Returning from the great blog exile

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. Got to admit, I like this.

Seattle ended up keeping the Sounders name for the expansion team saying they had to listen to the fans. If only someone could have seen this coming.

The US women will join their male counterparts in Beijing for the Olympics after beating Costa Rica 3-0 in the semifinals to earn one of the two Concacaf spots. The fact that they then went on to beat Canada in a closely fought, meaningless first place match (you don't get to type that a lot) only adds to the fun of it all.

LA's defense is still good for a few laughs.

MLS teams repeated last year's results in the Concacaf Champions Cup as both Houston and DC exited the competition in the semifinal round. With this the final version of the CCC, let's hope for better results in the new Concacaf Champions League.

Real Salt Lake still has their curse over DC United in Utah. The last two years the defeat at Real came closer to mid-season and started a bit of a downturn for United. It will be interesting to see what comes of it this year.

Do you think Houston is second-guessing their Boswell for Wells trade at all? With Onstad out and Bobby not yet in the Dynamo groove, I'm guessing this isn't the start that Kinnear was hoping for. Then again, it is a long season and Dominic has worked wonders before.

Three games in and Kenny Cooper and Landon Donovan are creating and finishing chances at a very exciting clip while Blanco doesn't seem to be going to ground every time he touches the ball. If these things hold up, this season might just be one for the record books.

Beckham is actually playing so 2008 is already better then 2007.

Hugo Sanchez failed to live up to any of his promises and was unanimously kicked to the curb as coach of Mexico.

Overseas, it is wonderful to see Brian McBride back on the pitch and returning to full form. Too bad it is probably a bit too late for Fulham. On the plus side, can you say Olympic overage spot? McBride, Altidore and Adu with a bit of Sacha Kljestan on the side might just be the recipe for offensive success in China.

So there is three weeks in a nutshell. I have missed this.

DC sends Boswell to Houston gets keeper in return. Poll - Who did better?

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.

That said, it looks to me like the Dynamo are taking the bigger risk with this trade. Yes, they still have the wall that is Pat Onstad in goal, however between his back issues and his age (he will turn 40 next month), the likelihood of him going down is a bit higher then most MLS goal minders.

Wells has a great deal of potential, as he showed during Houston's Concacaf Champions Cup run, and could step in for Onstad at any moment. With Wells gone, the Dynamo now need to find a quality backup keeper (as does United as they did not Jay Nolly's contract) that will probably see at least a few meaningful games in '08.

For United, the loss of Boswell will disappoint a number of fans but it will probably not affect their play on the pitch very much as his poor 2007 caused the team to work around him, if you will. Also, DC lose $20,000 of salary space as Wells comes with a $50,400 price tag while Boswell is a modest $30,870 (that number is shocking to me), but they do get conditional pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. That said, when Boswell is on, he can run a backline like few others in the league.

One last bit of note, it looks like Wells will be called into the US men's training camp in January.