Hops just had a sideline interview with a man that could be the “Designated Player” of franchise ownership after it’s all said and done, Canadian and Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash.

Remember not too long ago when Seattle announced that Drew Carey was involved and how much press that got, this will be even bigger.

Having a guy that is a BIG TIME athlete that is known worldwide legitimizes MLS just a little bit more and will continue to strengthen the foundation of this league.

Steve Nash gets it.  Not only does he get it, he’s breaking down barriers that we and MLS can’t.  He’s a unifier.

Of course Vancouver will get an MLS team within the next three seasons.  And they should, because they’ve proven that they have a solid product already on the field and already has amazing support in the stands that are there week in and week out for the Whitecaps (and don’t forget the two LA Galaxy friendlies).

And Steve said it best, “We hope to replicate what Toronto FC has done.”

image via Benefeco

UPDATE - Surprising move by not having Estelle perform inside BMO Field as it looks like they set up a separate stage outside.

Nope, no Kanye, but The Commish just announced that B. McBride’s situation has been sorted. Announcement to come tomorrow.

And could someone tell this ref that it’s an All-Star Game and NOT a World Cup?  Take a breath, there’s a reason why you don’t have your name on the back of your red jersey.

43rd minute and Estelle’s about to hit the stage, but will Kanye join?

PS - Blanco’s assist on Christian Gomez’ goal and his far post bender at that angle to beat West Ham’s Robert Green??? Seriously??

This is one of the coolest, behind the scenes videos I think I’ve ever seen.

Always wondered how my favorite cleat of all time, the Copa Mundial’s were made from start to finish.

From the Rosenborg website

According to VG, Cooper will soon be joining up with Rosenborg. Negotiations with Major League Soccer - who owns the transfer rights for the FC Dallas striker - have been going on all July, and looks set to be resolved soon.

“I never comment on transfers before they’re done,” Erik Hoftun says.

Speculations mount on the exact size of the bid. Rumours have suggested that the initial bid was around $1 million, or 5 million NOK, but the price has probably been pushed up considerably.

Image via DallasNews

Sitting on the couch, watching my boy Rob Stone and the MLS All-Star pre-game show on ESPN when this commercial came on.

Pretty dope spot from Adidas and their Dream MLS campaign.  This is what we need more of, but on a bigger scale.

And Stone just confirmed a 7 figure offer for Edson Buddle and multi-European offers in for Kenny Cooper.

Here’s a longer version of Michael Parkhurst’s spot. Great player and it’s good to see him get some press for all the stuff he’s been doing off the field since he’s started in the league.

Interesting article from the Washington Post.

BEIJING — My country is about to host the world’s greatest sporting event and, we hope, claim a truckload of Olympic gold. But to hundreds of millions of Chinese, our widely anticipated bonanza of medals will mean very little. The real metric by which China judges itself against the rest of the world isn’t the discus or the decathlon. It’s not even our record-beating economic growth rate or our postmodern skylines.   It’s soccer. And when it comes to our beloved sport, China is not just the sick man of Asia. It’s the sick man of the world…(more)…

Image via Daylife

Yes there is a MLS All-Star match! And I’ll be damned, it’s on tonight!

I know, I know, you may have not heard about it either! I’ve been a fan of MLS since 2000 and even as a fan, I really have to be paying attention to get all the gets. Yeah, I get it - the League is still young and has its challenges with budget restrictions, but there needs to be more buzz and promos other than what’s on MLSnet.com, especially when you’ve got Donovan and Becks leading MLS vs. West Ham United.

I do think the international match-up instead of the traditional East vs. West was a good move by the League, showing how MLS talent measures up globally. But, if fans don’t know the match is being played, what does it matter?! So, tune in tonight, especially you ladies! I can’t guarantee the guys will do a jersey exchange when it ends, but how will you know if you don’t tune in?

Watch it live or set your DVRs: 7pm ET on ESPN, Telefutura and ESPN360.com.

Annie

images via Blogs

Getting younger and younger.

I’m a big fan of the Eco-friendly Adidas Grun Superstar 1’s and if you are too, you can pick some up over at Stockholm giants CaliRoots.

Organic cotton.

Read the rest of this story…

The US Women have landed in Beijing (without our girl Leslie Osborne, Cat Whitehill and Abby Wambach who will all miss the Olympics due to injury) to prepare for their 2008 Olympic grouping in Qinhuangdao, the venue for the first two matches.

Now it’s training, passport, paperwork, drug testing and everything else that happens behind the scenes before an Olympic Tournament.

Follow the team’s updates on WNT-USSoccer.BlogSpot.

image via WNT-USSoccer