Bradley Strikes Again

Good for Mikey, he's recovered nicely since giving away 2 points for his club last weekend by not marking on a late corner.

Hope he gets transferred to a better club once they go down (which I assume they probably will).

Hey Goff whats the deal with no coverage of NCAA signing day, did the terps have another good class? Where does it rank nationally? I thought you were the man Goff, I hope I wasn't wrong.

(sigh)

i guess im not the man

when they formally announce their recruits, i'll report 'em, petey

Gladbach will go down. Donovan missed two good opportunities to score level. One good header saved.

I did see a piece, a week ago I think -- in a local paper. About the top junior in Baltimore (?) committing to Maryland. That's a year away, but it sounded as if he's a great talent.

As for Bradley -- he can always say that he did play for Bundesliga One team. Maybe they'll earn promotion after next season.

Gladbach is 4 points from safety with half a season to go. You guys are already engraving their tombstone.

Both of Bradley's goals have been late-ish equalizers against big clubs (his other was the 2nd in a 2-2 draw against Bayern before the winter break). Hopefully he's getting into his stride in Germany now and can either help Gladbach to safety or stand out enough to be bought by someone else.

Ahhh my apologies Goff, ESPN has a list of commitments I just skipped the fine print that said they were just verbals, interesting link though

http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/soccer/news/story?id=3776407

Ahhh my apologies Goff, ESPN has a list of commitments I just skipped the fine print that said they were just verbals, interesting link though

http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/soccer/news/story?id=3776407

Perhaps it's too early but I am not too sure about Gladbach staying up.
What's up with Italian league games at least most of them have always have empty stadiums?
I am watching Napoli v Bologna, Barca v Betis and AZ v PSV all at once.

Those empty stadiums -- I guess that's why the same few teams dominate Italian football. I see a lot of empty stadiums in Europe. Some Cup games seem as badly attended as those here. Makes me wonder how they can afford the much higher salaries they pay... Plus the transfer fees -- even the teams that aren't AC Milan do pay lower division clubs to take up their best players. They must have decent TV contracts.

It's all about the tv dollars. Look at the Premiership. They just sold their domestic over-air and on-line rights for 2010-13 for around 2 BILLION Euros. And that's before the overseas fees come pouring in. That should end Mohammad Fayad's whining about the EPL needing a salary cap...

I was wondering about the empty stadiums too. Part of it my be that, with the track and advertising broads, maybe no-one sits on the lowest level, so the camera picks up empty seats.

Bologna? They are in 15th place in Serie A, sandwiched between Sampdoria and Lecce.

mmm bolgna sandwhich...

Homer: Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try.

Any word on if CONCACAF or at least the Mexican Fed or the soon to be unemployed Swede is going to say or do anything about the confrontation with Hejduk?

Yes, it was a only a little tap but . . .

Meant to post this one . . more appropriate .

Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

It's not just about tv, or sponsorships, or gate revenue. The big euro clubs are pyramid schemes with very creative long term financing and refinancing plans, through which their billionaire owners launder debt. Teams don't make money, on paper at least. There are a few exceptions, basically the Spanish clubs, and even those are subsidized (look at the 400 million pesata gift Madrid gave Real in 99. And even then, look at the story about Real getting a 70 million Euro line of credit from Santander to bid for CR07 this summer) ManU has annual debt service of about fifty million pounds. They will need pay that off, they'll just keep issueing debt and waiting for inflation to take care of it. Sports teams, competitive ones at least, usually lose money or break even, owners make money in the long term growth of the value of the team. It's like refinancing your house, as long as it's worth more this year, you can take more money out. And as long as the next owner can borrow enough, you can always sell it.

Yes, the epl's new contract is big, but the real cashflow, what sets the superclubs apart from their league rivals, is champions league.

no such attendance issues at the Inter/AC game. place is packed and jumping - even moreso now that Inter just took the lead on a fairly obvious head-to-handball. Beckham is playing, but haven't seen him do much yet.

also, some video of the great goalkeeping for Gladbach - their defense looks pretty atrocious:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_310iDAWr8

Bradley goal footage can be found here:

http://soccernewsdaily.blogspot.com/2009/02/werder-bremen-1-1-monchengladbach-video.html

no great skill involved, but in the right place at the right time, much like goal #1 of US-Mex.

Greetings folks. My internet and television have been out since Thursday... Lot's of great info..Signed a center back, getting a stadium...
Just logged in at the library to say, I miss you guys...

I'll also ask again here and see if anyone answers later: Who's going to down Charleston for the Challenge Cup?
I might go to the Wednesday game, but without a doubt I will be going to Saturday the 14's double header and looking to tailgate...
Weird two months in a row with a friday the 13th...
Cheers!