The second edition of the North American SuperLiga, which pits four top MLS clubs against four top Mexican clubs, kicks off on Saturday, and we are reminded once again that this made-for-TV event is made for Spanish-language TV only. Telefutura is once again the only American TV network carrying SuperLiga matches nationally. This is in spite of the fact that three MLS clubs made it through to the knockout stage last season, even though Pachuca won the million-dollar prize.
You would think Fox Soccer Channel might want to jump in on SuperLiga to get people psyched up for the CONCACAF Champions League, which the fledgling network will air starting in August, but it seems they would rather show more Barca TV this summer. We might get English announcers on MLSLive.tv, but possibly not until the knockout stages, as was the case last year.
Energy drinks make America go round. They legally supplant our speed addiction when it's too hot (Coffee in the summer? No thanks) and when we're in public (Crystal meth at work? Meh.) And with, ahem, more potent means no longer available, many athletes are finding themselves involved with the brain and body fuels of today's society.
Kevin Youkilis is one of these athletes. Only his energy drink has the best double-meaning-riddled name of all time: SlumpBuster. Now, SlumpBuster is not specifically tailored to Youkilis, although this particular version is (you can see the regular version on MySpace). But, via Red Sox Monster, the online drink will premiere online Friday.
Jeff Brannon, SlumpBuster CEO, tells us that the drink will be available in the Northeast "later this quarter," but can be found online Friday at iFungo.com, an online baseball equipment shop.
Now, I haven't tried the drink (yet), but as an energy drink connoisseur, I can promise you I will. And here's the thing about awesome marketing coupled with celebrity endorsement: it works well. I'm not saying I would take a SlumpBuster over a Red Bull (again, yet) just because of the awesome name and Yooooouk, one of the most likable players in the league, on the can. But I am saying I'd certainly think about it.
Even though Mike Lowell signed a contract that will pay him more than $12 million, he's still thrifty enough to pick up valuable electronics that others leave lying around. While a fan was following the flight of a foul ball at Fenway last night, Lowell helped himself to the guy's cell phone. Here's video evidence, courtesy of The Joy of Sox.
It's a bit of a long-range camera angle but, thankfully, a hardy soul used his camcorder to capture some irrefutable video evidence. There's another, close-up view after the jump.
It was a night of knockout soccer that saw three games go to extra time, two games go to penalty kicks, and one famous Mexican lose his temper and get sent off. By the time the smoke cleared, the glass slipper still fit for two USL First Division clubs, who had advanced to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals.
Why isn't this competition on TV again?
The Charleston Battery obliterated FC Dallas, 3-1, at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, TX, scoring before an after an hour-long lightning delay in the first half and shutting down all but one meaningless strike in the 93rd minute. Meanwhile, the Seattle Sounders fought the Kansas City Wizards to a 0-0 draw and advanced 6-5 on penalties, thanks in part to a 12-save performance by Sounders goalkeeper Chris Eylander, who also saved two PKs to help Seattle advance.
Meanwhile, USL Second Division club Crystal Palace Baltimore pushed the defending Open Cup champion New England Revolution to penalties, but lost the shootout, 5-3. In Boyds, MD, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Mark Burch were shown red cards in extra time, while Bryan Namoff scored the winner in the 99th minute to push D.C. United past the Chicago Fire, 2-1.
Though the Blazers (or more likely, their insurance company) still have to pay the man, that doom and gloom prognosis allowed the team to shave the remaining $18 million he's due over the next two years off the salary cap. But there's a catch: in order for the Blazers to stay in the clear, Miles can't return to the NBA -- or more specifically, he can't appear in at least 10 games over the next two years.
Trouble is, that's exactly what he's trying to do. The Boston Globe says he had "an impressive workout" with the Celtics, and the East Valley Tribune reports(via Shoals) the Suns have also inquired about his services. If he can convince some team out there to take a chance on him and he sees even spot duty this year, he could end up sabotaging Portland's master plan.
What are the chances he actually has any game left? If you remember, Miles proclaimed himself "90% healthy" last December when he was cleared to resume conditioning drills with his teammates, and it wasn't until problems with his Achilles tendon surfaced that he was officially ruled out last year.
The New England Patriots are exporting the all-American art of cheerleading to China, where 200,000 people have volunteered to learn how to cheer at the Summer Olympics.
Cheerleading is foreign to China, so very few of those 200,000 volunteers have any experience. But the Chinese wanted to institute cheerleading as part of the Games, and Patriots owner Bob Kraft is a longtime proponent of exporting American football to China, so he spearheaded the effort to send the women who work as Patriots cheerleaders to Beijing to give cheerleading lessons.
Of those 200,000 volunteer cheerleaders, Olympics organizers have chosen 400 to be part of an elite group that will put on special performances. Patriots cheerleader Carrie Binette, who is working with those 400, told the Christian Science Monitor that the Patriots cheerleaders are teaching "how to entertain a wide crowd," and that the most important things are not dancing ability but "spirit" and "poisemanship."
Says a Chinese cheerleader named He He, "Everyone knows cheerleading is a Western activity, but we hope we can find a Chinese way to do it [and] show the world."
D.C. United and the Chicago Fire meet tonight in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals, one month after their testy match in Toyota Park in which three red cards were given and Luciano Emilio got a surprise goal in stoppage time to lift 9-man D.C. to a 2-1 win.
If you want to watch this rematch, though, you'll have to go to the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds and buy a ticket. By all accounts, this match will not air on TV or online. Neither will tonight's New England Revolution v. Crystal Palace Baltimore match, providing further proof that the U.S. Open Cup -- a competition in which the winner receives a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League, no less -- is truly the most disrespected competition in American soccer.
The other two quarterfinal matches at least have online video feeds. FC Dallas v. Charleston Battery will be shown on MLSLive at 8:30 PM ET, while Seattle fans log on to USLLive get a free glimpse of their future MLS club's home when the USL-1 Seattle Sounders face the Kansas City Wizards at Qwest Field at 10:00 PM ET. Let's hope the groundskeepers actually try to cover up the gridiron lines this year.
One of my fondest wishes as a sports fan is that there can one day be a series between the Red Sox and Yankees that doesn't coincide with the beating of a fan of one team or the other. Especially when the beating occurs on the Fourth of July in front of the man's children.
Making it all the better, the genius squad that led the beatdown didn't even have any reason to believe that William Nestor, driving his family home from a fireworks display in Falmouth, Massachusetts, was a baseball fan, let alone a Yankee fan. Nestor was beaten with an aluminum bat because his car had New York plates.
"They were yelling, 'Yankees! Yankees!' and 'F - - - New York' " Nestor, 29, said. "When they saw the plates, they came at me.
"I didn't even know the Yankees and Red Sox were playing" this weekend, added Nestor, who's not a particularly big baseball fan.
Nestor is okay, thankfully, and police have arrested one man and charged him with assault. They are looking for his partner in crime.
At some point it would be awfully nice of Hank Steinbrenner and John Henry to make some kind of joint statement decrying this kind of behavior. While making sure to point out that plenty of people on both sides are prone to acting like idiots, the owners could make it clear that neither the Yankee Universe nor Red Sox Nation they are so fond of welcomes citizens of that sort.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.
Chicago Cubs (52-35) at St. Louis Cardinals (49-39) - 3:55 PM ET
It's sad to see a friendship go south as apparently the one between Tony La Russa and Jim Edmonds has now that Edmonds is with the Cubs and La Russa is playing ultra-sensitive. But in reality, La Russa and Edmonds are mere players in the larger war that is Cubs vs. Cardinals, with first place on the line and growing ever so further away from the Cardinals. Today, Kyle Lohse is going to have to continue his 2008 magic (remember when nobody wanted Lohse? Yeah, well now he's 10-2) against Ted Lilly.
As Situation Maggette remains unresolved, lesser wing free agents seem to be biding their time before the first domino falls. In one case -- James Posey -- a player are just now finding out they are considered lesser wing free agents than Corey Maggette, and that really sort of makes him upset. From the Boston Herald:
Free agent James Posey, via agent Mark Bartelstein, continued to talk to other NBA suitors in the wake of what he considers an unacceptable offer from his former team - one that falls short of the $5.8 million mid-level exception as well as his desire for a 4- to 5-year deal.
Boston has reportedly made that contract available to Maggette, which might contribute to Posey's air of insult. But is anyone willing to offer Posey -- a great defender, but a 31-year-old with limited offensive skills -- more than $25 million for four years of work? Bill Ingram of Hoopsworld reports Houston might throw that cash at Posey, to which I say ...
... what?! Posey is a poor man's Shane Battier. And the Rockets -- specifically general manager Daryl Morey -- love Shane Battier. They traded Rudy Gay for him. And Battier makes only $20 million over the next three years, is two years younger, and shoots substantially better from three on his career. Why on Earth would Houston bring in Posey when they have Battier, and why on Earth would Houston replace Battier with Posey? Makes no sense.
It was a night of knockout soccer that saw three games go to extra time, two games go to penalty kicks, and one famous Mexican lose his temper and get sent off. By the time the smoke cleared, the glass slipper still fit for two USL First Division clubs, who had advanced to the 
The New England Patriots are exporting the all-American art of cheerleading to China, where 200,000 people have volunteered to learn how to cheer at the Summer Olympics.
D.C. United and the Chicago Fire meet tonight in the 
One of my fondest wishes as a sports fan is that there can one day be a series between the Red Sox and Yankees that doesn't coincide with the beating of a fan of one team or the other. Especially when the beating occurs on the Fourth of July in front of the man's children. 
As 
