MLS 2013 Season

While he wont admit it publicly, I think he very much wants to play for the US. Vancouver would have chosen him #1 in the 2011MLS draft if it were not for the fact that Darlington made it very clear he would not play in Canada. That wasnt because he has something against Canada. He has also turned down call-ups from Liberia. Now that he is married to an American citizen, I think citizenship is just around the corner despite what people say about it taking until 2015. By far the majority of his soccer development has occurred in the USA. In my mind he is an American soccer player and yet he has never been eligible to represent the USA. Ironic, and frustrating, that the Jones', Johannssons', and Diskeruds' can play for the USA and Darlington can't.

One of my favorite players. He has it all. Hopefully someday he'll get to put on a USA jersey.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOoxdp6u5EE[/youtube]

 

As a delayed Father's Day gift...Went with kid, his wife, my 5 mo old grandson and my wife, to see Dempsey's Sounders make fools of Crew last night.
At least the Crew stopped Dempsey.
Really seriously expect the new owner to dump Warzycha after the season. Crew had no form, Sigi's bunch just scored then bunkered.
- I was most depressed when Conrad Warzycha was subbed in. Putting local guys who were pretty good in college like Akron is one thing, Coach's son another. Conrad is no Michael Bradley.
So here's the most entertaining pix:





Giant Mantis attacks ...
that is NOT photoshopped. Kid took it and uploaded straight to FB...dont think he even meant the juxtaposition.

 

:lol: about the praying mantis pic, and great pic of the family Fog. The crowd looked like a decent size, did they announce what the official attendance was?

 

Great pictures 'fog. Thanks for posting. Cant believe you talk about Warzycha being fired and it happens hours later. They need to fire who ever is in charge of their youth programs too, but that is probably Bliss so it isnt likely to happen. Expecting their youth set-up will be run even more irresponsibly now. Still liking the sound of San Francisco Crew

 

Your quiver is full, Sir Fog...that's a good lookin' bunch of humans you got there. Thought about drving up from the Ville, but decided not to. Saving money for London in April. Fully expect to make it up next season when the Sounders visit again. Had to bite my tongue at passing on a chance to see the great Dempsey in person. There'll be many more, hopefully.

As for the Crew, they're clearly in a shambles. I've been trying to keep up with Aaron Horton, the Lewis Center kid whose late game heroic goals fired the U of L Cardinals to the Champioonship final in 2010. He's a product of Columbus's academy, their first home grown player to be signed to a senior contract. Alas, he's seen mostly reserve league duty and a recent loan spell to the third tier LA Blues. Bottom line, he doesn't seem to be advancing very quickly in the organization, which speaks Mo's point about their youth program management. Here's hoping he, and they, can get it together quickly. There the closest chance I've got to watch high level futbol, and I want to go....soon.

 

And yet.. most I've read recently refers to Crew youth program as a success!?
Or is it that it has declined from when I last paid attention a few years ago.

Perhaps I will wait to weigh in on that.

 

Just saw these fantastic pics, and thank you Sir 'fog. Great to have you dropping back into the mix.

As to Mo's point, the Crew need to stay in Columbus, or at a minimum, another nearby midwest city. While the Quakes have a rabid fan base in the south bay, I'm not sure two MLS clubs would succeed here. And while there are millions upon millions of soccer supporters here, most of them claim Liga Mex, La Liga or Serie A, etc. clubs as their primary interest (as in when any of those clubs play friendlies here, they get 30-60K easily).

 

'fog I'm mostly referring to the Crew's reach into Ohio youth soccer outside of their own youth teams. They are prostituting the Crew name about with seemingly very little oversight into how their affiliated teams conduct themselves. Go to a youth soccer tournament in Ohio these days and be prepared to scratch your head at the number of teams named "Crew" and adorned with that hideous shade of yellow. It doesnt matter how bad the soccer is or how unscrupulous the club behaves, the Crew is ready to attach their name to any youth team. I'm completely disgusted with them and will fill you in on details if you want to know. They definitely have some promising home grown signings but I dont know of any that originate from a Crew youth team, even Warzycha's kid came through Blast FC. Ben Speas definitely was not developed by the Crew and I'm pretty sure the same is true of Trapp. The best club in Columbus is OP Eagles and they should have academy status, not the Crew.

You have great youth soccer in Columbus and great support for soccer in Columbus based upon the US MNT games played there. So ask yourself, why is the Crew struggling with attendance? Perhaps it is because enough people in Ohio have seen a not so good side of the Crew. Help me o Frankie Hajduk

 

Well, mo.. that's too bad. But I could see your point. I havent even seen a torunament in years. But it's nothing new... I'm actually in MVYSA territory and everyone here despised the Westerville clubs... raised em to be thugs. Dublin's were a little better.

Maybe you should get in touch with Frankie.

 

If Westerville is Blast FC then they still do play like thugs, but based on Conrad Warzycha's blast to Darlington Nagbe's head when Akron played Ohio State, I'd call him a thug anyway. You know I like to hold grudges.

I spoke too definitively about the Columbus clubs. Those are just my impressions based upon the handful of times I've seen them play and based upon their rep in general. My main point is I just dont know of any current or future young pros who have come through the Crew system from the start or from a young age like U10 - U13. They get to the Crew after they are already very promising players. In contrast, the Cleveland area US Development Academy has produced numerous pro players who started with them as wee ones, the Crew's Josh Williams being one of them. One of the Crew's Cleveland area affiliated clubs actually tells lies to players and parents about our USDA to recruit them away. Why the Crew is okay with one of their clubs trying to stop players from going to a club with a proven track record of helping young players is beyond me. I've tried to like the Crew, but stuff like this keeps getting in the way.

 

Politics in Youth Soccer!!!!!! Gasp!
Actually ALL youth sports.. after a while it is less about the kids and more about ego.
Sorry.. couldn't resist. Another reason why I was happy my kids grew up.

 

Really sorry to see that Toronto FC has finally given Kevin Payne the boot.

I always felt he repped the club and fan base well... assholish!

 

I'm probably beating a dead horse here...but isn't it time MLS grew up and started observing FIFA international breaks? I went to the Galaxy-Rapids match tonight it was a snoozefest. It's just bad business. If you're MLS and you're trumpeting bringing in players like Dempsey and retaining players like Gonzales and Donovan, and then you schedule matches on a weekend when none of them can play? Rubbish. There's talk of MLS shortening their season and hopefully that means weekends like this one will be a thing of the past.

It's a competitive issue too. The Galaxy without Gonzales, Donovan, Keane, and Penedo isn't the Galaxy. Their two starting strikers tonight were both under 20. Not what you should see in a significant match with playoff implications.

 

In what may spoil many reporters' stories, Landon Donovan is now being called "questionable" for Saturday night's matchup vs. Seattle. No doubt the media was planning on a field day covering the match, for obvious reasons. I, of course, bought into the hype and purchased a ticket shortly after Dempsey's transfer was announced. I'm sure everyone will blow it out of proportion, but hard to argue that the story line is compelling. It should be a good match, regardless, and an important one with playoff implications.

 

Obviously, MLS can't control injuries. That said, they just can't seem to get much of anything right.

 

Yep, a bit disappointing to say the least. Still a pretty entertaining match from where I was sitting, and there's a definite possibility (if not likelihood) of a playoff matchup between the two sides.

 

Maybe they're saving it for the playoffs. MLS has been criticized for playoff attendance in the past, have they not