The full list of each team's most valuable player award from 1996-2008 are below. Each Major League Soccer team gives out its own set of team awards at the end of each season, usually announced at the last home regular season game. Not to be confused with the leaguewide awards.

Sometimes the news articles state that the winner's fellow players voted him MVP, but I've read about the media voting as well. Click to continue reading...

The LA Galaxy continue to slide and Joe Cannon is missed more and more. Click to continue reading...

If the season ended now, San Jose and Los Angeles would miss the playoffs. But past and present San Jose (with a year in L.A.) keeper Joe Cannon sees signs that a rivalry that produced some classic MLS games could be reborn:

That's going to make our rivalry much better.

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The Colorado Rapids have traded forward Herculez Gomez to the Kansas City Wizards in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft, as well as a first-round pick in the '09 Supplemental Draft and an undisclosed sum of allocation money.Gomez, 26, was once one of the brightest young stars in the league when he was with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Click to continue reading...

Wow, what a crazy holiday Monday in the world of international soccer. Man City gets a new owner and promptly outspends Roman Abromavich and Chelsea for Brazilian star Robinho. Man United goes ahead with the purchase of Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham, allowing them to finalize two other signings and take a ManU player in on loan. Click to continue reading...

Thad at The Back Post and myself are continuing our weekly interview with a player (if available) voted on by you. This week, we've selected a few players that we thought you might like to hear from after the game in San Jose. Feel free to post questions in the comments section here or over on The Back Post. Click to continue reading...

At times this season, it's seemed like the Wizards don't realize the game if 90 minutes long. They played about 55 minutes against Colorado earlier this season before playing the last 10 to get the win in that game. They played 70 minutes against Chivas USA before sitting back and letting Chivas almost get a point. Click to continue reading...

From Joe Cannon's humorus blog on the 'Quakes website:

"Beating the best team in MLS by four goals, along with a full moon created a weird night out at Buck Shaw. (We really should rename the new stadium when we play there...the house that Joe Cannon built sounds wonderful huh? Click to continue reading...

This was a yawner of a scoreless game punctuated by a few - I stress few - scoring opportunities, mainly for Chivas USA who had the better of the play for much of the game.

Still, the Earthquakes probably had the best chance of the game, Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton saving with one hand a Ronnie O'Brien shot in the 86th minute from the top of the box that appeared destined for the back of the net.

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No goals in a rather uneventful first half that saw few clear-cut chances for either team.

Wide open Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan had the best opportunity, receiving a nice lay-off from Ante Razov, but shooting straight at goalkeeper Joe Cannon from about 12 yards with the net yawning before him.

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Five changes for Chivas USA tonight with a Tuesday CONCACAF preliminary round game looming Tuesday in Panama as Coach Preki tries to rest some starters, while defender Cary Talley is the latest to join a long injury list with a thigh strain. Six players are still out including striker Maykel Galindo

Zach Thornton is in goal, while Jim Curtin replaces Claudio Suarez as the long defensive change.

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We're about two-thirds complete with the MLS season and we still haven't figured much out. One week, New England is the best team in the league, the next thing you know they are dropping their second straight game. San Jose meanwhile was given up for dead but now they are legitimately chasing a playoff spot. 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...

It was easiest the biggest win in the history of the NEW San Jose Earthquakes.

When Ryan Cochrane scored the last-minute winner to give San Jose a 3-2 triumph against hated rivals Los Angeles Galaxy, the team celebrated like it was releasing weeks and months of frustration, which is what it did.

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Darren Huckerby from MLSNET.com

Today's last minute victory over the hated Galaxy in Oakland could be just the push the Earthquakes needed to make a playoff run late in the MLS season. The Quakes who have played solidly much of the season but lacked a scoring punch have now made the type of moves in the international and domestic transfer market that solidify the club as potentially very dangerous in MLS.

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Beckham coming back, but Quakes care more about a victory - San Jose Mercury News

Beckham coming back, but Quakes care more about a victoryS.J. can't afford to lose any more ground in WestBy Isaiah Guzmanfor the Mercury NewsArticle Launched: 08/02/2008 01:34:47 AM PDTBecause of him, the Earthquakes will again rent a bus and head to McAfee Coliseum for their game.

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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...

What does a match between two last place teams look like? It looks like what we saw on Sunday in San Jose. The Earthquakes dominated play but couldn't finish while the Red Bulls looked absolutely awful in a 4-5-1 that set attacking soccer back about 10 years.

The performance would have been consider promising for San Jose if not for the huge mountain still to climb in the West standings.

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Mike Magee started his career with the Metrostars with a ton of promise heaped onto his shoulders. Before entering the 2003 MLS Super Draft, he tried his hand in Europe with many top club teams. When the attention wasn't there, he turned his sights on MLS, and Metro saw an opportunity to snatch a diamond in the rough.

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Last week, the New York Red Bulls let two points slip away in injury time vs. LA at home. Sunday afternoon, New York will have a golden opportunity to escape last place in the East when they play the West's bottom-feeder, San Jose (3-9-5), at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara (3p, MSG+).

The last time out, the New York offense was invigorated by the addition of midfielder Jorge Rojas, who assisted on both Red Bull goals in 2-2 draw with the Galaxy. Click to continue reading...

The San Jose Earthquakes had to figure another loss was coming when Amado Guevara stepped up to take a penalty kick on Saturday. The Toronto FC midfielder is known for being as close to a lock at converting penalties as anyone in MLS so his kick seemed like a foregone conclusion. At least before Joe Cannon saved his attempt on Saturday.

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Toronto FC's Amado Guevara steps into a penalty versus San Jose's Joe Cannon last weekend with an opportunity to put Toronto in front with a badly needed goal. Cannon comes up big but, to be fair, it was poorly struck and comfortable for the keeper to save. 0-0 the final... Click to continue reading...

Okay, last week I didn't get these out and I apologize for that. I got overwhelmed with stuff because of Sunday night's SuperLiga match and had to scrap something.

So after a week hiatus, here's the Spotlight for Week 17.

Top XI
G: Joe Cannon
D: Marvell Wynne Bobby Boswell
D: Ryan Cochrane
D: Chris Wingert
M: Jorge Rojas Dave Van den Burgh
M: Christian Gomez
M: Guillermo Barros Schelotto
M: Kurt Morsink
F: Edson Buddle
F: Juan Pablo Angel
F: Kenny Cooper

Coach: Ian Russell, San Jose. Click to continue reading...

Well, let's see. We had five league games this week and all five ended in a draw. KC-Columbus kicked it off with a 3-3 draw, then San Jose-Toronto and Real Salt Lake-Chicago each went 0-0 while Colorado-FC Dallas and Galaxy-New York went 2-2. No winners, no losers, 10 teams gaining one point apiece.

Meanwhile, DC crashed out of SuperLiga by losing all three games. Click to continue reading...

Toronto FC created chances and missed them.Were awarded a penalty and missed it or rather Joe Cannon guessed right and brilliantly saved. But through the whole afternoon as i watched on the CBC i felt like i was watching football played with funny rules.Today's objective was to play a full ninety five minutes with a wet blanket draped over you. Click to continue reading...

The hex is broken. The Colorado Rapids finally got at least a point after going down a goal. In eight previous games this season, six of them on the road, the Rapids have lost when conceding the first goal. Today, against the San Jose Earthquakes, they sure enough conceded the first goal but a header from Conor Casey in the 70th minute from a Terry Cooke cross rescued a point. Click to continue reading...

Joe Cannon seemed rather blue after the match in which the Earthquakes lost late to Chivas USA. What was interesting is that back during his LA tenure, a couple of reporters were honestly a bit worried about how hard Joe would take losses. I just figured he was a passionate competitor, plus everyone says goalkeepers are crazy, no? Click to continue reading...

Chivas USA defeated the Earthquakes on Saturday at the HDC. Ante Razov curled a world class ball off a set piece past Joe Cannon and the wall late in the game to provide the only goal.

San Jose was a little tougher than expected, but Yallop has the quakes playing aggressive with pressure.

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Ante Razov finally broke open a game that appeared heading for a scoreless draw when he scored from a direct free kick from 28 yards out two minutes from the end of regulation time with a lovely left foot blast that gave Joe Cannon no chance.

What a relief.

And considering the Earthquakes' attacking options off the bench included former Chivas USA reserve striker John Cunliffe and Chivas' forwards included former Sunday rec league player Justin Braun, this was a game that appeared headed for a scoreless draw.

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For the first 35 minutes or so this was a frenetic, yet largely directionless game, punctuated only by a 16th minute Jonathan Bornstein shot that Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon did well to hold onto with one hand.

Then, while the half ended 0-0, the scoring chances started coming fast and furious beginning in the 37th minute.

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Chivas USA (5-6-3) can jump from sixth to tied for first in the Western Conference with the Galaxy if they manage to beat the worst team in MLS, the San Jose Earthquakes (3-8-3), who have one goal in the last four games while going 0-2-2.

Coach Preki makes three changes to the team that drew 1-1 last week with the Red Bulls.

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Let's deal with the "more" in the headline first for a change.

The U.S. Women's National Team game in Sweden kicked off at 9 a.m. Details and MatchTracker here.

More more later, if you catch my drift.

Back to regular programming.

Chivas USA (5-6-3) and (3-8-3) San Jose face off at 7:30 tonight at Home Depot Center in the second soccer game (and second fireworks display) of the weekend.

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Top XI

G: Joe Cannon Kevin Hartman
D: Bakary Soumare
D: Ramiro Corrales Claudio Suarez
D: Michael Parkhurst Frankie Hejduk
M: Emmanuel Ekpo
M: Guillermo Barros Schelotto
M: Steve Ralston
M: Marcelo Gallardo
F: Kenny Cooper
F: Brian Ching
F: Luciano Emilio

Coach: Tom Soehn went right after the LA Galaxy's defense and kept the pressure on one of the league's worst defenses and never really let the league's top offense get on track. Click to continue reading...

We'll start with the offbeat stuff and go on to the weekend watch, which will be heavy on the Euros and MLS, including the big one in D.C.:

CULTURE CLASH

Like the small town in the film Cars, Vienna's purveyors of high art thought the increased traffic nearby would bring more visitors.

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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.

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