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.