Nguyenning and Grinning Through It All

So besides being a talented, versatile midfielder, Lee Nguyen is something of an Internet troll. Or at least, that was the conclusion some came to after the New England Revolution faithful were treated to a bit of a "scare" from their star player via his Twitter account. 

The original Tweet has been deleted, which is rather odd in itself if everything is innocent and Nguyen is staying put. Here is Seth's retweet, though, which still contains all of Nguyen's original text.

Oh. Tell me more RT @LeeNguyen24 That feeling you get when you've made a big decision and realize there's no turning back
— Seth Vertelney (@svertgoalcom) December 12, 2014

One reason that Revs fans were panicking is that Nguyen has indeed been linked to possibilities abroad, namely Southampton, where he could reunite with his former PSV coach Ronald Koeman. Still, I don't know whether to take that rumor seriously when an article like this one puts up a photo clearly NOT of Nguyen.

Round-up of LA Noche

Last night, 

People wondered why LD is retiring. 

Others understood. 

Baxty wrote on LA's 5-0 win. 

Incidentally, five goals is the number Columbus needed, but didn't get, versus the New England Revs. 

An LD playoff hat trick and yet this is all a paper in England could find worthy of an article? They didn't even name Taylor Twellman, who provided the quote that so mesmerized them. Shoddy. 

Just to appease TT fans, here's a pic of him back in the day - at a FIFA EA event, no less! 

Who in this picture is #2 to LD and what for?

League Got Joseph Ban Right

Shalrie Joseph was the latest victim of the MLS Disciplinary Committee. On Tuesday he was slapped with a one-match ban for an incident during Thursday's 1-0 loss to FC Dallas. On the play, Joseph went into a tackle from behind, toppled Ricardo Villar and was booked for doing so.

Not good enough, the committee decided and in essence decided that the play was worthy of a red card. Had he gotten a red card originally of course this probably would not have happened. But he didn't and now we're debating the merits of this suspension. At least, there seems to be quite a bit of debate out there.

I can't say I disagree with the findings, though. For several reasons.

For starters, that was a harsh tackle. It was from behind, reckless and the kind that can cause serious damage. Last season, some similarly awful challenges cost Steve Zakuani and Javier Morales quite a bit of pain and grief. The league is rightly trying to do something about it, and if players continue to committ such foolish challenges they will be punished, whether it's on the field or in instances such as these that Joseph finds himself.

Now, it may seem as if this undermines the officiating and that it shows some sort of disrespect to the officials. Effectively, the committee is saying that the call was not good enough, that it was flat wrong, and then they went ahead and corrected it. Well, what I would say to that is this - since when has the media, fans and players shown any sort of collective support or respect of the officials? Watch any MLS game and at one point or another you will see players swarming around the official after a call, protesting a call, demanding the call be changed, barking at, yelling at, all but hitting the official. Fans in the stands or on various social media outlets will voice their displeasure of the officiating and stories are written about how certain calls affected matches. All of that undermines the officials and goes on consistently, and yet now it's an issue?

If anything, this sends a message to the officials that there needs to be stiffer penalties during games so that this does not have to happen again. It's a way of helping the match officials, not hurting them or undermining them. The league wants certain things punished more, wants to eradicate certain things from games and one way of correcting and eliminating these behaviors is by actively helping the match officials stamp it out in games. In other words, this Joseph decision isn't just a one-off thing. It's not that this tackle was bad and it should be punished; it's that this tackle was bad and these kinds of tackles are unwanted in MLS matches and players need to know that in one form or another.

Also, Villar is out for at least one match with a mid-foot sprain. According to reports, Villar's injury is a week-by-week injury but if nothing else it's a setback since Villar had scored twice and was becoming an important player for FC Dallas.

Now, here's the play in question from various angles:

That's a harsh tackle. It should have been a red card, plain and simple.

And next time, it will be.

Parkhurst on Olympics

I got a snippet of Michael Parkhurst talking about the Olympics, actually a pretty good couple of minutes on it.

What I didn't get was a good picture of him.

I didn't really need to talk to Parkhurst but you never know what a player will say and when you might need to use some of his stuff, so you may see this somewhere else. Or you may not. In either case, here is the audio.

Ralston talks match, season

Steve Ralston was his usual calm self after the match. He didn't rip into the field nor did he get too excited about the prospects of playing at home.

He did however have a huge influence in the match as he sent in the corner that led to the equalizer.

Ralston answered some questions about the potential schedule logjam coming up as well as a bit on the All-Star game. And, of course, some on the naked passenger on the flight over here.

Listen to the Ralston audio here.

Reis rips field

Matt Reis was another of the players who did not care much for the field. In fact, none of the Revs players I heard had anything but negatives to say for the field.

Reis of course is a local guy, a UCLA product, and he was on the Galaxy before when the Galaxy played games here on a somewhat regular basis. But that was a long time ago. Now, the fields are expected to be much better than what was presented on Sunday.

Here's the audio of Reis.

Nicol post-game

Steve Nicol spent much of the imprompt post-game presser talking about the deplorable field conditions. He had as good a view as anyone and didn't really feel like the field was something that should have been used for a tournament of this magnitude.

The field was pretty bad. I could tell from up here that it wasn't the greatest but the way it went down, well, Nicol was none too pleased about it.

Here's the audio.

Chivas USA-New England running blog

Welcome to the beautiful Titan Stadium for tonight's SuperLiga (and I use the word beautiful loosely). I tried to get pictures of both teams before the match but only New England gathered for a team shot. Perhaps Chivas players were too focused on the game...

Here are the starting lineups:

Chivas: Dan Kennedy; Carey Talley, Claudio Suarez, Bobby Burling, Francisco Mendoza; Sacha Kljestan, Daniel Paladini, Jesse Marsch, Jonathan Bornstein; Ante Razov, Roberto Nurse.

New England: Matt Reis; Amaechi Igwe, Michael Parkhurts, Jay Heaps, Chris Albright; Sainey Nyassi, Steve Ralston, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz; Kheli Dube, Kenny Mansally.

And on to the match...


7 - Okay, updating all that took me some time. Chivas have had a few corner kicks but nothing too dangerous.

8 - Preki isn't here. He had to go to Serbia for some sort of emergency. Not sure when he's coming back, but the team won't have any games or anything for the next few weeks.

12 - Albright sends nice cross to far post but Igwe's side volley goes wide of goal.

15 - Pretty quiet first quarter hour. Most of the action came very early. The Revs are pretty organized as usual.

16 - Razov called for offside. Marsch just a fraction of a second too late on the pass, and Razov lets him knows it.

17 - Steve Ralston gets booked for a foul on Jesse Marsch.

19 - Dube has a breakaway but the ball skips away from his feet as Dube's touch was horrible.

21 - It looked like a Revs player was offside, Dube maybe, but no whistle was blown. It looked like the assistant was about ready raise the flag and but nothing was blown. Panchito took out a Revs player in the box but nothing was called.

24 - Ralston sends long free kick into area and Albright heads it but the ball goes wide of the goal.

26 - Revs with the better of the possessions here as Kenny Mansally rips a shot on goal. But the ball hits the outside of the net.

29 - Chivas with some good buildup but Panchito dribbles the ball around too much and can't get a shot off.

31 - Kljestan shot, deflects off Revs player, Razov with the shot but goes right to Reis.

33 - Bornstein finds some space at the top of the box but his shot floats away. Looked like he kicked a balloon there.

36 - Bornstein with a cross to Razov but the ball is just a bit too high for Razov. Then, Razov eventually gets the ball again but his slow-rolling 22-yard shot goes just wide of the post.

38 - Looks like Dube is down. Chivas held the ball for a while before knocking it out of bounds but i dont think they saw Dube laying on the field.

42 - Marsch with a blast and forces Reis to make diving save. Corner for Chivas and Kljestan sends it in but ball gets cleared away.

45 - Revs show same danger in stoppage time but a corner goes nowhere.

HALFTIME - Fairly even match but there was really just the one scoring chance, Marsch's late attempt. Revs would be happy with this result but Chivas USA needs a win to go through; if they draw, Pachuca's gotta lose.

46 - Substitutions... none for either side.

47 - Nyassi with a shot for the Revs but Kennedy turns him away.

49 - Revs with a dangerous set piece here. Ralston from the right side places it into the box but Kennedy punches it away.

52 - Kljestan sends Razov through but Razov can't get a clean shot off on goal. Reis makes the save but Razov cant control the rebound.

55 - Razov with an attempt but his shot goes just wide of goal.

59 - GOAL! Razov finally breaks through. Through ball from Paladini, Razov breaks past defense, Reis makes initial save but ball bounces out to Razov, who knocks it into an empty net.

60 - Paladini made a perfect pass to Razov. Reis actually made a partial save with his left hand but Razov had put so much force into it that Reis couldn't stop it but only slow it down. Razov has now scored a goal in six consecutive games.

69 - Revs trying to get back into the match but look a bit unsettled. Their SuperLiga campaign might be over, if this holds and Pachuca wins.

79 - GOAL! Revs. Joseph with a header, got past Kennedy and Paladini could't kick it out.

80 - Revs in driver's seat now. If they hang on, they win the group.

90 - Four minutes of stoppage time.

90 - Might be Chivas' last stand. Kljestan with a free kick on the left side. He swings it into the box and Marsch places header wide.

FULLTIME - Match is over. 1-1. New England wins group. Chivas needs for Santos to beat Pachuca.

Titanic site

It's abot a quarter hour to kickoff or so until Chivas USA-New England's SuperLiga match. Here's what the scene looks like as well as a couple more pictures inside.






It's a change of pace from what we're used to obviously. Usually, matches around here are at Home Depot Center but because of the X Games this game had to be played elsewhere, and this is elsewhere.

The capacity here is 10,000 but it doesn't look like we'll get anywhere near that amount.

I think the last official match played here was in 2002 but don't know for sure. I'll try and locate that information for one of my stories and will let you know when I find out that information.

The picture that shows behind the goal is the locker rooms and I'm assuming where they'll have some sort of post-match mixed zone. You can see the little SuperLiga background thing they set up for interviews and such.

I can't recall exactly how many games I've been here. I was the Galaxy-Revs 2001 Open Cup final and at least one Galaxy Open Cup match (against Seattle Sounders Select) as a reporter. I came to a Galaxy Open Cup match once as a fan and also came here for the 2001 CONCACAF Champions Cup matches, as a fan as well.

The field doesn't look to be in the greatest shape but it's hard to tell from up here.

Support staff

Though the news has already traveled around the world that an unruly and probably mentally unstable passenger was subdued on a plane by members of the New England Revolution, it doesn't look like any actual players were involved.

It's the fearless staff of the team that did the dirty work. After all, one can't have the players strain something trying to attack a psychotic traveler. Especially a nude one.

Note, however, that the passenger was not nude when physically subdued.

Also, though being involved with any pro sports team can seem exciting, it's hard work to be traveling with players all the time, packing uniforms, planning strategy, nursing and treating various ailments athletes have. They don't get the glory of a head coach or starting 11, but the staff of any pro team is a crucial element of success.

Can I get a witness?

Rob Hughes follows up the Hilgenbrinck story. Well, as much as he can having never met the guy and hunting down info about him on the web. I'm not claiming any better - I never really talked to Chase. I do think the situation worked out well for Kheli Dube, though, and promoting him to a senior roster spot was a nice way for the Revs to reward his development and recent goal for them. Anyway, here's Hughes' thoughts on Chase.

Chasing a new dream

Chase Hilgenbrinck has retired from professional soccer to become a priest.
(From the Revs press release) "After years of discernment, I feel strongly that the Lord has called me to become a priest in the Catholic Church," Hilgenbrinck said. "Playing professional soccer has been my passion for a long time and I feel blessed to have successfully lived out this dream. My passion now is to do the will of God, which is wanting only what He wants for me. Though I will miss the game of soccer, I know that I am moving on to something much greater."
The defender played in Chile at one point, but he wasn't getting much time with the Revs this season. The team has now moved Kheli Dube to the senior roster.
Some will see this as another example of the low salaries of MLS squeezing out players, but perhaps Chase felt, like Ty Harden, who went to work for Goodwill when he retired young from soccer, that he was needed elsewhere.

Halting the Revs

So far this season, New England has been all but unbeatable. Chicago routed the Revs twice early this season but since starting off with two losses in their first four games, New England has been hands down the best team in the league. New England's run for a fourth consecutive MLS Cup appearance is alive and well as the Revs are seemingly the favorites to not only reach the game but win the whole thing.

So what, if anything, can stop New England?

Well, the schedule for one.


New England has been consistently piling up the results this season. The Revs were 3-1-1 in both May and June and actually have more road wins (six) than home wins (four).

But now, the Revs must take their focus on the league entirely. On Tuesday, the Revs will host USL-2 side Crystal Palace Baltimore in a US Open Cup quarterfinal. Sunday, the Revs will play Santos in a SuperLiga match and will play three all total in a spain of eight days. By the time the Revs play their next league game (Aug. 9 vs Chicago), the Revs may have played six non-league games.

After Friday's 2-1 win over the Galaxy, Revs boss Steve Nicol said "it's a shame we don't have any league games the next month."

How New England fares in SuperLiga remains to be seen. Playing Mexican teams is always a challenge even if it's a friendly competition because, as Steve Ralston told me "there's never a friendly when you're playing against a Mexican team. It seems like it's always a competitive game." New England will face two of the best Mexican sides in Santos and Pachuca.

But nobody knows just how the Revs will look like once they do return to league. If they can maintain their form, the Revs will be just fine. But even if they do fall off a bit, they'll have a few games to get back in shape before their next big challenge: the CONCACAF Champions League.

From Aug. 16 to the end of the MLS regular season, the Revs could play up to 20 games in five different countries. That's 20 games in roughly 70 days, or about one game every three or four days.

Maybe that "MLS Cup favorite" tag doesn't fit the Revs after all.

Becks post NE

Beckham was actually celebrating his wedding anniversary to Vicki on the day of the game. Basically, it made for the fastest turn-around from end of game to him getting to the presser ever. He might have even gotten to see a little of the fireworks show, he was so quick. Usually, he takes a while, so by the time the press conference is finished, no other players are left in the locker room to talk to. Not on this special night.

Parkhurst's thoughts

I had the chance to catch up with Michael Parkhurst after the match. Here's audio of our conversation.

Since the Revs are going to compete in SuperLiga and I might need something from the Revs on the tournament, I also took the opportunity to ask him a few questions on that as well. Also, not sure who was screaming there about a towel in the background early on but someone was either angry or excited about something.

Ruud post NE

Ruud seemed a million miles away at times during the presser. I asked him if he thought the team had trouble finding Beckham during the game, and he answered, a little upset, that he thought Beckham had a very good game and defended David's performance. I don't think he really heard my question and thought I'd attacked David in some way. Also, another reporter asked about Frankie Hejduk, but he pronounced it a bit funny, with a heavy "j" sound (the j is usually silent). Ruud said he didn't know that player.

Cristman post-game

Cristman talks about his goals.


Adam might be the key forward for New England in the post-Twellman era. Oh, wait, Taylor is still around. I forgot that for a sec.

Nicol post-game

The pressers run on a routine - a coach usually gives thoughts on the game, but the Revs just threw it open for questions and the reporters were caught off-guard. Nicol said, "Well, if there are no questions. . ." Then he got up. So I asked him something, quick.



Nicol wouldn't be drawn into talking about the All-Star Game much. He thanked his players for making it possible, gave them credit for their hard work.

Galaxy/NE running blog

Freedom isn't free - I got the morning off, but of course, I'm here at the game now.
Actually, it's a nice day for a game. Could be worse.

Bad news for the Galaxy - LD isn't starting. He is on the bench, probably with a fever, aches and chills.
Starting Galaxy XI - Cronie, Kleiny, Franklin, Abel, Ante, Becks, Alvaro, Franchino, Mike (Willie), Eddie and Gordo.
Starting Revs XI - Matty, Chrissie, Parky, Mauricio Castro, Heaps, Nyassi, Rally, Shalrie, Larentowicz, Dube, Cristman
Predictions? Get them in quick before kickoff. I know people expect a lot of offense from the Galaxy these days, but actually, games between NE and LA typically end up 1-0. I say the Revs win off a Larentowicz goal.
The crowd tonight is off the hook. There are people everywhere. A lot of old-school Galaxy shirts too. I suppose some of the fans that have been priced out decided to splurge for the big 4th match.
Kickoff!
1 - NE with first attack, good passing - shot by Larentowicz - high.
2 - Gordo puts a ball out with his first touch.
3 - Beckham tackles starts an LA attack, but Gordo passes to a Revs defender.
4 - Gordo in the box, bangs into a defender, ref waves contact off as incidental, but to the disgust of crowd. Jazic, however, earns a freekick. Becks steps over.
5 - He sends it high, where Matty confidently catches it. Best keeper in the league right now, for my money.
7 - LA struggling to maintain possession. Revs patient in building their attack.
9 - Basic attempts at ball control right now.
SAVE! Cronin comes up big. Nyassi beats an offside trap and is in alone on goal. Cronin stone him, coming out and making himself big, batting away the ball. Still dangerous, but the next NE shot is deflected. Corner for the Revs.
10 - Cleared, but LA struggles to get the ball out of their half. An attack eventually builds, but the cross into the box is cleared.
12 - Revs on another attack. Deep throw-in. Albright tosses to Rally, kicked out for another deep throw.
13 - Crossed into the LA box, where it's deflected out for a goal kick.
15 - LA build up gets stifled early, Revs come back to put pressure on the LA goal, Shalrie with a shot - Cronin catches the low ball.
17 - Cross to Gordon in the box, but he has no angle on his header and pops it back out. Ball eventually rolls out for a goal kick.
18 - LD swigging fluids on the bench.
20 - Galaxy with a few half chances not really working out. Shalrie and Alvaro in a real battle in midfield.
23 - LA with a deep throw in NE land. The Revs close that chance down quickly.
25 - Except for the cheers in the stands and the flag colors, it seems like NE is the home team. They're attacking deeper and with more intensity. Ball gets served into the Galaxy box and a desperate clearance for the Galaxy averts a shot.
26 - Shot from Castro - he's outside the box and Cronin dives for it, loses his grip on the ball. Nyassi runs in, but is whistled for offside.
27 - Shalrie is complaining to the ref about something - Jorge Gonzalez doesn't look happy about the conversation.
29 - Pires in the box with the ball, goes down - no call. Crowd is unhappy.
Becks sends in a long, yet precise cross to Randolph in the box. Mike can't get a good header off, though, and sends the ball wide.
31 - Gordo with a horrible backpass. He ignores Becks and sends the ball waywardly to Dube, who starts a Galaxy attack - Cristman's cross is wide, but just barely out of danger.
32 - Galaxy give up the ball of their own throw, Gordo commits a foul and give up a FK.
Abel clears it.
33 - GOAL! NE come right back, set up a corner. Castro takes it, Joseph gets a shot off, Cronin blocks it, but the rebound gets away from him and Cristman puts the ball in from a foot away. 1-0. New England.
36 - Becks finally gets the ball, but his cross is blocked out for a throw in and the Revs quickly regain possession and push the ball upfield.
37 - Ante gives up a corner. Franchino blocks it out for another corner.
GOAL! Rally serves this one up far post and Cristman does the white-men-can-jump-leap as he crashed in for it. 2-0 New England. My goal prediction was off.
39 - If LD wasn't sick before, he surely is now. Becks crosses into the box. Mike goes up for a header and knocks it down in front of goal, but no other Galaxy player is there to touch the ball in.
40 - Becks' crosses keep falling the the shortest Galaxy field player.
42 - Ref stops play while Parkhurst ties his shoe.
Nicol is furious about a call that gives Becks FK. Matty punches it out, but Mike gets it back and earns a deep FT for the Galaxy.
44 - Parkhurst clears the ball and Franklin gets a horrible touch, sending the ball out over the sideline.
45 + Galaxy attack again gets cut off quickly. Revs moving the ball around confidently. NE on the the attack - Cristman could have a hat trick - no he passes nicely to Castro, who sends an easy shot OFF THE POST! Dang, the Galaxy escape there. NE maintain attack and Castro beats Cronin with another shot, going far post - Franklin gets a toe on the ball to clear it over the bar.
Wow - would have been a really exciting save if the Galaxy weren't already down by two goals.
Halftime: Well, the Galaxy didn't have one shot on goal in the half. Becks hardly saw the ball. The amazing crowd here at the game has had little to cheer about. The pressbox is figuring LD has to be comatose to not be an improvement over Alan Gordon.
Revs showed why they are number one in the league. They play very balanced, unselfish ball, getting everyone involved and they keep coming at ya, until they get ya.
2nd half - Sure enough, LD is out there.
48 - But LD can't impact the game if he can't get the ball. NE still controlling play. Galaxy fan groups trying to work the main crowd back into the match, but it's hard when LA hardly has the ball.
49 - Mike sees Becks, crosses into the box for him, but Becks mishits the volley attempt - wide.
50 - Cristman down in the box - doesn't get the call. NE still have the ball, but then Shalrie overhits a pass to Rally and ball is out.
51 - Galaxy attack, Becks to Mike, who takes a touch and a shot, but Parky just gets in for a deflection.
52 - Galaxy do get a FK - Becks hits it into the box, Pires sends the ball high. Better from the Galaxy, though they haven't scored, obviously.
53 - Another Becks FK. LD gets onto this one, but not very well, header is wide. LD looks flushed.
54 - NE in the box again, but the flick pass misses and Cronin is able to grab the ball.
LD gets fouled on the counter. FK in a pretty tasty spot for Becks.
55 - It's close, but wide.
56 - Becks starts a counter, but Buddle can't control the ball at the top of the box and loses it.
57 - Revs come right back, but Cronin catches the cross. Cronin is getting the sort of practice Brad Guzan did during Chivas USA's horrible first year.
58 - Galaxy attack - they're in the NE box, but no one can pull the trigger, it seems. Edson finally does, after a pass from LD, but Matty dives for it and makes stop, parrying the ball away.
60 - NE in the box! They're looking to add to the total, but somehow, the only shot that gets off, even though it's right in front of goal, gets deflected out for a corner. CK is taken and deflected out for a goal kick.
61 - Revs sub Dube out for Taylor Twellman.
62 - Cronin's goal kick falls to Becks, whose cross gets deflected out for a throw - Galaxy eventually build up to a cross by Klein to the box, but Reis cuts it off with a catch.
63 - LD's first touch is off - he just lost the ball.
65 - Nyassi is down.
66 - Revs on the counter, into the box, nearly have a chance, but Franklin clears and starts the counter.
GOAL! Galaxy get one back at least. LD with a cross in the box - deflected off Shalrie, fell to Becks, whose shot deflects off a fallen Heaps and into the net. 2-1 still NE.
67 - Galaxy with another chance, Becks crosses to Mike at the top of the box - his shot is just over the bar.
71 - Revs on the attack, get a CK. Rally sends it in - it's cleared out, but NE regain possession.
72 - The Galaxy attack can't seem to get the ball to Becks.
73 - Then Franklin gets it to him and Becks dummies for Klein, but NE eventually regain possession.
74 - The crowd is chanting "LA" trying to will the team back into this game.
75 - Heaps fouls Becks, but the FK is way out. It's cleared but LA gets possession back and Becks serves a cross into the box - Buddle gets a head on it, but it's wide.
76 - Rally with the ball deep in LA land, crosses to his favorite target, Twellman, but NE cough up the ball to a Galaxy counter.
77 - CROSSBAR! LD to Becks to Edson, but Buddle puts his shot off the crossbar! So close to the equalizer.
78 - The crowd is drumming, chanting, clapping, ooohing and ahing every hit, pass and tackle.
79 - Both teams are giving their all. NE is not sitting back, and the Galaxy won't go away.
80 - Ok, now maybe NE are going defensive. Igwe subs in for Cristman.
81 - Pires fouls Larentowicz and gets yellow for it.
82 - Rally stands over the FK and serves it into the box - Cronin catches.
83 - Galaxy trying to build an attack, but Buddle can't hang on to the service of Becks. GK for the Revs.
84 - The whole stadium is clapping the LA chant, but it dies out as the Revs control the ball. Klein fouls Castro.
85 - Rumors of his trade have been exaggerated - Carlos Ruiz comes on for Franchino.
86 - NE still control the ball, though, and are on the attack. Castro is wasting time in the corner, falling down. Gets a CK. He takes it, and the Galaxy's clear still yields a throw in.
87 - Finally the Galaxy get the ball back. But Ruiz never touches the ball as Matty catches the service into the NE box.
88 - Another NE CK. Taken very slowly.
89 - Ball is stuck in the Galaxy midfield. Now Buddle has it, but can't go anywhere.
90 - Klein's cross gets cut off.
90 + Becks' cross gets deflected.
Klein gets called for a foul as Castro falls yet again.
Pires gets called for a handball. NE get the FK and hit it square, waiting for the final whistle.
There it is. 2-1. The Galaxy winless streak continues, while NE extends their lead in the East.
Albright gets Beckham's jersey.
Sorry about the second half posts - I was posting in the wrong running blog the entire second half - yesterdays. Anyway - it's a metaphor for how off the Galaxy were this game.

Say you want a Revolution

The Revolution want their Euro TV!

Here's the story from Liz Summers, press officer for the squad.

The Revs were flying to Salt Lake City through Cincinnati, the flight schedule for 4:45. We'd missed the kick-off of Croatia-Turkey on the first leg of the trip and pretty much had assumed that the game was over when we landed in Cincinnati.

When we boarded the second flight, we saw we had TVs in the seats and after we were in the air a few minutes, the guys were flipping through and found the game (scoreless in the 115th minute). Within seconds, the entire travel group had it on each screen. Well, that's when the flight attendant chose to make in-flight announcements, at which time all the TV screens went blank and her audio came over the headsets - and don't think the team didn't make its displeasure known. By the time she was finished, we saw the Croatia player running around cheering his goal, with one minute left in extra time. Thankfully, we all saw what happened next - Turkey's tying goal and then penalties - and the whole team was cheering Turkey on through kicks.

We raised a few eyebrows on the plane because of the cheering and hooting and hollering, but it was taken well when people figured out why. The flight attendant even apologized for interrupting our viewing.