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Somewhat unintentionally, Jared and I turned Episode 61 into a Twitteriffic show. The microblogging service popped up several times throughout the week, leading to a theme we couldn't get away from.
We start, however, by meeting Jared's alter ego, Reginald Merriweather. What does Reginald wear? Does he have an accent? Why does he exist at all? Jared has the answers.
On to actual soccer topics, and we start with the MLS schedule release. Thursday's unveiling turned into a social media extravaganza, giving the League some unexpected publicity thanks to the hashtag #MLSScheduleIsLateBecause (a creation of Ives Galarcep, though I'm taking a tiny bit of credit - see the image above). There are TV issues involved with the schedule release, not the least of which is the choice of ESPN to showcase New York and LA multiple times. Jared obviously doesn't have a problem with that fact, but there is an argument out there for giving others a change at the spotlight. A new deal with FSC isn't done, so we naturally wonder what is going on there.
After the break we bring in Luis Bueno of Goal.com/MLSSoccer.com/The Press-Enterprise to talk about the LA teams. First up - Becks and his AWOL act, though it's not entirely clear if he the Galaxy are upset that Davy is wintering in London (which is nuts by the way). After hitting on the Galaxy, we move on the Chivas and uncertainty int he Goats' camp. New coach, but what are the expectations? If Chivas is going to improve and become a perennial playoff contender, they'll have to give Robin Fraser more time than they gave Martin Vasquez. We ask Luis about the outlook for CUSA in 2011 - it falls within a wide range of possibilities.
After we say goodbye to Luis, it's back to Twitter. Honduran-American teen sensations Andy Najar had a little fun with his Twitter followers this week, putting the question of which country he should play for to the people. He wasn't being serious, of course, and Jared and I assess just how concerned he is about the decision when he really has no reason to be. There's pressure, but how much of it is he feeling?
The Twitter fun continues with the debut of a new feature in which Jared gives us the best submissions to a hashtag he put out on Twitter during the week. Be sure to follow @Jrodius so you can participate. #CreepyFootballPickUpLines was this week's theme. There may or may not be a massive helping of innuendo. Okay, there is.
Emails are next. Nathan has an opinion on Becks (I bet you can't guess what it is), and Jared gives his Galaxy-fan take on the Englishman's act. Then Jonathan has an observation about WPS, and wonders if American clubs that are adopting "sporting club" style names should be considering starting women's soccer teams in the spirit of the moniker.
We close part two with a brief mention of Charlie Davies - his signing on loan by DC United is looking like a foregone conclusion after he scored two more goals in a pre-season match over the weekend.
In the final segment I bring up the provisional sanctioning of the NASL for 2011, a positive development in the world of lower division soccer. I've been a hard-line advocate when it comes to DII standards, but it would be difficult to argue that no second division this year could possibly be a good thing.
Last but not least, I tease something fairly momentous for next week's show. We're getting the band back together.
Oh, and somehow I managed to get the episode number wrong in the opening of the show. This is why I should just never mention it. I'm not very good at math.
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