Sports: New/s: Eursoc blog adds new sports feature, will be irreverent, witty

In the UK and Europe more generally, Wayne Rooney is famous as a goal-getter with the celebrated United Manchester team. Under the title "He Shoots, He Scores" (Feb1,2k7), readers are welcomed to the blog's "new sports section" and at the same time treated to t w o YouTube clips of Rooney in action. On the North American side of the pond, we should familiarize ourselves with some of the UK and other European players, because our surging soccer (they call it football) is headed for renewal and expansion. Hey, Eursoc, how about some clips of Beckham?, but do withhold venom from what you serve us up!

Welcome to EURSOC's new sports section. Here we'll cover sport with an emphasis on, well, "Great Sport." In keeping with EURSOC custom, sport will be covered with the same irreverence and disdain for the lop-sided, unimaginative and boring drivel that is the main staple of the traditional channels.

Sports, by Sportikos

Please keep us informed with your feedback [via email]: eursoc "at" noos "dot" fr

Footballer Wayne Rooney is controversial, sometimes disappointing. He has been in the news again, thanks to a run-in with an ageing hooker. However, let's not forget what the Manchester United striker does best. Here's his goal-of-the-month contender against Portsmouth:

Update:
I just recalled that my first view of the above-mentioned Wayne Rooney clip also cited by Eursoc below was actually on Paul Robinson's Novice Philosopher blog. So, a Hat Tip to Paul.

[in the Eursoc citation, the clip comes here, so, for great sport moments, click 'em up].

Me? I'm rooting for two teams faraway from the Rooney scene: first, the amateur Toronto Lynx club, at least recently a member of the Ontario Soccer League. I also support the pro team of Toronto Football Club which is a full member of the NorthAmerican-continental Major Soccer League and its Eastern Conference (7 teams, while the MSL Western Conference is comprised of 6 teams). My Western Conference fave is, of course, Los Angeles Galaxy that Beckham (previously United Manchester, presently Real Madrid) has recently signed to play for. " The two teams will face each other in Toronto on Aug8,2k7 in the new BMO Field, home of Toronto Football Club at Exhibition Place near the Toronto Waterfront.

The $62.8-million stadium is being built specifically for the staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship - Canada 2007 that will kickoff in July 2007 in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria and will be the largest single-sport event ever held in Canada.

The biennial event is second only to the FIFA World Cup™ in size and scope and will showcase the most talented under-20 soccer players in the world. The tournament has been the coming-out party for some of the game’s top players - Maradona, Saviola, Raúl, Marco Van Basten, Luis Figo, Rui Costa, Thierry Henry, Adriano, Roberto Carlos, Bebeto and Dunga as well as Canada’s Craig Forrest and many members of the current Men’s World Cup Team including Julian de Guzman, Paul Stalteri, Atiba Hutchinson and Iain Hume.

The facility will also be a regular home for both the Men’s and Women’s National Teams as well as a home for thousands of players in the Greater Toronto Area. The City of Toronto-owned stadium will have an air-filled bubble erected over the playing surface during the winter months, guaranteeing a minimum of 100 days of community usage throughout the year.

The city council vote now paves the way for the stadium be the home of Toronto’s newest professional sports franchise.

Major League Soccer (MLS) Commissioner Don Garber announced on October 11, 2005 that Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment had been granted the exclusive rights through October 31, 2005 to negotiate an agreement to acquire the rights to a Major League Soccer expansion team that will commence play in Toronto in 2007.

And that new franchise of Major League Soccer, in its Eastern Conference, is none other than Toronto FC, which will host Beckham as he tours all 12 additonalMLS franchises, a kind of poster boy as well as player.

And, Wayne Rooney, should we have him tour too? or, Luis Figa? (he's leaving Inter Milan for the Saudi team Al-Ittihad), or Christiano Ronaldo? Or, is that Ronaldinho Gaucho ("There is no doubt about it. He is simply the best player in the world.")? Both of the latter are featured on a YouTube clip here.

Oh, about the Lynx:

The Toronto Lynx Soccer Club announced today that they [held] an open tryout camp from December 18-22 [2k6] at the Oakville Sports Centre. The club will be evaluating high-level amateur talent in preparation for the 2007 season, which will be the Lynx' first in the Premier Development League of the amateur/college United Soccer League in Ontario, following Lynx's ten seasons in the USL First Division.

Head coach Duncan Wilde will return to guide the Lynx in 2007 and will be looking to identify elite Ontario talent to form the backbone of the team's first PDL squad.

So, I'm wondering if this new Professional Development Leauge in the Ontario amateur/college umbrella organization, is designed to create a greater flow of young players up to the point where their ready for the pro Toronto FC and the whole MLs?

Said Wilde, "I am in the process of inviting our Junior Lynx alumni into the training camp, many of whom are now playing with NCAA Div 1 Schools in the US. I would also like to invite any and all other players from throughout the region who have the credentials to play at this level".

NCAA = National Collegiate Athletics Assocation the member schools of which across North America are experiencing greater interest among college-entry student athletes in soccer.

The PDL is the highest level of amateur soccer in North America and provides a professional environment for elite amateur and college players and is a proven testing ground for players that aspire to reach the highest levels of the game. Further information about the PDL can be found at www.unitedsoccerleagues.com

2k7 may turn out to be a great soccer year in North America!