Picking Up The Pieces

I've been down for the count with some sort of horrible upper respiratory evil spirit, so I'll just take a quick post here in the interim between FA Cup matches to do a bit of news item housekeeping.

Item #1: 60-90 days revisited?

Nick Sakiewicz, no stranger to screwing the metaphorical pooch with stadium deals, is under threat again, this time with the Philadelphia franchise set to join the league in 2010. Does this endanger not just the stadium but the franchise as well . . ?

Conspiracy!

Let's connect some pretty tenuous dots, shall we? Anybody else thinking about who would benefit from Philadelphia bowing out of the 2010 entry window? How about the boys making all that noise about "if we don't get in for 2010, we're outie 5000?" Yes, the Miami-Barca alliance are huge fans of Reality Bites. Could they also be huge fans of pulling strings in local politics to get their petulant way? Hmmm . . .

Item #2: WRongen strikes again!

So, was it a secret assassin in a bow-tie that ended up driving wunderkind defender Neven Subotic into the arms of Serbia? Some pretty damning stuff from Brent Latham at Yanks Abroad. If true, I think this is more of a indication of the rot at the core of the USSF youth programs, where nobody ever seems to get fired--they just get shifted around in a Perpetual Crap Machine.

Item #3: The Godfather Picks His Team

Jaime Moreno puts together his DC United best XI. The best part for my money? That the man picks himself, with the following explanation:

Everything is good about me!

Yes it is, Jaime. Yes it is. Taking a look at his list, you'd have to do some positional finagling. If you go four at the back, who plays on the right? Who plays on the left side of midfield, Olsen or Stewart?

So what do you think of Jaime's XI? Would you make any changes? Should somebody be held accountable in the US youth setup? Will Barca-Miami slip in the door that Philadelphia is leaving cracked open for them?