Real Salt Lake might have flamed out the US Open Cup on Tuesday with their 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Stars, but the tournament continues and the potential pairings for the quarterfinals, which will take place on June 26th, were announced today. Here is the press release:

2012 LAMAR HUNT U.S. OPEN CUP
QUARTERFINAL POSSIBLE PAIRINGS ANNOUNCED

Eight Division I MLS Teams, Eight Lower-Division Teams Make Up Remaining Field
Heading into Fourth Round on Tuesday, June 5

CHICAGO (June 2, 2012) - U.S. Soccer has announced the quarterfinal possible pairings and locations for the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Results from the fourth round of play next Tuesday, June 5, will determine the matchups for the quarterfinals taking place on Tuesday, June 26.

The remaining 16-team field consists of eight Major League Soccer (Division I) teams, three clubs from the North American Soccer League (Division II), three from USL PRO (Division III), one Premier Development League (amateur) team and one USASA (amateur) regional qualifier.

The 99th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup includes a random selection process for determining home teams from the first round through the quarterfinals among clubs that have applied to host. The process, conducted by a coin flip, gives participating teams with venues meeting tournament standards an equal chance at hosting their possible opponent for these rounds.

The 4th round match schedule and quarterfinal draw after the jump:

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So we know that MLS has a good ipad app, a decent iphone and android app, and they have done good work in making them better since their launch. If you remember back a couple years ago when Microsoft was getting ready to launch their new phone OS, they showed off an app from MLS. Well yesterday marked the latest round in pre launch steps being taken by Microsoft to get ready for their fall launch of Windows 8, their release preview became available. For the geeks in the house, that means you get a chance to look at a very close to final version of the product, and with Window 8, Microsoft is really breaking new ground. They have moved to an interface that is familiar to some of us who have used their Zune products or their latest version of Windows Phone, it is being called "Metro".

So this new interface is very 'tablet/touch" centric, and while it works well on my neither of those test laptop (a 5 yr old HP) it is a very different look and feel from anything that Microsoft has attempted in the past. One of the big moves for them is the use of apps, which will function both on PC's as well as tablets that will be running a version of Windows 8. If you want to know more about the new OS, I recommend checking out the latest review of it from theverge.com.

I downloaded the latest version yesterday for some testing at work and because I am a geek and when I went into the app store (you can get a great idea of what that will be like via the MSDN blog), I was a bit shocked and amazed to see a new MLS app. So I of course downloaded it and while I am sure like the OS this is a preview version of the app, you can from this screenshot start to see what it might be like when it launches.

You can check out some pictures after the jump:

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So in Part one we tackled the big question of why should Major League Soccer be giving a potential team in New York so much support?

It was great to see so much conversation on both sides of the topic in the comment section as well as online via Twitter.

I should be clear I don't oppose a second team in New York, I just think the league's obsession with it is a bit unhealthy and I believe if there is demand the free market will dictate and MLS won't feed to fund things like the stadium search and permits. I think the league should be focused on things like their commitment to the fans to be more transparent about things like allocation money, the discipline committee, and how they are going to make MLS one of the top leagues in the world (and what they mean by that). I see a very full bill of things for MLS, so I consider NY2 to be a bit of a distraction that has become a personal obsession of Don Garber.

Still the topic is a fun one and there are lots of talking points on both sides so, lets continue our conversation.

In this part we are going to tackle a couple other questions about New York 2.

First, we focus on one of the reasons a lot of people point to as proof that soccer can be successful in New York, the New York Cosmos. Then second, why don't people in the market support the team they have or the league in general? Again Mike Firpo of SoccerNewsday.com is going to provide some answers and opinions for us, you will find his answers in italics.

• People are quick to say, what about the Cosmos? I ask what about the Red Bulls?
  So there is a reality that the New York Cosmos did actually play in New York City at both Yankee Stadium (1971 & 76) and Downing Stadium (1974-75), but failed to average 20K at either location. However when they moved to Giant Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ) they saw their biggest crowds, they played at Giant Stadium from 1977 until folding in 1984. So if the soccer hungry fans of New York City would travel to Giant Stadium, one has to wonder why they won't travel to Red Bull Arena? If one takes public transit from MLS HQ (4200 5th Ave # 7 New York, NY 10018) to Giant Stadium it takes 1 hour and 4 minutes according to google maps, but if one makes the journey from MLS HQ to Red Bull Arena it a slightly shorter trip of 51 minutes again according to google maps. So what gives, we will make the trip for one team but not another? At Yankee Stadium with Pele & others the Cosmos averaged 18K fans in 1976 far from the number who traveled to see them in Jersey?

As mentioned previously, the Red Bulls (Henry, Marquez, etc included) are no New York Cosmos. The comparison between modern soccer and then, is not very fair. Pele was the king of soccer, bringing a new sport to masses who thought it was really just for foreigners and immigrants. Pele's arrival in 1975 paved the way for ALL of this. We likely would not be doing this article if he hadn't come out of retirement and enacted the Cosmos craze in NYC, nationwide and worldwide - which resulted in the youth soccer boom that created the players for the national teams, MLS clubs, announcers, the love affair in the Pacific Northwest for the game, etc, etc. It is easy to forget or not understand from other parts of the USA but the soccer boom in America from Pele and the Cosmos, had an epicenter in New York City.

Oh you know there is so much more after the break:

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Well according to the calendar it is week 12 of the MLS season, but with over half the league having played more than 12 matches I wonder how much that date connection means? Anyhow it was a full weekend of MLS action as the vast majority of teams won't see action again for several weeks, so with a big break in front of them how did teams respond?

So beyond just the numbers there are a couple of services out there that use formulas to try to figure out where teams stand. There are the Sagarin ratings featured on USA Today's website, they have the top 5 as this:

1. Sporting Kansas City
2. San Jose Earthquakes
3. New York Red Bulls
4. Real Salt Lake
5. Houston Dynamo

So with the break at hand I am going to do a total league ranking as for most teams they are at least 1/3 of the way through their season. Now I know a lot of people wonder how I do my rankings, I try to factor in a lot of things and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I look at over all record, recent form, home and road performance, who they have played, and then I go by how the teams look (I do try to watch as much of every match as I can, and this year I have seen about 90% of the MLS matches played). So here is my number 1 team:

1. Real Salt Lake - 9-3-2 - 29 pts 4-0-1 in last 5 - 2.07 points per match

No team has a better record over their last 5 matches, and despite not playing up to the expectations of themselves or their fans the team has dealt with numerous injury issues as well as national team call ups. Just once in 14 matches has RSL really had their top choice lineup at the start of a match, and yet they find out a way to get results. Yes they are my home town team but in MLS action you just can't count them out of any match at home or on the road. They are lead by Alvaro Saborio with 6 goals and Fabian Espindola with 4 goals, and 5 clean sheets

The rest of my rankings after the jump:

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So twitter is a fun an interesting place, recently while questioning the moves of the TV networks who cover Major League Soccer to focus only on large market teams and by passing matches like Real Salt Lake vs. Sporting KC, I mentioned that I believe one of the big reasons for MLS to be so single-mindedly focused on NY2 as the next team to enter MLS is it will give them another big market team for TV. Note, Orlando is the 19th largest TV market, Minneapolis is #15, and Las Vegas is #42.

So out of that comment started the debate about New York 2, now I need to clear up one thing I don't care if NY2 happens or not, my biggest issue is with MLS throwing their attention, staff, and finances behind a potential franchise in New York City over all the other potential markets. I think it is unfair, and I think it is a bad business move. Yet, everyone who supports the idea tells me that it is a sure deal, that a team located in the City proper would do gang busters like the Cosmos used to do. To me that is just an awful point to make for a number of reasons. So I thought to be fair I would create a post with my concerns and questions about a potential MLS going to New York City proper, and to make it more informational I sent my questions to Mike Firpo of SoccerNewsday.com to get his insight on why a second team in New York makes good sense for Major League Soccer.

Now this conversation is a lengthy one, so it will be published in 3 or 4 parts so it is easier for you to read, as well as so we can create further conversation via comments about particular questions and concerns

So I am going to start with an easy one:

Why should Major League Soccer give a potential NY2 an advantage over other markets?
By hiring full time staff and spending money on finding a location, funding, and potentially building a stadium when none of the potential investors/owners are willing to do so? Everyone in favor of NY2 says it is a no brainier, a sure fired success, but in the investment capital of the world, then why hasn't a single person or group stepped up? If this is such a sweet deal that MLS and their owners are willing to sell a portion of SUM to finance this, why isn't a single outside investor willing to do so? AEG the company behind the LA Galaxy and almost everything else isn't interesting in this project, when I see that nobody is willing to step up and do this one their own, it makes me ask why? Nobody at MLS had a full time job helping Dave Checketts find a stadium location, nobody at MLS invested $100 million to building it for him. He put his money at risk, as did the owners of all the other teams to join MLS since 2005, but nobody is willing to risk their money on NY2 unless MLS does it first. Yeah that instills a huge amount of confidence in me.

After the jump, Mike's responses to this question(Mike's comments will be in italics so you can keep our thoughts separate) :

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It was an ugly night at Rio Tinto Stadium on Tuesday night as the home team got out manned and out played by NASL side Minnesota Stars. For RSL they weren't the only team in Major League Soccer to find rough goings on Tuesday night, in fact 50% of the MLS teams that played, lost. Two more MLS teams will play on Wednesday night and try their luck.

Here is the Press release from US Soccer:

EVEN MLS TEAMS OUSTED IN THIRD ROUND OF 2012 LAMAR HUNT U.S. OPEN CUP

2011 Runner-Up Chicago Fire, Defending MLS Champion LA Galaxy Among Third-Round Casualties

CHICAGO (May 29, 2012) - Seven of the 14 Major League Soccer (Division I) teams playing during Tuesday's third round action of the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup have already been shown the exits. It was a big day of upsets throughout the tournament field.

The 2011 U.S. Open Cup runner-up and four-time U.S. Open Cup champion Chicago Fire was upended by the PDL's Michigan Bucks 4-3 in overtime in Pontiac, Mich. Defending MLS champion LA Galaxy, sitting in last place in MLS's Western Conference, continued its recent struggles with a 2-1 loss to the Carolina RailHawks - a team that has not posted a win this year in the North American Soccer League (Division II).

The USL PRO's Harrisburg City Islanders (Division III) had one of the more thrilling upsets of this year's tournament, clawing back from a 3-0 deficit in overtime and defeating the New England Revolution in a game-ending shootout.

Other upsets included the NASL's San Antonio Scorpions over the Houston Dynamo, the USL PRO's Dayton Dutch Lions topping the Columbus Crew, Clinton Irwin's 10-save effort to lead the USL PRO's Charlotte Eagles past FC Dallas and NASL side Minnesota Stars FC's road win against Real Salt Lake.

The third round concludes on Wednesday with two games. Three-time defending U.S. Open Cup champion Seattle Sounders FC hosts the NASL's Atlanta Silverbacks at 7 p.m. PT at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash. The other match has the USASA's Cal FC taking on the Portland Timbers at 7:30 p.m. PT at JELD-WEN Field in Portland, Ore.

The 99th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup includes a random selection process for determining home teams from the first round through the quarterfinals among clubs that have applied to host. The process, conducted by a coin flip, gives participating teams with venues meeting tournament standards an equal chance at hosting their possible opponent for these rounds.

Complete results and recaps from the 3rd round after the jump, along with RSL's match recap & facts:

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I didn't attend the post match press conference tonight, I just couldn't bear the thought of listening to Jason after the team performed so poorly. You can watch the video from the press conference on the RSL website.

I am however able to bring you the post match quotes thanks to the great work of the RSL Communications Team.

REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS

On the match:

"First and foremost I want to make sure we do the right thing here and give credit to Minnesota, because I don't want to talk too much about how poorly my team played, I want to talk quite a bit about how well they played. From minute one to minute 90 it looked like their team wanted it more than we did. At the end of it all, I think the score was fair, because the effort just wasn't good enough."

On RSL's performance:

"We've been preaching the same message to our team for many, many years now which is: if they're not going to be fully committed to the game, they will not get results, and tonight they came in at about 75%. They thought that was going to be good enough and it clearly was not. We made it very clear to our players that this was going to be a very organized defensive team, very difficult to break down, a team that hasn't lost yet, for a reason. It was a difficult game for us to breakdown, tons of players in the middle of our midfield, really challenged us to do something different."

To RSL fans and management:

"They just wanted to win more than we did, which is embarrassing. I think we owe a debt of gratitude and apology first and foremost to our ownership and to the management for pulling strings and working extremely hard to get the match here, and we owe an apology to our fans. That was a terrific crowd tonight for an Open Cup match, and we brought them down miserably."

more after the jump

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Well Real Salt Lake's front office opened their billfold and paid the price to play host to Minnesota for their 3rd round US Open Cup match. Real Salt Lake's fans showed up in record breaking numbers, over 17K strong a record for a non-final US Open Cup match. The difference on the night was that the Real Salt Lake players looked more than just a little off, when was the last time our defense allowed a team to dominate them in their own area? When was the last time out midfield was so clearly out hustled?

Now I am not going to make a single excuse for any of the RSL players tonight, I am going to say quite simply that they were out played on both sides of the ball by a team that clearly showed more heart and passion on the night. Minnesota took advantage of our mistakes, they took advantage of their opportunities and for 90 minutes they outplayed the team at the top of the MLS table.

more thoughts after the jump:

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Well it is about time for the action to kick off for the third round of the US Open Cup and with all the MLS teams being a part of the tournament this year, as well as the NASL teams (they weren't involved last year). It should make for an interesting round as the 16 Major League Soccer teams join the tournament and are matched up against teams from the lower divisions. The NASL (considered the 2nd division in the US) has 6 teams in the 3rd round, USL Pro (considered the 3rd division) has 7 teams that have made their way to the 3rd round, the PDL offers up two teams and the USASA (United States Adult Soccer Association) which offers up Cal FC which is managed by Eric Wynalda and Nick Webster.

While their has been a bit of controversy about some lower division clubs selling their hosting rights to MLS sides, the reality is that the rules allow for such changes and in some cases it can provide a real boost in finances for clubs that often average around 1,000 fans. The action is always fun in these matches as players get to match themselves up against players from the top tier of soccer in the United States and for many of the players on lower division teams it is a chance to showcase their skills. Often lower division sides have several players who have either been drafted, been on trial or played with MLS sides, in fact in the 2nd round of the US Open Cup, 6 players with ties to Real Salt Lake found the back of the net in their respective matches:

• Pablo Campos
• Conor Chinn
• Raphael Cox
• Jamie Watson
• Artur Aghasyan
• Chris Agorsor

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OK, I will be completely honest I haven't seen the Minnesota Stars play, I barely have time to catch all the MLS action so my knowledge of them isn't as good as it would be for a MLS team. I do know that they did win the NASL playoffs last year, but didn't take part in the US Open Cup.

They do have a couple guys whose names could be familiar to RSL fans, Justin Davis who was a RSL draft pick in 2010 but not signed by the team is a regular starter for the Stars. Fuad Ibrahim, who was drafted by FC Dallas in 2007 and eventually ended up with Toronto FC, where he played in 26 matches for them before being released at the end of the 2010 season. They also feature Daniel Wasson, who played a couple years with the Rapids before heading to Europe, there is also Amani Walker who was at the 2011 MLS Combine and drafted by the Chicago Fire but not signed to a contract. They also have a pair of players who were selected in the 2012 MLS draft but not signed by their teams Kevin Venegas was drafted by Chivas USA, and Miguel Ibarra was drafted by the Portland Timbers.

The Minnesota Stars are 4-0-4 in NASL action, and just 1 point out of first place, they have gotten 3 goals and 3 assists from Armani Walker, and Miquel Ibarra hwas 2 goals and 1 assist for the Stars. Much like RSL they don't depend on any one player or position to provide all their offense, in fact they have 10 players who have scored goals for them this year.

Real Salt Lake hasn't had much success in US Open Cup action, but to be honest the last couple years the road to even make it to the tournament hasn't been easy, busy MLS schedule, midweek matches, visits to the White House, and other distractions have kept RSL out to the tournament proper for years. However if you listen to what RSL head coach Jason Kreis said on Saturday night after the teams 3-2 win over FC Dallas, you can expect a very different level of effort on Tuesday night.

more after the jump:

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At the start of this season, a new anthem was given to the fans of Real Salt Lake by one of their own as Branden Steineckert it is a simple enough chant:

"If you believe, then just stand up on your feet and shout it loud REAL! Here at the Riot the battle hymn's begun, We're here for RSL!"

It has been heard all around the league and around the world via Youtube, where the video has over 100,000 views, what makes it so special in my heart is hearing it live at Rio Tinto Stadium, not when it is played over the PA system, but when a couple fans start it, then a couple hundred and soon thousands are chanting it. I honestly believe that the chant means more to our team than words can describe and when you see their eyes when it is being sung loud and proud in the stadium you will know what I mean.

So clearly RSL fans have taken this chant to heart, and has it played a role in the fact that despite injuries, national team call ups, suspension, and bizarre calls haven't been able to slow down RSL who heading into the MLS break for FIFA dates sit at the top of both the Western Conference as well as the overall MLS table? I don't know but you have to believe so.

So now there is a chance for you to help keep this going as Jordan Duke has designed a shirt with the lyrics that you can pre-order here. Here is what Jordan had to say about the shirts:

I wanted to make something that didn't look like typical sports team merch. I laid it out in such a way that would help you learn the cadence of the song if you'd never heard it. All the most important words are larger than the rest and the lines are broken up to sort of show you the rhythm. I did a handmade poster print for Branden for his birthday and was originally going to sell posters but I liked the idea of the shirt because it was something you could wear to games and anyone who was curious about the lyrics could pick them up off a shirt. People seem to be into the poster so I might do a small run of them in the future.

They're going to be printed on really soft American Apparel shirts. I'm doing preorders on the Believe shirt for 2 weeks. After that I will send the order to the printers. I'm doing it like this because I'm doing it on the side and thought if I got enough orders it would be hard to balance work and this side project. It's also less of a risk for me, this way I won't end up printing a bunch of shirts that may not sell. I hope thats clear on the order page. I don't want people to think they will ship immediately.

I got mine ordered, how about you?

OFF MY SOAPBOX

After Saturday nights 3-2 win over FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis answered questions from the media, here is the video of that press conference:

Here are some additional post match quotes thanks to the RSL Communication Team:

Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jason Kreis

On the Match:

"Oh to be a season ticket holder right now...we're giving them their money's worth for sure. Another crazy game tonight, FC Dallas played really hard, there was no giving up for them and that made our night difficult for sure. I am very pleased to get the three points against what I think is a very difficult opponent. When you're missing guys like Kyle Beckerman, Nick Rimando, Javi Morales and Chris Wingert..Four very strong leaders...to be without them and have the guys react how they did is a very good sign."

On Terukazu Tanaka, Kyle Reynish, and Yordany Alvarez:

"All three did well. Obviously, Tanaka assisted on the first goal, which was a very nice cross on his part. He did well to get around his defender. I thought he had a strong performance, Yordany I thought had a pretty strong night, especially in the first half. I thought he was breaking up a ton of plays in the midfield, and was in the right spot a lot of times. He still can be a little bit cleaner on the ball for me. I think that we will have a good chance to see improvement from him with Open Cup. Renyish had a strong night. Unfortunate that he didn't make that save that was a goal-line decision. I thought he did well with that play. On the 2nd goal, I think he probably needed to do better, but those things I think come from playing more. I think he's probably pretty relieved going around patting all the rest of the fellas on the back, especially Borchers."

more quotes after the jump:

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Well Saturday night was an exciting night at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, where despite the chilly, wet, and windy conditions over 19,000 fans were in house to see 5 second half goals as Real Salt Lake took the lead 3 different times to secure the top spot in the Western Conference. Here is the official post match info from the RSL Communications team:

STOPPAGE-TIME DRAMA EXTENDS RSL UNBEATEN STREAK TO SIX WITH 3-2 WIN OVER DALLAS

RSL Attack Rides Saborio Brace, Borchers Heroics to 29^th point in 14 Games & Supporters Shield Lead;

Claret & Cobalt Improve to 9-3-2

SANDY, UTAH (Saturday, May 26, 2012) - Real Salt Lake (9-3-2, 29 points, West #1) reclaimed its lead atop both the overall and Western Conference standings with tonight's 3-2 home victory against FC Dallas (3-8-4, 13 points, West #8). RSL DF Nat Borchers struck the game-winner in the 93' to rescue all three points for RSL, after Dallas battled back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits. The Borchers strike marked RSL's third stoppage-time game winner this season - all by 3-2 scores (MF Kyle Beckerman 3/31 @ POR; MF Jonny Steele 4/28 v TOR) and all in games RSL led 1-0 - sending 19,341 Rio Tinto Stadium faithful home happy.

After a scoreless first half, it was Real Salt Lake FW Alvaro Saborio staking RSL to leads in the 59^th and 76^th minutes, tallying his fifth and sixth goals of the season - and the 39^th and 40^th of his career - to claim the club's 2012 scoring lead as the Claret-and-Cobalt improved to 24-4-5 all-time when the Costa Rican striker finds the back of the net.

Making his second career MLS start at right back tonight for RSL was Japanese DF Terukazu Tanaka, who provided the assist on Saborio's opener. RSL midfielders Ned Grabavoy and Jonny Steele each were credited with assists on Sabo's second, while tonight's two-goal performance was Saborio's 10^th in 73 all-time games for RSL, which is now 25-3-4 in games where a player scores multiple goals.

more after the jump:

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Well the last match before the FIFA break for both sides, and the two are currently heading in very different directions, while RSL has a 5 match unbeaten streak and is within inches of the top of the Western Conference, FC Dallas hasn't won a match in their last 8 and could fall into last place in the conference depending on results this weekend. These teams already faced each other once this year a match back in April that ended in a 1-1 draw at FC Dallas, where RSL claimed just their second ever point on the road against Dallas. FC Dallas is one of the few teams who have done rather well when playing in Utah, they have a 3-7-1 mark with 12 goals scored and 21 goals allowed when they come to Salt Lake to play.

For Real Salt Lake, this is a chance to step back up to the top of both the Western Conference and overall MLS table, but to do so they will need to overcome the fact that they will be missing several key players. Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando are with the USMNT, and it is likely that we won't see Chris Wingert or Javier Morales either, but for RSL playing without their top lineup is nothing new this year. Twenty two players have already seen first team action for RSL this year and before this match is out, we could see another one or two added to that list. FC Dallas actually has had even more players get first team minutes this year with all their injuries, suspensions, and other issues, in fact they have already had 28 players get first team minutes this year, in fact only 6 have gotten more than 900 minutes for Dallas. 7 players for RSL have already gone past the 900 minute mark.

Saturday night is looking like it will be a chilly, wet and windy night at Rio Tinto Stadium which could impact both the crowd as well as the actual match as the stadium already tends to funnel the wind towards the pitch. The conditions could be a real equalizer in this one as both teams will likely struggle to deal with them.

after the jump, my Key Match Up, Wildcards and more

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Well it is that time again,and the last for a few weeks as MLS will head into a FIFA break for a couple of weeks following this weekends action. So a final chance for teams to gains some points before the break, 9 matches fill the weekend for MLS so let's get started.

Los Angeles Galaxy at Houston Dynamo - 12:30pm MT - NBC Sports

How tempting this match must have looked before the season started, a holiday weekend kicked of with a rematch of the 2011 MLS Cup, but oh my how things have changed. The Houston Dynamo started their season with 7 straight road matches before opening their new home stadium, and find themselves with just a 3-3-4 record and in 7th place in the East. The LA Galaxy wish they were in 7th place, instead they are 3-7-2 and in last place in the West and are 0-4-1 in the last 5 matches. LA is simply dealing with a lot of issues including the fact that they will be without Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane who like Houston's Geoff Cameron are on national team call ups, LA is also dealing with just a lack of cohesion on the pitch. Houston have had their own issues as their usually very stingy defense hasn't lived up to it's reputation and on offense neither Brian Ching or Will Bruin have looked really dangerous this year. I can see this one a 0-0 or 1-1 draw.

Philadelphia Union at Toronto FC - 2:30pm MT - Direct Kick and MLS Live

The bottom two team in all of MLS will do battle as TFC look for their first points of the MLS season just days after claiming a spot in the Champions League by winning the Canadian Championship. This could be a make or break match for the coaches of each of these teams as well, in fairness both sides have dealt with a lot of injuries this year and for Philly you can add in a ton of roster changes since last year. Toronto FC have listed Torsten Frings on their probable lineup and if he plays it could be the shot in the arm that the Reds need to get some points. Freddy Adu is back after his red card suspension and if he can play like he did a couple weeks ago he could spark some good things for the Union. Still this is likely to be a "hot mess" on the pitch, but I am going with TFC to pick up their first win 2-1.

the rest of the weekend after the jump:

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Well after a week off of Major League Soccer action it is time for Real Salt Lake to get in one more match before the league FIFA break, so with FC Dallas already in town what better way to get ready than 3 questions with Big D Soccer?

So let's find out what is going on inside the minds behind Big D Soccer:

1) With FC Dallas in the middle of a run that has seen them go without a win in their last 8 matches, I know that one major issue has been injuries that just seem to keep mounting but we have also seen some mental breakdowns. Brek Shea's kicking the ball at an official, and then rumors of a post-match red card Wednesday night in Chicago, has the pressure started getting to players who expect better of themselves?

A) "A few games ago I would've said no, but things are really starting to wear on FC Dallas. You're right that some players who expect more out of themselves have been making uncharacteristic errors like Zach Loyd and Daniel Hernandez while there's just no one on offense in a good rhythm right now. As I'm sure many know, FCD is a team that hasn't won in eight games, just two off the franchise record and the team is definitely showing a few cracks. The one positive to everything is that after Saturday's game, FCD only has two games in the entire month of June to get their heads right, get healthy and gets their stars back on the field. What were all wondering is if it's too late."

2) I know RSL fans have been very frustrated with some of the strange calls and non-calls of the officials this year, in the 2-1 loss at Chicago the winning goal was scored by Marco Pappa who clearly entered the area before the Fire PK had been taken, which is a violation of the rules. Have the FC Dallas fans, become very jaded like most of the RSL fans are when it comes to the officials and expecting matches to be called fairly and correctly?

A) "Man it's just one thing after another with these referees. In the Columbus game two weeks ago it was Zach Loyd sent off for two yellow cards byt Justin Meram committing three slam dunk yellow card fouls and only receiving one yellow for a kick to Hernan Perutz' throat. Then the next game against Philadelphia Michael Lahoud, already on a yellow card, goes in studs up on Perutz in a play that has put Pertuz out of action for a month while a foul wasn't even called on the play. Then the last game in Chicago I'm sure most have seen the pk goal where Pappa was basically even with the penalty kick taker but no call was made.

You hate to blame referees but when it's every single game that an egregious error is being made it just begins to spiral out of control. Schellas has said he wants a team of fighters and not complainers though so you just kind of move on and wait for your turn of the good luck."

more after the jump:

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OK, so US Soccer did another of those random draw things to come up with the possible matches and possible locations (which we now know are very fluid) for the 4th round of the US Open Cup. For Real Salt Lake if we should win on Tuesday, May 29th then we would:

Real Salt Lake (MLS)/Minnesota Stars FC (NASL) Winner at San Jose Earthquakes (MLS): Cagan Stadium, Stanford University; Stanford, Calif.; 7:30 p.m. PT

OR

Fort Lauderdale Strikers (NASL) at Real Salt Lake (MLS): Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah; 7 p.m. MT

OR

Fort Lauderdale Strikers (NASL) at Minnesota Stars FC (NASL): National Sports Center; Blaine, Minn.; 7:30 p.m. CT

So our fate depends on who wins between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers

Here is their press release:

012 LAMAR HUNT U.S. OPEN CUP FOURTH-ROUND POSSIBLE PAIRINGS ANNOUNCED

MLS Teams Join Tournament's Third Round on May 29 and 30

CHICAGO (May 23, 2012) - U.S. Soccer has announced the fourth-round possible pairings and locations for the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Results from the third round of play next Tuesday, May 29, and Wednesday, May 30, will determine the matchups for the fourth round taking place one week later on Tuesday, June 5.

The 99th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup includes a random selection process for determining home teams from the first round through the quarterfinals among clubs that have applied to host. The process, conducted by a coin flip, gives participating teams with venues meeting tournament standards an equal chance at hosting their possible opponent for these rounds.

All the potential matches are after the jump:

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So late Tuesday night after the 2nd round of the US Open Cup was played (full results after the jump) both the Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake reached out to their opponents and made them offers that would allow them to host the 3rd round match at their location. Heck the Portland Timbers did it before their potential oppoents even played their match.

Now in years past the location of matches was decided by a blind bid process and while many didn't like that system it was what we had (I didn't like it, for a number of reasons). So this year US Soccer which runs the tournament made some changes, in part the biggest two changes were inclusion of all MLS teams at the 3rd round level and:

a random selection process for determining home teams from the first round through the quarterfinals among clubs that have applied to host. This change gives each participating team with a venue meeting tournament standards an equal chance at hosting its possible opponent for these rounds.

US Soccer

The first change eliminated the fact that MLS teams had been entering the tournament in the 4th round and that teams had to "qualify" for those spots via play in matches against other MLS teams. The second change appears to have had much more in it than what information was released to the public, including the option for teams to buy the hosting rights from other teams that might have won those rights via the random selection process.

Now there is more than meets the eyes when it comes to hosting a US Open Cup match, but most of those details are only known to the teams taking part in the tournament as they are part of the 2012 US Open Cup handbook( if anyone wants to send me a copy, let me know) but we do know that there are fees involved for hosting the 3rd and 4th rounds as well as the Quarterfinals (which now use the draw). Those fees start at 12K and head to 25K, plus 15% of the gate if it goes over 100K.

So while RSL and Seattle lost their draw they clearly wanted to host the event and were willing to work with the Minnesota Stars and Atlanta Silverbacks (both clubs without deep pockets) to change the venues, it is within the rules so why are some having a problem with it? Will those same people have a problem when the semifinals and final are decided by the bid process and awarded to the highest bidder? Here is a statement from the Silverbacks on how they will use those fund to improve the team and deliver more to the fans.

more thoughts after the jump:

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Oh my how so many jumped on their high horses when it was announced that Seattle bought the rights to host their 3rd round match against Atlanta after the Silverbacks had won the draw. Yet Real Salt Lake made the same move, it is about finances and home field advantage, and within the rules of how US Soccer set up the tournament.

Here is a bit from the US Soccer Press release:

Three third-round scheduling changes were made following Tuesday's second-round play. MLS's Real Salt Lake, which would have gone on the road to face the NASL's Minnesota Stars in Blaine, Minn., is now hosting the third-round matchup. RSL and Minnesota will play each other at 7 p.m. MT on Tuesday, May 29, at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.

The Seattle Sounders also will host their third-round match, which originally would have been played in Atlanta, Ga., against the NASL's Atlanta Silverbacks. Seattle will host Atlanta at 7 p.m. PT on Wednesday, May 30, at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash.

The Chivas USA-Ventura County Fusion game will take place at Ventura College in Ventura, Calif., kicking off at 7 p.m. PT on Tuesday, May 29.

US Soccer

I said it for Seattle and I will say it for RSL, a team should do whatever they can within the rule to get as much advantage as possible. I have no problem at all with this as it is within the tournament guidelines. It will provide the Minnesota Stars with a larger payday than they could have gotten by hosting, it prevents RSL from having to travel and allows them both home field advantage and the potential to make some money.

Here is the ticket info from RSL:

Tickets for RSL's debut in the 99^th edition of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will go on-sale to the public TOMORROW, Wednesday, May 23 at 10:00 a.m. MT, with tickets in all general seating areas at Rio Tinto Stadium costing just $10 for current Real Salt Lake Season Ticket Holders and only $15 for the general public. Real Salt Lake "PRIDE" Season Ticket Holders will have their seating locations reserved throughout Wednesday and Thursday, and can purchase an unlimited amount of tickets. U.S. Open Cup contests are NOT already included in the 2012 ticket package and MUST be purchased separately.

Full RSL press release after the jump

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New teams at the top of both conferences, as well as a overall change at number 1. So as I look at both the standings and the matches over the last couple months it appears to me that their are really 3 tiers of teams (remember when SB Nation did a tiered power ranking?). There are a group of 6 teams at the top, and a group of 8 or so in the middle and a small group that simply are looking awful. So let's start to take a look at the Eastern Conference, where the surprise of DC United's climb has them closing in on the top spot in the East:

1. New York Red Bulls - 8-3-1

No team in MLS is hotter than the Red Bulls, and to think they are doing this without Thierry Henry makes it all the more impressive. This weekend they became the first team to beat Montreal at home, now granted this was an insane match with a pair of questionable handball calls, and then in the second half New York went down to 10 men but were still able to get the winning goal down a man but then able to hold on despite giving up over 60% possession and facing 20 shots. New York will play host to Chivas USA on Wednesday and then be off for the FIFA break.

2. D.C. United - 7-4-3

Two matches last week and two wins with a 2-0 win over the Rapids, and then a 3-1 win over Toronto FC and while when they are good they are really good, but we have seen them also play some flat matches this year. I think they have made some great moves with bringing in a combination of young players and others to build around Dwayne De Rosario. DC has had the busiest schedule having played 14 matches, they will get one more in before the FIFA break as they will play host to the New England Revolution on Saturday.

the rest of the rankings after the break

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Well there is no Real Salt Lake match this weekend in MLS (only their exhibition against BYU) but there are 9 matches in MLS this weekend and some key Western Conference matchups, so lets get started:

Seattle Sounders at Vancouver Whitecaps - 3:00pm MT - Direct Kick and MLS Live

Not only is this a clash between the #3 and #4 teams in the Western Conference it is one of those Cascadia matches were as we saw last year just about anything can happen. Both sides are coming off losses that broke up multi match win streaks, so we know both teams are playing fairly well. The Sounders have played dominating defense so far this year allowing just 4 goals to be scored against them in their first 10 matches, while the Whitecaps have been evenly balanced with 10 goals scored and 11 goals allowed. Normally the home field advantage would be a big factor in a match but with the Whitecaps having played so many matches in the last couple weeks (this will be their 6th match in May) I think that negates a home field advantage. The question is can the Whitecaps defense withstand the Sounders attack, can the likes of Jay DeMerit and YP Lee deal with Eddie Johnson, Fredy Montero, and the rest of the Sounders? I don't think they can but I am going with a 2-2 draw in this one, but wouldn't be surprised if the Sounders get the win.

New York Red Bulls at Montreal Impact - 5:30pm MT - Direct Kick and MLS Live

At the start of the season this one would have been considered a fairly lopsided match between an expansion team and one of the power teams of the East, and while the Red Bulls have finally lived up to the hype and lead the East, the Impact haven't been a typical expansion team and have actually gotten themselves into contention for a playoff spot with 4 straight results. The question is can the Impact take advantage of their home turf advantage, where they haven't lost (2-0-2) to get revenge against the Red Bulls who beat them 5-2 earlier this season? If you doubt the ability of the Impact, consider this, they went to KC and beat Sporting and were the better team in a 1-1 draw against the LA Galaxy last weekend. The Red Bulls looked a bit iffy after 3 straight 1-0 wins as they had to come from behind against the Union last weekend in their 3-2 win. Can the NYRB backline provide Ryan Meara with the support a rookie keeper needs, or will Bernardo Corradi and the Impact offense rule the day? Even with the turf I have to pick the Red Bulls to get a 2-1 win.

the rest of the weekends matches after the jump:

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Many RSL fans are jonesing for some live RSL action, well the team won't be playing at Rio Tinto until the 26th when FC Dallas comes to town, but you can catch some live Real Salt Lake action on Saturday:

REAL SALT LAKE TO FACE BYU COUGARS IN EXHIBITION ON SATURDAY, MAY 19

Kickoff at South Field at 5:00 p.m.; Tickets Available in Advance at BYUtickets.com

SANDY, Utah (Thursday, May 17, 2012) - League-leading Real Salt Lake (8-3-2, 26 pts.; West #1), as part of its 13-day layoff from MLS action, will head south to Provo for an exhibition match against the Brigham Young University Cougars on Saturday, May 19, 2012. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. MT at South Stadiumon the BYU campus.

"We're very excited to be playing down in Provo this weekend. We look forward to a great game against BYU, and we look forward to playing in front of the great fans in Provo as we work to build the RSL audience all over the state of Utah," stated RSL General Manager Garth Lagerwey.

more info after the jump:

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On Wednesday @MLS tweeted the following:

So it is kinda funny that I was looking at some numbers recently and some of them compared the footprint of MLS on soccer in the US, how much of the dollars generated by TV did MLS capture and how much of the live event dollars did MLS capture? Now the numbers were generated in 2009 but I think they are revealing as a guideline to how the gap between the fans who buy tickets and come out to matches and the overall lack of TV ratings.

now those might be a bit hard to see with such a small image but let me explain what you are seeing the yellow section on each chart represents the portion of the revenue pie that MLS gathers from various sources. So the first is a break down of the $126,000,000 cumulative US TV spend. MLS claimed $9,000,000 of that pie, which was dominated by Mexican League soccer, Premier League soccer, and La Liga soccer, who had $50,000,000, $20,000,000 and $16,000,000 respectively. In fact MLS generated the same amount of revenue 7% as did the FMF rights.

Now we all know that MLS has struggled with their TV ratings and we have talked about that in the past, but it is the second chart that spells a much better story for MLS, that is the breakdown of the $136,000,000 cumulative US spend on tickets to live soccer events. Here MLS owns 45% of the market, and generated a whopping $61,849,765, the next closest rival was the Gold Cup which claimed $15,000,000 in total ticket sales, the combined international friendlies from CAA and SUM generated just under $25,000,000 in ticket sales.

After the jump a much deeper look at some of the numbers from both the live event side as well as from TV:

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For Real Salt Lake a light MLS schedule before the FIFA break is a good thing, as the team will be dealing with a number of missing players. First we know that Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando were in the first 16 players called into the US Men's National Team camp, and while I doubt that any other RSL players will be called in before the 5 matches that are coming up, I don't expect that either will be coming back. I think Nick Rimando has proved himself and will get a fair shot at claiming the number two spot keeper spot, and if he is given a shot, I think he claims the spot.

That is only the start, I expect on Thursday when Canada announces their call ups that we will lose Will Johnson, and whenever Costa Rica announces their list, I expect that Alvaro Saborio will be on the list as well. That means that it is very likely that for the May 26th match against FC Dallas that RSL could be without those 4 players, now had RSL no had experience dealing with injuries and suspensions already this year, I would be worried but I am not.

There are no MLS matches scheduled for RSL after that match until June 16th. The USMNT has 5 matches scheduled between May 26th and June 12th, the Canadian National team has two matches between June 3rd and June 12th. Costa Rica will have 4 matches between May 26th and June 12th. So as you can see it will be a busy couple weeks for the guys who get national team call ups, so beyond that one MLS match, how could these call ups impact RSL?

The answer after the jump:

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So this puts a Real damper on my plans for a extended Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas, or I should say it could put a damper on my plans. But the reality of how important the US Open Cup is, as it is the easiest path to a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League, win 5 matches and you are in. There is also a matter of allocation money, as Garth Lagerwey mentioned on #OnFrame on Monday night, there is now an allocation money bonus for teams that wins the US Open Cup, and for players there is also prize money at stake. So while it may be a bit inconvenient to my travel plans, this is one of the Trophies that we want and should be a part of every MLS teams real agenda of #TrohpiesNotFriendlies as we look to fill our schedules with matches that matter.

Real Salt Lake learned their fate for the 3rd round of the US Open Cup:

Real Salt Lake (MLS) at Minnesota Stars FC (NASL): National Sports Center; Blaine, Minn.; 7:30 p.m. CT

OR

Des Moines Menace (PDL) at Real Salt Lake (MLS): Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah; 7 p.m. MT

So depending on who wins the May 22nd match between the Minnesota Stars FC and the Des Moines Menace, RSL could either find themselves playing host or having to travel to Minnesota, Hey didn't we lose to them in US Open Cup action several years ago? Ah yes it was a 6-4 loss back in 2005, when they were the Minnesota Thunder. So I guess we will be cheering for Des Moines or will I be cheering for an extra day in Vegas and watching RSL online?

Ticket Update from RSL:

IF RSL ends up hosting on 5/29 vs Des Moines, tickets will be $12 for general public and $6 for current PRIDE Season Ticket Holders ...

Once the Minn/Des Moines game is over, people can buy tix at RealSaltLake.com and STH can get their seats AND buy unlimited amount of seats at their preferred pricing ...

anyhow after the jump you can see the full press release from US Soccer:

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So it has been a while and getting any official information from either Major League Soccer or the MLS Players Union about details of the Collective Bargaining Agreement that was agreed to just days before the 2010 MLS season was scheduled to start. It cause a lot of conflict and controversy between the league, the players and to some extent the fans, but in the end a deal was reached and the season went on and since then there have been little things that have signaled some of the changes but recently I was given access to what I was told was a partial summary of the CBA that currently governs MLS.

There was little shocking in the document, and not a lot that was really revealing but that is the nature of these types of documents. I did find some interest in the Salary Cap numbers that will be in play the next couple years:

Salary Budget

2010 $2,550,000

2011 $2,675,000

2012 $2,810,000

2013 $2,950,000

2014 $3,100,000

I had nope that maybe we would see the cap grow a bit more quickly, we have to remember that most players have contracts that grow 5-15% a season. In fact we know that for players that make under $125,000 a year that if they play in 66% of their teams matches they will get at a 10% raise, and if they play in 75% of a their teams matches they will get a 12.5% increase.

The cap isn't growing quickly enough to keep up with that and that means that teams are forced to let players go because of cap restrictions and less about performance. That seems like a real shame for a league that needs constant improvement in quality of play to keep growing.

more information after the jump:

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Well there are 34 regular season matches on the MLS schedule this year for each team, for Real Salt Lake they have had the busiest start of any team in the league with 13 matches already played. That means that RSL has completed almost 40% of their season and so far one would have to claim it has been a rather successful start of the year for the claret and cobalt.

So we can look at the what might be the most telling number, that is the number of points per match that teams are earning. The last two seasons the LA Galaxy have been the winners of the Supporters' Shield with and average of 1.97 points per match. So this year has seen a number of teams get off to very good starts, 5 teams are above that total as we stand today:

It is important to remember that no team has finished at 2.00 or above since 2005 when the San Jose Earthquakes (MLS version 1) finished with a 18-4-10 record to get 64 points from 32 matches.

you can check out the full MLS break down of points per match plus more after the jump:

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