If you’re a New England Revolution fan living in they city of Boston, you’ve been waiting for this a long time. A meaningful Revs match INSIDE Boston city limits. Better yet, the Revs 4th round US Open Cup match on June 12 is against none other than, the New York Red Bulls. Wowzers. A rivalry Cup match, [...]
They are logoless. They are homeless. But they sure has hell ain’t moneyless.
Welcome, New York City FC. The freshly announced expansion club set to join MLS as it’s 20th team in 2015.
Conceived by newlywed sporting giants Manchester City FC and the New York Yankees, New York City FC was birthed this very morning, a procedure facilitated by Commissioner Don Garber. Imagine him, little medical cap, surgical mask taut across his face hiding his biggest-ever grin as he cut the umbilical cord to his latest and greatest genetically modified soccer baby, lifted it to the sky for all the soccer animal kingdom to see, as MLS nurses belted the chorus of “Circle of Life.” What a scene.
Wait, that may sound a bit negative, but this is too huge to really get pessimistic quite yet. This is the league’s biggest stride yet in trying to reach what some call, “the big time”. If the MLS wants to be one of the top soccer leagues in the world in the next 10 years, this is a vital step.
However, despite it’s single entity business model, MLS has long strived to facilitate the existence of its own “superclubs”, like the world’s biggest leagues enjoy, behind it’s own curtains. For NYCFC, a future superclub, it really couldn’t have arranged better parents for. Oil-blooded Man City and the f*cking Yankees. Two of the biggest, richest brands in world sport have invested in a soccer team in a league where salary caps and revenue sharing exist to cultivate competitiveness and equal growth in a socialist sporting atmosphere. So yes, people are skeptical. Skeptical of the loopholes and advantages they may give to their new blonde haired, blue eyed preciousness. Kind of like they did for LA and Goldenballs. It’s a risk MLS is taking. But love it or hate it, one probably worth taking.
As for the stadium, Queens is still the preferred location for an SSS, but plans are still in the works. An interim venue will be chosen to host them in 2015. Where? Who knows, but a poorly chosen home for their debut season would be catastrophic.
As for the logo, many have already jumped on NYCFC’s assumed branding. Sky blue and white, Man City font. It’s all a bit too obvious. Should we also expect pinstripe kits? Rightly so, a true fanbase will want original branding that captures the identity of urban NYC. Not a regurgitation of ‘American Man City’. That’s not a good way to get Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal, or, screw it, supporter’s of any other PL club to adopt your club.
Some words from NYCFC’s proud new parents:
“We are pleased to be associated with this major move by MLS to increase its presence in the New York market and to enhance the opportunity for New York soccer fans to enjoy high-level play in their own city,” gurgled the Hal Steinbrenner.
“We are thrilled to contribute to the energy and growth of New York City Soccer. In the Yankees, we have found the absolute best partner for developing a world-class sports organization and a winning team that will carry the New York City Football Club name with pride,” Ferran Soriano, Man City CEO, said while trying to contain himself as Steinbrenner pinched his butt.
Lastly, you may be thinking, “What the hell happen to the Cosmos?” Well once the iconic NY club decided to join the second-tier NASL in December, that pretty much ticked Garber and MLS suits right off. But don’t worry, you didn’t buy that hip Cosmos track jacket for nothing. You can catch them this August when they kickoff their NASL campaign at Hofstra University.
So Cosmos to MLS is dead. NYCFC is alive, goo-gooing and ga-gaing on its first day of a pampered existence. What do you think?
Everything comes in threes, so we should have guessed that another big name from Northern England was set to retire at the end of the year. Old Golden Balls is hanging up the boots along with Fergie and Carra. (We aren’t counting Scholes – he already retired once so it’s just some Brett Favre shit.)
If you’ve ever been to our blog before you probably know we don’t like Manchester United. In fact, it’s probably the one thing most of us hate more than anything in the world.
Even so, we got to give props to Becks, particularly from a yankee perspective. Upon coming to the MLS he kinda sort of sucked a bit and was kinda sort a little bitch. But, like any real professional, put his head down and ended up playing a major role in leading the LA Galaxy to back-to-back MLS titles.
Although we weren’t too thrilled with the reports of training alone upon coming to the Galaxy and his riff with Landycakes, he managed to do what all America sports fans love: make a comeback.
He bid adieu to the sunny confines of Venice Beach and opted for the romantic shores of the Seine with good vibes being shown from both directions.
Domestic title in four countries. Not bad for a one-footed player that can’t head, tackle or score. Enjoy retirement, you deserve it sir.
The need to survive is an instinct all species share. When faced with extinction, survival becomes the one and only goal. This time of year, the battle to move into and out of the EPL created some of the best moments of the season. Watford’s jubilant progress into the Championship Final shows how much it [...]
You read that right. Centro Deportivo Olmedo FC*, a second-tier club side from Ecuador wants a dude whose biggest accomplishment is getting his U-10 amateur side to a regional cup final. Chris Makin, Carlton and Rothwell Athletic Giants Junior FC* gaffer, may go from coaching 65, 11-year-old English boys and girls to managing a full squad of South American professionals that has participated in the Copa Libertadores in it’s 94-year history.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
This is like Rookie of the Year meets Little Giants meets The Scout. But way crazier because this is real.
Maybe this means my Football Manager CV will get me a gig. Nobody can overlook my 2010 World Cup triumph over Brazil with the Stars and Stripes. Sure, I had to play the Final about 15 times before squeaking out a 1-0 win but I still won. Quavas Kirk down the wing, Nik Besagno my deep-midfield lynchpin worth over $15 million bringing things together like a couple of bosses… those were the days.
Honestly though, I think there could be something to this Makin appointment. It could be a stroke of genius. In 2002, Centro Deportivo Olmedo FC made it to the knockout stage of the Copa Libertadores. Coincidentally, that’s when all the kids this guy coaches were born. I don’t want to say it… but I’ll say it: it’s time for a Golden Generation.
*These team names are pretty damn long.
We’ve all had those nights. The clock ticks past 3AM, yet there you are, watching another YouTube clip of Djibril Cisse. Maybe it’s because he’s got great hair, maybe it’s because you’ve got a serious man-crush or maybe it’s because you’re pretty drunk and want to see some goals.
Whatever the reason, these awesomely awful videos are freakin addictive. Everyone at TK has long suspected some level of brainwashing or subliminal messaging involving theses YouTube clips as the reason for us being so enthralled with their mediocrity.
After spending months in the TK labs, our crack team of doctoral researchers discovered the formula for constructing effective YouTube player videos. Interpol believes Magatu to be behind the creation of the mind-altering reels.
The recipe for digital disaster after the jump…
It happened. Again. Mexican side C.F. Monterrey came from behind, again, and won the CONCACAF Champions League…again. That’s three in a row now for the Los Rayados (The Striped Ones), and this annual lifting of the trophy by Humberto Suazo y compañiá is getting boring. But really, there was nothing boring about the way they claimed this one.
In a repeat final from last season, Monterrey hosted fellow Mexicans Santos Laguna in the second leg of the CCL Final last night. Both teams entered the match sitting on goose eggs – figuratively, but there’s an image – after a 0-0 stalemate in the first leg, so a few punches of the onion bag were guaranteed in this one.
Read more after the jump…
Now that Third Kit’s chancy prediction that the Champions League final would be an all German affair has proven to be spot on, I cannot shy away from comparing the big match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich on May 25th to the last time a bunch of Germans showed up in England to be crowned kings. In 1714, after a spat about Catholicism, the crown of England passed on to the unlikely figure of George Louis, Duke of Hannover. The weird thing about Hannover, like Georgie, is that they are as German as Bratwurst, Lederhosen, and efficient public transportation. George I and his descendents, The House of Hannover, ruled in England until 1901, not a bad run seeing as he didn’t even speak English when he showed up for his coronation.
OK, now that you know how to do a drum roll, you can bust out those snares and keep reading in style…
This may not be the definitive indicator of which league has the most parity but we’re going with it anyway.
We measured the percentage of the champion’s points each last place team achieved in the EPL, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, Eredivisie, Ligue 1 and Super Lig over the last nine seasons. Make sense? No. Cool, let’s move on.
Then we averaged the totals and came up with a definitive ranking that pundits, managers, footballing statisticians and intelligent people will probably say shows absolutely no proof that the following leagues can be ranked in overall balance of competition as such…
Bless TV Golo and their dedication to providing us the best goals of the week, every week. They’re more consistent than we’ll ever be.