Dave’s Football Blog

The boys at TheCup.us just alerted us to the news that two more clubs — the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Crystal Palace Baltimore — have broken ranks with USL and officially joined the new Team Owners Association league. For those of you keeping score at home, that gives the TOA a total of nine clubs — Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina, Miami, Minnesota, Montreal, St. Louis, Tampa and Vancouver — and until expansion clubs are announced, it leaves both the first and second divisions of USL with only 7 clubs each.

As if that weren’t enough, there is speculation now that the TOA league will brand itself as the New North American Soccer League. Apparently, Miami FC somehow got its hands on the old NASL name and filed a trademark claim on it. Nothing like a little nostalgia to promote a brand new league.

There was some speculation that the Rowdies would be stuck in USL-1 for the 2010 season, but they had always sided with the TOA. Perhaps they had to strike a deal with USL to free them from whatever contractual obligations they had and make their inclusion in this new league official.

The addition of Crystal Palace Baltimore is a surprise here. That club was a prime candidate to move up to USL-1 after the TOA clubs bolted. That the Palace joined the TOA as well will give this new league some added flexibility. If for some reason one of the TOA clubs is unable to field a side for 2010, the TOA still has eight clubs that can play a full 28-game season. That might make it a lot harder for the US Soccer Federation to turn down this league’s application for Division II status.

It also makes it harder for USL to keep its bigger clubs in the fold over the long term. If the first season of this “New NASL” goes according to plan, clubs like Puerto Rico, Charleston and FC New York will have to have a serious look at their 2011 plans. I’m already envisioning Paul Kemsley, current owner of the New York Cosmos brand, selling that name to FC New York as the new club switches leagues. Who knew soccer’s past in America would end up being its future, too?

O MY GOD ONE TIME I TOOK A SNAP TURNED AROUND AND THREW THE BALL OVER MY HEAD AND SAID WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Seriously, it’s more fun if you’re listening to this while watching that video.

(Spotted on The Sporting Blog.)

You’ve got it all figured out. You’ve broken through the backline. You’ve got an angle on the goalkeeper. All you have to do is slot the ball home and celebrate your goal.

Then, this happens…

That’s Daniel Nardiello, a Blackpool striker on loan at Bury, watching his certain goal roll to a halt a few inches from glory. What’s even worse about this is that they were playing at Gigg Lane, Bury’s home ground. So much for home field advantage.

You know where that would have been a goal? On any pitch in Major League Soccer. Yes. Perhaps Mr. Nardiello should ply his trade in America. We could use the strikers.

(Spotted on 101 Great Goals.)

After watching Jake Delhomme shit the bed against the Eagles in Week 1 this year, I fully expected the Carolina Panthers to have a very long and very ugly season. So I tuned out and focused on my Steelers, who then proceeded to shit the bed twice against the Bengals — which was no fun to watch, but didn’t make me think Pittsburgh’s playoff hopes were anywhere close to being dashed like the Panthers’ playoff dreams. Hey, the Steelers won a Super Bowl as a six-seed. Just get ‘em in the door, right?

Regarding the Panthers, however, there was one thing that I didn’t count on — the NFC’s extraordinary ability to suck.

Yes, even at 4-5, the Carolina Panthers are only one game behind all the Wild Card contenders in the NFC, and they fought their way into that position by running the ball, playing good defense, and generally ignoring Steve Smith’s incessant bitching that he’s not getting the ball enough.

What, exactly, does Smith expect? When your biggest liability is your overpaid quarterback and your top two running backs are gaining 4.98 yards a carry, you run the damn ball. Is Smith volunteering to line up in the backfield? The man has proven incapable of enjoying success when his numbers are down — although really, that just makes him a typical wide receiver, doesn’t it?

Either way, the Panthers have inexplicably found their way into the playoff race, and they can pull one step closer to being a contender — at least, as much as any mediocre team can be a contender in a conference that the Saints and Vikings are utterly dominating — with a win tonight over the Miami Dolphins. (8:00 PM, NFL Network) I’m not sure even the most ardent Panthers fans could have predicted that this scenario, especially with Thomas Davis and Jordan Gross out of the lineup with major injuries.

Meanwhile, the great irony of this game is that Dan Henning, who was fired by the Panthers for being the most boring play caller ever, is now being hailed as a creative genius for building the Wildcat formation in Miami. Where was that creativity when you were in Charlotte, Dan? Oh, right, you didn’t have Ronnie Brown… wait, you won’t have Ronnie Brown tonight, either. I guess you’ll have to put something together with Ricky Williams and Pat White. How many fascinating and innovative ways can run the ball off-tackle tonight, Dan? Show us that sparkling offensive creativity now, Dan.

Of course, all this mockery of Dan Henning — which, to be honest, is fun — becomes worthless if Jake starts tossing pick sixes again like they’re going out of style. Let’s just hope this Panthers team builds off that win against Atlanta last Sunday and does all the right things tonight. I suspect the NFL Network is thinking the same thing. The last thing they want to be known for is showing spectacular quarterback implosions every week.