YNSA Mid-Season Awards

Well, now that we've hit the midway pole, it's time to hand out some awards, done in typical YNSA fashion.

YNSA Most Outstanding Player

Juan Pablo Angel, Red Bull New York

Angel has torn the league up since arriving from Aston Villa earlier this year. His 9 goals in 11 of RBNY's 15 games (only 11 of which Angel played in) have kept Los Toros Rojos near the top of the Eastern Conference all year. Were it not for his production, the Meadowlands outfit would be in huge trouble as The rest of the team has only managed to score 17 combined goals. By scoring game-winning or game-tying goals, Angel has personally earned Red Bull 4 points (1-0-1). Now that defenses have figured him out, can he keep up the production?

YNSA Goalkeeper of the Half

Will Hesmer, Columbus Crew

Naturally, Houston Dynamo's Pat Onstad should get an honorable mention. Anytime you can have a GAA below 1.00 is going to give your team a fantastic chance. However, I think Onstad unfairly benefits from having a team that is playing out of its mind right now. Hesmer is an unknown quantity (hence no available photos of him this season), and teams are still trying to find their way around him. Hesmer has a better shot/save ratio than Onstad, a GAA of 1.00, and has helped key Crew on their recent hot streak. All while faced with a porous backline, and at times, little offensive production.

YNSA Comeback Player of the Year

Eddie Johnson, Kansas City Wizards

Unwanted in Dallas, injured, hurt, labeled a wash-up, a flash-in-the-pan, Johnson has regained the form seen in 2005 when he burst onto the scene as one of the United States' greatest strikers. His 12 goals and three assists lead MLS in points, and this was with him taking time off to attend the Gold Cup and Copa America. Johnson has only played in 11 games, and has provided the strike force needed to raise Kansas City's hopes of returning to the playoffs.

Supporters of the Year

Toronto Football Club

I think it should be requisite from here on out that MLS hand a guide manual to new expansion owners on how to create the best atmosphere in the league. It should really only contain comments from Peter Wilt, the architecht of Chicago's Section 8, and the rest from Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment, the I/Os of Toronto FC. MLS has awakened a sleeping giant, and combined with decent performances from the Canadian national team recently, Canada may be waking up to its soccer passion. Toronto's fans are a traveling roadshow, visiting New England, Columbus, and Chicago so far, while selling out at home.

"Paradise" Lost on Dan Roan

There's only one thing in the soccer-reporting media that bothers me more than the constant put-down, condescending, jock-itch sports dinosaur writing that pervades much of the US sports media. That is laziness. Total unabashed laziness.

So is the charge leveled against Chicago's WGN9 Sports anchor Dan Roan. In reporting the highlights of Celtic FC's 1-1 tie with Chicago Fire , Roan did the following in about 30 seconds.

* Mispronounced Celtic "Kell-tick" instead of the proper "Sell-tick."

* Incorrectly referred to Celtic as an Irish team, they are from Glasgow, Scotland.

Forgivable? Perhaps, but it really speaks to the media's either indifference or lack of commitment to get the story right. If anyone on Around the Horn or PTI had referred to the NBA's Boston Celtics as the Boston Kell-ticks, they would have been laughed off the stage. The thing that bothers me is that as a sports guy, Roan is already familiar with the Boston Sell-ticks, but pronounced Celtic FC as Kell-tick. Therefore, he already knows that there is more than one pronounciation for that word. Wouldn't it be hooof him to check to see which one was proper?

As for the location of the team, admittedly, that could be kind of confusing due to Celtic's largely Irish fan base, the presence of a four-leaf clover on their jerseys and Irish Tricolor flags being bandied about Toyota Park yesterday. Also, the absence of the Irish or Scottish anthems prior to the game perhaps further led to the misunderstanding. However, it betrays a lack of research and knowledge of the subject at hand. Imagine if someone had said the University of Illinois sports teams were based in Chicago. Yes, many U of I alums live in Chicago, as well as most of their current student body when they're not in class, and likewise, even though many Celtic fans are of Irish descent, that doesn't mean that they are in Ireland or that the team plays there.

Welcome Back, Quakes!

Do You Believe In Miracles? YES!

Are you kidding me? Down 1-0 after a late second-half goal to Uruguay, the United States U-20 team rallies with a Uruguay own-goal in the 87th minute to equalize, then wins it on Michael Bradley's header in extra time at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada.

The Yanks move on to face Austria in the Quarterfinals.

MLS Preview: Chicago vs. Toronto

Unfortunately for Fire fans, what started as a season of promise with daring talk of a trip to the MLS Cup Final in Washington has turned into a season of change. With changes at major positions, including the head coach, rumors of several groups looking to purchase Chicago Fire and an offense that has been nothing short of abominable (Fire have only scored more than 1 goal twice this season, and have been shut out in 3 of their last 4 outings.)

For Tossers fans, it's a season of firsts, and sadly for their Windy City opposition, most of their firsts seem to come against the Fire. Toronto's first goal was scored against Chicago in the Grand Opening of BMO Field; a result that stood up as TFC held on to record their first win that day, defeating Fire 3-1. Toronto has never won on the road, and Fire fans fear they may be witnessing another first.

Things to keep in mind for today's game.

Players returning
While Toronto was not heavily affected by Copa America call-ups, the Fire should see Justin Mapp back in red today. Mapp is characteristic of brilliance, and total apathy. The Section 8 hopeful certainly wish that there will be some renewed urgency in Mapp's game now that he has been given a look by the US National Team at the Gold Cup and Copa America. The Fire also get Ivan Guerrero back from Honduras and Gonzalo Segares from Costa Rica. Osei Telesford is back from Trinidad & Tobago international duty, but is injured and may not play.

Defense
Chicago's backline must hold today if it is to have any chance. Toronto carved them up North of the border, making the aging line look inexperienced. Bakary Soumare is back in the lineup having served his 1-game suspension from his red card on Sunday.

Scoring First
If Toronto can get on the board first, then the Red Patch Boys and U-Sector can already put one point in the bag and fly back to Toronto with a share of the points. Chicago has not come from behind to win since June 28, 2006. Before that, it was September 17, 2005. So in any competition, the Fire have come from behind to win only twice in almost the last two years.

Role Players need to impress
Juan Carlos Osorio (formerly of Manchester City and Colombia's Club Millionarios) is taking command of the Fire's fortunes on Monday. It is believed he will radically transform the team, and that could mean the end of the Fire careers for underperformers Chad Barrett and Logan Pause. Players could well be playing for their jobs. The same issue is at hand on the other side of the midfield line as TFC skipper Mo Johnston has made a record number of trades this summer.

YNSA Prediction: Chicago Fire 1:1 Toronto FC

Leeds Could Drop Again Without Playing a Game

English football is not necessarily known for its unpredictability. Manchester United, Arsenal, or Chelsea have won every Premier League title save one since the Premier League was created in the early 1990s. Pick Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea to finish in any order, and odds are pretty solid that you will correctly pick the superfecta box for the four teams England sends to the Champions League each season.

However, just when you think it's predictable and pre-written, there's a club like Reading that bursts onto the Premiership scene last year for the first time, and just barely misses out on a European spot. The small teams rise up and grab their share of the glory. However, it's a zero sum game, and for whoever comes up, someone must go down, and in this case, we have clubs like Leeds United to remind us that the game can change at any moment.

Leeds United were formerly a great club. Their rivalry with Manchester United peaked in the 1990s when both clubs were solid domestically and were always competing for league titles and European placement. As recently as 2001, Leeds were in the semifinals of the Champions League. Even after being relegated from the Premiership in 2003, only a year ago Leeds were one game away from returning to the top flight before bowing to Watford in the Play-off Final. Another relegation followed this past season, and the club's massive debt pushed them into administration. Now Leeds are up for sale, and it could get even worse. Reports coming out of Elland Road indicate that if Leeds are not out of administration by the time the League 1 Season starts in August, then the FA will not allow them to play. I am not sure if this means that they would simply be suspended untill their finances are in order or if it means that they would be relegated from the Football League alltogether, which would mark the most stunning reversal of fortune in English Football for years. From European semifinalists to non-league football in 6 years.

Osorio Tabbed to Rescue Fire

Juan Carlos Osorio, a former assistant coach with Manchester City FC in the Premiership and head coach of Milionarios in Colombia has been named the third head coach in Fire history.

While at Milionarios, Osorio most recently took the Bogota club to a 4th place finish in the Colombian top-flight, earning them a berth in the prestigious Copa Sudamericana after the club was previously mired at the bottom of the standings.

He faces a similar task with Fire. Chicago has the most anemic offense in the league (12 goals scored in 14 games). The Fire have been shut out in three of their last four, and 5 of their last 9 games. The Fire have not scored multiple times in one game since a 3-2 win over Columbus on June 3rd. They have accomplished the feat only one other time this season, in a 2-1 win over Kansas City on April 21.

Chicago has gone 1-6-2 since starting the season 3-0-1.