North American soccerball and the MLS Season starts Saturday

[johnhammond]

[MENTION=10923]johnhammond[/MENTION]

Did you meet Tony Meola at the weekend? When I spoke with him he said he just met with an Albion fan who was at his debut against Wolves. Was that you?

Thanks for the advice on where to sit. Was impressed with the Sounders going forward. The defending was a pretty woeful standard from both teams. But never the less was an interesting football experience.

I did have a word with him before the game, but didn't mention anything about seeing him play (though I might have been at his debut). There must be a mystery 3rd Brighton fan somewhere around the Puget Sound! And yeah, the defending for both of the goals was very slack. No idea why Seattle made 3 attacking subs despite being 1-0 up - they do it every time it's close and it never works. How was the atmosphere down the other end of the ground?

And yeah, interesting is a good way to describe it. Very different crowd to watching in England. On average the games are of an average championship standard, but with very wide swings up and down from there.

 

[Jim Van Winkle]

I did have a word with him before the game, but didn't mention anything about seeing him play (though I might have been at his debut). There must be a mystery 3rd Brighton fan somewhere around the Puget Sound! And yeah, the defending for both of the goals was very slack. No idea why Seattle made 3 attacking subs despite being 1-0 up - they do it every time it's close and it never works. How was the atmosphere down the other end of the ground?

And yeah, interesting is a good way to describe it. Very different crowd to watching in England. On average the games are of an average championship standard, but with very wide swings up and down from there.

Couldn't really hear what the Timber's fans were singing at that end of the stadium as it is open. Although they were loud and looked like they were having a blast jumping up and down. Got caught up in the march to the ground that was really fun and I enjoyed that. The south stand with the wannabe Ultra's looked like the place to be (like you said). I found the crowd to be not very knowledgeable (or biased) when it came to understanding the referee's decisions.

 

[Eggman]

Some crazy conditions in the USA v Costa Rica game yesterday

United States vs. Costa Rica Video Highlights & Interviews (23rd Mar 13)

 

[johnhammond]

Couldn't really hear what the Timber's fans were singing at that end of the stadium as it is open. Although they were loud and looked like they were having a blast jumping up and down. Got caught up in the march to the ground that was really fun and I enjoyed that. The south stand with the wannabe Ultra's looked like the place to be (like you said). I found the crowd to be not very knowledgeable (or biased) when it came to understanding the referee's decisions.

Yeah, even after 4 years they still have no idea what the ref is doing. It's fairly common to boo/hurl insults when he plays advantage following a foul (no idea whether they don't see the advantage, or just don't understand), or to get generally furious about any decision where it's not 100% clear as to what's going on. And they always get ecstatic about every yellow card - it's exhausting.

Still, it's better than no football at all!

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

...And if you don't stand up for the American National Anthem, played at every game, the locals can get a bit miffed. But it's a small price to pay for watching live football.

 

[Man of Harveys]

Some crazy conditions in the USA v Costa Rica game yesterday

United States vs. Costa Rica Video Highlights & Interviews (23rd Mar 13)

Ridiculous game, brilliant entertainment though. If that's saved Klinsmann's skin for a while, it won't be forgotten in a hurry. Or should that be flurry. I have a feeling conditions may be somewhat different at the Azteca on Tuesday.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

Nasty incident in the LA Galaxy game against FC Dallas. Dallas defender George John was lucky that he only suffered minor injuries after being hit on the head by a beer bottle which was thrown after he scored. Hopefully video footage will catch the thug that threw it.

FC Dallas player hit by beer bottle after scoring

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

Man City owner Sheik Mansour bin Zayed and NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg now have plans for a MLS franchise expansion. The team would be called New York City Football Club and would be based in Queens and would start playing in 2016. There is supposed to be an announcement on May 25 when bin Zayed is in town for the Man City exhibition match at Yankee Stadium. Not sure where this leaves the NY Cosmos.

NYC Mayor and Man City owner to create new MLS team in New York