Los Angeles Galaxy: Newest Cosmo Cobi Jones Will Always Be Part of Galaxy

“I am both honored and blessed to have had such a wonderful career with the LA Galaxy and I am thankful for everything the club, the fans and the community has done for me and my family. I am excited to bring my deep knowledge, passion and expertise of soccer in this country to The New York Cosmos. They truly represent where this sport is headed on a national and international level, and I want to make history with them.”—Cobi Jones, New York Cosmos Associate Director of Soccer   With the recent news of Cobi Jones leaving the Los Angeles Galaxy to become the New York Cosmos Associate Director of Soccer, I've been bombarded with emails from Galaxy fans asking me how the Cosmos organization could steal Cobi from them. For the record, the Cosmos didn't steal Cobi Jones. I doubt that the reason the New York Cosmos hired Cobi Jones was because they didn't appreciate the humor of L.A.'s mascot, Cozmo. If the fans really want to blame a party, then foolishly blame the Los Angeles Galaxy for not doing enough to keep Cobi Jones. Cobi Jones leaving the Los Angeles Galaxy for ...

The Soccer Soap Box Library

I am not what you would call an avid reader. For work, I’m constantly reading this or that commentary on the technology market, often in short-attention-span-approved blog or trade-journal prose. But, like many nowadays I suspect, I find I need to force myself to finish longer, more in-depth pieces. Not surprisingly then, finding the time and the drive to read for personal pleasure is that much more difficult. Outside of the pre-digested Newsweek, Soccer America or magazines about cars or home electronics, not much gets my attention most weeks. Books, in fact, rarely get cracked open. There is, however, one notable—and extremely unsurprising—exception. Books on soccer and/or soccer “culture.” Yes, I know…you’re shocked. I am writing about this now because I just finished one of those “soccer culture” books— "Among the Thugs," by Bill Buford. Saying it was about “culture” is difficult, because the subject matter, soccer hooliganism, is the antithesis incarnate of a civilized culture. I don’t regularly read about hooliganism and am not one who is particularly enamored by its mystique. However, despite all of that, this book was enthralling. Even given a busy work schedule and two little ones who see an adult attempting to read as a jungle gym in ...

MLS Rivalry Week 2011: More Harm, Than Good?

Don Garber's at it again, making American soccer fans infuriated once again.  No, not with talk about conferences and a single-table format, but with the MLS Commissioner's rather gung-ho plan to create "Rivalry Week" during the MLS regular season.  This tentatively called "rivalry week" would consist of the Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps playing against one another in the span of the week, and having all of MLS solely focus on the Pacific Northwest. In a nutshell, it's Garber's latest scheme in hopes of garnering television audiences that are complimented with unprecedented crowds out in the Cascades. Just the idea alone is very unsurprising, almost to the same degree of receiving a backlash of comments on MLS's website. However, what may shock you is where the core disapproval was coming from: Sounders, Whitecaps and Timbers fans. Most of it was either snickering at how married to rivalries Garber is, or how Garber is not foreseeing this rivalry as sport—but to showcase the league under a new light instead. Shaking his crystal ball, Garber is evidently hoping that this will create mass attention. Perhaps I'm taking a pessimistic approach, but I highly doubt this, so-called, "rivalry week" will do what Garber is hoping it will do. ...

Covering And Preserving The New York Cosmos Soccer Tradition

"It was a traveling circus. Everybody speaking a different language, everybody with a different sort of personal assistant or trainer tagging along to help as a translator and to help with their various needs...it was an enormous entourage wherever you went and it was entertaining." - Lawrie Mifflin New York, NY—With the new year in session, a plethora of articles have surfaced regarding the New York Cosmos. From Cobi Jones joining the Cosmos to Grant Wahl's Sports Illustrated interview, the Cosmos have been in the news. The one thing older Cosmos fans are concerned about is that their beloved team is being viewed as a brand. They're also concerned that the Cosmos will be recognized more for their current/future merchandise than their history. And now with the rumors of David Beckham possibly purchasing the team, some are worried that this second coming of the New York Cosmos may be a laughingstock. My reply to these Cosmos fans is, "Abandon your worries because the New York Cosmos organization is serious and intent on becoming the 20th team in Major League Soccer for the 2013 MLS season." I've been to the New York Cosmos office and have interacted with the organization's excellent Management Team, Vice Chairman ...

Los Angeles Galaxy Ins and Outs, Jan. 14, 2011

Arena Looks To Ease Draftees into the FoldPrior to the 2011 MLS SuperDraft, manager Bruce Arena and the Los Angeles Galaxy acquired a pair of forwards in Adam Cristman and Chad Barrett. This allowed the club to focus its attention on bolstering the midfield.As a result, the G's took Uruguayan international Paolo Cardozo and local product Hector Jimenez in the first and second rounds.Arena said that he will be patient regarding the maturation process of the team's selections.“These are two players we think are promising and we’re going to have to be patient, but we’ll work with them to see if they can develop into good players,” Arena said in a conference call. “We’re not expecting young, inexperienced players of this nature to step on the field immediately and have an impact—and I don’t think that’s, oddly enough, the case of any of these players that were taken today.”While not as high-profile as Victor Estupinan or John Rooney, the brother of Manchester United superstar Wayne Rooney, Cardozo's impressive performance in the midfielder at the MLS Combine made him a pick worth taking.“(Cardozo) is a player we liked in the Combine and think he’s a young kid with a lot of ...

Los Angeles Galaxy: New-Look Club Begins To Take Shape After MLS SuperDraft

It's been a week of big changes for the Los Angeles Galaxy.  Midfielder David Beckham again seems to have put his own needs before those of the people who sign his paycheck by ramrodding through his training loan with Tottenham Hotspur despite protestations from the club.  Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, there have been major departures from the Galaxy camp. Monday it was announced that Galaxy striker and principal goal-getter Edson Buddle has left the club on a free transfer to join FC Ingolstadt in the second division of the German Bundesliga.  Buddle, who was part of the USA's World Cup team this summer, has been with the Galaxy since 2007.  2010 was Buddle's best season as a professional player.  He scored a total of 17 goals and for a time was the league's leading scorer before ultimately being overtaken by Chris Wondolowski of the San Jose Earthquakes. In his own statement, Buddle said: “I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Los Angeles and will miss my teammates, coaches, staff and everyone who works for the club as they helped make me the player that I am today. I also want to thanks all of the great Galaxy fans who have supported me ...

Philadelphia Union: The First Round Pick Comes Out of Necessity

The Sons of Ben were out in full force at the Baltimore Convention Center for the 2011 MLS Expansion Draft on Thursday January 13th. At some points during the event, they even drowned out some of ESPN’s commentary. All of the hype lead to, for the Union, what was both a successful, and yet still a little disappointing draft.  As a little background for people who don’t know, the Generation Adidas project is a joint effort between the organizations of US Soccer, MLS and Adidas, to give young players the opportunity to play at higher levels with some amount of security.  If selected for the G.A. team, the player will not affect the team salary cap and they are protected from any expansion drafts.  This make very tempting incentives for teams to pick up the players.  To help the player even more, if their professional career does not pan out, they are given scholarship money to go back and finish school. (By signing a professional contract, a person is no longer eligible to play in the NCAA, and therefore can be awarded no athletic scholarships.)    With the fifth overall pick, there were a lot of options for the team, though none discussed ...

For the Red Bulls, It’s Win the 2011 MLS Cup or Bust

New York, NY—Now with the 2011 MLS SuperDraft over, the New York Red Bulls have made it clear that they have every intentions of being a team that will attack the net in the 2011 MLS Season. With their draft selections of forward Corey Hertzog (R1; 13th pick), midfielder John Rooney (R2; 25th pick), defensive forward Tyler Lassister (R2; 30th pick) and midfielder Billy Cortes (R3, 38th pick) joining Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez, Tim Ream, Dane Richards, Joel Lindpere and Juan Agudelo, the New York Red Bulls are in position to win their first MLS Cup. While the 2010 MLS season was a memorable one for the Red Bulls, 2011 minus Juan Pablo Angel has yet to be written. Last season, Red Bull Arena opened for its inaugural season. Along with the acquisitions of Joel Lindpere, Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez, the New York Red Bulls went from worst team in MLS to the best team in the Eastern Conference. Helping lead last year's transformation from worst to first was the excellent goalkeeping of Bouna Coundoual, the emergence of Dane Richards, the maturing of Tim Ream and Tony Tchani, and the surprise play of Juan Agudelo. However, it wasn't enough ...

2011 MLS SuperDraft: Creating More Opportunities for All

Baltimore, MD - As soon as the Vancouver Whitecaps FC selected Omar Salgado as their number one pick for the 2011 MLS SuperDraft, the 2011 Major League Soccer year officially kicked off and entered its 16th year. With boisterous supporters clubs such as the ones from the New York Red Bulls and D.C. United, and the Philadelphia Union keeping things entertaining with their chants and enthusiasm, expectations are high this season for their fans. Many of these MLS teams should be commended for providing transportation for their fans so they'll have the opportunity to witness this day. It's fantastic way to not only show appreciation for their fans' loyalty, it also creates an opening on how both parties can promote their team to others. For some clubs, anything less than the MLS Cup will be considered a bad season. For others, winning 10-12 games will be considered a successful season. And in the case of the Portland Timbers and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, their inaugural seasons taking place is already a success. With the Houston Dynamo being the last MLS team to repeat as champions, many will wonder if the Colorado Rapids will repeat or if MLS will have a new champion to declare ...

Philadelphia Union Fans: Be Grateful for Bimbo Bakeries USA

Recently Bimbo Bakeries USA became the official sponsor for the Philadelphia Union. With a four-year deal valued at $12 million, it's safe to believe that the players salaries will be covered during that that time. What I found surprising is the verbal backlash that some of the Union fans had towards Bimbo's (pronounced "Beembo") commitment to the Union. They're making it sound that Bimbo Bakeries USA is synonymous with Playboy or Hustler. For a city that's recognized for Rocky, booing Santa Claus, and their Philly cheese steaks, I never realized how politically correct and sensitive some of their fans are. I guess some of the Union fans would prefer having the Bimbo bear imprinted on their jerseys then the word itself. Either that or some of the Union fans are simply racists. I've read some of your comments on Facebook and I don't see the humor in them. If you're all torn up about Bimbo Bakeries USA sponsoring your team, I wonder how some of you would have reacted if Goya Foods was the official sponsor of the Union. I understand that the word "bimbo" has a negative connotation in our society and you the fans have a right to voice your opinions ...