Fire power ranking not so powerful

Fox Soccer power rankings are out. Last year, Chicago started the season at Number 3. This year, we earned Number 16.

That was not a typo.

Just a reminder. There are only 18 teams in the MLS.

Well, no place to go but up. I'll be tracking it all year. Count on it.


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Location:Philly

MFLS Division "Section (one oh!) Eight" is Alive Again!

I've created a MFLS Private Division once again for any of those interested and confident enough to challenge the 2 year Reigning Divisional Champion "Fire_Fan"! So what that there was like no one playing last year or anything, but the year before that, I kicked, well, you know what!

Playing in this Fantasy League has been lots of fun for me in years past and I look forward to another year of entertainment. This was a great idea by Jim years ago when he started us on this MFLS journey. Participating really forced me to learn more about other teams, other players and how the rest of the league was performing, which got me more involved, more interested, more educated and I had much more fun!

For those that might be new to the fun… follow this link for the fantasy league web page (MFLS.com), this link for the MLS Teams so you can start your research (Major League Soccer). Once you have created a team on MFLS, you can join a division and our sis named “Section (One Oh!) Eight” and you will need a password which is the same it has always been, “Fire”.

Good luck to all those who dare challenge me and GO FIRE!

Uraguayan Connection to Replace Salvadoran Connection?

The Fire have announced yet another striker signing from Uraguay. See the Fire home page for the press release on the signing of Diego Chaves. What's going on here? Did Klopas or de los Cobos vacation in Uraguay this winter?

Maybe...But maybe not;

The rumor wire is once again twitching and this time its not South America but Eastern Block. Perhaps building on the popularity and success of the Ristic move, Klopas appears close to cinching a deal for Marco Babic, a Croat (sp?) International currently in search of a club. The next few days are going to be interesting as Klopas and his tech staff work to complete the roster.

Fire Make Unexpected Designated Player Bid

Rumor Wire -- Technical Director Frank Klopas and the Chicago Fire are rumored to be close to closing a deal with EPL Powerhouse, Arsenal. On the block appears to be none other than U12 wunderkind [Little] Stevie Gavrilovich. LSG (pictured left during a Arsenal very-reserve team training) is reportedly a "very unexpected bid" by the Fire, who saw both 2010 DP deals result in disappointment.

Arsenal Manager, Arsene Wenger, reportedly thinks highly of Little Stevie. "Ya, Ya. Little Stevie is a true professional. His mama always brings great cookies to practice, too."

As always, no details have been disclosed by the teams. However, a source close to the negotiation reports Arsenal is holding out for a 13,000,000 pound transfer fee in addition to LSG's 23,400,000 pound / year contract. That's alot of cookies

Salvadoran Experiment Comes to an End

The Fire anounced this week the departure of Deris Umanzor. Umanzor, together with Julio Martinez, comprised the brace of players that Coach de los Cobos brought over from the El Salvador National Team when he signed with the Fire.

Niether player ever looked comfortable in the league or found a solid role with the team.

"[I learned] a lot of things," De los Cobos said. "I really want to be honest with you. The characteristics of this league are difficult. Not all players can play in this league. It's difficult. For me as a coach, I learned much about the league, and I know things better than my arrival. It helped me make decisions for the next season, bringing some different players with special skills.

"I need to take advantage of this knowledge I have taken from last season."

Let's hope that new Uraguayan import Gaston Puerari was chosen by de los Cobos using that hard won knowledge...

So That's Where the Jersey Money Went...

Ripped from the Headlines of Wall Street Journal...

A Best Buy spot starring pop star Justin Bieber and rock legend Ozzy Osbourne dressed in space-aged suits received high marks from ad executives. Mr. Osbourne, confused by new technologies, is replaced by the young star on a commercial shoot.

Madison Avenue executives said the celebrity pairing was a perfect match for the electronic retailer's message and will play well across generations. The electronics retailer is likely to drive even more buzz in coming days with its pick of Mr. Bieber, who has more than seven million followers on Twitter. Further, Ozzy's strong fan base in rehab programs and detox centers has the potential to open up a new marketing niche for the company; an attractive prospect in the the cut-throat electronics retail sector.

The commercial was Best Buy's first-ever Super Bowl ad and was created with money diverted from the firms recently ended jersey sponsorship deal with Chicago's MLS franchise, The Fire.

Also today, Best Buy anounced their new merchandise return policy. Customers will be entitled to a full refund, as long as the merchandise is returned to the original store of purchase, in the original unopened package, 15 minutes prior to actually making the purchase.

Keeper Controversy in the Offing?

The 2010 season kicked off for Chicago with a stunning Goal Keeper controversy - the sudden departure of Fan Favorite John Busch in favor of Andrew Dystra, a second year player who had never started an MSL game.

Well, 2011 is here and with it another shake up at Goal Keeper. However, this time, it comes as less of a shock. Gone is Andrew Dykstra who had quickly lost his starting job to Sean Johnson. Now, with Dyksta cut from the roster, the Fire need a backup keeper. And, with the reserve league starting again this year, they might need a third keeper to play on the reserve.

Enter Jon Conway, formerly of Toronto FC. Conway, a 30 something keeper has seen starter time with Toronto and Red Bull. Sometimes brilliant, sometimes flat. It should be interesting to see if Conway's experience gives him an edge over Johnson for the starter spot.

No One Strikes Like Gaston...

Ok, maybe that obscure movie reference doesn't work for anyone without little kids. FYI, It's Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Apropos?

Well that remains to be seen. Will the Fire's latest acquisition be a Beauty or a Bust? Frankie Klopas announced that the Fire have signed Gaston Puerari from the Uraguay Primera Division. Gaston is a striker by trade. But as is often the case with South American strikers, he is not a 6 foot target forward. Rather, Gaston is a speedy, penetrating dribbler. If that sounds alarmingly like a description of Nery Castillo, don't despair. In 2010 Gaston scored 5 goals in 14 appearances for his Primera Division side, the Montevideo Wanderers.

C.J. Brown Joins RSL

Former Fire Captain, Fire Original, and one of the longest playing professionals in MLS history, C.J. Brown has joined the coaching staff of Real Salt Lake as Assistant to Jason Kries.

RSL have built their style on a stingy defense, so bringing in a defensive specialist as Assistant Coach is not much of a surprise. Perhaps the bigger surprise is that Chicago had an assistant spot open this year. If C.J. was available, why didn't Chicago pick him up?

Oh well, yet another Fire starter we are going to have to face on the opposing bench this year...

Time to Break out Your Date Book!

Finally! Today the league anounced that the complete 2011 regular season schedule will be release this comming Thursday, February 6th. Get ready to pick games and reschedule that family vacation you were planning! (I've actually been putting off all my relatives so that I could plan my visit to Texas around the Houston Dynamo game...)

Would You Like Some Nuts with Your Pepsi?

It's been a while since I've come across a commercial worthy of inclusion in our continuing series of cool/funny/outrageous soccer commercials. Here's the latest. It brings new, and painful, meaning to the phrase, "Take one for the team." Enjoy (and grimace).

Nery Packing?

After only eight games in a Fire uniform, it seems that Nery Castillo is packing his bag and heading back to Greece. Numerous rumors now have Castillo heading to Club Aris in the Hellespont. The rumors kicked off with Nery posting to his Facebook page that he and his brother (who acts as his agent) were working a deal in Greece for a transfer.
The Fire maintain that Nery is expected to show up at camp and make good on his contract, which runs through the 2011 season, but does have an opt-out clause at June.

The general buzz among Fire faithful posting on sites with this rumor is "good riddance!" Hopefully the Fire eject Nery and get a new DP - maybe Ibrahimavich!

Rebuilding...Again

Alright, the off season is in full swing and things are now not happening at an amazing pace! Therefor, it's time for a little off-season blogging to at least start to get back in the soccer frame of mind...

So, in this first of several year-end, year-beginning blogs, let's recap where the team is at today by reviewing who/what's In and Out.

First Up - Strikers / Attackers

Out: Brian McBride
Out: Colins John
Out: Stefan Dimitrov

I'm sure I didn't need to remind anyone that Brian McBride retired. It's also probably no surprise that the Fire have taken a pass on renewing Colins John's contract. Having reviewed my posts from this time last year, I was on record as saying that the John signing was "the most exciting pre-season move". We'll, the pre-season excitement gave way to regular season doldrums and John never looked like he was really trying.

The reverse was true of Brian McBride; he never looked like he was giving less than 150% on the field. Where will the Fire find that kind of on the field leadership this year? As you read on, you'll see that the list is thinning.

Who the Fire will find to fill the striker roll this year will be an urgent question to be answered by the technical staff. As John (our John) never misses a chance to point out, you can't win if you can't score; and you can't score enough if you only rely on shots and runs from the midfield to put the ball on goal.

Players currently on the roster who will be competing for striker or withdrawn striker positions: Nery Castillo, Patrick Nyarko, and Calen Carr.

Second lets talk...Designated Players

Out: Freddie Ljungberg
In: Nery Castillo

Say it ain't so Freddie! Certainly, FL was the best of the two DP deals the Fire did last year. He fought, he played through opposition, he dove spectacularly, and bled for the team and fans. He even scored several goals and made several assists. I'm a fan. However, Europe is once again seeking Freddie's services so, although the deal is not inked, it now seems more likely than not that Fred will end up back in Europe next year playing for Scotish side Celtic F.C. and will not resign with the Fire.

Nery, Nery, Nery...what can you say? He started his tour of duty by showing us all, and millions of viewers on ESPN (for three weeks in a row), just how many different ways there are to be caught offside. Then he suffered some training injuries, probably brought about by his extreme lack of fitness. When he was reintroduced to the lineup, it was as a midfielder - doubtless the intention was to get him as far as possible from the offsides line without sitting him on the bench. The results were dismal; few minutes, fewer touches, zero penetration, no shots that didn't pass over the goal by a good 10 feet.

What we have seen of Nery is that he has some quick moves, good enough to make a last defender - or even two defenders - miss. We have not seen him pass dangerously, nor shoot from distance (even on restarts) with any threat. My conclusion: teach him what offsides is and move him to withdrawn striker. Hopefully, Nery has been conditioning all winter and will arrive at camp a new player.

Next Up: Midfielders

Out: Justin Mapp
Out: John Thorington
Out: Peter Lowry
In: Logan Pause
In: Bratislav Ristic

First off, I felt compelled to mention the departure of Justin Mapp, even though it occurred during the regular season, because Justin's departure (during his best season in years) was precipitated by the signing of Freddie L - who's services we are now all but certain to loose. That's a bitter pill.

Thor and Peter Lowry were both selected during the expansion draft by Portland and Vancouver. So, not only will we loose their services, like Mapp, we'll have to play against them. Gaaarrg!

The one position that is not in flux this year is that of Holding Midfielder / Stopper. Logan Pause will again be in a Fire jersey for the 2011 season. He is now a frosty haired veteran and the longest serving player on the Fire squad - including the entire coaching staff and the Board Room.

And YES!! Bratislav Ristic will be returning to the team in 2011! I admit, I haven't been this amped about a new player since Marco Pappa debued. After watching the Red Star Belgrade games, I was lusting after some Serbian dynamism. Ristic proved he's got what it takes to make a difference. I think he would have been an even bigger impact last year if we had had a potent wing defender to support him. As it was, Ristic played more of a defender last season than an attacking midfielder. If we can remedy that and get him set loose in the other teams defensive third, it should be fun to watch. At least, I'm sure the body count will go up and he and Segaras may be competing for team yellow card leader.

Remaining in the lineup to compete for midfield posts: Patrick Nyarko, Marco Pappa, Baggio Husidic, Mike Banner, Corben Bone, and Victor Pineda (a 17 year old local signed from the Fire development system)

On to...The Defense

Out: C.J. Brown
Out: Wilman Conde
Out: Krystof Krol
In: Gonzolo Segares
In: Cory Gibbs

OUCH!! If Defense wins Championships, we are hurting, big time. I don't know about you, but I was not overly impressed with the fire defense last year. They were individually skilled, but had a propensity for stunning unforced errors and miscues. It's one thing to be broken down by excellent ball movement and skill, but quit another to let the ball pass between your legs, over your head, or to pass the ball directly to the other team's forward! So, in one sense, the departing players represent both some of the most skilled defenders, but also some of the most frequent offenders when it came to bone-headed play last year. Still they will not be easy to replace.

On the bright side, Gonzo is signed with the team and the Fire has acquired Cory Gibbs from the Revs. Gibbs is a veteran very reminiscent of C.J., so he's bound for the center back. Which would be good, because otherwise we will end up wasting Gonzo in the center when we really need him behind Marco or Ristic.

The other potential bright spot (for me at least) is returning second year player Steven Kinney. Yes, reports of his death (mostly be me) turned out to be greatly exaggerated. I look forward to Kinney as the counter balance to Gonzo.

Remaining on the squad to compete for defender slots: Daisan Robinson, Mike Banner, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, and Deris Umanzor.

Other notable substitutions and departures:

Out: The Kansas City Wizards
In: Sporting Kansas City

Jumping on the "Let's Sound European" band wagon, KC has dropped their name in favor of the Sporting Kansas City moniker. New Jerseys, New Logo. Since a "sporting club" necessarily competes in more than one sport, I wondered what the other sports represented in the Sporting K.C. stable might be. Turns out there really is another sport - LaCross.

Out: Community America Ballpark
In: K.C. Soccer Stadium

Finally, no more games will be played at the postage stamp masquerading as a soccer field, Community America Ballpark. Of course, with the change of venue, K.C. will loose one of the most daunting home field advantages enjoyed by any MLS franchise. Lot's of teams have rabid fans, but only KC had a special set of restarts and transition plays developed just for their crazy short home field.

Out: Best Buy
In: Moe's Weiner Wagon

Well, maybe not Moe's Weiner Wagon, but the Fire are purportedly looking for a locally based Jersey Sponsor to replace Best Buy, which will not be renewing their Jersey Sponsorship deal in 2011. Their reason for leaving? Marrisa Vanez, Best Buy's V.P. of Advertising stated "We realize the the Chicago Fire are an organization dedicated to professionalism and customer [fan] service - and those values just don't mesh with Best Buy's corporate culture." [yes, Best Buy gave me a hassle returning something recently]

Speaking of customer service...

Out: The Entire Season Ticket Holder Account Manager Staff
In: A top of the line answering machine purchased at a discount from Best Buy

Need I say more. Farewell and good luck to Julie Jawor in particular. I hope the Fire can maintain the high expectations you upheld for all your clients.

And more notables...

Out: The 24 man roster
In: The new 30 man roster
Out: The 30 game regular season
In: The 34 game regular season
In: The Reserve Squad

More games, More players, and the return of the Reserve Squad. Not bad. Our ticket package remains 20 games. Now, 17 of those will be regular season MLS games, leaving 3 bonus games. Each MLS team will play every other team twice - once home and once away. There's lots to be said for the balance and equity of that schedule, but it doesn't leave the opportunity to stack up games for regional or historic rivalries. Regardless, the extra players will be a bonus to the team, especially with the reintroduction of the Reserve Squad.

The Summary: Currently the Fire have 18 men on the roster, leaving 12 slots to fill their 30 man roster. There are some special rules, like only so many players can be foreign and some slots are set aside for home grown players (a big advantage for the Fire given their strong player development squad). But, no matter how you slice it, the Fire need to get busy very fast if they are going to field a squad capable of competing, like so many prior squads, for a playoff slot!

2010 Fire Fun

I have posted here all the pics i took this year for everyone's enjoyment. If you want any for yourself, and cant get them off this site, let me know.

Although the season did not produce the victories we had hoped to see, I know the Britvich's had a great time with friends and family.

Cant wait till next year!

AC Milan v Fire

Fire come up short v Italian power house A C Milan. Final 1 -0. CJ mishandled the ball onto Seedorf's foot. 3 yards out from goal. He won't miss from there!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Toyota Park

Fire Sign Collins John

It's official. This week the Chicago Fire closed the last, and potentially most significant, deal in what has shaped up to be a [insert over the top adjective here] preseason building spree.

Coming into the pre-season, the Fire technical staff of Frank Klopas faced a daunting number of holes in their starting eleven. Pretty much every talking head and blogger was of the opinion that, while still a strong team, the Fire would be out of contention for the MLS Cup and, instead, would need to build back their strength for one or even two years. And, really, who could blame them. Even Fire faithful were worried (not me of course) with the departure of DP Blanco, Wunderkind Chris Rolphe, Attacking Left Back "Gonzo" Segares, and Brandon Preidiux. The starting eleven had been gutted of key talent. Add to that the parting of ways with Head Coach Dennis Hamlett and the approaching dotage of C.J. Brown, and, really, there wasn't any reason to be optimistic.

Bravo to Klopas and his staff! They launched immediately to work landing, in quick succession, a new head coach, a new left back to replace Segares (Krol), a new midfield engine to replace Rolphe (Martinez), and added strike force with former Fulham player, Collins John. Not to mention executing what has been recognized by just about everyone as the best series of picks in this year's Super Draft.

Can any of these guys replace the Blanco spark? Alone, no. But together, with McBride and Thorington, and Papa...maybe so.

There are only a few days left until the openner at the new Red Bull Stadium and here's the talent list Coach los Cabos will have to select from...

McBride - Nyarko - Thorrington - Pappa - Ward - Krol - Bushe - Martinez - Pause - Conde - Husidich - Mapp - Dimitrov - Collins John - C.J. Brown - Robinson - Banner - Carr - Lowry

GO FIRE!!

Labor Negotiations "Not in a good place"

This article was posted to Ives Galarcep's blog. I've reprinted the entire article here because it's the most complete bit of journalism I've seen on this topic.

Taken from Soccer by Ives:

The 2010 Major League Soccer season may still kick off as planned, without a delay in the start of the season, but the process to get to that point is going to be a messy one after labor talks went public on Friday, leading to an ugly back-and-forth that might just be the beginning of a lengthy battle.

It started with the players union going public on Friday and breaking a public silence that had stood since negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement began. MLS officials, after initially insisting they would not "negotiate through the media", responded to the union's accusations with their own defense on Saturday. The union responded on Sunday by calling into question the validity of the league's defense.

So where exactly do we stand? Who do we believe? If anything is clear from the weekend's back-and-forth, it is that there is no clear-cut villain in this. The players union painted MLS as the bad guy with its stories of mistreated players and unfair rules, and it was a narrative that was easy to buy into because it touched a chord with fans who weren't likely to side with a faceless collection of owners and league officials in the first place. That said, you can't help but wonder how accurate the portrayal is given the league's clear insistence that it has already offered up a good number of concessions.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Now the question is whether the two sides can find their ways closer to that middle in order to avoid a truly messy situation. The answer is yes, but only when the sides accept that changes need to be made.

MLS has already made the first major shift in strategy in this labor situation by publicly stating that it is prepared to go into the 2010 season operating under the old CBA (a clear change in policy after the league made it clear to the union in early negotiations that it had no intention of operating under the old CBA). As writer Kyle McCarthy laid out so perfectly on Monday, this maneuver puts pressure on the player's union to either accept a deal or strike.

Is the union as strong and determined to fight this fight as it will need to be? MLS clearly doesn't believe so, which would explain the willingness to operate under a CBA the league itself was demanding be scrapped less than two months ago.

Does this all mean the players don't have gripes? It is pretty clear they do, even as MLS officials do their best to explain away every argument the players have. No, the $60 million magic number offered up by MLS president Mark Abbott as the increase the league was ready to offer players never did sound completely genuine (and joins David Beckham's initial "MLS salary" of $250 million as inflated numbers used for effect.).

Players union chief Bob Foose shot down the $60 million figure, pointing out that it included, among other things, salary figures for teams that haven't even begun playing yet. He also pointed to percentage changes in the new deal that would see a decline in the growth of player salaries from 5.9 percent a year to 4.8 percent a year.

On the surface, that figure doesn't seem so damning. After all, there aren't many employees who wouldn't be happy with a 4.8 salary increase per year. While this is true, it ignores the fact that the face and business of MLS player acquisition is changing. Rapid MLS expansion is forcing MLS to use new methods to stock and strengthen the player pool. Chief among these changes are the designated player rule, increases in the number of international players and an increase in the money used to land young talent.

Why is this a major concern for the rank and file of the players union? It's simple. Not only would the new CBA shrink the growth of player salaries (if the union's numbers can be believed), but with more and more of that money going toward Designated Players, high-priced foreign talent as well as high-priced rookie talent, the players who will be squeezed in the equation are veteran MLS players.

Consider this off-season, which saw the largest-ever Generation adidas rookie class. MLS devoted a record amount of salary to landing this year's crop of top draft talent, which on its face is a promising sign, but when that comes in the same off-season where some of the best players to ever play in MLS are being squeezed out of jobs, you can understand why the union feels so strongly about wanting a stronger CBA in place to help protect them.

Does this mean MLS shouldn't spend money to attract top young talent to MLS? No, but it does offer evidence that perhaps some changes need to be made so that top veterans are paid what they deserve. That brings us to free agency, which MLS has made into The Untouchable Option. I have yet to hear a truly clear explanation for why intra-league free agency is a non-starter for MLS. I like to consider myself a pretty sharp guy, yet still couldn't understand the evils of MLS free agency despite multiple explanations from Abbott on Saturday.

Let's think about this for a second. How exactly would free agency within MLS hurt the league as long as the league has a salary cap? It really can't, not from the standpoint where skyrocketing salaries would be a concern. As long as there is a salary cap, a maximum limit on non-DP contracts, and as long as the league's player personnel department still signs off on deals, how could free agency hurt MLS?

It could have to do with MLS wanting to maintain control of player valuations, which could come under fire if teams were able to bid on free agent players. Suddenly a veteran highly-coveted by one team could potentially earn much more than his previous team, or the league, believes he is worth. This goes against the single-entity ethos the league is built on, and allowing it would ultimately give more control and freedom to teams and take away control from the league itself (No, I don't see the problem with this either).

Could it be that there are certain teams that are simply opposed to this because it would force them to compete against other teams for the right to keep their own players? Let's consider if a certain team or two had a history of paying lower salaries, and wanted no part of having to compete with other MLS teams for its own players, could those teams have enough pull with the league to keep free agency off the table? That's entirely possible if those teams had influential ownership.

Would having some competition within MLS for top players be such a bad thing? Considering how many quality players are leaving MLS for questionable alternatives abroad (or in Steve Ralston's case, an alternative in a lower division), how could free agency really hurt the league as a whole? As far as I can tell, at worst, it would force ALL teams to start getting serious about paying top talent, and just might help keep some of the talent that is leaving year after year.

If you listen to MLS officials, free agency isn't even that necessary because, according to them, the current system isn't nearly as restrictive as it is being portrayed. While it may be true that the current systems in place do eventually lead to players being able to move around and away from teams that don't want them, the arduous process currently in place winds up badly hindering players who wind up seeing their options dwindle while they let the current process play out. This is why quality veteran players like Kevin Hartman and Dave Van Den Bergh remain unemployed just a month before the season, and why a player as respected and as decorated as Steve Ralston ultimately gave up on MLS rather than wait around for others to decide his fate.

Veterans like those deserve better, which is ultimately what is driving the players union. It isn't about the money, because the increases being discussed are marginal, but rather about the options that players, particularly the veteran players on whose backs the league was built on, can have as the league changes and grows. One veteran player said it best when he told me, "If players like Kevin Hartman and Steve Ralston, two of the best players to ever play in the league, are treated this way, what is going to stop the league from treating any of us the same way."

A new CBA could help keep that from happening, which is why the players appear more determined than ever to fight. If the league is serious about offering up new proposals that address these concerns, then a deal can and will get done, but if we see a player's strike next month, it would be pretty clear evidence that the offers being made by MLS aren't nearly strong enough.

Regardless of who is ultimately most to blame, if a strike winds up happening, both the players and the league will wind up wearing the label of villain.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Brandon's Judo Class

Players and Owners Heading for Work Stoppage??

It's all over the wires - Jimmy Conrad and Pat Onstad say the Owners are "not taking the players seriously". Which is usually union code for "strike".

The owners rep has come out and said au contrair, we are serious, we know the players are serious, but we can't make them love our offer.

Negotiations are set to continue next week. The deadline is February 25.

Is a work stoppage looming? The league will probably not survive if it happens.

Here's to cooler heads prevailing.

Something Lost in Translation

So I stated earlier that Krol was acquired from his Polish team to fill the void left by the departure of Gonzolo Segares at Left Back.

Well today I learned that, apparently, Krol has been playing halfback at camp thus far. So I'm tearing up my fantasy line-up and waiting for the season kick-off.

Of course, its possible this is all a mistake brought on by de Los Cabos' reportedly aggressive style. Perhaps Krol is on defense - Left Attacking Back, perhaps??

Yeah, I hear you, tear up the line-up...

Labor Update

By now you may have heard that the MLS Owners and Players extended the deadline to reach a negotiated labor agreement out until February 25th. The reason given was "Snomeggedon" in D.C.

No?

How about "Snowtastrophe"?

Either way, the negotiations will presumably resume once the snow is dug out.