The flopping fish has been exposed in the expansion draft by Toronto FC.  It’s true what they say, the bigger they are…

Looks like the Atlanta Silverbacks are feeling the effects of the (coming current) economic downturn:  they’ve decided to take 2009 off.  From the article:

Due to the state of the economy and the potential of an MLS team coming to town, the men’s pro team has decided to sit the year out while the Silverbacks assess the landscape.

Wow.  Arthur Blank puts together probably the 4th or 5th (or worse) best offer for an expansion team, and this is how they react?  (My uninformed take:  1. Miami, 2. Vancouver, 3. St. Louis, 4. Portland, 5. Montreal, 6. Atlanta…)  Guess we know now why the ‘Backs decided to “loan” Kandji to the New York Corporate Sellouts.

So, is soccer gone from the mighty ATL?  Will there be none of the beautiful game in Hot-lanta?  Will Becks miss out an opportunity to visit the town that made Coca-Cola, the Gold Club, and General Sherman famous?  Well, in a word, no, because there’s always Georgia Tech Women’s Soccer (a club team), and oh yeah, the Silverbacks’ women’s team ain’t going no-where:

We would like to thank all of our fans and partners who have supported the team over the years and hope they continue to come out to the Women’s games,” said Atlanta Silverbacks General Manager, Michael Oki.

No word on whether they’ve signed Claudio Reyna for the upcoming season.

EPL Talk has an interesting post which tries to associate EPL teams with their American analogs.

While I believe that the author must (1) live in NYC, (2) have family in Ohio, and (3) have fond memories of a vacay in SoCal once upon a time (since there’s relatively poor coverage for the middle of the country, and absolutely none for the South), it’s a decent stab at re-imagining the EPL here on American soil.  I won’t try to recreate the post here, but for you visual types, here’s a map of their picks.

Not to sound like Ives, but what do you think?  Think they should take some of the 7 teams allocated to NYC and Boston and move them somewhere else?  Think that LA really is the Manchester of the USA?

(I’m posting to follow up on a comment I left on WorldCupWay.)

It’s the end of the season, and it’s time to clean house.  Literally, that is.  While I’m sure that Schellas has big plans for the off-season (some of which might involve Ze Roberto, Nery Castillo, and someone who can anchor the backline), players are heading home — and their gear is getting tossed.

Throwing the gear away seems like a total waste.  Yes, I know:  2008 was about as forgettable as the Southlake debacle.  Maybe a physical/psychic purge is a necessary step on our long journey to the 2012 MLS Cup.  And I’d hate to wish the bad mojo which infected our boots this season on anyone else…

BUT…

I’d like to encourage Clark Hunt (who’s started posting on Los-Toros, despite attending tonight’s Crew-Fire match) to think about donating FCD’s gear to people who could use it.

Schellas is going to Ghana to recruit new talent.  He’s also off to Brazil.  And to Argentina.  There are footballers in each of those places who could use our overly-engineered adidas gear.  Why chuck the boots when they could be put to good use?

Yes, I know:  now that American’s charging $25 for each checked bag, it’s definitely an imposition for der Bus coach to schlep a box of shin guards (even Toja-sized shinners) and boots to some far-off locale.  There are a ton, however, of organizations who’d be willing to accept the cast-off kits.  These include:

• One World Running (http://oneworldrunning.blogspot.com/)
• Shoe4 Africa (http://www.shoe4africa.org/donate.html)
• Recycled Runners (http://www.recycledrunners.com/02/09/donate-your-used-running-shoes/)
• SecondSole (http://www.secondsoleohio.com)

And that’s just the beginning.  A decent Google search reveals tons of charities who are willing to take sports gear and put it in the hands (or feet) of people who could benefit from it.

So, Clark, reader of our blog… I’m calling you out.  You should expect it:  you were wrapped in a Crew scarf and jacket tonight.  While that’s okay, I’m not ready to be a supporter of the third-ranked team (CMB, Newcastle, and poor FCD) in your heart.  Help FCD contribute:  that’s all I’m asking.

 Loading ...

Or as I like to call them, Los Toros Rojas!! Suck it, Dyanapoo!

FCD propaganda central has been quite busy lately all things considered and they just dropped the names of the long awaited trialists from Norway. I have to admit the only thing that gets me through the off-season is googling the various jugadors that stop by Pizza Hut Park.

The first trialists of this off-season are Daniel Torres and Carlos Johnson. Here’s what I found out:

• Both are Costa Ricans who played for Bryne FK in the Norwegian second division last season.
• Torres is an on-again, off-again MLSer who played for definitively mediocre squads: the early 2000s Columbus Crew and the ‘06 version of RSL. He’s another Ellinger scrub. (HINT: It didn’t work for you then, why will it work now?)
• Johnson played in the 2001 U-17 World Cup and was included in the preliminary 2006 World Cup squad for Costa Rica, but hasn’t impressed for Bryne finishing second from bottom in some sort of ratings system. I know that he is a defender and I think he plays right back…