Sports Then and Now

David Beckham has several options after helping the LA Galaxy to the MLS title.

The future of David Beckham has been much discussed of late. After winning the MLS Cup with LA Galaxy he has been speaking about his options and even revealed that he hasn’t given up on an England career just yet.

Speaking of England, if you want Euro 2012 best odds, try this site. However, it does seem likely that a place in Great Britain’s 2012 Olympic team is more likely for Beckham than a return to the England team.

It is his club matters that need sorting our first though. His contract with LA Galaxy is up next month and there are many suggesting that he could end his time in America on a high. The 36-year-old still wants to play for a couple of years and it is being suggested that he will look for a new challenge.

There have of course been many rumours about where he might go. Premier League clubs such as Tottenham and Queens Park Rangers have been linked for example, while there was even talk of the New York Red Bulls hoping to persuade him to make the controversial move.

One club making their interest clear from the start though has been Paris St-Germain. The French club are therefore thought to be the front runners and Beckham – who has ruled out a return to England – is now faced with the decision of joining PSG or remaining at LA Galaxy.

The Ligue 1 side are getting massive investment at the moment of course, with the club’s Qatari owners looking to make a statement of their intentions with the signing of Beckham. Read the rest of this entry →

The Western New York Flash completed their first season with a league championship.

What we’ve been taking liberties to say about the Western New York Flash of Women’s Professional Soccer, we can now say with authority. We have, here in Buffalo, Rochester and Western New York, the absolute world’s best women’s club soccer team.

The Flash defeated last year’s runner up, the Philadelphia Independence, on penalty kicks after finishing regulation and two overtime periods tied at 1-1. It was a hard fought match.

Independence Coach Paul Riley showed why he won the league’s Coach of the Year award two consecutive years. Philadelphia, outgunned in the individual talent department, stayed in the match by out coaching the home team and regular season champions.

There was only one shot each in the first half, which was played almost entirely in the midfield. Throughout most of the match Philly was successful in disrupting Flash passing, especially in the offensive third of the pitch.

Things opened up midway through the second half with each club getting an occasional shot. As time went on the Flash finally began to break through with their typical attack of long passes to their speedy forwards , and after some near misses by Christine Sinclair and Alex Morgan, Marta hit Sinclair deep in Philadelphia territory in the 61st minute with a long high-arching pass which Sinclair pounded into the right side of the net from twenty yards out. Read the rest of this entry →

As football fans all over Europe ready themselves for the Champions League Group Stage draw this week, Liverpool fans will be looking the other way whilst remembering those halcyon days of the late 70s, early 80s when it was their club who were the best in Europe.

Liverpool won the first of their five European Cups back in 1977 with a team that had been put together by their legendary manager, Bill Shankly. It was just sad that he had retired by the time the team won the Trophy and the plaudits were taken by his replacement Bob Paisley.

The 1977 team still had several of the greats Shankly brought to Anfield, players such as Tommy Smith, an uncompromising defender and dedicated Liverpool player. Ian Callaghan one of the most reliable of all wing players as well as captain Emlyn Hughes, known as “Crazy Horse” to his team mates. The star of the show however was Kevin Keegan who had announced some months previously that he would be leaving the club at the end of that season to play for Hamburg in Germany.

The Reds won the final against Borussia Monchengladbach by 3-1 with the goals coming from Terry McDermott, Smith and a penalty by Phil Neal. The win gave them the distinction of becoming only the third British Club to win Europe’s most coveted Soccer trophy, following in the footsteps of Celtic, winners 10 years previously in 1967 and Manchester United who won in 1968. Read the rest of this entry →

The WNY Flash have claimed the WPS regular season title and will host the championship game on August 27th.

Pundits have been saying it all season: on paper Western New York Flash is the world’s best women’s club soccer side, bar none. Sunday evening, the Flash earned the honor for now, by taking the regular season championship of the world’s best women’s league, defeating The Atlanta Beat 2-0 in front of more than 5,000 fans on a rainy night in Sahlen’s Stadium.

Last place Atlanta came to play, however, containing a legendary front line to two goals while frustrating four times as many good attempts. The Flash will have to play better to win the championship match when they next take the pitch, at home, on August 27th.

Despite beating each WPS club at least once, and losing only to Philadelphia, it would be foolish for anyone to assume the Flash will waltz to the overall championship.

By virtue of winning the regular season championship, the Flash will “enjoy” a quirk of the WPS playoff format—a double bye and a guaranteed appearance in the championship match, with home field advantage. So while the Flash get a two week break, their opponents will have played one or two elimination games. As the opposition get sharper, the Flash will have to work hard to stay sharp and focused.

That is especially challenging since the Flash’s current starting lineup still hasn’t had an opportunity to gel completely, especially on the front line. Their starting front line at the close of the season is the holy trinity of Women’s soccer today: Brazilian phenom Marta on the left, Canada’s best, Christine Sinclair, the league leader in goals and assists coming into the final week, at center, and the newest United States weapon, Alex Morgan on the right.

No other front line in the world, including national teams, can match this one, and while World Cup preparation and play prevented them from being together consistently for their club team, since the Cup they have started to get their rhythm.

The operative term is started. Perhaps no WPS club suffered more from the disruption of the World Cup than the Flash. While some or all of the eight internationals on the Flash roster were out of the lineup, the club suffered both of its two defeats and two of its three draws. Read the rest of this entry →

The 4 Major Sports Teams In Philadelphia.

For years, the thought of Philadelphia as a sports city was unheard of and rare by national fanatics. Now, with the recent surge from the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, and possibly even the Sixers, Philadelphia is finally becoming known to the sports nation.

We’ll start with the Philadelphia Phillies, baseball’s best team. With only 2 championships in hand, the Phillies reputation is diminished and scarce. In 2008, doubters were quieted after a postseason field day was brought to the city of brotherly love, with the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to win the 2008 World Series. After a year of heartbreak, the Phillies are back for more. At 74-39, Philadelphia is completely destroying Major League Baseball, and a 9.5 division lead over the Braves is showing it. With a more than solid pitching rotation, including Hamels, Halladay, Oswalt, Lee and outstanding rookie Vance Worley, Philadelphia has a 3.06 team ERA. Recently acquiring OF Hunter Pence from Houston solidifies the lineup and brings more power and consistency for the postseason. For the Phillies, it can’t get better than this.

Now we turn to the Eagles, a team getting national attention for the big named players recently acquired by the organization. Philadelphia was keen on defense, bringing in CB Dominique Rodgers- Cromartie, CB Nnamdi Asomaugha, and DE Jason Babin along with shipping out unhappy QB Kevin Kolb in the process. Don’t forget the pickup of QB Vince Young, which is solid security for the injury plagued, mobile Quarterback Michael Vick. With Desean Jackson ending his holdout, and WR Jeremy Maclin getting healthy, Philadelphia has emerged as the team to beat. Granted, the season hasn’t even started yet, but the Birds new look is hard to argue against. I’m not sure with the “Dream Team” phrase that has rumored around the city of brotherly love, but a Playoff Caliber team is surely in store for the Eagles. Read the rest of this entry →

More than 15,000 packed the stadium to see Marta and the Western New York Flash in their first game after the World Cup.

Just from an informal perusal of Women’s Professional Soccer box scores, it appeared that the three year old league that is the world’s premier club league for women had experienced a significant bump in attendance post Women’s World Cup.

After examining all attendance records for the season, the result is even more dramatic than expected. Average attendance per match has increased from 2,090 per match in 36 games prior to and through the World Cup, to 5,611 per match in 9 games played since the end of the world cup.

The range from low to high pre-World Cup was 864 on May 28th in Boca Raton (magicJack’s home venue) to 8,076 in Western New York. There were three gates under 1,000, with two of them occurring in Boca Raton and the third in Piscataway, New Jersey (home to Sky Blue FC). There were six matches around the league with an attendance of 1-2,000.

After the World Cup the two lowest gates occurred at Boca Raton (2,386) and Piscataway (1,593). The highest attendance was also a league record and a venue record of 15,404 at Sahlen’s Stadium (home to the Western New York Flash) three days after the conclusion of the World Cup. That was more than a sellout, since Sahlen’s seats 14,000. There was also a sellout at KSU Stadium in Atlanta of 9,345 one week following the World Cup, and a local record attendance of 6,222 in Boston on July 24th. Read the rest of this entry →