Fans
So MSNBC host Chuck Todd may not be the biggest fan of MLS, or soccer in general. But is that really a reason to make snide comments about the LA Galaxy’s trip to see President Obama at the White House to be congratulated for their 2011 MLS Cup triumph on Tuesday?
As Todd read out the President’s daily schedule during The Daily Rundown, he quipped in a slightly bemused tone:
“As you can see, he… welcomes the Major League Soccer champions? All you LA Galaxy fans out there– does this mean Beckham shows up? I’m not sure. Is he really a member of the Galaxy or not?”
Todd went on to say, “No more soccer references. I promise.”
Fiore tweeted the following as he became angry with Todd’s apparent lack of love for the beautiful game.
Fernando Fiore, host of the most popular sports show on Univisión (República Deportiva), took Todd’s comments to heart and reached out to Twitter to air his distain at the comments.
@chucktodd @dailyrundown If you do NOT know anything about SOCCER, @LAGalaxy and David Beckham, investigate and THEN make a comment.Gracias
— Fernando Fiore (@FernandoFiore) May 15, 2012
Fiore also tweeted in Spanish, “I am watching MSNBC and the commentary from a Mr. Chuck Todd over the LA Galaxy White House visit is deprecating. Why? Ignorance.”
You be the judge regarding Todd’s comments. For now it seems the beef is brewing between Mr. Todd and Señor Fiore.
Stay tuned, this could get meaty.
(Video courtesy of Mediaite.com)
Branden Steineckert plays drums for Rancid. That, by definition, rocks. That he is an avid soccer fan and a passionate Real Salt Lake supporter rocks even harder.
But the fact that he's such a geniune, cool, down-to-earth guy who wants to encourage people to express themselves, that's punk.
I met Branden when I was in Salt Lake City a few months ago. He was sitting in the back of a town-hall meeting between the supporter groups and RSL brass. At some point, the supporters brought up their dislike of the song played at Rio Tinto Stadium whenever the home side scores. "It's lame," one person said.
Naturally, everyone in the room eventually turned to the guy in the back who tours the world as a musician.
Steineckert didn't hesitate to give his opinion. But he didn't opine on the music. He didn't say the current goal song was bad or that another song would be better. No, instead, he challenged his fellow RSL supporters.
"Let's come up with something of our own," he said.
La MLS nous gratifie régulièrement de superbes buts (pensez d’ailleurs à voter pour le but de la semaine). Ô joie, quand c’est votre équipe qui le marque ! Mais quand c’est l’adversaire, comment réagissez-vous ?
De mon côté, tout dépend de l’importance du match, et de l’influence du but sur le résultat. Concrètement, ça se manifeste soit par le silence complet qui ne prend pas en considération la beauté du but (voire quelques mots marquant un certain enragement), soit par un « magnifique » ou des applaudissements polis contrastant parfois avec un visage qui trahit ma déception.
Samedi à Montréal, David Beckham a été hué pendant tout le match. Mais quand il a égalisé d’un sublime coup franc, des supporters de l’Impact ont célébré comme si leurs favoris avaient marqué. Une réaction qui n’a pas plu à tout le monde.
Pretty upset to see people with impact jerseys and scarves cheering after Beckham scored.....
— Zarek Valentin (@DubbZV) Mai 13, 2012
Sur les réseaux sociaux, de nombreux fidèles du club ont trouvé ça « désolant »… comme certains joueurs apparemment, à l’image de Zarek Valentin qui s’est offusqué sur Twitter, se disant assez contrarié de voir des gens avec des maillots et des écharpes de l’Impact fêter de la sorte après le but de Beckham.
Qu’en pensez-vous ? Et comment saluez-vous les splendides buts inscrits par l’adversaire ?
Ok, so I don't actually know where to start with this. Other than to say, this is amazingly awkward and I loved every single second of it.
Hermes, a former capo for the Portland Timbers, will have you in tears with his deadpan wit in this great new series “Off Pitch with Hermes.”
Above is Episode 3, but you can watch all the episodes on the Timbers website by clicking here.
I think Hermes says it best, when he states “do not be afraid of your own greatness!” Well, Hermes, we think your pretty great, so ummm....don’t be afraid.
Landon Donovan's goal versus Algeria in the 2010 World Cup lives on. For USMNT fans, it's going to live in the memory for a long time.
And now we can all re-live it via this video from a former MLSsoccer.com intern named Albert Lanzillo. Inspired by English artist Richard Swarbrick's gorgeous animated film about Tottenham Hotspur's Gareth Bale, Albert made his animation for a school project.
Don't know about you, but we'll give him an A.
You can't help but respect Montreal Impact head coach Jesse Marsch for immersing himself in the local culture of Quebec, an effort that centers on the French lessons the former US national team assistant is currently taking.
Montreal’s man in charge is keen to speak the natives; language and the Impact’s video staff followed him along to his latest French lesson to spy on his progress.
The title of the video roughly translates to “Jesse Marsch’s French is getting better, week by week.” So just like his team then, which is coming off impressive back-to-back victories against Portland and Sporting Kansas City.
Marsch also had this to say about the great job his squad is doing with settling down in French-Canadian surroundings:
“As a group, we have a lot of people who have come up here to Montreal and now they understand that being here is different and that it’s unique. They are attaching themselves to everything that this club is, that this city is. There are a bunch of guys here who are committed to doing this thing wholly.”
On Cinco De Mayo, there was plenty of great MLS action to be seen, so MLSsoccer.com rewarded fans for tuning into two nationally televised games (NBC Sports, ESPN) and watching with an attentive eye. By following @MLS and answering #CincoDeMayoTrivia questions, five lucky fans won the MLS jersey of their choice!
The winning tweets are listed below. Read the original contest rules here.
Question 1
@MLS Q1 #CincoDeMayoTrivia Bryan Meredith
— Kevin Lopez-Mohedano (@kevinlopezWA) May 5, 2012
Question 2
@MLS @PhilaUnion Q2 #CincoDeMayoTrivia No.
— Chris Bell (@CBelluncw) May 5, 2012
Question 3
#CincoDeMayoTrivia Q3 @MLS Rosales
— Ashleigh J. (@Jammee_J) May 5, 2012
Question 4
@MLS Q4 #CincodeMayoTriviaCooper
— Nathan Moe (@NMoe) May 6, 2012
Question 5
@MLS @q5 #CincoDeMayoTrivia agudelo
— Dustin Benadretti (@dustbust) May 6, 2012
Thanks for playing along! Be sure to follow us on Twitter and stay tuned for more fun contests.
On Saturday evening chanting and beating drums could be heard through the streets of midtown Manhattan. New York Red Bulls fans took over.
33rd street from Greeley Square to Fifth avenue was shut down to accommodate a large gathering of fans from supporters groups —including the Empire Supporters Club, Garden State Ultras, and Viking Army— who showed their support for the Red Bulls, ahead of their nationally televised (ESPN, 8pm ET) clash with rivals LA Galaxy.
The scenes were colorful, lively and loud as fans marched down the street before entering Legends Bar, to watch New York's trip to the Home Depot Center.
Eric Rios, a board member of the Empire Supporters Club, was pleased with the turnout at the first event of its kind this season. "We got a lot of people, we made some noise. That's what's it's all about."
INTERVIEW WITH ERIC RIOS
We've got two big television broadcasts on Cinco de Mayo! Sounders FC host the Union at 4:30pm ET on NBC Sports Network, and LA Galaxy host the Red Bulls at 8:00pm ET on ESPN.
To up the TV tune-in ante, @MLS will be posting trivia questions about the game, during the game, to Twitter. Be one of the first 25 people to send the correct answer and you'll be entered to win one team jersey of your choice from MLSgear.com. We'll have 5 winners in total throughout the day (get it, 5 winners on 5/5?).
To be eligible, you must follow @MLS on Twitter (get a head start by clicking the link below). Replies must include the @MLS handle, the #CincoDeMayoTrivia hashtag, the question number (Q1-Q5) and the correct answer.
We'll see you for the games on Saturday, and happy Cinco de Mayo!
Click here to see all the TV listings for this weekend.
Social Media Giveaway Rules
Employees, officers, directors, representatives and agents of any Major League Soccer LLC, its member teams, Soccer United Marketing, L.L.C. and each of their respective parents, subsidiaries & affiliated companies and their immediate families and those living in their same household, whether or not related, are not eligible for any @MLS giveaway. @MLS will determine giveaway recipients in its sole and absolute discretion.
If you have received an @MLS giveaway in the last 30 days, you’re not eligible. If you live more than 75 miles from the field where a game for which tickets are being given away will be played, you are not eligible for that ticket giveaway. If a giveaway recipient is determined to be ineligible, @MLS may, in its sole and absolute discretion, not give away the goods or ticket(s) or may give the goods or ticket(s) to the next eligible follower.
You will be required to privately (through Twitter direct message or email) provide your name and address if you are selected as a giveaway recipient. You will also be required to fill out an affidavit of eligibility.
Contests, trivia and giveaways are subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws, rules or regulations. See applicable giveaway description for exact details of when and how to enter.
MLS reserves all rights.
This week, US internationals playing in Scotland pine for US shores, a New York Red Bull encounters strange things in Manhattan, and an American pundit defends the honor of the Wigan manager's nomenclature.
Don't forget to follow our two official Twitter handles to find out the latest from inside MLS Follow@MLS_Insider Follow@MLS
Red Bulls midfielder Dax McCarty has a slightly bizarre experience when hunting for an apartment in Manhattan.
Looked at an apartment n the city and what do I see a dude doin n the communal garden? Yea...knife throwing. #onlyinNYC http://twitpic.com/9g5yfr
— Dax McCarty (@DaxMcCarty11) May 1, 2012
Is this a hint that US national team midfielder Maurice Edu would like to return from Scotland to America? Better question: Can Mo do the Carlton Banks dance?
Fresh Prince of Bel Air is one of the greatest shows ever! Lol
— Maurice Edu (@MauricEdu) May 3, 2012
One of Edu's Glasgow Rangers Yankee teammates also gets nostalgic about the USA -- video-game style!
Anyone remember playing this when they were younger!?? #OldSchool http://instagr.am/p/KFaQbsmX7P/
— Alejandro Bedoya (@AleBedoya17) May 1, 2012
ESPN's Alexi Lalas begs English wordsmiths to give Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez some credit for his managerial prowess, oh, and to get his name right too.
Dear England: After what Roberto Martínez has given you I think he deserves to get his accented second syllable back. Gracias.
— Alexi Lalas (@AlexiLalas) April 28, 2012
Fox Socer pundit Costigan takes a tour around Boston for the first time, on route to met Red Sox and Liverpool FC chairman Tom Werner. Safe to say he is impressed.
Entering Fenway to interview Tom Werner for @FOXSoccer What an incredible stadium http://yfrog.com/oe8gngxj
— Keith Costigan (@KeithCostigan) April 30, 2012
If you see a soccer tweet that should be included in our top five, be sure to send it to the @MLS_Insider!
