tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90993916687663868202024-03-05T21:23:54.353-05:00sitting on the terracestimmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-40492572834600618172008-10-18T19:52:00.007-04:002008-10-20T17:30:04.301-04:00Premiership Power RankingsBecause I'm a reporter for a paper, writing long faux-columns or short entries for this blog takes too much effort. When I get home from the day the last thing I want to do is look at a computer and write, let alone think.<br /><br />So I vow to post weekly power rankings that recap the previous weekend's actions in the EPL (shut up Barclays). Some division names will change, some will stay the same. Here's what I mean:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Bundy's got nothing on us<br /></span><span>20. Tottenham</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />You can't get relegated in October, can you? </span><br />19. Newcastle<br />18. Fulham<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">If only it was May<br /></span>17.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>Stoke City<br />16. Bolton<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sacrificial Lamb of the week</span><br />15. West Brom<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Everyone forgets we actually suck</span><br />14. Boro<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hoping to avoid the off-season exodus<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span>13. Everton<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><br /><br />Malt Liquor: not good, but does the job<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>12. Wigan<br />11. Blackburn<br />10. Sunderland<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">West-Hamming it up<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span>9. West Ham<br />8. Portsmouth<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Waiting for January</span><br />7. Man City<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Overachieving 101<br /></span>6. Hull City<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hoping Arsenal slips up</span><br />5. Aston Villa<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Knows Aston Villa will slip up</span><br />4. Arsenal<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Title Contenders<br /></span>3. Liverpool<br />2. Man United<br />1. Chelsea<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-83722270361571803002008-10-02T21:14:00.004-04:002008-10-02T22:16:41.138-04:00Raising the Dead<p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">How long its been? Two months? Five Weeks? My apologies. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Well, I'm back. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And where to begin other than the UEFA Cup, seeing how today was the last round of all these pre-group-stage rounds.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I won't break down the results as there's like 50 of them. But here's an interesting breakdown of how many nations' club qualified from the group stage, compared to how many competed (warning: my math is off on the group stages – do help!)</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1st Round</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style=" ;color:black;"></span></span></st1:country-region></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><st1:country-region st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">5 clubs: Germany, </span></span></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Holland, </span></st1:place></st1:city><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">England, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Portugal, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Romania</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span></span></span></span></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">4 clubs: Spain, Italy</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">3 clubs: </span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">France, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Russia, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Czech Rep., </span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Turkey, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Denmark, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Serbia, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Switzerland</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2 clubs: </span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Belgium, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Norway, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Croatia, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Poland, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bulgaria, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Cyprus, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Austria</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span style=" ;color:black;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style=" ;color:black;"></span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1 club: Greece, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ukraine, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Slovakia, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sweden, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Israel, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ireland, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lithuania, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Finland, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Scotland</span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Group Stages:</span><span style="mso-tab-count:8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style=" ;color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">5 clubs: Germany, </span></span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:city st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Holland</span></st1:city><span style=" ;color:black;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">4 clubs: </span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Spain, </span></st1:country-region><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">England, </span></st1:country-region><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Italy</span></st1:country-region></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">3 clubs: France</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2 clubs: Portugal, </span></st1:country-region><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Russia, </span></st1:country-region><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Belgium</span></st1:country-region><span style="mso-tab-count:1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1 club: Greece, </span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Czech Rep., Ukraine, Poland, Serbia, Denmark, Turkey, Croatia, Norway</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;color:black;"><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So who are the biggest losers? Well, </span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Romania</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> for one. Five clubs from the nation entered into the first round, and zero are in the group stages. </span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Switzerland</span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> went 0 for 3, and </span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Portugal</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> 2 for 5. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></st1:country-region></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The biggest winners are obviously </span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Germany</span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, </span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Italy</span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, </span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Spain</span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, and </span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">England</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> that put in almost all their nations. And kudos to nations like </span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ukraine</span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, </span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Greece</span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, and </span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Slovakia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> that went one for one. But I gotta clap my hands to Holland, a nation whose domestic league has been on the decline internationally, whose UEFA Coefficient is below both Romania and Portugal, yet had all their 5 clubs advance. If only PSV could catch that magic in the Champions League…<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Be sure to check out footy-highlights.com for all the UEFA Cup action.</span><br /></p><p></p><col width="125" style="mso-width-source:userset;mso-width-alt:4571;width:94pt"><col width="64" style="width:48pt"><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-49099197988289328882008-07-30T20:17:00.002-04:002008-07-30T20:41:19.208-04:00Its the Second Qualifying Round already!And what a round it was.<br /><br />Four of the clubs that advanced from the First Qualifying Round won, and three drew. The biggest victor without a doubt was<b> </b>Artmedia Petržalka/Bratislava defeating Finland's Tampere United 3-1 on the road. And although at home, Anorthosis Famagusta still cruised to a 3-0 victory over Rapid Wein. The largest margin of victory though goes to Denmark's Aalborg BK who crushed Bosnia's FK Modriča Maxima 5-0. Rangers fan shouldn't start panicking, but a scoreless draw with Lithuania's Kaunas at the Ibrox is a bit unsettling. Venstpils and Drogheda United almost walked away with moral victories, whereas Inter Baku barely escaped an imminent exit. And BATE of Belarus definitely deserves mention as pulling off one of the biggest upsets, defeating Anderlecht 2-1 in Belgium -- it'll be difficult for Gooch's squad to come back from that one.<br /><br />Below are the full results:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rangers <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303496/report=rp.html">0-0</a> Kaunas<br />Brann <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303497/report=rp.html">0-0</a> Ventspils<br />Inter Baku <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303498/report=rp.html">1-1</a> Partizan Belgrade<br />Tampere United <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303499/report=rp.html">1-3</a> Artmedia</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Petržalka</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Anorthosis <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303500/report=rp.html">3-0</a> Rapid Wien<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Domžale <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303501/report=rp.html">0-3</a> Dinamo Zagreb<br />Panathinaikos <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303502/report=rp.html">3-0</a> Dinamo Tbilisi<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">G</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">öteborg <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303503/report=rp.html">1-1</a> Basel<br />Sheriff Tiraspol <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303504/report=rp.html">0-1</a> Sparta Prague<br />Drogheda United <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303505/report=rp.html">1-2</a> Dynamo Kyiv<br />Anderlecht <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303506/report=rp.html">1-2</a> BATE/Valur<br />Beitar Jerusalem <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303507/report=rp.html">2-1</a> Wisła Kraków<br />Fenerbahçe <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303508/report=rp.html">2-0</a> MTK Hungária<br />Aalborg BK <a href="http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15274/match=303509/report=rp.html">5-0</a> </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%;">Modri</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 100%;">ča</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-14027827476941412962008-07-23T16:37:00.006-04:002008-07-23T17:10:10.475-04:00Champions League First Qualifying Round Second Leg<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bf/UEFA_Champions_League_logo_2.svg/180px-UEFA_Champions_League_logo_2.svg.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bf/UEFA_Champions_League_logo_2.svg/180px-UEFA_Champions_League_logo_2.svg.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>That title is a mouthful, huh?<br /><br />Anyways, the second leg of the Cupcake Round (oops!) was completed today when nine of the fourteen participating clubs did battle. Lithuania's Kaunas and Sweden's G<span>öteborg</span> won big, Inter Baku advanced on away goals, and Aktobe and Llanelli couldn't advance despite winning the first leg. Below are the overall results (but home teams listed second):<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">FC BATE (Belarus) 2-0 Valur (Iceland)<br /> </span><span><span style="font-style: italic;">still in progress...BATE leading 1-0...will update.</span><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Drogheda United (Ireland) 1-0 Levadia Tallinn (Estonia)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Drogheda advances 3-1</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aktobe (Kazakhstan) 0-4 Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Sheriff Tiraspol advances 4-1</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dinamo Tirana (Albania) 1-2</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" > Modri</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >ča</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> (Bosnia/Herzegovina)<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" > Modri</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >ča advances 4-1</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg) 0-2 Domžale (Slovenia)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Domžale advances 3-0</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tampere United (Finland) 1-1 Budućnost (Montenegro)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Tampere United advances 3-2</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Inter Baku (Azerbaijan) 1-1 Rabotnički (Macedonia)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Inter Baku advances on away goals</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus) 2-0 Yerevan (Armenia)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Anorthosis advances 3-0</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Llanelli (Wales) 0-4 Ventspils (Latvia)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Ventspils advances 4-1</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Murata (San Marino) 0-4 IFK Göteborg (Sweden)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> G</span><span style="font-style: italic;">öteborg advances 9-0</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Santa Coloma (Andorra) 1-4 Kaunas (Lithuania)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Kaunas advances 7-2</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia) 0-1 NSÍ Runavík (Faeroe Islands)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Tbilisi advances 3-1</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Valletta (Malta) 0-1 Artmedia Petržalka (Slovakia)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Artmedia advances 3-0</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Linfield (Northern Ireland) 1-1 Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Zagreb advances 3-1<br /><br /></span><span>So the first leg of the Second Qualifying Round is practically all set to begin next week, July 29th and 30th,<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>and here are the pairings:</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rangers (Scotland) vs. Kaunas<br />Brann (Norway) vs. Ventspils<br />Inter Baku vs. Partizan (Serbia)<br />Tampere United vs. Artmedia</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Petržalka</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Anorthosis vs. Rapid Wien (Austria)<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Domžale vs. Dinamo Zagreb<br />Panathinaikos (Greece) vs. Dinamo Tbilisi<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">G</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">öteborg vs. Basel (Switzerland)<br />Sheriff Tiraspol vs. Sparta Prague (Czech)<br />Drogheda United vs. Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine)<br />Anderlecht (Belgium) vs. BATE/Valur<br />Beitar Jerusalem (Israel) vs. Wisła Kraków (Poland)<br />Fenerbahçe (Turkey) vs. MTK Hungária (Hungary, duh)<br />Aalborg BK (Denmark) vs. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Modri</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >ča<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">With the exception of Tampere and Artmedia (who play another)</span><span style="font-size:100%;">,</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">each advancing club will have some difficulty moving onto the Third, and final, Qualifying Round. Even Kaunas and Gothenburg, who shelled their opposition, have tough opponents in Rangers and Basel respectively. It'll be interesting to see who, if any, survive.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-29774646580673961602008-07-17T19:32:00.003-04:002008-07-17T20:17:59.872-04:00UEFA Cup First Qualifying Round<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/07/UEFA_cup_logo.svg/120px-UEFA_cup_logo.svg.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 291px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/07/UEFA_cup_logo.svg/120px-UEFA_cup_logo.svg.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Oh, yeah, the UEFA Cup also began their qualifying procedures today. Now, this is way more complicated than the Champions League qualifying where victors of cupcake nations get to battle it out (before <span style="font-style: italic;">third </span>and<span style="font-style: italic;"> fourth</span> place teams from big nations also get to play, inexplicably). Instead third place teams and domestic cup winners of cupcake nations get to battle it out. Sheeeeesh.<br /><br />Lets just take a step back for a second and recap the competition. All in all 122 clubs will participate throughout the competition. Here's the breakdown:<br /><ul><li>Associations 1-6 each have 3 teams qualify</li><li>Associations 7-8 each have 4 teams qualify</li><li>Associations 9-15 each have 2 teams qualify</li><li>Associations 16-21 each have 3 teams qualify</li><li>Associations 22-37 and 39-50 have 2 teams qualify</li><li>Associations 38 (Lichtenstein), 51 (Andorra), 52 (San Marino) have 1 team qualify</li><li>Association 53 (Montenegro) have 2 teams qualify</li></ul>AND<br /><ul><li>3 UEFA Fair Play entries</li><li>11 Winners of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Intertoto_Cup_2008" title="UEFA Intertoto Cup 2008">UEFA Intertoto Cup 2008</a></li><li>16 Losers from the <span class="mw-redirect">UEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Round</span></li><li>8 third-placed teams from the <span class="mw-redirect">UEFA Champions League Group Stage</span></li></ul>Too much numbers for ya? Well, its gets worse. The First Qualifying Round, has <span style="font-style: italic;">74</span> teams in all. 33 Cup-winners from associations 21-53, 32 runners-up from associations 19-37, 39-50 and 53, 6 third-place finishers from associations 16-21, and 3 entries through UEFA Fair Play (which should have been Fulham) all take part.<br /><br />I'm not going to recap the results of the first leg because there were 37 of them. So just go <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Cup_2008-09#First_Qualifying_Round">here</a>. There weren't any surprises in the results, other than Red Bull Salzburg scoring 7 on Banants Yerevan of Armenia, and HSC Berlin winning 8-1 against Nistru Otaci of Moldova. Gotta love mismatches! And Vaduz, who won the Lichtenstein football Cup (thus qualifying them for the competition as Liechtensteiner clubs play in Switzerland) lost to Bosnia's Zrinjski Mostar. C'mon Residenzlers!<br /><br />The second leg reconvenes in two weeks, where they'll join 27 <span style="font-style: italic;">other</span> clubs in the Second Qualifying Round. My head hurts.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-45039431826914142962008-07-17T16:55:00.006-04:002008-07-17T20:20:15.209-04:00UEFA Champions League Qualifying<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bf/UEFA_Champions_League_logo_2.svg/180px-UEFA_Champions_League_logo_2.svg.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bf/UEFA_Champions_League_logo_2.svg/180px-UEFA_Champions_League_logo_2.svg.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Believe it or not, but the UEFA Champions League begun Tuesday, and continued Wednesday. Okay, so its the first round of qualifying, but still -- the long road to Rome is underway. As far as I know, no club has ever progressed from the First Qualifying Round to the Group Stages. So this may all be a moot point, but whatever.<br /><br />The 28 Champions of associations 25-53 take part in the first round. A nation's association is determined by their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_coefficient#League_coefficient">UEFA league co-efficient</a>. In this round, Sweden has the highest ranked league, whereas San Marino has the lowest (I was unaware San Marino had a league -- but they do have a funny entry in the Onion's <span style="font-style: italic;">Our Dumb World</span>). Lichtenstein do not qualify for the Champions League, as they don't have a league. Per usual, each qualifying round is two-legged. So, without much ado, below are the results for the First Qualifying Round. And as always, home team listed first:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">FC BATE (Belarus) 2-0 Valur (Iceland)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Drogheda United (Ireland) 2-1 Levadia Tallinn (Estonia)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Aktobe (Kazakhstan) 1-0 Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Dinamo Tirana (Albania) 0-2</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" > Modri</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >ča</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> (Bosnia/Herzegovina)<br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg) 0-1 Domžale (Slovenia)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Tampere United (Finland) 2-1 Budućnost (Montenegro)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Inter Baku (Azerbaijan) 0-0 Rabotnički (Macedonia)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus) 1-0 Pyunik Yerevan (Armenia)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Llanelli (Wales) 1-0 Ventspils (Latvia)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Murata (San Marino) 0-5 IFK Göteborg (Sweden)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Santa Coloma (Andorra) 1-4 Kaunas (Lithuania)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia) 3-0 NSÍ Runavík (Faeroe Islands)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Valletta (Malta) 0-2 Artmedia Petržalka (Slovakia)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Linfield (Northern Ireland) 0-2 Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)<br /><br /></span>The second leg continues next week, July 22nd and 23rd.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-48025014755111772052008-07-09T18:20:00.003-04:002008-07-09T19:16:26.193-04:00On to the Round of Four<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.trisoccerfan.com/nucleus/media/3/20070612-opencuplogo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.trisoccerfan.com/nucleus/media/3/20070612-opencuplogo.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>In what probably the most exciting round yet, two USL-1 sides upset their big MLS brothers, and Crystal Palace Baltimore came within a fraction of defeating the defending champions. The best part about the entire round though was the free live radio and streaming video from the Revolution, MLS and USL. Thanks guys -- Europe could learn a lot from that.<br /><br />Gearing up for their inaugural SuperLiga appearance this weekend, the Revolution put out their JV squad against cinderella's Crystal Palace Baltimore/USA. Yet it almost went pear-shaped, as the USL-2 side took New England to the very brink, losing 5-3 on penalties. Charleston told FC Dallas that the third time ain't ever the charm, as they cruised to a 3-1 upset in Frisco. It took the Seattle Sounders seven attempts in the penalty shootout to dispatch the Wizards 6-5. I watched most of this match via streaming USL video, and was quite impressed with the Sounders play. Their stadium was empty, as predicted, but they should do quite fine next year in the MLS.<br /><br />In typical DC United and Chicago Fire fashion, there were more bookings than goals. Yet this battle royale – which included 9 bookings – went into extra time, where a Bryan Namoff goal in the 99th put Barra Barra's boys ahead 2-1 for good. The biggest intrigue of the match was (another) brawl between Blanco, who just entered, and Marc Burch. <a href="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2008/07/the_blanco_situation.html">The Washington Post</a> has the best examination of the fracas:<br /><br /><blockquote><p>In addition to his on-field conduct, which according to D.C. United defender Marc Burch included both punching and eye-gouging D.C. midfielder Clyde Simms, Blanco also allegedly head-butted a D.C. United operations employee as he was being escorted off the field, according to sources. </p> <p>Here is D.C. United’s comment on the situation: “As a result of incidents last night, Major League Soccer has requested video footage, which we are preparing and will be sending to the league,” United spokesman Doug Hicks said. Hicks said MLS will have the video today. </p></blockquote>I too am attempting to find that video, and video highlights of all the other matches. I did however find some photos which are <a href="http://www.isiphotos.com/albums.php?albumId=1794">here</a> and <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/pt/slideshows/2008/07/pho_070808_fcdallas_charleston/">here</a>, and some vids <a href="http://seattlesounders.com/Newsite98103/tv.php">here</a>. So if you have any of either, do pass them along. Below are the results, home team listed first:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New England Revolution <a href="http://usopencup.com/home/260872.html">1-1(5-3PK)</a> Crystal Palace USA/Baltimore</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DC United <a href="http://usopencup.com/home/260874.html">2-1(AET)</a> Chicago Fire</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">FC Dallas <a href="http://usopencup.com/home/260876.html">1-3</a> Charleston Battery</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Seattle Sounders <a href="http://usopencup.com/home/260877.html">0-0 (6-5pk)</a> Kansas City Wizards<br /></span><span><br />The Cup goes on hiatus until August 12, four days before the Premiership starts. Here's the semifinal pairings, which, thankfully, allow a USL-1 side to make the final and, hopefully, win it:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New England at DC United</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Seattle Sounders at Charleston Battery</span><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-31328745220024891162008-07-08T11:03:00.003-04:002008-07-08T11:05:37.422-04:00US Open Cup Quaterfinal Preview part deuxRemember that (crappy) preview I wrote yesterday? Well, the cup's website did the same and its quite better than mine.<br /><br /><a href="http://usopencup.com/home/260704.html">Enjoy</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-34733764401972076032008-07-07T14:48:00.005-04:002008-07-07T17:38:33.343-04:00US Open Cup Quaterfinal Preview<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qFBfH_WFl0wUJ5pE-JpoMFDF4JySOuyAJ5Isaepy4tUGcwcMF4Y65k1gQjxjDfyML6pUrjYxBj7UxkLseUrwc1yYQ-Fbdd6RzorlmCzhzCgoBqSElU9tjiWbcBB26ZyhJIVCD5NBYI1y/s1600-h/Untitled-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qFBfH_WFl0wUJ5pE-JpoMFDF4JySOuyAJ5Isaepy4tUGcwcMF4Y65k1gQjxjDfyML6pUrjYxBj7UxkLseUrwc1yYQ-Fbdd6RzorlmCzhzCgoBqSElU9tjiWbcBB26ZyhJIVCD5NBYI1y/s200/Untitled-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220389694677229026" border="0" /></a>Believe it or not, but its already the quarterfinals.<br /><br />Four MLS teams are still in it, two USL-1, and one USL-2. Hopefully the Cinderella's will continue to dance, but its going to be a tough round of tango ahead.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Crystal Palace Baltimore at New England Revolution<br /></span>Can the Eagles keep the momentum? The biggest underdogs of the tournament face the toughest opponent, last year's cup victors. For some reason this is occurring in New Britain, CT -- a place I've been and don't necessarily want to go back to. Nonetheless expect Stevie Nichol's side to be well equipped and mentally ready for the task at hand.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chicago Fire at DC United</span><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="on down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"></span></span>The Fire are one of the few clubs that take this competition seriously -- which is a good thing. Yet DC United seem to have Chicago's number. I'm just glad this match pits two MLS sides against another, which means only one can advance. The less, the better!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Charleston Battery at FC Dallas</span><br />The Battery have to manage the Texas two-step, for the third straight year, if they want to advance to the semifinals. FC Dallas turned things around against Miami FC, and should be the favorites. Yet the Battery are, thankfully, the only club with an adequate <a href="http://www.charlestonbattery.com/matches_previews.asp?cid=390">match preview</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kansas City Wizards at Seattle Sounders</span><br />Seattle fans may have had a miserable week with the stealing of the Sonics, but at least they have a future-MLS team to look forward to. Sebastien Le Toux, paid like an MLS star, has played like one too with five goals already. Kansas City were gifted advancement thanks to Carolina's collapse, so a presumably half-empty Qwest field should see their defeat.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-14057866311002393162008-07-04T15:32:00.004-04:002008-07-05T13:05:52.312-04:00A little break from footy...But with the recent dealings in Seattle I just had to voice my growing discontent on professional sports in this country. In fact, I plan on publishing a book soon <span style="font-style: italic;">Why I've begun to hate American Sports</span>.<br /><br />And this whole debacle will be a chapter titled "Franchising is the death of everything: How public tax dollars are wasted on private sports ventures, which in turn screw the public."<br /><br />There are countless other examples throughout the current and historic American sportscape. And will continue to be because they're not teams belonging to communities or cities, but "franchises". And the organizations that run the leagues are somehow continually getting away with taxing the public for private business. It would be one thing if a museum, library, or other civic institution was constructed -- but professional sports only exist to pad the pockets of the billionaire owners.<br /><br />Now, this shouldn't be new to anyone with a brain. And I'm sure you're all aware of what has been transpiring in the Emerald City: how Howard Schultz was an inept owner, sold it to some OK City carpetbaggers who demanded a king's ransom to renovate a <span style="font-style: italic;">13-year-old</span> stadium, and Seattle (in typical city politic fashion) took the money to line their pockets. And the tyrannic David Stern, obviously not caring about public image after it was all but proven that his league is as palatable as boxing, welcomed the move.<br /><br />I know MK Dons attempted this route, but it went through much negative hubbub. And, although some doom-sayers otherwise, it will probably never happen again. But, as far as I know, this type of greed would never be allowed to occur in English and European soccer. Yes, there was the Wembley racket and Cardiff's Millenium Stadium was financed partially from public funds. But those are national stadiums, used for a variety of events. <br /><br />Imagine if Niall Quinn decided "screw it, Sunderland sucks. I'm moving elsewhere"; or if the new American owners of Derby County attempted to relocate to a larger locale because the public wouldn't fund a new stadium. Would anyone in England tolerate this? Would the BPL chairman Sir Dave Richards sit glumly by? Even I would probably riot in the fans' favor. Yet in America this happens all the time. And the league's allow it to, because it would terrible PR for them to be rebuffed by the people who actually pay for the event (consumers rejecting a product -- what a novel thought!).<br /><br />I feel sorry for Seattle, but I also feel sorry for <span style="font-style: italic;">every</span> team in <span style="font-style: italic;">every</span> league. A precedence and formula has been established to make more money: purchase a team, alienate its fan-base, demand public funds to renovate stadiums that don't really need it in the first place, buy off the city government through graft, and then eventually move to your future destination. There are a few teams that would never move without some serious bloodshed (e.g. Red Sox, Yankees, Red Wings, Packers, any Philly team, Giants, Jets, Celtics, Knicks -- see a trend?), but every 'mid-table' club is hereby vulnerable.<br /><br />And with the closed leagues, rewarding draft picks for under-performing, and salary caps, the trend will only continue to get worse.<br /><br />Which is why any Rochdale, Bury, or even Liverpool fan can rest assure that their club will never relocate. Because their sports system does rely on money, yes, but mostly on results. The same cannot be said of here, where, allegedly, its about competition and the best being allowed to succeed.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-33070123632895152282008-07-02T10:55:00.007-04:002008-07-02T12:11:38.170-04:00US Open Cup Third Round recap<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqep9SJDxiZrt94Tf6Q1LnRnx35PdWgDwxqhJpvPgYaBIUTc2gxBo1IgNGnnAjEbbpGguAQOABz_hLMmPTznsY3R6SjUygLaAZDJiivarg5gclEv40CcmcG5yaSmGEZQzI4K5rjWMWb6xf/s1600-h/us+opencup.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqep9SJDxiZrt94Tf6Q1LnRnx35PdWgDwxqhJpvPgYaBIUTc2gxBo1IgNGnnAjEbbpGguAQOABz_hLMmPTznsY3R6SjUygLaAZDJiivarg5gclEv40CcmcG5yaSmGEZQzI4K5rjWMWb6xf/s200/us+opencup.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218447620210528610" border="0" /></a>Finally, some giant killings!<br /><br />The biggest of 'em all though was my adopted club Crystal Palace USA, the USL-2 minnows, defeating the corporate giants Red Bull New York/New York Red Bulls/the New York Red Bulls 2-0 with just 10 men. Charleston and Seattle were the other underdogs to prevail, defeating Houston and Chivas USA respectively. But, with all do respect, is defeating reserve and fringe squads really an upset? I say not really, but thats up to you.<br /><br />When most bigger clubs participate in their opening rounds, several stars are rested. NYRB left out Jon Conway, Dane Richards, Seth Stammler, Oscar Echeverry, and Dave van den Bergh; while Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna were out with injuries. Their absence greatly affected the side, as Crystal Palace's Ibrahm Kante was given a straight red in just the 34th minute, yet it availed to nothing. Yet Palace, who were without striker Kevin King and coach Pete Medd, didn't seem to mind all the absences and cruised to the victory thanks to goals by Andrew Marshall and Gary Brooks.<br /><br />With Pat Onstad and Craig Waibel on the bench, and no Dwayne De Rosario, Brian Ching, or Ricardo Clarke, it was déjà vu for the Houston Dynamo. For the second year in a row they bow out to the Charleston Battery in extra-time. Or after extra time, as this year's match went to penalties. Whats empathic about the Dynamo's loss is that two Battery players were sent off. In fact, 10 players were booked between both sides. Although Houston tied up the match at 1-1 in the 89th, Charleston hung on until penalties whereupon they squeaked by 4-3.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.uslsoccer.com/imgs/home/Crystal_Palace_FC_USA.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 171px;" src="http://www.uslsoccer.com/imgs/home/Crystal_Palace_FC_USA.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Chivas USA have a brief history in the MLS, which has a brief history in of itself, but they're already on the fast track to being the biggest bottlers of the league (if only New England would win a damn title). Again with the déjà vu stuff, Chivas exits the competition early by the hands of the Seattle Sounders. Yet unlike NY and Houston, Chivas fielded a halfway decent side as USMNT future hopefuls Brad Guzan and Sacha Kljestan featured. Yet Taylor Graham and Sebastian Le Toux's goals were enough to see Seattle through.<br /><br />Other highlights of the third round were Kansas City's comeback victory against Carolina, and FC Dallas' last second victory against Miami. Already down 2-0 in the 57th minute, KC kept plugging away at the lead -- or Carolina choking it away. Wizard Claudio Lopez's goal from the penalty spot in the 81st minute sent the match to extra time, wherein Ivan Trujillo scored his second of the match, and Ryan Pore added another goal from the spot to advance KC 4-2. And FC Dallas were en route to embarrassment as visiting Miami jumped out to a 1-0 lead in just the 7th minute thanks to Alex Alfonso. Yet Abe Thompson's goals in both stoppage times, including a fanciful header in the 92nd, was enough to redeem the home side, and save off any upset.<br /><br />Below are the results, home team listed first (who went 7 for 8):<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Seattle Sounders </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.usopencup.com/thirdround/259104.html">2-0</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Chivas USA</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">DC United </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.usopencup.com/thirdround/259109.html">2-0</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Rochester Rhinos<br />Carolina RailHawks <a href="http://www.usopencup.com/thirdround/259107.html">2-4(AET)</a> Kansas City Wizards<br />Charleston Battery <a href="http://www.usopencup.com/thirdround/259589.html">1-1(4-3)</a> Houston Dynamo<br />FC Dallas <a href="http://www.usopencup.com/thirdround/259105.html">2-1</a> Miami FC<br />Crystal Palace USA <a href="http://www.usopencup.com/thirdround/259106.html">2-0 </a>New York Red Bulls<br />New England <a href="http://www.usopencup.com/thirdround/259108.html">3-0</a> Richmond<br />Chicago Fire <a href="http://www.usopencup.com/thirdround/259102.html">4-1</a> Cleveland City Stars<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-30547288594020133542008-06-30T18:16:00.005-04:002008-06-30T19:07:54.557-04:00Euro 2008 -- no I didn't forget about it<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.stadiondienst.ch/images/maskottchen_euro2008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.stadiondienst.ch/images/maskottchen_euro2008.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />In fact, I think I watched practically every match.<br /><br />But I didn't devote any time to this event because, well, <span style="font-style: italic;">everyone</span> else already was. And they probably had more insightful things to say. I do want to congratulate Spain though, on a romp well done. No other team stood a chance against them; yet I don't think anyone who picked them stuck with them 100%, or even chose them in the first place (I know I didn't). Is it possible to be described as a "least-surprising surprise"? Because if so, they're it.<br /><br />What I took away most from this years competition (my first as a footy fan), and Norman Hubbard wrote a great piece about this over at <a href="http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=550723&root=euro2008&cc=5901">soccernet</a>, was the passing of the old guard. Generation X has given way to Generation-Y, the MTV Generation, or whatever the hell my age group is called. France, Italy, and Sweden all fielded geriatric squads, and all had extremely disappointing performances. Spain, Russia, and Turkey were either led by youth or had a youthful endeavor and jubilance about them that saw to their place in the final four. It may be callous to say it, but bring on the youngin's!<br /><br />Also, and somewhat connected, attacking football reigned supreme and I'm more than happy about it. Greece's anti-football that won them the trophy in 2004 thankfully failed them this time round. Had France not totally crapped the bed, Greece's poor performance -- who scored just one goal, in the last game against Spain -- would have ranked them last in the competition. And everyone can agree on it. Italy attempted to do the same against Spain, and, also thankfully, lost. Clubs with the pedigree of Italy should not be playing for penalties, ever. Although it was boring to watch, it made sense when Greece did it because, well, Greece sucks and its the only way they and similar nations/clubs/etc stand a chance -- unless they're coached by Gus Hiddink.<br /><br />Lastly, this two-host nation stuff has <span style="font-style: italic;">got</span> to go. Now, I understand what its trying to accomplish, and I agree with its logic. Giving nations that normally wouldn't qualify a chance to compete, brings unaccustomed revenues, which then gets pumped back into the national team and system's infrastructure. But Switzerland and Austria, particularly the latter, had little business playing on the same pitch. Granted, Switzerland losing its talismanic captain Alexander Frei after just the first half of the first match is tragic and not their fault. But the only game the team won was against Portugal's JV team. And the same goes for Austria, who managed just a single point -- in a draw with Poland that was arguably more boring than the France-Romania snooze fest and Italy-Spain debacle.<br /><br />Poland and Ukraine, if they ever get their stuff together in time, better put forth a better display in 2012. Otherwise I'm in favor of giving the previous year's victor the opportunity to host it. It makes sense because the nations that usually win it already have the stadium infrastructure in place, and four years notice is plenty of time. It will open up a spot to a team that normally qualifies 17th, rather than taking places away from the 15th and 16th qualified teams. Does anyone think Scotland or Bulgaria deserved their spot in the tourney over this year's hosts? I do. (And no, even if my system was to be applied retroactively England would still be home this summer. I don't think I need to explain myself on that one).<br /><br />And there are other countless topic to discuss as well: how the hell Germany progressed as far as they did; poor little Croatia; Italy's despicable display against Spain; Holland flaming-out (again); Romania's disappointments; and why the penalty shoot-out is the #1 reason why soccer will never become big in America.<br /><br />But I'm sure other, better sources have written about such topics.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-12156267057696932182008-06-26T13:53:00.003-04:002008-06-26T14:09:33.195-04:00US Open Cup Third RoundI did withhold this information until after the Second Round, mainly because I wanted to keep the (illusionary) element of surprise. So, without much ado, here's the Third Round ties that are slated for Tuesday, July 1.<br /><br />Oh, and remember when I complained that MLS teams weren't playing at their home parks, which probably adds to the neglect the competition witnesses? Well, half the MLS sides are playing their 'home' match at a different stadium than their own. New England are playing in New Britain, CT, and DC is in Gaithersburg, MD; I don't know if they're trying to spread the wealth or what...but it's quite mickey mouse.<br /><br />New England Revolution vs. Richmond Kickers<br />Crystal Palace USA vs. New York Red Bulls<br />Chicago Fire vs. Cleveland City Stars<br />D.C. United vs. Rochester Rhinos<br />FC Dallas vs. Miami FC<br />Charleston Battery vs. Houston Dynamo<br />Carolina RailHawks vs. Kansas City Wizards<br />Seattle Sounders vs. Chivas USA<br /><br />I hope to be in attendance of the NYRB-CPUSA match. Yet according to the Palace website it looks the match ALSO won't be at their home stadium, but a high school outside Annapolis. And tickets are an exorbitant $16. So we'll see if I can make it....<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-30920904255420008492008-06-25T11:27:00.003-04:002008-06-26T14:11:40.094-04:00US Open Cup Second Round<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.trisoccerfan.com/nucleus/media/3/20070612-opencuplogo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.trisoccerfan.com/nucleus/media/3/20070612-opencuplogo.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>If I was a conspiracy theorist, I would be quite skeptical of this year's Second Round.<br /><br />One match was decided by a penalty shootout, two by last minute penalties, and one in extra time. And each victor, excluding the shootout, was a USL-1 side over their USL-2 little brothers. Oh, and lets not forget eight players and one coach were sent off. Yikes.<br /><br />Below are the results, and a some brief highlights (home team in CAPS):<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Richmond Kickers 2-1 WESTERN MASS PIONEERS</span><br />USL-2 foes played a scoreless first half that would give way two goals in just under the first twenty minutes of the second. Kicker Kevin Jones scored in the 59th minute, which was quickly answered by Pioneer Jeff Deren in the 63rd. Richmond's Stanley Nyazamba put the Kickers ahead for good in the 84th, but the real drama was the unraveling of sportsmanship immediately thereafter -- or the Referee going nuts. In just the 90th minute alone, Western Mass' Matt Glaeser and Frederico Molinari were booked for the second time, and Anthony Augustine given a straight red. Conversely, Kicker Evan Harding was booked, and Pat Viran was also shown a red card.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Crystal Palace USA 2-2(3-1pk) HARRISBURG CITY ISLANDERS</span><br />Another all-USL-2 tie, the highlight of this match was Palace coach Pete Medd being given a red card -- presumably for arguing. Harrisburg was given a penalty in the 120th mintue, and Yu Hoshide scored for the home side. Yet Crystal Palace would go on to trounce in penalties, winning 3-1.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />ROCHESTER RAGING RHINOS 3-0 Pittsburgh Riverhounds<br /></span>The USL-2 Riverhounds were no match for USL-1 Rochester. Menyongar, Salles, and Kreamalmeyer scored for Rochester.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MIAMI FC 1-0 Atlanta Silverbacks<br /></span>Alex Alfonso's goal in the 40th was the only highlight of this tepid, rainy USL-1 affair. Although congrats to Miami for making it past the Second Round for the first time ever.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cleveland City Stars 2-0 MINNESOTA THUNDER<br /></span>The only upset in the Second Round, the USL-2 side Cleveland handily defeated Minnesota in Minnesota. Floyd Franks scored twice for the City Stars in extra time, who now face another Midwest foe, MLS' Chicago Fire.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SEATTLE SOUNDERS 6-0 Hollywood United F.C.<br /></span>Cinderella's carriage definitely became a pumpkin last night when four goals from Sébastien Le Toux (two in the first half), saw Hollywood United's cup dreams end emphatically. Just five minutes into the match Zach Scott scored for Seattle. Josh Gardiner added another ten minutes later, and then Le Toux went on his scoring run, as at halftime it was 4-0 and curtains.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CAROLINA RAILHAWKS 1-0 Real Maryland Monarchs<br /></span>A close knit affair saw Real Maryland succumb to the higher level RailHawks via a 90th minute penalty kick. An identical situation occurred just 287 miles south when...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CHARLESTON BATTERY 2-1 Charlotte Eagles</span><br />Another 90th minute pk saw a the lower tier club lose out to the home, upper tier side. Hmm...am I seeing a pattern here or what?<br /><br />Nonetheless, only one USL-2 team upset a USL-1 side. Only three away teams won, and just three matches were won by two or more goals. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span>The Third Round is next week on July 1, as the MLS now get involved. Luckily Crystal Palace USA won, so I'll (hopefully) be in attendance as they take on NYRB.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-84348945321314561142008-06-20T10:40:00.005-04:002008-06-20T11:16:44.438-04:00Second Round Preview<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.trisoccerfan.com/nucleus/media/3/20070612-opencuplogo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.trisoccerfan.com/nucleus/media/3/20070612-opencuplogo.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>One gripe, on a long list of many, about the US Open Cup is that the second round was announced weeks ago, and the third round is <a href="http://usopencup.com/home/256112.html">already</a> announced. Honestly, is US Soccer so busy with the MNT in Barbados (yeah, right), the USWNT in the Peace Cup (what?), and the WNT U-20's also in World Cup Qualifying (sheesh), that they couldn't stage a lottery or drawing immediately after last week's action?<br /><br />Knowing one's opponents weeks in advance takes all the drama, allure, and mystery from Cup competitions. Would the FA Cup this past year have been less impressive if Barnsley knew they had to play Chelsea after Liverpool? Yes, because being paired with the Blues immediately after dispatching the Reds was a cruel fate. But the Tykes overcame it in historic fashion.<br /><br />And what made their run even more special, and dramatic considering they lost, was that they were then paired with fellow CCC side Cardiff City in the semifinal. Yet the Third Round of this competition pits every Second Round victor against an MLS team, which isn't surprising because the MLS always needs to prove its superiority and relevancy. How boring and disheartening is it for a USL-2 side that knows an upset over a USL-1 team is only going to be followed with a trip to say, DC United? Or that we all know its going to be an all MLS Quarter-, Semi- and Final?<br /><br />Nonetheless, here's how the second round pairings pan out:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Harrisburg City Islanders vs. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Crystal Palace Baltimore<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Skyline Sports Complex</span><span style="font-style: italic;">, Harrisburg, PA - 7:05 PM</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Western Mass Pioneers vs. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Richmond Kickers<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Lusitano Stadium, Ludlow, MA - 7:30 PM</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Charleston Battery vs. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Charlotte Eagles<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston, SC - 7:30 PM</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Carolina RailHawks vs. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Real Maryland Monarchs<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, NC - 7:30 PM</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rochester Rhinos vs. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pittsburgh Riverhounds<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">PAETEC Park, Rochester, NY - 7:30 PM</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miami FC vs. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Atlanta Silverbacks<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Tropical Park, Miami, FL - 8:00 PM</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Minnesota Thunder vs. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cleveland City Stars<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">National Sports Center, Blaine, MN - 8:05 PM</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Seattle Sounders vs. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hollywood United</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Starfire Sports Complex, Tukwila, WA - 11:00 PM<br /><br /></span>Keep an eye out for the Seattle/Hollywood match, as a Seattle victory would add fuel to the (sadly) ending rivalry between Portland and Seattle. Also, five of the eight pairings are between USL-1 and USL-2 teams, so perhaps there will be some upsets this round. And I really want to complain that Crystal Palace USA isn't going to have a home game this entire Cup -- looks like I may have to go to Harrisburg to cover them. Yuck.<span><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-23445432455059791122008-06-16T13:00:00.002-04:002008-06-16T13:06:32.481-04:00How did I forget this?I don't normally like to toot my own horn, but how in the world did I forget to bring <a href="http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com/2008/02/dj-vu.html">this</a> up last month when the EPL season ended?<div><br /></div><div>I'm usually incorrect with my predictions, but its great for the psyche when this turns out to be true:<blockquote><br />But if Reading find themselves needing a victory at Derby on the season finale to survive, it’ll be déjà vu all over again. And I know I won’t be too surprised.</blockquote></div><div><blockquote></blockquote><br />Well, we all know Reading needed more than a win. But I'll take this.<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-58579267158040083092008-06-16T10:50:00.004-04:002008-06-16T11:21:07.044-04:00Rounding out the 1st Round<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c2/Realmaryland.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 211px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c2/Realmaryland.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>My apologies for the delay, but I was away most of the weekend. Nonetheless, postponed because of torrid weather, Friday night featured a match between USL-2 Real Maryland and USASA New York Pancyprian-Freedoms. Had Freedom Panagoitis Halkidis not been booked twice in a minute and NY been forced to 10 men, they very well may have won. But, fortune did not smile upon them as Real Maryland scored two late goals to win <a href="http://usopencup.com/home/256374.html">3-2 AET</a>.<br /><br />Julio Cesar DoSantos began the scoring on the day, exploiting Maryland's defender Marcos Chantal mistake and putting NY up 1-0 in the 22nd. The tepid first half would remain in favor of NY, as the amateurs' hoped they too could be apart of a big upset.<br /><br />Maryland responded however, when Muner Hasssan headed home a Dennis Alas free kick to tie the score at 1-1 in the 56th. NY responded in a timely fashion, when Matia Damiani was left all alone at the back post, and he slotted in a rebound from a free kick in the 69th.<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><span style="line-height: 0.18in; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:11;" ></span></span><br /><br />The pendulum of providence suddenly swung against NY when Panagoitis Halkidis was booked in the 82nd and 83rd minute, reducing the squad to 10 men. Just two minutes later, Maryland's Nilson Perez scored from a Alas pass to tie the game. Although NY held on to send the match into extra time, and then almost to penalties, Marcos Chantal redeemed himself in the 117th minute by heading in a rebounded free kick that NY keeper Dilmer Martinez blocked but did not save.<br /><br />And so the mighty tike's fell 3-2 after being so close to victory. Maryland's Alas, already involved with the two previous goals, had a role to play in the third and is undoubtedly the player of the match. Congrats to the Salvadorian.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-28478247374614017792008-06-11T12:14:00.008-04:002008-06-16T10:51:02.767-04:00US Open Cup First Round<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.trisoccerfan.com/nucleus/media/3/20070612-opencuplogo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 232px;" src="http://www.trisoccerfan.com/nucleus/media/3/20070612-opencuplogo.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="on down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"></span></span>The first round surely wasn’t for the Cinderellas, as all but one lower tier club went out – and that includes all PDL clubs too. Additionally, eight of the fifteen matches were won by two goals or more.<br /><br />There was a diamond in the rough though, as Hollywood United’s upset USL-1 side Portland Timbers 2-1 in Portland. And although not an upset, the PDL’s Austin Aztex U23 took USL-1 Atlanta Silverbacks all the way to penalties in a barnburner.<br /><br />There is some <a href="http://usl.playonsports.tv/">video</a>, and the Cup’s <a href="http://www.usopencup.com/score/index_E.html">website</a> had some great <a href="http://usopencup.com/home/254834.html">liveblogging</a>, but <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Lamar_Hunt_U.S._Open_Cup#First_round">wikipedia</a> is still the best source. Nonetheless here are the highlights of the two aforementioned matches:<br /><br />Portland’s PGE Park saw drama only cup competitions could provide. The scoring in the constantly swerving match began in the 32nd minute, when Timber Chris Brown slotted in a goal from a breakthrough. When Tim Karalexis committed a foul in the box, former Timber Matt Taylor nailed it just before halftime, equalizing the affair at one-all.<br /><br />Just seven minutes into the second half, Arsene Oka received a cross from Neil Dombrowski and put the Timbers up 2-1. United Defender LJ Reinhaldt committed a foul in the box just moments later, yet Takayuki Suzuki’s effort was saved by United keeper Javier Bbarragan. Adding insult to injury, Oka’s follow up rebound was hit wide right. Ouch.<br /><br />What little momentum remained in the Timbers camp evaporated when Matt Taylor was, again, called upon to score from the penalty spot. Which he did, again.<br /><br />Then, at the death of the already remarkable match, former Derby County youth player Earl Alexander scored for Hollywood United. 3-2 to the boys from SoCal, and onto the second round they go.<br /><br />Meanwhile, at Dragon Park in Round Rock, TX (where Dell is located) Atlanta and Austin Aztex U23 played that match that saw four goals scored, eight bookings, one red card, and a perfect 5-for-5 penalty shootout.<br /><br />The scoring didn’t begin until stoppage time of the first half when Real Salt Lake draft bust Jamie Watson scored for Austin. Being given a PK, Atlanta’s David Hayes missed his opportunity. Yet fortunately, Mac Kandji equalized in the 81st minute thereby sending the game to extra time.<br /><br />And from there it got crazy. In the 99th, Atlanta’s Chris Mahaffery was issued a straight red for “stepping on the keeper.” In the 101st Austin’s Willy Guadarrama scored to put the Aztex' up 2-1. In the 105th Austin’s Jorge Vega was booked. In the 113th David Hayes then sliced through Austin’s defense to be one-on-one with the goalie. Yet Hayes was taken down by keeper Miguel Gallardo (who was subsequently booked) and given another penalty – which he scored. Finishing the booking fiesta was Carlos Vicens, who was given a yellow in the 116th.<br /><br />Atlanta then went five for five the penalty shootout. Beto Papendrea was the goat for the Aztex’, as his miss was the difference in the match.<br /><br />Below are the results of the first round. The Real Maryland/New York game was postponed to Friday evening because it was thunder-storming like crazy here.<br /><br /><span>Carolina RailHawks (USL-1) <span style="font-weight: bold;">1-0</span> Brooklyn Knights (PDL) </span><span><br />Richmond Kickers (USL-2) <span style="font-weight: bold;">3-0</span> Fredericksburg Gunners (PDL)</span> <span><br />Western Mass Pioneers (USL-2) <span style="font-weight: bold;">2-0</span> Boston Olympiakos (USASA)</span><br /><span>AAC Eagles (USASA) <span style="font-weight: bold;">0-4</span> Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL-2)<br /></span><span>Michigan Bucks (PDL) <span style="font-weight: bold;">1-2</span> Cleveland City Stars (USL-1)</span><br /><span>Minnesota Thunder (USL-1) <span style="font-weight: bold;">4-1</span> St. Louis Lions (USL-1)</span><br /><span>Rochester Rhinos (USL-1) <span style="font-weight: bold;">2-1</span> RWB Adria (USASA)</span> <span><br />Austin Aztex U23 (PDL) <span style="font-weight: bold;">2-2 (4-5)</span> Atlanta Silverbacks (USL-1)</span> <span><br />Charleston Battery (USL-1) <span style="font-weight: bold;">3-0</span> ASC New Stars (USASA)</span> <span><br />Charlotte Eagles (USL-2) <span style="font-weight: bold;">5-2</span> Clearwater Galactics (USASA)</span> <span><br />Miami FC (USL-1)<span style="font-weight: bold;"> 4-2</span> Brandenton Academics (PDL)</span> <span><br />Arizona Sahuaros (USASA) <span style="font-weight: bold;">0-1</span> Seattle Sounders (USL-1)</span><br /><span>Harrisburg City Islanders (USL-2) <span style="font-weight: bold;">5-1 </span>Yakima Reds (PDL)</span> <span><br />Los Angeles Legends (PDL) <span style="font-weight: bold;">1-2 </span>Crystal Palace USA (USL-2)</span> <span><br />Portland Timbers (USL-1) <span style="font-weight: bold;">1-2</span> Hollywood United (USASA)</span><br /><br />Oh yeah, there was also an MLS game too. Chicago Fire beat the Crew 3-2. So congrats to the Fire.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-58043452668566933552008-06-09T00:05:00.013-04:002008-06-09T17:12:15.366-04:00Better Know a Soccer ClubStephen Colbert has his "Better Know a District" gimmick. Well, I'm starting my "Better Know a Soccer Club" in the run-up to the First Round of the Open Cup. Unfortunately I don't have a contract like he does nor the ability to use the segments as filler. Instead the cup is a timely event that begins tomorrow. So here's a quick glance at the USASA and NPSL, i.e. the lowest tiers, clubs participating.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://usopencup.com/imgs/home/RWBAdria.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 121px; height: 121px;" src="http://usopencup.com/imgs/home/RWBAdria.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">RWB Adria</span><br />Hometown: Chicago, IL<br />A Region II club of the USASA, Red White and Blue Adria has strong Croatian affiliations as they regularly plays in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatian-North_American_Soccer_Tournament">Croatian-North American Soccer Tournament</a>. They've also <a href="http://www.usasa.com/News%20Archive/June07/188017.html">arguably</a> won the most trophies in the state of Illinois.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New York Pancyprian Freedoms</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.usopencup.com/imgs/home/NY%20Pancyprian%20Freedoms.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 117px; height: 117px;" src="http://www.usopencup.com/imgs/home/NY%20Pancyprian%20Freedoms.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Hometown: Queens, New York City<br />The Region I Freedoms have, or attempted to, qualify for every US Open Cup since its inception. They're also the last repeat victors, accomplishing the feat in 1982 and '83.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Clearwater International F.C. Galactics</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.usopencup.com/imgs/home/Galactics.PNG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 126px; height: 126px;" src="http://www.usopencup.com/imgs/home/Galactics.PNG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Hometown: Clearwater, FL<br />Region III and Florida Suncoast Soccer League (FSSL) champions, Clearwater is a non-profit club with <a href="http://galactics.org/index.php/Rollbox-Cat/The-Galactics-Story.html">loads</a> of teams. Yet their real interesting facets lie in their <a href="http://galactics.org/index.php/Adult-Competitive/Get-Ready-Galactics-in-US-Open-Lamar-Hunt-Cup.html">website</a>. Seriously: underlines, highlights, and bold markings? Yikes.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ASC New Stars</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.ascfootball.net/yellowbadgesmall.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 125px; height: 125px;" src="http://www.ascfootball.net/yellowbadgesmall.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: left;">Hometown: Houston, TX<br />Aria Soccer Club was founded in 1974 by Iranians Reza and Taher Khalili. The New Stars is their top team, comprised of players under the age of twenty-five. They're the Houston and Texas State Champions, and with the exception of a 4-4 draw with Greenwood Wanderers in qualification, they won their group handily.<br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AAC Eagles</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.aaceagles.com/logo2.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 114px; height: 120px;" src="http://www.aaceagles.com/logo2.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Hometown: Chicago, IL<br />Another ChiTown club affiliated with an Eastern European nation, the Eagles have roots in Poland. Although they have an impressive <a href="http://www.aaceagles.com/history.html">track record</a>, its hard to get any information or history from their website.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Boston Olympiakos</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Olympiakos4.svg/160px-Olympiakos4.svg.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 116px; height: 116px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Olympiakos4.svg/160px-Olympiakos4.svg.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Hometown: Boston, MA<br />Founded as Boston United in 1990, the club changed the name to its current state in 1996. Although they've done quite well in the Open Division of the Massachusetts State Soccer League (winning 5 titles) and the Amateur Cup Finals (winning it last year), this is the first time they've ever been in the Open Cup.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Arizona Sahuaros</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5c/Arizonasahuaros.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 166px; height: 125px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5c/Arizonasahuaros.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Hometown: Phoenix, AZ<br />The nomadic Sahuaros have a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Sahuaros#History">history</a> of changing names and leagues, but find themselves participating in the NPSL's Southwest Conference for 2008. Additionally, the qualification for the US Open Cup occurred in the club's first <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/sports/azetc/articles/2008/05/18/20080518soccer.html">four matches</a> of the season. Yet the team has nine players from their last appearance in 2006, so its no surprise they're in it again. They're also the only NPSL club in the tournament.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hollywood United</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/98/Hollywoodunited.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 102px; height: 145px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/98/Hollywoodunited.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Hometown: Los Angeles, CA<br />Although I hate LA, Hollywood, and everything to do with SoCal, this club has a <span style="font-style: italic;">great</span> history. Back in the 80s British ex-pats like Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols and Vivian Campbell of Def Leppard, among others, used to frequent this one pub and decided to form a team. The club has transformed from an actual pub team into an amalgamation of competitive players, and b-list movie stars and musicians -- <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001439/">Anthony LaPaglia </a>is the club's chairman -- but hey, what else did you expect?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-3521100211038488392008-06-05T11:51:00.005-04:002008-06-05T13:01:59.939-04:00US Open Cup 3rd Round Play-In<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.trisoccerfan.com/nucleus/media/3/20070612-opencuplogo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 231px; height: 254px;" src="http://www.trisoccerfan.com/nucleus/media/3/20070612-opencuplogo.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>The first round doesn't start until next Tuesday, but last night the MLS had a play-in match for the third round. And go figure it was on a FIFA International Date.<div><br /></div><div>Alas the Kansas City Wizards <a href="http://usopencup.com/2008qualification/index_E.html">took on</a> the Colorado Rapids at Shawnee Mission North High School, in Overland Park, KS. Yep, that's right, reason #5 why no one knows/cares about the US Open Cup: the games occur at high school fields. Yikes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyways, the Wizards and Rapids engaged in a heave-ho match, with KC managing to win the ensuing penalty shootout <a href="http://kc.wizards.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20080604&content_id=163397&vkey=news_kcw&fext=.jsp&team=t105">5-3</a>. Of course, there aren't any video highlights or even photos of the match, but below is a quick rundown of the game's proceedings.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>With both sides fielding practically full-strength sqauds, KC's Ryan Pore opened the scoring in the 20th minute. Yet just sixteen minutes later, Rapids' Herculez Gomez tied it up at 1 all. (On a side note, but Gomez doesn't get a call up for the USMNT is vexing -- he <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">has</span> to be better than Wolff and Clark).</div><div><br /></div><div>Nine minutes into the second half, the Rapids would go up 2-1 thanks to striker's Jacob Peterson's header. Star Wizard striker Ivan Trujillo slotted home the equalizer in the 86th minute, but midfielder Davy Arnuad's second booking put the Wiz down to 10 men.</div><div><br /></div><div>Although each side 'won' each half, the score was still tied at 2-2 after both periods of extra time. Both clubs would score the first three penalty's, but Rapids' Facundo Erpin hit the cross bar. Wizard Kurt Morsink stepped up, scored the penalty, and sent the Wizard's to the Third Round proper. </div><div><br />Stats from Cup's website:<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: courier new;font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;" ><strong>Scoring Summary</strong><br />20 (KC) Ryan Pore (Unassisted)<br />36 (COL) Herculez Gomez (Ciaran O’Brien)<br />57 (COL) Jacob Peterson (Mehdi Ballouchy)<br />86 (KC) Ivan Trujillo (Claudio Lopez)<br /><br /><strong>PK Summary<br /></strong>KC - Jewsbury (Goal, 1-0)<br />COL - Gomez (Goal, 1-1)<br />KC - Lopez (Goal, 2-1)<br />COL - Ballouchy (Goal, 2-2)<br />KC - Trujillio (Goal, 3-2)<br />COL - Grazier (Goal, 3-3)<br />KC - Conrad (Goal, 4-3)<br />COL - Erpen (Miss - Crossbar, 4-3)<br />KC - Morsink (Goal, 5-3)</span><br /><br /></div><div>The next MLS match also coincides with the First Round (Tuesday, June 10 -- also the day Spain play Russia, and Sweden versus Greece), as the Chicago Fire host the Columbus Crew. That game will occur at Bradley University's Shea Stadium in Peoria, IL, which is -- albeit slightly -- a step up from a high school. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-62698916157908499862008-05-30T11:25:00.004-04:002008-05-30T11:51:32.549-04:00The US Open Cup exists, it's here, and I'm going to explain it to you.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.trisoccerfan.com/nucleus/media/3/20070612-opencuplogo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 232px;" src="http://www.trisoccerfan.com/nucleus/media/3/20070612-opencuplogo.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>There are many mysteries in the world: who built Stonehenge? Where did Jimmy Hoffa go? How did Crash win an Oscar?<br /><br />Another mystery of equal proportion is why no one cares, or even knows, about the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.<br /><br />It’s sad and quite telling when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Lamar_Hunt_U.S._Open_Cup">wikipedia</a> is the best source of information about the competition. Therefore a finger can be pointed to the US Soccer Federation (USSF) and their inexplicable disregard of the event in favor of the US Men’s (and Women’s) National Team. Another can be attributed to MLS taking its own title way too seriously, to the point where any other competition is meaningless (e.g. CONCACAF Champions Cup, SuperLiga, this cup). Lastly, ESPN, FSC, and the other networks can be faulted for never providing any news about or highlights of it. Even the cup's website has the incorrect date in the <a href="http://usopencup.com/home/251993.html">press release</a> (hint: look at the first line).<br /><br />So subsequently there is little fan interest in the event. And this is a total shame because it’s the second oldest competition behind Lord Stanley’s Cup. Additionally, clubs of all levels can compete in it, a la the FA Cup. So pub teams can face MLS, USL-1, USL-2, and youth academy’s – competition at its finest. And although I, and others, have documented the <a href="http://fulhamusa.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=654&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0">waning</a> of the FA Cup (add link) it is still unique and quite novel.<br /><br />Well, I feel like the silence needs to be broken. With the first-round draw <a href="http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_6488064.html">announced</a> Wednesday, I will try my best to cover it. Luckily the local club Crystal Palace USA is competing in it, so I will try my best to attend a match (although I PRAY the tickets are cheaper -- $16 for a USL-2 game is inexcusable).<br /><br />This year the qualifying is a little different (but not like anyone knew of its former format anyway), but still quite muddled. Eight MLS clubs enter (like the EPL in the FA Cup) in the third round, six automatically qualify based on their 2007 season standings. That means Chivas USA, DC United, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, New England, and the NYRB are in. Thus the remaining clubs have a seven team playoff. So far San Jose, the LA Galaxy, and Real Salt Lake have all been booted, and the next round is June 4.<br /><br />The lower tiers however all vie for placing in the first round, which starts June 10.<br /><br />All American USL-1 teams (8) automatically qualify, because FIFA and USSF rules prohibit Vancouver, Montreal, and Puerto Rico's participation as they are from Canada and, well, Puerto Rico.<br /><br />Defending USL-2 regular season champions Richmond Kickers, and playoff champions Harrisburg City Islanders both automatically qualify. Thus, of the seven remaining America-based USL-2 squads, six qualify via regular season matches, so bottom dwellers Wilmington Hammerheads wont be participating. So in total, eight clubs are placed.<br /><br />The same criteria goes for the USL Premier Development League (PDL), but each conference has its own qualification procedures: the Eastern and Central Conference(s) advance two teams, while the Mid-South, Southeast, Northwest, and Southwest Division(s) place just one. Again, the magic number is eight.<br /><br />Lastly, the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) places – you guessed it! – eight clubs in the cup. Like the PDL, each region does its own version of qualification. Region I (the northeast) and Region II (Midwest) have playoffs. Region III (the south) and Region IV (the southwest and SoCal) have group stages. The autonomous National Premier Soccer League (a fourth-tier league) qualifies through the USASA.<br /><br />Therefore, without much ado below is the first round draw, which starts June 10:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Carolina RailHawks (USL-1) vs. Brooklyn Knights (PDL)</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Real Maryland Monarchs (USL–2) vs. New York Pancyprian-Freedoms (USASA)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Richmond Kickers (USL-2) vs. Fredericksburg Gunners (PDL)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Western Mass Pioneers (USL-2) vs. Boston Olympiakos (USASA)</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AAC Eagles (USASA) vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds (USL-2)<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Michigan Bucks (PDL) vs. Cleveland City Stars (USL-1)</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Minnesota Thunder (USL-1) vs. St. Louis Lions (USL-1)</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rochester Rhinos (USL-1) vs. RWB Adria (USASA)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Austin Aztex U23 (PDL) vs. Atlanta Silverbacks (USL-1)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Charleston Battery (USL-1) vs. ASC New Stars (USASA)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Charlotte Eagles (USL-2) vs. Clearwater Galactics (USASA)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Miami FC (USL-1) vs. Brandenton Academics (PDL)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Arizona Sahuaros (USASA) vs. Seattle Sounders (USL-1)</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Harrisburg City Islanders (USL-2) vs. Yakima Reds (PDL)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Los Angeles Legends (PDL) vs. Crystal Palace USA (USL-2)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Portland Timbers (USL-1) vs. Hollywood United (USASA)</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-81967307545918261732008-05-27T20:51:00.005-04:002008-05-27T21:29:43.360-04:00New homes next season<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://krell.cellsandbytes.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/moving.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://krell.cellsandbytes.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/moving.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Leases usually begin June 1st. I have no idea why that is, but it's a common housing practice.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">For English football clubs that were bottom of their respected table, they were evicted over two weeks ago when the season ended. For those who clinched automatic promotion or won their respected playoff final this past weekend, they moved to greener pastures. Here's a breakdown of all the movers and shakers:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Premier League</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">IN: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City, Hull City</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">OUT:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Reading, Birmingham City, Derby County</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Of the three promoted teams, only West Brom have </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">any</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> prayer of surviving. Stoke and Hull's promotion are nice stories (Stoke not being in the top-flight in twenty-three years, Hull never in their 104-year history), but their arcane tactics and lack of class will spell doom: just look at Derby this season. The relegated teams, provided they can keep their respected core players, should bounce back up. If everyone chooses to jump ship, hire bad coaches, etc etc, then they'll be stuck in the quagmire like Charlton and Sheffield United.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Coca-Coca Championship</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">IN: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Swansea City, Nottingham Forest, Doncaster Rovers</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">OUT: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Leicester City, Scunthorpe United, Colchester United</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Next season marks the return of once-great Nottingham Forest, as with 'the other' Welsh side Swansea City. Leeds, thankfully, won't be bouncing back up after a loss to Doncaster in the playoffs. The relegations of Colchester and Scunthorpe came as no surprise, but the collapse of millionaire madman Milan Mandaric's Leicester City raised many eyebrows. And if his hands-on approach (i.e. firing coaches every other week) continues, don't expect the Foxes to bounce back up.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">League One</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">IN:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> MK Dons, Peterborough, Hereford United, Stockport County</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">OUT:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Bournemouth, Gillingham, Port Vale, Luton</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The club -- excuse me, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">franchise</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> -- everyone loves to hate won both the League Two title and the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Joining them in League One next season is Hereford who will be in the third tier for the first time in thirty years. And yes, they are named after the cows. Dropping down are numerous anonymous clubs with the exception of Luton, who may not be in existence next season due to countless "financial irregularities." Poor Hatters...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">League Two</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">IN:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Aldershot, Cambridge United</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">OUT:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Mansfield, Wrexham</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If anyone knows about any of these clubs, do add them in the comments section -- I got nothing.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-58206485735776220832008-05-26T17:01:00.003-04:002008-05-27T20:50:37.632-04:00As the World Turns...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2b/Stockportcounty_crest.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 166px; height: 199px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2b/Stockportcounty_crest.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Back in November, on Thanksgiving, you may have watched Stockport County take on Staines Town in the First Round of the FA Cup. And from that match you may recall the non-league side upsetting the League Two side 4-3 on penalties. For a club that finished 4th the year prior, and was tipped for automatic promotion, a loss to Ali G's club was a total embarrassment -- one that could ruin a season.<br /><br />Well, fast forward six months to today where Stockport County defeated Rochdale 3-2 in the League Two promotion playoffs. Now out of the basement of the Football League, Stockport will compete in League One next season.<br /><br />And perhaps promotion to the Championship next season will be helped by on a cup loss to Kidderminster Harriers F.C. <div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-34793432899182810312008-05-09T11:36:00.001-04:002008-05-09T11:36:54.808-04:00Fulham Offside Podcast<a href="http://www.supload.com/listen?s=DY0ZZOTD7MEW">Download Fulham Offside - Offside Podcast 5/8/08</a><img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border=0 width=0 height=0 src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/CIMP/bHQ9MTIxMDM*NzUwMjk4MCZwdD*xMjEwMzQ3NTI5MjUyJnA9MTAyMjYxJmQ9Jm49YmxvZ2dlciZnPTE=.jpg" /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9099391668766386820.post-11783545645693526852008-05-06T13:47:00.002-04:002008-05-06T14:05:27.303-04:00Coca-Cola Playoffs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bettingchoice.co.uk/uploadImage/news_N6460431128.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://www.bettingchoice.co.uk/uploadImage/news_N6460431128.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>After an exciting final day of play, the Coca-Cola Championship's regular season gives way to the playoffs. And this year, unlike last, its a total crap-shoot. Here's what I see:<div><br /></div><div>(home in bold)<br /><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Hull</span> vs. Watford</div><div>Hull City is attempting to be in the top-flight for the first time in their history. Watford have backed into the playoffs, twiddling immensely down the stretch. Interestingly enough, had Wolves' defender Neil Collins not fouled Steve Kabba (and Marlon King subsequently scoring from the spot and winning the match) on opening day, then it probably would have been Wolves' in the playoffs, not Watford. I like Hull.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Bristol City </span>vs. Crystal Palace</div><div>This season Bristol City managed to hoodwink opponents into defeat, ending the season with an inexplicable +1 GD. Crystal Palace --excuse me, Neil Warnock -- have gone from relegation fodder twice (in October and February) to gain 25 out of a potential 36 points. That type of momentum is unstoppable. Expect them to advance.</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&add=http://sittingontheterraces.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/tech-fav-1.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a></div>timmyghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08283101382699882610noreply@blogger.com