Sunday, July 29, 2012

2012 Liverpool FC v Tottenham Hotspurs

2012.07.28 M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Md

Liverpool faced the Tottenham Hotspurs at M&T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. 
In a 0-0 draw Fabio Borini made his Liverpool debut, while Stewart Downing made his first pre-season appearance.  Borini had his best opportunity to score as Jordan Henderson swung a deep cross to the back post where Borini was waiting. Unfortunately Borini could not get his shot on target.

Taking the pitch for Liverpool were: Brad Jones, Jamie Carragher, Jon Flanagan, Jonjo Shelvey, Martin Skrtel, Adam Morgan, Joe Cole, Jay Spearing, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing, Jose Enrique
Second half changes: Steven Gerrard, Danny Wilson, Lucas Leiva, Jack Robinson, Fabio Borini, Stephan Sama, Andy Carroll, Nathan Eccleston, Peter Gulacsi, Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling, Andre Wisdom
8x6 card picked up outside the stadium at one of the VIP party tents
(Steven Gerrard and Pepe Reina)

Hotspurs: Brad Friedel, Kyle Naughton, William Gallas, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Younes Kaboul, Jermaine Jenas, Jake Livermore, Aaron Lennon, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Gareth Bale, Harry Kane.
Second half changes: Michael Dawson, Tom Huddlestone, Sebastien Bassong, David Bentley, Tom Carroll, Jan Vertongen, Adam Smith


Liverpool Tour 2012
July 21 - Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada - Liverpool 1 : Toronto FC 1
July 25 - Fenway Park, Boston, Ma - Liverpool 1 : AC Roma 2
July 28 - M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Md - Liverpool 0 : Hotspurs 0 

Tottenham US Tour 2012
July 24 - Home Depot Center, Los Angeles, Ca - Hotspurs 1 - LA Galaxy 1
July 28  - M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Md - Hotspurs 0 : Liverpool 0
July 31 - Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ - Hotspurs : Red Bull

NBA star Steve Nash, wearing a Tottenham jersey, being interviewed before the game.
Nash grew up playing soccer, his siblings played college and professional soccer, has also practiced with the NY Red Bull an participated in Showdown in Chinatown an 8v8 charity soccer game. Nash's father was born in Tottenham and are both lifelong Hotspur fans...
Sea of Red as seen from our seats...

Logo used at Fenway, when Liverpool met AC Roma. Liverpool was sold to the Fenway Sports Group in 2010... 

Saturday, July 28, 2012

2012 - Castrol Upper Deck

One of the promotional items given away at the Castrol booth was a set of 25 trading cards from Upper Deck. The cards are very similar to the 2012 Upper Deck regular set, although the printing quality is different.

The differences in the cards are the Castrol Index logo in the upper corner and the card number placed in a green Castrol circle. On the regular Upper Deck issue the number is in the same location without the green circle.

The backs of the cards feature the same player bio and stats. the tops of the card removes the player photo and replaces it with the Castrol Player Index, which is explained on a separate card as performance tracking for a players' every move on the field and assesses whether it has a positive or negative impact on the team's ability to score or concede a goal.  Keane's index is 7.77. The players position in the set in in decreasing order of their index, where as Koevermans has the highest index...

Checklist
1  Dany Koevermans - Toronto FC
2  Kei Kamara - Sporting
3  Thierry Henry - Red Bull
4  Chris Wondolowski - Earthquakes
5  Hamdi Salihi - DC United
6  Saer Sene - Revolution
7  Steven Lenhart - Earthquakes
8  Bill Hamid - DC United
9  Robbie Keane - Galaxy
10 Andy Grunbaum - Crew
11 Alvaro Saborio - Real Salt Lake
12 Chris Pontius - DC United
13 Dominic Oduro - Fire
14 Kenny Cooper - Red Bull
15 Jaime Castrillon - Rapids
16 Will Bruin - Dynamo
17 Kevin Rowe - Revolution
18 Joe Cannon - Whitecaps
19 Andre Hainault - Dynamo
20 Blas Perez - FC Dallas
21 Olman Vargas - Crew
22 Kris Boyd - Timbers
23 Michael Gspurning - Sounders
24 Dan Kennedy - Chivas
25 Sana Nyassi - Impact

Friday, July 27, 2012

2012 Chelsea USA Tour

(Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Petr Cech, Fernando Torres)
Front cover of the Chelsea tour program

Chelsea FC had a booth set up as part of the Soccer Celebration before the All-Star game. They gave away tour programs, lanyards, posters and free photos with the FA Cup and Champions League Cup. A great thrill for Chelsea fans.

The program featured articles on the tour with information about each venue Century Link Field, Seattle; Yankee Stadium, NY; PPL Park, Chester, Pa and Sun Life Stadium, Miami.
  • There was an article about their relationship with Super Clubs in the US (Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Arizona and Texas).
  • A message from the club chairman Bruce Buck (originally from West Orange, New Jersey).
  • The Chelsea Foundation and Right To Play.
  • Chelsea History
  • Stamford Bridge
  • Player profiles
  • Some nice photos and information about the team coming to the US, which included a photo of Branislav Ivanovic in a Yankee uniform and Juan Mata wearing a Redskin's helmet while throwing an American football.
  • Previous visits by Chelsea to the US (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)
  • Photos of Chelsea players with Matt Hasselback of the Seahawks, Charlize Theron, Matt Damon, Owen Wilson, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers, LaMarcus Aldridge of the Trailblazers, Snoop Dogg and Will Ferell.



Front of a postcard that offered the chance to win a trip to London with match tickets and a stadium tour...

2012 USA Tour pin
Mike looking smug in his Liverpool jersey posing with the Champions League and FA cups.
Yes he caught a lot of heat from the Chelsea fans!

Chelsea US Tour
July 18 2012 - Century Link Field, Seattle, Wa - Chelsea 4 : Seattle Sounders 2
July 22 - Yankee Stadium, Bronx NY-  Chelsea 1 : Pars St. Germaine 1
July 25 - PPL Park, Chester, Pa - Chelsea 2 : MLS All-Stars 3
July 28- Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Fl - Chelsea : AC Miami



Thursday, July 26, 2012

2012 - Soccer Celebration

 Gabriel Farfan
Philadelphia Union (MLS 2011-  )
Michael Lahoud
Chivas USA (MLS 2009-2012)
Philadelphia Union (MLS 2012 - )
Zac MacMath
Philadelphia Union (MLS 2011 -  )
Ray Gaddis
Philadelphia Union (MLS 2012 -  )
Amobi Okugo
Philadelphia Union (MLS 2010 - )
Chris Albright
DC United (MLS 1999-2001)
LA Galaxy (MLS 2002-2007)
NE Revolution (MLS 2008-2009)
NY Red Bulls (MLS 2010-2011)
Philadelphia Union (MLS 2012 - )

US National Team 1999-2007

Chase Harrison
Real Salt Lake (MLS 2006)
DC United (MLS 2010)
Columbus Crew (MLS 2010)
Philadelphia Union (MLS 2011 -  )
Brian Carroll
DC United (MLS 2003-2007)
Columbus Crew (MLS 2008-2010)
Philadelphia Union (MLS 2011 -  )

US National Team 2005-
Sheanon Williams
Philadelphia Union (MLS 2010-  )
Bill Hamid
DC United (MLS 2009 -  )

US National Team - 2012-
Freddy Adu
DC United (MLS 2004-2006)
Real Salt Lake (MLS 2007)
Benefica (Portugal 2007-2011)
AS Monaco (Monaco 2008-2009)
Balenenses (Portugal 2009)
Aris FC (Greece 2010)
Caykur Rizespor (Turkey 2011)
Philadelphia Union (MLS 2011 -  )

US National Team 2006 - 

From the pages of Mike's 3rd book of soccer autographs. Every one we met this day was very pleasant. the entire atmosphere of the celebration was great.

2012 - All-Star Game - Soccer Celebration

2012.07.25 Chester, Pa. PPL Park - Soccer Celebration...
2012.07.25 PPL Park, Chester, Pa
Since Mike had his freshman college orientation the following day, we did not try to get tickets to the game because we would get home too late (he was leaving at 5am the following morning). However we did make the 1.5 hour drive to enjoy the Soccer Celebration. Got home to see the end of the first half...

The usual sponsors were there, Castrol, VW, Adidas, X-box, Pepsi, AT&T, Home Depot, Makita, Budweiser, Continental Tire, El Jimador, National Guard, Bimbo, All-State, Eastern Penn Youth Soccer...providing a variety of promotional items including, player cards (Castrol), lanyards, photo ops (nice personal trading card from Castrol), sun glasses, MiCoach from Adidas (now you have to buy the boots), bags, t-shirts, keychains, hats...
On July 20 Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and MLS Commissioner Don Garber launched the All-Star celebration by kick off the MLS Giant Ball tour on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The ball was paraded around Philadelphia making stops where fans were encouraged to sign the ball. Any fans signing the ball at the game were given a free t-shirt! Awesome!
As a Liverpool fan Mike really liked this shirt!
Of course Mike wore his Liverpool jersey as did a few others, amongst the many Union and Chelsea jerseys. We even saw a great old SJ Clash and old MetroStars jerseys in the crowd...

Tony Meola and Alexi Lalas where on hand signing autographs as were several players from the Union, as well as Bill Hamid from DC United.
Bill Hamid...
 Autograph cards like the one above (front and back) were available at each signing table. Zac MacMath, Amobi Okugo and Chris Albright...
Chase Harrison from sponsor El Jimador

We got to the X-Box booth 10 minutes before Adu was scheduled to appear. Starting the line we watched it grow. It was nice to see how many fans still appreciated Adu efforts to US soccer. As a women was exiting the X-Box booth she asked "Is that a line?" Mike's response to me was "I guess she failed geometry!"

All-Star Game Program
Some great articles on soccer in Philadelphia (the National, The Fury and the Atoms), the 1976 Bicentennial NASL all-star game, and player profiles from both teams...
All-Star Game pin
I know its not a soccer pinback, but you have to like the VW smiley fan bicycle button, part of their Think Blue campaign...




Monday, July 23, 2012

Help Colorado Now

Commerce City, Colo. - The Colorado Rapids’ special, game-worn jerseys from the match on July 4th, which featured the Colorado state flag and HelpColoradoNow.org across the chest, are being auctioned off with proceeds benefitting organizations supporting disaster relief. The auction will run from July 20 to August 5, 2012, with proceeds going to HelpColoradoNow.org.


The auction ends August 15...



The jerseys worn by the 18 players on the roster that day - and autographed by the player - are included in the auction, with the first bid starting at $100 and with $10 incremental bids offered.
The following players' jerseys are available: Matt Pickens, Drew Moor, Hunter Freeman, Marvell Wynne, Tyrone Marshall, Luis Zapata, Jamie Smith, Jeff Larentowicz, Joseph Nane, Martin Rivero, Jaime Castrillon, Stew Ceus, Tony Cascio, Wells Thompson, Brian Mullan, Edu (picture above), Conor Casey, Omar Cummings.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

2002 - MetroStars Lunchbox

2002.08.17 - The MetroStars hosted the Dallas Burn, and the first 5,000 kids 12 and under received a special metroStars lunchbox, courtesy of Sunny Delight, Downy, Tide and Crest...

The front of the box featured images of Rodrigo Faria, Tim Howard, Clint Mathis, Mike Petke.
The back of the lunch box featured the backs of Faria, Howard, Mathis and Petke, the sides of the lunch box featured player profiles...

Friday, July 20, 2012

2002 - MetroStars calendar

2002 - The Might Metros fan club distributed a calendar to the members. The calendar ran from April 2002 - March 2003, with an individual MetroStar player featured each month. The centerfold was a duplicate of the min-poster, without the Mighty Metros logo in the lower left hand corner. Each month also featured a "Did You Know" with interesting information about the MetroStars. The "Did You Know" from August to November 2002 and January 2003 were bilingual advertisements for Palmolive-Colgate products, the sponsor of the calendar..

April 2002 - Clint Mathis #13
Did You Know - Tim Howard made his international debut with the US Men's national Team on march 10, 2002 with a 1-0 shutout against Ecuador...

May 2002 - Tab Ramos #10
Did You KNow - Tim Howard and Steve Jolley were the only MetroStars players to play in every minute of every MetroStars game during the MLS regular season, the MLS playoffs, the US Open Cup and the Copa MercoNorte tournament in 2001...

June 2002 - Tim Howard #18
Did You Know - Striker Rodrigo Faria became the first MetroStars player to win the MLS Rookie of the Year award...

July 2002 - Rodrigo Faria #22
Did You Know - Defender Mike Petke, during the 2001 season, became the team's all-time leader in games (107) and minutes (9,122)...

August 2002 - Mike Petke #12

September 2002 - Petter Villegas #8

October 2002 - Marcelo Balboa #17

November 2002 - Ross Paule #11

December 2002 - Orlando Perez #2
Did You Know - In 2001, defender Daniel Hernandez recorded a career-high 7 assists during the regular season. Prior to 2001, he had only recorded 3 assists total in his previous 3 years.

January 2003 - Steve Jolley #5

February 2003 - Daniel Hernandez #21
Did You Know - Diego Serna, as a member of the Miami Fusion scored 4 goals against the MetroStars in a 4-1 win on September 2, 2000.

March 2003 - Diego Serna #71
Did You Know - Head Coach Octavio Zambrano is the MetroStars' all-time coaching leader with 30 wins in the regular season.

I like this calendar, it has a nice design and graphics, most of the photos are excellent, especially Mathis challenging 3 defenders...

Thursday, July 19, 2012

2002 - MetroStars mini-poster

2002.09.12 - Courtesy of the Mighty Metros fan club, members received this mini-poster (17 x 11) which featured a collage of MetroStars - Tab Ramos, Mike Petke, Tim Howard, Marcelo Balboa, Clint Mathis, Steve Jolley, Rodrigo Faria, Petter Villagas, Ross Paule, Orlando Perez, Daniel Hernandez, Diego Serna.

A version of this poster was also placed in the center of a 2002-2003 calendar distributed by the Mighty Metros fan club. The individual player images on the poster are used for  each of the months...

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

2006 World Cup - Boys' Life

2006 World Cup - Boys' Life

Boys' Life is a monthly magazine distributed by the Boy Scouts of America, targeted to their membership. Boys' Life first appeared January 1, 1911...

The June 2006 issue featured Landon Donovan "Wonder Boy"on the cover. The 4-page article featured information about Donovan as the leader of Team USA on their quest for the World Cup.

There is also information on "Teams to Beat" - Germany, Brazil, Argentina, England and Italy.. "Brazil which has a world-record five World cup crowns, appears to be Germany's most significant threat."
They were a little off as Italy beat France in the finals.

Players to watch included Brazil's Ronaldinho, Robinho, and Adriano, France's Zinedine Zidane, England's Wayne Rooney and Mexico's Jorge Borgetti.

for the US team keeper Kasey Keller was the American to keep the Czech republic, Italy and Ghana from getting past the Americans in the first round.

Reality Check: the US did not get past the first round losing 2 games and drawing 1. Italy and Ghana would advance to the second round.