Soccer Matters with Glenn Davis on Fox Sports Houston today at 6pm presented by Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute…this is the re-air of last weeks show which features interviews with Dynamo assistant John Spencer and striker Luis Landin…..Today we are taping this week’s show for Thursday airing at Danish Inspirations Contemporary Furniture on Fondren near Westheimer. If you are in the area come join us!!! Free t-shirt giveway.
Podcast of last night’s Dynamo All Access with Glenn Davis features interviews with U.S. national team and FC Dallas members Heath Pearce and Jeff Cunningham.
Go to Sportstalk790am.com
DYNAMO TRIALISTS….
The Dynamo are taking a look at a few more players this week in Orlando. They include the following:
Shaun Saiko- 21 year old Canadien youth international midfielder on the books at Middlesbrough
Navion Boyd- 24 year old Jamaican midfielder who plays at Tivoli Gardens, 3 caps for Jamaica
Lovel Palmer- 25 year old midfielder who plays at Harbour View and has 13 caps for Jamaica
Jonathan De Leon- 22 year old midfielder at Tigres who has yet to play for the first team in Mexico
Thoughts on the world of soccer?
Danish Inspirations
Fiesta Mart
Houston Web Design
Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute
SportTalk 790
Zukowski, Bresenhan & Sinex, L.L.P.
I would have been on the list of trailists too Glenn, but I have had a nagging hamstring injury and can’t seem to get to be 100%. Maybe next year, or after the work stoppage!
I hope we can find a good youg midfielder to keep our team moving forward towards the cup.
Really ? We have a shortage of midfielders on the books ?
Ashe, Davis, Cameron, Mullan, Cruz, maybe Chabala and Mulrooney…
Glenn, what is your take on the labor contract issue? Is there REALLY a good chance of a season stopping strike?? I can not believe MLS would be that stupid but one never knows! What are the real sticking points that they seem to be far apart on? Thank you for clearing this up a bit for me.
Glenn, I was listening to your radio show on Podcast and you mentioned to a caller that you thought the MLS should have a Manchester United or some villain that was clearly better historically than other clubs.
I have to vehemently disagree with not only the notion that MLS needs such a club, but also that this CBA/loosening of the free agency rules would or should lead to the establishment of such a club.
American sports REQUIRE some sort of equality to succeed. It’s in our DNA. It’s in our history. Why do I put up with 8 years of Texans failure? Because I know that one day, with some luck, the Texans could go on a run like the 2000’s Patriots or the 1990’s Cowboys or the 1980’s 49ers.
Sure, Everton and Burnley fans are happy with 8th or 16th place, but Americans are not. In no sport. The Yankees are the closest we have to Manchester United, but they went 6 years without a championship before this year. When I was a kid, the Yankees were a laughing stock (in the days between Reggie Jackson and Derek Jeter…).
I’m all in favor of the CBA being revised to help out these players. But to knowingly allow a system to be set up that encourages the establishment of a “big 4″ or “big 2″ or whatever would KILL the league. Americans do not think like Europeans when it comes to class structure, and that extends to professional sports. If any team in any sport in America has NO CHANCE to win at the start of the season, that team will not survive…
Since we are all wishing the way it ought to be, fans players and owners at this point of work stoppage disaster… MLS needs to have teams that can compete in interleague play. Americans care about how it’s athletes stack up against the rest of the world. Allowing some MLS teams to acquire the best talent they can through MLS player movement and going to a single table format to qualify the best teams for interleague play would go a long way towards MLS world credibility.
All good commentary. Conversely though, doesn’t this parity continue to allow clubs like Colorado and others remain average with little effort to improve. Doesn’t seem like their is a healthy want to get better?
This is why Seattle has been a god-send for setting a new standard and exposing our weak links. Sadly, in some of those markets the press does not pay attention or apply healthy pressure.
On the MLS CBA dispute, I caught Chris Klein for a few minutes on Fox Football Phone In last night and after hearing his take, I’d bet the over on a work stoppage. He was civil and shed some player-perspective clarity, but it is clear that the two sides aren’t even in the same ballpark. I imagine the union’s decision to go public last Friday was a calculated result of the lack of progress perceived by the players although the league seems to think otherwise.
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2010/02/mls-responds-to-players-union-criticisms.html
I’m not in support of either side because frankly, they’re BOTH foolish to let it get this far. Given the progress of the league, the game’s place in the U.S. sports landscape, and South Africa just months away, the league and the players are on the verge of bottling this beyond repair. Now that the bad blood is in the media, the sharks and the haters are headed for the feeding frenzy. With help from the players and the league, they will rapidly destroy everything that has been achieved over the last 17 years.
Just as I did w/MLB, NFL, and the NHL (when I lived in Dallas), if the best both sides can do is boycott the fans, then as a fan, I will boycott MLS for the 2010 season. I might watch matches on tv but I won’t attend home games, spend hard earned money on parking and concessions, and I won’t purchase my annual 2 or 3 Dynamo jerseys and obligatory gear. I wont go out of my way to actively frequent league and team sponsors. I won’t blog in support of MLS, or post support for MLS in football forums, or evangelize about how we all have to support OUR league.
Because when a strike is on the horizon, we the fans are powerless and the reality is that it’s not OUR league. It’s THEIR league.
They owe the fans for their existence. I will suffer tough losses, untimely injuries, losing marquee players to Europe, hell I won’t even complain about 100 degree temperatures for night games, and I will fight tooth and nail against all of the anti-football redneck bigots in Houston for a stadium. But what I won’t do is give my heart and soul to a league, team, and players that spit in my face and a strike is that kind of deal breaker for me.
I sincerely hope they work it out in time but the choice is theirs. I love the Dynamo and MLS but if a strike is forthcoming, I’ll simply find something better to do with my time and if so, good riddance to the 2010-2011 season, and maybe I’ll see you again this time next year.
Maybe.
De Leon. De Leon. He’s got skills.
Wren I recommend you let the Dynamo\’s FO how you feel, maybe not the whole feeling thing, but let them know about your season tickets and you trying to bring people to games, buying food and merchandise, fighting for a stadium etc etc
I have emailed my ticket agents at the Home Depot Center, both Galaxy and Chivas USA. I was planning on picking up 2 Season tickets for both teams since last year I had about 10 or 11 games for the Galaxy and 8 for the Goats wanted to contribute to MLS as a whole and even gave away some of the Chivas tickets that weren\’t against the Galaxy or teams I\’d want to see like CLB, CHI, HOU and SEA.
I am praying they don\’t do this, Houston is about to become much more profitable, so is New York, and Philly since they will only play maybe 4 or 5 games in the Eagles behemoth stadium and I expect them to get a good turnout the 1st 2 games anyway.
Next year Portland will have a good 15-18K for sure and so will Vancouver and then KC will open up their stadium probably just in time for their season opener or they will play say 2 or 4 games at their current Baseball stadium or they might play all away games 1st and then BAM, KC has a stadium!
Come on as soon as both KC and HOU get it and then Portland plays in a beautifuly remodeled PG&E Park DC will have to get something and MLS should push to help them to get it or look for the financing. Maybe with a nice influx of Salvadorian crowd now that they have Castillo but who knows.
It\’s critical they don\’t go on strike, they had a deep talent pool in the draft, parity is pretty good aside from maybe KC, Colorado and say NY, but I could see 2 of those turn it around easily! World Cup buzz will generate some extra tickets, Seattle will have a bigger average and maybe open up to 36-40K thus improving MLS overall attendance, Toronto is getting and extra 1250 seats and demand can only get better so they pull the trigger on the 8-10K expansion with their 2 national heroes in DeRo and De Guzman.
RSL is bound to get a nice boost in attendance with a cup under them.
Lets write and call MLS, they need to give in to a reasonable solution to fix the free agency situation
Wren, Edwin
Excellent posts with quality information and yes, contact your local clubs with concerns not to mention the MLS front office.
Glenn
Todays Pre Season Game in FL.
UCF 1 Dynamo 4. Oduro with a hat trick. Hope this is a sign of good things to come.
Everton supporters “happy” with 8th place? Apparently you don’t follow the English Premier League or Everton Dave.