Caption contests are fully the domain of Ives Galarcep and Anderson Cooper so I usually respect that and leave it to them to own that content type. But just this once I am going break the self-imposed embargo because I have MLS Cup fever. Illness...it makes you do funny things.

So here's a shot snapped yesterday of Mike Magee, Dave van den Burgh and Kevin Goldthwaite aboard the LA-bound private plane of Western Conference Champions Red Bull New York. Click to continue reading...

  

                                                                                         Photo by ISIphotos.com

Call it coincidence, or true twist of fate, but it is at least pretty interesting that in the same week that the New York Red Bulls are heading to the West Coast to play in their first MLS Cup final, one of their former young stars was also be shining in the Western part of the United States.

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It seems that Houston Dynamo fans will likely be cheering for the Columbus Crew to defeat New York Red Bulls on Sunday in the MLS Cup. The Red Bulls did knock Houston out of the playoffs, but that is not the reason for the Crew support in Houston.

The CONCACAF Champions League announced the teams qualifying for the tournament next year.

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Attention housekeepers. If you are currently employed by any one of the moderately-priced hotels in and around Carson, CA be on the lookout for these two notorious conditioner enthusiast. They may look like out of work musketeers but they are in fact Frankie Hejduk and Gino Padula of the Columbus Crew. Click to continue reading...

From the email....

Good afternoon, MLS Rumors. I just published a blog post regarding some findings we've seen re: Google Blogs Posts and Amazon Sales that pertain DIRECTLY to MLS. You can check those out here: http://www.trendrr.com/blog/ssquared22/entry/261 or on my Yardbarker affiliated soccer blog: http://ihatejonconway. Click to continue reading...

John Wolyniec gets the local-boy-done-good treatment from the Staten Island Advance in advance of MLS Cup. I have to say of all of the players I have ever met (not that I've met a crazy amount though) he's easily the nicest and the one I would most like to shoot the shit with over a highball drink. Click to continue reading...

 

As MLS fans from Ohio, New York and New Jersey converge on the Los Angeles area this weekend for Sunday's MLS Cup final between the New York Red Bulls and the Columbus Crew, we will see hundreds of fans realizing a more than decade long dream of seeing their team play in Major League Soccer's championship game in person.

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I remember this place.  Seems like the season was just starting when I last posted...oh yeah, it was.  Things have been crazy and will probably continue that way for a while.  However, I will try and post on here when I can. Am I the only one outside of Ohio or the NY/NY Metro area that [...] Click to continue reading...

"What the **** has happened?! Who let those idiots in?!?"


As mentioned, we have sent a couple of roving reporters armed with Blackberries, iPhones and blog apps to MLS Cup for our slightly different take on the activities and they will be reporting back any news and rumors that they uncover. Click to continue reading...

Deb is the soccer mom charged with taking the MLS Cup from NY to LA before the game on Sunday. In this episode she stops to pick up Chris Klein, Ben Olsen, and Sacha Kljestan. She reveals that 100% high fructose corn syrup is good for the kickin muscles. The really need a rest stop but Deb wants to make good time and keep going.

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Since the inception of the Designated Player Rule there have been eight men to hold such a title. This Sunday Juan Pablo Angel will be the first to participate in MLS Cup. I hope he wins but if he doesn't I'm going to buy him this ribbon to mark the occasion.

Goal.com's Pat Walsh studied the whole DP situation and came back with this piece today. Click to continue reading...

How sweet would it be if you were Sigi,Sigi,Sigi and you got to win MLS Cup in the home of the team that last fired you --when you were top of the league no less-- while they didn't even make the post-season? He may not be that kind of vengeful guy but you just know it would be sweet like chocolate to have all his hard work over the last three years pay off in the house that AEG built. Click to continue reading...

Good afternoon folks. I am on the plane and getting ready to leave for Los Angeles. SBI senior writer Dylan Butler will be keeping you all informed on the news of the day while I make my way to California ahead of Sunday's MLS Cup final.

While I'm flying I figured I could post a new Q&A session.

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Remember a few years ago when New England was in MLS Cup but Bob Kraft went to the Patriots game instead? Clark Hunt ain't going out like that. Click to continue reading...

It was going to happen eventually: 2 of the 33 clubs that Edson Buddle has played for in the last 5 years are meeting in MLS Cup. And sadly for him neither of them are his current club...it's like he's the eighth caller when the ninth one gets club seats to the World Cup final, a Maybach and an intimate evening with Meghan Fox. Click to continue reading...

Here's what's goin' down, official style...

We received the following from MLS to let you know all the official goings on. Besides all this we will have some roving eyes and ears going around MLS Cup and we will tell you more about our planned coverage tomorrow. For now here is the official stuff. Click to continue reading...

From Glenn Davis' piece in the Houston Chronicle on MLS Cup:

"The Red Bulls have been organized, workmanlike, resilient and lucky, all at once. Opponents have hit the post six times over the past two games. Their coach, Juan Carlos Osorio, is obsessive about tactics and preparation and has gone through challenges ranging from losing Jozy Altidore (Villareal) to having Claudio Reyna retire (a blessing, with all due respect) and on to the suspensions of keeper Jon Conway and defender Jeff Parke. Click to continue reading...

I just read this piece in the Columbus Dispatch about how every third person associated with the Crew has some California roots. Sigi, surfin' Frankie and a slew of other Left Coast exiles are making due and making a home for themselves in Ohio but they all seem pretty stoked at the chance to lift the Anschutz Trophy back in SoCal. Click to continue reading...

Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls fans will be experience something 13 years in the making this weekend when they finally see their respective teams square off in the 2008 MLS Cup final on Sunday.

While hundreds of lucky fans will make the pilgrimage to Home Depot Center to see their home teams in the final, there will be thousands more who can't make the trip and will be watching the event back home.

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After years of toiling away, the Columbus Crew have finally made it to the MLS Cup. They'll face the surprising New York Red Bulls in this Sunday's Major League Soccer finale. But only one of these two fine teams possess a cheerleading squad to urge them to victory. So without further adieu, we present the [. Click to continue reading...

In case you missed them this weekend, go check out my reactions to the Eastern Conference and Western Conference finals first. All done? Excellent. It's fitting, isn't it, that in a season that featured the Eastern Conference as the dominant force for much of the year, that we should end up with two teams from the East in the final. Click to continue reading...

It isn't quite like Super Bowl hype, but the long week of MLS Cup talk started on Monday with a pair of media conference calls featuring the coaches and a select player from both the New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew.

On the Red Bulls side was Juan Carlos Osorio and wunderkind Danny Cepero, while the Crew was represented by Sigi the Scarf and the ageless wonder, Frankie Hejduk.

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This is definitely the best one so far. I can't place the actress...wasn't she on MadTv or something? Click to continue reading...

What would you pay to see this film? I'm spending $380 and flying cross-country for the privledge. Click to continue reading...

Good Evening Dave Martinez,

The New York Red Bulls have won the Western Conference Championship. All year, you have followed their exploits, interviewed the usual suspects, and speculated on their playoff hopes. All questions have been answered, and now its time for the final phase of this project to go into motion.

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Here was the scene from the notorious Nevada Smiths pub in New York City last night, thanks to our friends The Offside Rules.

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This was the scene last night at venerable NYC soccer bar Nevada Smith's. Skip to about 1:45 in and you'll see a jubilant scene that usually only seen in this place for World Cup's and Champions League finals. Folks wildin' out in Manhattan for the local side...a rare sight that brings a tear to my eyes. Click to continue reading...

I know that image is really large but a big picture is fitting for Luis Bueno's piece about the recent Latino influx in MLS, which is great from the league's big picture. Angel, Schelotto, Blanco, Javi Morales are the heart of their respective teams and bring in style and skill that hasn't been seen since the days of Etcheverry, Graziani and Savarese. Click to continue reading...

MLS players don't mind embarrassing themselves This Volkswagen advert features MLS players Ben Olsen, Chris Klein and Sacha Kljestan hitching a lift with a crazy soccer mom to the MLS Cup in Los Angeles. And of course the trophy and trophy handler come along for the ride too... Don't think they would have been able to [. Click to continue reading...

Club vs. Country: WWDD? (What Would Dane Do?) Click to continue reading...

Juan Carlos Osorio, coach of the New York Red Bulls, is a lucky, lucky man. This past Saturday, his side pulled off one of the greatest upsets in MLS playoff history, defeating the two-time defending champions Houston Dynamo 3-0 at Robertson Stadium in Houston. Osorio fielded an unchanged side from the first leg, which ended [. Click to continue reading...

As thoughts turn to this year's MLS Cup final. Our thoughts have wondered who would be announced as the 2009 host. Apparently an insider from the Big Apple knows and has sent along the following email:

Big fan of the site here.I found out recently that it is almost a certainty that Red Bull Arena has been chosen as the site of the 2009 MLS Cup.

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Oh. My. Shit. MLS done hit it into and out the back net of the upper 90. For this year's MLS Cup they got Pharell's latest proteges and Ivy League hipster sensations Chester French for the pre-game entertainment. I'm not kidding you when I say that I have been waiting a solid year for their album, She Loves Everybody, and it's Neptunes-meets-Weezer freshness to be released (it's out today). Click to continue reading...

I seriously need to start betting. In my preview, I picked all four of the MLS Cup semifinalists (technically the Conference semifinal winners), even the big RBNY over Houston upset. Or maybe it wasn't dumb luck. Maybe I caused all of this. I actually think that, say, the Houston Dynamo read [.. Click to continue reading...