Golazo, Pablo Ruiz !

Hopefully he gets goal of the year.

Overrated Messi to Miami? Who gives a sh*t?!

Seriously, every time I have ever watched Messi play I end up screaming at the TV, "GOAT my ass! This guy sucks!"

Messi and MLS are made for each other perhaps, a crap player in a crap league, both pretending to be more important than they actually are. 

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Lionel Messi says he’s joining Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami after exit from Paris Saint-Germain

(cnbc.com 6-7-23)

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/07/lionel-messi-says-hes-joining-major-league-soccers-inter-miami-after-exit-from-paris-saint-germain.html

Lionel Messi has pulled off his latest stunning feat: He is headed to Major League Soccer, and joining Inter Miami.

After months — years, even — of speculation, Messi finally revealed his decision to join a Miami franchise that has been led by another global soccer icon, David Beckham, since its inception but has yet to make any real splashes on the field.

That likely will soon change. One of Inter Miami’s owners, Jorge Mas, tweeted out a photo of a darkly silhouetted Messi jersey shortly before the Argentinian great revealed his decision in interviews with Spanish news outlets Mundo Deportivo and Sport.

It was widely believed that Messi eventually would choose to play for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, following longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo to a nation where some clubs now are funded by the state’s sovereign wealth fund. Going back to Barcelona, a storied franchise where he spent most of his career, was another possibility.

But in the end, he made the call that surprised many. Messi is joining MLS. He said in the interviews Wednesday that some final details still need to be worked out, but that he has made the call to “continue my path” in Miami.

“After winning the World Cup and not being able to return to Barcelona, it was my turn to go to the league of the United States to live football in another way,” Messi said.

He didn’t take the money. He didn’t choose the memories. He picked Miami instead. Messi’s next matches are likely to be exhibitions with Argentina against Australia on June 15 at Beijing and at Indonesia in Jakarta four days later — and then his Inter Miami debut figures to be sometime in July.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner — the trophy given annually to the best player in the world — makes his move after two years with Paris Saint-Germain. At 35, Messi has nothing left to prove in the game and filled the only significant unchecked box on his resume back in December by leading Argentina to the World Cup title.

Messi has more than 800 goals in his career for club and country, making him one of the greatest scorers in the sport’s history. In more than 17 years of representing Argentina on the international stage, he has scored 102 goals against 38 different national team opponents — 16 of those goals coming on U.S. soil. He scored twice in last year’s World Cup final against France, a match that officially ended 3-3 with Argentina prevailing in penalty kicks.

He has been to the absolute mountaintop of the game.

And now he comes to MLS, and a team that is struggling — last place in the Eastern Conference, just a few days removed from the firing of coach Phil Neville (who was hand-picked by Beckham two years ago).

Messi’s decision to play in the U.S. might be the biggest boost ever for American soccer on the pro stage. Some of the game’s biggest names — Pele, Thierry Henry, Beckham himself — have come to the U.S. toward the end of their careers, but landing a player still no worse than near the pinnacle of his game and just a few months removed from hoisting a World Cup is simply huge.

It took months of negotiations with MLS, the Inter Miami ownership, Adidas and even Apple getting involved in a creative pitch to bring Messi to Miami’s pitch. Apple — which is a broadcast partner of MLS — announced Tuesday that it will show a still-untitled four-part documentary series “featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes access to global superstar Lionel Messi. ... In his own words, Messi tells the definitive story of his incredible career with the Argentina national football team, providing an intimate and unprecedented look at his quest for a legacy-defining World Cup victory.”

And now, his story will have a Miami chapter.

Inter Miami needed six years from inception to playing its first match, and its first four seasons have been less than stellar.

Messi is joining a team that sits last in the Eastern Conference and just fired its coach. It has made the playoffs in two of its first three seasons but has yet to finish a season with a winning record or even a positive goal differential.

Still, there have been hints for months that Miami remained very much in the Messi sweepstakes. Messi met with Inter Miami co-owner Beckham this spring, and that was shared publicly almost to ensure that everyone knew the sides were still talking. Messi and his family also own several pieces of luxury real estate in South Florida, and — almost as if to suggest something big was coming — the MLS club told fans the only way they could get tickets for the second half of this season was to purchase a season-ticket package.

He’s an enormous draw everywhere on the globe, including Miami. Two days after Argentina won the World Cup, Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry sat on his team’s bench for a game unable to play because of injury. He wore a Messi jersey that night.

Inter Miami still plays home matches in a temporary home in Fort Lauderdale, about 45 minutes north of the site in Miami where the team wants to build a permanent complex.

And even in an area where the population has a serious Latin flavor, and where more people might actually call the sport futbol than soccer, Inter Miami has struggled to generate the same attention as do the area’s primary pro teams — basketball’s Heat, baseball’s Miami Marlins, football’s Miami Dolphins and hockey’s Florida Panthers.

Messi could change that in an instant. In a flash, he becomes the biggest name in MLS and makes everything Miami does newsworthy.

His decision ends what has been a wild saga. Barcelona made Messi a superstar, but the financial issues that forced the team to letting him go two years ago still remain an issue.

"I heard that they’d have to sell players or lower players’ salaries and the truth is, I didn’t want to go through that,” Messi said Wednesday.

There are no financial issues with Saudi Arabia, and speculation that he would end up there intensified when Messi made an unauthorized trip to the kingdom. PSG suspended him and some fans turned on him, serenading him with jeers toward the end of his season with the French club.

Everyone knew he wouldn’t be back with PSG. Few likely thought he was heading to Miami. But here he is, a move to Miami by a superstar that might even be more shocking than LeBron James arriving to join the Heat 13 years ago.

RSL doing well in the US Open Cup?

I'm shocked.

Don't worry, there is plenty of time for them to choke. What do you want to bet?

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RSL eliminates Colorado in Open Cup, will host Galaxy in quarterfinals

(ksl.com 5-24-23)

They say it's hard to beat the same team twice in a row, but Real Salt Lake defeated the Colorado Rapids on the road for the second time in five days to advance to the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday.

"Every game has got its own flavor, every game is its own event; no two games will ever look alike," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "Even if you play these guys in three more days, the score won't be the same and the game won't be the same. But what I'm proud of is the way the guys managed this game and held on to the lead."

The victory came by a one-goal margin, once again, following a 3-2 win last weekend. Jefferson Savarino was the difference on Wednesday after joining the team for the first time this tournament, scoring the game-winner in the 30th minute for a 1-0 result.

Anderson Julio was pressuring the Colorado defense high up the field, as head coach Pablo Mastroeni preaches, and it paid off. The Ecuadorian forward intercepted a pass and laid it off to Savarino on a breakaway.

With a couple of defenders in front of him, Savarino may have waited for his teammates to join him in the attack, but not this time. He saw an opening, trusted his foot, and took the shot. He sent a bending banger from outside the box into the far post for the first and only goal of the game.

It was Savarino's first goal for RSL since April 22 and gave the team another golazo for its Open Cup highlight reel after Andres Gomez dropped one from distance in Portland.

Mastroeni rotated in plenty of subs in the second half to keep the legs fresh, and the strategy paid off to hold Colorado scoreless at home. RSL's teenager in goal, Gavin Beavers, came up big once again with three crucial saves to maintain the clean sheet on the road.

"Without the boys in front of me we don't get that shutout," Beavers said. "I feel like the save that I had in the first half off the crossbar propelled us forward. You can't get a shutout just by yourself. You've got to have 10 other guys in front of you, and I feel like we did a great job tonight."

RSL will host the LA Galaxy at America First Field in the quarterfinals of the Open Cup on June 7 at 8. p.m. MDT. The team has three MLS matches before then, however, traveling to Minnesota on Saturday and then facing the Galaxy at home on May 31, followed by Austin FC on the road on June 3.

https://www.ksl.com/article/50652600/rsl-eliminates-colorado-in-open-cup-will-host-galaxy-in-quarterfinals

The * Big * News

Pop open a bottle of champagne, it is time to rejoice! 

As I mentioned earlier this week there is big bullfight news that will permanently put the sport of soccer in the graveyard for me. (Well, I'll still be around to poke fun at MLS and RSL whenever needed, how can I not?) 

But, not since the 90's and the days of the old C-band satellite dishes has a bullfight fan in the United States been able to watch bullfights on live tv. And even with those C-band satellite dishes you had to have a Latin American package which included TVE (TV Español). 

Sadly when DishNetwork and DirectTV came around C-band satellite dishes went away. I know, I had one and getting them repaired became a nightmare (which I had to do a lot because of the high wind in Utah would damage the arm that pushed the satellite dish back and forth to pick up the channels) and the packages with the different channel choices slowly went away too.

Then in the early 2000's I found a website where you could order DVD copies of many of the big bullfights from Spain and Mexico. I bought several DVD's but with time even that got a little difficult as the guy who ran the website, I suppose from his basement, slowly stopped updating it and it eventually went away.

So, for the last decade or so I've had to be content with watching whatever bullfight videos would show up on YouTube or Facebook, or the basic video highlights on Madrid's bullring website.

But not anymore damn it !

Technology has finally entered the world of the bulls with broadcasts being available worldwide via the internet and the new app Mundotoro TV.

For just about $11.00 a month someone will have access to all the major bullfights in Spain. Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, as well as much much more. I would imagine they will also make the bullfights from the south of France available too such as Nimes and Arles. 

And there are no contracts, you can cancel at any time. But why would you?!

Amazing, absolutely amazing. Some good news finally, surely bullfight fans from around the world deserve some. 

This Sunday is the big kickoff with one of the biggest events of the year, the Easter Sunday bullfight from La Maestranza de Sevilla, "the cathedral of bullfighting". 

Then the following week Sevilla's Spring Fair will start with bullfights everyday for two weeks, then shortly after that Madrid's San Isidro fair will kick off with bullfights almost everyday for over a month. All of which I will be able to watch from the comfort of my own home thousands of miles away. 

I'm so damn happy I might just start running naked in the streets.

Who does RSL play this week? 

Oh, who the hell cares, I have bullfights to watch!

RSL in heated last place race in the West

 

So it appears RSL is in a heated race for last place in the West along with the Galaxy, Sporting KC, and Colorado after another loss yesterday. *snicker* *giggle* *guffaw*

(RSL now has one win for the season and now a four game losing streak going strong.)

Now if MLS had switched to a promotion/relegation model several years ago like they should have the season would still be interesting as we would cheer them on to get out of the relegation zone. But, as of now, the season is a wash.  

I guess it doesn't really matter though, I hadn't planned on caring anyway as this year we have huge bullfight news, the biggest bullfight news (at least for bullfight afficionados in the United States are concerned) in the last 25 years. 

Stay tuned for another post as the week goes on and I will explain. 

Ugly ass logo

I gave credit where credit was due with RSL's new "Beehive" uniform. At the same time however I need to talk crap when it is warranted, and this new Royals logo warrants crap talk.

What an ugly logo, it seriously looks like some kid drew it. The original was better.

What does it matter though I guess, I'm never going to go to any of their games. 

I'll give credit where credit is due, the new Beehive kit is sweet

Story of the 2023 Beehive State Kit 

(rsl.com 2-16-23)

A kit for all of Utah -- This mantra of the Real Salt Lake creative team throughout the entire conceptualization of the 2023 Beehive State kit. From every thread to every stitch, the Real Salt Lake away kit seeks to piece together the Club and the state’s history in one unifying jersey. 

The journey of the Beehive State Kit begins at Capitol Hill and flows out throughout to the rest of the state -- Actually quite literally.

“I was out walking the dogs around at the Capitol and noticed all these statues with the beehive,” VP of Marketing and Game Production Tyler Gibbons, said. “The design process was taking place when the flag was being redone, which now features the beehive, and Utah is nicknamed “the Beehive State,” so we decided to lean into it.”

Besides the gold shade, the details in the kit include a hexagonal pattern that represents a beehive, an updated badge, and Claret-and-Cobalt trim. 

Former RSL Art Director, David Dryden who was heavily involved in the design of the kit, also referenced what he heard from the fans as inspiration.

“One of the big pieces of feedback that I've seen from fans is that they were sick of white secondary jerseys,” said Dryden. “I really took that to heart because as a fan myself, I was also sick of white jerseys.”

For Dryden, gold seemed like a perfect fit. Not only because of the reference to the beehive, but the general vibe of the state. 

“When you think of Utah, it's not a dark place. It's a bright, beautiful, sunny state,” Dryden said.

Gibbons, who coined the kit’s tagline, “Be Bold. Go Gold.” was in full agreement. 

“On the secondary side, we're always gonna take some risks,” Gibbons said. “We're always gonna have some fun because it's not our primary.”

Gibbons hails his relationship with the Club’s Adidas representative, former Utah Royals player Mandy Laddish, for helping the kit supplier and the Club be on the same page. 

“She understands our market and I understand what our fans want,” Gibbons said. “Just like last year’s Believe kit, this is for Utah, for the people that live and represent this state and call it home. The Beehive State is industrious, hardworking, and together which is what I think this Club stands for.”

Besides just taking inspiration from the state, the design team also wanted to draw in concepts from the Club’s history, specifically the 2010-11 “Victory Gold” third kit. 

“When you walk down the hall at America First Field, you see all our past jerseys, so we also wanted to draw on our heritage,” said Gibbons. 

Unlike the “Victory Gold” kit, the new Beehive State kit doesn’t use the Club’s primary colors. The jersey incorporates a new shade of blue, and instead of a banana yellow, gold. The Club will also be able to choose between using blue or gold shorts to pair with the new kit. 

Working with Laddish, the kit design process begins with an eight page document that the Club creates that spells out the vision, idea, market for the Adidas team in Germany. Adidas responds to the document with a few design ideas. The design team then discussed with the team in Germany the final details of the kit. Then once everyone is on board, the final version of the kit is created.

Once those inside the Club saw the new Beehive State kit for the first time, the reception was overwhelmingly positive.

“I absolutely fell in love with it,” said Sr. Digital Director, Emma Kramer.  “I thought it would easily become one of the best kits in MLS.”

Now that the kit was finalized, it was time to begin planning its release. 

The groundwork for the kit launch began last November. The logistics behind a kit launch are many. The digital team had to plan media day with the new kit, plan the location and storyline behind the launch video and photoshoot, coordinate all the different ideas between the creatives and then align how those ideas would tell a story through social media, email, site, and graphics. 

"I think there are a lot of brainstorming processes you've gotta go through and make sure everyone who's being a part of the launch understands the vision which is that this is Utah's kit,” said Kramer. 

“It's a kit for this state and for the people who live here. So we wanted to tie in downtown Salt Lake, the stadium, the mountains that are so prevalent here and make sure we can tell the story from top to bottom with our video, having all of those different elements play out.”

Kramer also wanted to make sure the right person did the voice over for the video was  someone who the fans could connect back to Utah. Who better than former RSL player and commentator, Brian Dunseth. 

Then for the video itself, the digital team wanted to make sure there were elements tied to both the story of the Beehive State kit and the story of those who live here. Locations include the likes of the beehives at the state capitol, the Beehive Pub, Nick Rimando’s Beer Bar, the Tracks, Vivint Arena and more. 

Over months of planning, and many long nights, the Beehive Kit was finally released on February 16. 

“It's probably one of the most stressful things that I do throughout the entire year, up there with schedule release and playoffs, but it's so fun to see it all come to life and see,” Kramer said. 

“We have such a creative staff, from the video, photo and graphics that were established and then how we launched it on the website, email and social. All of these people have put so much hard work to make it the best launch. I'm really proud to witness it all come to life.”

https://www.rsl.com/news/story-of-the-2023-beehive-state-kit