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josh whisenhunt

03 April 8:23 pm

MLS Insider: The Colorado Rapids think Kyle Beckerman and Real Salt Lake are "creepy"

By Josh Whisenhunt
MLS Insider

Rivalry Week has come and gone, but if you take a look at this weekend's slate, you'll see we already get a rematch of the Rocky Mountain Cup. Sweet.

With that in mind, you have to give the Colorado Rapids credit for their video below. Timely, great casting, pretty edgy. I really like it. I want more. 

Seeing this, RSL upped the snark, sending over a swift response to their rivals. Nothing like a TLC-inspired scoreboard check to let little bro know who's boss. You don't call Kyle Beckerman "creepy" and get away with it. 

So who won the latest round of digital banter between these two? We'll let you decide.

02 April 5:09 pm

MLS Insider: A look back at April 2, 2006

By Josh Whisenhunt
MLS Insider

What does the date April 2 mean to you? If you're a Houston Dynamo fan, it should mean quite a lot. 

Seven years ago today, Brian Ching scored a bunch of goals (Four, to be exact) and the Dynamo officially became a thing, dismantling Colorado by a 5-2 scoreline at Robertson Stadium in the club's inaugural match.

Houston were awesome enough to dig up the highlights for your viewing pleasure, check them out above and be sure to note Wade Barrett's epic sideburn game. 

22 March 1:31 pm

MLS Insider: Landon Donovan spotted at University of Wisconsin

By Josh Whisenhunt
MLS Insider

The journey continues. 

Straight from the twitter account of University of Wisconsin football's strength and conditioning coach Brian Bott, we find out that Landon Donovan is getting his required amount of daily exercise with the Wisconsin Badgers soccer team.

So why Madison? Well, apparently he has family there, or maybe LD just wanted a fun night out on State Street. 

Either way, this could very well be the last random Internet sighting we get of Mr. Donovan. It was fun while it lasted. 

20 March 9:41 pm

MLS Insider: When Seattle's Ozzie Alonso counts off 1-2-3, you better shout "Win!"

By Josh Whisenhunt
MLS Insider

Last Saturday was a big one in Seattle. 

Portland Timbers in town, the whole city was buzzing about the arrival of Obafemi Martins and the hometown Sounders were putting on for a national television audience. 

So what better night to shoot some all-access footage from CenturyLink Field? That's exactly what happened, and you can see the finished product in the video above. You get tactical talk from Sigi Schmid, a charged-up prematch speech from Steve Zakuani, DeAndre Yedlin's hair in glorious slow-mo and a whole lot more.

If all this looks familiar, it should. Definitely worth a watch, Sounders fan or not. 

Soccer Culture Rivalry
MLS Regular Season
20 March 3:38 pm

MLS Insider: Bill Hamid named to FIFA 13 Ultimate Team of the Week

By Josh Whisenhunt
MLS Insider

Bill Hamid is crushing it this week.

On Saturday, D.C. United's 22-year-old goalkeeper kept a clean sheet in a massive rivalry match at Red Bull Arena. 

On Monday, he was named MLS Player of the Week. He was also nominated twice for Save of the Week. 

Today, another honor: A place in the EA Sports FIFA 13 Ultimate Team of the Week, right alongside the likes of Eden Hazard, Rio Ferdinand and David Villa. 

What gets you on the team, you ask? Well, doing things like this surely can't hurt: 

Hamid becomes the third MLS player to earn a place in the team this year after Philadelphia Union centerback (We can call him that now, right?) Amobi Okugo grabbed a spot last week, just after Mike Magee was recognized the week prior. 

18 March 1:50 pm

MLS Insider: Behind-the-scenes for a full day of TV with NBC

By Josh Whisenhunt
MLS Insider

This weekend was a special one in MLS history.

No, there weren't a ton of goals, but the coverage of the first-ever #RivalryDay from NBC and the NBC Sports Network was unlike anything the League has seen in its history, and we were lucky enough to tag along for the whole ride.

How does the old saying go? There ain't no business like show business? After seeing first-hand the work that went into the day's production, we can definitely confirm.  

At 10am on Saturday morning, Arlo White, Kyle Martino, Russ Thaler and other members of the NBC crew arrived at Red Bull Arena. First order of business, making sure Kyle's hair was just right. 

After everyone was set up, dressed and ready to go, it was time for a little rehearsal. Had the cameras been rolling, you wouldn't have known the difference, this stuff is second nature for these guys.

Just before the end of the first half, we headed up to the booth. Way up. Arlo was basically on the roof of RBA, accompanied by vast amounts of note cards laid out on the desk in front of him that apparently he never needs to use.

He makes it look easy, but you probably knew that already. We were lucky enough to catch him just before another one of New York's fizzled chances. 

During a typical match, White is up in the booth while Thaler is watching the match from the set, taking notes on major moments that occur during the run of play.

Martino's set up is a bit more tricky.

As the lead analyst he's situated right between the team benches, armed with a monitor of the broadcast, a headset and most importantly his own eyes and ears to tell you exactly what he's seeing and hearing on pitch level.

There can be distractions. When the broadcasts first started, it was usually assistant coaches and substitutes who weren't aware that Martino was actually on the air. They'd be tugging on their buddy's shirt while he's trying to describe what happened during the latest chance. On Saturday, it was a guy in the stands who screamed "MARTINO! MARTINO!" for, no joke, 45 minutes straight. Fun times.

As the final whistle sounded, discussions were well underway between Thaler and the day's producer, Shaw Brown, to prepare for the show's postgame interview.

There had been no goalscorer in the match, thanks in large part to the heroics of Bill Hamid. Thierry Henry had done the pregame and while there was some talk about having Dax McCarty on, in the end Hamid was the only choice.

Literally, as soon as the lights went down and Hamid exited the set, we were in the van and on the way to Stamford. So, what do three of North America's preeminent soccer broadcasters talk about when they have an hour to kill on a car ride? Lots of soccer, it turns out.

We didn't have any goals in the Sporting Kansas City - Chicago Fire match, but that doesn't mean the crew wasn't watching. 

Roughly halfway through the ride legit preparations for the Breakaway show became the focus. A four-hour rehearsal was executed earlier in the week, but there's only so much you can do to prepare for coverage of simultaneous live sporting events. At this point, we had news.  

At the time, that news focused around Henry, trying to determine exactly what his status was following the match and how it might play into the show that evening. 

With about 55 minutes to air, our crew pulled up to the gorgeous new NBC studios in Stamford. The guys had to rush inside to get setup with makeup and suits, but there was still some time to savor the moment.

Finally, after a day of rehearsal, calling an entire match earlier in the afternoon and a car ride spanning three states, the lights came on. Go time.

At halftime of RSL-Colorado, we snuck out of the studio and headed for the control room, where Brown was running the show along with coordinating producer, Pierre Moossa. We had no clue exactly what was going on, it was pretty cool to watch it all go down.

You might think two-and-a-half hours of desk analysis and highlights would be a slog for these guys, but the time flew by. By the end, everyone was surprisingly fresh and ready for another go-around again someday. 

14 March 1:06 pm

MLS Insider: Robbie Keane and Dan Kennedy square off in FIFA13

By Josh Whisenhunt
MLS Insider

"This is a joke. This is an absolute joke." 

Robbie Keane isn't just a deadly finisher, guy knows how to talk some trash on the sticks, too. Dan Kennedy found that out the hard way, and thanks to KICKTV, you get to watch the carnage for yourself. 

As Jimmy Conrad notes, the result was strikingly similar to what played out on the field last year. We'll find out Sunday who really gets the last laugh. 

12 March 12:02 pm

MLS Insider: Stephen Keel and George John present the FC Dallas Orange Obliteration System

By Josh Whisenhunt
MLS Insider

Oh, yes, this is good. This is very, very good. 

We already knew FC Dallas had the slow jams on lock, we know now they do commercials, too. 

For just four easy payments of $19.99, you can be the proud owner of the FCD 4-4-2 Orange Obliteration System, ridding your life of the mess that comes from crushing the orange. Unbeatable value. 

MLS on TV: Where to watch CONCACAF Champions League and Rivalry Week action in Week 3

07 March 4:42 pm

Jimmy Conrad gives Chris Wondolowski some tips on how to be famous

By Josh Whisenhunt
MLS Insider

In what sort of world does Chris Wondolowski show up in a video with Puff Daddy (Not Diddy, Puff Daddy), a skull-and-crossbones bowtie and his own Wondo-brand fragrance? In KICKTV's world, that's where.

While we were shopping in SoHo with Aurelien Collin, Jimmy Conrad was uptown teaching Wondo how to act like an MVP, which is basically as important as playing like one.

Just can't decide which part is our favorite: Wondo speaking in third person, or Jimmy rubbing dollar bills on his face? We'll leave it up to you to decide.

28 February 1:55 pm

Landon Donovan really is in Cambodia

By Josh Whisenhunt
MLS Insider

Remember that little chat Landon Donovan gave at USC a couple weeks back? Yeah, turns out he wasn't kidding about his intentions to visit Cambodia. 

Thanks to a couple tweets that surfaced this morning from the editor of Thmey Thmey Online News, we now know that LD was casually getting his pickup game on at an island just off the coast of Sihanoukville. Barefoot. 

So don't worry, Bruce, Landon might be on his break for a little while longer, but at least he's keeping fit.