500 hypothetical dollars haha. I just think the goal scoring for Portland is gonna go through Boyd. Im not suggesting hes a world superstar. Hes just a better, more durable version of Kenny Cooper so he fits Portlands system well Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Phenomenal signing for Portland. Boyd is a baller...and he's only 28 which is quite young for the type of striker he is (poacher / relying more on strength than speed). He'll definitely push for leading scorer in MLS. I'd put money on him being in the top 3 of that list easily.

Chill out bro. Pick your battles. This aint one of them youre gonna win. The game was a snooze fest anyway Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Do some research. NASCAR makes ESPN wayyyyyy more money than carrying USMNT games. They're only doing it because the head guys at ESPN believe in soccer's growth in America. Yeah us soccer fans might not like what they did today, but it's smart business. Give your biggest clients preferential treatment.

Something wrong with having a Southern accent?

Arsenal's record signing is Arshavin for (around) 15 million pounds. The fee Arsenal paid for Nasri was undisclosed but was said to be about 12 million pounds (per wikipedia on that figure).

Main problem with going after Sneijder is that van Persie and Sneijder hate each other as seen in their actions while playing for Holland. Would love for Arsenal to get Sneijder, but let's be honest, it won't happen.

Chivas USA has fans?? Woah.

I see what you did there :) earlier in this thread I was gonna call them Chivas "USA" as well, but wasn't bold enough to do it.

As I said above, and as Ives speculated on twitter, you gotta wonder/think that Chivas passed on Adu because he's American and not Mexican or at least Latino.

Dude get a clue. His comment was not racist, nor was it incorrect. If Adu was in the same exact position he's currently in (teenager hyped to be amazing but struggled in Europe and is now coming back after four years abroad...) but was Mexican, Chivas WOULD have signed him. As Clayton said, bottlecaps' comment wasn't racist, but Chivas might be.

SKC should've used Ochocinco :p

With some friends on my 50 inch plasma in Marietta, GA GO GO USA!!!

Miami is not indicative of the Southeast. Miami is in its own little world down there.

haha nice! +1

Death. Taxes. West Ham fighting relegation.

I don't. Nor would I get that channel if my provider offered it, which it doesn't. MLS will never break into the "big four" of American sports until it gets all its games on (at least) regional channels IN ENGLISH that can be picked up by DirecTV or whatever. Nothing wrong with simulcasting in spanish, but having games only on spanish-speaking channels is alienating many would-be viewers, no pun intended.

Warren, Just wanted to say that I've been reading these boards for awhile, but to me, you are one of the best posters on here. 9 times out of 10, your posts/views reflect mine. Agree with you, if Clint was English, Chelsea would pay $60m for him.

I appreciate your well thought-out post and you make a lot of good points. I definitely do not dispute the fact that the Canadian teams in MLS are good for MLS from an economic and a support standpoint (they have good fans). In fact, thats why I maintain Canada could have a very successful Canadian-only league. Yes, it would have to stop at 10 or so but that would form a tight-knit league and basically would more or less form rivalries between every team (a lá how Celtic and Rangers play each other many times per year in 10-team SPL). Ive been so impressed by TFCs fans and Vancouver and Montreals fans that I really do feel that as long as other Canadian teams could have similar fan support, it would work. But I understand that a US-only league is a pipe dream and your point about small player pool is one I hadnt considered. Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

"However in the case of CONCAF Canadian clubs can't qualify through US competitions so a Canada has to run its own qualification tournament" Interesting. I didn't know this. Why can't they qualify through U.S. competitions?

America not American* (in the 2nd graf). two not too* (in the 5th graf) Also, the counterargument to mine is the Cardiff / Swansea argument. Two Welsh teams in England's Football League. But those two teams chose to come to that league, and the Welsh league is far too weak/unpopular to maintain a notable reputation, which makes sense given its very small population. I happen to think the opposite is true with Canada. I think it could do more than OK with its own league. It would have to be small like Scotland's league, but it would work

Are they really North American in nature though? The NHL is the obvious example of your point with a large number of teams in Canada and American and pretty much in every market. But other leagues? MLB has 1 Canadian team, the Montreal / Puerto Rico experiment failed. NBA has 1 Canadian team. NFL, the most popular league in the country by far has zero Canadian teams (the CFL is quite popular by the way, if the NFL wanted to, it could afford to absorb and support a Canadian team or too). Plus there are zero Mexican teams in any of these pro-leagues, so I'm not sure how North American any of the leagues are. I'm not disputing the merits of having a draft or having playoffs, I realize those things are distinctly American and will remain. I'm disputing why there needs to be more and more Canadian teams added when 1-2 seems to be the right number in other pro leagues

Why are they lame? Because MLS is brutally uncreative when it comes to awarding new teams? You're right, let's add tons more Canadian teams. California only has 3 teams?? Give them a good 3 or 4 more. New York needs 3 more teams as well. Screw the Southwest and the Southeast. NO ONE likes soccer there at all!! It's not like USMNT stars Clint Dempsey, Stuart Holden, and Ricardo Clark (who admittedly isn't a star) played in the Southeast during college or youth development.

Automatic CCL qualification, check. Now they just need to get a few more teams on board, and they can start their own league! Freeing up U.S. markets in AMERICA's domestic league. Signed, Atlanta, Nashville, Las Vegas, St. Louis, Tampa

How would you employ him then? What formation and lineup would you use that youd think he would excel in? Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T