Worth Noting

We're about six weeks out from the start of the Superliga, and not a single MLS entrant (DC, Dallas, Houston, LA) has more wins than losses in league play yet or a positive goal differential. Combined, they have a record of 12-16-7 with a goal differential of -5 and average 1.22 ppg. I wonder how concerned the MLS/Telefutura people are by this.

...Because "Revolution Mutiny: a Clash" wasn't nearly as hopeful

TNS! TNS! Thursday Night Soccer, and I'm looking forward to it. Strange, most neutral games, even the ABC/ESPN ones, weren't something I cared a great deal about (usually because I had to leave at half-time to get out to the DCU tailgate.) That's something nice about Thursday Night Soccer I hadn't anticipated, the fact that it allows me to take in MLS games as a neutral devoid of any other soccer context. Makes it easier to enjoy. On a side note, headline writers in New England are clever for fitting three team names into a four word sentence, but are they accurate, or even sensible?

CHARM CITY, STRANGE CITY: Baltimore, as rumored in Goff's Blog, gets wing of a chance to see united play. Honestly, if it happens then I'm not too upset (better there than Seattle again). I can make it up I-95 to a game, even from NoVa. And the Ravens seem interested:

"We'd be very interested in hosting a game or games," Mannion said. "The key issue centers on the field surface, but I think the size of the stadium is perfect. We can house 30,000 in the lower bowl and 8,000 on the club level, which creates the intimate environment soccer fans are used to."

The thing about Charm City is that it adds a weak isospin of +1/2 to the ball. My only hope to avoid a complete nerd label is that no one figures out what I meant by that.

TRIBUTE: I missed this story yesterday, but wanted to highlight it now. I never heard of Scott Alexander when I grew up in MoCo, but this article makes it clear just how loved he was. He was a Steelers fan, and a soccer man, two things that I respect. And good on DCU for doing something for this event.

United Scheduling Problems

So apparently the Steven Goff article that broke the Luciano Emilio signing was updated with a bunch of good off-season info after I linked to it the first time. Most have to do with various calender issues in one form or another.

DC United worked out a deal with the MLS Players Union to allow them to start practice on January 26, eight day earlier than normal. This is important because the Concacaf Champions Cup is coming up quickly and DC United needs to be both fit and cohesive. Under the terms of the agreement DC will have to forgo practice eight days they would have in pre-season. Hopefully the pre-season training schedule will be announced soon as well.

Another scheduling problem that hasn't been worked out yet is the Superliga game against Houston. DC is supposed to host all three of their Superliga games in the group stage, SE Podcast has the original press release. Unfortunatly the Nationals are in town on the date of the United vs. Dynamo game. Good planning MLS. According to Stephen Zack no definate plans have been made yet, but the game will be held somewhere in the general region, but not the Soccerplex or FedEx.

For anyone that needs to plan some weekends ahead, here is the Nationals schedule. You can basically figure out the DC United schedule by noting the weekends the Nats are on a road trip. Remember that there will be ESPN2 games on Thursday and a Univision/Telefutra game on Sunday.

And in news completely unrelated to scheduling Dave Kasper says that he is confident of re-signing Brian Carroll sometime this next week.

We Are Well in the Middle of It

Let's set the table for the upcoming week with a quick recap of the ton of stuff that's going on right now, shall we?

STADIUM DEAL: EVERYONE TRIES TO PREEMPT EVERYONE -- Part of the reason that we've been covering the stadium situation so closely was that we were convinced that the deal would be much more publicly examined, even without a final plan on the table. Now, while we've been careful to state that we have to see a plan before final judgments can be made, and to determine some tests on how to evaluate it, The Washington Times has decided they know enough to weigh in with an editorial judgment: "This is a sweetheart deal for wealthy sports magnates worth tens and possibly hundreds of millions of dollars."

Again, we think the indications are different on this, but we think final decisions can't be made until the facts are on the table. The Times apparently thinks differently, applying the same editorial standards and news judgment to the pending stadium deal that they applied to the war in Iraq.

OFF SEASON TRANSFER MOVEMENT: Let's just establish that until you see an official press release on a team's website, it's difficult to know who's going where. We can give you (and will give you) all the rumors we have, but those are the simple facts. Steve Goff in the Post says Ruy Bueno Neto is not coming to DC United, but Luciano Emilio may be. MLS Underground (in a slightly older post) says that the Palermo situation is "contradictory" but they're thinking things are moving towards the cooler end (we have not heard an update from our people on this, but if we get something we'll let you know.) SportsYA (credibility - untested with us) says that the Emilio deal is done because Olimpia, DC's CONCACAF Champions Opponent, took too long to make an offer. And George Solomon in the Post thinks that something's going to happen because "Kevin Payne does not sit quietly on the sideline." Last season, the transfer season was not nearly as crazy as this, but I tend to think that all of the contradictory, confusing, and somewhat exhilarating developments are more likely in the future. Kinda fun, for an offseason.

SUPERLIGA ANNOUNCED: DC UNITED IN GROUP B: The long rumored MLS / Primera Division de Mexico competition has been announced, and DC United and the Houston Dynamo represent MLS in Group B. The system currently calls for only three games to be played in the group stage, and all in the United States (er?) Hey, it's something, and while I'd prefer a home-at home setup, this will work for now. They'll continue to mess around with it. Fine with me. Games are July through August. I can't wait.

THE DRAFT AIN'T DONE: The MLS Supplemental Draft is coming. And yes, that matters. Consider that both Andy Metcalf and Devon McTavish, both of whom got some time with the first team last year, were selected in the supplemental draft. McTavish remains on the roster so far. Domenic Mediate was also acquired for a supplemental draft pick, and seems to have shown some value. So there's more to come. The Supplemental Draft will be held on Thursday.