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The response to the U-23’s 1-1 Olympic qualifier draw with Cuba last night has been quite comical.  If they aren’t better than Panama and Honduras, do they really deserve to be one of the two teams representing the CONCACAF region?  The consensus “fear” on the boards is that we will place second in the group and play Mexico in the ridiculous “do or die” semifinals” setup of this U-23 tournament.  Why they are even bothering with a final and a third place game is beyond me.  Seriously, isn’t it more fair to have the two group winners play for a spot, and then the loser plays the winner of the second place game for the last spot?  The fact is the Americans outplayed the Cubans last night.  They will get their act together for the next two games.  If not, I look forward to watching a cutthroat game against Mexico to see who gets to choke on carbon dust in Beijing.

Here’s what else is going on: 

• The Revs rescheduled two home games.  One is a simple change in time from 7:30 to 7:00 for the 9/11 contest with Chivas USA.  The other is a little disturbing.  The August 2 Saturday game with Red Bull New York has been changed to Wednesday, June 18.  Some have suggested that a Bruce Springsteen concert is the reason.  Nothing has been announced on his official site.  Either way, this really blows.  Gillette’s tough to get to early as you have to fight rush hour traffic on I-95.  That’s after you get out of your respective city.

• Fifa.com has an article about our Gambian contingent.  Take a look at the World Cup qualifier group for The Gambia.  If they were to make the finals, you could see the Revs sitting on two gold mines in regards to transfer targets.  That’s if the team is willing to risk long-term contracts on the duo.

• Hey, we finally signed Fernandez!  The soccer fan in me wants to bang my head against a wall at all the red tape.  The conservative in me is happy to see that people aren’t getting rubber stamped through the system.  The moral here should be to get your players earlier like DC United did.  The Revs are a year or two behind them in regards to their South American network.  Such signings in the future should be on time to preseason camp.

• No MLS players made it into the Soccer Hall of Fame.  I had a hard time remembering the veteran selected, questioning how famous Hugo Perez actually is.  Now, you can’t have dinner in my residence without that massive cult of personality Anson Dorrance being a topic of conversation.  I’ll start taking that institution seriously in about thirty years.  There’s a lot of shaking down the sport needs to do first before historical perspective can be made, especially in regards to MLS.  Robert Kraft would have been a controversial selection on the builder’s ballot.  If and when he gets a soccer stadium built, he’ll be considered a famous builder.  Simple as that.

• The only way you won’t be overpaying for Beckham tickets, or without having to buy multiple tickets to other games, is through the Midnight Riders.  LA comes to Foxboro on August 30, but you only have until March 20 to take advantage of this offer.  If you haven’t sent your check out yet, do it now-ish.

•  Currently, there is no #9 on the Revolution.  Probably a good thing.

• Frank Dell’Apa’s article yesterday may be true on many fronts, but it still sucks.  MLS can’t fall into the trap of overspending because Beckham draws crowds.  When he leaves, like Pele in the NASL, it could all come crashing down.  Robert and Jonathan Kraft may understand this better than most owners, but it still sucks to be a fan of a comparatively cheap MLS team.

Posted on March 12th, 2008