MLS Final Kick Week 28

MJ: This Is It

Tickets are available now at http://www.thisisit-movie.com/. Pick them up before they're all gone. I just copped myself some for Halloween day. Maybey I should go as MJ then, except I'm a little thick to pull that off (but don't be surprised to see a little moonwalk outside of the cinema). Get your tickets to the theatrical event of the year. I don't even remember that last movie I saw at the theater, so this one must be special.

Freestyle Fridays

Here is Fatlip featuing our boy Pigeon John.

FC Dallas Lands A Jersey Sponsor (Kind Of)

The Official FC Dallas Blog just posted the above pic of Jeff Cunningham wearing a jersey with a new sponsor. The weird thing is, it will only be on there for 2 games. I have two questions. 1) Will anyone even see these jerseys with the awesome fan support they get? 2) When will FCD finally get a permanent jersey sponsor? I was thinking about this very question the other night. What companies would look good on the MLS team jerseys that don't have a sponsor like, FCD, the Rapids and the Revs? Let me know if you have any good thoughts.

Crossbar Challenge

Sounders FC have been posting a couple of videos showing the lighter side of practice.

Episode one.


Episode 2
Check out Montero's strike. I'd love to see him use that against Blanco and the Fire.

Maradona Would Be Proud

Check out this goal from a second division game in Brasil.

The Smartest Goalkeeper Ever?

Check out Kim Christensen of Sweden's IFK Gothenberg moving the goal posts in a little. It gets him a couple of inches on each side. A brilliant move if you don't get caught, but now the Swedish Federation has to investigate as the match was a national broadcast. I know what I'm doing when I'm on the post during corner kicks from now on.

Inspired By Edu

I figured that if Maurice Edu will pose shirtless for a magazine to raise awareness for a cause that means something to him, then I should do something too. So here is a public service announcement from WAG Rachel Stevens to support the cause. This goes out to all you S Club 7 fans. You know who you are!

CONCACAF Champions League Highlights

DC United hosts Marathon in a must win game for United.


UNAM Pumas takes on Real Espana.

More FIFA Tutorials

More FIFA 10 tutorials dropped on YouTube today. Plus I needed to get another post up so that a half naked Maurice Edu wasn't the first thing you see.

This Is For The Ladies

Maurice Edu just dropped this on his Facebook page. No. 1 Magazine did a photo shoot with him, Allan McGregor and Neil Alexander to promote Testicular Cancer Awareness. Ex-Rangers star John Hartson has been diagnosed with the disease.

Sounders FC To Host Philly Union For MLS First Kick 2010

MLS announced the home openers for the 2010 season. The First Kick will be on March 25th with Sounders FC hosting the expansion side Philadelphia Union. In a related note, the Union will have to play their home opener at Lincoln Financial Field due to construction delays (you've got to love unions).

Financial Football

Landon Donovan and Brian McBride helped ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday as Visa kicked off a new financial educational game using soccer. Financial Soccer in the US and Financial Footballl in the UK is geared around Visa's commitment to worldwide financial intelligence. I tried the game out and crushed the UK (yes, it's the UK in the game) by answering all the hard questions (disclaimer: I work in finance). I have to admit, if you ever wanted to take your financial literacy into your own hands, then this is a place to start.

Here's video of the opening bell from yesterday.


And here's the game in action.

CONCACAF Champions League Highlights

Columbus faces off against former FC Dallas player, Ramon Nunez and Cruz Azul.


Toluca then squared off against San Juan Jabloteh.


You can watch the Comunicaciones vs W Connection highlights here.

Opara's New Haircut

Ike Opara gets a Brek Shea inspired haircut. Personally, I liked his hair before they cut it, it just needed to be cleaned up on the sides. Now Ike is counting on you to decide whether or not he keeps it for the Germany game on Saturday. Don't forget to vote.

CONCACAF Champions League Highlights

This goes out to those of you that don't have ESPN Deportes (like me).

CONCACAF Champions League Highlights

Houston lays the smack down. It's about time an MLS team represents in this competition.

Hey Look! It's Craig Waibel, I used to play with that guy.

CONCACAF Champions League Highlights

A heartbreaker for the Puerto Rico Islanders as they give up the equalizer in stoppage time.

FIFA 10 Live Season Trailer

My only complaint is that MLS isn't available as Live Season. Come one EA, Major League is in our name!

MLS Goal Of The Week Nominees - Week 27

You've seen the highlights, now check out the Goal of the Week nominees.

My vote goes to Sainey Nyassi for the step overs and then the absolute rocket to the far corner. I was also impressed with the team work on the Edson Buddle Goal.

MLS Final Kick Week 27

In my opinion, this is the best MLS recap spot out there.

More On FIFA 10

I spent a couple hours last night playing the demo's for both FIFA 10 and PES 10. I will admit that I've always played FIFA so I know that I can't be unbiased. I've always heard that Pro Evolution Soccer was the real simulation footy game and that EA made FIFA more like an arcade experience. But in recent years I've heard that EA is going after the real footy gamers and trying to become more life like. After only a couple hours I felt that FIFA 10 was more fluid and realistic while PES 10 was the more arcade of the two games. Disclaimer: It did take some getting used to the controls for PES since they are different from FIFA. I Think that both games will provide a quality gaming experience, but FIFA definitely has the cooler commercial. Check it out:

Keep in mind that the North American release date is October 20th, 2009.

Also, it looks like the Dutch National Team will be back!

Halo 3 ODST Drops Today

The next installment of the Halo series drops today (or last night at midnight if you're hardcore). This game follows a side story of the Marines that are the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. I guess the designers wanted to have a throwback appeal for this one so the pistol with scope from Halo is back! Did you hear that G-Rant? You're pistol is back, you can play Halo again. So if your IT department is running on a skeleton crew, now you know why. They all called in Sick;)
Oh, and don't forget to save!

Here's the Live action Trailer that I previously posted.


And the Trailer from E3 showing game footage.

CONCACAF Champions League

After what's been a very busy week of footy, today is a chance to breathe and digest all the action... or maybe just look forward to tomorrow's CONCACAF Champions league games.

FIFA U-20 World Cup

The FIFA U-20 World Cup kicks off in Egypt this week. Ives has the list of all the games and how you can see them here in the U.S. I would like to show how the different teams prepare.
Here's Trinidad & Tobago training:


And here's the United States team chillin in the pool. I guess we'll see which training regimen will yield better results.

Shoe Thief?

I haven't gotten involved in the issues surrounding Emmanuel Adebayor the other week. You can come to your own conclusion about the "stomp" of Van Persie's head and the goal celebration... but stealing shoes? Now I have to call him out. You just don't mess with another man's footwear (unless you're the kit manager)!

Apparently, Adebayor has had practice kicking people. Just ask Clarence Seedorf.

From The Stands: Fire vs Crew

A view from Section 8 at yesterday's game against the Columbus Crew.

The Manchester Derby - Press Pass

Yeah, I'm not still trying to catch my breath because it was on Setanta! So I didn't get to see it. Although watching Real Madrid in HD was pretty awesome on Sunday.

Soccernet Sportscenter

Here's your roundup of the big clubs.

LA Galaxy vs Toronto FC

The Canucks visit the HDC.

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

Sounders FC vs Chivas USA

Being at the game I felt like the Sounders dominated in opportunities on goal, but this just confirms it. Not a single Chivas highlight to be had.

FC Dallas vs KC Wizards

Cunningham is climbing up the goal scoring charts. Kenny Cooper leaving is the best thing that happened to him this year.

SJ Earthquakes vs Colorado Rapids

The ESPN MLS Game of the Week on Friday night.

I just can't drink the Connor Casey juice.

NYRB VS NE Revolution

Friday night action from MLS.

Sainey Nyassi's goal was absolutely sick. It makes me wonder if he's that much better than his brother or if Sigi just doesn't like Sanna.

Victory (Escape to Victory)

Stallone... Just another breed of great American goal Keepers (jk). This movie smashes "Goal: The dream begins," any day. How awesome would it be if they made a remake? Who you would you cast? Can anyone tell me where I can buy this on DVD?

PFC CSKA Sofia -Fulham FC

Everton vs AEK Athens

Good to see something positive with Tim Howard's squad. With all those injuries mounting, it's starting to remind me of New Castle United's string of rotten luck before they got relegated.

Soccer Television Extravaganza

If I sit and watch this much soccer I can definitely expect to be in the dog house with the wife. Here's the complete list of Soccer Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy.

SATURDAY

7:45am- ESPN2- Burnley vs. Sunderland

9:25am- ESPN360/ESPN Deportes- Bayern Munich vs. Nurnberg

9:45am- FSC- Arsenal vs. Wigan

10am- FSE- Aston Villa vs. Portsmouth

11:55am- ESPN360/ESPN Deportes- Deportivo La Coruna vs. Espanyol

12pm- FSE- Napoli vs. Udinese

12:15pm- FSC- West Ham United vs. Liverpool

12:55pm- Setanta Sports USA- Nice vs. Monaco

2pm- ESPN360/ESPN Deportes- Osasuna vs. Sevilla

2:45pm- ESPN360- Juventus vs. Livorno

3pm- Setanta Sports USA-Marseille vs. Montpelier

3pm- FSC- Seattle Sounders vs. Chivas USA

4pm- GolTV-Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid

4:15pm- ESPN360- Sporting Braga vs. Porto

5:30pm- FSC-Bolton vs. Stoke City (Delayed)

6:45pm- Setanta Sports USA- Hull City vs. Birmingham City

7pm- Azteca America- Puebla vs. Pumas

8pm- Telemundo- Chivas de Guadalajara vs. Jaguares

8pm- Telefutura- Pachuca vs. Monterrey

8pm- GolTV- Santa Fe vs. Junior

10pm- Telemundo- Atlante vs. Santos Laguna

10:15pm- Setanta SPorts USA- Cardiff City vs. Queens Park Rangers

3am- FSC- Brisbane Roar vs. Perth Glory

SUNDAY

6am- Setanta Sports USA- CSKA Moscow vs. Dynamo Moscow

8:30am- ESPN360- Feyenoord vs. PSV Eindhoven

8:30am- ESPN360- VVV Venlo vs. Ajax

8:30am- Setanta Sports USA- Manchester United vs. Manchester City

8:55am- ESPN360- Cagliari vs. Inter Milan

9am- FSC/FSE- AC Milan vs. Bologna

9:30am- ESPN360- Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Hamburg SV

10:30am- ESPN Deportes- Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Hamburg SV (Delayed)

11am- Setanta Sports USA- Lens vs. Lille

11am- FSC/FSE- Chelsea vs. Tottenham

11am- GolTV- Athletic Bilbao vs. Villarreal

1pm- ESPN2/ESPN Deportes/ESPN360- Real Madrid vs. Xerez

1pm- Telemundo- Toluca vs. Atlas

1pm- Setanta Sports USA- Wolves vs. Fulham

1pm- GolTV- Bayer Leverkusen vs. Werder Bremen

2:30pm- FSC/FSE- Roma vs. Fiorentina

2:55pm- ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN Deportes/ESPN360- Valencia vs. Sporting Gijon

3pm- Setanta Sports USA- Paris St. Germain vs. Lyon

3pm- Telefutura- Chicago Fire vs. Columbus Crew

3pm- GolTV- Santo Andre vs. Sao Paulo

5pm- FSC- Boston University vs. Harvard (women's soccer)

5pm- Univision- Queretaro vs. Club America

7pm- FSC- Everton vs. Blackburn (Delayed)

7pm- FSE- San Lorenzo vs. Racing

Freestyle Fridays

You're getting another Supernatural flow because I'm filling in for DJ Salvo. Plus I'm feeling lazy and the weekend is here! Peace.

Takers Trailer featuring Sharp Skills

My boy Sharp Skills has his song The Mountain Movement in the trailer for the upcoming movie, Takers. You can hear the song from the 1:59 mark through the end of the trailer. It has a crazy cast so I'm proud of him. Check the video below to see everybody that's in it.

It's always Sunny In Philadelphia

I seriously can't wait for this to start.

Saprissa vs Columbus Crew

Besiktas vs Manchester United

Liverpool vs Debrecen

Captain EO

This goes out to White Kix, who recently joined the "Bring Captain EO back to Disneyland group on Facebook". Well, White Kix it sounds like your ragtag crew worked, because reports coming out are saying that it will be back at Disney parks in January of 2010.Click here for more info.

MLS Final Kick Week 26

Rookie Life: Push For The Playoffs

Since G-Rant is slacking on the Rookie Life tip I figured I'd throw it up here for him. That's OK G-Rant, I haven't posted much since Friday. My bad. Oh yeah, here's the video.

It's still painful watching that Zakuani miss against Houston. Two points could prove huge down the stretch.

"Frickin Forlan" says SAF

I guess I'm not the only one who's said that a time or two. New reports out of Britain state the Diego Forlan's choice of footwear caused him to get booted out of Old Trafford. Oh, and that's why you missed so many opportunities?

RIP Patrick Swayze

August 18, 1952 - September 14, 2009. Stay gold Patrick... Stay gold.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBIT_SWAYZE?SITE=WIMAR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Serena Williams Goes Nuts!!

Serena Williams summoning the spirit of John McEnroe... With a little thug in it. How bad do you think her fine is going to be? To bad she snapped like that, I'm a big fan of her and sister too.



You can kind of hear/read her lips in this one. Dang girl, you are all kinds of pissed.

Sounders FC vs D.C. United

Sounders Continue their good form against D.C.

Barcelona vs Getafe

Real vs Espanyol

Strange to see Ronaldo coming off the bench. Wonder what that did to his ego.

Toronto vs Colorado

Look out, here comes Toronto.

Stoke vs Chelsea

So, when is a goal celebration to long?

Liverpool vs Burnley

Benayoun Lights it up.

Man City vs Arsenal

Dwight Yorke Retires ( A Week Ago)

DJ Salvo's post of the Soca Warriors Anthem reminded me that I never said anything about Dwight Yorke's retirement from football. He's had a long career and has achieved great things, especially for a player from the CONCACAF region. His Treble winning season with ManU and T&T's first World Cup finals will always be huge accomplishments that stand out in my mind. I am a big fan of the striker and always hoped he would end up in MLS. Oh well...Cantona never played in MLS either and I got over that. Sort of. Well, at least I can still hope for Stern John to come back.

Here Dwight sits down to talk with the TTFF.
Part 1

Part 2

I'm a Soca Warrior

I will admit that Sterlinho was right about me being bummed that T&T are officially eliminated from qualifying for the World Cup. But that doesn't stop me from being a Soca Warrior. So I give you music from a better day when Trinidad & Tobago were headed to Germany. The song is "Fighter" by Maximus Dan.

Freestyle Fridays

ESPN takes a look at Freestyle Soccer.

Toronto FC brings in Julian De Guzman

Toronto F.C. announced today that they signed Canadian midfielder Julian de Guzman as their Designated Player. Coming from Deportivo La Coruna, De Guzman should be ready to play this Saturday against Colorado. Let's hear it, is this a good move? Will this be the final piece to Toronto's puzzle? Does anyone else think adding another midfielder doesn't make sense? I will be interested in seeing how Toronto handles international call ups.

Is He Really That Bad?

Now I know that Heath Pearce isn't the best answer for the US National Team at left back, but I ran across some strange pictures while searching for a good picture of him. Along with a few photos of Heath Ledger and Pierce Brosnan I ran across the following pictures:



For pics of more crazy urinals click here.

NYRB Fan of the Year Contest

Are you kidding me? They expect people to do something to become fan of the year? After the years of torture and suffering through this abysmal season, they should just give the award to everybody who shows up at the last game.

Make The Difference - USMNT

Nike is dropping commercials like their dropping leagues.

Heath Pearce to FC Dallas

FC Dallas has acquired American defender, Heath Pearce via the allocation process. He'll undergo the medical on Monday, so he won't be available for their game against the Galaxy this weekend. I wonder if this is the reason why? Here's more info from the FC Dallas Blog.

9/11 Remembered

I was at a meeting this morning where they always start with the Pledge of Allegiance. Today felt different.

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.

It's Late And I Need To Go To Bed

So I'll just highlight a few stories that I found interesting.

Jose Romero of the Seattle Times did a piece on the salaries of the Sounders...and yes, I was the first person to comment on the article. Now you know how I really feel about Passback Pete Vagenas.

All hail Fabio Capello one day, and resent him the next. It looks like Fabio isn't down with the WAG's. What's up with that?

The Great Diving Debate continues and Arsene Wenger finally spits some truth. "You'd cheer a Wayne Rooney dive if it won you the World Cup." I haven't heard this much about diving since Greg Louganis infected the pool.

The FIFA 10 Achievements have been revealed.

And last but not least, make sure you know what team you're loaned out to.

Make The Difference

From Nike:

Pain is temporary.
Defeat is permanent.
They taunt you and they hack you. But you know what you need from the game.
Three points. A performance to keep your place. To crush your fiercest rivals.
So when youre brought down again, for the seventh time thats when you get up, rise above it and turn the game.

Does anyone else see the irony in this video?

Master The Ball

Did you hear how they said you need to become really good at one or two things? I did, and I specialize in doing the stepover.

Turan On Target

I haven't talked Turkish football since I lived in New York and had some clients from Turkey. Nike introduces Arda Turan to the world.

Nike Academy

Nike's been dropping videos like crazy. Here is the first of many.

CONCACAF Video Signals

How To Sell Chivas USA

Apperently, the football doesn't sell itself.

FIFA 10 Skills

Watching this video makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. The October 20th release date can't come soon enough!

LA Aztecs 35th Anniversary T-Shirt

An email from the boys at Bumpy Pitch just landed in my inbox a few minutes ago. They just dropped a new LA Aztecs shirt that is pretty sweet. Here's the email:

It was 1974. Steve Miller Band releases The Joker, The Godfather II hits movie theatres, and the LA Aztecs had just joined the North American Soccer League. With a small fan following, a home stadium at East LA College and that classic logo, the LA Aztecs did one of the most difficult things to do in professional sports - win a championship in your inaugural season.

The LA Aztecs might have only been around a short amount of time (1974-81), but they undoubtedly left their mark on the history of soccer in the United States. With a celebrity co-owner in Elton John, and superstars such as George Best and Johan Cruyff, it would be natural to think that the LA Aztecs would have enjoyed a handful of championship wins. In fact, that championship in 1974 was the lone year that they were crowned kings of the NASL.

This Bumpy Pitch shirt pays tribute to the only championship the LA Aztecs won 35 years ago.

Back of the shirt.

You can cop the LA Aztecs 35th Anniversary T-Shirt here.

KC Wizards vs DC United Highlights

Every point counts at this point of the season.

Mexico vs Honduras Highlights

Team Soul Glo falls to El Tri at Azteca, courtesy of a Blanco PK. Dos Santos was looking for the penalty all the way. And Wayne Rooney is a diver?

Does anybody else think that Cantor's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOl sounded a bit weird?

US vs Trinidad & Tobago Highlights

The dream is dead for the Soca Warriors. I'm sure DJ Salvo is crying somewhere right now.

Paraguay vs Argentina

European Qualifying Round Up

Slovenia's goalkeeper Samir Handanovic is seen in front of burning flares during the Group 3 World Cup qualifying soccer match against Poland at Ljudski Vrt stadium in Maribor, Slovenia, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009.

You can check out all of today's results from the European World Cup qualifiers by clicking here. Next up is the CONCACAF action.

England vs Croatia Highlights

A huge game for Aaron Lennon, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

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.

CONCACAF Video Signals

Now that today's European World Cup qualifiers are in the books, we can turn our attention to the US and the rest of CONCACAF.

Hungary vs Portugal Highlights

Hungary shows how to stop Cristiano Ronaldo.

Germany vs Azerbaijan Highlights

Italy vs Bulgaria Highlights

England vs Croatia Live Stream

Watch live video from England VS Croatia Live HERE!! on Justin.tvIf the stream stops playing it's probably because it was shut down for copyright infringement.

Go On by B. Reith

This video is kind of funny if you pay attention to the lyrics. Its From B. Reith, who's set to drop a new CD on the 22nd of this month (the same day as Halo 3: ODST). It's a Wednesday so we need something light hearted before the US goes to battle. Enjoy.

Are you that dude from That 70's Show?

It's Official: Sounders In The Champions League

Sounders FC are the first official team in the CONCACAF Champions League for the 2010-2011 competition. Generally, the US Open Cup champion would gain entry to the tournament but nothing was official until now.

Luis Fabiano on the Game Against Argentina

Honduras vs Trinidad & Tobago Highlights

Team Soul Glo strikes again. The Soca Warriors could have used Shaka Hislop in goal.

Mexico vs Costa Rica Highlights

This one hurt. I was really hoping to see Mexico fail at Saprissa Stadium.

Brasil vs Argentina Highlights

And Luis Fabiano dances the Samba all over Argentina. Maradona could us the hand of God right now.

US vs El Salvador Highlights

England vs Slovenia Highlights

MLS Goal of the Week Nominees

The sad part of this week is that no team got more than 11,000 fans to their match. Think about that, the Sounders get more people to one home game than the three home teams this weekend combined. Cunningham gets my vote.

KC Wizards vs NE Revolution Highlights

Again, more football lines. It makes me want to puke. Well, at least there were a lot of goals.

DC United vs FC Dallas Highlights

I'm surprised Wicks didn't kick the crap out of somebody for getting chipped. And why are there football lines at Pizza Hut Park? What's the point of having your own stadium if it looks like crap and is always empty? At least they've got Cunningham scoring goals.

TFC vs Rapids Highlights

Check out the crowd in Colorado, and Casey pulls a Montero.

Behind The Scenes At The USOC Final

You can see those "manufactured fans" at the end of the video.
From Sounders FC.

Youth in Revolt

The Men Who Stare At Goats

Adventures of Power

Air drumming. Hell yeah.

Halo 3 ODST

This live action trailer for Halo 3 ODST is frickin sweet. It definitely got me pumped to play it on the 22nd of this month. It also makes me wonder if the Halo movie is ever going to live up to the hype.

Freestyle Fridays

You're getting another Supernatural joint cuz there's just so much out there. The cat can spit for over 9 hours. So have a great Labor Day Weekend party peoples! Pay special attention at 1:06.

Nice Wins Nothing

I think Josh Wicks must be drinking the Nike Juice.

Too Many Voices In My Head!

I ran across this Houston Dynamo commercial on YouTube today. I'm assuming that they're trying to get the Spanish speaking fans out to see their new Designated Player, Luis Angel Landin face off against Mexican legend Blanco and his Chicago Fire. But here's the weird thing. It starts with Landin, who signed for the club on August 20th, but the end of the commercial plugs the game against the Fire on Sunday, August 9th. It was a great game with Houston coming away with a 3-2 win. This just doesn't make sense to me. Any Spanish speakers out there want to help me out? Hey Glenn Davis, do you have an explanation?

I think they're saying something about being, "Forever Orange." Anyone out there want to help with the translation?

Beat it in Seattle

Flash mob in Seattle. Now why wasn't G-rant and White Kix informed of this? They would have ate it up!

Manufactured?

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The Red Headed Step Child to the South would have you believe that the Sounders and their fans, are fake, corporate and manufactured. Well, I don't think 200 fans waiting in the rain at 3:45 AM is manufactured. Local Seattle news affiliate King 5 was there to film the Sounders homecoming last night.

Here is a fan video. Not quite the same quality as the King 5 link.

I love you Heather Mitts

This one's for Sterlinho. Everytime he sees her I swear I hear the song dream weaver.

More On The Open Cup Final

History was going to be made no matter who won the match. DC United were looking for back-to-back titles while the Sounders were seeking their first US Open Cup championship. Here are a few of my thoughts on last night's game:

The atmosphere at RFK looked pretty amazing. I know that a lot of Seattle fans were upset that the final wasn't held in Seattle, but the presence of the Screaming Eagles, Barra Brava and La Norte made it look great on TV.

The referee crew deserves a ton of praise for their performance last night. I never found myself arguing any call by yelling at the TV. Only a few surprise comments of, "That's not a foul." Great job by the 4th official for catching the stomp/jump of Josh Wicks on Freddy Montero. I saw it in real time but was surprised no one else did.

Speaking of Josh Wicks, I think the former Timbers keeper either needs anger management classes or he needs to lay off the roids. First, he attacked his own teammate Marc Burch on saturday during their game against Chicago and now the stomp on Montero. Hey Garber! How about a drug test for this guy?

Kasey Keller is the man... and so is Santino Quaranta. Quaranta brought new life to a sputtering DC attack.

I thought the Sounders needed finishing practice, but so does United. Most of their shots sailed high not even bothering Keller.

I saw someone post, "Le Toux + Levesque = Le Goal" on one of the many sites I was on before the Open Cup kicked off. I laughed a little to myself and found it amusing but highly unlikely. Boy was I wrong! And I couldn't be happier.

Lastly, I was enthused by Freddie Ljungberg's response to winning the cup. This guy has won three FA Cups and here he is celebrating with the rest of the team and kissing the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup trophy. It made me optimistic about the future of MLS and soccer in the United States.

Clyde Simms scored the lone goal for DC United while Freddie Ljungberg was instrumental in the Seattle attack.