Major Link Soccer: Clint, DeAndre: Torchlight Grand Marshalls

Seattle

Now we finally have a good reason for that LA Galaxy match to be moved from Saturday to Monday: Clint Dempsey and DeAndre Yedlin will be busy as Grand Marshals (and yet no Chad?) for the Torchlight Parade. We certainly wouldn't want them to miss the game over some local honors now, would we?

Many of the Seattle-area readers of this space know Chris Hansen as the guy who bought the Sacramento Kings a while back with the intention of moving the team to Seattle and renaming them the Supersonics. Hansen isn't just a fan of basketball, but of all Seattle sports. He participated in Richard Sherman's celebrity softball game last night at Safeco Field to the loudest cheers of any celebrity there (with 22,000 there in person) and according to Phil Jackson's new book, had some ideas about how he would run the team that took inspiration from some hometown soccer. One included a pre-game pep rally similar to the March to the Match, and another having cheap tickets behind the baskets for more boisterous fans. All of this can still happen some day when he gets a team for real.

Seattle fans penned opinion pieces both in the Seattle Times and on Oregon Live to take issue with how Portland Timbers supporters behaved themselves in the Open Cup match two Wednesdays ago. They had the gall to call out grown men yelling at children for the color shirt they were wearing. Commentators of course took it in stride and with plenty of class.

Remember when Laura Harvey flipped peanuts for Sydney Leroux in the offseason? The Bent Musket looks back at a trade that will go down as one of the most lopsided in league history even if the NWSL lives to be 100 years old.

MLS/NASL

In a move that may have preserved the hope for a little longer that Yedlin may stay in the states, Sporting KC locked up Matt Besler and Graham Zusi to Designated Player contracts. Both players were involved in the USMNT's strong showing in Brazil, and Besler had been involved in about as many rumors as Yedlin in recent weeks, at a similar scale.

Each week brings us a new, inspiring attendance figure out of the lower divisions. The Ottawa Fury had 14,593 in the park for their weekend match, which would be better than four MLS teams if sustained over a full season.

Official attendance today is 14,593, a new NASL record! Thank you to everyone who came out today! #HistoryMade

— Ottawa Fury FC (@OttawaFuryFC) July 20, 2014

A group in Las Vegas has released renderings of their proposed 24,000 seat soccer stadium, which features a retractable roof and Qatar-level cooling technology to fight the Vegas desert heat. It looks like a beautiful facility, but there will sooner be a Gigli remake than an MLS team with "Las Vegas" in their name.

Frank Lampard and Xavi will probably be the two designated players alongside David Villa when New York City FC kicks off at Yankee Stadium in 2015. The Guardian is reporting that Lampard will sign his contract this week.

Division One College Soccer Coaches are proposing a full-year soccer calendar. That would come with a myriad of consequences, both positive and negative.

It appears to be becoming habit for the Western Conference to all create their own USL affiliates. Salt Lake is the most recent club to look into expanding their organization.

Pro Soccer Talk looks at the All-Star selections and finds some players who probably deserved to be on the roster to take on Bayern Munich.

We're sure lucky to have the soccer coverage we do these days. Back in the 1990s, folks would have to walk seven miles through the snow, uphill both ways, just to get their hands on a twice-used "Soccer from Yesteryear" pamphlet.

Europe

Chicharito was originally left off of Manchester United's traveling roster when they drew up plans for their US tour. However, he is now with the team as they travel to Los Angeles.