SiriusXM FC - A 24/7 Soccer Channel - Set to Launch

At 6:00 a.m. central time on Monday October 15, 2012, SiriusXM will launch a new channel devoted to soccer 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The channel, called SiriusXM FC, will be on Sirius 94, XM 207, and online channel 960. Additionally, certain programs on the new channel will be available on SiriusXM's On Demand feature. In addition to daily broadcasts of The Football Show and Counter Attack, the channel will feature English Premier League matches, FA Cup matches, and MLS Cup playoff matches. SiriusXM's coverage of American soccer will ramp up more with this new channel since it will be airing MLS Extra Time in addition to the MLS playoff matches. Grantland based Men and Blazers will also be featured on the new channel. Additional programming from talkSport will be used on SiriusXM FC to help round out the 24 hour broadcast schedule.

SiriusXM is a subscriber-based satellite radio company. While SiriusXM is built into many new automobiles, it is possible to retrofit an older vehicle with the service, and it is possible to purchase an online subscription only. For more information about subscribing to SiriusXM, home to The Howard Stern Show, visit: SiriusXM's Subscriptions page.

[VIDEO] Celebrating a Sunderland Goal, With a Dog

Sometimes EPL matches are worth watching for the randomness that occurs in the stands, such as in yesterday's match between Sunderland and Queen Park Rangers in which, if you watched closely, you would see a Sunderland fan celebrating Nicklas Bendtner's goal by standing and hugging/jumping with his dog. I guess it was a service dog, but, hard to say, but how else could you get your dog down to a first row seat. Sunderland went on to beat QPR 3-2.

A Birthday Gift Fit for A King: Liverpool 3 - 1 Manchester United

Kenny Dalglish, Coach of Liverpool, turned 60 on Friday March 4, 2011, but he couldn't unwrap the gift he most wanted until Sunday when his team beat Manchester United, 3-1, at Anfield. It was a hat trick from Dirk Kuyt that gave Liverpool the win, with United's only goal coming in stoppage time from Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez.

When the new American owners of Liverpool replaced Roy Hodgson with Kenneth Dalglish this past January, the move was well received by the Liverpool fans who had been clamoring for the return of King Kenny, but many observers wondered if Dalglish's long absence from the coaching ranks of top flight English football would be a hurdle preventing any real progress by Liverpool either on the pitch or on the table. Dalglish made his return to the Liverpool sideline on January 9th, when the team lost 1-0 to Manchester United in the FA Cup. Dalglish's first Premiere League match was against Blackpool, which Liverpool lost 3-1. The new Dalglish Era at Liverpool was off to a rocky start, but things turned around, and coming into today's match with Manchester United, Liverpool, under Dalglish's coaching, has picked up 14 points in the Premier League, only losing one more match, which was to Wigan last week.

Now that the squad and the Dalglish transfers, Andy Carroll and Luis Suárez, had several matches under their collective belt, Sunday's match with Manchester United would be a good a moment to measure how far the new Liverpool had come since their FA loss to Sir Alex Ferguson's side back in January.

The match started a bit slow, but Liverpool, led by Suárez, Raul Meireles, and Dirk Kuyt, went on to dominate the match, showing that Dalglish still has what it takes to coach in the EPL.

Liverpool's first goal came in the 34th minute after a beautiful dribble by Suárez set up Kuyt's first goal:

That Torres El Nino Banner Looks Awfully Familier

Yes, supporter groups copy each other, so it isn't surprising to see Chelsea supporters displaying a banner reminiscent of a Liverpool banner at Sunday's Chelsea-Liverpool match at Stamford Bridge. After all, Fernando Torres was in a Liverpool kit just last week and now he's in Chelsea blue facing his old team from the north.

But to leave the Shankly Gates in the banner too . . . tsk tsk Chelsea fans.

Readers of The Guardian pick Stuart Holden as best EPL Player of the Season, so Far

Less than year after leaving the Houston Dynamo and MLS for Europe, Stuart Holden has made a splash not only at his club, middle of the table Bolton, but in the English Premier League itself.

On its website, the British paper The Guardian allows its readers to submit player ratings for each game played in the EPL. The Guardian recently tabulated and analyzed the reader submitted player ratings and determined that its readers have ranked a young American midfielder, Stuart Holden, as the top player in the EPL so far this season.

CLICK HERE to read the story from The Guardian.

Other players who made The Guardian readers top XI include Richard Kingson (Blackpool), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Leighton Baines (Everton), Samir Nasri (Arsenal), Luka Modric (Tottenham), Rafael van der Vaart (Tottenham), Johan Elmander (Bolton), Andy Carroll (Newcastle).

Since joining Bolton in this past January's transfer window, Holden has become a regular member of the team's starting XI and has picked up two goals this season, including the game winner against Blackburn earlier this month.

Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, Holden grew up in the Sugar Land suburb of Houston. After stints at Clemson University and Sunderland, Holden earned a star role with his hometown Houston Dynamo and with the United States National Team, being part of the 23 man roster at the World Cup finals in South Africa 2010.

Young American players interested in playing in the EPL or elsewhere in Europe can take heart in the recent success of Americans like Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, and Stuart Holden in England. It appears that these are the players who are best positioned to pave the way for more American players to get a serious shot from European clubs.

Houston's Stuart Holden Scores First EPL Goal for Bolton

Former Houston Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden scored his first goal for Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League during today's 3-2 victory over Wolverhampton Wolves. In fact, Holden's goal proved to be the game winning goal giving Bolton the always good to have 3 points on the road.

Click here for The Guardian's Match Report.

Here's some video of the goal:

Stu scores his first goal in English football from The Haptonstall Group on Vimeo.

The Night Before: Will Liverpool's Future be Resolved on Friday?

As of this afternoon the future of Liverpool FC was, to a degree, back in the hands of the Honorable Jim Jordan, Judge of the District Court of Dallas County, Texas, 160th Judicial District, as attorneys for the Royal Bank of Scotland et al sought to have the temporary restraining order preventing the sale of Liverpool FC to NESV lifted. I'm not privy to the details of today's proceedings, but I do know that the court adjourned and will reconvene at 7:00 am central time tomorrow.

It's possible that Judge Jordan will review the law, pleadings, and arguments tonight and make a decision right of way tomorrow, or he might allow more oral argument before making a ruling tomorrow (though, he could postpone a decision until next week).

Time is of the essence as Liverpool FC is scheduled to go into administration unless an order to transfer funds for the purchase of the club is made by 3:00 pm London time tomorrow. At this point, I'll let my brethren in England explain the ramifications of administration and whether that process can be prevented if the Texas court doesn't rule in favor of RBS tomorrow.

CLICK HERE for an article from the Telegraph regarding the current Liverpool situation.

CLICK HERE for the Guardian's take.

CLICK HERE for an article by a sports law professor Michael McCann regarding the current legal situation.

I'm hoping a friend of mine who lives in the Dallas/Fort Worth area will be able to attend tomorrow's hearing and alert us to the results as soon as possible. Keep an eye on my twitter feed - http://www.twitter.com/bzygo - for updates.

"This case has nothing to do with Texas." - So now what for Liverpool Sale?

Here's my quick response to the latest news coming out of England regarding the legal drama concerning the sale of Liverpool FC. Today, the High Court in England has determined that the Texas courts do not have jurisdiction over the matters surrounding the sale of Liverpool FC. Here's the latest coverage of the High Court's proceedings from England:

The Guardian

The Telegraph

The Independent

So does this mean the Royal Bank of Scotland and the other defendants can just ignore the temporary restraining order and move forward with the sale of the club as planned? In reality, "No."

If they move forward with the sale without getting the TRO lifted, they still risk being in contempt of court.

Since we're dealing with two courts located in two separate countries, as of now, nothing that has been issued by either court has truly overruled what the other court has done. At this point all parties involved need to be careful about violating any of the court orders that have been issued by the two courts, until one of the courts cede's authority to the other court.

So what happens now?

The defendants in the Texas case are going to have to get the TRO lifted so that they can move forward with the sale without being in contempt of the TRO - the High Court can't lift the TRO, only the Texas court can do that. The defendants will submit the orders from the High Court to the Texas court and seek to have the Texas court recognize these orders as valid. There is a process for this, which I don't have time to really delve into at the moment. Just know that there are means of getting foreign court judgments/orders recognized in Texas courts.

As I mentioned in a prior article, Texas law usually requires 3 days notice for a hearing. Under that rule, Monday would be the earliest day to have a hearing. That being said, the defendants can still try to get the matter on Friday's court docket - by doing that it would mean the 3 day notice issue could be a basis for some kind of appeal, if things get that far.

At this point, I still think we're looking at a delay in the sale of the club. But we'll keep watching and see what other legal maneuvering occurs.

UPDATE:

It is my understanding that there is a hearing set to occur in the Dallas court today. I suspect this might have to do with the earlier talk that Hicks and Gillett's team were seeking to have the court find the defendants in contempt of the TRO. It is possible that the defendants' legal counsel will be present at this hearing and take it as an opportunity to get the TRO lifted. We'll see what happens.

There even are places where English completely disappears; in America they haven't used it for years.

As most of you know, on June 12, 2010 in Rustenburg, South Africa at Royal Bafokeng Stadium, the United States and England will meet for the first time in the World Cup finals since the US beat England 1-0 at Estádio Independência in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 1950. The June 12th match with England is arguably the most anticipated World Cup finals match in America since the US and Mexico faced each other in the Round of Sixteen during the 2002 World Cup finals.

Let's be honest here folks, since the World Cup finals were held in the US in 1994 two primary branches of football fans have developed in the US. To be clear, the type of football fan I'm talking about here is not an American who is an immigrant or a first generation American who grew up in a household where allegiance to the parents' national team was fostered. I'm talking about someone more akin to myself, someone who's family has been in the US for several generations and who discovered the game outside of the sphere of his/her ethnic background.

Since 1994,the growth of the internet and News Corp.'s ventures into sports broadcasting in the US, access to the English Premier League has grown exponentially. In turn, this growth of access to the EPL has resulted in a large following amongst Americans with no real connection to England. The end result being that a substantial number of American born football fans now support England's National Team over the US National Team.

Meanwhile, between the growth of Major League Soccer and the constant presence of the US National Team in the World Cup picture since 1990, a small, but vocal, group of ardent US football fans has developed in the States. The majority of these US fans are not ignorant of the game as it is played in Europe, Mexico, or South America, and while they may support foreign club teams, their heart is with the US National Team. These fans wholeheartedly support the US National Team in friendlies, tournaments, World Cup qualifiers, and, of course, the World Cup finals.

During this period of parallel growth between these two branches of US football fans, there has been some heckling, some ribbing, some light verbal jabs between the two groups, but since the senior England and US squads have not faced off in a meaningful game during this period, there has been no real cause for truly hard feelings, at least when it comes to the national teams (this piece isn't about the EPL v. MLS debate).

Since early December, when the World Cup draw occurred and the match between the US and England was announced, the tension between US fans and American England fans has grown steadily. Arguments between these two camps have popped up in bars, in blogs, on Twitter, on podcasts, and on various social networking sites, and of course that red light district known as Big Soccer.

I'm not here to argue one side over the other. I'm not here to convert those I disagree with to the side I support.

No, I'm here to ask a simple question - "Does it really matter?"

Lets face it folks, if we're totally and completely honest with ourselves, it's highly unlikely that either England or the US will be lifting the World Cup Trophy in Johannesburg on Sunday July 11th.

Since 1990, the US National Team has never been consistent when it comes to the World Cup finals. The US experience in the World Cup has tended to be horrid runs in 1990, 1998, and 2006, punctuated by a decent run in 1994 and a good run in 2002. Going into South Africa 2010, much of the talk about the US squad has focused on the match fitness of players coming back from injury and the lack of depth up front. While I don't doubt that the 23 players who will end up in South Africa would love to raise that trophy, the message from US Soccer, including the players, is that a good Cup run means getting out of the group stage. In other words, realistic expectations at Soccer House in Chicago and at the camp in Princeton are not overly optimistic.

While there are some seriously deluded US fans out there, they're clearly outnumbered by the seriously deluded England fans on both sides of the Atlantic. It's somewhat understandable in that England, the fist nation to organize the game of football (note I don't buy into the England creation theory), can still boast one of the biggest football club leagues in the world (while the club leagues of Cricket and Rugby thrive more in the old Commonwealth of England). However, this view is very myopic since it fails to recognize the fact that the top clubs in the EPL are full of non-English players. Yes, there are some English players at Chelsea, Manchester United, and Liverpool, and less then some at Arsenal, who are on the England squad, those clubs rely heavily on non-English talent, and representation of those clubs on the England squad appears to be outnumbered by players from club teams lower on the EPL table. I will concede that Tottenham Hotspur's presence in the top four after this season gives a little more hope to England fans going into South Africa 2010, but do you really want to rely on Spurs players when it comes to The Cup? Despite England's prominence in the early history of the Beautiful Game, the reality is, on the Big Stage, on a global scale, England is good, but not great.

So what's my point? Another question - "Does it matter?"

Does it really matter if you're an American who will be supporting the US or England on June 12th?

Odds are, if you head out to your local/favorite football bar or pub on June 12th, there will be US fans there and there will be American England fans there. There's no real reason to get mad at each other, to argue, to fight. Light ribbing and insults are fine, but in the end, what we really should be rooting for is a good, entertaining match between the US and England. The kind of match that might just grow the game a little more here in the States.

You want a solution from me? Here's my solution in the end - the supporters of the side that win the US - England match buy a round for the the supporters of the side that lose (everyone buys their own drinks if it's a draw.)

So a Eurosnob & an American Soccer Fan Walk into a Bar . . .

It's 2010, it's a FIFA World Cup finals year, and, we must admit, the beautiful game has a higher profile in the United States than it ever has since appearing in Italia '90. Granted, we said that in 2006 and we'll be saying the same thing in 2014, hopefully, since there's still plenty of room for soccer to raise its profile in the United States, but that being said, it's been a good 4 years since the US National Team was knocked out of the group stage in Germany 2006.

Since that inglorious showing in Germany, the US National Team went on to win the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup and beat European Champions, Spain, in the Semi-Finals of the Confederations Cup in 2009. Additionally, American players like Stuart Holden, Ricardo Clark, Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan, etc. have managed to find playing time, with mixed results, in European clubs.

Speaking of the club side of the sport, the past four years have seen interesting developments in Major League Soccer. Since 2006, MLS has expanded to Toronto, San Jose, Seattle, and Philadelphia, with plans to expand to Vancouver, Portland, and Montreal. Of course, the expansion to San Jose was like NFL expansion to Cleveland since the old San Jose team had relocated to Houston prior to 2006. In January 2007, MLS announced the creation of the designated player rule, a/k/a the Beckham Rule, as it announced that England National player David Beckham would be joining the Los Angeles Galaxy in July, after wrapping up the season at Real Madrid. Since 2007, the DP Rule has been expanded and the prospect of French National player Thierry Henry joining MLS after the World Cup finals is something the European press is already talking about. Finally, let's not forget the growth in soccer specific stadiums here in the United States, in a few years, only Seattle, New England, and D.C. United won't have soccer specific stadiums, with Seattle and New England being special cases cause of their relationships to the local NFL teams whose stadiums they share.

Meanwhile, since Germany 2006, the popularity of European club football has grown in the United States too. Fox Soccer Channel has seen its ratings for English Premier League matches grow to the extent that ESPN has teamed up with FSC so that it can air at least one EPL match a week. ESPN also developed a similar arrangement with GolTV so that it can air choice La Liga matches. But it's not all peace and harmony amongst the big US sports networks, ESPN saw good ratings from its coverage of the UEFA Champions League, only to lose the competition to Fox Sports, which has been using its network of regional sports stations to push the competition. On May 22nd, for the first time ever, the EUFA Champions League Final will be aired on national network television in the United States when it is broadcast live on the flagship FOX Broadcasting Company.

What's also interesting is that in the past four years it seems that two main cliques have developed among soccer fans in the US: the Eurosnobs and the American soccer fans. To be honest, for some time now, I've felt that the conflict between these two groups has been a bit contrived, a bit shallow,and while I know this fissure is not the result of some conspiracy by the soccer hating American sport fan, like Jim Rome, it does remind me of how the US Government placed the Hopi Indian Reservation so that it was surrounded by the Navajo Indian Reservation, meaning that the two tribes would focus on bickering with each other instead of teaming up against the federalies.

I for one am getting tired of the bickering between these cliques, and I want to nip this in the bud before the United States and England square off in South Africa on June 12th.

To those of you who find yourself, or put yourself, in the Eurosnob camp, fine, I can understand your desire to spend your soccer viewing time watching some of the best players, best club sides, and best leagues in the world. Heck, I watch as much or more EPL, Serie A, and FMF as I do MLS. As it stands, I'm anxious about Sunday's matches in Serie A, can the stars align giving Roma the Scudetto? And that's kind of my point, the majority of us who follow MLS and the United States National Team, and who are honest with ourselves, know that MLS is not one of the best leagues in the world. We know the quality of play needs to be improved, we know that youth development needs to be improved, and we know that, as it stands, MLS is a feeder league. We know that MLS has bizarre rules that hamstring teams in bringing in high-quality, foreign talent. As for the US National Team, we know it's not the best in the world, we know it will take a miracle and a bunch of luck for them to win the World Cup anytime soon, and we know that the power structure at USSF is a governor on the speed at which the national team will develop.

While MLS is not a top tier league in the world of club football, we can't deny the fact that clubs in EPL, La Liga, and Serie A have been grappling with serious financial issues these past few years. The MLS economic policy might not be a good deal for these top European leagues, but as James Lawton recently pointed out in The Independent, it might be a good idea for EPL to follow the NFL's lead when it comes to finances.

So, my request to you, you so-called Eurosnobs, for this summer is just relax, this isn't a battle of whose is bigger. Most of us know the score, we know the reality, no need to bash those who follow MLS or USMNT. Why would you want to emulate those in the US who ignorantly bash soccer in general with no regard to where or at what level the game is played?

As for you American soccer fans out there, let me tell you story. Over ten years ago I moved from Texas to Wisconsin. While living in Wisconsin, I was constantly accosted by Curling fans trying to recruit me to their sport. I'll be honest, the religiousesque ferocity that they threw into this recruitment turned me off and, for the most part, I steered clear of curling. Since then, I've watched it in the Winter Olympics and have grown to appreciate the sport. I regret that I never took the opportunity to learn the game while living in north central Wisconsin, but I also regret that the fans of the sport approached me as if they were attempting to convert me to another religion.

Let's face it American soccer fans, y'all can be a little pushy sometimes, like evangelicals trying to convert those they deem as nonbelievers. Recently, Travis Rodgers was doing one of his weekly spots on the Sean & John Show on 1560 The Game in Houston and he pointed out that while he could appreciate soccer as a sport requiring high levels of skill, he gets turned off by American soccer fans why incessantly try to sell the game to him. Let's face it American soccer fans, we can be a little, nay, very overbearing at times in our efforts to convert people to the beautiful game.

So, my request to you, the American soccer fan, is to just chill and relax this summer. Yes the World Cup finals can be a good recruitment tool, but please use it properly. Don't demand that your non-soccer fan friends and co-workers watch the World Cup finals. Don't try to explain to them what they are missing, and why they're foolish for not watching these matches. Instead, take the soft approach. Politely invite your friends and co-workers to drink some beer while watching a match, if they say no, politely accept their response and walk away. Don't try to shove the sport down the throats of others, just open the door for them and politely let them to make the decision as to whether they want to walk through that door.

Additionally, American soccer fans don't demand that your so-called Eurosnob fans support the USMNT or even MLS for that matter. Don't accuse them of being traitors. Feel free to hang with them at the local bar during the World Cup matches, drink beer with them, and just enjoy the moment. At the end of the day, politely ask them if they want to see some local soccer for a cheap price, don't push them, they might just say yes.

Finally, I'm declaring a détente between the Eurosnobs and the American soccer fans. Give it a rest this summer, please. Accept your differences, move on, and agree to disagree. While y'all don't have to root for the same countries this summer, at the very least you can link arms and just display your love of the game, without trying to obnoxiously convert others to your way of thinking.

This could be a great summer for the beautiful game in the United States, please fans, don't shoot ourselves in the collective foot.

And So It Is: The Weekend that was in Football

Poor Chivas USA just can't get a break when it comes to playing the Houston Dynamo. Last month, Chivas USA came to Houston looking to kick the Dynamo, who had just lost 0-2 at home to the L.A. Galaxy, while they were down. Unfortunately for Chivas, the Dynamo bounced back with a solid 3-0 victory. Saturday night, the Houston Dynamo paid their only visit to Chivas USA in LA, coming off a rough 1-0 loss at home to FC Dallas on Wednesday. Once again, Chivas wasn't able to overcome the Dynamo who picked up their first road victory of the 2010 MLS season.

Brad Davis set the tone for the match when he scored a beauty of a goal in the 4th minute, putting the ball over the head of Chivas keeper, Zach Thornton, who had come too far off the line to even think of making a save. In the 8th minute, Adrian Serioux picked up the second, and last, goal of the night when he headed in a corner kick from Brad Davis.

Credit to Chivas for not letting up during the entire match, but once again they were unable to break through the Dynamo's backline, which looked light-years better than it did this past Wednesday. In the end, Chivas only managed 2 shots on goal.

Here's some video highlights from the Chivas USA - Houston Dynamo match:



Up next for Houston is a visit to Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy (Big Love), Utah on Thursday night. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 7:00 pm central time.

The interesting story line of the weekend in MLS was the number of goals scored. Real Salt Lake, the Dynamo's next opponent, picked up a 3-0 home victory over Philadelphia Union. Los Angeles Galaxy went up to Seattle and pummeled the Sounders, 4-0. Landon Donovan finally picked up his first goal of the 2010 season, and for once, none of the LA goals came from Eddson Buddle. New England's offense showed up at Columbus, but so did the Crew's offense, end result was a 2-1 victory for the home side. Toronto managed a solid 4-1 victory over Chicago, while San Jose pulled off a 4-0 victory over RedBull New York. Finally, FC Dallas took advantage of the shambles that is DC United with a 1-0 victory in Frisco, Texas.

Galaxy's strong victory over Seattle puts them atop the table in the west and in the lead for the Supporter's Shield with 22 points. Seattle, a team picked by many to go far in the playoffs, sits at the bottom of the table in the west with 9 points. Over in the East, despite losing to San Jose, New York sits atop that table with 15 points and both Philadelphia Union and DC United share the bottom with only 3 points apiece on the season.

Meanwhile in Europe, the seasons are winding down and champions are being named. The big news today was Chelsea clinching the title in the English Premier League. The even better news for US Soccer fans is that Stuart Holden came off the bench in the 66th minute for Bolton in its 2-1 victory over Birmingham City.

Bundesliga also wrapped up its season this past weekend. In the end, Bayern Munich, who face Inter in the European Champions League final on May 22nd, picked up the German title. On the downside, Hertha Berlin were relegated, meaning Berlin won't be represented in Bundesliga next season.

There's still one match day left in France, but Marseille have already locked up the title in Ligue 1. This is Marseille's first title since the 1992-1993 season. Meanwhile, Charlie Davies did not suit up for Sochaux in its 0-2 loss to Bordeaux. We'll see if he suits up on Wednesday when Sochaux hosts Auxerre on Saturday in their last match of the season.

The title race is still not over in Spain, where Barcelona have a 1 point lead on Real Madrid. The 2010 La Liga season ends next Sunday, with Barcelona hosting Valladolid and Real Madrid visiting Malaga. Both of these opponents are hovering in the drop zone as they, and two other sides have 36 points. The only team assured of relegation is Xerez, which has 33 points.

Finally, it's still status quo in Italy as Serie A heads into its final match day next Sunday. Inter still holds a 2 point lead over Roma, but it was a rough day for both teams. Inter managed a 4-3 victory over a Chievo Verona squad that refused to give up and looked close to getting an equalizer to end the match 4-4. Roma took on a scrappy Cagliari that got the first goal in the 73rd minute. The Cagliari goal fired up the Roma offense and Francesco Totti picked up the equalizer in the 79th minute, after missing a sitter, and then converting a penalty kick in the 83rd minute. Next Sunday, Inter has to face a Siena squad headed to Serie B next season, but it's also a Siena squad with a close relationship with Inter's foe Juventus. Inter cannot take their match at Siena lightly. Meanwhile, Roma hosts Chievo Verona, and based on how the Flying Donkeys played against Inter today, Roma could have their hands full on Sunday.