Jumping around

Carson, Rapids, Adu at center of latest buzz

CARSON, Calif. -- Finally made my belated first visit to the U.S. soccer shrine that is the Home Depot Center (aka Victoria Street, the Woodshed, etc.), and let me tell you: Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid was right. You can't call yourself a real American soccer fan until you make the pilgrimage here. The place is outstanding.

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Now we just need to work on those ticket prices. ($400 for the Women's World Cup final? A $22 single-game minimum for Galaxy matches? Are you kidding me?)

I'm knee-deep in Women's World Cup preview stuff for Sports Illustrated, so we'll jump around with some short takes on the latest buzz in U.S. soccer:

The Rapids are the hottest team in MLS? Only a couple months ago, one of my MLS moles told me Rapids coach Tim Hankinson "would be fired within the next 36 hours." (Good thing I check stuff out before running with it.) Hankinson not only kept his job, but he led a stunning turnaround that has Colorado surging into second place in the West.

Even better, the Team Formerly Known as Crapids has turned into MLS's equivalent of the Bronx Zoo Yankees, winning despite all sorts of hilarious public outbursts this season -- witness the carping from Chris Carrieri and Zizi Roberts, to say nothing of the smack-a-thon goalie controversy between Scott Garlick and Joe Cannon. I'm still waiting for a Graig Nettles-Reggie Jackson dustup during a game. You hear me, guys?

Revs spank Fire 5-1 in Foxboro. Let's see, New England outscored Chicago 8-1 at the Razor this season. Anybody else envisioning a playoff surprise if these two teams meet in the home-and-home first round?

Glory days. Call me cynical, but could any of today's MLS teams stand a chance against D.C. United's Marco Etcheverry-led championship sides? (And no, Bruce Arena's hand isn't in my back right now...)

Clive Charles' legacy. Listening to the emotional tributes from all the star players he produced (including Tiffeny Milbrett, Kasey Keller and Shannon MacMillan), it's impossible not to conclude that the U of Portland coach, who died of prostate cancer on Aug. 26, was a special, special man. Clive and I didn't always see eye-to-eye on soccer strategy, but that pales in comparison to his gigantic impact on the sport and the people in it.

Berhalter takes on Iraq! No joke. U.S. defender Gregg Berhalter's Energie Cottbus side meets the Iraqi national team in an exhibition on Sunday in Germany. Pop quiz for Gregg: Who would you rather have referee this match: Peter Prendergast, Hugh Dallas or Ahmad Chalabi?

Mac's big comeback. All props to U.S. forward Shannon MacMillan for working her rear off to make the World Cup team just 14 weeks after ACL surgery, and for her composure in playing on Monday after the death of Charles, her college coach and father figure. Whether MacMillan will have an impact on the World Cup remains to be seen -- against Costa Rica she looked like she has a ways to go -- but either way, we've learned a lot about her mettle already.

U.S. Open Cup: It's fan-tastic. Is it me, or have some of the most vicious confrontations of the past few years come in the Open Cup? (See Luis Hernandez vs. Peter Nowak, Joey Franchino vs. Clint Mathis.) You've gotta like how seriously everyone takes this tournament. If CONCACAF tried one-tenth as hard to organize its Champions Cup as the USSF and MLS do with the Open Cup, the continental club championship might actually mean something.

Mrs. Ronaldo in World Cup? The latest out of Brazil is that Ronaldo's wife, Milene, is in pre-World Cup training with the women's national team. But the news doesn't come without some intrigue: Brazil's coach told reporters that he didn't want to bring in the First Lady of world soccer -- but instead was forced to by the Brazilian federation as a publicity stunt. Coming from a country whose top female basketball and volleyball players have appeared in Playboy, this doesn't exactly surprise us. Nor does it bode well for team morale heading into the tournament.

The Lalas-Hong debate. One year after he should have been named MLS Defender of the Year, the Galaxy's Alexi Lalas can't find the field because new signee Hong Myung-bo draws 5,000 Korean fans to every game. Did anyone imagine that Alexi Lalas would ever get jobbed for playing time by a player with a better Q rating?

WUSA shocker: Spirit trade Aly Wagner. Less than a year ago, San Diego engineered a blockbuster trade just to move up one spot and get Wagner with the No. 1 overall draft pick. Now SD moves Wagner for Boston's Angela Hucles and a second-round pick? Granted, Hucles has developed into a solid player and Wagner struggled at times last season, but this one is a head-scratcher. And what's up with the timing right before the World Cup? Keep a close eye on Wagner (who was distraught about the trade) to see how she responds on the field for the Americans.

Convey's English work permit denied. Bummer for D.C. United's Bobby Convey, who was slated to move to Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs clearly thought that if work permit rules could be ignored for Tim Howard, they could be for Convey, too. One catch: Tottenham isn't Manchester United. Then again, Convey may be better off in the end: If beleaguered Spurs boss Glenn Hoddle gets canned soon (which is entirely possible), then Convey might have hit a brick wall over there under a new coach with no allegiance to him whatsoever.

Dayak fires back! So Quakes defender Troy Dayak and Soccer America tried to throw cold water on the anecdote in my SI story on Freddy Adu last spring -- the one in which a 12-year-old Adu schools Dayak in a scrimmage. Dayak's take: I would have banged him if it were an MLS game. Perhaps, but trust me on this one: Dayak doesn't want you to see the tape of Adu turning him inside-out to the point where he almost falls over watching Adu race past him.

Speaking of which...

The Finland post-mortem. With an emphasis on the mortem, if we're talking about the U.S. team's quarterfinal elimination against Brazil at the Under-17 World Championship. First off, my apologies for leaving Finland after the tournament's first week. (Budget issues, folks.) But thanks to my buddy Mike Kumin, I was able to see the U.S.'s losses to Spain and Brazil on Galavision. My take:

Yuck.

The U.S. team that manhandled South Korea 6-1 in the opener never really reappeared thereafter. With few exceptions, the attack boiled down to hopeful longballs in search of Freddy Adu up front, completely ignoring the midfield. Keep in mind, it's only a U-17 tournament, so nobody will be scarred for life by this. But you can bet that MLS signees Memo Gonzalez and Eddie Gaven will learn from their subpar experience in Finland, just as you can that Danny Szetela and Jonathan Spector will hope to turn their impressive showings into springboards for the future.

As for Adu, well, he's human -- particularly in the way he deals with hacking defenders. Sometimes he flops, but he'll learn. As Mia Hamm told me this week, he'll also learn how not to stay on the ball too long, which only invites such thuggery.

In the final analysis, Adu came away from the tournament with four goals in just over three games, to say nothing of the confidence that he can work his magic at the international level in this age group. Yes, we should all keep Adu Hysteria firmly in check. He's just 14, after all. But remember: He's a professional now, and nobody can deny that he will continue to be a fascinating ongoing story.

This columnist, for one, plans to follow it every step of the way.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl keeps you up to date with the world of U.S. soccer at SI.com.