Apparently Memorial Day is this coming Monday. In all the vacation and activity planning that comes with it, I ask that we all remember why this is a holiday in the first place. May we honor all those who have paid the ultimate price in service of this country. I don’t exactly know a segue into the Kicks from that, so let’s just get to it!
Mohanad Jeahze sees his MLS suspension lifted, though he is still recovering from injury.
MLS early-season grades: How is your team performing? (MLS): D.C. United earn a B here. It’s hard to argue against that grade. I might even give it a B+ if March wasn’t still lingering in the back of my mind. The improvements over last year though are stark and welcome.
Power Rankings: FC Cincinnati, LAFC vying for MLS supremacy (MLS): United’s recent form has finally earned them a top 10 spot in this week’s arbitrary rankings.
USA overcome Fiji at U-20 World Cup as Diego Luna opens floodgates (MLS): The US U-20 team sees victory in their group stage World Cup match against Fiji.
USWNT star Catarina Macario ruled out of 2023 World Cup (FOX Soccer): While not entirely surprising given the circumstances, I feel for these athletes who spend their entire lives leading up to a World Cup only to be forced to the sidelines due to injury.
Why Trinity Rodman is the USWNT’s best replacement for Mallory Swanson at the World Cup (ESPN): Speaking of USWNT injuries, Swanson is absolutely someone the team will miss this summer. I would say that Trinity Rodman should see any and all minutes of this World Cup – anything less would be a travesty.
NWSL Weekend Take-Off: Gotham FC top the table after topsy-turvy results (Pro Soccer Wire): Sadly, the Spirit’s first loss of the season sees them going from 1st to… 4th? Three teams sit at 15 points, one point behind Gotham FC.
Annapolis Blues Roll Past FC Frederick (NPSL): Annapolis got their first win in history this past weekend, breezing past Frederick. Long live Old Bay.
The challenges in providing fair coverage in American soccer (Soccermusings): An excellent read on the state of soccer journalism in the US. We appreciate every reader and member of the District Press commentariat.
That’s all for today. Get kicking in the comments!
As fans, we need to remember that anything on MLSsoccer.com is for entertainment. They are hot takes in written form. Being ranked #10 means nothing, just as being ranked #29 meant nothing.
Still nicer to see one than the other.
The Alicia Rodriguez article was a nice find and I agree with much of it (okay, most of it). But the ending (about the sport being in trouble if this is the high moment of soccer coverage) is hyperbole for me–an extreme statement in an article full of measured and thoughtful analysis.
I’m sure the details on what happened to Mo Jeahze will eventually become public. Consensual sex? Bar fight? False identify? He said-they said? Anti-immigrant innuendo? So I think it’s not sufficient to just leave things as they are. And given the difficulty of keeping our outside backs/wingbacks on the field (due to injury), it will be good to have him back once he’s healthy. The other question about Jeahze that I have is: he’s a left back. Will he work as a wingback in the system we’ve evolved in to?
Also, at some point I’m interested in someone (DP? Jason? Goff? Athletic?) talking about what has happened to Hopkins this year. I know he’s loaned out to LU. But based on last year, I’d have thought he’d be competing for starting minutes. The team put out the word that they expected to lose him to the U20 WC that’s going on now. Rooney said he was going to eventually be on the USMNT. Instead–zip, not even garbage minutes in blow-outs. So I’m interested in eventually hearing this story.
Re: Hopkins, I think he struggled to adapt to the new system, or at least didn’t do as well as all the guys in front of him. Rooney’s benched a bunch of guys who have come back into the fold playing much better afterwards, so I’m hopeful it’s a matter of needing more minutes and there not being enough to share. He’s also still pretty young.
Hopkins is curious. This a weird and stark regression(?). He may be just busting minutes at LU and will U-20 or something as match fitness improves.
Loudoun was certainly helpful for Ku-DiPietro and Samake. Hopkins is still just 18, and the playing time there should do him good.
I agree with JoeW’s praise and other comments about Alicia Rodríguez’s article. DMV is one of her few markets with a blessed mix of journalistic talent. We have the Washington Post with Steve Goff (the Dean of the corps), Thomas Floyd, Cindy Boren (who seems to have a Euro beat) and occasionally others.
We have heart-still-in-DC Jason Anderson at Pro Soccer Wire.
We have Sarah, Ryan, Donald, Kerry, Annie, Andre and the rest of The District Press crew whom I cannot praise enough providing comprehensive coverage of DC United, Washington Spirit, and Loudoun United.
Plus a very knowledgeable Commentariat (myself excepted) including Will Nelson who provides quasi journalistic coverage of Old Glory Rugby Club and the world of rugby as a DP bonus.
I would gladly pay a $10 monthly “subscription” fee for The District Press to help maintain it as a free service, Sarah, if there were a mechanism for that.
Let me know.
There are national guys like Charlie Boehm, Pablo Maurer, Brian Straus, etc. who are based in DC too. And Paul Tenorio got his start at WaPo.
The 2023 Major League Rugby Draft Day has been set. It will be on Aug 17 at 6:30 PM ET on FS2.
https://usa.rugby/news/major-league-rugby-2023-draft-set-for-august-17-on-fs2-2023427
This past weekend closed out the Men’s World Rugby HSBC Rugby Sevens Series 2022-2023 season with the London 7s. The Women’s season closed out the prior weekend with the Tolouse 7s.
In the London 7s the US didn’t advance out of Pool A where they finished in last place with 0W 1D 2L and a point differential of -25. They played New Zealand, Great Britain, and South Africa. Overall they finished the season in 10th place. A return to the normal and a far cry from their 2nd place overall finish in the 2018-2019 season. They do avoid relegation though. As in the 2023-2024 series there will only be 12 teams rather than 16 (bottom 4 relegated to their regional rugby 7s series) in order to match the number of teams on the Women’s side and the Olympic format. For the men’s 7s to qualify for Paris 2024 they will have to win next year’s RAN (Rugby Americas North) 2023 qualifying tournament in Langford, Canada on the weekend of 19-21 August. They will start play in Pool A with The Cayman Islands and Barbados.
The Women’s 7s teams finished 3rd overall and qualify for Paris 2024 Summer Olympics with the top 4 finish.
World Rugby HSBC Rugby 7s series has come to an end for both the US Men’s and Women’s 7s. The Women’s 7s finish in 3rd place overall, while the Men’s 7s finish 10th overall. The Women with their top 4 finish have qualified for Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. While the men finishing outside the top 4 will have to win the Rugby Americas North (RAN) qualifying tournament in order to qualify. The RAN qualifying tourney is August 19-21 in Langford, Canada. The men will begin the tourney with pool play in Pool A facing The Cayman Islands and Barbados.
The Men’s last tournament was last weekend with the London 7s. They did not advance out of pool play finishing last with 0W 1D 2L against New Zealand (won the pool), Great Britain (finished 2nd in pool), and South Africa (finished 3rd). The men have fallen off greatly since they finished 2nd overall in the 2018-2019 season (their best ever finish), which qualified them for Tokyo 2020 (that ended up being played in 2021).
The Women meanwhile finished out the season with a 2nd place, finish losing to New Zealand in the Cup final, at the Toulouse 7s that were played 12-14 May.
Starting next season, on the men’s side will reduce to 12 core teams from the previous 15. This will bring them inline with the Women’s 7s as well as the Olympics. Starting in 2023-2024 season, on both the men’s and women’s side the core team finishing bottom of the table will be relegated to the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger Series. While the team finishing atop the the Challenger series table will be promoted.
Careful with your detailed Rugby reviews; if you keep up this coverage, we may recruit you to open a District Press Rugby division 😉
I’ll vote for that. The two sports are historically joined at the hip. “Soccer is a gentlemen’s sport played by hooligans and rugby is a hooligans’ sport played by gentlemen “.