One Strike and You're Out: The 2015 MLS In-Season Thread

[Titans Bastard]

* Montreal hosts Alajuelense in the first leg of the CCL semifinals tonight.  The Impact will have a good crowd and an opponent that is in poor form, having failed to win a league game in Costa Rica since early February.  Montreal's opportunity got a little more interesting last night when Club America got an early red card in CR and ended up losing to Herediano 3-0.  That's a tough hole to climb out of, and if they can't -- well, Alajuelense and Herediano are both beatable.
 
* Rapids striker Deshorn Brown has been sold to Vålerenga.  Odd timing.  The Jamaican has been solid for the Rapids, having scored 10 goals in his first two seasons in the league.  And now that he's gone, they don't have much at the position -- Panamanian Gabriel Torres who has been a disappointment since signing after the 2013 Gold Cup, rookie Dominique Badji, and some others who are better off as attacking midfielders.  There's no way a Norwegian club would have offered a stupid-money transfer fee.  Colorado is a strange organization.
 
* NYRB signed 22 year old Jamaican left back Kemar Lawrence from Harbour View.
 
* Seattle signed a couple of draft picks, Jamaican right back Oniel Fisher and goalkeeper Charlie Lyon.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Montreal up 1-0 early on Alajuelense.  They look like they've come to play.  Piatti is dominating,
 
2-0!  Cabrera off a corner in the 14th minute.

 

[Titans Bastard]

2-0 FT.  A comfortable win, although Montreal appeared to take their foot off the gas in the second half.  I would have liked to see a third goal as insurance for the trip down to Costa Rica, but keeping a clean sheet was more important.  The Impact did a great job killing the game with possession, which was a refreshing change from the bunker & panic routine we too often see from MLS teams in international play.

 

[Titans Bastard]

- Revs sign another undrafted college player, George Mason forward Timi Mulgrew.  Seems like fodder for the Rochester Rhinos loan train to me.
 
- San Jose has released right back Brandon Barklage.
 
- Philadelphia loaned winger Danny Cruz to Bodo/Glimt of Norway.  Cruz is a pest, one of the scrappiest players in the league.  Decent pace, too...but quite low on skill.  I can't quite understand why he wasn't converted to RB a long time ago.  We have a lot of unremarkable wingers who should have been turned into fullbacks when they were teenagers.  And then we wonder why we don't have any good fullbacks.
 
- NYRB II announced their first player, an academy defender named Tyler Adams.  He's one of the youngest members of the U17 team that just qualified for the WC in unnecessarily dramatic fashion; he turned 16 last month.  Yes, there are professional soccer players born in 1999, depressing.  He's on a USL contract for now.
 
- Interesting article about Marcelo Claure and the Miami expansion bid that, judging by the editors' notes, ruffled some feathers

 

[Infield Infidel]

That article is very enlightening. The Miami thing is so weird, absentee owners, tepid Garber, semi-ambivalent fans. The stadium thing is especially odd in light of how NYCFC was fast-tracked, even though they also don't have a stadium and won't until at least 2018, and they'll have to share a park with a team that plays a completely overlapping season. 
 
Miami also has temporary stadium options while they wait to figure it out, but apparently none of them are satisfactory. FIU would be ok, SunLife (Dolphins) Stadium could be awesome*, and both are empty during most of the MLS season. The city said they could maybe use a probably too small sliver of land next to Marlin's Park for a new stadium. But ownership wants downtown or bust. But who cares when there isn't actually a team yet. Getting a team on the field will make it more tangible and maybe locals would find a stadium deal more amenable. 
 
* The mockups for the renovated Dolphins stadium are amazing. If you take out the gridiron field markings and the sunshine, it'd look like a football stadium in England or Germany. Too big for MLS but they could cover the upper deck. RoofCanopy=Noise
 

 

[Titans Bastard]

I'm not optimistic for Miami.  I think that the ownership group has no idea what it is doing with regard to requisite South Florida politics.  I don't think there's a huge groundswell of support on the grassroots level.  Miami is a shitty sports town.  And I don't think the owners are overly committed to the cause. Beckham has a lot of other things going on within his brand.  Claure certainly doesn't seem to have delved into the particulars of MLS much based on the article, and in fact appears shockingly ignorant of the league considering this isn't even his first Miami expansion bid.
 
One of the big benefits of expansion to Miami is that as a destination for Euro stars, it would be appealing on the level of NYC and LA.  Miami has that level of cachet in those circles.  But it's no longer crucial to establishing a footprint in the Southeast.  Orlando is off and running and Atlanta had over 17,000 season ticket deposits two years out of their first game.  Everything about this expansion bid - the city, the owners, the level of effort put into it - is style over substance.  At this point MLS can afford to be picky about expansion.
 
Sacramento stands at the ready to take Miami's place in the expansion pecking order.  They have deep pockets, a stadium deal at the ready, and sizable pre-existing support.  Just let them in already.

 

[dirtynine]

I think the unspoken hope was to have Miami ready for CR7 in a few years.  Maybe instead he could help revive No Nos Llame Chivas.  

 

[Infield Infidel]

Beckham would have made way more sense as part-owner of the Chivas replacement. 

 

[Titans Bastard]

So with the CBA now firmly behind us, all of a sudden MLS is announcing a bunch of major sponsorship deals.  Johnson & Johnson today, yesterday was Mondelez.  A deal with Audi, strangely, came out just around the end of the CBA negotiations.
 
Between all the national and local sponsorships that have popped up in the last 1-2 years, all the stadiums, rising attendance, larger TV money, etc - this is the last time MLS will be able to cry poor.  The next CBA negotiation worries me more than this past round ever did.

 

[moly99]

One of the big benefits of expansion to Miami is that as a destination for Euro stars, it would be appealing on the level of NYC and LA.  Miami has that level of cachet in those circles. 

 
I don't know. If I were a 35 year old Euro I don't think I'd pick a tropical home city in a league that plays in the summer.

 

[soxfan121]

- Interesting article about Marcelo Claure and the Miami expansion bid that, judging by the editors' notes, ruffled some feathers

 
 

One aspect of MLS that both Kansas City owners really liked was the centralized structure. All the players are owned by the league, which helps keep payroll—and the players—in check.
“If labor ever tells us they’re going to strike, we’d be like, ‘Fine, we’ll replace each and every one of you,’” said Heineman.

~~~~~~~
 
When we went outside to watch the second half, Claure told me he likes MLS specifically because, in his words, “it’s communist.” Look at La Liga, he said. A couple hemorrhaging teams at the top and a bunch of hopelessly broke teams below. In England, a club can’t win without the backing of a Russian oligarch or a Saudi prince. MLS is more balanced, Claure asserted. He sees it staying that way. The central ownership, the cost control, will eventually make MLS the strongest league standing. Star players from around the world will have no choice but to play there. He says the shift will happen within a decade. When I expressed some skepticism, he shook me off.
“It’s already a good league, you know? In the World Cup, the U.S. team did better than England, it did better than Portugal. And almost all the players are in MLS right now.”
~~~~~~~~~~
 
From Sporting Kansas City on 2.23.15: “On behalf of Sporting Kansas City and Major League Soccer, we are extremely dissatisfied with the validity of what has been presented regarding Robert Powell’s article and the unauthorized, unscrupulous technique in which [sic] was used. We completely deny and disagree with the alleged quotes, context, and description of what transpired for less than six minutes in the private suite at the Sporting Kansas City versus Chicago Fire match on October 10, 2014. The unethical nature and inaccuracies from Howler are surprising and disappointing, and this situation has irreparably damaged the relationship. We had given unfettered access to Howler in the past, going above and beyond for articles, MLS media and marketing tour [sic], big events and more. In light of what is transpiring, we will no longer accommodate your publication in the future and are doing so with the support of Major League Soccer.”
 
Howler conducted a thorough review of the reporter’s notes and the circumstances in which he obtained these quotes. The magazine stands behind the accuracy of this story.

 
Emphasis added. 

I'm laughing my ass off because nothing counters the accusation that MLS is run by communist thugs who will disappear [players/journalists/critics] for dissent like stating - in an press release - 'MLS will disappear you'. 

 

[Billy R Ford]

Revs home opener today in about half an hour against Montreal. Starting line-up:
 
Shuttleworth; Tierney, Barnes, Farrell, Hall; Caldwell, Kobayashi; Fagundez, Nguyen, Rowe; Agudelo
 
Goncalves' suspension and Alston's injury mean Barnes and Hall come in. Barnes has never been particularly impressive for the Revs and Hall is a career back-up making his first appearance for the team. Meanwhile, with Jones still injured, the central midfield has rotated again: this time, Caldwell comes back in for Dorman.
 
Montreal should be tired from their mid-week CCL match though and given this is the Revs' first home match, I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[Billy R Ford]

0-0 final.
 
The Revs have started the season the same way as last year: 0-2-1, zero goals scored.

 

[Titans Bastard]

SJ is opening Avaya Stadium tonight.  A stadium opening in a market that MLS once left is another nice little milestone.
 

 
 
 
Too bad Chicago is unlikely to be a worthy opponent for the occasion, but at least there's a good chance that the home fans will go home happy.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

I'll be interested to see how they do with the new stadium.  The team gets zero play in the local media, and most people couldn't even name where their home games used to be played.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Joint press conference between MLS and Minnesota United announced for Wednesday.  MLS is expected to make expansion official.  I will be curious to see what is said about the stadium situation.  It's unclear how much progress has or has not been made behind the scenes.  Since they're awarding Minneapolis a franchise, one would hope they're close.

 

[robssecondjob]

Cameron Porter (Montreal Impact) out for the season after tearing his ACL in a non-contact event against the Revs.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Cameron Porter (Montreal Impact) out for the season after tearing his ACL in a non-contact event against the Revs.

 
That's a real bummer.  Porter was shaping up to be a good story this year - a nerdy, cerebral kid from Princeton who was almost completely overlooked in the draft, and then immediately became an influential player for Montreal.
 
This is going to hurt the Impact's CCL campaign.  Porter's not a star yet or anything, but he was doing a solid job of playing the #9 in Montreal's 4-2-3-1.  None of their other forwards fit that role well.  McInerney is a poacher who really needs to be in a two-forward system.  Oduro is little more than a speed merchant, who doesn't hold up the ball and is an atrocious finisher.
 
It also sucks, potentially, for our U23 team.  We don't have many viable center forwards for the Olympic qualifying team and Porter was a contender.  Now hopes for that position rest with NYCFC's Khiry Shelton and Reading's Andrija Novakovich.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Minnesota United's expansion announcement happened today.
 
https://twitter.com/BrianStraus/status/580767180796637184
 
 
They're keeping the "Minnesota United" name.  I haven't heard if they're keeping their logo.  I hope they don't change it.
 

 

[moly99]

I know it's going to get shouted down, but I hate it when teams pick Euro-esque names that have nothing to do with their cities. Real Salt Lake is the absolute worst, but come on. Choosing a European name instead of a local name is just going to make it harder to woo the mainstream demographic, and it doesn't even make sense the way Manchester United does. Exactly which clubs merged to form Minnesota United? Every single one of the Euros I've talked to prefer American teams to have American names, and some are genuinely irritated with clubs copying their team names.
 
Just name the team Minnesota Loons. Or pick a different animal, or a color, or force of nature, or whatever.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

I don't mind United near as much as Real and Sporting, but yeah, they are all pretty lame.  The biggest success story in MLS is the Northwest, and there's nothing wrong with the Sounders, Timbers, and Whitecaps names.
 
I will concede that Kansas City Wiz may have been even worse than Sporting KC, though.

 

[theapportioner]

Plus, there's already a team with the United name in MLS.

 

[Titans Bastard]

I don't mind United near as much as Real and Sporting, but yeah, they are all pretty lame.  The biggest success story in MLS is the Northeast, and there's nothing wrong with the Sounders, Timbers, and Whitecaps names.
 
I will concede that Kansas City Wiz may have been even worse than Sporting KC, though.

 
"If it's not the Dallas Burn, it's gonorrhea!"

 

[Billy R Ford]

Maybe you could say the the twin cities are "united" behind the team? No? I got nothing.
 
Personally I always thought it was sillier that these teams keep tacking "FC" onto the end of their names, because (a) we don't call it football here and (b) the letters don't stand for anything anyway. The full name for Man Utd is "Manchester United Football Club." That's why they're called MUFC. The full name for Minnesota is just "Minnesota United FC." I mean, why?

 

[SoxFanInCali]

At least Orlando City uses SC, and Soccer Club is actually part of the club's official name.

 

[Titans Bastard]

At least Orlando City uses SC, and Soccer Club is actually part of the club's official name.

 
When the Crew announced their new logo late last year, they also tacked an "SC" on their name - Columbus Crew SC.  I think Chicago Fire officially are Chicago Fire Soccer Club, although you never see them referred to as such, or as "SC".
 
 
For better or for worse, MLS club names sure are representative of the tortured psychology of MLS and US soccer fans.....you have the true Europoseur names (RSL, SKC), garden-variety Anglophilia (United, lots of FCs), NASL nostalgia names (all four PacNW), the general American trend towards collective noun names (Revolution, Crew, Impact, Union), and a corporate branding for good measure (NYRB).  Colorado is the only [placename] [thing]-named team that's not a corporate brand or NASL throwback, oddly enough.
 
How do people feel about Houston Dynamo?  "Dynamo" is supposed to be an homage to Houston's energy-oriented economy, but obviously there are connections to a variety of Eastern European clubs, though they would be totally lost on most general sports fans and even many casual soccer fans.
 
 
As an aside, I've always been disappointed that calling SKC "Topeka Benfica" never caught on.

 

[Vinho Tinto]

Plus, they are franchises and not clubs. Clubs have members.

 

[Vinho Tinto]

I would get behind Topeka Benfica.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

The Dynamo was originally going to be Houston 1836 (very German-style name), but they changed it after protests from Mexican-American groups.
 
Of course, they are actually the original San Jose Clash/Earthquakes, so name changes are nothing new to them.

 

[moly99]

Is there any practical reason a team needs a nickname at all? Is it a legal issue?

 

[dirtynine]

United, in the soccer sense, isn't a nickname.  It's part of the club's proper name.  
 
In the American appropriate-and-mash-it-up soccer culture, sometimes that gets confusing (Dynamo isn't a nickname the way it was originally used in Europe, but it is for Houston).  
 

 
 
For better or for worse, MLS club names sure are representative of the tortured psychology of MLS and US soccer fans.....you have the true Europoseur names (RSL, SKC), garden-variety Anglophilia (United, lots of FCs), NASL nostalgia names (all four PacNW), the general American trend towards collective noun names (Revolution, Crew, Impact, Union), and a corporate branding for good measure (NYRB).  Colorado is the only [placename] [thing]-named team that's not a corporate brand or NASL throwback, oddly enough.

 
The way I've come to rationalize it is that we're a melting pot culture, there's no "right" way here, and everything makes a tasty American stew when all is said and done.  

 

[dirtynine]

Also, the Minnesota club has some worthy history.  It's been hanging on by its fingernails for years, through a variety of owners, names and playing locations, but there's a clear line of succession that goes back a ways (Thunder to NSC to MNUTD).  There's also a great, dedicated supporters club, some of whom travel to NASL away matches. I mean, that's dedication. Very excited for the Minnesota soccer community - even if it means playing a summer season in MLS just got that much more ingrained.  

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Houston 1836 would have been an utterly incredible name

 

[Titans Bastard]

A few other things --
 
* There are unconfirmed reports that KC has signed Rafael Van der Vaart starting in the summer.  KC has publicly discussed their interest in and pursuit of RVDV so this would not come as a surprise at this point.  I'm not sure what to think of it.  KC's style under Peter Vermes has been characterized by a high press and demands a good work rate from everyone on the field.  That would seem to be a poor fit for RVDV even if he weren't getting long in the tooth.  But KC's system showed cracks last year, so perhaps Vermes is trying to transition the system.  At least, I'd hope so because the last talented, low-work rate attacker to come through (Claudio Bieler) stylistically just didn't mesh with the system.
 
* Colorado signed Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Kevin Doyle to a DP contract starting in the summer.  The Rapids desperately need a quality forward after selling Deshorn Brown to Valerenga.  Doyle will probably be adequate, but underwhelming for a DP.
 
* Vancouver signed Robert Earnshaw, who has been out of contract since being released by the lowly Fire over the winter.  He has turned into an MLS journeyman as of late; the Whitecaps will be his third team in the league in the last three years.  He's depth behind young Uruguayan Octavio Rivero, who has scored three goals in three games so far, and will compete with Erik Hurtado and Darren Mattocks for minutes off the bench.
 
* SKC sent young goalkeeper Jon Kempin on loan to the San Antonio Scorpions, where he'll hopefully get some good experience under his belt.  He looked okay when pressed into duty last season, but isn't ready for primetime.  In the meantime, he's not going to unseat Luis Marin this year so he might as well play elsewhere.

 

[The Talented Allen Ripley]

 
For better or for worse, MLS club names sure are representative of the tortured psychology of MLS and US soccer fans.....you have the true Europoseur names (RSL, SKC), garden-variety Anglophilia (United, lots of FCs), NASL nostalgia names (all four PacNW), the general American trend towards collective noun names (Revolution, Crew, Impact, Union), and a corporate branding for good measure (NYRB).  Colorado is the only [placename] [thing]-named team that's not a corporate brand or NASL throwback, oddly enough.

 
While Rapids certainly makes sense given the name/place, I always wondered if it was a nod to Rapid Vienna.
 
I'm far too lazy to actually research that notion, obviously.

 

[Vinho Tinto]

Instead of joining MLS, Xavi is taking his talents to Doha. 3 year deal at 10 million euros per (With an option for a fourth) to join Al Sadd. Plus, he will be able to earn his coaching licences.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Instead of joining MLS, Xavi is taking his talents to Doha. 3 year deal at 10 million euros per (With an option for a fourth) to join Al Sadd. Plus, he will be able to earn his coaching licences.

 
It would be fun to see Xavi up close, but moving to NYCFC never made a lot of sense.  Can you imagine 36 year old Lampard and 35 year old Xavi in the same midfield with the kind of heat and travel that MLS players deal with?

 

[theapportioner]

If he's looking to avoid heat, I don't think Doha's the place to go.

 

[Billy R Ford]

Revs line-up vs San Jose:
 
Shuttleworth; Tierney, Goncalves, Farrell, Barnes; Caldwell, Kobayashi; Rowe, Nguyen, Agudelo; Davies
 
Still no Jones (though he's back to practice I believe), and Diego dropped for Davies with Agudelo moving to the wing. One of the Revs' problems without Bunbury was that only Agudelo was making runs at goal, limiting the teams ability to finish chances. Having two natural strikers out there makes sense in that light.
 
 
It's snowing where I am in Boston, though its not sticking. Wonder how that will affect play.

 

[Titans Bastard]

If he's looking to avoid heat, I don't think Doha's the place to go.

 
I think he's mainly looking for a huge paycheck and doesn't much care about the heat either way.  In MLS, however, his potential employer should care about the heat and combined with travel (which is a bigger factor) across the US and a poorly balanced midfield, it could have easily led to underwhelming results.

 

[Titans Bastard]

- Portland signs Ghanaian winger Ishmael Yartey on loan from FC Sion in Switzerland.  He's bounced around Portugal, Switzerland, and France, mostly with various clubs while on loan from Benfica, for whom he never actually played.  MLS teams have have good luck with Sion players -- Alvario Saborio and Jose Goncalves come to mind.  Yartey looks more like depth to me at first glance, though.
 
- Chicago signed 27 year old Spanish midfielder Victor Perez Alonso on loan from Real Valladolid.  He's had spells as a starter in La Liga for Valladolid, but was on loan to Levante this fall and didn't play much.  The Fire have a decent group of attackers, but need help in central midfield and in defense.  If he's halfway decent I expect he'll find his way into the lineup.
 
- NYRB signed 26 year old left back Anthony Wallace.  Wallace spent a lot of time with youth national teams and has been around since forever.  Once hyped, he even got a single cap under Bob Bradley in 2011 after becoming a starter down the stretch of the Rapids' 2010 MLS Cup run.  He couldn't stay healthy, though, and never made more than 13 appearances in a season.  He finally dropped down to the NASL with the Tampa Bay Rowdies last year and was a regular starter.  I really couldn't say how he did, but apparently it was decent enough to jump back to MLS.
 
- The New York Cosmos signed Haji Wright, a ballyhooed forward currently on the U17 national team.  Once with the LA Galaxy academy, he parted ways with LAG a little while ago and was rumored to be heading to Schalke.  But here he is, signing in the second division instead.  Apparently Schalke's interest was waning after poor performance on trial and after watching him in U17 qualifiers, I'm not surprised. Athletic freak, decent technique, but not much of a soccer brain.  He can't go to Europe until he turns 18 next March anyway and he wouldn't be able to play in youth Bundesliga games until August 2016.  That's far too long to wait around doing not much.  My suspicion is that the Cosmos offered him a shorter deal than LAG would have wanted, allowing him to test the waters abroad when he's eligible in his late teens.  Who knows, though - that's just speculation.  I think he'd be better off signing with LA, where he'd be at a club that is fully invested in his long-term development and could go straight into pro games with LA Galaxy II in the USL.
 
- A few teams are still rounding out the edges of their roster.  Toronto signed draft pick Clement Simonin to an MLS deal after earlier signing him to a USL deal with Toronto FC II.  Chicago signed attacker Kingsley Bryce.
 
- The NASL reached a deal with ESPN to stream most of their games on ESPN3.  It ain't much, but it's a step forward in exposure for the NASL.

 

[Titans Bastard]

- The Colorado Rapids haven't scored a goal in 510 minutes.  That's five whole games and an additional 60 minutes, when John Neeskens scored in the 30th minute against Chivas USA in the Rapids' third-to-last game of last season.  They have failed to win their last 17 MLS matches, dating back to last July.  The 2015 Rapids look just as lost as the 2014 version -- Pablo Mastroeni has to be the favorite for first manager to get canned.
 
- NYCFC signed Norwegian goalkeeper Eirik Johansen, formerly on the books at Man City and who had spent time on loan at Scunthorpe United and Sogndal.  They already have three GKs, so I'm not sure where he fits in.
 
- MLS announced new TV deals in Brazil and the North Africa/Middle East region.
 
- DC United loaned out Michael Seaton to Orebro in Sweden for the season.  Seaton is an academy product who already has 8 caps for Jamaica at the age of 18.
 
- In the US soccer hinterlands, some of the new USL teams seem to be off to a strong start.  Louisville City got 6k+ for their opener against Saint Louis and Tulsa got 8k+ against Oklahoma City.

 

[Turrable]

I love listening to Grant Wahl in the Univision booth for this D.C. United game, he reminds me of me in Spanish class.

 

[Turrable]

Hamid absolutely standing on his head btw.

 

[nickandemmasuncle]

Hamid absolutely standing on his head btw.

And another gut-punch home loss for Orlando, another injury time winner for DC.

Hamid was great, but holy god OCSC is awful up front. They're going to struggle mightily to score goals if they're relying on guys like Kevin Molino and (if Ribeiro's hamstring is toast) Cyle Larin. I guess Larin might develop, but right now he and Molino look like they've got tons of speed to get into good positions, and then zero ability to actually convert the chances that result from that. Kaká is going to have an aneurysm by the time this season is out.

 

[Snakebauer007]

Yes it is very frustrating, but it is also early. OC dominated the ball and chances, but cannot do anything to convert. I really like the short passing and movement and pressing, but they need a goal scorer desperately, Kaka cannot be relied upon to do everything. Shea had a great game again, and I was super impressed with Hamid in all aspects

 

[Titans Bastard]

Hamid has shown flashes since the very beginning in 2010, but he really put it together last year and he's finally showing consistency.  Experience helps - he's played 124 MLS matches so far, and he doesn't turn 25 until after the season.  His USMNT ascent was delayed by an injury that held him out of January camp, but it won't be long before he's the clear #2 behind Guzan.  DC United would be in big trouble without him, I think.
 
Orlando invested in forwards for the long run (Larin, Rochez).  They could have really used an average but competent veteran for the role as a safety blanket for 2015, though.

 

[Turrable]

Yeah we'd be completely screwed without him, the defending was piss poor tonight. I'm torn between wanting to watch him save our asses every week and wanting to see him flourish in Europe, though that's obviously still a ways away.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Road win for the Revs last night and all of a sudden they are in 3rd place in the East.  Good to see Agudelo get back on the scoresheet.  It was another rough night for Pablo Mastroeni, as Colorado's winless streak extended to 18 games and scoreless streak extended to 594 minutes.
 
Presented without comment:
 
https://twitter.com/whatahowler/status/584512294823952385
 
 
 
In other coaching news, Caleb Porter was being Caleb Porter-ish after Portland's 3-1 win over Dallas.  Any of the PDX people here know what this was about?
 
https://twitter.com/Ben_Jata/status/584575393719590912

 

[soxfan121]

Presented without comment:

 
Thank you.