Get Ready To Cheer For Your Las Vegas Mobsters!

Looks like Bob Costas is about to shit himself with the announcement of America's latest semi-pro soccer franchise, the Las Vegas Mobsters of the PDL (4th tier). Obviously they're far away from becoming an MLS franchise, but expect false outrage over the name to begin shortly.
Read more at SI's Planet Fútbol.

It's Happening: The First EPL/MLS Doubleheader on NBC

October 19th's Seattle Sounders/FC Dallas tilt was originally scheduled for 4:00pm ET on NBCSN. It will now start after 2:30pm ET on NBC, following the West Ham/Man City match at 12:30. One may ask why they didn't schedule it this way originally, but that was before Clint Dempsey became a Sounder.
Read more at Awful Announcing.

Did Chiquimarco Deliver?

Remember Thursday's story about the referee assigned to last night's Costa Rica-USA match? You know, who's really eager with the cards and comes from the same country as the USA's next opponent?
Matt Besler, Geoff Cameron, and Jozy Altidore all got yellows, and will miss Tuesday's match against Mexico in Columbus.
Not saying anything's shady about all this (especially considering no one in this country saw it), but enjoy the video of the double yellow from Liga MX yet again.
Read more at Pro Soccer Talk.

America Ain't Impressing Anyone Right Now

The last American man in the U.S. Open lost Sunday, the first time a native did not make it to the Round of 16. Then Abigail Spears lost in the Mixed Doubles yesterday (mainly because her partner just stood there and watched the balls fly past him), the Williams sisters lost in their doubles last night, and the Bryan brothers chose the last event in a calendar slam to choke. Add last night's soccer blowout to Costa Rica, and it's enough to think about packing your shit and heading to Canada, until you realize "Like they've got anything going for them?"
Right now, everything's on Serena for singles and Ashleigh Barty for women's doubles, otherwise things are going to get a little testy around here.
Read more at USA Today, Fox Sports, LA Times, and CBS Sports.

USMNT Might Be Getting A Screw Job

The US National Team has eight players with yellow card warnings going into Friday night's game against Costa Rica. A situation made worse by the assignment of their referee, Marco Antonio Rodríguez, a.k.a. Chiquimarco. He's known for throwing out cards like they're going out of style. Among his accomplishments are sending off three players in the four World Cup games he's officiated, showing five yellows and two reds in a 2007 Club World Cup match between AC Milan and Boca Juniors, and a suspension by Liga MX for showing two yellow cards by holding one in each hand.
Oh, and Chiquimarco is also from Mexico, USA's next opponent on Tuesday.
Coach Jürgen Klinsmann called the assignment "unfortunate." Maybe it's best that no one in America has BeIn Sport, because this could get ugly.
Read more at Pro Soccer Talk.

Why Can't Bay Area Fans Just Chill?

Sunday evening, a fan ran onto the field at Candlestick Park during a preseason tilt between the Vikings and 49ers. That wouldn't be so bad, except there were two more invaders, and nearby police in the parking lot were brought into the stadium to maintain crowd control. It hasn't been a good month for Bay Area fans: earlier this month, a Giants fan threw a banana at black Orioles OF Adam Jones, and a fan invaded the pitch of an Everton-Juventus preseason match at AT&T Park.



Of course, these were lighthearted incidents for Bay Area fans. More after the jump.

Another Discrimination Lawsuit Against Chivas USA

Cynthia Craig (who is listed in the article as "black") recently filed a discrimination suit against MLS side Chivas USA. The side has been alleged to be signing only Mexican players and sending off anyone who isn't, keeping in line with the policy of their Guadalajara-based parent club. Craig claims four coaches from Mexico were hired in January, but were not authorized to work in the U.S. When she was ordered to add them to the payroll, she refused, and management payed them in other ways. The coaches later received their visa's in April.
Craig also alleges owner Jorge Vergara held meetings in Spanish, and told employees "If you didn’t understand what I just said, then it is time for you to get a job down the hall," meaning the L.A. Galaxy. This follows claims by Ted Chronopoulos and Dan Calichman in their May lawsuit, in which they claim Vergara told employees "If you don’t speak Spanish, you can go work for the Galaxy, unless you speak Chinese, which is not even a language."
Chivas USA shares a stadium with LA Galaxy, ironically the first team in American pro sports to play an openly gay player.
Read more at the Daily Breeze.

Footballer Pants Footballer

Soccer season's coming. Get ready.

Five Reasons To Hate Tom Hicks

Everybody hates Alex Rodriguez. When you read about A-Rod's huge contract with so little results, you ask "What idiot would write that check?" Well, that idiot was Tom Hicks, who's even admitted that was a dumb move. But if you think you can give a mulligan, you'd have to look into the full history of a man hated in at least four cities and on three continents. More after the jump...

Manchester United Wins Community Shield

Manchester United scored it's first trophy of the David Moyes era by beating Wigan Athletic 2-0 in the FA Community Shield, English soccer's version of the Hall-Of-Fame Game. With Wayne Rooney out of the starting XI, Robin van Persie came through to score both goals (6', 61').
Read more at Pro Soccer Talk.

The World Asks For No World Cup In Qatar

After next year's Winter Olympics in anti-gay Russia and the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Games in broke-dick Brazil, the 2022 World Cup is scheduled for 120-degrees-in-the-shade Qatar. FA head Greg Dyke officially petitioned FIFA to either reschedule the 2022 World Cup to winter or out of Qatar altogether. And the head of Germany's Bundesliga agrees.
Both England and the United States are slated as back-up hosts, but since Qatar paid a lot for these games FIFA doesn't like to back out unless really necessary, chances of relocation are slim to none. So enjoy your World Cup in Qatar, where a player recently had a heart attack in a practice match, where over a hundred tanks have been brought in in case of terrorism, and even FIFA inspectors claimed the temperatures were "high risk."
Read more at Pro Soccer Talk.

NBC Has Assigned Each NYC Hood An EPL Club

This sign has appeared at bus stops as NBC continues to promote it's upcoming Premier League debut. Besides the fact it's assigned a team to each neighborhood, it did avoid the obvious link of placing Chelsea FC in Chelsea.
Read more at Pro Soccer Talk.

Liverpool FC Has A List Of Unacceptable Words

The Fenway-owned Premier League side distributed a list of words commonly found offensive to their employees, which was later leaked on Twitter. Of course, they'd save themselves a lot of trouble by just selling Luis Suárez.
Read more at The Guardian.

Becks Teasing MLS Team Announcement

David Beckham's been hinting he'll soon reveal his plans for owning a Major League Soccer franchise. If rumors are true, the man who made soccer the #1 sport in America will be bringing the beautiful game to sports-hungry Miami. For the record, it would not be the Magic City's first MLS franchise: the Miami Fusion played from the league's founding until 2001, when poor attendance forced the team to fold.
Read more at Pro Soccer Talk.
Image Courtesy Crappers Quarterly.

Ghana's Got Our Number

In the 2006 World Cup, the United States lost to Ghana 2-1 in their last group match, sending the Americans home. In the 2010 Cup, the United States again lost to Ghana 2-1 in the Round of 16. On Thursday, America again faced Ghana in a crucial group stage match in the Under-20 World Cup in Turkey. If you've been paying attention, you can pretty much guess who won: Ghana 4-1, sending the Americans home again.
Read more at Fox Sports.

The Latest In The Confed Cup Protests

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff recorded a speech for television promising reforms, mainly in public transport and national health, and the use of oil royalties to fund education. As far as soccer is concerned, the BBC's Ben Smith tweeted that Friday's Brazilian newspapers are focusing on the World-Cup-to-USA scenario, and Smith later wrote that FIFA denies rumors the current tournament will be canceled. Italy also denied they would be leaving, although they are staying inside their hotel rooms. ESPN's Roger Bennett tweeted a 2.5k "Ring of Safety" is being set up by police around the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, where Brazil will face Italy today. Also, Ben Smith tweeted this picture in downtown Salvador.

In downtown Salvador. Graffiti reads 'peace, health, education, free bus pass, f*** the World Cup' pic.twitter.com/bfIlmlrYZQ
— Ben Smith (@BenSmithBBC) June 21, 2013

It's Official: Robbie Rogers First Openly Gay Player In A Major US Sport

Rogers subbed in the 77th minute of Sunday night's game vs Seattle Sounders FC. Sorry, Collins: you snooze, you lose.

Video courtesy LA Galaxy.

 

Robbie Rogers Could Upstage Jason Collins

Before Jason Collins came out in Sports Illustrated, MLS footballer Robbie Rogers came out in February, but retired saying he didn't think he could play soccer openly gay. Well, he's changed his mind, and his rights have been traded from the Chicago Fire to LA Galaxy. He's also scheduled to be on the 18-man roster for Sunday's game against Seattle Sounders FC, but it's unlikely he'll play so soon. There's also a chance he could return to the US National Team if his performance is good enough. But it's possible Rogers could become the first openly gay man to play in a professional US league before Jason Collins.
It also makes for an interesting thought: with NBA preseason almost 4 months away, and with every other sport either being active or starting by the time the next NBA season tips off, it's possible someone from every other professional men's sport could play openly gay before Jason Collins even signs with a new team.
Read more at Pro Soccer Talk.

Wigan Athletic Upsets Man City To Win FA Cup

Even though they're 3 points behind Newcastle and could be relegated from the Premiership, Wigan Athletic won their first major trophy by upsetting Manchester City 1-0 in the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. Ben Watson scored the lone goal, a header in the 91st minute. Manchester City started the day amid rumors manager Roberto Mancini would be fired, despite winning the Premier League last season and the FA Cup the year before.
Read more at BBC Sport.

Thatcher And The 96

On April 15, 1989, Liverpool FC fans lined up outside Sheffield Wednesday's stadium for a neutral-site match against Nottingham Forest. With such a large crowd, Yorkshire police decided to open three exit gates, and the crowd rushed the stands, which at the time had tall fencing between the stand and the pitch. The standing room-only section filled so quickly, spectators were being crushed and suffocating in the crowd. Fans tried to climb over the fencing, and other fans in the stadium tried to help only to be turned away by police. Police response was slow, and even though as many as 44 ambulances arrived, police only allowed one in. The aftermath was 96 fans killed and over 700 injured.
While the Taylor Report placed the blame on the actions and lack of response by police, Margaret Thatcher wrote in a memo, "The broad thrust is devastating criticism of the police. Is that for us to welcome?" Thatcher was already an opponent of the soccer culture in Britain, having supported a ban on European play in the late 80's, bans on visiting fans attending games, and cutting funding to after-school programs. Thatcher believed the police's story that the fans were drunk and unruly, some even speculating as a favor for the Yorkshire police's actions during the 1984-85 miners' strike. It wasn't until September of last year that Prime Minister David Cameron apologized to the Liverpool supporters and family for the cover-up in the initial reports.
So it should be no surprise the English Premiere League did not require it's clubs to hold a moment of silence, and it'll be interesting to see if the next Liverpool match carries chants like this:

Read more at HuffPo.