby and Association Football in England, but I guess in Ireland it wasn't. It is a wierd game to watch, and apparantly there are so many professional teams in tiny Ireland that if you don't have a hangover from drinking pints the night before you can play professionally on Sundays.

According to the US Soccer web site, the kickoff for USA vs Brazil is in 4 days, 5 hours, 24 minutes and 31 secs... no, 28 secs.. no,no, 25, uh, 23, no no wait...

Goff - Not sure if you guys read WTOP (where I first heard the story) but it looks like Fenty is scuttling the proposed Poplar Point stadium - any insider info?

Logan Circle, my thoughts exactly! I think Gooch is hard done by because of his size as well. (Although, to be honest, I think Gooch would be well advised to stop the weight training for a while and put some work in with a speed/agility coach.)

Fenty is an @$$hole!

"Biggest stage" meaning the World Cup, not a UEFA or FA tournament. It still isn't right for a ref to defend a player based on nationality, even if Poll doesn't ref the England matches or other matches in that group. Given his comment, it's fair to question how Poll adjucated matches involving Crouch or whether he showed bias in favor of English players during EPL matches.

"Hey, do either Dallas or New England have any significant silverware? "

The Revelosers have never won anything, ever.

Dallas, playing as the Burn, won the US Open Cup in 1997 against a tired DC United side that just won the MLS Cup. IIRC, the match went to OT and PKs, but Jaime and Raul Diaz-Arce clearly did not have the legs for that match. DC could have won it, but for Mark Dodd. In a scuffle in the 6, the ball crossed the Dallas goal line, but Dodd pinned it against the post and quickly slid it out, fooling the ref and linesman. It was infuriating to watch as a DC fan, but an alert play from the GK point of view. OK, A bunch of people are going to disagree with that last part, so open fire.

to defend Fifa a bit, Crouch does have a penchant of using his long arms to his advantage. I find that strange since he already has the height advantage. all he has to do is stand on his toes... Watch him carefully, and you will see, tugging (that famous dreadlock pull was hilarious), elbow flying, pushing players down to keep them from jumping...

Also, comments like that from Poll does not help the game. All it does is create a level of suspicions on every call that the refs make. What can be a legitimate call now all of a sudden is up for debate. I don't see how that is going to keep the game fun and clean. Do you?

I was at the United game when Fenty was running. He said he would bring United a stadium. Politics...

http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_2293763.html

CHICAGO (Sept. 5, 2007) -- U.S. head coach Bob Bradley has called in Kansas City Wizards midfielder Kerry Zavagnin, who will arrive in Chicago in time for the USA's training session Wednesday morning. Zavagnin replaces Pablo Mastroeni, who is still recovering from an illness that forced him out at halftime of the Rapids 1-1 draw at Columbus this past Sunday.

"Also, comments like that from Poll does not help the game. All it does is create a level of suspicions on every call that the refs make. What can be a legitimate call now all of a sudden is up for debate. I don't see how that is going to keep the game fun and clean. Do you?"

There's not a ref in the world who isn't biased. If there is, he isn't human. Knowing that, I think professional refs are remarkably unbiased in the calls they make. We can disagree (and often do) with their competence, but that's different.

Do you really think refs don't discuss players and their tendencies? All Poll has done is pull back the curtain a bit.

Actually, the piece on Poll this weekend was interesting, showing how he interacts with players and teams.

"There's not a ref in the world who isn't biased. If there is, he isn't human."

Yup. I am a firm believer that Brain Hall has always been and always will be biased against DCU.

hey AdamsMo you are about a month behind the news. The Post had a big story about it when it happened back in July. The latest insult was his claim that once the Nationals move next spring to their new stadium the city will no longer need RFK so it will be demolished.

The latest is that Marion Barry and a group of Ward 8 residents have sent Fenty a letter expressing their outrage over his breaking off of talks with the team and they say they will oppose any plan for Poplar Point that does not include a soccer stadium and affordable housing. So as much as people here love to rag on Barry he is the team's strongest ally in this regard at this point. Barry is a friend to soccer and to DCU.

Pier Luigi Collina was unbiased, but then, he wasn't human, either.

I'm biased towards Ana Paula de Oliveira.

Some interesting stuff from Needham in this Dyer article on Soccernet.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=459854&root=us&cc=5901
It is examining the pathetic $ offered to Developmental players.

On a related note...
Who do you think that "respected MLS defender" was in the article that told Jay not to take the contract? I am guessing his initials are BB. He loves to give his opinion ;-)

Actually don't see the words "respected MLS defender" in the article. It only refers to a DC United veteran. From the description, it more likely was Olsen:

Needham: "This player is someone whom I highly respect, and I think that everyone in U.S. soccer respects, too."

I agree with Arrrlington...there isn't anyone on DCU other than Benny that "everyone in U.S. soccer respects." Good for him.

I like those Puerto Rico unis...

Oh - and they need to expand the rosters and allow the developmental contract slots to be used as originally planned (to develop hometown talent).

Either that, or MLS needs to allow individual teams to supplement dev contracts with their own money (like the DP rule) up to the minimum contract level (or even more) to allow a new player to at least stay afloat. We're only talking about an investment of about $50K from the team.

The latest is that Marion Barry and a group of Ward 8 residents have sent Fenty a letter expressing their outrage over his breaking off of talks with the team and they say they will oppose any plan for Poplar Point that does not include a soccer stadium and affordable housing. So as much as people here love to rag on Barry he is the team's strongest ally in this regard at this point. Barry is a friend to soccer and to DCU.

Posted by: Glenn | September 5, 2007 12:14 PM

The real questions is if another developer gets the rights to Poplar Point and builds a stadium would DCU ownership (who are developers) be happy leasing the stadium from another developer who got the land they had been told they would get.

If I had just purchased DCU and the city did this to me I would be on the next flight to St. Louis to buy up some land and move the team. If Fenty really does another about face and gives RFK to the Redskins I fully expect to see some nice banners from Barra Brava and Screaming Eagles showing our appreciation of the mayor.

I am sure the mayor will be hurt by those derisive banners.

I guess we all need to move into the District and start a recall campaign.

Yeah, that was my bad. I wish there was a way to erase here.
I replace Veteran with Defender. Strange.

Seriously, what does it take to start a recall campaign in the District? Anybody know?

Answering my own question: http://www.dcboee.org/serv/recall_process.shtm

The outrage over Poplar Point isn't limited to just DCU fans. I was surprised today when one of the office admin assitants mentioned she worked at RFK part time and asked me about DCU. I mentioned the stadium issue whcih she wasn't really aware of. While she wouldn't call heself a soccer fan, her opinion was the DCU does more than any other team for the district and its residents, is an important part of the city, and the winningest team. She was rather Po'd at our mayor over his decision on Poplar Point and the situation in general partiucarly compared to the massive handout given to the baseball stadium. And yes she is a DC voter.

Its possible that once more people become aware of the situation, which many are not, there will be a lot more support for the stadium and the related Poplar Point developmetn proposed by and promised to McFarlane than just the soccer community.

STOKES!!!!

we miss him. well.. I miss him

and he got a red card. gotta love it

Anyone notice the caption on the Revs-Railhawks photo: FRED BECKHAM/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Were jobs for David's relatives part of the MLS deal?

Some interesting comments from Alex Ferguson on the state of American soccer:

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/07/09/05/SOCCER_Beckham.html&TEAMHD=soccer

***
Quote:

...Ferguson feels the distance between teams affects the impact of football on American society.

"The size of the country makes it difficult," he said.

"In European football, and especially in British football, you can travel easily. "If you are Boston and need to go to Los Angeles it's a six-hour flight. Supporters don't travel so you are missing that rivalry between fans.

"So you have a problem. To make it substantial you would have to go regional but there's not enough teams to have four strong leagues."

****

I hadn't considered that before. He also points to the obvious fact that there is nowhere for young footballers to go to aid their development as they grow up. In England there are clubs in nearly every town, big and small, many with youth acadamies. Players of all skill levels have an avenue open somewhere.

Our infrastructure for developing young players is clearly much more limited. Does the college system fill that gap to an extent? If not, why not? Is it because the quality of trainers and facilities is not up to the european standard in most cases? Or is 18 to late in a kid's development? The european youth academies are getting to prospects when they're like 12-13 in some cases, (or so I've been told, not sure exactly how it works, but they get them young.) Meanwhile our kids of similar age are in HS or MS, where the potential for growth is much more hit and miss.

SAF also makes a pretty pointed swipe at Becksy near the end of the article, saying he was a great young lad until he got married, lol.

Same ol' stuff to me...zzzzz...so glad Alex brought it all up again without an original thought to add.

"To make it substantial you would have to go regional"

Oh, like conferences with playoffs and stuff. What a great idea! Sigh.

I know Needham was offered a small contract but he is lucky to get a contract. I know players like boswell and perkins fought and earned what they have, but there have been others how should not be playing in any pro team. If the USL wants to overpay thats thier money not MLS. MLS has to worry about other things. If you don't like what they pay you then keep your mouth shut and go somewhere else. There are people who would DIE to just wear a UNITED crest, so what if you need a second job. THATS LIFE

dc fan, you are so spot on!

i disagree; he's a professional, and part of being a professional in any career is about making sound financial decisions, and if that means playing in another league- even a lower league- so be it. blustering about how people would 'die' to wear an mls jersey is kind of ignorant. i think its really sad that young guys with a shot at playing top-level soccer in america are forced to take such appalling salaries... the mls needs to sort this out, or, as suggested in the article, a lot of our young domestic talent will go elsewhere, leaving us to watch washed up millionaire exports instead.

"If the USL wants to overpay thats thier money not MLS. MLS has to worry about other things."

Yup, and how many USL teams have folded in the last ten years compared to MLS? MLS moved 1 team and folded 2. And has since added 3--pretty stable if you ask me. Now I don't know how many USL teams have folded and I do agree that dev players ought to make a bit more than $1075 a month, but playing in MLS is a much bigger accomplishment than playing in the 2nd or 3rd division and in backwater... just how many scouts go to PR for soccer? baseball maybe, but soccer...? IMO, Needham should've taken the contract, moved in with a bunch of the other players (which would've helped him gel and focus) and gotten the 2nd job if he was as good as some people thought he was...

BTW, I didn't mean to call PR, specifically, a backwater, so all you Boricuas out there need not get your panties in a wad! ;-)

Maybe Needham went to Puerto Rico for that un-freakin-believable barbecue pork that slides off the bone and melts in your mouth. Gotta go back for some more of that!