What do you know? A photo of yours truly and his boy has made the finals for U.S. Soccer's Fan Photo of the year!

Won't you be so kind as to give us a click, then click on the "Best Fan Photo" button. Vote for the guy with the "Fish" in his last name.

Much obliged! Click to continue reading...

Video from Nevada Smith's on Saturday night, where 200+ raving lunatics (yours truly included) go nuts at the final whistle (1:45 in).

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Fifth in the East, Champs of the West, First in our Hearts!

The New York Red Bulls, behind a 28th minute goal from Dave van den Bergh, won the 2008 Western Conference Championship 1-0 at Real Salt Lake. RSL hit the post not once or twice, but three times in the match.

With the victory, New York travels to LA next Sunday to take on Columbus in the MLS Cup. Click to continue reading...

New York's shocking 3-0 playoff win at Houston on Sunday was nothing short of miraculous.

Not only was Houston:
-The two-time defending league MLS champion
-and had never lost a home playoff game
-and had lost only once at home all season...

And not only had New York:
-suffered five straight playoff series defeats
-had won only once on the road this season
-was starting its backup keeper Danny Cepero (salary: $12,900). Click to continue reading...

Today's announcement by MLS honcho Marc Abbott on the magnificent seven cities that presented expansion bids for the league's 2011 expansion round is notable for many reasons; the foreign interest in MLS, the three bids from North of the border, and one glaring omission: a bid by the Wilpon family, who were reportedly interested in adding a team and building a stadium in Queens, New York. Click to continue reading...

It wasn't Chad Barrett's chip of Red Bulls' keeper Jon Conway that was the most embarrassing, and it wasn't the TFC 80-yard fast-break goal off a poorly executed NY free kick. The most embarrassing part of Saturday night's 1-3 Red Bulls' home loss to league doormat Toronto was the banner unfurled by the visiting Red Patch Boys in the second deck which spelled out the truth: "Oooh, the Red Bulls are Shite! Click to continue reading...

A listless Red Bulls squad took it on the chin last night, 3-1 at league-leading Columbus.  Even playing with playmaker Guillermo Barros Schellotto, the Crew were too quick, too skilled, and too composed for New York.  Other than a beauty of a free kick goal from Angel, the Red Bulls just weren't connecting on offense. Click to continue reading...

Despite the scribblings of MLS Asst. Commissioner Ivan Gadzidis, tonight's scheduled MLS matches are a complete fiasco.

However, it'll be a great night for sports bar viewing if you can convince the local barkeep to keep two sets on soccer. I'll be at FATS in NYC on W. 33rd Street for the US-Cuba and Fire-Red Bulls matches. Click to continue reading...

Ain't that a thing of beauty? Click to continue reading...

Small rosters. Brutal scheduling. Multiple tournaments. Player injuries. Any other excuses for New England's and Chivas USA's early exit from the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League?

The undermanned Revolution was on the wrong side of a 4-0 pasting by Trinidad's Joe Public last night at Gillette stadium, to drop the two-legged match by a 6-1 aggregate. Click to continue reading...

The Red Bulls will finally be injury free when New York takes the field vs. DC United on Saturday night at RFK (7:30p, FSC). The Red Bulls have lifted themselves into the playoff mix by picking up nine points at home over the last three Sundays, but if New York is to solidify its hold on a playoff spot, RBNY must figure out how to get the maximum points on the road. Click to continue reading...

Taking the field without three regular starters, the New York Red Bulls used the longball... and the head of leading scorer Juan Pablo Angel, to completely dominate the two-time defending MLS Cup champ Houston Dynamo, 3-0, at Giants Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

After Angel snapped home a Dave van den Bergh header in the 8th minute to open the scoring, Seth Stammler launched a ball down the right side to a speeding and finally healthy Dane Richards, who beat his defender and Houston keeper Pat Onstad to double the lead in the 26th. Click to continue reading...

Jeff Parke is injured. Gabriel Chicero is suspended. Just how will the New York Red Bulls continue their five-match unbeaten streak against Western Division leaders Houston on Sunday (3p, TF)? Adding benched Norway-bound D Hunter Freeman may be the answer. On August 13th, Freeman signed with IK Start of Norway, though he won't join the club until January. Click to continue reading...

It's a cliche that there are no style points in World Cup qualifying. Just results. The US embodied that cliche last night in a 1-0 victory in Guatemala City in a match that announcer Glenn Davis correctly called a "street fight."

The US did a few things right, plenty wrong, and a few not so well in taking three away points to start the semifinal round of WC 2010 CONCACAF qualifying. Click to continue reading...

The long march begins again for the US MNT, which kicks off the semifinal round of World Cup Qualifying with a match at Estadio Mateo Flores in Guatemala City tonight at 10p ET (ESPN2) against the host country's chapines.

The Yanks are 10-4-5 all-time vs. Guatemala in a series that began in 1977 with four straight losses to the Central American nation. Click to continue reading...