Sunday, June 3, 2007

Conflicted scheduling

Houston Dynamo fans who also support the US national team will have some tough time coming up. On Thursday, Houston hosts the Colorado Rapids at 6 p.m. PT on ESPN2, at precisely the same time the US will kick off against Guatemala on Fox Soccer Channel.

On Thursday June 21, Houston Dynamo hosts Chivas USA at 6 p.m. PT. The Gold Cup semifinals are set for the same day at around the same time. Houston also plays at Kansas City on June 24 at 2 p.m. PT, with the Gold Cup final set for noon. If the Gold Cup final goes into extra time and penalty kicks - like it did in 2005 - Houston and KC fans will probably be a bit irritated, provided the US or their respective nations reach the final.

In case you are wondering, US-Trinidad (Saturday June 10, 2 p.m. PT) and US-El Salvador (Tuesday June 12, 4 p.m. PT) don't conflict against any MLS games. If the US advances out of the group stage as the first place team, they'll play on Saturday June 16 at 1 p.m. PT; if they finish second, they'll play earlier that same day. Third place would be... well, they're not finishing third so don't worry about that.

Also, looking ahead to Copa America...

June 28: US-Argentina at 5:45 p.m. PT, DC-Colorado at 4 p.m. PT
July 2: US-Paraguay at 3:30 p.m. PT, no MLS games conflicting
July 5: US-Colombia at 3:30 p.m. PT, Houston-New York at 5 p.m. PT (Houston again!!)

If by some chance the U.S. makes the final (okay, odds are against that) the final would go head-to-head against three MLS games and possibly a fourth.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

The League may yet learn that perhaps it is best to shut itself down for a long summer tournaments. Of course that would mean going deeper into the fall with the season, but I think league is good enough to generate good attendance numbers even during pre-season NBA / NHL.