The 14 Point Blog is MOVING!

Hey guys, the 14 Point Blog is moving to MLive.com.

You can catch us at http://blog.mlive.com/the14-pointblog/ .

Happy reading, thank you Blogspot.

Player Signings

Just a quick note. Bucks alum Eric Brunner has signed with the Columbus Crew, joining Bucks alum Pat Noonan at the club. For those that don't remember, Brunner helped lead the Bucks to the 2007 PDL North American Championship game, before falling to Laredo on penalty kicks. The 6-4 defender can play in the middle of defense as well as on the left side. The Ohio native and Buckeye alum, was originally drafted in January 2008 by the New York Red Bulls, but eventually signed with Miami FC of the USL First Division. He was in training camp with New York earlier this year, but joined up with the Crew when they returned from their trip to England two weeks ago. The Red Bulls completed the long-rumored trade of Brunner's rights to the Crew in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2011.

Another 2007 Bucks alum, George Josten has signed with the Portland Timbers of the USL First Division. The striker spent last season with the Crew and had a loan spell with the Cleveland City Stars of the USL Second Division.

Speaking of Cleveland, Bucks right back for the last two years, Kyle Russell is on trial with the newly promoted USL First Division side. Russell trained earlier this month with the Charleston Battery. A number of player moves should be announced in the coming days as MLS sides finalized their rosters and USL teams begin to sign more players. Watch this space.

Giving Blood and Getting Cookies

Every three months I donate blood to the American Red Cross, which I’m about to go do as soon as I finish this post. I’d like to say it’s because I want to help save lives, but to be honest its about the two packs of Chips Ahoy (three packs if I flirt with the nurse) that I receive afterwards. Sure saving lives feels great, but how often do I get free cookies? Speaking of which, did anyone see the Office two weeks ago?

We’re getting ready to announce some big things for the season. I know the excitement is killing everyone, anticipating the anticipation is extremely hard work. Just dotting T’s, crossing I’s and making you all wait a bit longer for it.

In going with my anticipation theme, I can say that at least two Bucks alumni are set to sign for MLS teams this week, ahead of MLS First Kick this Thursday between New York and Seattle. For those interested, the Motor City Supporters will be holding a viewing party for the game at Station 885 in Plymouth, which proudly hangs a Michigan Bucks scarf in their bar, starting at 9:00 PM. You can RSVP for the event via Facebook.

Finally, while I find it very difficult to pay attention when a basketball game is on, March Madness is upon us. What else would the Bucks front office do but create a pool for our fans to participate in? I’m happy to see Michigan was selected for the first time in eleven years, but I plan on picking these games based on which mascots I like the most. To join click here.

Group ID#: 110804
Password: bucks

Off to get my cookies.

March Madness!

It didn't dawn on me when I was born, that there was a particular reason why I was born in the month of March. The simple reason, my birthday is a celebration of March Madness. As I celebrate my birthday tomorrow, NCAA Basketball will be preparing for the most intense month of the year. I am an avid college basketball fan, rooting for the University of Kentucky since I was in middle school. Unfortunately on a side note, it looks like they have a lot of work left to do, to get into the tournament this year. But what is it that so many people find fascinating. Each year, we hear the numbers, millions of works hours are lost with people watching live streams of games in their cubicles. Is it the fact that a small Podunk school can take down the Goliath? Or could it be the last second shot by the guy who hasn't made a basket yet? For me personally, its the upsets. I love to see the little guys get their chance, and make a Cinderella run. Of course that brings me to the next point. The tournament bracket. Filling out a tournament bracket is a must for everyone. Whether you choose to spend hours doing your homework and analyzing why a team should win, or if you want to choose by which mascot would win in a fight ( I wouldn't approve this method, last year my wife picked the Maryland Terrapins because she like the Turtle mascot). We will most certainly have an online bracket for everyone to participate in.But is NCAA basketball the only March Madness going on? This past week I have witnessed some of the best soccer matches I have ever seen. The Champions League has been entertaining, and action packed. Before the round of 16 started, Jeff (Office Soccer Guru) wanted us to fill out which teams would advance out of this round. I want to make it known that, I came out the winner, picking all 8 winners correctly. I just wish I could pick the Streak For Cash that easy. Jeff (Office Soccer Guru) only picked six correctly, with Bayern Munich and Roma selections. Brad on the other hand, I am not sure if he was just throwing darts at a board, but he only got five correct, missing on Sporting Lisbon, Juventus, and Real Madrid. Once the draw is complete we will make sure we get more people involved in the next round.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I look forward to the selections for both the Champions League as well as the NCAA bracket. Enjoy.

Kyle Karns
President of Operations

GOAL!!!

Well if you like goal scoring then yesterday's matches from the UEFA Champions League should have been a day in heaven. Most people that think soccer is boring say there aren't enough goals to keep them interested. I don't agree with that sentiment but the 12 goals between two games yesterday was definitely a show of more offense.

Luckily for me when it comes to my ESPN Streak for the Cash, I left the Bayern-Sporting and Liverpool-Real Madrid games alone because I wasn't confident in the outcome. I've worked really hard for my 3 game winning streak so I am waiting on another for sure win. As if there is one. That's what I can't figure out. I try to really look into all of the variables as I make my picks but it seems that more often than not it tends to backfire on me. So I have decided to just go with my gut and stop doing my 30min of homework before each pick. We will see how it continues to go. So far I have 3 wins with this new system. Remember to sign up for the "Michigan Bucks Pool" to compete against Bucks staff and other fans.


Well we are now only 2 1/2 weeks away from the first Bucks hosted event of 2009, the second annual, College Cup. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you here soon. Keep your eyes open for the Insider which will have all the details regarding this event.

Veris Becomes an Islander

Former Bucks defender Kyle Veris has signed with the Puerto Rico Islanders of the USL First Division. Veris, who played for the Bucks in 2002 and 2005, joins the CONCACAF Champions League semifinalists from Norwegian club IL Hodd on a free transfer. After graduating from Ohio State, Veris was drafted by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft, making 17 appearances and lining up beside David Beckham and Landon Donovan.

In his two stints with the Bucks, the Washington D.C. native made 22 appearances scoring 2 goals. Veris will be eligible for the Islanders when they host Cruz Azul of Mexico in the Champions League semifinal first leg March 17 in Bayamon.

In other news, the Champions League Round of 16 second legs are today and I’m amped to watch the Liverpool-Real Madrid match on ESPN. Remember with the time change, the match will kickoff at 3:45 PM today. Three of the four matches today are tasty, while the Bayern-Sporting Lisbon tie is all but over.

Who do you think will go through in the four matches today? Scores after the first leg are listed. Today’s home teams are listed first. Leave your comments:

Juventus 0 - Chelsea 1
Bayern Munich 5 – Sporting Lisbon 0
Liverpool 1 – Real Madrid 0
Panathinaikos 1 – Villareal 1

Been Awhile!

Well Bucks fans, it has been quite awhile since I blogged last. In fact the last time I think I blogged the ground was covered in snow, and now we are on the verge of hitting 60 degrees. Even though the span of those two things happening here in Michigan could be an hour apart.

Don't get me wrong the warm weather is a nice sigh of relief from the doom and gloom that has been here the past few months. I am not much of a golfer, in fact I think I can count the number of times I have golfed on one hand. Rumor has it however, that some of the courses have opened up for today, I would have to imagine they are getting some business.

Bucks Tickets
Recently I have been trying to finalize all of the season ticket packages that we are planning on offering for the upcoming season. Once again we will have the Flex-Pass and our popular Supporters Group Package as well. I wont give away all the surprises, but each package has some new additions from last year that I think you guys will enjoy. We are hoping to have those finalized within the next few days, and they could go on sale in a week or so. This is always an exciting time for me and the rest of the staff. This is the point we know that the season is starting to grow near, and we can start to hear the chatter of people that will be attending Bucks games. Keep an eye on the website if you are interested in Bucks season ticket packages.Bucks Roster
Just as important as the ticket packages is the roster of the product you are coming out to watch. Along with creating the packages, I have been working on getting our roster together as well. As many of you know, we were happy to see several of our guys to get drafted and tryouts with professional clubs. With that being the case, we are going to have some new faces to the Bucks roster this year. However, we are going to be fortunate enough to bring back some of the top athletes that we had last year as well. I wont give any names, I will leave the speculating up to you guys.

ESPN Streak
Well since the last time I posted, Jeff and I were the only two really keeping track of our streaks. Since then, we have created a group on the ESPN website, and now I can keep track of how horrible I am doing compared to the rest of you guys. To be perfectly honest, from what I have seen so far, it doesn't look like any of us will be the lucky one to bring home a million dollars. But best of luck to anyone, and spread the word.
Current Leader - Kyle Karns (yeah, thats right) with 2

Video of the Day
As always I like to end most of my blogs with a random video. Click on this link to see a great goal in a high school soccer match.
click here

Well have a good weekend everyone, and get outside and enjoy the nice weather.

Kyle Karns
President of Operations

Enough is Enough

For those who've not paid attention to the CONCACAF Champions League in the last week, Major League Soccer has already been out done by this country's unofficial "Second Division". Houston Dynamo, the only MLS team that made it out of the group stage fell 4-1 on aggregate after losing 3-0 to Atlante in Cancun on Tuesday night.

Flash forward to last night, with USL First Division side Puerto Rico Islanders taking a 2-1 lead into San Pedro Sula, against Marathon of Honduras. Playing a strategic match and looking to save their lead, DC United castoff Nicholas Adderly struck at the death, helping Puerto Rico to a 1-0 result and 3-1 aggregate victory. Tonight the Montreal Impact (also of the USL First Division) go into the 2nd leg with Santos Laguna of Mexico with a 2-0 lead.

One question I've been asked is how did these two teams qualify? Puerto Rico qualified as a Carribean team and Montreal had already superseded an MLS team in Toronto FC during Canadian qualification for this tournament.

One Upped

Forget the fact that MLS was given 4 spots in the tournament which began in August. The only other country that gets as many spots is Mexico. Two teams, New England Revolution and Chivas had to go through a home and home qualifying round, which neither made it out of. New England lost to Joe Public of Trinidad & Tobago with a disgraceful 6-1 aggregate result, while Chivas fell to Tauro FC of Panama 3-1. DC United, who qualified directly to the group stage as the 2007 Supporters Shield winner, became the whipping boys of their group, only taking 1 point from 6 matches. Houston barely even qualified for the knock out stages, need a 1-0 result on the last day of the group stage to move on.
The case has been made that all 4 MLS teams did take part in the North American SuperLiga, which the Revolution actually won, but were worn out when the CONCACAF Champions League started a month later. The problem is both Atlante (just beat Houston) and Santos Laguna (match tonight vs. Montreal) participated in that tournament as well and both teams have played roughly the same amount of games over the past year.

MLS clubs haven't won a CONCACAF tournament since the home-and-away format was adopted in 2002. Their performances have previously been excused because the tournament has been held mainly during the MLS preseason and teams aren't in top form yet. This argument no longer works because USL teams play nearly the exact same schedule as their counterparts in MLS. There is no longer an excuse.

Puerto Rico and Montreal's payroll are smaller than any team in MLS, in fact any team in the Mexican top flight, yet one is in the Champions League semifinal while the other is on the cusp of being there. These teams both have players that supposedly couldn't hack it in top flight American soccer, but are now outperforming the teams they couldn't run with. MLS should already be EMBARRASSED for being one-upped by the second tier league in its own country, but if Montreal comes away victorious tonight in Torreon, the league will have serious egg on its face.

The CONCACAF Champions League is far more important that Major League Soccer’s SuperLiga, for which the league rewards Mexican teams more money for winning than their own. On the other hand, the winner of the Champions League has a berth in the FIFA World Club Cup (where just participating earns a team $500,000), for which no MLS club has been able to qualify. Participation in the FIFA tournament would go much further to earn MLS the respect it so badly craves. It doesn’t come from winning your own made-for-TV cash grab or signing a major superstar on his last legs.

Going forward, I'd be worried Major League Soccer clubs will begin to lose their allocated spots in the Champions League if they don't perform better in the future. It is up to MLS to make this tournament what it should be, not make it second fiddle to something that means so little.

Until that time, Up the USL!

Alumni Update

I first need to apologize for the lack of a blog posting in nearly a week. From the bottom of my heart, I'm very sorry. I thought I'd do a quick update on how our alumni are doing.

Besmir Bega, currently playing in Albania with Partizani, on loan from city rivals KF Tirana, scored his first professional goal on Sunday, March 1 in a 1-0 win over KS Elbasani. The win puts Partizani in 10th place in the 12 team league. Here is Bes' goal:

Steve Clark spotting: Here is Steve (orange), still in camp with Real Salt Lake, image posted in Real Salt Lake to the Core. Real will be taking part in the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston, SC this week, other teams attending: DC United, featuring former Bucks Boyzzz Khumalo and Greg Janicki, Toronto FC, and the hosts Charleston Battery of USL-1.

Which leads me to…

Kyle Russell, who is currently in training camp with the Battery. Kyle is looking to join another Bucks alum, Stephen Armstrong, in calling Charleston his new home.

Ty Shipalane (Columbus) and Mike Holody (Colorado) are in training camp with their respective teams. Doug DeMartin (Kansas City) has been recovering from sports hernia surgery but is expecting to join back up with the Wizards very soon. All three are in the running to make their respective rosters. Decisions will be made soon as the MLS season is just two weeks away...

Dave Hertel has popped up in training camp with USL-1 expansion club, Austin Aztex. Dave was in training camp earlier this year with Steve Clark and RSL.

Joseph Kabwe (above) has signed with the Carolina Railhawks of the USL First Division after spending the past three seasons with USL-2's Charlotte Eagles. Kabwe was given the Paul R. Scicluna Award for his excellent play for the Bucks in 2004.

Lastly, I want to encourage readers of the 14 Point to follow us on Twitter.

Stupéfier!

For those of you not familiar with French, apparently that means Amazing! Thank you Babel Fish.

So lets talk about the Champions League action from yesterday from the CONKA, CONKA, CONKAKHAFFF section.

I wanted to give a shout out to our USL Canadian brethren, the Montreal Impact, for their impressive showing in a 2-0 victory last night against Santos Laguna of Mexico in the CONCACAF Champions League. A crowd of 55,571 spectators filled the Olympic Stadium, next door to the L'Impact's regular home, Stade Saputo, to watch the USL-1 side defeat the 2008 Mexican Clausura champions.

The two-goal pad puts Montreal in the driver's seat for the return leg, to be played a week from today in el Estadio Corona in Torreón, Mexico. The winner of the series will take on the winner of the Houston Dynamo-Atlante (Mexico) series. That tie is currently level at 1-1 after the Dynamo surrendered a late goal in the first leg Tuesday night in Houston.

What makes the attendance achievement so amazing, as a number of people have pointed out to me today, is the Impact set a team and CONCACAF record last night AS WELL AS beating out the attendance figures of 5 of the 8 European Champions League first legs that were played Tuesday and Wednesday. Bravo, Montreal!

The other USL team involved in the Champions League, Puerto Rico Islanders, are set to take on Marathon of Honduras tonight in Bayamon, PR. Kickoff is at 8PM ET and LIVE on Fox Soccer Channel.

In other news, I wanted to encourage followers of the 14 Point Blog to join the Bucks group on ESPN's Streak for the Cash. Create an entry and join the "Michigan Bucks Pool". I'm currently sitting on 1, thank you Chelsea and Juve for only scoring once yesterday.

Join me in trying to beat out Kyle Karns for $1 million.

Dave's Real Adventure

Bucks defender spent much of February in training camp with Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake after going unselected in January's SuperDraft. The speedy left back sat down with The 14 Point Blog to give us his view on his time with RSL, among other things.

14P: Having just come off a great season with Michigan State, you were invited to the MLS Combine and touted as the best left back there by a number of journalists. What was your feeling when you weren't initially selected in the SuperDraft?

DH: My initial feelings were disappointment, but like a lot of things in life you live and you learn.

14P: How did RSL's Discovery Pick come about with you? Did you know of other teams interested in your services?

DH: One day I received a phone call from Jason Kreis and he said they were going to bring me in for a little bit of their preseason. I also had contact with Chivas USA, but by the time everything happened RSL tagged me as a discovery pick.

14P: Bucks teammate Steve Clark joined you in RSL training camp a few weeks ago, had you heard he was coming or did he show up and surprise you?

DH: Yeah I had heard he was coming, he gave me a call a few days after being tagged and said he had had the same thing happen.

14P: How was it to have someone you know training with the same team?

DH: Its always nice to have a guy on the team that you know and like, but also another Spartan was there who played on the team named Kevin Reiman so between Steve and Kevin it made the situation better.

14P: Were there any players in training camp that you'd looked up to as a kid?

DH: Yeah. Clint Mathis was definitely one I remember from the 2002 World Cup.

14P: What are the noticeable differences between the college/PDL level and the MLS level of play?

DH: The intensity and speed of play. In MLS you have good players who are all fit so in that nature it tends to speed up the game, and it does take a little time to get use to.

14P: Do you stay in touch with any of your Bucks teammates?

DH: Of course some of the Bucks players are good friends. Shipalane, Holody, Stacy, Demartin, Scaffidi, Clark, Russell, the list really goes on and on. We’re all a family.

14P: Did RSL manager Jason Kreis know about your flip throw?

DH: Haha. No I was kind of glad.

14P: Before coming to the Bucks last season you played the previous 3 summers for the West Michigan Edge, much closer to your hometown in Holland. What’s more the team featured a number of your teammates at Michigan State. Was there any bad blood between you guys?

DH: No, we don't take those moves personally and they knew that the Bucks have been very successful in the past summers. So, there were no hard feelings.

14P: Did Clint Mathis given you any hair advice?

DH: No, but it turns out he is a real nice guy

Short Answer (just pick one) Best city: Holland, East Lansing or Salt Lake City?

Toss up between EL and Holland

Best League: England, Spain or Italy?

England

Better Player: Ronaldo or Messi?

Ronaldo

Thanks Dave and good luck!

Pondering Beckham

The talk of the soccer world lately has been the David Beckham/AC Milan soap opera (not surpisinly, knowing how much the soccer world LOVES a good soap opera), anad a lot of that talk has come from those with an axe to grind.

The European press, aghast first that Beckham would play in MLS, aghast second that his foray into America wasn't a sign that he would never be able to play at the highest level again, is aghast third that the LA Galaxy hasn't rolled over and given Becks away to the might rossoneri for the first offer they made (whether they actually made it or not, which is still something of an open question).

As a result, their reporting has been wildly slanted and, in some cases, probably just made up out of thin air.

As far as anyone can tell, Milan made an offer of $3 million, to which the Galaxy and MLS replied with a polite, “No, thank you.” MLS commish Don Garber then set a deadline for negotiations of last Friday (Feb. 13), saying that he had a season to start and inviting Milan to merda or get off the pot.

Since then, Milan and Beckham and other Milan players and coaches have all weighed in, and kept flapping their gums about how much they want Beckham to stay with Milan, how “indispensable” he is, and how hard they’re trying to make a deal.

But, again as far as anyone can tell, they really haven’t done anything BUT flap their gums since.

This got me to wondering, what if Milan actually DOESN’T want to keep him, or at least pay to keep him?

First, Beckham is much more valuable financially to the Galaxy than he is to Milan. If Milan were making a run in the Champions League or had a legitimate shot at the Scudetto this year, it might have been different, but it isn’t. It would take a miracle (read: more bribery than even they could afford) to get them to the top of the league, and to a club like Milan, the UEFA Cup is hardly worth paying much for.

Furthermore, as his current hamstring reminds us all, he isn’t a spring chicken, and isn’t going to be part of Milan’s long-term plans, justifying an eight-figure transfer fee.

On the other hand, LA and MLS have put a lot of financial eggs into the Beckham basket, a heck of a lot more than $3 million worth. The team would have to go out and find a replacement for him on the roster, for one, and the league and its sponsors would be left holding the bag if the face of the league bolted.

What if Milan is just pretending to work real hard for their newest friend, to keep him happy while he’s still around, knowing full well that LA won’t take anything less than a lot more than they’re willing to part with for him?

Maybe MLS and LA know this, maybe they don’t. Maybe Milan is just blowing smoke up everybody’s kilt, and maybe Garber and Galaxy head honcho Tim Lieweke are parties to the charade for the benefit of keeping Beckham, who has said that he wants to stay, but will return to LA if a deal isn’t done, as a courtesy to a club to which they don’t want to burn a bridge.

I don’t know if this is the case or not. But if it were, things would be happening exactly as they are now.

Disappointment

Picking up where Brad left off yesterday, has anyone been watching the Pistons lately? I am not quite sure what is going on with them this year. I have only been to one game this year but I am pretty dedicated to watching them at least a couple times a week on TV. It seems like they have forgotten what it takes to win those close games. I understand we did loose Chauncey who was some what of a piece in the puzzle, but is seems like there is something missing. After there fifth consecutive loss last night I am starting to wonder what kind of moves Dumars has up his sleeve for the off season. Not that I am righting this season off quite yet but, if they cant remember where they put their DEFENSE or how to protect the ball, then I am afraid they are going to continue on this downward spiral right out of the playoff picture.


It is sad because if you look at individual talent, they seem to have it. Iverson, Hamilton, Prince, these guys seem to bring it pretty consistently but then there is Wallace. He has incredible talent, not only on the post but as a 3pt threat as well, it just seems like he only gives partial effort most of the time.




Well enough of my venting!!! As for us here at the Bucks we are getting really excited for this upcoming season. With everything we have been working on over the last few weeks I think we are going to have a really great year. It was exciting to see things getting kicked off this week with our first soccer camp. All those kids coming in for the week to do nothing but play soccer. Those were the days!!! Although this week is coming to an end, it will only be a couple weeks and the next camp will start and only a month after that will be our home opener! See you all soon!!!

The Good Ole Days

Do you remember the good ole days? Those days way back in elementary school when you were worried about not wetting your pants, having to talk to the girl next to you, or getting those last few cookies you saw the night before. Every day I knew that all I needed to do was pretend to be listening to the teacher, answer a few simple questions and then be rewarded by playing with my friends for an hour or so. It was a vicious cycle back then but I loved it. Most of all, I loved playing sports.

Sports were my life, they still are. Only now I don’t get to play sports like soccer, tetherball, or kickball. I get to watch them on television and occasionally get the opportunity to play basketball but it's nothing like it use to be. Although I must toot my own horn here for a moment and say I did have the opportunity to play kickball this past summer. It was the first time in 15+ years and in case you’re wondering; I went 2-3 kicking a double, a homer, and putting a few RBI’s on the old stat sheet. The excitement every day during recess was overwhelming, my life has been filled with sports and I now know why it is so important to have them introduced to kids at a young age. I think teaching sport to our youth gives us valuable tools and life lessons that we can keep and continue to build on throughout our lifetime.

Personally, my favorite times were attending at the various camps (like the one the Bucks are holding this week, register for the one in April by clicking here). My most memorable experience was attending a Steve Fischer basketball camp. It included a weeklong stay on the Michigan campus. I went with one of my best friends and all we did for a week was play basketball and have fun. We always ate off the buffet, got plenty of sleep, and got to play around on our down time. If I could do it all over again I would have attended more sports camps because to me, those made my childhood worthwhile.

Stock Up/Stock Down

↓ Alex Rodriguez – COME ON ALREADY!!! Does anyone really believe this guy, I am in total disbelief. Yes, I will give credit for stepping forward and confessing, however he knew it would come out sooner than later so I’m sure his PR team and staff decided to take the initiative and confess (he should hire Jeff). This way he has time to rebuild his rep and hopefully get in the good graces of the public. Personally, I think there is a lot more to the story than he is telling. Oh A-Roid, COME ON!

↓Texas Tech Athletic Director – Wow, good job sir! You are on the verge of firing one of the best offensive coaches in the game. Texas Tech averages 500+ yards of offense every year starting in 2005. Mike Leach almost won a bid to the big dance and now they are going to fire him because he didn’t bend and take the deal Texas Tech offered him. Give me a break, you have to keep Mike Leach, hands down no two ways about it. Make a deal later, let him coach now.

↑Chauncey Billups – I think everyone knew when this guy left Detroit we were losing a big part of our team. He was the catalyst for this offense, he would set up, get it going, and create his own shot if the offense wasn’t working Billups was. Congratulations Denver Nuggets, you got a steal, now I just want to know what Dumars plans are.

Football Etiquette

It has recently occurred to me that the football watching public in the United States has grown a great deal in the past few years. I feel comfortable saying football because if you’re reading this blog you should already know which sport I’m talking about. With the influx of new fans in this country I’ve come to realize that sometimes they don’t pronounce teams, names, or even leagues correctly. So, without sounding like too much of a snob, this blog entry will work to correct these newbie errors.

Follow this simple protocol of pronounce, rinse, repeat and you will be a fine football connoisseur in no time (I EVEN MADE FLASHCARDS!):

It is not proper when referring to a team in Manchester, Madrid or London, to simply say the city name to specify a team. There are two teams in Manchester both with the city name in the title. When referring to Manchester United one should say “United”, when referring to Manchester City, they should say “City”. Full names are appropriate, shortened names can be a wobbly road depending on your company.. The same goes for the two top teams in Madrid – Real and Atletico. Now when it comes to London, there are more professional teams there then we have in the entire United States, none of which have London in the title. Arsenal, Chesea, Fulham, Charlton Athletic, West Ham, Crystal Palace, etc. should never be referred to as “London”.

Times when referring to the city is appropriate: When one of the teams in the city is named after the city and the other isn’t: Liverpool and Everton; Milan and Internazzionale; Barcelona and Espanyol; Los Angeles and Chivas, etc…

It is not “The MLS”. Spell it out. That would be “The Major League Soccer”, the same as saying “The Major League Baseball”. I’m no English expert so I cannot point to the rule regarding why this is incorrect, but its not rocket science, please quit calling it “The MLS”.

Tottenham Hotspur can be referred to as Tottenham or Spurs, but never as the Hotspurs. For those who don’t know, the team takes its name from a character in a Shakespeare play, named Harry Hotspur. Repeat, not the Hotspurs… In the same theme, Blackburn Rovers are not called The Rovers. If not using Blackburn, just say “Rovers”.

One cannot support more than one club in the same league. One can definitely not support two of the big teams in a certain league. This is football treason, while there is no capital punishment for this crime, it’s likely that neither team’s fans would want anything to do with you anyway.

Simple Pronunciation:
-Portsmouth is really pronounced Portsmith
-Fulham is really prounced Full-um
-West Bromwich Albion can be referred to as just West Brom, but if using the full name, it’s pronounced West BromICH Albion

That is all. Class dismissed, for now...

Recap: Columbus

Let me preface by saying reasons aren’t important, but it took me 3 days to fully recover from our trip to Columbus, for that I apologize. Additionally, if you were waiting for a full recap because you weren’t there, well you should have been and you’ll have to wait four years to experience something like it!

Timeline:

12:30 PM – Arrive in Columbus. We meet a bunch of US fans as we step out of the car to check in to our hotel. The town is painted in US, not Buckeye Red. After checking in, the Motor City Supporters Group heads over to the Claddagh to meet more US fans and start with match-day libations. By the way, its beautiful outside. I tell MCS member Alan, "I don’t care what the meteorologists say, I think this beautiful weather is going to carry through the game."

1:18 PM – Someone from Sams Army runs through the bar offering up commemorative USA-MEXICO World Cup Qualifying Scarves. Interested in adding to my scarf collection, I along with a few others purchase one. Best $20 I’ve ever spent, although I’m positive I’ve said that a number of times before. Also at this point the bar is pretty full, people poor out into the beautiful weather to play a little footy in the town square outside the Claddagh…

2:30 PM –Waiting on the rest of the MCS to arrive, we run into Bradd a huge Crew fan, who live in Oakland County. We know Bradd from a few Bucks games, he especially enjoys going to matches against Kalamazoo. WHOA! DID YOU SEE THAT ROBINHO GOAL FROM YESTERDAY!?!? Bradd offers to buy me a beer, but I tell him that I need to stay level headed for the match. As Jose would say, still fantastic outside.

3:01 PM – The rest of the MCS crew FINALLY arrives. I think they might have brought bad weather with them, its gray outside and the wind is picking up.

3:29 PM – While outside, I discover a group from Grand Rapids, who just happen to have a meteorologist with them. Lightly raining, all of a sudden I find that I’m speaking to myself and have rain pelting me in the face. Apparently I ignored Meteorologist Jim’s warning about the clouds in the distance and became soaked for the first time that day. I guess weather guy’s know what they’re talking about sometimes.

4:03 PM – Still drying off and knowing that the storm outside isn’t a one-off, I decide to dress in layers and put on all my waterproof clothing. I wish I’d done this earlier.

4:50 PM – Last call for MCS. The Claddagh chartered two busses over to Crew Stadium. One at 4:50 and one an hour later. Wanting to make sure we arrive for the fan march in, the group goes on the earlier bus and we wait.

5:12 PM – We’ve moved about half a mile. Columbus rush hour, how’d we not think of it? Mind you Crew Stadium is only about 6 miles from the Claddagh, we were in the Brewery District, where I guess a lot of traffic occurs.

5:50 PM – We moved another half mile.

6:10 PM – A drunk fan vomits at the front of the bus, and we’ve moved a couple more miles.

6:45 PM – “Hey, look the rain stopped. Hey, look we’re pulling into Crew Stadium. Hey look isn’t that the other bus from the Claddagh that was supposed to leave at 5:50?"Major fail on our part.

6:55 PM – Just as I step foot off the bus, the clouds open up and within a matter of seconds, I’m soaked again. Worried we’ll miss kickoff some of MCS gets separated and misses watching the match with the rest of the group.

7:10 PM - Anthems. Oh say can you see?

7:15 PM – KICKOFF!

7:20 PM – HUGE SAVE BY TIM HOWARD. I’m pretty sure my voice had already gone at this point.

7:56 PM – MICHAEL BRADLEY MAKES IT 1-0. Who ever said anything about nepotism with the National Team? MCS member Chad, who experienced his first ever cap comments that he’s never experienced anything like the celebration that ensued after Bradley’s goal.

8:00 PM – HALF TIME!

8:35 PM – Mexico captain Rafa Marquez gets SENT OFF for a dangerous challenge on Tim Howard. From our vantage point, we were quite surprised to see the red come out of Referee Carlos Batres pocket. What we couldn’t see was Marquez cleat Howard when he was up in the air to claim the ball. This is the sixth time in Rafa’s career he’s been sent off in an international match and second time against the US. Anyone remember his head butting of Cobi Jones in the 2002 World Cup?

8:47 PM – Feeling nervous, I comment to those around me that even though I predicted and wanted 2-0 (dos a cero), I’d take the score as is.

9:01 PM – MICHAEL BRADLEY AGAIN! On a shot from distance that Mexican keeper Oswaldo Sanchez should have had, the US completes another “dos a cero” scoreline. GREAT SUCCESS!

9:30 PM – Soaked, with a coarse voice, we finally meet up with the rest of MCS and head back to the Claddagh for the post match celebrations! Everyone, no matter where they’re from is high-fiving, singing, hugging and just generally happy. What a great day!

The next day, middle of nowhere, Ohio:

About 11:00 AM -- We find out that the US is playing Honduras as Soldier Field on June 6, the day before the Bucks play at Kalamazoo. I supposed we’ll have to be there...

Special thanks to MCS members Andrew and Dan for helping with photography.