DC-Houston game postponed again

DC United vs Houston Dynamo
4 June
22 July
23 July?

Why is it that these two clubs can't get this game played? Last month is was rain that canceled it and tonight it is a lack of power. For the second time in about a week, RFK is having power issues and according to the Dynamo's blog, it will prevent the game from taking place tonight.

Instead, the two teams will try to get this game out of the way tomorrow evening, the night before the All-Star game.

I do not see any official report over this, so perhaps the Dynamo front office is wrong or maybe jumping the gun. Anyway, with the game suppose to start in about 4 hours, United better act fast to get the word out or else they might have some upset fans in the parking lot.

Jaqua might return to Houston, at least for a little while

It looks like the Dynamo might be about to solve some of their offensive problems as Nate Jaqua has been offered a contract to return to Houston.

Jaqua left Houston during the off season for a spell in Austria, where he put up some great numbers (5 goals in 10 apperiences). Even with these quality results on the pitch, his club decided not to offer him a new contract.

Houston has been chasing him for awhile now, but it looked unlikely until they added a little twist to the offer. As part of this deal, Houston will promise to trade him to Seattle FC for the 2009 season.

Jaqua is from Eugene, Oregon, and very much wants to play in the Northwest.

It is not clear if this trade will be part of the expansion draft.

This is a smart move by Houston as they need another striker. Sure it will hurt losing him to Seattle, however they will have seven months to find a replacement. Who knows, maybe by then Caraccio might be ready to show something.

It is even a smarter deal if this will count towards the expansion draft as then they will not have to worry about losing any other players.

Ngwenya on trial with Bayern Munich, was Klinsmann rumor true?

Former Houston Dynamo and Zimbabwe international striker Joseph Ngwenya is on a three week trial with Bayern Munich, which seems to prove a rumor that circulated back in January when Ngwenya moved to Austrian side Kärnten. The rumor had Jurgen Klinsmann 'hiding' Ngwenya in Austria until he took over as manager of Bayern.

If this all pans out, this could prove to be a brilliant move by Klinsmann. Then again, if Ngwenya fails to perform, it might all be for not.

By the way, Klinsmann noticed Ngwenya while watching him train with the LA Galaxy back in 2005.

2008 US Open Cup - Third Round sees three MLS teams go down

Last night is the perfect example of why I enjoy the US Open Cup so much. Seeing all these underweight teams try to out punch MLS sides really is enjoyable. Sure, the MLS teams see this as little more then a reserves match, but it is still good fun.

As bad as it is that MLS teams dropped three of the eight games last night, it is actually much better then last season when five top teams fell. The biggest surprise of the night took place in Maryland where Crystal Palace Baltimore (USL-2) bounced the Red Bulls out of the Open, even though they played down a man for an hour.

Ranking just below on the shock level was the Dynamo losing on kicks to the Charleston Battery (USL-1), even though Houston played up a man for 50 minutes and up 2 men for 15. Really, the defending MLS Champions were up two men for 15-minutes and could not find a way to get a goal. Not only that but the Battery's Osvaldo Alonso was still giving the Dynamo fits in the second period of overtime (Alonso must be on Kinnear's radar after last night). I think Dynamo forward Franco Caraccio summed up the whole night for his club when he collapsed to the pitch in shame after having his penalty kick stopped, thus giving the Battery the win.

The only other lose came in Seattle where the Sounders showed Chivas USA the exit. The goats have not won a USOC match since beating the Charlotte Eagles (USL-2) on 13 July 2005. This streak includes a defeat by Roma FC of the USASA.

There was almost something big in Dallas, however FCD was able to get a late stoppage time goal to take Miami 2-1.

Kansas City also needed a little rally as they were down 2-0 in the 67' minute before coming back to tie and send it to extra time where they piled on two more goals for the win.

DC United needed two goals via free kicks from Marc Burch to take down the Rhinos of Rochester. Both New England (last year's USOC champ) and the Fire (perennial USOC powerhouse) easily saw off their foes for the evening.

Here is the full list of results:
FC Dallas (MLS) 2-1 Miami FC (USL-1)
Charleston (USL-1) 1(4-3)1 Houston (MLS)
DC United (MLS) 2-0 Rochester (USL-1)
Carolina (USL-1) 2-4 Kansas City (MLS)

CP Baltimore (USL-2) 2-0 New York (MLS)
New England (MLS) 3-0 Richmond (USL-2)
Chicago (MLS) 4-1 Cleveland (USL-2)
Seattle (USL-1) 2-0 Chivas USA (MLS)

These results move the numbers a bit when it comes to higher versus lower ranked teams. Before last night, it stood at 19-2 (90.5%) for those higher ranked, but now is at 24-5 (82.75%).

It does look like home field advantage was reinstated. During the second round, home sides only went 3-5, but yesterday saw only one visitor walk away with a win.

Here is the schedule for next Tuesday night's round of eight:
Chicago Fire at DC United (Boyds, Md)
Crystal Palace (USL2) at New England (New Britain, Conn)
Charleston (USL1) at FC Dallas
Kansas City at Seattle Sounders (USL1)

Can Crystal Palace bring down two giants? Will the Battery take out both teams from the Lone Star state? Will Seattle give another MLS team an introduction to soccer in the Northwest? Can DC finally beat Chicago in a playoff situation? It will be fun to find out.

Houston 1-1 FC Dallas - Bad call by ref still doesn't excuse all the missed chances

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?

Anyway, to the game itself. Houston spent most of the first half looking like the team that won the last two MLS Cups with Stuart Holden and Bobby Boswell both having a standout game. The team caused trouble for Dallas all over the pitch, but they could not get that final touch till Brian Ching got on the end of a perfect Craig Waibel cross. Still, with the way FCD played in the first half, Houston has no excuse for not being up by two or more.

The second half saw FCD switch from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2, which closed down a lot of Houston's attack, at least for a little while, and allowed Toja more freedom and created open spaces, which Kenny Cooper exploited for his excellent goal in the 62'.

Then came a call so horrible it really killed the excitement of the game for me. Holden broke loss and was running right at Dallas's goal when Pablo Ricchetti brought him down from behind. Let's see, Ricchetti was the last defender, it was a scoring opportunity and Ricchetti did not come anywhere near playing the ball. This is the easiest red card to give but Kevin Stott failed to deliver. Had Stott gone by what the rules say, the final 15-minutes of this game probably would have been very different.

Even though the Dynamo were cheated, they still cannot blame this one mistake for their failure to earn all three points as they had at least two easy chances early in the second half that should have put the game out of reach.

By the way, I'm sure FCD fans will point to the failure of Stott to call another foul later as an excuse for his earlier blown call. Late in the game (I think it was the 90'), Boswell appeared to clip Dominic Oduro from behind under similar circumstance to Holden's event (except Boswell was actually trying to play the ball). The only problem with this argument is if Stott had made the red card call earlier, this play probably would not have happened. That said, Stott should have called a foul, but did not, probably as a makeup call.

This tie means the Western Conference continues to live in chaos with just 5 points separating first from sixth. It also means Houston now has seven ties, which is the same amount that had all of last season.

Goals:
HD: Brian Ching (6) 21'
FCD: Kenny Cooper (8) 62'
Att: 16,933 (including about 30 FCD fans)
Video Highlights

Tampa gets pro team; Houston Dynamo expand into Texas Rio Grande Valley

Seven years after MLS folded the Tampa Bay Mutiny, a move that caused many to predict the sudden demise of the league, professional soccer is returning thanks to a new USL First Division squad. The new team will begin play next season.

This announcement comes one day after 'Hillsborough County commissioners gave limited approval to building a $15 million soccer complex and stadium at a site to be determined' but a spokesperson for the team says the two are unrelated as the owners want to build their own stadium in northwest Tampa. The proposed new stadium would seat between 6-7,000 and be expandable.

By joining the league now, the new owners were able to pay the current expansion fee of $350,000. After 15 August, the fee will increase to $750,000.

The new Tampa club will join the Austin Aztexs as an expansion USL-1 team next season.

This all sounds like a great move for the league and soccer in southern Florida, especially since the stadium project is not looking for public money. With a good place to call home and a stable financial situation, this new Tampa Bay club will have a much easier time then the Mutiny.


In other expansion news, it looks like the Houston Dynamo will expand into the Texas Rio Grande Valley. According to this report, after seeing the talent in the area through team sponsored youth academies, they feel a professional team could do well here and hope to bring a USL-PDL team in the area in the next 18-months.

It comes as no surprise that there are quality soccer players along the Texas-Mexico border. What is a surprise is that the no one else has stepped up to make this happen earlier.

If this does happen, there could be an interesting twist as the Houston area has a team in the PDL, the Houston Leons, however they are not affiliated with the Dynamo.

2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage Schedule

Yesterday saw the draw for the first ever Concacaf Champions League group stage. The two seeded MLS sides, DC United and Houston Dynamo, were drawn into groups A & B respectively.

As far as the other MLS clubs, if New England beat Joe Public FC in their preliminary playoff, they will move into group C along with Atlante FC. Chivas USA faces a possible date with Club Santos Laguna in the Group D.

MLS will likely have a fifth team in the group due to Canada getting one spot. If TFC does make it, they will join the Revolution in Group C.

The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout phase.

Since over half of the teams in the group phase are not known at this time, it is difficult to point to who has the toughest group, but it does look like Group A could turn into a very difficult one if Cruz Azul and Olimpia both advance (although Marathon is not much better).

After the playoff runs take place (26 Aug - 4 Sept), we'll be able to see who has, on paper, the hardest road to the knockout phase.

Group A
DC United (USA)
Deportivo Saprissa (CRC)
Winner: Cruz Azul or Hankook Verdes
Winner: Isidro Metapan or Marathon

Home Team Listed First (All times Eastern)
16 Sept D.C. United – Deportivo Saprissa (8p)
17 Sept Isidro Metapan or Marathon – Cruz Azul or Hankook Verdes (10p)

23 Sept Cruz Azul or Hankook Verdes – Deportivo Saprissa (TBD)
24 Sept Isidro Metapan or Marathon – D.C. United (10p)

30 Sept Deportivo Saprissa – Isidro Metapan or Marathon (10p)
01 Oct D.C. United – Cruz Azul or Hankook Verdes (8p)

07 Oct Cruz Azul or Hankook Verdes – Isidro Metapan or Marathon (8p)
09 Oct Deportivo Saprissa – D.C. United (10p)

21 Oct Cruz Azul or Hankook Verdes – D.C. United (10p)
23 Oct Isidro Metapan or Marathon – Deportivo Saprissa (8p)

29 Oct D.C. United – Isidro Metapan or Marathon (8p)
29 Oct Deportivo Saprissa – Cruz Azul or Hankook Verdes (8p)


Group B
Houston Dynamo(USA)
CD Luis Angel Firpo (SLV)
Winner: Jalapa or San Francisco FC
Winner: Harbour View FC or Pumas UNAM

Home Team Listed First (All times Eastern)
16 Sept Jalapa or San Francisco – Harbour View or Pumas (TBD)
17 Sept Houston Dynamo – CD Luis Angel Firpo (10p)

23 Sept Jalapa or San Francisco – Houston Dynamo (TBD)
24 Sept Harbour View or Pumas – CD Luis Angel Firpo (TBD)

30 Sept Harbour View or Pumas – Houston Dynamo (TBD)
02 Oct CD Luis Angel Firpo – Jalapa or San Francisco (8p)

08 Oct Houston Dynamo – Jalapa or San Francisco (10p)
09 Oct CD Luis Angel Firpo – Harbour View or Pumas (10p)

22 Oct Houston Dynamo – Harbour View or Pumas (10p)
22 Oct Jalapa or San Francisco – CD Luis Angel Firpo (TBD)

28 Oct CD Luis Angel Firpo – Houston Dynamo (10p)
29 Oct Harbour View or Pumas – Jalapa or San Francisco (TBD)


Group C
Atlante FC (MEX)
CD Olímpia or CD Marathon (HON)
Winner: Joe Public FC or New England Revolution
Winner: Montreal Impact or Real Esteli

Home Team Listed First (All times Eastern)
17 Sept Montreal or Esteli – Joe Public FC or New England Revolution (TBD)
18 Sept Atlante – HON1 (10p)

24 Sept Joe Public FC or New England Revolution – HON1 (8p)
24 Sept Montreal or Esteli – Atlante (TBD)

30 Sept Atlante – Joe Public FC or New England Revolution (8p)
02 Oct HON1 – Montreal or Esteli (10p)

08 Oct Joe Public FC or New England Revolution – Montreal or Esteli (8p)
08 Oct HON1 – Atlante (10p)

21 Oct Montreal or Esteli – HON1 (TBD)
21 Oct Joe Public FC or New England Revolution – Atlante (8p)

28 Oct HON1 – Joe Public FC or New England Revolution (8p)
28 Oct Atlante – Montreal or Esteli (10p)


Group D
Club Santos Laguna
CSD Municipal or Deportivo Jalapa
Winner: LD Alajuelense or Puerto Rico Islanders
Winner: Chivas USA or Tauro FC

Home Team Listed First (All times Eastern)
16 Sept LD Alajuelense or Puerto Rico Islanders – Chivas USA or Tauro (TBD)
17 Sept Club Santos Laguna – GUA1 (8p)

23 Sept Chivas USA or Tauro – GUA1 (TBD)
25 Sept LD Alajuelense or Puerto Rico Islanders – Club Santos Laguna (TBD)

01 Oct GUA1 – LD Alajuelense or Puerto Rico Islanders (8p)
01 Oct Chivas USA or Tauro – Club Santos Laguna (TBD)

07 Oct GUA1 – Chivas USA or Tauro (10p)
08 Oct Club Santos Laguna – LD Alajuelense or Puerto Rico Islanders (8p)

22 Oct Club Santos Laguna – Chivas USA or Tauro (8p)
23 Oct LD Alajuelense or Puerto Rico Islanders – GUA1 (TBD)

29 Oct Chivas USA or Tauro – LD Alajuelense or Puerto Rico Islanders (TBD)
30 Oct GUA1 – Club Santos Laguna (10p)

Canada names World Cup Qualifier roster

Canadian men's soccer coach Dale Mitchell has named the 19-players he will use for their 2010 World Cup qualifying matches against Saint Vincent & the Grenadines. The Canadians are looking to reach the finals for the first time since 1986.

Here is their roster:

GK (2): Greg Sutton (Toronto FC), Pat Onstad (Houston Dynamo)

D (6): Jim Brennan (Toronto FC), Mike Klukowski(Club Brugge KV), André Hainault (Sparta Praha), Ugo Ihemelu (Colorado Rapids), Adrian Cann (Vancouver Whitecaps), Richard Hastings(Inverness CT)

M (7): Adrian Serioux (FC Dallas), Julian de Guzman (Deportivo La Coruna),Paul Stalteri (Fulham FC),Marcel de Jong (Roda JC), Issey Nakajima-Farran (FC Nordsjælland), Atiba Hutchinson (FC København), Patrice Bernier (FC Kaiserslautern)

F (4): Tomasz Radzinski (Skoda Xanthi), Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo), Ali Gerba (FC Ingolstadt), Rob Friend (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

The Canadians play in Kingston this Sunday and then head home to Montreal for the second leg next Friday (20 June).

It will be interesting to see if Toronto FC coach John Carver complains about these call ups.

Houston steals a point from FC Dallas

Houston 2-2 FC Dallas

For the second time this season, the Houston Dynamo have stolen a point from FC Dallas with a stoppage time goal. Back in April, it was Geoff Cameron getting the goal in the 91'. Last night, it was Dwayne De Rosario collected a rebound off the post in the 93'.

The point was much deserved by Houston as they controlled the majority of the game, especially the second half. However, this game comes at a cost for them as Eddie Robinson earned a red card for pushing Marcelo Saragosa (who moments early smack him in the back of his head with his cast). Combine this with other injures and the loss of De Ro and Pat Onstad to international duty and the Dynamo are looking at a touch much against New York on Saturday.

But back to Dallas, Kenny Cooper put in a beautiful bending ball goal after catching defender Craig Waibel out of place. Houston regroup at the half and came out fighting. Sure enough, they created havoc in the Dallas defense and Cory Ashe got his first goal of the season thanks to an assist from Brian Ching.

Drew Moor put Dallas back on top against the run of play, but De Ro would not let it stand. The Dynamo put everything forward and caused the FCD backline to fall all over themselves, thus allowing the tying goal.

Overall, it was a good game, too bad less then 9,000 made it out to see it (and at least 50 of them where Houston fans that traveled).

Dallas still looks to be a team that lacks for so much in the middle and defense, although they know how to attack. If they could hold the ball in the middle, they could win the West.

For the Dynamo, they seem to be able to pull out just enough to get results, but no matter how you cut it, this team needs some help. Yes, they started slow last year and picked up, but a big difference is the quality of their defense. With injuries and suspensions a regular, they are looking mighty porous.

Goals:
FCD: Kenny Cooper (6) 35', Drew Moor (1) 69'
HD: Corey Ashe (1) 59', Dwayne De Rosario (3) 93'

Att: 8,541

Home for the Dynamo

There is a new group getting into the fight for a downtown stadium in Houston, but this one is neither a boxing legend nor a university. Instead this new group is made up of fans that want to do something other then just complain about the situation.

Thus enters Home for the Dynamo.

Although their goal is to raise money towards building the new home of the back-to-back MLS Cup champions, they are under no delusions about their ability to bring in millions. Instead, they hope to be the epicenter of fan support for the stadium.

Several loyal and passionate fans of the team have gotten together to build this site in the hopes of doing more than just letting off steam or complaining. We are dedicated to supporting the fight for a stadium with our checkbooks. Money is the issue at hand and we have chosen to try and raise as much money as possible for this cause.

The purpose is to make it known to all who are involved that WE are going to act while THEY negotiate. No we dont [sic] think we will raise millions of dollars. That isnt [sic] the point. DOING SOMETHING instead of just talking IS THE POINT. We invite all soccer fans everywhere to join us in this cause. A soccer stadium in downtown Houston is a must as we progress into this millineum [sic].

Having a location for information is fantastic, but will people be motivated enough to actually due anything with it? If they do and their numbers grow, this group might end up playing a role in landing a stadium.

If you are interested in helping them out, they are asking for a donation of $5, which will get you a bumper sticker.

Houston's John Spencer doesn't regret passing Chicago Fire coaching job

Back in January, John Spencer was a few thousand dollars in salary away from accepting the top job in Chicago, but it was not to be. Instead he returned to Houston to spend another season with the MLS Champions.

This Saturday, Spencer returns to Chicago for the first time since he rejected the job however it is Chicago that is looking like the champions. So does Spencer have any hard feelings over his choice?

"I don't regret it," Spencer said this week as his team prepared for Saturday's visit to Toyota Park.

At the time, many people, myself included, thought the Fire's lack of interest in spending money on a coach was the sign of bad things to come, however, so far we have been wrong. The Fire currently sit two points behind Columbus for top spot in the league while Houston only achieved their first victory this past weekend. All in all, the front office in Fire land must be happy with their loss.

Concacaf Champions League field reveald

Little, old Concacaf is soon to have a Champions League of our own and now we know just who is going to take part within it. In all, 24 teams will take part in this year's Champions League, with four of them coming from the US.

Eight teams will advance directly to the group stage (two clubs each from the United States and Mexico and one club each from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras), with the others taking part in a two leg playoff.

Here is the full list of teams:

USA (4 teams): Houston Dynamo (2007 Major League Soccer champion); D.C. United (2007 Major League Soccer regular-season winner); New England Revolution (2007 MLS Cup runner-up); Chivas USA (2007 MLS regular season runner-up)

MEXICO (4 teams): Atlante FC (2007 Torneo Apertura champion); Pumas UNAM (2007 Torneo Apertura Runner-up); 2 teams to be determined (2008 Torneo Clausura champion and runner-up)

COSTA RICA (2 teams): Deportivo Saprissa (Torneo Invierno winner); 1 team to be determined (Torneo Verano winner, or second place team in Torneo Verano if same champion for both Invierno and Verano)

EL SALVADOR (2 teams): CD Luis Angel Firpo (Liga Mayor Apertura winner); 1 team to be determined (Torneo Clausura winner, or second place team in Torneo Clausura if same champion for both Apertura and Clausura)

GUATEMALA (2 teams): Deportivo Jalapa (Torneo Apertura winner); 1 team to be determined (Torneo Clausura winner, or second place team in Torneo Clausura if same champion for both Apertura and Clausura)

HONDURAS (2 teams): CD Marathon (Torneo Apertura 2007 winner); 1 team to be determined (Torneo Clausura winner, or second place team in Torneo Clausura if same champion for both Apertura and Clausura)

PANAMA (2 teams): San Francisco FC (ANAPROF Apertura winner); 1 team to be determined (Torneo Clausura winner, or second place team in Torneo Clausura if same champion for both Apertura and Clausura)

BELIZE (1 team): Hankook Verdes (2007-08 BPFL/RFG Insurance Cup Champions)

NICARAGUA (1 team): to be determined; Winner of playoff between Apertura winner (Real Estelí FC) and winner of Clausura.

CANADA (1 team): to be determined; Winner of three-way qualifying series between Toronto FC, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps.

CARIBBEAN (3 teams): Harbour View FC (Jamaica); Joe Public FC (Trinidad & Tobago); winner of playoff between Puerto Rico Islanders and San Juan Jabloteh (Trinidad & Tobago)

The schedule has the group qualifying or preliminary round going from 26 August to 4 September. The six match group stage starts 16 September and ends by 30 October. The knockout phase does not take place till late February of next year with the final take place the last two weeks of April.

The winner will advance to the Fifa Club World Cup in December 2009.

University wants to team up with Dynamo in stadium deal; De Rosario kicks like a horse

It is looking more and more likely that if the Dynamo want a stadium in downtown Houston, they are going to need Texas Southern University's backing. Good news for the Dynamo, TSU's new athletic direct Charles McClelland is very interested in such a venture.

"My understanding of the proposal is that the Houston Dynamo and Texas Southern University would share the use of the stadium, including some signage, so it would be the home of Texas Southern University athletics and football program," McClelland said Wednesday, two days after meeting with a city official involved in the stadium negotiations. "We're interested and understand that there has to be a financial commitment from the university, but we are very pleased with the direction of the talks and hope to be able to come to a resolution in the near future."

While McClelland declined to disclose the size or range of the financial commitment because of the ongoing nature of the talks, he is confident the range that has been discussed is "within the capability of the university."

If the two teamed up, the Dynamo would get a stadium, but come fall, it would also be used for American football, so the question is how bad do they want a stadium?

The always entertaining to read Dave Rossman of the Houston Chronicle has his spot on take concerning the situation. To sum him up, the Dynamo need TSU more then TSU need the Dynamo. Why?

It's about the political capital a public institution of higher learning such as TSU brings into the equation.

Even then, while not ready to disclose figures, McClelland believes what the Dynamo and the city are asking is within reach.

Hooray, the Dynamo say. An added bonus. Suddenly, city money being committed to such a project no longer solely finances a private sports enterprise that may or may not generate the tax revenue or jobs it promises to deliver long-term.

Now, it also benefits one of the largest historically black colleges in the nation — one that has played a key role in the advancement of Houston for more than 60 years.

Don't think for a second the city isn't crossing its fingers for TSU to join in the negotiations.

Short of AEG or Golden Boy Promotions covering the ever growing construction cost on their own (something neither is willing to do), going in with TSU is the Dynamo's best chance of getting their stadium anytime in the next four years. Yes, it will suck to see the gridiron lines (although I think the damage done to the pitch by American football is far more offensive), but if the other option is another suburban stadium that makes it more difficult for fans, a few additional lines on the grass are worth it.

In other Houston Dynamo related news, it's official, midfielder Dwayne De Rosario kicks like a horse.

During their match on Saturday De Rosario shattered Chivas defender Lawson Vaughn's nose while attempting a bicycle kick in the box. Sadly, Vaughn will require three surgeries to repair his nose and other facial injuries. When asked about it, Vaughn's agent Ron Waxman said, "I was told it was as if he had gotten kicked in the face by a horse." Ouch.

Hopefully Vaughn will make a full recovery. He is expected to be out for four to six weeks.

The MLS disciplinary committee ruled that De Rosario would not face suspension or fines beyond the already awarded yellow card for the play.

To close out the Houston news, the club signed former DC United forward Guy-Roland Kpene to a developmental contract on Wednesday. His time with United didn't yield much, but with the Dynamo hurting on attack, he might get a better chance in Houston to show what he can do.

Oscar de la Hoya to wear Dynamo orange at Saturday night fight, Tony Meola becomes an elementary school principal

While his team is taking on Chivas USA in Houston, Oscar de la Hoya will wear Dynamo orange as he fights Steve Forbes at the Home Depot Center near LA.

"Since this is my first fight as part owner of the Dynamo, I thought it would be fitting to represent the team by wearing their 'forever orange' color as a part of my ring outfit Saturday night," said De La Hoya, who will also be wearing a Dynamo team patch on his shorts. "They are actually playing the same night I am fighting and I have a great feeling we will both come out victorious."

For De La Hoya's sake, he might what to show a better attack then the Dynamo have this season.

But joke comment aside, hopefully this will be mentioned before and during the fight. One of the pluses of having someone lake De La Hoya as an owner is the cross promotion that should happen.

In other news, former US goalkeeper Tony Meola has a new job, principal of Rafael Hernandez Performing Arts Elementary School. Starting this Friday, Meola will decide who gets detention, what is proper school attire and how to stop the outbreak of gum chewing.

Okay, I might be going a bit overboard as Meola will only hold the position for a few hours while taking part in the Newark Public Schools System's 12th Annual Principal for a Day Program.

Rumor has it that he turned down a request by Bruce Arena to serve Sloppy Joes at lunch.

Houston stadium gets another tenant

The Houston Dynamo don't even have a deal lined up yet but they might already have a secondary tenant for their proposed soccer stadium. Texas Southern University, located just south of downtown Houston, is very interested in using the new venue for their American football games.

"Although I officially start on May 1 at Texas Southern University and I haven't had an opportunity to look at all of the data involving the proposed stadium, TSU athletics and its football program would be excited to be able to participate and partner with all entities involved in the project to ensure Texas Southern has a state of the art football facility," said Charles McClelland, the schools' new athletics director in an interview with FOX 26 Sports.

This one report doesn't give much information, so it is not clear if TSU would pay some of the cost for the stadium or if they would just be renters, but it is something to watch. Since the main sticking point for the Dynamo seems to be about a $20m tab they want someone else to pickup for construction, a joint venture with TSU might be the final piece of their stadium puzzle.

So the plus side, if this all falls into place, would be a stadium getting built. The downside, from August through November, there would be American football lines on the pitch. Not the worst trade off, but still a trade off.

MLS Commish gets a blog, reacts to Houston letter fiasco

MLS continued down the digital road this past weekend as commissioner Don Garber launched his blog, 'The Commissioner Speaks.' Although the first entry is not that exciting, this is a great direct to take. Hopefully they will soon figure out how to allow comments and maybe give it more linkage off the front page, but for now, it's just nice to know they are doing this.

Although there wasn't much in the first post, two pieces of information did pop up. First, MLS on TeleFutura was more popular with Hispanic men then "the Lakers/Spurs NBA game, the Yankees/Red Sox game on ESPN and the Masters on CBS."

Not a big surprise there, but still nice to know.

Then comes the other issue, a stadium for Houston.

As you can imagine, I was very surprised that Mayor White in Houston released to the media a letter I sent to the Dynamo ownership group. The letter stated my concerns with the lack of progress with the team’s discussion with the city regarding a stadium partnership. And anyone who read the letter knows, I was not threatening the Mayor in any way.

The Dynamo, no different than the Texans, Rockets and Astros, need a stadium of their own, and have offered to provide far more private capital to the deal than was required by the owners of the city’s other sports teams. Team President Oliver Luck has been working with the city to creatively construct an agreement that does not in any way take funding away from any key city services.

If it was not meant as some sort of threat, why send it in the first place? Perhaps the word 'threat' is the sticking point, but it seems obvious that he was warning the mayor that if things didn't get done, the league is ready to move the team. Is that a threat or a warning? I don't care what he answers because either way, it shows a huge disrespect for the fans (an issue he didn't touch on at all).

MLS commish threatens to move Houston again if stadium deal is not reached

MLS commissioner Don Garber has drawn the line with the city of Houston by basically saying help build the Dynamo a stadium or the team will move. His exact words:

It is inconceivable that MLS will allow the team to continue playing as a secondary tenant in a college football facility after the League moved the team due to the challenges at San Jose State.

While another relocation would be equally traumatic, we both must consider our options to ensure that the team has a path to economic success. We learned an important lesson in San Jose: a passionate fan base is not enough to support the economics of operating a professional sports team. The team needs a soccer-specific stadium to ensure success.

Is someone over reacting or might der commish truly be looking at the Earthquakes/Dynamo and be thinking 'Miami Wanderers'*?

Whatever the reason, this letter is pretty much a bunch of spit to the face for Dynamo fans. Yes, teams need to make money, but to so callously say 'give us what we want or else' is really disappointing. It didn't work in San Jose so what makes Garber think it will fly in Houston? And what does this signal to the thousands of Dynamo fans that show up match after match? To me it means MLS might not yet be one of the big three sports in America, but they care as little about the fans as most in those leagues seem to.

By the way, I find it very interesting that Garber points out that San Jose didn't work because it doesn't have a stadium, yet the Earthquakes have just started playing again without a stadium deal in place. I guess they will have two years to make it work or Garber will threaten to take the team elsewhere. Hay, after he moves the Dynamo, Houston will be available.

As far as the actual stadium issue, it looks like the City of Houston and the Dynamo are at an impasse caused at least in part over the growing cost of the stadium (it is now priced at $105m, up from $80-90m).

Mayor Bill White has said all along that he didn't plan on using tax dollars for the construction of the site, which the Dynamo seemed okay with, however they now are saying 'the club and the City would share the cost of the project.'

Stadium deals have never been an easy thing, however this one could easily become one of the worse (although the DC situation might still be able to top it).

* I picked Miami because it seems like MLS really wants to go there, just like they really wanted to go to Houston. Plus, there has been stadium talk there of late. Anyway, I have no idea if there is even a city in mind.

Houston's Eddie Robinson suspended three games for attack on KC's Wahl

The Houston Dynamo are rapidly becoming the Oakland Raiders of MLS as Eddie Robinson has been suspended for three matches and fined $1000 after an ugly, ugly elbow to the face of Kansas City Wizards defender Tyson Wahl (see video below).

As you can see from the video, this was a horrible, intentional act by Robinson. Combine this with Ricardo Clark's 9 game suspension for kicking the little fish last season and you have a reputation starting to take hold. (Here is the video of Clark's kick - it will open Windows Media Player).

Oddly enough, I think Robinson's act is worse then Clark's because Robinson's seems premeditated and the action is not taking place near him at the time while Clark looks to be reacting poorly to things taking place around him.

I think Clark's suspension was too harsh (the rest of the 2007 season would have been enough) and I don't think Robinson's is enough (5 games would have been more justified). Then again, Tyrone Marshall was only suspended for three games after his nasty tackle that broke Kenny Cooper's leg last season so I guess the lesson is the more physical harm you do in your attack, the less your suspension will be.

Anyway, the loss of Robinson just adds to Houston's defensive problems. Although it is only three games into the new season, it looks like the defensive giant that was Houston 2007 might be dead on the pitch. And the tears for Ryan Cochrane begin to fall in Dynamo land.

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.

2008 Concacaf Champions Cup - Costa Rica's Purple Monsters stampede to semifinal meeting with Houston

Deportivo Saprissa 3-0 Atlante
Saprissa wins series 4-2

In a game that was often times unruly, both on the pitch and in the stands, Costa Rica's Deportivo Saprissa managed to walk away with a 3-0 victory and earn a spot in the semifinals.

Atlante showed no offensive muscle, thanks in large part to the absence of Giancarlo Maldonado, which allowed Deportivo Saprissa time to create their chances and force Atlante to make mistakes. Sure enough, the Mexican side made a couple of major mistakes as two of the three goals were own goals.

Deportivo Saprissa showed themselves to be a technically smart team that can cause havoc in a backline, which might be a very bad thing for Houston. Although they are getting better, the Dynamo's final four still are not settled. If Boswell is still less then 100% when these two meet, it might be a long night in Houston.

But Deportivo Saprissa have some issues of their own on defense and with the return of Stuart Holden, the improved play out of Chris Wondolowski and Mr. Clutch himself Dwayne De Rosario, they should make it very entertaining.

Goals:
DS: Castillo 29'(og), Alonso 40', Cervantes 67'(og)