Beckerman and Rogers to train at FC Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern (AFP) – The two American football player Robby Rogers (24/Columbus crew) and Kyle Beckerman (29/Real Salt Lake) are at the first training of the national league FC Kaiserslautern participate. The two training guests at the initiative of the U.S. selecting coach Juergen Klinsmann after Germany. Under a cooperation agreement between the Palatine and the U.S. Association to stay in the game both players break the North American professional soccer league in MLS rhythm and continue to develop sports. Article here.
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David Stern Statement on NBA Players Union Rejection
NBA Commissioner David Stern has issued the following statement:
“At a bargaining session in February 2010, Jeffrey Kessler, counsel for the union, threatened that the players would abandon the collective bargaining process and start an antitrust lawsuit against our teams if they did not get a bargaining resolution that was acceptable to them.
“In anticipation of this day, the NBA filed an unfair labor practice charge before the National Labor Relations Board asserting that, by virtue of its continued threats, the union was not bargaining in good faith. We also began a litigation in federal court in anticipation of this same bargaining tactic.
“The NBA has negotiated in good faith throughout the collective bargaining process, but — because our revised bargaining proposal was not to its liking – the union has decided to make good on Mr. Kessler’s threat.
“There will ultimately be a new collective bargaining agreement, but the 2011-12 season is now in jeopardy.”
Well friends, the good times are over.
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USA vs Slovenia 2010 World Cup South Africa: Relive the Moment
This was a great comeback for the USA team against Slovenia in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The ref was terrible and many suspected that he had ulterior motives. Coming up tomorrow the USA faces off against Slovenia once again. Let’s get this one boys.
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Everton join in the chase for Shea
News out of the UK today suggests that Everton are interested in Brek Shea, FC Dallas star midfielder. More here. Everton boss David Moyes is chasing United States centre half Brek Shea – as he looks to boost his squad with bargains.
Moyes flew to France to watch the highly-rated FC Dallas defender in action at the weekend and he is interested in recruiting him if the price is right.
Shea has been invited for trials at Arsenal, but if Arsene Wenger does not sign him Everton may step in and make an offer to the MLS.
Talented Shea is one of a number of American-based players who could be farmed out, either on loan or to buy in the New Year window.
US chief Jurgen Klinsmann is keen to see as many of his squad in European football as possible and has been encouraging moves to Premier League sides.
Moyes has a head start in American chases as he has keeper Tim Howard. The Goodison chief would also like Landon Donovan to return.
However Shea is the new name on his wish list and a decent performance against the French has put another tick in the box. Moyes wants an extra central defender and may have found him.
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Jürgen: Beckerman…he’s doing it 100 percent
In a one-on-one interview with Brian Straus of the Sporting News, US Men’s National Soccer Team Coach Jurgen Klinsmann explains how some of his player decisions might seem countercurrent because he is thinking about the team and not the individual players: “Some may say, ‘Why is there a Kyle Beckerman right now occupying the No. 6 role, when we have Jermaine Jones playing for Schalke or Michael [Bradley] in Verona and they’re really good players?’ Right now, what I tell [Beckerman] to do, he’s doing it 100 percent.”
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Wenger: USA is “future of the game”
Arsenal FC manager Arsene Wenger has pointed to Major League Soccer and the United States as the “future of the game.”
In an interview with ArsenalTV about the impending arrival of FC Dallas star and MLS MVP finalist Brek Shea, Wenger expressed no doubts about how American soccer “will certainly influence the modern game.”
“Two aspects of the development of the game that will certainly influence the modern game,” he said. “One will come from the States, where football is becoming more and more popular and the quality is raising. That’s one part that will interest the modern game. The second big part I’m convinced will be Asia.
Continued Wenger, “These are two now countries or continents that will be I think the future of the game. And America will produce more and more top level players and Asia as well. And in these two countries and continents we have as well an aptitude to have a team attitude and hard-working attitude and I think once they get the education which we are starting to get, they will produce good players.”
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Dave Checketts: NBA Lockout deal has been reached
Dave Checketts on his weekly interview on KALL 700 in SLC said he reportedly has information from inside the NBA lockout telling him a deal has been reached. Here’s the interview:
http://espn.kall700sports.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Dave-Checketts-11-10-11.mp3
Wikipedia on Checketts:
Checketts attended the University of Utah and later earned a master’s degree in business administration from Brigham Young University. After graduation, he joined the Boston-based consulting firm of Bain & Company. At 28, he became president and general manager of the Utah Jazz, making him the youngest chief executive in National Basketball Association history. He then spent a year as the general manager of NBA International, where he worked to increase the league’s presence around the world.
He became president of the New York Knicks in March 1991, and in his four seasons as president, the team made it to the Eastern Conference Finals three times and went to the NBA Finals in 1994. The team set records for attendance, television ratings and revenue under his watch but the club failed to win the NBA Finals.
He went on to become president and chief executive officer of Madison Square Garden, the company that owns the New York Rangers, New York Knicks, New York Liberty of the WNBA and Madison Square Garden and the MSG television network.[1] In 1997, MSG acquired Radio City Music Hall. From 1998 to 2001, the Rangers failed to make the playoffs four straight seasons despite having one of the highest payrolls in the NHL.
In September 2001, Checketts founded SCP Worldwide, a consulting and investment service firm for sports teams. In 2002, SCP acquired SportsWest Communications, a syndicated broadcaster of college sports. In July 2004 SCP bought into Major League Soccer and established a team in Utah, Real Salt Lake, which began play in April 2005. On September 29, 2005 it was announced that SCP had officially signed an agreement to purchase the St. Louis Blues.
In 2009, Checketts was in an ownership group along with talk radio host Rush Limbaugh that was publicly linked to a potential purchase of the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League; after numerous NFL players objected to Limbaugh owning an NFL team,[2] Checketts dropped Limbaugh from the group and never made a bid for the team.
Checketts was hired in 2011 to serve as a consultant for new Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores.
Checketts attended the University of Utah and later earned a master’s degree in business administration from Brigham Young University. After graduation, he joined the Boston-based consulting firm of Bain & Company. At 28, he became president and general manager of the Utah Jazz, making him the youngest chief executive in National Basketball Association history. He then spent a year as the general manager of NBA International, where he worked to increase the league’s presence around the world.He became president of the New York Knicks in March 1991, and in his four seasons as president, the team made it to the Eastern Conference Finals three times and went to the NBA Finals in 1994. The team set records for attendance, television ratings and revenue under his watch but the club failed to win the NBA Finals.He went on to become president and chief executive officer of Madison Square Garden, the company that owns the New York Rangers, New York Knicks, New York Liberty of the WNBA and Madison Square Garden and the MSG television network.[1] In 1997, MSG acquired Radio City Music Hall. From 1998 to 2001, the Rangers failed to make the playoffs four straight seasons despite having one of the highest payrolls in the NHL.In September 2001, Checketts founded SCP Worldwide, a consulting and investment service firm for sports teams. In 2002, SCP acquired SportsWest Communications, a syndicated broadcaster of college sports. In July 2004 SCP bought into Major League Soccer and established a team in Utah, Real Salt Lake, which began play in April 2005. On September 29, 2005 it was announced that SCP had officially signed an agreement to purchase the St. Louis Blues.In 2009, Checketts was in an ownership group along with talk radio host Rush Limbaugh that was publicly linked to a potential purchase of the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League; after numerous NFL players objected to Limbaugh owning an NFL team,[2] Checketts dropped Limbaugh from the group and never made a bid for the team.Checketts was hired in 2011 to serve as a consultant for new Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores.
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MLS Soccer Playoff System
The MLS Cup 2011 match will be played Sunday the 20th of November, just around the corner, featuring the LA Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo. I expect LA will take it but with soccer anything is possible. The Western Conference of MLS is far superior to that of the Eastern Conference. Here’s the table from the 2011 results.
Eastern Conference
| # | Club | PTS | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | Last 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sporting Kansas City | 51 | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 50 | 40 | 10 | 9-2-6 | 4-7-6 | T-W-T-W-W |
| 2 | Houston Dynamo | 49 | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 45 | 41 | 4 | 10-3-4 | 2-6-9 | W-W-T-W-W |
| 3 | Philadelphia Union | 48 | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 44 | 36 | 8 | 7-1-9 | 4-7-6 | W-T-W-T-L |
| 4 | Columbus Crew | 47 | 34 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 43 | 44 | -1 | 9-3-5 | 4-10-3 | L-L-W-W-L |
| 5 | New York Red Bulls | 46 | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 50 | 44 | 6 | 8-3-6 | 2-5-10 | W-T-W-L-W |
| 6 | Chicago Fire | 43 | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 46 | 45 | 1 | 6-3-8 | 3-6-8 | W-T-L-W-W |
| 7 | D.C. United | 39 | 34 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 49 | 52 | -3 | 4-5-8 | 5-8-4 | L-L-L-T-L |
| 8 | Toronto FC | 33 | 34 | 6 | 13 | 15 | 36 | 59 | -23 | 5-4-8 | 1-9-7 | W-L-T-T-T |
| 9 | New England Revolution | 28 | 34 | 5 | 16 | 13 | 38 | 58 | -20 | 4-7-6 | 1-9-7 | L-L-L-L-T |
Western Conference
| # | Club | PTS | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | Last 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LA Galaxy | 67 | 34 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 48 | 28 | 20 | 12-0-5 | 7-5-5 | W-W-L-W-L |
| 2 | Seattle Sounders FC | 63 | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 56 | 37 | 19 | 9-4-4 | 9-3-5 | W-W-L-W-W |
| 3 | Real Salt Lake | 53 | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 44 | 36 | 8 | 10-3-4 | 5-8-4 | L-L-L-T-T |
| 4 | FC Dallas | 52 | 34 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 42 | 39 | 3 | 9-5-3 | 6-7-4 | L-L-W-W-L |
| 5 | Colorado Rapids | 49 | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 44 | 41 | 3 | 6-2-9 | 6-7-4 | L-T-W-T-W |
| 6 | Portland Timbers | 42 | 34 | 11 | 14 | 9 | 40 | 48 | -8 | 9-5-3 | 2-9-6 | L-W-L-T-T |
| 7 | San Jose Earthquakes | 38 | 34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 40 | 45 | -5 | 5-4-8 | 3-8-6 | T-T-W-L-W |
| 8 | Chivas USA | 36 | 34 | 8 | 14 | 12 | 41 | 43 | -2 | 5-7-5 | 3-7-7 | T-W-T-L-L |
| 9 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 28 | 34 | 6 | 18 | 10 | 35 | 55 | -20 | 6-6-5 | 0-12-5 | L-W-W-L-L |
Here’s the playoff standings, as you can see, the top 3 teams in the league are all on one side:
|
|
ss – clinched Supporters’ Shield |
For complete playoff format and tiebreakers, clickhere. |
So the question is why not have just a single table and the top 8 teams go on to the playoffs and have a bracket seeding system? It makes sense to me but the folks at MLS seem to think that they need to keep it like the “rest” of the American playoff sports. Never mind that the top teams have already played. It’s time to change it Don. Change it so that we get to see the top teams in MLS in the final.
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Grabavoys wonder strike wins AT&T Goal of the Week
Grabavoys wonder strike wins AT&T Goal of the Week | Major League Soccer.
Congrats Ned, brilliant strike.
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Lebron Gets Dunked On Summer League Camp Video
Here is video of when Lebron James got dunked on in summer league. I guess that even the best get dunked on…even if it is just a summer league game.
Lebron James is a great NBA player and dunks like crazy. One of the best all time. Lebron dunks with the best dunkers in the world. Even the new guys in the league at summer camp know how to dunk.
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To Dirk Nowitzki and the rest of the German B-Ball Team
Here’s just a friendly reminder to Dirk Nowitzki and the rest of the Germany B-Ball Team.
(Can you spot Dirk in this photo?)
http://www.smithmediafusion.com/blog/?p=341
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Kobe MVP – We Still Don’t like You
Note to Kobe, the NBA MVP for 2008:
Just because you win the MVP Kobe, we still don’t like you.
Just because you are the best player in the NBA, Kobe, we still don’t like you.
Just because you make millions upon millions of dollars Kobe, we still don’t like you.
Just because you can make amazing buzzer-beater shots like they’re nothing Kobe, we still don’t like you.
Just because you can score 60+ points in a game Kobe, we still don’t like you.
Just because all the ladies love Kobe, we still don’t like you.
Just because you can speak like 15 different languages Kobe, we still don’t like you.
Just because your team, the LA Lakers, will probably win the 2008 NBA Championship Kobe, we still don’t like you.
Just because Raja Bell had a great facial on you Kobe, we still don’t like you.
But, that Raja facial does score some points for Raja. We like you Raja.
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Deron Williams Dunks over Shane Battier
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Deron Williams Dunk
Great give and go as D-Will dunks. Deron Williams dunks
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