I’m still unpacking

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted regularly. However, the last couple of weeks I’ve found some time to do some blog work…I just haven’t been posting here. I’ve gone and bought a domain and I’ve put together my own site…using WordPress of course.

However, while moving, I’ve decided to expand, or rather incorporate some of my other interests in the blog. So, if you do check it out, you’ve been warned, it’s not soccercentric…though there will be plenty of my familiar rants and ramblings I’m sure.

So, go ahead and check it out. EricPZ.com. Let me know what you think.

It’s still not 100% set up the way I want…but it’s getting there.  I’m still unpacking but living in the new neighborhood will be good.

It’s been a while

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 is excited about the MLS Cup Final?  The last few years I’ve come around to accepting and actually enjoying the playoffs–must be because LA haven’t been involved.  The match Saturday night in SLC was entertaining.  It was a packed house and had a great atmosphere.  I guess the sport can sell in this country…maybe.

I’m a bit conflicted which way I want Sunday’s match to go.  I’ve always had a soft-spot for the MetroBulls but then on the flip side, Sigi is a So Cal guy, he brought LA most of their success–I don’t count the fluke in 2005–he never should have lost his gig at the HDC–at least not at the point he did–and he has a couple of former LA players who were always fan favorites.  Ironic the match will be played at the HDC.  Anyway, it should be a good one.

Is anyone else slightly bummed that Mexico didn’t give up a couple more goals and Jamaica really pour it on last night?  It would have been fun watching our friends to the south in a total uproar getting knocked out of the World Cup at this stage.

There’s a bunch more I’ve been meaning to post the last few months but I want to get this post up.  I promise I’ll be back with more soon.

I needed a good laugh

So much going on

What a busy time.  In case you are the 2 visitors I get to this blog that aren’t my mom, I just moved again.  Ok, it was only cross town but with everything that’s taken place the last few weeks, it may as well have been a much longer move.  Anyway, between that, school and work (can’t forget to pay the bills) I’ve just not had the time to really post lately.  So, I’m gonna share a few thoughts though I’ll probably forget half of what I wanted to say.

• LA fans who pushed the panic button after the Colorado game should knock better.  LA fans excited after beating SJ need to get a grip.  We still have no clue how good LA will be this season…though without the Trio of Becks, Fish and Landon they won’t be as good…at least we know that.
• Seattle will more or less keep the Sounders name when the MLS team forms.  My only question is, why this need to add “FC” everywhere.  C’mon now.  At first though had a little giggle when I’d read reports referring to teams as “The FC” but now it’s just annoying.
• Speaking of expansion, what’s the bet that MLS will keep growing as long as investors are willing to pay the Expansion Fee and build a new stadium?  It’s obvious there’s money to be made with the current structure of things.
• Anyone who has ever read this blog around the MLS All-Star break know how much I hate the event.  However, the league has sunk to an all-time low by putting the leagues best up against a pile of Wet Spam.  Huh?  Oh, my bad.  It’s West Ham.  Well, maybe I’d watch if Iron Maiden were the half-time show. *
• Ipswich Town have just about managed to choke away their chance at promotion this season.  Personally, I think another go-around with out the need to sell off their best talent will put them in a better spot for both promotion and relegation avoidance once they go do up.
• Glad to see Cardiff make the FA Cup Final.  Wish West Brom would have made it as well (Tony Mowbrey was a class player) but ya can’t have everything.  A few weeks ago that call-in show on FSC was asking if we would pay the $25 for PPV to watch the Cup Final if it didn’t feature one of the ‘Big four’.  Well, my personal opinion is that it’s going to be a much better final without any of them.  If it’s not Ipswich (about to hit 30 years since the day) then I’d rather it be a team of players who probably aren’t going to seem many chances at major silverware.  As for this UEFA Cup stuff, well, Cardiff should have some way (either through Wales or England) where it’s possible for them to reach Europe.  What’s fair, well, that I don’t know.
• Guaranteed, if (and it’s looking more like when) Amando Guevara joins the squad in Toronto, they’ll be lucky to do as well this season as they did last.  You heard it here first…well maybe.
• Was it just me or was having back-to-back MLS games on FSC and ESPN2 last week pretty sweet?  Granted, it helped (well, for me) that LA was involved (thanks Becks) but still. four solid hours (plus pre/post shows on FSC) was just awesome.  Perhaps that’s something we may see on a more regular basis down the road.
• Nope, haven’t had time to spring for the MLS PPV package yet.  I should but, well, almost all the LA games are going to be on TV anyway.  I dunno.
• Hey, does anyone know of a good source for games you can play with a 3-year old to introduce soccer skills?  My boy is able to pass the ball back and forth with me (and he enjoys it) but he needs something more to keep him going longer.  I’m just doing my bit to insure success in 2026.
• Does anyone else have their DVR set to record “I’m on Setanta Sports”?  Besides Lost, it’s the best show on TV.
• Oh yeah, Becks got his 100th Cap for England a few weeks ago.  While it’s a great (and well deserved honor) for him, I can’t help but wonder just how bad England have become.  First, they can’t qualify for Euro ’08, and now one of their best players plays for a club in a Mickey Mouse league.
• Actually, now that I think about it, his goal the other night hardly registered with the anti-soccer media over here.  All those article critical of his injury plagued season last year are staying quiet for now.
• The MLS Players Association released the MLS salaries last week.  Was there anything in there we didn’t know?  I missed it if there was.  I’m sure everyone will agree that the players at the bottom aren’t making enough.  Now, I’m a firm believer that a team is only as good as it’s weakest link.  If good mid-salary range players are being cast off to make cap space, you are weakening the team…especally in a league that plays matches on FIFA International dates.  Many of those players are ending up in the USL, Europe or following a different career path.  I  hate to see this.  My one hope is that the new CBA which will become an issue soon will help this situation.
• If you haven’t already, spare a thought for Gretna.  Talk about greed gone wrong.  Dumping millions into a small club in the hope of rewards once the top-flight is reached.  The thing is, will anyone really miss them?  Even the Dream Team writers couldn’t have come up with a plot this good.
• Speaking of Harchester… That’s just silly.
• Hey, Santino Quaranta can really perform when he’s motivated.  Took him long enough.  Is it too late for Memo Gonzalez?
• Is it me or do the MLS stadiums have better atmosphere this season?  KC actually doesn’t seem dead.  Granted, there’s only 10k there but there’s more energy in the stadium.

Ok, enough for now.  I’m sure there’s lots I forgot though.  Hopefully, I’ll have some time to post more soon.

* In case you didn’t get the attempt at a joke. Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris is a huge West Ham fan and was even on their books as a youth player.

Fish is back!!!

Forget all this Beckham-mania. How ’bout Fish? Not only did he score all 3 in the win the other night…look at the run he made to be there to finish the third one. That’s not the Fish we’ve seen the last couple of seasons.

OK, it was a preseason friendly against a make-shift team from China…but I still love the effort Fish gave on that goal.

This American walks into a pub….

Maybe it’s just me but I don’t see how any of this is needed and I’m not sure what the Liverpool faithful hoped to accomplish by treating Hicks Jr this way. To be honest, I haven’t followed all of this that closely but the only things I can figure out the Liverpool fans have to complain about is 1) the Hinks-Gillette pockets aren’t as deep as they’d like and 2) the way they handled the Rafa situation (looking to replace him that is)

It’s unfortunate but if the owners don’t have deep enough pockets to make all the changes they’d like, well, there are plenty of small clubs who would love a fraction of what has been made available to Benitiz. Ok, they should have handled the situation with the manager better, but I’m sure they’ve learned from it. Bottom line, I seriously doubt throwing money at the squad problem is going to make him a better manager. He’s got some quality talent already and honestly, is he doing a great job?

Now, I’ve heard the argument that the fans of LFC were promised a ton of stuff when Hicks and Gillette came on board. I’m willing to bet that at that time they honestly intended to make good on those promises. The new stadium will take money to build and it’s tough to make that money available if the manager keeps needing more money to build the squad because he isn’t good enough to make good use of what he has.

Besides, will this DIC everyone is talking about really do a better job with the club?

At the end of the day, Liverpool fans are coming across as just as annoying as Man U fans a few years ago when Glazer took over. I could understand things if Man U hadn’t won any silverware recently. Heck, Liverpool fans are even forming their own breakaway team…just like someone else.

Having said all that…yes, I agree that it’s only a small number of the fan base which acted inappropriately in both situation.  That still doesn’t make it right.  Hinks going into the pub was probably an attempt at better understanding the culture around LFC…understanding the history and passion supporters have for the club.  I honestly believe it was an attempt by him to have a better understanding and with that a better ability to lead the club.  What a great way to help him.

“Shut up! I’m teaching it what to do.”

I’m still laughing.

“It’s fantastic for Newcastle…it’s the only way they’ll get into Europe”

I hope some lessons were learned

After Wednesday’s Pan Pacific matches in Hawaii, every report and commentary, weather traditional media or blogger, wrote off LA and were ready to give Houston the title.  I can’t wait to see what they are writing today.

You can’t judge a team my only one match.  Comparing the over all results, LA were the second best team on the islands…they only lost by one goal to Osaka while Houston were stuffed 6-1!!!  Of course, there’s a long way to go this season.  Who knows what the heck is gonna happen.

Bottom line for me is that Becks on the right is head and shoulders better than any other player in the league.  Those kids in the middle spent the two recent matches figuring out how to get on the end of those crosses and put them away.  The one kid (got the second goal) isn’t every going to forget how sweetly that strike came off his foot.

Like I Twitted (I think that’s the correct word…see the widget on the right) the other night, I’m not worried about Wednesdays performance.  It was the first preseason game.  Look how much improvement there was in just a couple of days.

I can’t wait for the season to start…and for LA to be at full strength.  LA will be better this season…I’m just not gonna predict how much better. 🙂

Too bad the matches couldn’t attract more fans.

Twitter

I’ve never considered myself a writer and as I don’t get paid I can’t really go on strike.  Live is just crazy these days so I’m not able to blog as many thoughts as I’d like….or at least write the long rambles about things I used to post.  I’m still around and I’ll still blog from time-to-time just not as much.  However, one thing I’ve found which allows me to share some opinion is Twitter.  I’ve not got my Twitter feed linked on the right.  Lemme know what you think.

MLS Schedule mess

MLS finally released their schedule for the 2008 season this week. Only a few weeks before the season starts. We keep hearing talk from the league chiefs about all their scheduling headaches and why they still have to play matches on FIFA International Dates. So, we fans get screwed and offered an inferior produce those matches. God forbid that ever happen in the UK. I know I, and most other MLS fans, have been voicing their concerns about this for years. Now, it’s nice to see media types take up the call this year.

I know MLS keeps claiming that it’s tough to schedule stadiums. Maybe it’s me but weren’t we told that wouldn’t be a problem when teams started getting their own stadiums…guess that’s changed now.

MLS plays a 30 game season plus a couple Open Cup matches, Champs Cup and some ‘invented’ competitions.

EPL clubs play a 38 game season plus a much larger FA Cup and League Cup competition. Add in Euro matches and you have a much busier schedule. But of course, they have their own stadiums.

Personally, I don’t buy the leagues arguement. It all use to sound good but I’m sure theres more to this which they aren’t telling us. After all, close to half the teams now have their own stadium but the problem hasn’t imporved at all. In fact, from my point of view the problem hasn’t improved at all. However, they were able to adjust create a schedule for LA last season which got LA to ever MLS team after he arrived. Shows where their priorities are.

This bothers me. We all know MLS isn’t the EPL, La Liga or Serie A. We know that we MLS fans aren’t getting the best league in the world. However, to knowingly offer matches as part of season tickets which everyone knows before had won’t include the best players doesn’t help that fact.

My honest feeling is that the only way to end matches on FIFA Dates is for fans to force the action. I don’t know how feasible a fan action is but that’s what we need to do. However, for the league to change, fans need to hit them where in counts, in the pocket. I wonder how possible it would be for MLS fans to stage a strike? Would enough be willing to not use tickets for a specific FIFA Date match? Would enough be willing to not watch the ESPN2, FSC or local broadcasts of match on that weekend? Can we do it? Should we do it? If we can, will MLS/SUM/ESPN/FSC notice?