The obligatory logo explanation

 

The Cosmos return – with a new home, new league and old ideals

Once the glitziest name in US soccer, the Cosmos are back in Paterson, New Jersey, with a historic stadium, a grassroots ethos and ambitions to build a real club from the ground up

(theguardian.com 7-13-25)

There’s a new New York Cosmos in town – in the town of Paterson, New Jersey, to be precise. One of the most storied names in American soccer has hit the reset button, finding a new league, a new city and a refreshed, community-first approach.

While many high-profile new teams in US sports are parachuted in at the top of their league’s hierarchy, this Cosmos revival feels different – some of that by design, some by necessity. Thursday’s announcement at the newly restored Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson offered longtime fans and curious onlookers a glimpse into this fresh direction, and the reasons behind it.

The message was clear in the location alone: nestled above the Great Falls of the Passaic River, embedded in a National Historical Park. It’s echoed in the club’s starting point – USL League One, the third and lowest tier of professional soccer in the US – a more stable launchpad from which to build organically. And perhaps most significantly, this iteration of the Cosmos finally has a home stadium to call its own – characterful, scenic, historic – something previous, more nomadic versions never had.

Two major themes run parallel through this reboot. The first is rooted in Paterson itself: a proudly local but cosmopolitan city, where the new Cosmos aim to foster grassroots involvement not just in soccer but in a wide range of activities.

The second is the name. Despite years of dormancy and false starts, the New York Cosmos remain one of the most recognisable brands in American soccer. Its association with Pelé helped cement that global profile, and further star power – Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia, Carlos Alberto – ensured it endured.

But this version wants to be more than a brand; it aims to be a club in the truest sense, something still rare in the franchise-heavy landscape of American sports. The plan includes a professional women’s team and space for other sports and community activities, from rugby and cricket to dance and chess. Like traditional sporting institutions around the world – the Clube de Regatas of Brazil or European multisport clubs – the new Cosmos will not be just a soccer team.

“This is the perfect community for it,” Cosmos CEO Erik Stover tells the Guardian. “It’s so diverse, with people from all over the world and diverse interests, so it makes perfect sense here.

“Proper clubs have multiple sports. People from the community are volunteering, helping with the cricket club, the track club, the tennis club, whatever it is.

“For us, professional soccer will be at the top of the pyramid. But what really matters is that grassroots foundation.”

The team will retain the official name New York Cosmos, but with its identity deeply rooted in Paterson, it will often be referred to simply as the Cosmos.

“The aim is community first,” says Stover. “To build sustainably, to invest in local people – whether that’s players or front office – and to grow slowly and deliberately.”

Finding a home stadium in the New York metropolitan area is no easy feat – which is why so many “New York” teams, including the Red Bulls and both NFL franchises, play across the Hudson in New Jersey. For the Cosmos, Hinchliffe isn’t just a home – it’s central to the club’s revival.

New majority owner and chairperson Baye Adofo-Wilson, a Paterson native who led the stadium’s redevelopment, spoke of creating pathways to the professional game at a time when soccer has become increasingly pay-to-play.

“More superstars are going to come out of Paterson, Passaic County, North Jersey, who will lead future generations,” he said at the unveiling. “We want people to be able to afford this. When I was growing up, a lot of these sports were free – but they no longer are.

“Often kids don’t have access. What we really want to do is make sure we have a club that’s affordable for kids, but also exciting and dynamic – reflective of the diversity of North Jersey. A lot of people are running away from diversity at this point. We’re going to run toward it.”

There may not yet be stars on the field, but there is one in the front office: Giuseppe Rossi, the former Italy international and North Jersey native, is both investing in the club and serving as Head of Soccer.

“He’s lived it,” says Stover. “If he didn’t have that Italian passport that let him go to Europe at 12 – and he was stuck in Clifton, New Jersey, dealing with pay-to-play – who knows? Maybe he doesn’t make it to Villarreal, Fiorentina, the Azzurri.

“He understands those challenges better than anyone. He can talk to kids on their level, because he’s walked the same path. He made it to the top – and he knows what it takes.”

For Cosmos fans, there’s optimism – even if the team is starting from the bottom. It may be a far cry from the glitzy NASL days of packed stadiums and marquee names, but with the USL planning a promotion and relegation system and a new Division I to run alongside MLS, there’s a realistic path for the Cosmos to climb.

“It’s not an accident the Cosmos are entering USL now,” says Stover. “Fifteen years ago, the soccer landscape in this country was very different. Now, USL is working on promotion and relegation – and where that ends up, who knows?

“But what matters is that a club like ours has a path to grow, to compete, to win championships – like we did three times in five years in NASL.

“I’ve been around the world and spoken to so many sports executives, and I think one big reason soccer in the US isn’t where it could be is that we’ve locked so many communities out of the game. We need to make it more inclusive.”

Whatever the future holds, fans were simply glad to have their team back. Even after years of inactivity, many never stopped believing. A handful were there at Thursday’s announcement, exchanging emotional glances across the room at the Charles J Muth Museum at Hinchliffe Stadium, as New Jersey governor Phil Murphy made it official.

The Cosmos are back. And while they may look different this time, their spirit remains unmistakable.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jul/13/new-york-cosmos-paterson-usl-return

New York Cosmos return to North Jersey, set for 2026 USL League One debut

(uslleagueone.com 7-29-25)

The famed New York Cosmos are returning to the field—and returning to North Jersey—in early 2026.

The Cosmos will return to competition for the 2026 season and compete in USL League One, a growing league in the third tier of the U.S. professional soccer pyramid. The Cosmos' new home will be Hinchliffe Stadium, a National Historic Landmark in Paterson, N.J. Hinchliffe Stadium once was home to Negro League baseball teams like the New York Black Yankees, the New York Cubans and the Newark Eagles. Twenty members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame played at Hinchliffe Stadium, including Paterson's own Larry Doby.

Hinchliffe Stadium was renovated, restored and reopened in 2023 as a 7,800-seat, multi-sport venue that anchors a $110 million initiative which includes senior housing, a child care facility, the Muth Museum dedicated to Negro League baseball, and a parking garage. Hinchliffe Stadium will also be home to the Cosmos' first women’s team, as well as a soccer museum dedicated to Cosmos history.

"Hinchliffe Stadium is an economic driver for the region," said Mr. Adofo-Wilson, a Paterson native who is the co-owner and developer of Hinchliffe Stadium and the new majority owner and Chairperson of the Cosmos. "Bringing the Cosmos to Hinchliffe Stadium will give us an additional anchor for Hinchliffe Stadium, the City of Paterson and North Jersey. It will also give young people in our region the opportunity to watch exciting, affordable professional sports in their backyard."

"Since acquiring the New York Cosmos in 2017, our primary goal has always been to preserve the rich history of America's most iconic soccer club," said Thomas Larsen, the Cosmos' last general manager. "It is extremely gratifying to know that new generations of fans will be able to experience the excitement of Cosmos soccer at a revitalized venue overlooking the New York City skyline and within a league structure that rewards on-the-field success through promotion and relegation."

The Cosmos last played in New Jersey from 1977 through 1984, when the likes of Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia helped draw massive crowds to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford.

"As we stand just three days away from the FIFA Club World Cup Final, a little over two weeks away from the Premier League Summer Series, and look ahead to the excitement that awaits us in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, there's no better time or place to announce the return of the New York Cosmos to Northern New Jersey," New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said at an event on July 10. "I am thankful to all of the wonderful leaders and our partners in the legislature whose support makes moments like these possible. From national championship-winning teams to global soccer events and the rebirth of storied clubs, together we are quickly transforming New Jersey into the soccer capital of the world."

Mr. Adofo-Wilson will be joined on the club's board by Vice Chairman and Head of Soccer Giuseppe Rossi, a product of nearby Clifton, N.J., who starred for Villarreal CF, ACF Fiorentina and the Italy national team before ending a long and successful playing career in 2023. Sapna Shah, a New York-based entrepreneur and angel investor whose work with Red Giraffe Advisors focuses on sports organizations with minority founders, also lends her expertise.

The club's day-to-day operations will be managed by CEO Erik Stover, an award-winning sports executive who served as the Cosmos' chief operating officer for nearly a decade (2012-21). Mr. Stover is a long-time North Jersey resident, and his professional ties to the region include stints as managing director of the New York Red Bulls (2008-11) and Assistant VP, Operations of Giants Stadium (2000-05).

The Cosmos' Paterson era will be defined by proactive commitment to the community and a mission to embody the ambition and diversity of Passaic County and North Jersey, one of the country's most cosmopolitan and talent-rich regions. Under Mr. Rossi's direction, the club intends to prioritize youth player development, while championing inclusivity and access in and around Hinchliffe Stadium and across the American soccer landscape.

"I grew up here, and I still play here. There's talent everywhere, and many of these kids have great potential but aren't getting a real chance like they would in other footballing nations," Mr. Rossi said. "One of our goals is to give those young men and women an opportunity to sign a professional contract and to develop in a first-class environment."

"In anticipation of the World Cup returning to the United States next year, we are profoundly proud to announce the arrival of the most famous American soccer club to Paterson," Paterson Mayor André Sayegh said. "The New York Cosmos once featured the greatest player of all time, Pelé, and energized Giants Stadium for years. Now, the team will have the same impact on the historic Hinchliffe Stadium."

In conjunction with next year's return to competition, the Cosmos will sport a refreshed version of the iconic blade-and-ball logo conceived in 1971 by artist Wayland Moore (with colors chosen by founding General Manager Clive Toye). Unveiled July 10, the modernized badge remains unmistakably Cosmos and was designed by Mark Jenkinson and Shawn Francis. The Cosmos' uniforms and training gear will be introduced in the months to come. They'll be produced in partnership with New York City's Capelli Sports.

North Jersey Pro Soccer has acquired the Cosmos' intellectual and physical property, history and heritage from New York Cosmos LLC, an entity controlled by Rocco B. Commisso since January 2017. New York Cosmos LLC will retain a minority ownership stake in the club.

https://www.uslleagueone.com/news_article/show/1343422

Traditional "end of soccer season" post

So soccer is over in Utah until Spring arrives, and that is a good thing. We don't need to be messing around with soccer in the Fall in Utah. There are more important things to worry about, like cleaning out my garage in preparation for winter.

This winter is going to be the one, the one where I get the garage cleaned out to the point where there is plenty of room to pull the cars in and walk effortlessly to the door with my hands full or groceries and not have to feel like I am walking through a maze of boxes and bikes. 

I already have a leg up on my neighbors, they can't even park their cars in their garages due to too much junk. At least I have always been able to fit my cars in the garage. But this year I am going to put them all to shame, while they walk through the snow on their drive way with arms full of groceries I will pull into my clean garage and bask in my awesomeness. 

With regards to soccer, below I posted KSL articles about RSL trying to make a big deal about how they have qualified for "5 straight playoffs" and the Monarchs trying to make themselves feel better about finishing almost last in their league.

From the Monarch's article:

Through the second half of the season, Utah finished with 10 results in the final 13 matches.

"We feel like if we can keep this momentum going, we can be a playoff contender," Utah coach Jimmy Coenraets said.

"Hitting rock bottom is OK; it gives us a great foundation to end on," he added.

Wow, "hitting rock bottom is OK"?

I guess, whatever. 

With regards to RSL, I usually don't think about them but I stumbled upon a RSL conversation on ESPN 700's the Drive with Spence Checketts the other day. He had on some guy from RSL, someone from the front office, I can't remember who it was. But anyway, they were talking about the season, the playoffs, blah blah blah, whatever.

Basically the conversation ended up focusing on what MLS teams have to do to break out and get to the finals when it comes to players. Do they spend big and get a Messi or someone like him, or do they focus on more homegrown talent?

Then the RSL guy was saying how RSL used to do a good job with its academy and focusing on homegrown talent but something went array during the Deloy Hansen years. Something like that.

Then Spence said something that made me laugh out loud.

He compared RSL to a team like Everton in the EPL.

He said something to the affect that RSL is always in the middle, good enough to get into the playoffs but not good enough to get to the finals, kind of like an Everton in the EPL.

I had to smile because that is the problem with MLS. Am I the only one that sees it? It feels like I am.

In a real soccer league like the EPL, or pretty much every other league in the world, just staying in the league is an accomplishment. Not getting relegated is an achievement because the competition in you league is fierce.

But when you have a closed league like MLS with 30 teams your season is a failure if you don't reach the finals, or at least the semi-finals. 

So yeah, you are doomed and your fans are going to get bored if you aren't at the top every year.

That is why I am slightly excited to start paying attention to the USL. 

There is a little soccer flame burning in me again perhaps.

Ohhhh, I even toyed with the idea of someone starting a low level USL team in Provo perhaps and then watching them grow and move up the ranks. Then one day they would win promotion to USL's top tier and we would have two top tier teams in Utah. 

Well, that is if you consider MLS top tier. 

RSL fails to advance in playoffs for 4th consecutive season, falling 3-1 in Portland wild card game

(ksl.com 10-23-25)

Major League Soccer and its playoff structure have changed a lot over the last four years, but one thing has remained the same: Real Salt Lake can't make it beyond its first matchup.

The Claret and Cobalt fell 3-1 in Wednesday's single-elimination wild card game in Portland to make it four straight opening matchup exits since the team advanced all the way to the Western Conference final in 2021.

RSL qualified for the postseason by the skin of its teeth in the first place, squeaking into the final wild card spot on a tiebreaker with San Jose and Colorado. The Timbers, on the other hand, fell from being in the top four for most of the season to eighth place and had home-field advantage in the wild card game.

The home team was the aggressor in the first half, opening up a 2-0 lead through 36 minutes on a brace from veteran Chilean striker Felipe Mora.

Justen Glad got one back for RSL with his first goal of the season just three minutes later, but a series of close chances fell short over the remaining 50 minutes and Portland sealed the win with a third goal in the 82nd minute.

The closest chance for the road team was a free-kick goal by Brayan Vera in the 76th minute that was called off due to a foul on Rwan Cruz, who was subbed on for Zavier Gozo in the 65th minute. William Agada also came on at that time for Victor Olatunji, who scored both goals in the Decision Day draw that got RSL into the playoffs.

"I think it's a microcosm of how our season's been," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "We have 20-some odd chances on goal and can't seem to make the play that tips the scales. Whether it's a crossbar, Victor not sliding across the front of the goal on a ball that's rolling in front or Rwan fouling on Vera's free kick."

The missed opportunities and "moments," as Mastroeni puts it, started to add up for RSL and resulted in yet another disappointing end to a season for the team with the longest active playoff streak in the league.

While the result and disappointment are still "fresh," in Mastroeni's words, the manager who has made the postseason every year at the helm of RSL acknowledged there will be "some tough decisions to make" in the coming weeks.

"We'll get together in the next couple of days with Kurt (Schmid) and Jason (Kreis) and figure out how to best move forward," Mastroeni said of meeting with the team's top brass.

Players with expiring contracts at the end of 2025 include: Vera, Agada, Braian Ojeda, DeAndre Yedlin, Alex Katranis, Sam Junqua, Philip Quinton, Noel Caliskan and Johnny Russell; though Ojeda, Vera, Yedlin, Katranis and Quinton all have club options, should the team decide to bring them back in 2026.

https://www.ksl.com/article/51394214/rsl-fails-to-advance-in-playoffs-for-4th-consecutive-season-falling-3-1-in-portland-wild-card-game

RSL qualifies for MLS-best 5th consecutive playoffs with 2-2 draw in St. Louis

(ksl.com 10-18-25)

Real Salt Lake rebounded from a disastrous first half of the season to rattle off eight of its 12 wins over the final 17 games to squeak into the ninth and final Western Conference playoff spot on MLS Decision Day on Saturday.

"I think the spirit of the group overrides some of the things that haven't gone right," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "And tonight, I think, was a great display of resilience, of execution and coming up trumps; when really there's no reason — with the season that we had — to believe in ourselves."

The team entered the day in the final playoff spot and could guarantee its league-best fifth consecutive postseason appearance with a win on the road against the already-eliminated St. Louis City.

A first-half brace from Victor Olatunji had RSL well on its way with a 2-0 lead through 32 minutes, but a penalty from Eduard Lowen just before halftime brought St. Louis within one, 2-1, at the break.

Joao Klauss tied the game at 2-2 in the 88th minute, and late leads from fellow playoff hopefuls Colorado and San Jose made the final minutes at Energizer Park a little tense for Mastroeni and company, who had already endured 90-plus minutes of pouring rain in St. Louis.

LAFC equalized against Colorado at 2-2, though, and RSL held onto a valuable point with the 2-2 draw, keeping the Rapids, Earthquakes and RSL all tied at 41 points at the end of the night. The first tiebreaker for playoff qualification was total wins, with RSL holding the slight edge with 12 to the other two teams' 11.

Goalkeeper Rafael Cabral came up big, once again, completing his first season in Utah playing every single minute of every game, and putting up five saves on 27 St. Louis shots to hold the home team to two goals, despite a 3.5-1 lead in expected goals.

"I feel we play as a family, and we just love each other," Olatunji said of his short time in Utah since joining the squad in August. "We trust and play like what we want. So far, so good. I love being here."

The margin in the standings was about as thin as it could have been for the Claret and Cobalt, who became the team with the most losses to qualify for the playoffs in MLS history at a 12-17-5 (win-loss-draw) record.

Mastroeni has now made the playoffs in each of his five seasons at the helm of RSL, fulfilling a promise he made to fans after a tough month of August when the team lost all three of its matches.

"In 2021, it took until the last game (to make the playoffs)," Mastroeni said on Aug. 23. "Even if it takes until the last second of the final game, we're going to make it."

RSL will travel to Portland to face the eighth-seeded Timbers in a single-elimination wild card game on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. MDT.

https://www.ksl.com/article/51392193/rsl-qualifies-for-mls-best-5th-consecutive-playoffs-with-2-2-draw-in-st-louis

Utah Royals send off 2025 season, 3 retiring teammates with 1-0 win over Washington

(ksl.com 11-2-25)

Sunday evening's season finale provided Utah Royals FC a chance to celebrate the past, including the retirement of three key members of the squad's return to the Wasatch Front three years ago.

It also may have given a glimpse into the NWSL side's future.

Paige Monaghan scored her fifth goal of the season, and Mandy McGlynn made three saves to make it stand up as the Royals wrapped up the 2025 season with a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit.

"The togetherness of this team was everything," Monaghan said. "I'm just so grateful to be their teammate; it was such an honor."

Lara Prasnikar — the 27-year-old midseason addition Slovenia — delivered quickly in her debut start for the Royals, finding No. 4 in the fourth minute to set up Monaghan's fifth goal of the season and give Utah a 1-0 lead.

It's the second straight match with a goal for Monaghan, who had a goal or an assist in five consecutive matches that paced the Royals' club-record eight-match unbeaten streak midway through August and September.

If there's something to build on the Royals' 7-13-7 season, it's Monaghan and her career-best five goals — as many as the previous two years combined.

Through the second half of the season, Utah finished with 10 results in the final 13 matches.

"We feel like if we can keep this momentum going, we can be a playoff contender," Utah coach Jimmy Coenraets said.

"Hitting rock bottom is OK; it gives us a great foundation to end on," he added.

It was also the year of Monaghan, who arrived in Utah via the now-defunct NWSL expansion draft as an occasional goal scorer — nine goals and an assist in four seasons with Sky Blue/Gotham FC and Racing Louisville — and became a pivotal member of the Royals' attack, a team captain and the second-leading scorer on the team.

What started as a season on the mend from a broken foot ended with a career year: five goals, two assists in over 1,000 minutes played across 16 matches, including 14 starts.

"The belief that my teammates and coaching staff had in me, that goes a long way," Monaghan said of her campaign. "For me, I'm a repetition player; that's what made me good in college, what helped give me experience and exposure, what led me to U23 camp and to get drafted.

"I've been craving that so long in my career, but it's just something that lacked," she added. "This year, the Royals made hires that helped me do what I need to do every single week to get ready for the weekends."

Most of the announced crowd of 9.170 fans weren't there for the win-loss record, too.

In a game that was meaningless in the 14-team NWSL standings — Washington entered Sunday afternoon locked into the No. 2 seed for the playoffs, while Utah had been eliminated from the postseason and was stranded at No. 12 — Spirit coach Adrian Gonzalez started two of the state's natives in midfielder Heather Stainbrook and attacker Courtney Brown.

Brown had more than 100 friends and family on hand to see the former Fremont High and Utah midfielder's 15th match of the season, which she started before a halftime substitution.

Stainbrook, the former Alta High star who was Utah Valley's all-time goal scorer when she graduated in 2023, went the distance for the Spirit.

The Royals, too, had their own celebrations to attend — their own flowers to hand out. Imani Dorsey, who came to the newly relaunched club as a free agent following the 2023 season, played the final match of her seven-year career.

The sixth player signed in Utah's relaunched history made her first appearance since Sept. 6 in a second-half sub.

But the biggest ovation came for Claudia Zornoza, the 35-year-old Spaniard who played the final match in her 17-year career that included stops with Real Madrid and the European Champions League prior to her final two seasons in the NWSL.

The Royals also honored former BYU defender Olivia (Smith) Griffitts, who retired this season following the berth of her first child, a daughter with former BYU football tight end Kyle Griffitts.

"All players with completely different personalities," Coenraets said of the three retirees, adding that he and Monaghan wanted Zornoza to wear the captain's armband but the Spaniard declined. "If you look back on Claudia's career, there aren't a lot of players in this league who present what she presents.

"Imani is probably one of the most intelligent players I've ever worked with," he added. "I'm very grateful that I was able to work with them; I hope I added something to their career, but I'm 100% certain they added something to my career."

https://www.ksl.com/article/51399278/utah-royals-send-off-2025-season-3-retiring-teammates-with-1-0-win-over-washington

Ugh.... this sucks, this really really sucks

Utah Warriors withdraw with Major League Rugby ahead of 2026 season, suspend operations

(ksl.com 11-4-25)

Utah's top-flight rugby franchise won't be returning after a breakthrough 2025 campaign.

The eighth-year professional Utah Warriors rugby franchise won't return for the 2026 season, the club announced Tuesday morning, after failing to secure additional ownership and funding.

Utah Warriors CEO Kimball Kjar revealed the decision in a letter to fans, a day after informing Major League Rugby of the club's decision while indefinitely suspending first-team rugby operations.

"Up until just days ago, the Utah Warriors were committed and on track to participate in the 2026 Major League Rugby season. Unfortunately, things changed quickly in the past week," said Kjar, adding that all season ticket deposits for the upcoming season would be refunded to the team's fans within the next week.

The withdrawal is the latest gut-punch for American rugby, the country that is scheduled to host the Rugby World Cup in 2031. With the decision, Major League Rugby will be down to just six teams in 2026. Current franchises will operate in California, Seattle, Chicago, Carolina, New England, and Washington, D.C.

The Warriors were one of two original teams (with Seattle) to stay with the league since 2018. But since the New England Free Jacks defeated the Houston SaberCats at Centreville Bank Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island, this past summer, trouble has brewed constantly.

First, the New Orleans franchise — NOLA Gold — announced it was withdrawing from the league after seven years in the league.

A short time later, the two teams in San Diego and Los Angeles opted to merge into a single team, called the California Legion, that would split its home games in San Diego, Los Angeles and Irvine, California.

Miami Sharks uprooted from the league after just two years, and Houston — another one of the original seven franchises in a league that once grew as large as a dozen — withdrew, citing financial hardships and disagreements with the league's front office.

But Utah felt different. The Warriors were built on a foundation of a sport brought to the state by some of the earliest Latter-day Saints pioneers from the Polynesian islands of Tonga and Samoa. From the early days of Iosepa to the youth rugby dynasty led by Larry Gelwix at Highland rugby, the sport had a foothold in the west.

It caused Utah's leadership to proclaim the state as the "epicenter of rugby," and Major League Rugby was — for a time — headquartered in Salt Lake City. Sold-out crowds regularly awaited the team at the club's 5,000-seat home at Zions Bank Stadium, and the club bought office and training space of its own in Draper last May.

Results weren't always consistent. But a renewed investment in the club and a roster overhaul under former coach Greg Cooper led to a franchise-best 11-5 record last year, a Western Conference regular-season title, and a playoff berth for the first time since 2021 before making way for top assistant and former New Zealand Māori All Blacks forward Robbie Abel to be the club's next coach.

"To our sponsors, thank you for supporting this vision of building Utah into North America's epicenter of rugby," Kjar said. "This vision remains and will be carried on by our amazing local rugby community at the youth, high school, collegiate, and club levels, especially Utah Little Rugby and Utah Youth Rugby."

Kjar also hinted that more news about the organization's "support for the game" would come "in the coming days," and urged supporters of the franchise to get behind that forthcoming direction.

"Although this might feel like goodbye, it's really just a shift in our focus," he said.

"That's the thing about Warriors — they never give up," Kjar added. "They keep moving forward. This isn't the end for rugby in Utah, and when that time comes to welcome professional rugby back to our great state, I look forward to standing next to our entire Warriors Nation family to cheer our team, our Warriors."

https://www.ksl.com/article/51400001/utah-warriors-withdraw-with-major-league-rugby-ahead-of-2026-season-suspend-operations

----------

Well, what the hell do I do now?

I was really starting to like the Warriors and was looking forward to following them more in the upcoming season. Now I can't.

I feel awful for the Warriors fans. I'm a member of a Warriors Fans Facebook page and I haven't even gone onto Facebook today to look. It would be too painful. They are a great group of people and now they must be absolutely gutted. This is just so sad.

Everything sucks these days when it comes to sports, just everything.

And I can see RSL fans saying something like, "See, you shouldn't have stopped following MLS and RSL. See, MLS is stable, MLS is a good league. Serves you right for not liking them anymore." 

Well, go to hell. 

I don't care if MLS is stable. (Actually, I'm not quite sure if MLS is really that stable.) But whatever. I just can't stand the league, so what if they are stable? If it is a sh*tty league with a sh*tty product I don't want to watch.

I wouldn't mind watching a soccer game once in awhile, but not MLS. That is why I am somewhat interested in how USL does next year with implementing Promotion and Relegation. 

I guess I do have that to look forward too.

But, it just makes me sick for the Warriors. It was a good product.

I guess rugby still has a long way to go in this country. However, with how big the NFL is rugby might never make it. 

I don't know, I just don't want to think about it.

Looking for a jock strap in Lehi

About a week and a half ago I found myself in Lehi again at the FrontRunner train station out there. I had some time to kill and it was actually a beautiful morning with cool temperatures, a few clouds in the sky, and the sun just barely popping its head up over the mountain tops.

I thought, let's go check out the old RSL Xango stomping grounds. Let's see if they've kept it up at all because last time it was starting to show some decline with mangled goalposts and such.

(see my 2022 "Ghosts of Xango" post here)

https://rslcup.blogspot.com/2022/07/ghosts-of-xango.html 

Wow, was I shocked. At least last time there was still some grass growing. This time nature has totally taken over and started to reclaim the area. 

Now, I'm big on water conservation. I think Utah is doing about as poor as you can do with water conservation. People seem to have completely forgotten that the Great Salt Lake almost dried up completely 3 years or 4 years ago and if it weren't for a very lucky big winter 2 years ago we would be in trouble. 

So, I am all for not watering an area just for the sake of watering it. 

But I still was a little befuddled as to what they are doing with the old practice field, which is pretty much nothing. 

Anyway, as I walked around the fence line I told myself to keep my eyes open. You never know when you might find a treasure hiding in the brush. So I set off, like an old German Shorthaired pointer in search of an elusive ring neck pheasant hiding in the open farmland of West Weber, Warren, or Plain City, (at least there used to be open farmland out there when I was kid, probably not anymore though) I was hoping I might find some old discarded RSL swag. An old T-shirt perhaps, an old practice worn sock with a hole in it, or maybe if I'm lucky the holy grail, and old sweat stained jock strap.  

As I rounded the area however I found nothing. A discarded water bottle and a smashed energy drink can was all I saw. Oh, there was one of those "i9sports" signs laying on the ground, forgotten. At least it did have a soccer ball on it, kind of apropos. I felt like that sums up the state of soccer in Utah, kind of discarded, in the dirt, forgotten. 

It isn't so much RSL's fault though, it's the league, it's MLS' fault. What a horrible league, how many teams are there now in MLS? 

30. 

You can't have a soccer league with 30 teams in it, that is chaos. What are they doing? 

Oh well, what do I care? I haven't cared for years, soccer is pretty much the last thing on my mind now. Except when I'm in Lehi and see an old soccer goal post off in the distance, sad...... lonely..... longing for days of yore.

At least I got to see a pretty sunrise.

 

Soccer and thuggery, bullfights and bravery

So, summer is coming to a close, and I guess soccer season is still trudging along. The only reason I know this is for some reason in my YouTube feed a soccer video popped up the other day about Suarez spitting in a trainer's face after a bitter loss or something like that. That League's Cup thing again I guess.

Why am I not surprised? 

Could be the pink uniforms, I don't know. Anyway, soccer players are just as bad as their fans. Thugs, hooligans, whiners, etc. 

I'm so happy I exercised the soccer demos out of my body years ago, I was starting to get a nasty rash in places I couldn't really scratch in public.

Here is a BBC article about the situation;

--------------------

(bbc.com September 5, 2025)

Suarez sorry for spitting at opposition coach

Inter Miami forward Luis Suarez has apologised for his behaviour after spitting at a member of the Seattle Sounders' coaching staff following his side's 3-0 Leagues Cup final defeat.

"It was a moment of great tension and frustration, where right after the match things happened that shouldn't have happened, but that doesn't justify the reaction I had," he wrote on Instagram.

"I was wrong and I sincerely regret it."

The incident happened shortly after the full-time whistle, following a melee involving both sets of players and sparked by the Uruguayan.

Suarez grabbed Sounders midfielder Obed Vargas around the neck, before team-mate Sergio Busquets struck the Mexico international on the chin.

Moments later, the 38-year-old was involved in an altercation with a Sounders staff member and was held back by team-mate Oscar Ustari before appearing to spit in the coach's direction.

"I feel bad about what happened, and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to acknowledge it and apologise to everyone who felt hurt by what I did," added Suarez.

Speculation has circulated about the extent of any punishment he may face but Suarez added he wants to aid Inter Miami's push to make the MLS Cup play-offs.

"We know there's still a lot of the season ahead, and we're going to work together to achieve the successes that this club and all of its fans deserve," he wrote.

Suarez is no stranger to controversy.

The former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid striker has been involved in several controversial incidents during his career.

In 2011 when at Liverpool, Suarez was given an eight-match ban after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United full-back Patrice Evra.

He also served bans for three separate biting incidents when playing for Ajax, Liverpool and Uruguay.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cjd1k7e9z2go

--------------------

Here is a video link to the mele;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9vqubUp3Ok

--------------------

All of this just makes me appreciate my affinity for the bullfight even more. 

You never see this uneducated behavior in the world of the bulls. Bullfighting is built around honor, manors, tradition, and an undying love for the art. Bullfighters will do everything possible to not bring shame upon themselves or the bull. Their whole goal is to bring out the best in the bull which will make the bull look good which in turn make themselves look good.

I've done a couple of posts about this in the past but bullfighters are the epitome of ethics, respectfulness, and nobility. They will get injured, break bones, bleed from getting gored, and will still do all possible to finish the performance. 

Example: this year in Pamplona, a long time bullfighter by the name Rafaelillo suffered 8 fractured ribs thanks to a nasty bull from the Jose Escolar ranch but he still finished the fight and was awarded an ear for his efforts.

Also, just today in Albacete, Saúl Jiménez Fortes (a bullfighter famous for getting gored completely through the neck in Madrid many years ago) was performing what's called a portagayola. Where that name comes from I have no idea. 

It's a risky move, one where the matador kneels in front of the "gates of fear" where the bull will soon enter the plaza, and meets the bull face to face. With a sweeping move of his cape the idea is to make the bull pass as close as possible to the bullfighter without taking a horn to the face or chest.

How it is supposed to go - 

But, it did not go as plan today and Fortes was violently tossed by the bull. With blood running down his face he brushed himself off and finished his performance, like any matador noble would do.

How it went-

Anyway, I'm thankful for this time of year. The summer heat will soon ease, and the cooler fall days and nights will return. There are still a couple of good months of bullfights to enjoy then they will take a break until March next year. At that point the bulls will begin to stir more around the rolling hills of the Spanish ranches, helping us all to wake up a bit from our winter naps.

Sevilla will come alive with its Spring Fair and all will be right with the world.

As for soccer, just get the season over with quickly so we don't have to see Suarez spitting in people's faces anymore. 

Thug.

More name trouble for the hockey team, and RSL gets knocked out of something called Leagues Cup

So, just a quick post about some things that jumped out at me on KSL.com. 

First, I saw some headline that said "RSL bows out of Leagues Cup". 

Never heard of it. 

Leagues Cup? What the hell is that? 

Anyway, who cares? Sounds stupid, and just like every Cup or tournament RSL is ever in they got beat. So no big news there, just par for the course. 

Oh, and then at the same time I got thinking about the women's soccer team. I hadn't seen any news about them in awhile and all of a sudden there was a headline about them giving up a late goal so I clicked on it. I got about this far into the article;

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Cloe Lacasse returned from ACL injury, missing a late header in Utah's 1-0 loss.

Kansas City's Temwa Chawinga scored the winning goal, tying for NWSL lead with 10.

Utah Royals extended their winless streak to 10 games, despite recent competitive improvements.

Good lord, a 10 game winless streak?!

"despite recent competitive improvements"

If you can't win I guess you can pat yourself on the back for "competitive improvements".

Then this came up about the hockey team. 

Utah Mammoth owner sues Oregon company amid growing trademark dispute

(ksl.com August 6, 2025)

It appears the new name of Utah's NHL franchise has run into a bit of legal drama.

Smith Entertainment Group Hockey and Uyte, LLC, owners of the Utah Mammoth and the company that helped Smith throughout the trademark process, filed a lawsuit against the Oregon-based hockey equipment bag manufacturer Mammoth Hockey, LLC, in the U.S. District Court of Utah on Friday. The lawsuit claims the two sides have found themselves in a trademark tiff, and they'd like a court referee to break up the donnybrook.

"Utah Mammoth and the NHL believe strongly that we have the right to use the name Utah Mammoth under federal and state law, and that our use will not harm the defendant or its business in any way," Smith Entertainment Group officials said in a statement to KSL.com. "We have taken this action only after careful consideration based on the defendant's position."

(link for rest of the article)

https://www.ksl.com/article/51356280/utah-mammoth-owner-sues-oregon-company-amid-growing-trademark-dispute-

Guys, guys, guys!!

I'm no lawyer but I could have told you there would be trouble if there is already a hockey equipment manufacturer named "Mammoth Hockey".

Good lord, what were they thinking?

Judast priest, why will no one listen to me?

Mountaineers, Mountaineers, Mountaineers !!!! Go with it, there is no shame in changing the name again. It's a great name, just say there were legal troubles with the name the Mammoth. 

Then you could still have your mascot be a Bigfoot and name him Wasatch like you always wanted. 

Ugh.... I have to take some Tylenol and go to bed, my head hurts.

 

I kind of watched some of the Club World Cup

Well, the Club World Cup has come and gone. I kind of watched some of it, the highlights that is, no way would I ever be able to sit down and watch a whole game.

MLS did nothing really. (insert snickering sound here)

Did we really expect MLS to do anything?

Seattle got beat three times, LAFC tied a game but lost two, and Miami won a game and tied two. Then they went on to get beat 4-0 by PSG, and that was only after PSG took it easy on them to not completely embarrass Messi.

There is still a little chivalry left in the world.

But MLS needs to stay out of these competitions, we are not a real soccer league. 

Maybe once they merge with the USL and we get promotion/relegation set up properly in this country, then maybe we can join the big boys of the world. 

But not until, not until..... 

  

Where MLS truly stands after its Club World Cup awakening

(nytimes.com July 2, 2025)

Before we kick off this post-mortem, a disclaimer: no one game of soccer, or even a handful of them, can adequately serve as a referendum on an entire league.

When U.S. Soccer worked to launch MLS as a condition of hosting the 1994 World Cup, the paperwork didn’t include a “must be among the world’s top five leagues by” deadline. When Inter Miami brought Lionel Messi’s talents to South Beach, it was a gambit that the other 29 franchises couldn’t parody. Miami is operating within MLS’s labyrinth of rules in a very different manner than every other club can — it doesn’t reflect the operational standard.

Still, the Club World Cup has come to the United States and FIFA let three MLS teams enter its grand experiment. Just as the Mamelodi Sundowns were an avatar for South African soccer, and many will base their perception of the J-League on three games of the Urawa Red Diamonds, MLS’s caliber in the global landscape was largely conveyed through Miami, Los Angeles FC and the Seattle Sounders. That’s just how these things work.

So, yes: Miami’s 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, which saw the reigning European champions go into full energy conservation mode for 45 minutes, brought MLS’s Club World Cup foray to a sobering end. Even if it technically did a little better than the “other” Inter fared in a bigger game vs. PSG last month, the half-hearted nature of the French power’s post-halftime approach showed just how little fight the MLS team was perceived to have — even with Messi.

Now that it’s over for the MLS trio, let’s take stock: what impression did the league provide to a global audience, and what did those closer to the circuit learn about its caliber and operation?

MLS is more competitive than some may think

For any team entering a global tournament that isn’t seen as a threat to contend, the prioritized side quest is to not be embarrassed. In a World Cup, each group’s minnow hopes to avoid what Thailand experienced against the U.S. women’s national team in 2019. Auckland City provided a perfect example, overcoming a brutal 10-0 thrashing in its opener against Bayern Munich to notch a famous draw against Boca Juniors in its final match.

At a glance, MLS’s results leave a record with much to be desired: one win, three draws and six losses. In terms of competitiveness, however, the result shows a trio of teams that gave opponents a game almost every time. Lopsided results were largely absent. Before PSG routed Miami, only three of nine games saw an MLS team lose by two goals, and none by a greater margin.

One doesn’t enter a tournament for moral victories, but it’s a start. So, too, is the fact an MLS team advanced from its group over a side from UEFA. MLS’s one knockout qualifier is equal to the Saudi Pro League, Portugal’s Primeira Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and Liga MX while giving it a greater knockout presence than, say, the Argentine Primera División and the Austrian Bundesliga. If you were bracing to barb MLS for all three teams getting grouped, be willing to contextualize what happens when one advances.

Teams also received plenty of praise along the way, and not just for harboring the sport’s most famous player. Before Luis Enrique’s side played Miami out of the tournament, PSG stuck its landing and won Group C by beating Seattle. While Miami has gone full Nick Fury to assemble mid-2010s FC Barcelona and LAFC had two members of France’s 2018 World Cup winners on-hand, Seattle was seen as a plucky underdog that had earned its place but was unlikely to thrive in the tournament’s toughest group.

Seattle arguably outplayed Botafogo — more on that below — days before the Brazilian club’s upset of PSG, and was outclassed by an Atléti side with a point to prove. PSG was its sternest test, but Seattle’s composed shape and tirelessness until the final whistle earned the praise of Brian Schmetzer’s opposite number.

“This is the Club World Cup; it’s impossible to have an easy match,” Enrique told DAZN after the match. “I think (the Sounders) compete really well, they play great football. It was difficult until the last minute.”

And yet…

The league’s roster restrictions are holding teams back

Any high-level team inevitably tailors its marketing plans around a few central figures. Any poster promoting these games will select the most famous guy or two to convey an entire team’s reputation. Inter Milan wants to hitch its wagon to Lautaro Martínez. Manchester City’s reinvention features Erling Haaland as its leading man. It’s never seen as a slight to Yann Sommer or Nathan Aké, who are both very good even if their likeness is never plastered on the side of buses. Their wages validate their impact, and they’ll get their flowers whenever they come through in big moments.

Over time, MLS has configured its roster rules to give oversized importance to those marketable men. The designated player rule, hatched to bring David Beckham to the LA Galaxy, allows teams to exceed the maximum salary, which is determined in multi-year windows via collective bargaining talks with the MLS Players Association. In 2025, the senior maximum salary is $743,750, or just under £10,500 per week at current conversion rates.

Teams are allowed two or three DPs depending on their squad-building model, and league-issued allocation money allows teams to sign a few more players above that maximum but below a $1.74 million threshold. Miami and LAFC’s squads each have nine players earning above $743,750 annually, while Seattle has eight. Other factors to consider are a salary cap ($5.95 million this year; DPs hit the cap at a figure up to the senior max) and a limit of eight international slots, although you can acquire extras via trade.

How MLS teams did at the Club World Cup

Only one game saw an MLS team log a considerable expected goal differential advantage, when Seattle still lost to Botafogo. MLS teams lost the underlying numbers ledger against a team from Egypt and only barely outperformed a side from Tunisia. Even the team with Messi, who famously defies xG models with regularity, had a negative xGD in all four of its games.

There’s simply no budget to bring in role players of Rodrigo De Paul’s quality, no license to cobble an entire roster under one coherent vision without cutting corners. Games aren’t won by one, or three, or nine players — it takes everybody who touches the field, plus a lot of worthy alternatives who are stewing about not being involved that day.

Last week, we learned as part of the MLSPA’s twice-a-year salary dump that Miami pays its roster $46,836,635 per year. Now consider that $36.7 million of that bounty is dedicated to Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suárez. The other 25 players earn an average of $404,599, or £5,666 per week. Some of you can already see how this would put teams at a disadvantage, but let’s cite an example.

Before falling in the round of 16, Botafogo jolted the Club World Cup to life with its 1-0 upset of PSG. Talking with commentators and rival teams over the following days, and the consensus hallmark of that win wasn’t Igor Jesus’ imperiousness: it was the swarming defense under (shockingly, now-former) head coach Renato Paiva. Botafogo moved as a collective, closing passing lanes and hustling upfield behind a possession sequence to establish a high line of engagement to shrink the field.

Defenders of that caliber don’t come cheaply, but think like an MLS sporting executive for a second: if you only have two, or three — up to nine, if you’re clever — roster slots to pay players more than $743,750, how many of those will you utilize for defensive roles? Are you comfortable going all-in on that while relying on cheaper attackers and midfielders? No matter what, a bulk of your squad will have to earn less.

So while the results were credible and performances earned plaudits, the underlying numbers show a gap in quality between MLS and most of its opponents.

MLS brass deserves a lot of credit for ensuring the league weathered a nearly catastrophic period at the turn of the century. The work of commissioner Don Garber and his support suite of executives helped keep the league afloat before setting it on the ascendency through expansion, enacting an academy model, working into the global transfer market and helping teams see the importance of world-class stadia and training venues. However, quotes like this give a worrying projection of how much further MLS owners are willing to reach to contend at the levels to which he once regularly professed to aspire.

“I saw something in the news today about Transfermarkt values of each [Club World Cup] club, and clearly MLS teams are at the lower quadrant of Transfermarkt value,” Garber said earlier this month. “That’s something over time that I hope to be able to see continue to grow as our teams are investing more in players and hopefully generating more revenue to justify that expense.”

Compare that tone to his comments in 2015, when Tyler Adams and Alphonso Davies were still in MLS youth setups and a year after the LA Galaxy had won a third MLS Cup in four years with Landon Donovan, Beckham and Robbie Keane:

“I do believe in 10 years’ time or less, people will think of us like Serie A, La Liga, and hopefully the way they think about the Premier League. If we continue to do things right and stay to our plan.”

The terms most often used when discussing MLS’s approach are “stability,” stating a secondary aim of ensuring competitive parity. In truth, most justifications for MLS’s strict and limiting roster rules suggest a prioritization of profit over play quality. That’ll keep MLS’s group of billionaire owners happy, but it’ll hardly help the competition near synonymity with Europe’s top leagues.

Aging icons have their limitations

Reports of MLS being a “retirement league” have always been backed by shaky banter, especially in recent years. MLS hatched another rule to encourage teams to lean into signing players under the age of 22, building off of the outbound transfers of Adams to RB Leipzig, Davies to Bayern and Miguel Almirón to Newcastle United in January 2019. Nevertheless, some players in the twilight of their careers continue to appeal to MLS suitors, often due to a combination of sporting and marketing reasons. Some of these guys can still ball. Zlatan Ibrahimović was a force in 2018 and 2019, when he was pushing 40, before returning to (and starting for) AC Milan when it won the Scudetto. Giorgio Chiellini and Gareth Bale helped LAFC win its first MLS Cup. Messi’s impact speaks for itself.

However, this Club World Cup saw most of the involved teams’ most veteran members struggle against non-MLS opposition. Olivier Giroud’s frustrating stint with LAFC ended with an ineffective tournament. All three teams had a starting goalkeeper aged 38 or 39 years old. The defensive flaws of Alba and Busquets were laid bare, and even Messi wasn’t immune: despite taking 13 shots and creating seven chances, his only goal contribution was that famous free kick to topple Porto.

If pressed to pick the best MLS player of the tournament, it wouldn’t be a former FIFA Best XI honoree. It would be Cristian Roldan, a 30-year-old who joined Seattle a decade ago and has played 294 league games for the team. His work in the engine room helped his team go toe-to-toe with Botafogo, while his pressing work in tandem with Obed Vargas forced PSG to abandon the midfield and operate up the wings.

At this stage, aging icons often fare best in MLS as role players, often requiring some pay cuts to ensure a better roster around them to handle the hard work and allowing them to focus on their technical and mental strengths. Miami’s struggles in the current MLS season have also provided ample evidence that balance is necessary to maximize this type of signing.

Spotlight on the kids

We end on a promising positive, as seeds laid by the league to foster dependable youth development around 2010 have more regularly borne fruit.

In any top circuit, academies are a surefire way to support a squad’s headliners with young talent on controllable wages. These players can run longer and easier than their veteran leaders, and they can provide sparks of technical promise that swing results and hint at great things to come.

No player embodied the payoff of those efforts than Vargas, who partnered with Roldan to start all three of Seattle’s games. A 19-year-old born in Anchorage, Alaska, Vargas’ family relocated to Seattle when he was a teenager to realize his professional dreams. He became a coveted dual national, opting to represent Mexico instead of the U.S., and is already among the best two-way midfielders in MLS. He’ll likely be off to Europe, following a path previously trod by MLS homegrown midfielders like Adams, Aidan Morris and Tanner Tessmann.

Each teams had their own young standouts. Miami’s win over Porto was sealed by Messi, but saw three academy graduates earn starts in what proved to be a momentous match. Another trio of “U22” international signings logged considerable minutes for Miami. While LAFC didn’t see any of their homegrown products make a measurable impact, a couple of rising South American youngsters played over half of the minutes available.

And to whet the romantics’ collective appetite: this is also where the best narratives and the most sustainable bonds between fans and their teams are fostered. There’s something intrinsically worth cheering for when “one of your own” is playing for the team he, himself, grew up idolizing. If those players go on to leave the club and play abroad, that’s great for the club; if they stick around for a decade, they’ll be fan favorites. It’s an undeniably positive pursuit when done right.

This is the direction MLS needs to venture towards even more confidently. Soccer has long been a staple of youth sports, and working to eradicate pay-to-play models has made teams’ academies a more realistic possibility for a broader portion of the population. There’s still plenty of work to do to improve accessibility, the quality of education available to coaches below professional ranks and bridging the gap from the academy to the first team — but it’s clear these efforts will help drive the league’s future.

If there’s one last lesson to take from this tournament, it’s this: teams from beyond Europe can still stand toe-to-toe with the continent’s biggest clubs and walk away with a win. Brazil has rebounded from the pandemic in a big way, reinvesting in veterans and international players to bolster the well-established developmental pipeline and raise its already impressive standard. Botafogo and Flamengo didn’t just beat PSG and Chelsea — they did so looking like the better side. While the Saudi Pro League is still a project that makes many observers uneasy, Al Hilal’s 120-minute triumph over Manchester City will validate the ridiculous sums spent and likely only catalyze further investment.

The case that teams outside of Europe, and even South America’s best, can’t contend at the club game’s highest levels has been debunked. That’s an encouraging sign for a competition like MLS, although how proactively the league works to make up ground against its rival competitions will undoubtedly be the biggest story of the months and years to come. With the World Cup coming to North America next summer, there’s never been a better window to take bold action and close the gap.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6463505/2025/07/02/mls-club-world-cup-lafc-seattle-inter-miami/

The Easiest Path to Enlightenment

I suggested in my previous post that we all need to move on to more important things, something that isn't soccer, football, or sports related. 

Here's a video I've watched several times lately about Zen meditation, even without doing any meditation the video itself has been having a calming affect on me which has been nice.

I'm pretty good - Mexico wins Gold Cup 2-1

Well, I think we all kind of knew it, the US wasn't going to win the Gold Cup. 

And I was pretty close with my prediction, I thought it would end 3-1 in favor of Mexico and it actually finished 2-1.

Now that that nonsense is over with we can get on with more important things, and I don't mean college football. Ugh.... that garbage is going to start coming in hot and heavy now.

If there is something that annoys me more than soccer it is all the mind numbing talk of college football. 

"The Utes this, the Utes that, BYU this, BYU that." Good lord, enough is enough.

I actually get joy out of not giving a crap about college football and then watching everyone else get so worked up about it. I just shake my head and smile sometimes when I observe these guys at work go on and on about football. 

But anyway, yeah, time for more important things, whatever that might be it is up to you but just make sure it isn't sports related.

May I suggest some Zen mediation? 

The US is in the final of the Gold Cup?

I've been watching the highlights of the Gold Cup games on YouTube. Why? I don't know.

But I was amazed to see the US has made it to the finals. How did that happen? Light competition I guess. They have to play Mexico though, in Houston of all places. 

I think it is going to be ugly, it will basically be a home game for Mexico and they are going to want to send a signal, especially with the unpleasantness currently between the US and Mexico.

I expect a chippy match from the start, most likely a fight or two with lots of yellow cards and probably a red.

I'm going to predict a Mexico victory, 3-1.

Am I a traitor for not picking the US? 

No, I'm a Nostradamus and this is what I see. 

"Morante en estado puro" "toreo añejo"

I promised a Morante highlight (there have been many this year) so here's one, it's from May 1st in Sevilla during the Feria de Abril. 

Oh, to be in Sevilla in April. 

I have to get there some day, I've never been to Spain but I have to get to Sevilla in April sometime while I am still walking on this Earth. 

Anyway, this video is just a few minutes long, it's from the beginning of the bullfight before any wound has been given to the bull, so the bull is in his purest form. 

It always amazes me how 13,000 people, (the seating capacity of the Plaza de Toros de Sevilla) can be so quiet at times that you can hear birds chirping in the background and the sound of the sand under the bull's hooves. 

Then all of a sudden all 13,000 in unison yell out "¡Olé! "¡Olé!"

Just incredible. 

You don't have to speak Spanish to enjoy the video but it helps. At times Spanish announcers can be a little dramatic to say the least, but I love towards the end of the video how they describe Morante's bullfighting. "Morante en estado puro" or Morante in his purest form. Also, "toreo añejo" which means old style bullfighting, or aged bullfighting. That one is a little harder to translate, that one has more of a feeling in Spanish that doesn't translate well to English. 

I guess you will just have to watch the video to try and get the feeling. 

It has been a busy year so far, I have fallen a little behind on posts

Well, as with most humans I have been very busy lately and haven't posted a whole lot. I am going to try and get caught up today or tomorrow ..... or this week. 

A lot has been going on, RSL trudges along, the Royals (women's soccer team) are one of the worst teams ever, the Warriors (rugby team that is way more fun to watch than RSL) are in the playoffs, the US Men's National Team are pretty awful losing a friendly to Switzerland 4-0, LOL !!!!!, and barely winning against Saudi Arabia 1-0. 

Nobody is showing up to their games either, they played Saudi Arabia in Austin and the stadium wasn't even 40% full. Good lord, that is bad.

The bullfight season in Spain is off and running at full speed, with Pamplona coming up in just a couple of weeks. 

Every year it seems like there is a matador that dominates, Roca Rey has dominated for a few years, last year you could say David Galvan kind of took over, but this year Morante de la Puebla is going bonkers. With success after success this year, Sevilla, Jerez, Madrid, and Salamanca so far, some are calling him the best ever. He's been around 20 years now and has his followers, but this year has been different. Even those that don't like him much can't deny he is elevating the bullfight to new heights. 

I will post some photos and videos soon of him for your viewing pleasure.

Anyway, be back soon.  

Utah Royals 1st NWSL team to 10 losses this season after falling 4-1 to Seattle

(by Caleb Turner ksl.com 6-21-25)

Based on the postgame mood, you wouldn't have guessed the Utah Royals had just lost their 10th game of the season.

The NWSL's last-place squad reached the midpoint of its season with a 4-1 loss to the Seattle Reign in its 13th game of the year Saturday at America First Field.

The home team was outmatched from wire-to-wire against the top-five team from Washington, giving up goals in the sixth, 16th, 66th and 91st minutes.

For a brief moment near the end of the first half, it looked like a comeback could be underway when Bianca St-Georges scored her third goal of the season for Utah, but it wasn't to be.

The goal, which moved St-Georges into a tie with Brecken Mozingo for the team lead in goals, was the only one in the cards for the Royals on Saturday, despite leading the visiting team 14-10 in total shots.

The Royals enter the midseason break on an eight-game winless streak and a four-game losing streak, with the next league fixture not until Aug. 3. But still, a sense of optimism and belief remained with players and coach during press conference comments.

Perhaps it's because the break gives the team time to recover from a brutal start to the season that featured two season-ending injuries and take another step in building "from the bottom out," as head coach Jimmy Coenraets described it.

"Make sure you kind of just detach from the game and you get some time by yourself," Coenraets said of his advice to players heading into the break. "I just want everyone to come back in the best possible headspace."

The real reason for the optimism, however, is likely because Utah is approaching this season as one piece of a much larger puzzle. Coenraets said that since the Miller family took over team ownership in April, he has felt supported in building a foundation for what he called "a sustainable future."

"Ever since the change, there was one clear message, and that's, 'Let's build a foundation, and let's build upon the foundation that we are building the next six months,'" Coenraets said. "We want to be competitive as much as we can, but we also want to make sure that by being competitive, we're actually building for the future and not giving up the future to just get results."

Utah will play a pair of friendlies against the San Diego Wave to break up the month-long break and several Royals will continue playing games with their respective national teams, including Ally Sentnor and Mandy McGlynn with the USWNT and Janni Thomsen joining Denmark for the UEFA Women's Euro tournament.

https://www.ksl.com/article/51333558/utah-royals-1st-nwsl-team-to-10-losses-this-season-after-falling-4-1-to-seattle

Larry H. Miller ownership will bring stability to RSL

(by Patrick Kinahan ksl.com 6-17-25)

On a gorgeous evening, standing before the nostalgic admirers showering him with affection, Nick Rimando was inducted into the Real Salt Lake ring of honor at America First Field.

From 2007-19, Rimando was a steady presence at goalkeeper for the Major League Soccer franchise. During his tenure in the league, which included stints with D.C. United and the Miami Fusion, he set records in appearances, minutes, saves, wins and clean sheets.

As Rimando got ready to speak, the crowd chanted his name in unison. The familiar scene has played out countless times in stadiums across the world as teams recognize great players who made strong connections with respective fan bases.

Those relationships between players and fans are among the primary factors that create loyalty with the ticket-paying customers. It's an ingredient missing, to a degree, lately for RSL, which has undergone significant roster changes.

In short, fans desire to connect with talented familiar faces. Look no further than the Utah Jazz, which has enjoyed enormous success with a foundation built on stability.

RSL needs the same consistency the Jazz had under the Larry H. Miller ownership group for decades before selling the team to Ryan Smith's group. And if history is an indication, now that the LHM people bought the team, count on it.

During the press conference announcing the Miller family's acquisition of RSL and the Utah Royals, Steve Miller said as much. Miller, who serve will serve as chairman and governor of both teams, is the son of the late Larry Miller.

"I think what we bring is stability. I think we bring a great understanding of this market," he said in a Deseret News story, noting the family's almost 50 years of experience in all facets of running a professional sports franchise.

"I think the sum total of the package that we bring is going to be — I'm not a huge fan of the word synergistic so maybe find a synonym for that — but I think there's a lot of adjacencies. ... Our expectation, frankly, is that bringing that to the table is exactly what these franchises need."

The Miller way has energized coach Pablo Mastroeni during a trying season. After making the playoffs last season, and then losing several key cogs, RSL is languishing near the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

The roster changes combined with the new ownership have made this season a transitional year. At the same time, the team's administration is excited for the future.

"Obviously, the proof is in the pudding when they owned the Jazz and how remarkable that team was and perennial playoff contenders," Mastroeni said during his weekly appearance on The Zone. "The one thing that they've made really clear is they want to build a team similar (to the Jazz) — something the fans can hold on to because the stars will be here."

In the world of soccer basically teams can sign and sell players from and to different leagues, which was the case for RSL last offseason in both situations. Mastroeni believes his team can lose players but still maintain a nucleus to remain consistently competitive.

He points to Diego Luna as an example of a player capable of staying with RSL over the next decade. At 21, the northern California native is already a fan favorite.

The Millers "want to build a team that everyone in the community can really hang on to for years and it's not just switching players out because we want to sell them. Every player's situation is going to be different, but the philosophy I think moving forward is we want consistency.

"To be successful year after year you must have a core of players that are reliable, that can grow together, that understand their different clicks, I think that's how you build a successful team. I'm so grateful that the Miller family has joined."

Another plus is local ownership, which arguably lends itself to a great urgency to be successful. Former majority owner David Blitzer, who has maintained a stake, is from New Jersey and has shares of several sports teams around the world.

"It's different when you have local ownership," Mastroeni said. "They come to the games (and) their fans. They want the same thing that we all want, which is to win. I think they're going to do it a little differently and build some continuity within the group — hopefully, keep a lot of these young players that are developing under our watch."

https://www.ksl.com/article/51331457/patrick-kinahan-larry-h-miller-ownership-will-bring-stability-to-rsl

My take - a mammoth opportunity missed

So the Utah Hockey Club is now the Utah Mammoth. Ummm.... ok.

I previously have said they should have gone with the Mountaineers. Classic, non-cartoonish, and would have fit in nicely with the State and the NHL.

It also would have fixed the yeti problem. They could have had the mascot be a yeti, or a bigfoot, or a sasquatch, and its name could have been "Wasatch" which was the original plan for the team name Yeti anyway.

But nooo.... now we have a mammoth as a mascot. How are you going to have a mascot as a mammoth?

I don't know, won't the tusks get in the way of any antics he wants to do?

What a missed opportunity.

Why didn't they come to me and ask me what I thought?

Seriously.   

Tusks up: The Utah Hockey Club is now the Utah Mammoth

(ksl.com May 7, 2025)

It's been about 10,000 years since a mammoth last roamed Utah land. So with that perspective, the naming process for Utah's NHL team hasn't been too long at all.

After a 13-month process, featuring multiple rounds of fan voting and trademark issues (not to mention an entire season), Utah's NHL team has a permanent name.

What was the Utah Hockey Club is now officially the Utah Mammoth.

The team said a total of 850,000 votes were cast over the course of a year to eventually land on the new moniker.

"The community chose the Utah Mammoth brand, and it stands as a symbol of who we are, where we came from, and the unstoppable force we're building together," team owners Ryan and Ashley Smith said in a statement.

The announcement ends what has been a long process to find a name for the NHL's newest franchise.

It started in April 2024 when Smith Entertainment Group put out a public request asking for potential team names. A month later, the organization released its first ballot, allowing fans to choose four names of a list of 20.

That list was cut to six names — Yeti, Blizzard, Hockey Club, Venom, Outlaws and Mammoth — for another round of voting last summer.

And then the trademark hurdles came.

The team hit a snag with presumed favored Utah Yeti when Yeti Coolers refused to enter into a coexistence agreement with the team. The team had plenty of conversations with the cooler company, and the NHL (a Yeti partner) even tried to help tip the scales, but Yeti ultimately wanted to protect its own trademarks.

So the team moved on from the name that had topped many lists, and the final vote was between Mammoth, Hockey Club and Outlaws (only after a brief flirtation with "Wasatch" as a potential Yeti replacement).

Mammoth was the "clear favorite" in that final tally, according to the team, which was something that was seen from fans on social media and within the arena. But that's only one reason Wednesday's announcement wasn't a big surprise.

Last week, the team essentially leaked the name by updating its YouTube handle to "UtahMammoth" — a pretty clear sign of what was coming.

The team even took the positive reaction to the hiccup as further validation that it had made the right choice for the name.

The Mammoth moniker comes with plenty of Utah ties, too. Mammoth fossils have been found throughout Utah, including in Bear Lake, Fillmore, Orem, Park City, and Lake Powell. A complete mammoth skeleton was even discovered in Hunting Canyon in 1988.

As for the rest of the branding, the team will retain its inaugural season colors — blue, black, and white — but introduce updated designs.

The primary logo features a mammoth profile with a mountain peak forming the crown of its head. The silhouette of Utah is embedded within the mountain, with an "M" inside the state outline. Secondary logos include a tusk piercing a "U" and a new "Mammoth Sans font."

Jersey designs will resemble last season's sweaters, maintaining similar stripe patterns but showcasing the new marks. The home jersey will be black with the primary logo on the chest. The away jersey will feature the diagonal "Utah" wordmark in the updated font.

The away jersey can be seen as a call-back to the Utah Hockey Club season — and it likely won't be the last. The organization emphasized the Utah HC name will always remain part of its history, with future opportunities to pay tribute to the team's inaugural identity.

For now, though, the focus is on launching the new Utah Mammoth brand.

While fans had to wait for the official name, they won't have to wait for merchandise.

Hats, shirts, hoodies, and more — everything except jerseys — will go on sale at the team store in the Delta Center at noon on Wednesday. Jerseys will be released, along with the rest of the NHL's uniforms, ahead of next season.

https://www.ksl.com/article/51308328/tusks-up-the-utah-hockey-club-is-now-the-utah-mammoth

More "blah blah blah" from Garber - "a powerful soccer nation"

From the KSL article about the Miller's buying RSL there was a quote from Garber. 

"The fact that we, together, can take this sport and combine the power of what makes sports so important and how it can enrich and improve lives," Garber said. "Particularly in a state like Utah that has such strong participation, speaks to the momentum and the vision and the opportunity that this sport, this club, and our sister club, the Royals, can have in just making our country a powerful soccer nation."

I can't stand Garber, never could even when I was a die hard "MLS can do no wrong" fan.

But he thinks MLS and the NWSL can make the US a powerful soccer nation. Dude, have you not been paying attention? The US is getting worse at soccer, not better!

MLS has been around almost 30 years! And women's soccer I have no idea, sometimes it is here and sometimes it goes away.

But over the past 30 years, with maybe one or two exceptions, the US has never gotten better at soccer on the world stage. We are always struggling to even qualify for the World Cup, last time we didn't even make it. 

And Garber keeps spewing this garbage about us becoming a powerful soccer nation. One can argue it is because of MLS and the lack of real competition that the US has never been, and most likely never will be a powerful soccer nation. 

Dude, get lost.

Oh, and by the way, the Utah Warriors are now in 1st place in Major League Rugby. How's RSL doing?

Isn't it ironic

Kind of funny, ironic, or sad, however you look at it, that the Miller group bought RSL seeing as back in the day Dave Checketts (RSL's founder) accused Larry H. Miller of trying to sabotage any RSL stadium deal.

I vividly remember Dave Checketts being interviewed by Doug Wright on KSL radio when Checketts was pushing to get a stadium deal done. He was running into a lot of road blocks, or at least he saw it that way, and he accused Larry Miller of working behind the scenes to sabotage any stadium progress. 

Doug Wright was shocked.

But I kind of side with Checketts on this one because I also remember Larry Miller being interviews on KSL radio when he was interested in buying the Minnesota Twins MLB team and move them to Utah. He was asked if there would be enough of a fan base to support a MLB team and he replied "We'll have to wait and see how the soccer team does."

Meaning he thought that if the soccer team was successful then there wouldn't be enough other sports fans out there to support a MLB baseball team whose season schedule would over lap that of a MLS team.

You have to remember this all took place at a different time when Utah's population was about half what it is now. 

Anyway, the soccer team stayed, the Twins did not come to Utah, and now the Millers own RSL.

What the hell?

Miller family buys RSL, Royals as Smith Entertainment Group exits

(ksl.com April 18, 2025)

The Miller family is expanding its sports ownership portfolio five years after selling the Utah Jazz to Ryan Smith.

Miller Sports and Entertainment announced its acquisition Friday of the controlling interest in RSL Football Holdings, which runs both Real Salt Lake in MLS and Utah Royals FC in the NWSL.

The official announcement came during a press conference at America First Field that featured the commissioners from both leagues, along with Utah Governor Spencer Cox.

Former majority owner David Blitzer was also in attendance and will remain on as the second-largest owner behind the Millers, while Smith Entertainment Group will exit the soccer sphere.

"I'm very excited to work with everyone and continue to build on the successes of RSL and the Utah Royals, and ultimately bring championships to Utah," Blitzer said.

Smith congratulated Larry H. Miller Company co-founder Gail Miller on the purchase of the two soccer clubs in a statement Friday.

"We are glad that soccer is staying in Utah, and Gail Miller is an ideal local steward to lead Utah's professional soccer franchises moving forward," Smith said. "With so much growth on the horizon for Smith Entertainment Group ... now is the right time to tighten our focus on the NBA, NHL and other areas where we can make the biggest impact on our state, our community, and the world of sports."

The Millers maintained a smaller role in the Utah sports scene after its sale of the Jazz with continued stewardship over the Salt Lake Bees, which included moving the minor league side to a new ballpark in Daybreak.

ESPN reported in March that the Miller family was interested in purchasing RSL three years ago when Smith and Blitzer took over, and now they get their chance to run professional soccer in the state of Utah.

Steve Miller, chairman of the Larry H. Miller Company, will serve as chairman and governor for both clubs. Blitzer stays on as alternate governor for RSL and former Utah Jazz president and Larry H. Miller CEO Steve Starks will be the Royals' alternate governor.

"These clubs' values align so closely with our family's values and the way that we think about professional sports," Steve Miller said. "We love how soccer has grown here in Utah. We believe it's family-friendly, and it includes communities.

"We built our business headquarters right here in Sandy, not far from where we stand, and we look forward and are grateful for the opportunity to continue to invest in the state as well as in these strong teams."'

The Millers own the Jordan Commons business area across State Street from America First Field, which also includes the company's Megaplex Theaters offices. Starks committed to keeping the teams in Sandy and said there are plans to develop both the stadium and areas around it to enhance the gameday experience.

The Athletic reported the value of Friday's sale to the Millers at $600 million. Smith and Blitzer purchased RSL for approximately $400 million in January 2022 and brought the Royals back to Utah last year as an expansion team for a reported $2 million fee to the NWSL.

Though brief, the Smith-Blitzer ownership era included the two largest player purchases in RSL history in Andres Gomez and Chicho Arango, and the largest sale when Gomez was flipped to French club Rennes in August 2024.

The ownership group also invested heavily in the return of the Royals by building a new training and performance center for the NWSL side connected to RSL's facility in Herriman.

MLS commissioner Don Garber commented during the press conference that Friday's event was the largest club announcement he has attended in MLS and also the first event to feature both himself and NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman.

"The fact that we, together, can take this sport and combine the power of what makes sports so important and how it can enrich and improve lives," Garber said. "Particularly in a state like Utah that has such strong participation, speaks to the momentum and the vision and the opportunity that this sport, this club, and our sister club, the Royals, can have in just making our country a powerful soccer nation."

https://www.ksl.com/article/51297183/miller-family-buys-rsl-royals-as-smith-entertainment-group-exits

Becoming a rugby fan!

So, now that soccer is dead to me I'm becoming more and more of a rugby fan!

This has been going on for only a couple of months now but I've been watching all of the Utah Warrior highlights on YouTube and I've been watching videos on the "laws" of rugby and I'm hooked. (I'm still a little hazy on some of the penalties that get called but all the basics I have down.)

The Warriors have three more home games this year, April 26th against the Chicago Hounds, April 30th against San Diego Legion, and May 12th against the Seattle Seawolves.

I am for sure going to make it to one of those games, (and when I do I will post some photos to prove it.)

But this is awesome, I'm going to have a team to follow and cheer for again. 

And I won't have to deal with one of the main reasons I left soccer, which was the constant diving and faking of injuries. (See my posts from years ago about Landon Donovan and Neymar.) 

There is no diving and faking injuries in rugby! Oh hell no, these men are men. Don't give me that soccer crap anymore, I watch a real sport now.

So all you soccer "supporters" out there, whatever Loyalists, Rogue Cavalier Brigade members, and wanna be hooligans that are still left, come follow a real sport. MLS is dying anyway, the USL is going to bury MLS once pro/rel becomes a reality in a couple of years. The USL is going to steal all of MLS' thunder, no one will care about MLS anymore, hell, no one cares about MLS right now. 

So start now and become a Utah Warriors fan, that way when RSL goes away, and it will, you won't care because you'll already be wearing a kick ass Warriors jersey.

And the Warriors logo is awesome, so much better than RSL's. C'mon, admit it.

 

Uh oh..... part 2 - Promotion Relegation is coming to soccer in the USA

MLS is so screwed, and I am so happy. 

USL just made it official, promotion/relegation is going to happen. Look for it in 2027 or 2028, but it is now going to be a reality and with it MLS just became a lower level league.

They are going to have to do something, MLS is going to have to change. If they don't all the excitement in US soccer will be with USL.

This is going to get good and I am going to be watching much more closely. I want to see Garber and MLS get uncomfortable, and uncomfortable they will be. 

This is delicious.

(btw, YouTube is blowing up with videos about this. Eric Wynalda has done a couple, and a lot of other "soccer guy" that I have no idea who they are because I haven't followed soccer closely at all. But if you want go to YouTube and search and enjoy the show.)