If you were to take a poll asking people who the best defenders in MLS are, the list would include each of the following names:

• Chad Marshall

• Michael Parkhurst

• Bakary Soumare

• Bobby Boswell

At least three of those names enjoyed career-type seasons while the fourth, Parkhurst, still played at a very high level.

Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team's next World Cup qualifier isn't for another three weeks but all U.S. fans want to talk about is which new players Bob Bradley will bring into the World Cup qualifying mix.

Click to continue reading...

Previous Updates

#1 4/14 68 players remaining #2 5/18 40 players remaining #3 6/8 25 players remaining
OTFATT is short for "On the field, all the time." In this post and subsequent updates throughout the season, I'll be keeping track of which MLS players have played every minute of every game (regular season only). Click to continue reading...

So the main question posed throughout our series in review of the player acquisitions, departures, and trades made by DC United since the end of last season is whether or not the club is actually better off now than they were last year. Let's review, position by position.

Goalkeepers:
Click to continue reading...

In the third installment of our MSR series, we discuss the trades that United has made since the end of last season. Besides the Gomez move, there were two other fairly significant trades for the team, and I think I actually come out opposed to the popular opinion on both of them. Maybe this can generate an argument or two in the comments? Click to continue reading...

The participants in the 2008 Superliga final have been decided. The tournament's second-year final will pit the Houston Dynamo against the New England Revolution in a rematch of the last two MLS Cups - both of which were won by Houston.

The final was set on Wednesday night after the New England Revolution did away with Atlante by a score of 1-0. Click to continue reading...

... There was a SuperLiga semifinal last night, with Houston defeating Pachuca, 2-1, on goals from Bobby Boswell.com and Corey Ashe. Houston will play in the Big Grand Final of Superness against either New England or Atlante, who play tonight. Don't feel bad if you missed it. I was home last night and didn't even realize [. Click to continue reading...

This one turned in to an ugly affair folks and at the end of the match, it was Pachuca CF who came away with some legitimate grievances.

The first half was certainly all Houston Dynamo but, as I stated last night, while their penetrating runs were effective, particularly the work of Dwayne DeRosario, their final passing was never really on target. Click to continue reading...

Congrats to the Dynamo, who knocked off defending SuperLiga champ Pachuca last night, 2-0 at Robertson stadium in Houston. Pat Onstad stood on his head early in the second half, blocking many point-blank scoring opportunities by the Tuzos. Pachuca had an goal called back due to offside in the 60th minute, and former scum Bobby Boswell knocked in a bouncing ball of a corner kick in the 77th to give Houston the lead. Click to continue reading...

In case you missed it tonight, Señor Bobby Boswell notched the game-winner in tonight's SuperLiga semifinal against Pachuca, a 2-0 Houston win.  I, for one, was disappointed not to see Bob's classic shirt flapping celebration, but a game-winner is a game-winner.  The Dynamo advance to face the winner of New England-Atlante who face off tomorrow night [. Click to continue reading...

Since nobody got to this one first, I'm doing it. Flor made two of these pictures of Bobby Boswell. One she got signed and I think that he asked if he could have the other one. Damn I wish we hadn't let him go. Click to continue reading...

Bobby Boswell had a stunning start to his MLS career. He went undrafted but immediately won a place in D.C. United's starting lineup, which was short on defenders after losing Ryan Nelsen to England. The next year, he was the MLS defender of the year. The next year, he was in and out of the lineup at D.

Click to continue reading...

Rev's to the rescue - 3 members of the teams management staff subdued a disturbed passenger on a flight from Boston to LA this weekend. Read more in the New England Revolution section.


SuperLiga

Official match reports and video highlights etc. Click to continue reading...

The Houston Dynamo cruised to a 3-1 victory over the DC United aided by former United star Bobby Boswell who scored one of the team's three goals.  Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden also scored for the two-time MLS champions.  Houston now advances to play the second-place finisher from Group B in the semi-finals. Click to continue reading...

The news that Ben Olsen would be out 4-8 weeks, just days after his inspirational return to the pitch, is naturally heartbreaking. But after discussing his Dick's sporting Goods commercial, we wondered how he felt he would be after his surgery. Would he still have the moves that he casually announced to Brian Ching and Christian Gomez? Click to continue reading...

The 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup begins tomorrow for MLS teams. Eight qualifiers will take on eight lower league clubs in what is always one of the single most exciting days of the season. Last year was not the greatest year for MLS in the tournament, as only 3/8 teams advanced. One of those 3, the Rapids, then lost 5-0 in the quarterfinals to Seattle. Click to continue reading...

Houston Dynamo 1-1 FC Dallas
In ESPN's continuing effort to deprive soccer fans of the chance to actually watch scheduled events, the sports network pre-emptied the first half of last nights outing due to an overtime basketball game. I understand the need to show the basketball game, but why not throw the MLS match over to ESPN Classic or is the viewing audience for a 15 year old, middle-weight boxing match really so great that it would be a crime to do such a thing? Click to continue reading...

In today's roundup, more on the U.S. women's roster announcement, Joe Cannon's blog, U.S. Youth Soccer's national tournaments and news from the book world.

But first, guess who said this: "I thought as a whole we didn't show up today. ... We gotta come out and compete. We didn't do a good job of that today.

Click to continue reading...

Sure, all the usual stars are out in LA for the NBA finals, but check out the guys in the last paragraph of this article. Very cool. And for them the best part is that no one hassles them, cuz no one knows who they are, yet they get the full VIP treatment! KG gets it! Thanks to LA Joe for this one. Click to continue reading...

I covered tonight's sort-of game for the Houston Chronicle. There's not much, but here it is.

As you can tell, I did see Bobby Boswell. It was weird seeing him in a different uniform and in the visitor's locker room, but he's doing well and is having a good time in Houston. But he also said that, as he was driving through town, it hit him how many good memories he had of living here.

Click to continue reading...

On the?occasion?of Bobby Boswell's?first game back in D.C.?tomorrow evening, I thought it appropriate to say hello after a?few months away?from the loyal readers of BobbyBoswell.com. Hello. How are you? How is your summer going? Mine is going pretty good.? In the event that you're not aware as to what's going on, the Houston Dynamo will make [. Click to continue reading...

On the occasion of Bobby Boswell's first game back in D.C. tomorrow evening, I thought it appropriate to say hello after a few months away from the loyal readers of BobbyBoswell.com. Hello. How are you? How is your summer going? Mine is going pretty good. In the event that you're not aware as to what's going [. Click to continue reading...

This season ESPN has been putting together these short packages of "MLS Classics" to wet our appetites for their Thursday night matches. But for reasons unknown to me, they've made them somewhat hard to find outside of that iPod video-sized screen on the Soccernet page. Click to continue reading...

Last year Brian Carroll and Bobby Boswell lost their roles in the starting lineup (and eventually their place in United's locker room) due to a drop in form. Many people couldn't figure out why this happened, after Boswell had won the Defender Of The Year, and Carroll had been such an important part of the last three seasons.

Click to continue reading...

Houston Dynamo defender, Bobby Boswell, has posted on his blog about the events after Eddie Robinson elbowed Tyson Wahl. On the youtube video of the incident, it looks like Boswell steps on Wahl's leg after he'd gone down to the ground. Apparently the league also thought that Boswell had stepped on Wahl's leg, because he received a fine for it. Click to continue reading...

After a bit of a surprise 3-week sabbatical from this blog, it is funny where life will take you, I'm happy to be back. So what did I miss?

From the limited number of MLS matches I've seen, it looks like I've been absent for the start of a really solid season. Refs are calling fewer fouls allowing the game to achieve a much better pace then in the past. Click to continue reading...

This is where things get tricky...and not a little confusing. To begin, when searching for Club Social y Deportivo Municipal, the "Social y" bit is vital: if you try "CD Municipal," you'll hit a wall damned quick. If you look at the Global corner of ESPN.com, you will find a section for La [...] Click to continue reading...

Well all right. My first pirate-inspired headline. So...how bad was the Houston Dynamo's loss to Gamba Osaka? First, there's the score to consider: any time your bunch gives up six goals, you couldn't have had a good night. I don't think Pat Onstad can remember the last time he let in six...assuming it [. Click to continue reading...

After watching that whole final, I only have one thing to say:

How much would it cost to get that Bare guy on our team? If you can't beat 'im, buy 'im. It's the American way.

Oh wait, one other thing to say:

After watching Bobby Boswell get burned on all four of Bare's goals, I hope that Boz takes those lead shoes he was wearing and hurls them into the nearest volcano before leaving the islands tomorrow. Click to continue reading...

Newest Houston Dynamo Bobby Boswell has gotten well known for many things, being the 2006 MLS Defender of the Year, an A-1 blogger (if you haven't seen bobbyboswell.com, you should), and now ace videographer and (for those of us of a certain age) the new Allen Funt. Check out this footage the Bos shot in an airport the other day while waiting to get on a flight. Click to continue reading...

Satan. Borat. Lance Armstrong. Two Chippendales.

Surprisingly this is not the guest list to Elton John's engagement party. It's a bunch of Houston Dynamo players in their Halloween get-ups. Well maybe they are costumes for DeRo and Brad Davis. If your attack has ever been foiled by Patrick Ianni you might think he is, in fact, the Devil. Click to continue reading...

- For those who haven't seen it already, MLS Underground is under new management and, with that, is headed off in a new direction. And this isn't so much a sharp right-hand turn as it's a three-to-four-point turn with an e-brake slide. Rather than deal in its former insider-dish/rumor-hawking stuff (and I'm still baffled by [. Click to continue reading...

And the trading of the Wells is done.

Bobby Boswell, the 2006 MLS defender of the year, is heading out of the nation's capitol for the warmer weather in Houston. In return, United gets goalkeeper Zach Wells.

First off, this is an excellent trade for both teams. With Cochrane moving on to San Jose, the Dynamo need a good center back and although Boswell did not have a great 2007 campaign, he still has the talent and will probably recover in 2008, while United got a keeper to replace Troy Perkins when he jumps to Europe during the winter transfer window. Click to continue reading...

So by now you've most likely heard that BobbyBoswell.com/blog.unfocused is packing his bags for the defending champs down in Houston, while Zach Wells and a draft pick pile into the back of mom's mini-van and head to the District to replace the Scandanavia-bound Troy Perkins in the United net. Personally, I would have preferred to upgrade to the Cannon model (facial hair sold separately), as a Click to continue reading...

It's going to take some time for me to really evaluate the now completed Bobby Boswell for Zach Wells deal. The Goffather updated his original scoop with the telling detail that Bobby requested the trade. Given the situation, Bobby wanting out, Troy wanting to go abroad, United seems to have neatly handled a way to accommodate both players' wishes.

Click to continue reading...