WNT loss means changes

The Women's National Soccer Team is the closest thing that the United States has to dominance in soccer. After multiple world cups, Olympic gold medals and a number one ranking, Nike even created a campaign around "The Greatest Team You've Never Heard Of".

Things fell apart in the semi-finals against Brazil. The defeat was embarrassing for a team that's played 50 games without a loss. Coach Ryan made a change at the last minute, replacing Hope Solo, the goalie that's been part of that streak with Briana Scury, the goalie from a World Cup and Olympic victory.

There's very little argument that this not only affected the team chemistry but also put a player that wasn't the best into, arguably, the most important position in the game. Frankly, Ryan will be luck to keep his job.

What's even more disturbing is Hope Solo's reaction:



This is inexcusable for a player to react like this at this level. Calling out another player should take place in the locker room or on the field, not on ESPN. It sends the wrong message to your teammates and to the public.

Look for Hope Solo to be replaced before the 2008 Olympic games.

Cold Comfort for Chelsea: Cowboys finally returning to prowess 15 years after Jerry fired Jimmy

The shock of Jose Maurinho's sudden departure from coaching Chelsea has made it all the way to Dallas, Texas. The story is familiar to folks here in DFW. New, brassy club owner makes a big entrance into town, hires unproven yet intriguing coach in his first NFL job. Coach Johnson turned out to be a revelation for the franchise, winning two Super Bowls in a row and revitalizing what had become a stagnant, old NFL relic.

After a close but bickering relationship as Owner/Coach, Jones fires Johnson after his second straight Super Bowl victory. Legend has it that Jerry Jones was good and drunk when he fired Johnson. And that Jones didn't like Johnson getting all of the credit for turning the Cowboys around.

What loyal Chelsea supporters have to look forward to is the leadership of an owner with plenty of money to spend, reckless for want of control (just shy of coaching the team himself!) and impatiently looking for the easy way to greatness. If Jerry Jones is any example, it will take years for Abramovich to mature into a proper owner for Chelsea: one that funds the signing of top-level talent chosen by a coach who's entirely in control of on-the-field decisions.

The bad news for Maurinho: Jimmy Johnson never made another coaching splash in his career at Miami. He's a great color guy on Fox's NFL coverage though.

Match Day: Greece vs. Germany

To Arms! To Arms!

It is up to us. There have been blurbs. Postings in the finest of print. Whispered mentions of this event. Something like, “fc dallas new england revolution us open final .” Did you get that?! If you are one of the 7 people who read this blog, then maybe you did. However, most folks did not get the message. So, what’s all my clamoring about?

The U.S. Open Cup Championship
FC Dallas vs. NE Revolution
Wednesday October 3, 2007 @ 7PM
Pizza Hut Park – Frisco, Texas
Tickets start @ $8

Make plans to attend this match. And, tell your families, friends, neighbors, colleagues, congregation, clients, tae kwon do sparring partners, pilates instructors, bridge partners, toll booth operators, librarians, the guy who ran you off of the freeway, the teenager you ordered a 99 cent Wendy’s double stack at 2:05AM last night, the dog walker who did not pick up the poop in your yard – again, the mailman, your waitresses and waiters, yourself, the Latino nation, and anyone else you feel is up for a championship match. How often do we get to witness our home team play in a championship in our home town?

The other reason to get the word out is because FC Dallas will not get off its lazy ass and promote this match. They are more concerned about selling out Sprint PCS Night and giving out baseball hats at a soccer match. I am sure I will get an e-mail promoting this match 48 hours before it is played. But, does that really do justice for a championship match? FC Dallas qualified on September 4, 2007, and there has been one article in the Dallas Morning News. Count ‘em, ONE ARTICLE! Hello, PR department! You all ever heard press releases? Inundate every news source. Get creative! Make up some juicy tidbits that will have the stadium a buzz at kick off. Then, let game speak for itself.

The FC Dallas Marketing Department reminds me of high school cheerleaders. As the home team is on the 1-yard line ready to score a touchdown, the cheerleaders start yelling, “De-fense (clap-clap-clap) De-fense (clap-clap-clap)!” They are giving a great, clueless effort. Wake up! Hit the payment! Open doors! Have these people ever seen Glengarry Glen Ross? This is one opportunity that is slipping through their fingers. I can hear them now . . . .

Lester - Dude, the Burn (laughs, then a long uncomfortable pause), uh, I mean, FCD plays in the championship in less than two weeks! Shouldn’t we advertise for this game?
Bob – Corporate is pushing Redneck Night. You know they want 5,000 Bobby Rhine bobble heads and 10,000 t-shirts with Dax McCarty saying “Ain’t Skeerid”. Besides the League is trying to secretly replace the US Open Cup, remember?
Lester - Oh yeah, the Bowl (laughs through nose)!
Bob – That’s right, junior. Beckham Bowl I – where every team will play the LA Galaxy in a series of 10-minute mini-games in one glorious night. There will be a parade and fireworks at the end. Beckham takes his jersey off. A closing concert with Rascal Flatts and Gloria Trevi, you know the drill. Then, after a day a rest, the team that performed the worst against LA will be in the final of Beckham Bowl. The League has guaranteed that Beckham will score a hat trick in each half.
Lester – (speaking to himself – ‘I’m so high. Who’s Betsham? I hate Bob.’) Yes, true greatness. I’m hungry.

Clearly, this match requires a grass roots effort since the League or FCD are not promoting it. If I have miss represented FC Dallas in any way, please let me know. If they are marketing this game, please let me know and all the other aforementioned folks. I am going and I think everyone else should too. Any chance we can have more than 5,000 people show up for this game? Don't be surprised to see a bunch of red seats during FOX's broadcast.

Toronto FC to share BMO Field with Argonauts?

Flipping through the soccer feeds and I stumbled upon a thorny thread on BigSoccer.com. The word out of Toronto is that the CFL's Toronto Argonauts are looking into a possible move from Rogers Centre (aka The Sky Dome) to Canada's National Soccer Specific Stadium (SSS), BMO Field. This story starts at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. The Colts have the smallest stadium in the NFL. Owner Jim Ursay is threatening to dump Indy for Toronto if he doesn't get a brand new state-of-the-art football stadium.

So what happens in Indy may or may not launch the first foreign NFL team.

What does this have to do with the MLS? Well, this would paint BMO Field with those cruddy yardage markings. Nothing spoils a soccer match like yardage markers. It was painful to watch the Revs beat us the other night up in Gillette Stadium: mostly because the field was almost unrecognizable. You couldn't tell when the ball was out-of-bounds or not. It was a butt-ugly spectacle.

The MLS has to stick to its guns on soccer-specific stadiums. BMO Field, despite Toronto FC's tough 1st season, is a success story in the world of SSS: sellout games, great atmosphere, beautiful views. It would be unforgivable if the league allowed it to go mixed-use on a permanent basis.

Last minute draw vs. Fire

Phew! How 'bout "El Pescadito"! That was a really close game. The Fire had a 6-man defense going for most of the 2nd half with the lead at 1-0. We had some nice chances. But their defense kept us back until injury time when Carlos Ruiz slipped the ball past Fire GK Matt Pickens in the 93rd minute. Nicely done, Carlos!

Ruiz saves draw for FC Dallas
FC Dallas draws 1-1 with Fire on last-second goal
Posted: Friday September 21, 2007 12:30AM; Updated: Friday September 21, 2007 12:30AM

FRISCO, Texas (AP) -- Carlos Ruiz scored in the final seconds to help FC Dallas tie the Chicago Fire 1-1 on Thursday night.

Ruiz dribbled past two Fire defenders and chipped in a shot from about five yards away into an open Chicago net in the 93rd minute for his seventh goal of the season. Clarence Goodson assisted on the score.

Chicago's Chris Rolfe scored an unassisted goal in the 56th minute to give the Fire a 1-0 lead. Rolfe fired a right-footed volley into the right corner of the net from about 25 yards away for his first goal since May 12 and his fifth of the season.

The Fire (8-10-7) have not won a game in Dallas since July 4, 1999, a streak of 10 games.

Chicago goalie Matt Pickens had made two spectacular saves in the final 20 minutes of the game to prevent FC Dallas (12-9-4) from tying the game.

In the 88th minute Pickens made a diving save to his left side to deflect a shot by Ruiz and in the 78th minute he made a leaping save to punch away Goodson's header from the top of the goalies box.

Pickens finished the game with six saves, FC Dallas goalie Dario Sala finished the game with four saves.

Rolfe almost scored on a shot from the top of the arc in the 29th minute which grazed the fingertips of Sala and hit the top of the crossbar.

Rolfe's shot was one of only two shots for the Fire. In the first half, FC Dallas outshot Chicago 17-8.

The game was also the first time that Chicago forward and Mexican national team star Cuauhtemoc Blanco has played a game in Dallas since joining the MLS earlier this season.

Numerous fans in the announced crowd of 15,059 were sporting a yellow Club America jersey, Blanco's former team in the Mexican league. Blanco's only shot of the game came in the 72nd minute when his attempt from 12 yards out sailed high over the crossbar.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



Find this article at:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/09/21/bc.soc.mls
.fire.fcdalla.ap/index.html?eref=si_soccer

The Brimstone Cup 2007

OK, so I had no idea that there was such thing as The Brimstone Cup. I was watching the Fox Soccer Channel's "Fox Football Fone-In" this week. Nick & Steven's guest was none other than FC Dallas Coach Steve Morrow. So they're asking him about the season so far. "Great year, besotted with some tough injuries, but we've done really well all considering." And they're asking him about the playoff picture. "Would've loved to have sewn things up in Boston. But we had a tough night."

Then he mentions something about the "Bridgestone Cup" and the Chicago Fire game. And I'm thinking to myself, is Bridgestone Tires headquartered in Chicago? (Nope, they're a Japanese conglomerate) Why are we playing for a "Bridgestone Cup"?

Well, it turns out we've been playing the Brimstone Cup for 6 years now. And every time we play the Chicago Fire, it's on the line. The Cup is on the line tomorrow night in Frisco, TX on national TV ESPN2 at 7pm. Tune in. Boo Blanco. And GO FC Dallas! GO HOOPS!

The Wide World of Fútbol

I just returned from a really nice trip to Montréal, QC (despite American Airlines' attempts to sabotage our experience). Yonder north of Burlington, Vermont lay Montréal: a beautiful city with a wonderful international vibe. The cuisine is out of this world. (The serving sizes are downright American!) The people are unabashedly friendly. "Pas posible!" you say?. Vendors, shops & restaurants readily accept American dollars and hand you back Canadian change, zesty Montréal Brisket & Cuban cigars. Order any beer at any dive in Canada, and you get bubbly gold. Gambling is legal. It's an American Dream!

And Quebecers love their sports. Montréal still mourns the loss of its beloved baseball Expos (Expos paraphernalia is ubiquitous, t-shirts, ball caps, etc.)

Montréal, not Canton

Montréal, it turns out, is the birthplace of modern American Football. British soldiers garrisoned in Montréal in the late 19th Century introduced a variation of their rugby football that has since evolved into its various forms today: the NFL, the CFL and the darling of summer: the Arena Football League. Nothing in my American upbringing would have led me to think that Canada was the breadbasket of American Football. We hiked up from downtown Montréal to the Parc Mont Royal (Montréal's Central Park). All along the way, we heard what we thought were flocks of Canadian geese. Au contraire! After a steep climb up the steps towards the Kondiaronk Belvedere (sure wish someone had told me there was a tram we could have taken!), we realized that what we were hearing weren't Canadian geese, but rather the cheers from nearby Molson Stadium of Alouettes' fans celebrating a victory against the BC Lions. And it's a very odd sensation to watch the Alouettes play on TV and hear the French language play-by-play. But their passion and enthusiasm is unmistakable.

During this trip we also had a chance to meet a Canadian lobbyist from Toronto. I happened to bring up the great Galaxy/FC Toronto game last month. And it turns out he had been to that game in person at BMO Field! He raved about FC Toronto (even though they've had a rough first season). BMO Field in Toronto has one of the most spectacular views in the sport: overlooking downtown Toronto's skyline. It also happens to be the National Soccer venue for the Canadians. So they play most of their big international games there. FC Toronto has sold out its season. Yes, that's right. A Major League Soccer franchise has a team that sells out regularly. Their fans are positively feverish with the fútbol spirit. They are young, upwardly mobile, urban-dwelling fans with a lot of loose change for Molsons, Labatts and FC Toronto soccer scarves. This bodes well for another Canadian franchise in the MLS. Vancouver? Montreal? Just make certain that the soccer-specific stadiums up north have retractable domes.

I watched the end of the FC Dallas/FC Toronto game from Canada. The Canadian broadcast team was pretty weak. They had a Canuck and a Brit on there. I'll cut them some slack because of how long it's been since FC Toronto has scored a goal. Frisco's Pizza Hut Park pitch had American football yardage markers all over. Why does a soccer-specific stadium have football stripes on it? But I'm very happy that locally we have Brad Sham. He's a broadcasting giant in DFW. He could have easily been a national play-by-play guy. But all the same, I'm glad we have him all to ourselves here in Big D.

Happy Birthday, Cristobal! Soccer-Point blogger Cristobal Cuarenton steered me in the direction of the "Fox Football Fone-In". I had recently begun listening to the podcasts of "World Soccer Daily" with Steven Cohen. And, as it happens, he co-hosts "Fox Football Fone-In" on the Fox Soccer Channel every Tuesday night with Nick Webster. (Thanks, Cristobal for the tip.) The two hosts, both ex-pat Brits, seem to be having a marvelous time talking futbol from L.A. They are nicely sun-tanned. They get along famously. Their humor & enthusiasm is contagious. They aren't snooty at all towards their American cousins. And the American callers are real soccer fans who follow the sport very carefully. Viewing the "Fone-In" is like sidling up to a couple of blokes at the local pub to hear them spout off about their beloved sport. They have great guests on the show. The first time I watched them they had Johnny Rotten on there. Turns out, he's a huge Gunner. They had Preki on last week. He has done an OUTSTANDING coaching job at Chivas USA. They're in first place in the West now after their Super Clasico victory Thursday night on ESPN2 against the lowly LA Galaxy. This past week's guest was Chivas player Jesse Marsh, the guy that tackled Becks a couple of weeks ago and a melee ensued. Nick & Steven can chatter away about the whole wide world of soccer: from Serie A in Italy to the EPL, Spain's La Liga, Australia's A-League and Le Championnat. That's a lot of soccer to cover.


Years ago we loved watching ABC's Wide World of Sports. Jim McKay's opening segment remains one of those few sports anthology shows along with NFL Films, the Olympics & ABC's The Superstars that gave me the chills. (OK, ABC's The Superstars was cheesy. But who didn't love their TV Theme Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Jesus Christ Superstar"?)

Major League Soccer has its anthology soccer show now: It's called "David Beckham's Soccer USA". After this summer, you could question the judgment of programming chiefs naming the show after David Beckham. But this show is also televised in the UK. So they've got to convince otherwise unsuspecting Englishmen to watch Major League American Soccer. But I think this kind of show is very important in translating the sport to the American audience. The League has to get the stories across in this medium. I'm thinking specifically about a few passages in the NY Cosmos book I read this summer: "Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the NY Cosmos", the companion piece to last year's wonderful documentary. In the late 70's, the NASL really wanted a big time TV network contract to show their games weekly. But one of the ABC guys tried to convince them to instead go with a weekly anthology style show along the lines of the Wide World of Sports. The book goes on to explain how the network aired the games on Saturday afternoons when no one would be around at home to watch the games. The ratings were abominable.

October 28th, the NFL will take their product for another overseas exhibition in their International Series. This time it will be the Miami Dolphins squaring off against the NY Giants at Wembley Stadium. It appears that the NFL has shrunken their European operations so as to retool their efforts and focus on the UK.


It's very exciting to have the NFL season once again underway. I'm a huge Cowboys' fan. But the NFL has a much bigger challenge trying to sell their sport overseas than Major League Soccer has in getting a foothold in American Sports.

What is a FCD? What does Denilson bring?

Yes, I know what FCD means, but doesn't sound like a business acronym?

Lester - "Hey Bob, did you see the latest from headquarters?"
Bob - "Yes Lester, I did. The FCD is now set for a 2Q08 deployment."
Lester - "Can you believe they moved it again? Those bastards!"
Bob - "I proposed the move."
Lester - "Oh."

Or, a feminine hygiene product?

"Don't let Romeo be a no-show because of odor problems. Have him get a whiff of dessert after dessert with a Joan Collins' signature product FCD - Feminine Chocolate Deodorant. There are two things man can't resist - chocolate and your good thing, ladies. FCD, the sweet smell of 'oh man, that is refreshing.'"

Now for a futbolito perspective...

• FCD look better against TFC, but then again everyone has looked better against Toronto.
• US vs. Brazil - nice match by both sides, poor officiating led to goals for Brazil and not for US. Better effort for US from the last four matches. Bobby Convey is a loser and does not need to play for the US again.
• Euro 2008 qualifiers - no real surprises, but Wednesday is coming. Shockers abound. Watch out for Ireland. Backs against the wall and need a win at Prague to be tied with the Czech Republic in points. England-Russia should be violent and I feel a draw coming on.
• La Liga Mexicana - Santos is on a worst to first run and now claim the Superlider position. They trounced America 4-0 last week. Jaguares de Chiapas keep losing and that's okay.
• La Seleccion de Mexico played one half versus Panama in Puebla. 2nd half cancelled due to a deluge. Mexico won 1-0 due to an auto-gol.
• Another auto-gol of note is the one on the US by Oguchi Onyewu. The US was winning and playing tight with Brazil until the unlucky auto-gol bounced off of him. Big galoot.

As for Denilson, the jury is still out on him. Yes, it is nice to get someone with global recognition or does he? Who is following his moves from abroad these days? As I recall, he was and is not the most prolific goal scorer. He does control the ball nicely and can be a nice play maker, especially when Dallas is healthy ( I envision crosses with Kenny Cooper heading in goals). But, I still think it will take time for Denilson and his teammates to adjust to each other's play. MLS is a glorified suburb league that has college players becoming employees and foreign players who no one really wants. Who else wanted to sign Denilson (or Son de nil - son of nada)? Wasn't his last place to play in the Middle East? I am sure there are some good teams there. But much like their US counterpart, who outside of their countries is following them? Ball control is great. Juggling is pretty, but it does not score goals. So, let the jury be out and have it rule when Dallas exits again in the 1st round and everyone will say, "Man, if we only scored more goals....."

What is a FCD, and why won't it win in 2007? The other top three teams in the West have our number... Houston (First Comes Dynamo) ... Colorado (Frustratingly, Colorado Dominates) ... Chivas USA (Finalmente Chivas Domina) ... So, the 2Q08 deployment may be our best option, or we may want to contact Joan Collins. At least, there is the US Open Cup.

The FC Dallas Mojo

It's called the beautiful game for a reason. There's nothing like a well executed play in soccer. Ball control, passing, dribbling and that shot in the net. Every sport has it but in soccer, maybe because of the fact that there's not a lot of scoring compared to other sports, it's different.

To really make it beautiful, it has to go beyond just the technical aspects of the game. Great teams have great chemistry. They can tell what each other is thinking. They operate as one.

I haven't seen this in FC Dallas in the last two games. The game against the DC United not only had defensive problems, the offense wasn't as smooth and clean as I had seen it in previous teams. Even against Seattle, a USL team, it just didn't seem to click (although I have to admit I didn't see the overtime).

Is it the addition of Denilson? Are they just tired from playing so often?

Let's hope they get it together before the playoffs start. Like Austin Powers, they need to find their Mojo.

I think we all have such high hopes.

The Lion, The Monk & The Baron

Tough night on the home pitch for FC Dallas. DC United spanked us 4-nil. It was 2-0 at half time, so part of me was holding on to the hope that we could pull together a come back similar to the one we mounted back in RFK a month or so ago.

But it was not to be. Not even the magic of the North American debut of Brazilian midfielder Denilson's fairy dust could sprinkle any hope for a 2nd half Hoops' rally.



It was a beautiful night at Pizza Hut Park regardless. I got to take my pal the Lion (a baseball & hockey fan extraordinaire) out to his first FC Dallas game. And Lion & I got to share three cold Tecate's and a cold Frisco pretzel with the Baron of Beef himself at half time.