SWEET, SWEET RELIEF!

(looks around)

I only see the soccer moms in OP celebrating...

(sigh)

fatalvenom: Meanwhile, in Cleveland....

[cdn2.holytaco.com image 550x361]
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Listen, if we're going to count crummy, half-rate leagues, then the Cleveland Crunch won three titles in the 90s.

Linky

rumpelstiltskin: The T-Bones won the Northern League in 2008, beating the Gary Southshore Railcats in the championship series 3 games to 1.

Been to a few T-Bones games. Not a bad night out.

Oh Eddie Johnson, you shankapotamus. Nice to see he's still one of the best players for KC.

EponymousCowHerd: fatalvenom: Meanwhile, in Cleveland....

[cdn2.holytaco.com image 550x361]
[www.waitingfornextyear.com image 409x295]

Listen, if we're going to count crummy, half-rate leagues, then the Cleveland Crunch won three titles in the 90s.

Linky

We don't.

Still, Cleveland would rather lose in football than win 4 straight MLS titles.

What do KC fans think of Aurelien Collin? Could see where the home team loves what he does, but man is a dbag.

He certainly has no friends here.

Congrats on winning the least cared about cup in the country.


And barely at that.

Alphakronik: Congrats on winning the least cared about cup in the country.


And barely at that.

I was surprised to read it's the 99th time the US Open cup has been contested.

Norax: What do KC fans think of Aurelien Collin? Could see where the home team loves what he does, but man is a dbag.

He certainly has no friends here.

You're right on the money -- He's a d-bag, but he's OUR d-bag. Much rather have him playing for us rather than against us.

The back line has been very solid this season and he's a huge reason why. When you're looking through Sporting blue glasses, it's easy to overlook all of the "professional fouls" and some of the tackier plays he makes. He doesn't play a pretty game, but he plays an effective game.

PluckYew: Alphakronik: Congrats on winning the least cared about cup in the country.


And barely at that.

I was surprised to read it's the 99th time the US Open cup has been contested.

After the FA Cup in England it's the second oldest soccer cup competition in the world.

DemDave: Norax: What do KC fans think of Aurelien Collin? Could see where the home team loves what he does, but man is a dbag.

He certainly has no friends here.

You're right on the money -- He's a d-bag, but he's OUR d-bag. Much rather have him playing for us rather than against us.

The back line has been very solid this season and he's a huge reason why. When you're looking through Sporting blue glasses, it's easy to overlook all of the "professional fouls" and some of the tackier plays he makes. He doesn't play a pretty game, but he plays an effective game.

Like to think of him as Bruce Bowen of MLS.

carnifex2005: PluckYew: Alphakronik: Congrats on winning the least cared about cup in the country.


And barely at that.

I was surprised to read it's the 99th time the US Open cup has been contested.

After the FA Cup in England it's the second oldest soccer cup competition in the world.

Awesome, said nobody...ever.

Alphakronik: carnifex2005: PluckYew: Alphakronik: Congrats on winning the least cared about cup in the country.


And barely at that.

I was surprised to read it's the 99th time the US Open cup has been contested.

After the FA Cup in England it's the second oldest soccer cup competition in the world.

Awesome, said nobody...ever.

Automatic spot in the CONCACAF Champions League goes to the winner. That's the real prize. Other US teams to get in must either win the MLS Cup or the Supporter's Shield.

seumasokelly: Alphakronik: carnifex2005: PluckYew: Alphakronik: Congrats on winning the least cared about cup in the country.


And barely at that.

I was surprised to read it's the 99th time the US Open cup has been contested.

After the FA Cup in England it's the second oldest soccer cup competition in the world.

Awesome, said nobody...ever.

Automatic spot in the CONCACAF Champions League goes to the winner. That's the real prize. Other US teams to get in must either win the MLS Cup or the Supporter's Shield.

And considering how badly MLS scheduling is at their jobs, the strict salary cap, and the abysmal fields you find in the Caribbean and Central America, CONCACAF Champions Leagues is a goddamn curse and a near crippling shot to your league season. Even the Euro leagues are a little better about figuring out how to fit all the games together (of course, Champions League contenders have second and third units that could finish in the top half of their regular leagues, anyway).

Would have been nice if it was on FoxSportsSoccer. But GOLTV?

eagles95: Would have been nice if it was on FoxSportsSoccer. But GOLTV?

They paid the most and US Soccer apparently doesn't give half a shiat about people actually being able to watch the game. I read that GolTV is only available to 13 milliom US customers. In Seattle you have to buy the sports add-on if you have DirecTV or the Spanish add-on if you have Comcast. It was goddamned ridiculous. Neither local market was allowed to air it.

I think I liked it better before they started pretending it was a Euro league.

/I never liked MLS

I thought KC was the Wiz. Did that change?


It was always great watching the KC Wiz play the DC Burn.

Norax: What do KC fans think of Aurelien Collin? Could see where the home team loves what he does, but man is a dbag.

He immediately trips my 'universal nightclub dbag' trigger so hard I'm sure I'd never try to get to know him personally.

But, for my money, no one in the league gets 'up on' whoever he's standing next to, either on the back line or on a corner, more consistently or with less regard for where his skull is going to end up.

seumasokelly: eagles95: Would have been nice if it was on FoxSportsSoccer. But GOLTV?

They paid the most and US Soccer apparently doesn't give half a shiat about people actually being able to watch the game. I read that GolTV is only available to 13 milliom US customers. In Seattle you have to buy the sports add-on if you have DirecTV or the Spanish add-on if you have Comcast. It was goddamned ridiculous. Neither local market was allowed to air it.

just insane....i'm sure i could have "found" the game somewhere last night. Hopefully NBCSportsNetwork steps up and grabs it. I'm very happy that they are jumping into soccer as much as they are.

I read PK as player killer. What am I doing in the sports section.

eagles95: seumasokelly: eagles95: Would have been nice if it was on FoxSportsSoccer. But GOLTV?

They paid the most and US Soccer apparently doesn't give half a shiat about people actually being able to watch the game. I read that GolTV is only available to 13 milliom US customers. In Seattle you have to buy the sports add-on if you have DirecTV or the Spanish add-on if you have Comcast. It was goddamned ridiculous. Neither local market was allowed to air it.

just insane....i'm sure i could have "found" the game somewhere last night. Hopefully NBCSportsNetwork steps up and grabs it. I'm very happy that they are jumping into soccer as much as they are.

Unfortunately, US Soccer signed a 3 year deal with GolTV to air the Open Cup Final.

seumasokelly:
Unfortunately, US Soccer signed a 3 year deal with GolTV to air the Open Cup Final.

Assuming there is a GolTV in 2014. Not something I'd put money on.

carnifex2005: PluckYew: Alphakronik: Congrats on winning the least cared about cup in the country.


And barely at that.

I was surprised to read it's the 99th time the US Open cup has been contested.

After the FA Cup in England it's the second oldest soccer cup competition in the world.

Most people don't know that the US had one of the better soccer leagues in the world in the 1920s. European leagues were getting upset because players were moving over to the States to play before that was a common thing. The US didn't get third place in the first World Cup on a fluke. America had a very good system in place. But a labor dispute killed the league and that was the end of mainstream soccer in America.

The_Great_Hambino: I thought KC was the Wiz. Did that change?

It was always great watching the KC Wiz play the DC Burn.

Technically, they haven't been the KC Wiz since 1997, when they ever-so-slightly changed their name to the Kansas City Wizards (and tried to distance themselves a bit from the rainbow Wizard of Oz theme they had in the first year or two of the league).

They got new ownership and a fancy new stadium, and changed their name to Sporting Kansas City before the start of last season.

Norax: What do KC fans think of Aurelien Collin? Could see where the home team loves what he does, but man is a dbag.

He certainly has no friends here.

He's definitely OUR d-bag on the field. I wouldn't want to play against him. He's a monster in the air.

That said, I've met him a couple of times IRL, and he's a hell of a nice guy. Not douchey at all. I can also tell you that he takes his wardrobe very seriously.

Still Kings of the Cup, though

Subby, it is mandatory for there to be terrible officiating at soccer games. It's how things are done. The US is spoiled with the NFL, which takes getting calls right more seriously than just about any other sports league in the world. Naturally, we get upset when other sports don't live up to the same standard.

That being said, as a KC native, I'm happy to finally have a team to believe in. I think it'd be a fair assessment to make that Sporting probably sells more tickets than the Royals do at this point.

When is a foul not a foul? When Salazar is the ref and it's against the Sounders. Solid game by KC, shame the ref had to step up and put his stamp on things. Guy should just to and try to get a talk show instead of wrecking games. There are several teams in the MLS that have standing requests to not have him anywhere near their games.

As a KC area native, it figures that when KC actually wins a cup/tournament, the big prize is getting an automatic berth in another tournament with the name "CACA" in it.

I was right there in the front row with an english friend who couldn't bear the thought of another game decided by penalties. He was basically curled up in the fetal position while I held his hand during EJ's orbital launch. It was by no means the best game I've ever seen, but that was probably the best sporting event I've been to since Game 7 of the Twins world series win in '91.

Also, trololol.

Drone637: When is a foul not a foul? When Salazar is the ref and it's against the Sounders. Solid game by KC, shame the ref had to step up and put his stamp on things. Guy should just to and try to get a talk show instead of wrecking games. There are several teams in the MLS that have standing requests to not have him anywhere near their games.

[i.imgur.com image 600x900]

Yeah those pics mean nothing to 99.999999% of the people here.

Lawrence is close enough that we count it as Kansas City (at least on the Kansas side). So we get the 2008 basketball championship.

Marine1: That being said, as a KC native, I'm happy to finally have a team to believe in. I think it'd be a fair assessment to make that Sporting probably sells more tickets than the Royals do at this point.

Depends on how you measure it. The Royals are still averaging about 20,000 ticket sales per game, so on a per-game basis, it's pretty much a wash.

But the Royals have around three home games per week and Sporting usually has only one. So by that measure, the Royals are still selling about 3x the tickets.

Dear Jerk: Lawrence is close enough that we count it as Kansas City (at least on the Kansas side). So we get the 2008 basketball championship.

No.

steamingpile: Drone637: When is a foul not a foul? When Salazar is the ref and it's against the Sounders. Solid game by KC, shame the ref had to step up and put his stamp on things. Guy should just to and try to get a talk show instead of wrecking games. There are several teams in the MLS that have standing requests to not have him anywhere near their games.

[i.imgur.com image 600x900]

Yeah those pics mean nothing to 99.999999% of the people here.

Bottom picture: Instant before PK when KC was awarded rekick for Sounders keeper being off his line.
Top picture: Instant before PK when Sounders were not awarded rekick.

VarmintCong: steamingpile: Drone637: When is a foul not a foul? When Salazar is the ref and it's against the Sounders. Solid game by KC, shame the ref had to step up and put his stamp on things. Guy should just to and try to get a talk show instead of wrecking games. There are several teams in the MLS that have standing requests to not have him anywhere near their games.

[i.imgur.com image 600x900]

Yeah those pics mean nothing to 99.999999% of the people here.

Bottom picture: Instant before PK when KC was awarded rekick for Sounders keeper being off his line.
Top picture: Instant before PK when Sounders were not awarded rekick.

I will say I think that picture is a bit misleading as it's taken right when the kick is taken. Here's their positioning about a second before the kicks. Nilsen is on his line, Gspurning is a good foot off.



If we want to get really pedantic, some one lined up the two kicks on Youtube.

US Open Cup Final 2012 - PKs - GK Off Line Comparison

Frame 140 - Gspurning is starts to move off of line
Frame 143 - First foot is off line
Frame 150 - Gspurning is completely off of his line (both feet down)
Frame 175 - Nielsen starts to move off of line (both feet)
Frame 178 - Nielsen starts is off of his line (still in air, though, even)
Frame 180 - Nielsen plants right foot off of line
Frame 185 - Ball is struck (both videos)

At 30 FPS, Gspurning is off his line roughly a second earlier than Nielsen.

Nielsen is off his line about 0.2-0.3 seconds before the ball is struck.

error 303: VarmintCong: steamingpile: Drone637:

If we want to get really pedantic, some one lined up the two kicks on Youtube.

US Open Cup Final 2012 - PKs - GK Off Line Comparison

Frame 140 - Gspurning is starts to move off of line
Frame 143 - First foot is off line
Frame 150 - Gspurning is completely off of his line (both feet down)
Frame 175 - Nielsen starts to move off of line (both feet)
Frame 178 - Nielsen starts is off of his line (still in air, though, even)
Frame 180 - Nielsen plants right foot off of line
Frame 185 - Ball is struck (both videos)

At 30 FPS, Gspurning is off his line roughly a second earlier than Nielsen.

Nielsen is off his line about 0.2-0.3 seconds before the ball is struck.

I was bored, so I actually went and found the rule at http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/generic/81/42/36/lawsofth egame_2011_12_en.pdf

The defending goalkeeper:
- must remain on his goal line, facing the kicker, between the goalposts until the ball has been kicked.

Yep, still infringement. Salazar still an ass. Supposedly he was 'warned' to look out for the behavior. At that point he should mention to the player to avoid the behavior especially with the game on the line, not sit back to see if he can catch the player and be the start of the show.

Drone637: I was bored, so I actually went and found the rule at http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/generic/81/42/36/lawsofth egame_2011_12_en.pdf

The defending goalkeeper:
- must remain on his goal line, facing the kicker, between the goalposts until the ball has been kicked.

Yep, still infringement. Salazar still an ass. Supposedly he was 'warned' to look out for the behavior. At that point he should mention to the player to avoid the behavior especially with the game on the line, not sit back to see if he can catch the player and be the start of the show.

I don't disagree about Salazar, I really don't know how he got that match and I think he had a poor game. I do think that Gspruning was more off than Nielsen though, and that his was the easier call to make.

You could argue that Salazr shouldn't have allowed the PK to be taken since Gspruning wasn't even on his line before the ball was struck, though it looks like he may have been when the whistle was blown.

For the record, as I mentioned I was there right in front of the goal and am a big SKC fan, so slightly biased, but Gspruning was warned after Kei's PK in regulation that he was too far off his line, and was continually gesturing to him to move back during the actual kicks.

I hate penalities and I wish either team had at least managed a run of play goal. The drama of a shoot out is "fun" and all, but there's plenty more that people could be discussing. Ah well. I met with a bunch of Sounders fans afterwards, trader scarves, shared some jokse and a beer with Drew Carey before the match and had a blast. Really wish USSF would promote this competition more.

theurge14: Dear Jerk: Lawrence is close enough that we count it as Kansas City (at least on the Kansas side). So we get the 2008 basketball championship.

No.

This.

Listen, you damned Kansas scum. We don't identify with you. You're nothing but leeches on the efforts of the Missouri man to build a wonderful city in the Show-Me State. Can't get any businesses without ripping them off of us. Basketball an academic institution does not make. When I'm in that den of scum and filth you guys are based in tomorrow, I'm wearing my Mizzou shirt.

DemDave: Marine1: That being said, as a KC native, I'm happy to finally have a team to believe in. I think it'd be a fair assessment to make that Sporting probably sells more tickets than the Royals do at this point.

Depends on how you measure it. The Royals are still averaging about 20,000 ticket sales per game, so on a per-game basis, it's pretty much a wash.

But the Royals have around three home games per week and Sporting usually has only one. So by that measure, the Royals are still selling about 3x the tickets.

I'm talking about game-by-game. It's hard not to sell more when you have more games a week :P

Marine1:

Yeah!! What he said and more!

I'm from Joetown and I'll come burn your motherfarking houses to the ground with your wife and kids inside. And your grandma too!!

/direct decedent of one of Quantrill's raiders.

MOTHERFARKING CHICKENHAWKS!!!

What in the San Luis Obispo Is a farking god damned jayhawk any sonofabiatching way?

Sounds kinda gay to me.

Homosexual birds!

Chew on that!

Easy now, boys. Keep your bigotry confined to the SEC now.