The economy is in the crapper. And when times are hard businesses often begin implementing new strategies to make make money and try to offset some losses that may be coming. Perhaps that is why the 2008 off-season will be forever know as The Year of the Loan.

Becks is making a well-publicized trip to Italy. 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...

ESPN2 will be all Chi-town down tonight when the Galaxy comes to town to finally give us the Becks-Landon-Lewis vs. Blanco-McBride-Mapp match that we missed out on a few weeks back. Even though both teams haven't exactly been pissing excellence as of late (LA's result against D.C. aside) I'm more excited to watch this than any of the CONCACAF Champions League games/ass-whippings that were on this week. Click to continue reading...

I've been sitting on this photo since the last week of last season. That was that pivotal "winner makes the playoffs" match between LA & Chicago that was one of the high points of 2007. Just like a the final episode of Six Feet Under it had drama & closure and it left you wanting more. But due to the curse of FIFA dates, stadium availabilities etc. Click to continue reading...

A little MLS-colored birdy has just informed me that The Hunchback of Bridgeview™ has been named to Sven Goran-Eriksson's Mexico squad that will face fellow MLS bad-ass Amado Guevara's Honduras squad on August 20th. This is great for Blanco since following his 2006 World Cup absence his place with El Tri has been a little less that certain. Click to continue reading...

Baseball fans of Chicago...forgive him for he knows not what he is doing and his innocence is almost child-like. Click to continue reading...

This is the definition of "banger". That is all. Click to continue reading...

I saw this photo on the Columbus Dispatch's soccer blog and it instantly struck me. You know how His Ginger Majesty, the new guys up in Seattle and The Don are always talking about clubs becoming global brands? I think a photo of an ultra climbing the fence at La Bombonera in a Crew jersey is the unlikely embodiment of that. Click to continue reading...

We haven't had one of these in a good while, but damn was it a doozy when it arrived. TOR reader KMA pointed this one from the Kansas City Star over the weekend. They had an article previewing the Wizards-Chicago match that was heavy on the Blanco & Lopez as former teammates angle...good stuff that I'd not read anywhere else. Click to continue reading...

Our man Ives says that this rocket by the Rev's Sainey Nyassi is the Goal of the Week.



But I am throwing my lot behind this display by Colorado's Collin Clake.



So am I right or is he right or are we both full of crap because Blanco's is best?
Click to continue reading...

$3.5 to $5 million a year. The shirt is ugly but you could buy a lot of queso & Corona with that. Click to continue reading...

Luciano Emilio is the MLS MVP for 2007. Really? Did he increase the asses in seats, rope in scores of Hispanic fans, turn his team around or have bootleg jerseys like Blanco? Did he single-handedly keep his team alive this season be scoring damn-near every goal they had like Angel? Nope...and yes I know he is the illest Brazilian north of Sao Paolo and west of the Spanish coast and he won the Golden Boot. Click to continue reading...

You know you have stepped up as a league when accountants can now purchase freakishly large wall stickers of your best players for their offices. Fathead is not offering a small selection of MLS Fatheads featuring team crests and even a few players; JPA (as the image above would imply), The Hunchback of Bridgeview, Landycakes and of course Goldenballs -who is available in multiple poses and hairstyles. Click to continue reading...

By now you have heard me, and countless other people give their half-educated, half-drunk opinions of the initial class of designated players. Hell, you've probably done it yourself; "Angel is a lock for MVP", "Reyna has been a bigger disappointment than a three of the new Star Wars movies combined", "Blanco has turned out to be a better signing than Beckham", and "Denilson is done like Ja Rule's career" are just a few of the things I have heard in this blog's comments and emails. Click to continue reading...

So yeah, the Galaxy have come out of nowhere and won 4 in a row and actually have a snowballs chance of getting into the playoffs. How messed up is that? What makes it even more impressive is that their most recent victory was on the road in front of a sold out house against Houston.

All of this is came without the help of Beckham, which I'm sure has to do wonders for the teams psyche. Click to continue reading...

Hey there Blanco boy. I know you think you are the pimp of the year and all that right about now. What with you having an armload of ladies on each side of you who for the most part are good-looking and probably ready to do whatever they've got to do to make you their ticket out of the low-wage, high-glamour world of third-tier pageantry. Click to continue reading...

See that? If you could do this and you were a near-God to the legions of Club America and Mexican fans out there you too would have people lying in wait for you at airports, wanted posters with your face on them, and press conferences for regular league games. You might also have a handsome paycheck and posess the ability to do the seemingly impossible. Click to continue reading...

As tempting as it is to pre-empt all footie coverage today to focus on the possible Meg White (as in the White Stripes) sex-tape leak, the show must go on. On to Chicago to be more precise, where a crowd of over 20K took in the Fire-United match yesterday.

Both of the goals in the highlight clip above are just as entertaining (and substantially more work-safe) as a celebrity sex tape. Click to continue reading...

Hands up if you saw Blanco play this weekend?

TOR would like to take this opportunity to issue a public appeal for any footage from Saturday's Chicago v. KC match. Word is that the Hunchback of Bridgeview ™ ran things once again for Chicago. I know it was on HDnet so at least 6 people saw it and may have footage to upload. For some odd reason there are no highlights available at MLSnet. Click to continue reading...