Sporting Madness

"We search for the truth/We could die upon the tooth/But the thrill of just the chase/Is worth the pain" - Ronnie James Dio , The Last In Line Tonight's Voyageurs' Cup game against the Montreal Impact may well be one of the most important matches of the Vancouver Whitecaps' season. Thanks to a pair of lacklustre draws at home, they must win on the road [ Marc Weber , The Province ] against their bitter rivals to maintain their hopes of claiming the Nutrilite Canadian Championship and its attendant berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. They have two points from two matches, while Toronto FC have seven from three. The teams play each other in the final clash of the competition next Wednesday, though, so the Whitecaps still have a shot at the title. In order to make that game relevant, though, they need to come away with three points tonight. As I wrote at Fighting For Canadian Supremacy before the season started , this competition may be the crucial one...

Saturday’s Vancouver Whitecaps clash against the Rochester Rhinos saw the fall of one streak and the continuation of a more auspicious one. Before 4,996 fans at Swangard Stadium, the Whitecaps found a way to break their goalless streak while maintaining their defensive dominance, coming away with a 2-0 victory. Vancouver threatened early, but that was something we’ve seen before. This last stretch of games has been characterized by the team creating scoring chances but not capitalizing on them. Tonight was different, though, as Cornelius Stewart ended their scoring drought in the 17th minute. He collected the ball in the box after Marcus Haber ’s shot hit him, turned and drilled it past Rochester goalkeeper Neal Kitson into the corner of the net. The goal came in the 276th minute of USSF-II play since the Whitecaps’ last league tally ( April 29 against Portland) and the 296th minute of USSF-II and Voyageurs’ Cup play since their last goal of any type (a Marcus Haber penalty May 5...

I'll be live-blogging tonight's USSF Division II game between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Rochester Rhinos. Kickoff is at 10 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Pacific. A video feed of the action can be found on the Whitecaps' website . Come join me then! Whitecaps - Rhinos live blog

I'll be live-blogging this evening's USL match between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Rochester Rhinos here and at The 24th Minute and Epic Footy . Coverage will be coming live from the Swangard Stadium press box. Kickoff is at 10 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Pacific): join me here then! Vancouver Whitecaps - Rochester Rhinos

Work unfortunately got in the way of writing here again, so I haven't been around for a while. That should hopefully change in the next little while, and the first item in the line is a live blog; I'll be live-blogging the Vancouver Whitecaps - Rochester Rhinos game tonight from the press box at Swangard, and then should have a post-game piece up tomorrow. Kickoff is at 10 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Pacific, so come join me here (or at The 24th Minute or Epic Footy ] then! In other programming notes, the daily Link Trains will return Monday and I should hopefully have a few original pieces up here this week as well. Until then, here's some links to my stuff and the best of the Interwebs from the past week, as well as some music. Video of the Day: Spirit of the West - Home for a Rest A classic party song from a Vancouver band. Many people have probably heard this one in bars or clubs without any idea of who it's from, but the band's actually pretty good and quite well-know...

It's time for some USL action! Join me in the live blog below! Vancouver Whitecaps - Rochester Rhinos live blog

Come join me in the live blog below! Match preview is here ; also remember that I'll be live-blogging the Vancouver - Rochester game tonight at 10 p.m. as well. Toronto FC - Chicago Fire live blog

It's going to be a battle at BMO Field this afternoon as Toronto FC take on the Chicago Fire at 4 p.m. Only one point separates the teams in the table; TFC are second in the Eastern Conference with a 3-2-4 record for 13 points, while the Fire are undefeated so far this year with a 2-0-6 record for 12 points and currently hold third place in the conference. Eastern leaders D.C. United are only one point ahead of Toronto and face the top team so far this season in Chivas USA on the road this evening, so either TFC or Chicago could conceivably vault their way into the top spot with a win. One of the key battles to watch will be Chicago star Cuauhtemoc Blanco against Toronto's skillful holding midfielders. Toronto's been very successful at minimizing other teams' scoring opportunities lately, but they haven't faced an offensive threat of Blanco's calibre for quite some time. There's a great profile on him here from Jose Romero of the Seattle Times . Another i...