The End of the Year Stretch

My hats off to the San Francisco giants and the Freak, Tim Lincecum. That goes first and foremost as being a Californian. Now it's time for a another amazing run!

The MLS league has come to a close and its time for the Cup. All eight teams have poised themselves for the tournament by ending the year in strongly. The Crew have the most to worry about- will Guillermo Schelotto have the stamina they need to continue carrying the offense? Last years finalists, Sheild holders the Galaxy, and RSL look again like the favorites. Or will the bolstered NY Redbulls crash the party?

"Across the pond", as the UK dudes like to say, the EPL leads a bevy of close league races through the firs half of the season. Chelsea look the strongest out of the gates, but there is some real action going on in the rest of the top four (MU, Arsenal, and Man City). Gareth Bale has looked superhuman for Tottenham in their campaign. La Liga's two headed beast (Barca and Real Madrid) roars again as Villareal, Valencia, and Atletico Madrid stay in striking distance. We all know that this will just come down to Messi v. Ronaldo again though for the Golden Boot, sorry David Villa and Gonzalo Higuain. Shout out to Clint Dempsey for tallying four impressive finishes while stepping up his game in place of the injured Bobby Zamora!

I publically condemn Alex Ferguson for his comments about the UEFA Champions League being "the game's premiere competition" over the World Cup. The World Cup is far and away, the most important Cup to win in all of soccer. There is no doubt that the Champions League showcases the world's best talent from the world's best clubs, the likes of which have been on display through the group stage so far. The AC Milan v. Real Madrid game today from the San Siro was one of the most exciting matches I've seen all year. Holders Internazionale experienced a shocker from the aforementioned White Hart Spurs already and 2009 champs Barcelona only seem to be warming up. But no Fergie, you can't match the anticipation, celebration, and pure football jubilation of the World Cup. It is the world's game, not just a game for the Euro boys.

Tune into the next two months of televised soccer American folks, things have a tendency to heat up before the holidays. And who knows, maybe we'll see Landon and a few other of our crew crashing the European parties in Januaray. That's the American Soccer Dream: getting Americans playing at the highest levels, here and abroad, year round. That'll bring up our level of play and give those guys the paychecks their due.