My MLS Bigamy Continues

I've written about my various soccer (and other sports)-related travels both here on the blog and in other forums as well.  I've also written about the dilemma that faces me as a native of Philadelphia who was living in DC when MLS started (without a Philadelphia team in the mix) and have been with DC United from the start.  Those two topics collided last weekend as I made my first trip to PPL Park in Chester, PA for my first Union home match since their home opener against DC United last season.

Nope, no telephoto lens - we were that close.

[For those who don't follow MLS or the stadium situations of the teams therein, the Union played their first ever home match and a bunch of others at Lincoln Financial Field - home of the NFL Eagles - until PPL Park was ready].

Going in, I was pretty excited for a few reasons:

Pope to step aside at season's end

SALT LAKE CITY -- Often celebrated as the best defender the United States has ever produced, Eddie Pope announced Thursday that he will retire from Major League Soccer at the end of the 2007 season.

I"m not sure what to say. I have to admit to being a little sad, and I'm not sure I can quite capture my emotions fully in this post. Maybe an update to follow. But the Pontiff is retiring. Definitely the end of an era.

Pope was the shy kid out of North Carolina who wore #23 in honor of fellow alum Michael Jordan. He was the rookie of the year and stand-out defender on a team full of more experienced and well-known players. Of course, he scored the header in stoppage time that won DC the first of their now four MLS Cup championships. And he famously, or at least for me memorably, turned down interest from Europe to stay close to home.

So many memories of my young adulthood are tied up with DC United and it's hard to avoid the sense that an era in my life is passing too. I'm no longer in DC, and no longer a young adult. Pope is with Real Salt Lake (and to paraphrase the Sports Guy, he never played for NY. Can we all agree that that just never happened?). But I get nostalgic when Neal text messages me from RFK as he did this weekend. And this news is a bit of a bolt out of the clear blue sky -- even though I'll always associate the Pontiff with the pouring rain in which he won his first two DCU championships, the second of which I was lucky enough to attend.

Okay, I'm officially babbling. Back to work, but not without one final chant of "Ooh ah! Eddie Pope! I said Ooh ah, Eddie Pope!"

Send me an Angel

Juan Pablo Angel continues to settle into Major League Soccer very nicely. After his goal and assist last weekend won him "Player of the Week" honors, he adds two goals and another assist in NY's win over Chicago tonight.

I haven't seen the match - and to be fair it seems that Chicago had chances - but the Fire need Rolfe back quickly. Against Real Salt Lake would be nice. Especially because I put him in my MLS fantasy lineup hoping he'd make that game, even if, as expected, he'd miss the NYRB match.

Credit where credit is due time -- the MLS fantasy game allows you to designate a captain each week who will earn double points. Yahoo! did this in their World Cup game last summer. It adds a really interesting wrinkle to your decision making and to your rootings. For example, last week Neal and I both had Kenny Cooper in our fantasy sides for Dallas' two games. But Neal made him captain and I didn't. So when Cooper scored the penalty against Chicago I wished he hadn't - even though he was ON MY TEAM! It's a very odd feeling.

I'm happy to report that the tables were turned tonight as JPA was my captain and Neal got a little taste of his own medicine. At least until the weekend when Cooper lines up as captain of Neal's team again. But then I get to root against him whole-heartedly.

Toronto FC acquires F Cunningham from Real Salt Lake

Expansion club Toronto FC may have cured its scoring woes.

One of the lowest-scoring clubs in Major League Soccer, Toronto landed some offensive help Tuesday, acquiring forward Jeff Cunningham from Real Salt Lake for forward Alecko Eskandarian and a 2008 first-round draft pick.

Cunningham, 30, is a 10-year veteran and has 93 goals and 57 assists in 246 career games - 162 starts. The 5-7 speedster enjoyed his best season last year, scoring a league-leading 16 goals - a career best.

Some transfer news on the domestic (well, North American) front. Toronto get a bit pacier with Cunningham. They had two of a kind with both Alecko and Edson Buddle on the squad, and though they would probably have liked to have moved Buddle, Alecko has the greater trade value. That despite his injury history, though possibly upgraded because of his history with Freddy Adu, his former DCUnited teamate.

Could also be two players who were unhappy with their current situations looking for (another) fresh start.