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My Hall of Fame ballot

POSTED December 3, 2008 | 2:26 PM

Here are the ten I chose for the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame: Jeff Agoos, Thomas Dooley, Marco Etcheverry, Joy Fawcett, Joe-Max Moore, Preki, Mike Sorber, Earnie Stewart, Carlos Valderrama, Peter Vermes.

Edged out: Mike Burns, Shannon MacMillan, Peter Nowak.

Fair?

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The first three weeks

POSTED December 2, 2008 | 2:41 PM

You heard it here at the same time you're hearing it all over the blogosphere: D.C. United starts 2009 in L.A on March 22, then comes home to host San Jose on March 28....

Thursday, March 19, 2009
New York Red Bulls at Seattle Sounders FC, 9 p.m. (ESPN2/Deportes)
 
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Columbus Crew at Houston Dynamo, 8 p.m. (Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Sports en Español)
Chicago Fire at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m. 
Toronto FC at Kansas City Wizards, 8:30 p.m.
Colorado Rapids at Chivas USA, 10:30 pm (Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Sports en Español)
New England Revolution at San Jose Earthquakes, 10:30 p.m.
 
Sunday, March 22, 2009
D.C. United at Los Angeles Galaxy, 3 p.m. (TeleFutura)
 
REGULAR SEASON – WEEK 2
 Saturday, March 28, 2008
Toronto FC at Columbus Crew, 4 p.m.
San Jose Earthquakes at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
New England Revolution at New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
Kansas City Wizards at Colorado Rapids, 9:30 p.m.
 
REGULAR SEASON – WEEK 3
 Thursday, April 2, 2009
Columbus Crew at Real Salt Lake, 9 p.m. (ESPN2/Deportes)
 
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Seattle Sounders FC at Toronto FC, 3 p.m.
FC Dallas at New England Revolution, TBD
 
Sunday, April 5, 2009
New York Red Bulls at Chicago Fire, 3 p.m. (TeleFutura)

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Roster me this

POSTED December 2, 2008 | 2:37 PM

Was anyone else confused when Major League Soccer announced just before MLS Cup that team rosters would be reduced to 24 and the reserve division would be eliminated in 2009? How the heck did could they arbitrarily do that, especially in light of the brewing nuclear winter that is expected when the current collective bargaining agreement between the players and the league comes due at the end of next season.

Here's the answer, Article 5: Management Rights. (a.k.a. the management has rights, the players pretty much don't)

Check out this excerpt: "... the Union expressly waives its right to bargain over: Provisions of the Player Handbook; Competition Guidelines provisions (except as otherwise provided in this CBA), including but not limited to establishment, termination, and definitions of and amendments to player classifications and categories; possible sources of MLS  players and rules, regulations and procedures governing their assignment to MLS Teams; roster size; roster composition, including but not limited to the number of players within any  classification or category, whether domestic or international, on a Team’s roster; competition calendar dates (including but not limited to the roster freeze date, roster compliance date, waiver  dates, draft dates and discovery dates); player and team salary budgets (including but not limited  to the setting, administration and effect of minimum and maximum Team budgets and budgets attributable to individual players); player trade rules, regulations and procedures; player registration, transfer and loan rules, regulations and procedures; off-season training, competitions  and tours; rules, regulations and procedures concerning MLS Player drafts (including but not  limited to entry, waiver, supplemental and expansion and contraction drafts)."

Yeah, I'm not sure the players are going to go for that next time around. This paragraph is going to look mighty different, I'd imagine.

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Could the Carroll era at D.C. United be over?

POSTED December 1, 2008 | 12:47 PM

D.C. United waived Jeff Carroll this morning -- the 24-year-old hadn't played for the first team in two years thanks to injuries. With Brian Carroll gone (hanging out in Ohio with is second MLS Cup winner's medal) and the new world of the 24-man roster waiting around the corner for 2008, we'll have to see if Pat Carroll, the youngest of the three brothers, can hold on for a second season.

Meanwhile, Real Maryland announced two coaching assistants -- John O'Hara and Matt Leiva. According to the team's official release, O'Hara "finished the 2008 Season with D.C. United of the MLS, where he saw time with their Reserve Team." In other words, he played 15 minutes as a backup goalkeeper in a reserve match in August. The lesson: always be careful with Wikipedia. Leiva comes from Paul VI.

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GMU on a collision course with Maryland

POSTED November 17, 2008 | 6:45 PM

Thanks to yet another goal from Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe - his eighth in the seven matches (all wins, by the way) and his team-leading ninth of the season -- George Mason (13-6-2) earned its first-ever Colonial Athletic Association title and a first-round home game in the NCAA Tournament. The Patriots will host Penn (11-2-4) on Friday night, with the winner slated to visit another tournament-winning squad, Maryland (18-3-0), next Tuesday.

The Terps beat Virginia (11-8-1), 1-0, in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game on Sunday. I caught the second half on television -- a half in which the Cavs mounted exactly nothing resembling an attack after falling behind early. Maryland grabbed the title with a wicked first half -- which was glaringly apparent even from the brief highlights. The margin should've been two goals, eh?

In any case, the Cavaliers will host the Fairfield/UConn winner in the second round. Georgetown, not surprisingly, was left out of the field...

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