(Get) A Sporting Life

This is a nice feel-good story of local boy made good: It took AC St. Louis exactly one signing to establish its St. Louis coaching and player connection. That connection is midfielder Steve Ralston, who was announced Monday as the first player signed by the new professional men’s soccer team. Ralston, a native of Oakville, also will serve as the team’s assistant coach. Ralston has played 14 seasons in Major League Soccer, the last eight in Boston with the New England Revolution. He’s been part of the MLS since it began, was the league’s rookie of the year, and holds several MLS records. “My contract was up in New England, and negotiations were going OK,” Ralston said. “When I heard about this team in St. Louis, I asked my agent a couple weeks ago to give them a call and see what was up with that. It all snowballed pretty quickly.” Ralston said he could have played another year in the MLS, but saw AC St. Louis as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help build a new team from the groun...

Man, the Minnesota Thunder is going all out to get me as a fan. First there was this : The Minnesota Thunder announced today the signing of former D.C. United forward Quavas Kirk and former Seattle Sounders midfielder, Youssouf Kante pending USSF approval. Kirk has signed a two-year contract with one option year, and Kante has signed a three year contract. Then there was this : The Minnesota Thunder announced today the signing of former DC United midfielder Rodion Dyachenko and Maryland Terrapins defender Rich Costanzo. Dyachenko has signed a two year contract with one option year and Costanzo has signed a three year contract. Both players will join the Thunder when they start preseason training on March 13. Dyachenko, born in Russia, finished his third season with DC United in 2008, playing in 42 games and logging 1,452 minutes with one goal and three assists. He was selected 31st overall in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft out of UNLV. Shit, they are signing so many DC United cast-offs I hal...

Last evening I did something I had been threatening to do for some time; I went to a Minnesota Thunder game. The Thunder is the Twin Cities representative in the USL First Division (former A-League), so, according to my way of thinking, it is alright to begin to follow them as they represent a different level of soccer compared to DC United and MLS. And, yikes, what a different level it is! The wife and I were part of the teeming throng of 3176 people who witnessed the clash against the Rochester Raging Rhinos. The Thunder lacked some qualities, it must be said. So did Rochester. Former Wycombe Wanderer/Leicester City (and, briefly, DC United) winger Steve Guppy featured for the Rhinos, while the home side included former DC United hand Steven deRoux, so here is a little cross over to grab my attention at least. The play, however, was pretty lackluster. Minnesota started brightly enough and looked more likely to score in the first 12 minutes or so, but after a freekick from Ricardo Sa...