On October 14, Eugene Melnyk and Senators Sports & Entertainment formally submitted their bid to MLS for an expansion franchise for Ottawa for the 2011 MLS season.

“When we officially launched our bid on Sept. 16, I believed it was imperative that to bring an MLS team to Ottawa and build a stadium of this scope and calibre required, among other things, broad community support,” said Melnyk. “I know we have a strong operational management team and a solid business plan, and now we know the community is behind us.”

Image via BringtheworldtoOttawa

St. Louis group makes it’s MLS expansion application.

The changing economic landscape could affect how Major League Soccer looks at expansion, but Jeff Cooper remains “very” optimistic. Cooper’s group, St. Louis Soccer United, presents its official application for an MLS expansion franchise to the league today, the deadline for such applications.

“I feel very, very good,” Cooper said Tuesday. “(Wednesday) we submit our full-blown application with the ownership group listed, the stadium development plan and the youth soccer plan.”

Image via Flickr

Arthur Blank, who already owns two pro sports franchises in Atlanta, is aiming for a third.

Blank’s management and investment company, the AMB Group, announced Tuesday it has submitted a bid for a Major League Soccer expansion franchise. He already owns the Falcons and the Arena Football League’s Georgia Force.

Image via Falcons365

Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL and founder of Home Depot, is pondering a bid for an MLS team that would begin play in 2011. “We have had discussions with Arthur Blank and his staff recently and those discussions are positive,” said MLS Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs Dan Courtemanche.

Image via Daylife

Cash Money Millionaires really know how to celebrate an occasion and last night Little Weeziana may have received the greatest birthday gift ever… What did you get when you turned 26? Because celebrating his birthday last night in Miami, Little Wayne was presented with a briefcase full of cash money from the Birdman… What did it equal you ask … the answer is One Million Dollars! Here are the pictures to prove it.

images and story courtesy of gigwise.com

I.Shouldve.Played.Soccer

Numero uno is FIFA’s president Joseph Blatter, and they give a great quote from Sepp:

“FIFA is like the United Nations but it has more members and is more powerful”

Six of the top ten most powerful global figures have soccer ties including Becks clocking in at No. 5, Roman Abramovic at No. 6, and Cristiano at 7. Herbert Hanier the president of Adidas is No. 4 and Michel Platini UEFA president is 8. Click on this link for the slideshow and complete coverage from Business Week.

photo. getty images

I.Shouldve.Played.Soccer

Local Columbus journalist, Michael Arace, is contacted by the agent of Mr. Mark Noorzai, proposed new investor in the Columbus Crew. New details emerge, chief among them is the promise to keep the team in Columbus.

Full story here…

Image via Corbis

Courtesy of the FC Dallas Blog:

“While the team is back on the training field in Frisco, ten members of our front office management staff flew out to Chicago on Tuesday evening to attend the 2008 MLS Business Summit. MLS headquarters organizes this event, bringing League office executives together with execs from all 14 teams for two days of meetings, presentations, and interactive breakout sessions to discuss all matters of our business.

This morning, the entire group - we’re told there are about 200 people here from all the teams and the league office - will gather for a general session where MLS Commissioner Don Garber will speak…”

Image via HBO

You either love him or you hate him, period. I love the dude… It was only a matter of time before he dropped this joint… You gotta watch it one time all the way through, because its hilarious. Heavy Language alert definitely NSFW

His rhymes start out a little weak, but he actually gets kind of hot toward the end. Ciroc Obama 2008

version 2 after the jump (more…)

In a city where soccer is a religion, where the local team is known as the Holy Herd and its stadium is the Grand Temple, people sometimes talk about Jorge Vergara as if he were the messiah.

Since taking over the troubled Chivas soccer team in 2002, Vergara has resurrected Mexico’s most storied franchise and launched a crusade to expand the Chivas brand worldwide, including in the United States.

Vergara also touches on something deeper in Mexico’s psyche, by his rags-to-riches story and evangelizing of self-help ideology. The taco vendor-turned-millionaire believes that Mexicans’ greatest need is a can-do attitude.

Image via Manggus