Props: Shawn Mitchell

The interwebs have allowed more and more people to have their say about MLS, me included. But in the midst of all the bloggers, speculators and blowhards, a bunch of good beat reporters still work in several MLS cities.

We all know about Goff and Ives, who have set the standard pretty much. Once in a while, I will try to give some love to people who might not have the profile, but do pretty damn good work for their community.

The first guy I want to shine the spotlight on is Shawn Mitchell from the Columbus Dispatch. I really enjoy reading Shawn's stuff, whether it's his blog Covering the Crew or his work in the daily paper. He does a really solid and fair job of covering the team.

Today's story on the Crew's salary situation provides a perfect example. Instead of using the topic as a chance to bash MLS and go all Europoser, Shawn actually takes the time to talk to Brian Bliss about league rules and cut through as much of the mess as possible.

That's the kind of reporting MLS needs to grow in cities. A list of what celebrities have worn MLS jerseys accomplishes nothing. I hope the fans in Columbus realize they have a good thing in front of them and fans in other cities take the time to give Shawn his due.

Rating: 1 (pathetic)

Just when you think they can't top themselves, the kiddies over at MLS Rumors go the extra mile.

They have a groundbreaking post today about a Mexican League player who might play for the U.S. Olympic team. According to their super-secret e-mailer, Jose Francisco Torres from Pachuca might suit up for the U.S. in Beijing this summer.

Amazing job working their sources, right?

Not even close. Goff reported this same thing FIVE DAYS AGO. And instead of relying on some anonymous e-mailer (which is MLSR code for re-writing someone else's story or just plain old making stuff up), Goff did the unthinkable and actually talked to Peter Nowak about it. He went one step further and used quotes from Christopher "Balance and Coordination" Sullivan's work on the FSC broadcast of D.C.'s game against Pachuca.

So basically MLSR took something that Steve Goff worked to get, threw their own speculation into it based on what Sullivan said and passed it off as their own work. Bravo, kids.

Go Fix Me a Turkey Pot Pie

Wilman Conde has pouted for a while in Chicago. Apparently, he thought he signed a personal contract with Juan Carlos Osorio, who bolted Chicago for the "greener pastures" of New York thefirst chance he got. We know all of this though, right? How Andrew Hauptman, the new owner of the Fire, won't even think about trading Conde because he's more pissed than Ross when rachel started dating that Paulo dude. And how Conde didn't play a minute in Chicago's first few games.

Well, that all changed Saturday when Conde suited up in Chicago's 1-0 win over San Jose in a sauna somewhere in the middle of Oakland. Now we have a report from Chicago's outstanding beat writer Luis Arroyave that Conde found his testicles and apologized to the team.

The thing is, some players seem to think that Conde apologized for selfish reasons.

"It was nice he [apologized], but at the end of the day, we were trying to focus on the game when he did it. It was a pre-game meal."

That's Jon Busch, the Fire's goalie, going all John Bender's father on one of his defenders. You remember Jon Busch. He's the guy who couldn't beat out Matt Pickens and had the Fire so secure in their goalie situation that they drafted Dominic Cervi. Sure, they didn't sign Cervi, but I think that had more to do with Cervi thinking he could cash a check in Europe than it did with Denis Hamlett's supreme confidence in the guy who couldn't beat out Will William Hesmer and Bill Gaudette last year.

I don't know if Conde is being sincere or if he's just making nice to get playing time, but someone who might be playing in the USL any moment now and has the gentle touch of Tony Meola when dealing with his defenders shouldn't get up in arms just because he had to interrupt his breakfast to listen to someone try to maintain team unity.

Name That Team

Three games have passed in the MLS season, and the team has just three points. A lightly-regarded opponent put up four goals in one game. The one win came in a game that everyone expected them to win. Some new players, including a foreign developmental player, have had trouble getting acclimated to each other. An injury to a player who has played a big role in former MLS Cup glory has thrown a wrench into early-season plans.

So do you panic or realize that 27 games still lie ahead with plenty of time to right the ship? That kind of depends on whether we're talking about the L.A. Galaxy or D.C. United.

Last year's Supporter's Shield winners and that plucky group from Hollywood each have the same record, but level-heads have prevailed more often on the East Coast. Sure, there is a Fire Soehn Now thread on Big Soccer, but that group of idjits would have complained because Jesus only fed 5,000 and had 12 baskets left over. Alexi Lalas' head is more in demand, but that's pretty much standard for the braintrust.

Three games in. Three points. That's way better than D.C.'s 2007 start where they didn't win until May 6. Houston hit three points a day before that.

Those two teams don't seem ready to panic right now. Sure, they're pissed, but they also know that a lot of soccer lies ahead. That's what L.A. fans need to know. Your defense blows, but you have lots of time to fix it.

Diabolical Genius

Maybe this is Jason Kreis' master plan. He makes everyone hate that fucking turf so much that they figure losing one game won't mean shit in the grand scheme of things so they just tank it, letting RSL come away with an unreal home record.

Problem is, Blanco never got that memo. D.C. did as they screwed the Mormon pooch once again last night. For a guy who signs a lot of players from Argentina, Tom Soehn sure has a shitty way of welcoming them to the league. Why the hell did he put a young goalie and young defender from there out on the field - and I use that term loosely - in Salt Lake?

D.C either doesn't give a shit if they get their salad tossed in Utah each year or they don't realize that games against RSL really count in the standings. That left the door open for Kyle "Dirty Hippy" Beckerman to get a pair of goals.

Other MLS tidbits:

• Landon is apparently getting really pissed at his teammates for giving up goals to the U-16 team that people call Toronto FC. He has scored within five minutes of Toronto's first two goals today. Then Jeff Cunningham scored late and LA gets boned by TFC. Classic.
  
• What the fuck was the point of playing in the middle of the afternoon in San Jose? Blanco's face looked like he was going to keel over in the post-game interview.
• So help me God, Christian Miles, if you say fulcrum to describe a central midfielder one more times, I'm gonna kick you in the jimmy.
• Chivas committed 20 fouls, which I think is one for every fan in the stadium at Columbus last night.
• A game coached by Steve Nicol and Fernando Clavijo had 34 fouls. Shocking.

Leave the Flare at Chotchkie's

I have thought about starting my own soccer blog for a while. So many people do it much better though so I stayed in the shadows. I started to think about it again when the MLS season started, but got lazy. Then I got a bug up my ass watching the games on Direct Kick tonight so figured what better time to start than now.

The turning point came about six minutes into the Crew-Chivas thriller when some dumbass in Columbus decided to throw a flare onto the field. There must be something in the water in central Ohio because that was the same place the morons from TFC threw a flare on the field in the season opener.

Well done, fucknuts. You showed how "hard core" you can be. I can't tell you how many times I have been at a sporting event when I thought, "Everything is great except nobody is setting anything on fire. That is just what we need."

So learn rule number one from Cletus - just because they do it somewhere else doesn't mean we have to do it here. And when you do the same thing as a dumbass in South America or Europe, it doesn't make you a good soccer fan. It just makes you a dumbass in America.

Just like me, who turned that game off when the Crew went up 3-1.