Timbers owner Merritt Paulson says bringing Major League Soccer to the city is no sure thing…(more)…

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The Dude is back in Tr2N!  

Lightcycles, frisbie disks, and even (the hottest girl of all time) Lacy Underall from Caddyshack rocked in the original classic movie, Tron.  Now comes the sequel.  This is a little hard to make out in the beginning but looks way cool.  In addition to Jeff Bridges, John Hurt, Ricky Gervais, Sean Connery and Jada Pinkett are also attached.  No release date given.

The Vancouver Whitecaps made their play for MLS official today (including the British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell) following their meeting with the MLS Board of Governors in Toronto. Steve Nash (whose bro Martin plays for the ‘Caps) will be part of the ownership group - check out his video on the Whitecaps website. Their stadium would appear to be BC Place (think 80s style Pontiac Silverdome/Minneapolis Metrodome) . There has been SSS talk and maybe that will progress too but BC Place is undergoing big changes. The current BC Place has just begun a huge refurbishment top-to-bottom for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The “New BC Place” is scheduled to be ready for the games, and following the Olympics will have a new retractable fabric roof to be completed by July, 2010 (pictured above).

Who is Greg Kerfoot, owner of the Whitecaps? He is an advisor to the government, a wealthy guy, and a huge soccer fan. Very ambitious plans here and many bases seem covered. Exciting times. (Or are the times a little too exciting….)

Image via Canada

From the Rosenborg website

According to VG, Cooper will soon be joining up with Rosenborg. Negotiations with Major League Soccer - who owns the transfer rights for the FC Dallas striker - have been going on all July, and looks set to be resolved soon.

“I never comment on transfers before they’re done,” Erik Hoftun says.

Speculations mount on the exact size of the bid. Rumours have suggested that the initial bid was around $1 million, or 5 million NOK, but the price has probably been pushed up considerably.

Image via DallasNews

Interesting article from the Washington Post.

BEIJING — My country is about to host the world’s greatest sporting event and, we hope, claim a truckload of Olympic gold. But to hundreds of millions of Chinese, our widely anticipated bonanza of medals will mean very little. The real metric by which China judges itself against the rest of the world isn’t the discus or the decathlon. It’s not even our record-beating economic growth rate or our postmodern skylines.   It’s soccer. And when it comes to our beloved sport, China is not just the sick man of Asia. It’s the sick man of the world…(more)…

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FC Dallas is rumored to be attempting to cement their new “relationship” with River Plate by offering former Argentine national and current River Plate striker Ariel Ortega a multi-year deal at $1.5 million per year. Ortega would use up Dallas’ DP slot (with greater success than Denilson, hopefully). Ortega is said to be leaning towards accepting. Ortega would join Dario Sala, Pablo Richetti, and Juan Toja in the FC Dallas lineup of former River Plate guys in Frisco - a team nicknamed “River North” amongst local fans. Ortega is 34, known to be somewhat mercurial and not averse to the occassional post-game adult beverage. He does put the ball in the hole though, and did score River’s only goal in the last Boca-River match.

Image via TheOffsides

Step back in time to the days of muddy pitches, wool shorts, bloody knees, and stout pints after the match with your mates at your local. They called the game “association football” and England ruled the planet both on and off the pitch. This old skool leather retro football completely rocks the house.

Available here.

Image via Modculture

UPDATE - The Columbus Crew issued the following statement regarding an altercation that took place at Crew Stadium during halftime of Sunday’s exhibition between West Ham United and the Crew which has been exaggerated in at least one news report:

“While a skirmish among a very small group of West Ham and Crew supporters did occur on Sunday, media reports referring to it as a “brawl” or “fights” are gross mischaracterizations. The incident was initiated by the actions of three West Ham supporters who entered the Crew supporters section at halftime. Crew Stadium security intervened and immediately began to escort those West Ham supporters to the concourse, at which time several Crew supporters became involved. On the concourse, Columbus Police quickly assumed control of the situation and made one arrest. Three other attendees were ejected by stadium security at that time. Supporters of both clubs were gathered on the concourse during the altercation, but nearly all of them were bystanders or onlookers and not active participants. Order was restored within minutes, prior to the beginning of the second half of play. Although it was a minor incident, the reputation of our organization and our fans is extremely important to us and as soccer’s popularity continues to grow, we will continue to make every effort to ensure that our fans have a safe and enjoyable experience when they visit Crew Stadium.”

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