Why would Google or Apple have any interest in MLS? They are businesses interested in making profits. MLS just doesn't make a lot of money. In fact most teams are still in the red. Maybe one day that will change, and then you can start expecting big companies to want a piece of the pie. And a 25,000 seat stadium is much preferable to a 50,000 seat stadium. A big part of moving away from playing in NFL stadiums was that the stadiums were less than half full and the atmosphere was terrible. Smaller, more intimate stadiums (e.g. Livestrong Park, BBVA Stadium, Home Depot Center) are the type of stadiums MLS needs right now. There's no reason to spend massive amounts of money on a huge stadium, where they'll have to close large sections just to make the place look filled.

I prefer this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qknteb8Klo

FC Dallas need: *David Ferreira to get healthy. We're a different team when the MVP is on the pitch.

Thanks for the link. The second goal was great!

I like your thinking, but I also think 3 game series would make the playoffs less exciting and last too long. The do or die nature of teh NFL playoffs is a huge part of the appeal and why it is rated higher than the other sports. Long series are possible in the NBA and MLB because you can play games every other day, so they don't last too long. With the NFL and MLS, you need a larger break between games, so a series would extend the postseason too long. Maybe if you just play a home and home series each round that would work. The higher ranked team would get to play their homegame last on the weekend. The lower ranked team has to play midweek. I think the championship should remain a single game though. I think a casual fan is much more likely to tune into the MLS championship if it is just a single game.

I don't mind the conferences. I actually think the conferences are necessary as we add more teams. Single tables work in other countries because they're much smaller geographically. It is easy to travel to every other team. The US is too big for constant travel from coast to coast. There's a reason why every other American sports league uses conferences. I just with they would simplify the playoff structure. They should just take the top 5 teams from each conference. I don't understand why they have teams trading conferences in the playoffs at all.

Dallas has played 5.5 games in the last 15 days. That includes trips to Philadelphia, Mexico, Toronto, and KC. Plus they have another huge midweek game coming up on Tuesday in Seattle (US Open Cup semifinal). I don't know how these guys keep winning games. Especially when you add in the fact their best player and reigning MVP, Ferrieira, has been out for nearly the entire season.

Well, in the next month we are getting David Ferreira back from injury, Castillo back from the U20 world cup, Maicon Santos can play now, and we are announcing a new player signing today as well. Although we've been pretty solid even without those players (only 3 points behind LA Galaxy for the Supporter's Shield with a game in hand).

I agree that attendance is a huge problem. However, it looks worse than it is on TV. Most fans avoid the seats that are shown in the broadcast because they are directly in the sun. For this game in particular, those seats were actually closed.

I was kind of hoping that Colombia would be knocked out early so that Castillo could make an early return to FCD. But so far it looks like they are poised to make a deep run. At least Castillo got some solid playing time this game. Can someone who watched the match give a quick summary of how Castillo performed?

In other news, it looks like FC Dallas has traded Eric Avila to Toronto for Maicon Santos.

Coach said in a recent interview that FCD was very close to adding a new player and that they were trying to bring in a second new player as well. Rodriguez never seemed like a great fit here so I'm sure this is all about making room for some new signings. With Ferreira and Castillo both coming back in the next month or so, FCD could really make a run both in MLS and the CCL (assuming we get out of the preliminary round).

Does anyone have an update on his national team status? How many more years will it take to be eligible for the USMNT? What other nations are options for him? Any idea which nation he's leaning towards? Thanks.

ESPN3.com

A 3-0 win would not get them to OT. They would be eliminated based on away goals.

Great result! A win against Algeria gets us to the Round of 16. If we assume England beats Algeria here are the standing after 2 games: England - 4 points Slovenia - 4 points USA - 2 points Algeria - 0 points A win against Algeria puts us at 5 points. Since England and Slovenia play each other, the loser will be stuck at 4 points, meaning we advance. If they draw, there will be a three way tie at 5 points and we would have a good chance of winning the tie breakers based on the fact that Slovenia only beat Algeria 1-0.

My line-up: ---------Altidore----Findley-------------- ---Donovan---Bradley---Edu---Dempsey--- --Bocanegra--Onyewu--DeMerit--Cherundolo-- ---------------Howard------------------ Defensive subs: Beasley (Findley), Clark (Edu), Buddle (Altidore) Offensive subs: Torres (Edu), Holden (Findley), Gomez (Altidore) *I chose Findley as Altidore's partner because of his speed. It really opens up the field for us. Although he didn't score in the tune-ups, the US just looked much more dangerous when he was on the field. He will be especially useful if we play a counterattacking style. *I put Dempsey on the wing because he never really looked comfortable at striker. Our offense just flows much better when he is on the wing. *I have Edu at CM, but it is a toss-up between him and Clark and I really don't mind which player gets the start.

Eddie Johnson is injured (hamstring) and is already is Princeton for training camp with the MNT.