Soccer Seattle

It was a night of knockout soccer that saw three games go to extra time, two games go to penalty kicks, and one famous Mexican lose his temper and get sent off. By the time the smoke cleared, the glass slipper still fit for two USL First Division clubs, who had advanced to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals.

Why isn't this competition on TV again?

The Charleston Battery obliterated FC Dallas, 3-1, at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, TX, scoring before an after an hour-long lightning delay in the first half and shutting down all but one meaningless strike in the 93rd minute. Meanwhile, the Seattle Sounders fought the Kansas City Wizards to a 0-0 draw and advanced 6-5 on penalties, thanks in part to a 12-save performance by Sounders goalkeeper Chris Eylander, who also saved two PKs to help Seattle advance.

Meanwhile, USL Second Division club Crystal Palace Baltimore pushed the defending Open Cup champion New England Revolution to penalties, but lost the shootout, 5-3. In Boyds, MD, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Mark Burch were shown red cards in extra time, while Bryan Namoff scored the winner in the 99th minute to push D.C. United past the Chicago Fire, 2-1.

D.C. United and the Chicago Fire meet tonight in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals, one month after their testy match in Toyota Park in which three red cards were given and Luciano Emilio got a surprise goal in stoppage time to lift 9-man D.C. to a 2-1 win.

If you want to watch this rematch, though, you'll have to go to the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds and buy a ticket. By all accounts, this match will not air on TV or online. Neither will tonight's New England Revolution v. Crystal Palace Baltimore match, providing further proof that the U.S. Open Cup -- a competition in which the winner receives a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League, no less -- is truly the most disrespected competition in American soccer.

The other two quarterfinal matches at least have online video feeds. FC Dallas v. Charleston Battery will be shown on MLSLive at 8:30 PM ET, while Seattle fans log on to USLLive get a free glimpse of their future MLS club's home when the USL-1 Seattle Sounders face the Kansas City Wizards at Qwest Field at 10:00 PM ET. Let's hope the groundskeepers actually try to cover up the gridiron lines this year.

Crystal Palace supporters still suffering from the loss of that Premier League promotion playoff last May might be taking a little solace in their American counterparts today.

USL Second Division side Crystal Palace Baltimore upset an uninspired New York Red Bulls side, 2-0, last night in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup. The win prompted many sports fans in Baltimore to say, "Wait, we have a soccer team here?"

Indeed, the club was founded in 2006, 101 years after Crystal Palace FC was founded in London, and it serves as a player development wing for the Coca-Cola Championship club. Clearly, player development is going pretty well there, though as Ives Galarcep notes, too many Red Bulls just didn't come to play last night.

Two other USL clubs pulled off upsets, as USL-1 leaders the Charleston Battery defeated MLS Cup holders the Houston Dynamo on penalty kicks, while the Seattle Sounders topped Chivas USA, 2-0. Other USL clubs didn't get away so easily. The Kansas City Wizards came back from a 2-0 deficit to topple the Carolina Railhawks, 4-2, in extra time, and FC Dallas scored a 2-1 comeback win against Miami FC. D.C. United, the Chicago Fire and the New England Revolution also cruised to victory over USL clubs.

The U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals are scheduled for next Tuesday.

The 3rd round of the U.S. Open Cup kicks off tomorrow, and if you're looking for the MLS clubs that are taking this tournament seriously this year, just look for which clubs are playing at home.

Unlike England's FA Cup, where the home team is determined by random draw, MLS and USL clubs place bids with the U.S. Soccer Federation to host games, and the highest bidder plays at home. If you look at the schedule for tomorrow's games, you'll notice that the New England Revolution, the Chicago Fire, D.C. United and FC Dallas are all playing at home.

By contrast, the Houston Dynamo travel to South Carolina to face USL-1 leaders the Charleston Battery, and the New York Red Bulls head to Maryland to face USL-2 side Crystal Palace Baltimore. Perhaps Houston and New York aren't quite as interested in the CONCACAF Champions League bid that comes with winning the Open Cup.

D.C. United, however, suddenly seems much more interested in the Open Cup than they were last year.

Major League Soccer might be the top soccer league in America, but it's not the only game in town. Just as every country in Europe has lower divisions, America has United Soccer Leagues, which serve as the second and third divisions of professional soccer in this country. The USL First Division season is already under way, while the Second Division kicks off this weekend.

USL may technically be a minor league, but it features clubs in several major league cities. You'll find USL clubs in Atlanta, Baltimore, Charlotte, Cleveland, Miami, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh, St. Paul and, for one more season, Seattle.

You'll also find soccer that's very competitive with the top flight. Last year, USL clubs posted a 6-7 record against MLS clubs in the U.S. Open Cup. In particular, the Seattle Sounders beat Chivas USA, 3-1, and trounced the Colorado Rapids, 5-0, before their hard-luck loss in the semfinals to FC Dallas, 2-1, in extra time.

ESPN Soccernet's Anne Ramzy wrote this preview of the 2008 USL-1 season -- she doesn't think too highly of my Railhawks, despite their heavily upgraded forward line -- while the USL web site is rolling out its own season previews for each club. If you enjoy soccer and have a local club, I highly recommend going out and supporting it. There's far more soccer out there beyond the leagues we see on TV.

Seattle soccer fans just became the most powerful soccer fans in America. Sorry, Philadelphia.

Major League Soccer sparked a big fat controversy when it allowed fans to choose the name of the Seattle expansion team that starts play in 2009, then let fans vote on three really, really lame team names -- none of which were "Seattle Sounders," the name of the city's old NASL club and its current USL First Division club. After pressure from fans, however, MLS allowed a write-in vote, and fans organized a huge campaign to keep the Sounders name alive.

Guess what? It worked. MLS announced today that the expansion team will be called Seattle Sounders FC.

The transfer of the name shouldn't be too big a problem, given that Adrian Hanauer, the owner of the USL-1 club, is also a member of the new club's ownership group. Given that several players currently with the USL club will join the MLS expansion team next year, this could be the closest thing to a true promotion from second division to top flight that we'll ever see in American soccer.

The Sounders' next trick? Turning those Thierry Henry rumors into reality.

(H/T: The Offside)

In an obvious attempt to distract Seattle soccer fans from complaining about their choice of MLS franchise names, someone within MLS has leaked a rather juicy rumor -- Thierry Henry may be headed to the Emerald City.

Steven Cohen of World Soccer Daily reported today that the new Seattle MLS franchise is in "advanced negotiations" with the French striker and could lure him out of Barcelona in time for Seattle's inaugural season in 2009. Cohen did not reveal his source -- natch -- but did call it a "very good authority" on matters concerning Seattle. For all we know, though, Cohen ran into a very sloshed Drew Carey in a pub in Hollywood last night.

Either way, it's a rumor that has legs. For one, Thierry Henry has talked in the past about how much he loves America and would like to live here when his career winds down -- which appears to be happening already. Also, if anyone has enough money to bring a player like Henry to America, it's Paul Allen, one of the new Seattle franchise's principal owners. Allen could pay Henry's transfer fee with his petty cash drawer, and it would put fans in the seats instantly.

There has been a lot of controversy over the selection process for Seattle's MLS expansion team. While the public attempts to continue the Sounders history, it seems that the new club and the league are trying to head into a bold new direction, possibly alienating some longtime fans. Commissioner Don Garber, claims to respect the history of the Sounders name, but also wishes to think about what the team will be "20 years from now or 50 years from now" according to Soccer Insider, Steven Goff. In other words, thanks but no thanks Seattle, we're going to need you to get on board with whatever new, original name we come up with: Seattle Alliance, Seattle Republic, or Seattle FC. Basically, two similar names that will cancel each other out, leaving Seattle FC as the victor.

While Seattle FC could reclaim the Sounders nickname and colors, it seems like an interesting gambit considering Garber's comments on keeping each team unique:

""There have been a number of teams that have been interested in using the name 'United'," Garber said. "Team trademarks are owned by the league, as they are in all professional sports, and we felt that our teams should have individual identities. It's not to say there will never be another United, but for now, we are very focused on our teams creating separate, distinct identities."

So, having three FC teams in the league is OK, as long as we only have one (DC) United. To us, this is all probably the worst line of reasoning to destroy a perfectly unique name like the Sounders, especially in a city that is fighting tooth and nail to keep their Sonics around even in name only.

As reported earlier, Seattle has been playing its cards right leading up to its eventual entrance to MLS in 2009. GM Adrian Hanauer was able to retain the rights to 5 to 8 players from this season's USL Sounders team, but now that number has risen to include the entire roster. The team will remain active in 2008, gaining experience and building team chemistry for the "inaugural" year officially starting next April. This places the team in a very unique position with regards to this year's MLS rosters. Seattle is in a unique position to claim the last players cut from preseason squads, and has the allure of offering starting jobs for next season, a year ahead of the competition. Furthermore, the owners have scored right of first negotiations with all college players not taken in this year's MLS SuperDraft. The future looks bright for Seattle and Hanauer, and recent activity signals that they won't be your average expansion club.

(HT: The Seattle Times)

Seattle's new Major League Soccer club may be taking a very intelligent approach to building their roster, but if the rumors spreading around the web are true, this club may end up taking on one of the dumbest team names in sports history.

According to Kenn Tomasch, who is regarded as a reliable source on American soccer matters, the new Seattle club is planning to call itself ... wait for it ... the Emerald City Greens.

Yes, that's just what MLS needs -- a team whose name sounds like a golf course. Or a regional brand of spinach. Maybe Popeye will be the official team mascot. Plus, there's no way anyone would mistake Emerald City Greens for any sort of recreational substance. Of course not. Pay no attention to that innuendo behind the curtain.

Hey, maybe they can work out a Red Bull-style sponsorship deal with General Mills and call themselves the Green Giants! That couldn't be any worse than this, could it?

Let's hope this story doesn't turn out to be true. If it does, it will have soccer fans all over Seattle scratching their heads and saying, "Jeez, what was so bad about calling them the Sounders?"

(H/T: The Offside)