Rooney x 3 on Seattle

Hopefully we are about to witness a big year from Wayne Rooney. I predict a 20+ goal season after only finding the net 11 times this year.

MLS Considering Northwest Rivalry Week

Amidst the MLS Superdraft Don Garber announced plans to potentially hold a Northwest rivalry week. This would mean a series of games, POR vs. SEA, SEA vs. VAN, and POR vs. VAN, in the span of 7 days. I think this would be a terrible decision for all parties. These high profile games should be spread out over the course of the season. If you blow 3 out of 6 games in one week you won't be maximizing the value of the rivalry. Also from the player's perspective, they put their heart and soul into these derby games. And to give them a 3 day turnaround before having to play their second biggest rival doesn't seem right.

Hopefully MLS comes to the realization that the season is 8 months long, and that they should try to spread these matches out. Let us play a normal season before messing with our schedule. If you want to have a rivalry week make it a weekend where different rivalries take place across the league. For example:

• Chivas USA vs. Los Angeles
• Portland vs. Seattle
• Vancouver vs. Toronto
• Philadelphia vs. New York
• Salt Lake vs. Colorado
• Houston vs. Dallas

The complete MLS schedule for the 2011 season will probably be released in about a month, so stay tuned to see if they pull the trigger on this Northwest rivalry week idea.

Nathan Sturgis Traded to Toronto FC

The trading madness continues. Vancouver has just dealt Nathan Sturgis to Toronto FC in exchange for their 8th overall pick in the 2011 draft. Now Vancouver has the number 1 and 8 picks overall. They must have another player they are eyeing in the first round that they deem more valuable. I thought Nathan was one of the better expansion draft picks yesterday, but it seems even he is not safe from being used as bait. This leaves the Whitecaps with 5 players left from yesterday. At this point none of these players should feel secure.