My Footballing Heroes - The Real Ronaldo

I'm going to date myself a little bit here, but two of my biggest footballing heroes were/are OG Ronaldo (you know, the one who actually holds the World Cup record for goals scored) and David Beckham. I guess being a winger I tried to take parts of both of their game and meld them into mine. Too bad I didn't do a better job. So just watch this video and agree with me that OG Ronaldo is the sickness.

Conan Talks MLS Cup

David Beckham visits South Africa as U.N. Ambassador

MLS Final Kick - The Final Kick

I'm guessing this will be the last Final Kick we see until March 2010.
*They make a mistake in the video calling Andy Williams, Robbie Findley. What do you expect from the same guys that got his wife wrong too?

More News For Your Tuesday

Yesterday when I talked about David Beckham having asthma, I thought I just missed it somewhere along the years. Apparently, it's making headlines in England too. I also ran across this article written before MLS Cup about the 10 things we've learned from David's time in MLS. It's definitely worth the read.

Darren Fletcher has opened his mouth...and I still don't like him. First, he talks about how much of a hack he is, and then he complains about to play defense for Ronaldo. Dude, you're a defensive midfielder. Get over it! You'll never be the creative, attacking player that gets the big pay day...and the girls. Of course you probably don't carry a Murse either.

News From This Weekend

I admit it. I'm a slacker. I was too busy living it up during MLS Cup weekend that I didn't get around to giving you all the juicy footy news you crave. So instead of reinventing the wheel, I'm giving you links to the news that you need to know.

You probably already know this, but Real Salt Lake are the 2009 MLS Champions.



Wednesday is the expansion draft for the Philadelphia Union. Each team's protected players list came out today and here are the players left unprotected.

MLS announced the Generation Adidas graduates.

The USL Breakaway teams are forming the NASL...minus the Sounders and Earthquakes. But what about the Cosmos?

Long time DC United midfielder, Ben Olsen is retiring.

Jermaine Defoe and Tottenham went off on Wigan to the tune of 9-1, causing the Wigan players to refund the ticket prices to the fans. You can see the highlights here.

Did you know that David Beckham has asthma? I didn't.

Apparently, Freddie Ljungberg is a fan of Hawaii, but not MLS pitches.

I attended the MLS Supporters Summit on Saturday where Commissioner Garber discussed expansion, naming Montreal and David Beckham's option to own a future team as teams number 19 and 20 to round out the league.

I ran into Preki on Sunday, who happens to be the new coach for Toronto FC.

Oh Danny Boy and I definitely had some adventures and made some good connections to make this blog even better in the future. Stay tuned for more tales from MLS Cup 2009.

Jordan vs Bird: The Soccer Edition

For those of you who remember the old McDonald's commercial starring Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, we have Adidas giving this generation the soccer version.

Are You Ready?

Apparently the Galaxy are ready for tonight's game, but are you? Me, I stay ready.

MLS News

Or really just random MLS items I wanted to post. Remember, the Western Conference Final is Friday night on ESPN2 with the Galaxy hosting the Dynamo.




The Eastern Conference Final is on Saturday night on Fox Soccer Channel with the Chicago Fire hosting Real Salt Lake.

And this goes out to our boy, Marty, since Austin Washington is his boy.

And while you're not watching footy this weekend, how about some golf?

More Playoff Post Game Reactions

From Dennis Hamlett, Head Coach of the Chicago Fire.


From the LA Galaxy Front Office

SuperClasico Highlights

Becks on Fox Sports Radio

Random News For Your Friday

David Beckham can now join fellow Brit, Liam Neeson, in saying, "America's been very very good to me".

Elizabeth Lambert, The Female Vinnie Jones has been suspended indefinitely.

Chelsea are looking into selling the naming rights for Stamford Bridge.

Xabi misses his friend.

Don't miss the SuperClasico this Sunday.

Former MLS All-Star, and Mexican National Team veteran, Jorge Campos may be the new Technical Director at FC Dallas.

I heard the MTV Europe Video Awards were pretty cool. I looked, but I couldn't find the outfit.

We All Knew It Was Coming

The LA Galaxy officially announced the loan deal of David Beckham to AC Milan during the winter transfer window. That has got to be one of the worst kept secrets of all time. Personally, I thought Becks looked slow and sluggish on Sunday against Chivas USA. I can understand Beckham's desire to play for his country in the World Cup next year, but I'm starting to feel like it's setting a bad precedent for the rest of the DP's around the league.

Becks and the Playoffs

David Beckham and the MLS Playoffs, a match made in heaven... at least for Commissioner Garber.

MLS Cup Playoff Predictions

In anticipation of the MLS playoffs starting tonight, I will attempt the surefire method of looking like an idiot who has no idea what he is talking about and make some predictions.

East:
Columbus Crew (1) vs Real Salt Lake (4):
Columbus has been too strong over the last two years to vote against them. Having said that, RSL has the firepower to post the biggest upset of this year’s playoffs. For RSL to get past Columbus it will have to get a huge performance from one of its creative veterans. Lucky for RSL, Andy Williams and Clint Mathis both have the ability to be the game changer that RSL needs.

My pick: Columbus

Chicago Fire (2) vs New England Revolution (3):
Neither of these teams have been playing particularly well, but they both have unique advantages. New England has as much playoff experience as any other team, plus their drive to win a championship has been building for 14 years. Chicago has Blanco. In the end, Blanco will win.

My pick: Chicago

Conference Finals:
I have to go with Columbus for their consistency over the last two seasons.

West:
LA Galaxy (1) vs Chivas USA (4):
Chivas started the year strong, but the Galaxy always have the edge in the Super Classico. The Galaxy have a well rounded team and the two best players in the league (Yes I said it. It’s subjective so go ahead and disagree).

My pick: LA Galaxy

Houston Dynamo (2) vs Seattle Sounders FC (3):
On the surface, this is the most evenly matched series, but Seattle has had Houston’s number all year. Add in the fact that Houston did not finish the season strong, and Seattle ended with a three game win streak, and I have a feeling Seattle will walk away with this one and kill off the hopes their second Texan opponent in a row.

My pick: Seattle

Conference Finals:
Mr. Roth will be getting ready to produce a Cinderella story movie about his team winning the trophy in their own stadium in their first year, but the Galaxy will not stand for it. It has been years since Donovan was in the playoffs, but no one should forget that he is unstoppable once he gets there. Donovan will lead the Galaxy to the championship game.

MLS Cup:
You could really just read what I said about Landon in the Western Conference Finals. He will lead the Galaxy to the Cup before he heads back to Europe in the winter, and pictures of Beckham with cup will be seen all over the world.

Why I Like Fabio Capello

I can't say that I agree with every decision a football manager makes and Fabio Capello is no different. But I can say that I like his politics (actually, I don't know his politics, but I like a comment he recently made). After inserting David Beckham as a second half substitute yesterday against Belarus, David Beckham went on to win the Man of the Match award from ITV panelist, Steve Bruce. Keep in mind that the dancing robot, Peter Crouch, scored a brace in the 3-0 win for England. When asked about the surprise selection of Becks as MoM, Capello responded by saying,

"It was like Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize after eight months as president. He gets the man of the match after 30 minutes here."

My thoughts exactly.

Disclaimer: I'm not ripping on David Beckham. I like the guy and I think he's a great footballer.

David Beckham gives a thumbs up to the fans after being named the Man of the Match against Belarus.

What is up with the beard? Please don't tell me he's already started the play off beard!

LA Galaxy vs Toronto FC

The Canucks visit the HDC.

With Buddle and Becks back and Birchall on board, the Galaxy are looking good.

Becks on Ellen

The self proclaimed soccer ambassador to the U.S. appears on the Ellen Show.
Part 1

Part 2

Does anybody else find it interesting that DB7 kicked off Season 7 of Ellen. Coincidence, I think not.

All Hail Fabio

Fabio Capello has helped England believe in themselves and has led them to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The Three Lions crushed Croatia 5-1 with the goal scoring starting in the 8th minute. Lamps and Gerrard both scored two goals with Wayne Rooney adding the fifth. Who said that Lampard and Gerrard couldn't exist on the same pitch together as teammates?

David Beckham saw 10 minutes of action as a late sub for Aaron Lennon.