Tag: Soccer
The Year in Soccer Jurisprudence
Who knew that soccer litigation would be its own industry? With all that has been going on, I figured it would be a good idea to dial up Professor Steven Bank from UCLA, and attorney/sportswriter Neil Morris out of North Carolina to discuss all of the legal happenings over the past year. Great conversation with ...
Memorandum of Understanding Released in Advance of Pivotal Columbus City Council Vote
Tonight sometime between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time, the Columbus City Council will take up a vote to ratify the proposal to renovate Mapfre Stadium. This is but one piece of the puzzle to ultimately Save The Crew. The final piece involves the construction of a new stadium to house the team. The prospective ...
SaveDTheCrew Smoke Signals
Serious rumblings that we could get a formal SaveDTheCrew announcement this week. After the chaos on October 12, I reported the deal was "largely done." Of course, that didn't mean all of the signatures have been affixed to the proper documents, or that MLS was planning one of their customary events to announce the sale. ...
MLS Allowing More Charter Flights Seems Overdue, but Would Teams Actually Use Them?
Photo used with permission from Max Aquino Photography Eagle-eyed readers who read my story on the tentative changes to the MLS schedule, noticed a little tidbit related to the implications from additional midweek games. The long and short of it was: Additional mid-week games will put additional stresses on players, which may require MLS loosening ...
Happy Holidays
Wow, it’s been a crazy year for me personally. Started out a year ago tweeting about lawsuits and writing stories on Reddit. Then I wrote a couple of features for SounderAtHeart. In February, I started a blog covering all things legal soccer in the U.S., with a side of Seattle Sounders (and cigars). Now I’m ...
Seattle Sounders Wrap Up 2018; Look Ahead to 2019 Season
The Seattle Sounders held their end-of-the-year press conference to put a bow on the 2018 season, and look forward to 2019. It was a fairly casual affair, as Coach Brian Schmetzer, General Manager and President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey, and Sporting Director Chris Henderson held court for the assembled media. There were several notable bits ...
Ch-Ch-Changes
My next story is up at The Athletic, and it's a doozy. Big changes are in store for MLS as they prepare for the 2019 season. Per the story, we can expect that the date of MLS Cup is moved from December to October, and some additional midweek games. There is (way) more in the ...
Exclusive: With 2018 Season Over, What’s Next For the Columbus Crew?
The Columbus Crew suffered a tough defeat at the hands of the New York Red Bulls Sunday evening, ending their 2018 season after losing 3-1 on aggregate in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. But the good news for fans of the club is that the 2019 season is just around the corner, a fact that a ...
Sounders Practice Notes [11-07-18]
The Sounders have completed what could be the last official practice of the year, depending on the result tomorrow against Portland at CenturyLink Field. The gravity of the situation wasn't lost on coach Brian Schmetzer (or the team), but it's fair to say that they aren't letting the fact that the season could be over ...
Sounders Practice Notes [10-31-18]
After the couple of well-deserved days off, the Sounders returned to practice today as they await their opponent in the Western Conference semi-finals. MLS' (somewhat odd) decision to hold the LAFC/RSL match until tomorrow means that the Sounders won't know who they're playing until late on Thursday, though that means their opponent will potentially have ...
Sounders Practice Notes [10-26-18]: Birthday Present
Jordan Morris got a birthday present of sorts today, as for the first time since his ACL surgery, he was able to join in some possession drills with the Sounders. To be sure, this is not a prelude to him making the 18 on Sunday, but as Brian Schmetzer said after practice, "today was a ...
Sounders Practice Notes [10-24-18]
The Sounders returned to the practice field at Starfire for the first time in about 10 days, as last week's road trip to Orlando and Houston kept the team away from home for an extended period. The team appeared in good spirits; not surprising after collecting six points in a four-day span. There is good ...
Sounders Practice Notes [10-13-18]
I wasn't going to write anything up today (recovering from yesterday's chaos), but looking at the schedule, this is the last Sounders practice before they take off for Orlando. So, it's probably a good time for an update. Those players who had been on the shelf with injuries continue to make their way back. Harry ...
One Year Ago Today…
Here is an odd-but-fun anniversary. Exactly one year ago today, I tweeted out my first comments on the NASL suit against (then) USSF. From then, I'd go on to cover the case, writing a story for Sounder at Heart and appearing on a couple of Podcasts to explain what was going on. Who knew that ...
Sounders Practice Notes [10-09-18]
In what should be a surprise to no one, less than 18 hours after trouncing the Houston Dynamo 4-1, there wasn't a first-teamer who saw the field last night to be found on the training pitch this afternoon. A regen day for the starters will be followed by a couple of precious off-days for the team, ...
Schedules and Standards: “Parallel Paths” Likely Creating Headache for MLS in 2019
One of the outstanding questions in the SaveTheCrew saga (aside from the question of whether they'll be saved) revolves around how MLS will handle the 2019 season with the fate of the team not resolved. PSV has been processing ticket payments from Crew fans, in anticipation of playing at Mapfre in 2019, though the fine print ...
Sounders Practice Notes [10-06-18]
A quick update today for everyone. The most pressing question right now is how the international absences will affect the team. The international break technically starts Monday, but players are likely starting to be released with the end of the games this weekend. Of course, this presents a problem for the Sounders who play on ...
Sounders Practice Notes [10-05-18]: Fall is Here
The change of the calendar to October has brought the usual rain and cold, as the Sounders resumed practice ahead of the oddly scheduled match with Houston this Monday. There were a couple of bits of good news ahead of the game. First, a Sounders spokesman confirmed that there will be no (American) football lines ...
Austin Initiative Aims to Rein in Council, Expand Disclosures (And an Update on the PSV Lease)
It's been a very slow period for news both out of Columbus and Austin as it pertains to where the Columbus Crew will end up in 2019 (and beyond). It's been a bit surprising; if you read my "Save These Dates" story, you'll have seen that we've already blown through a couple of deadlines with ...
Sounders Practice Notes [09-26-18]
The Seattle Sounders returned to training today for the first time since their loss on Sunday to the Los Angeles Galaxy. If there were any lingering effects from the two-loss week falling the nine-game winning streak, they weren't visible. Perhaps the visit from Saturday's honorary captain, Emmanuel, helped brighten their spirits. Emmanuel is from the ...
