Major Link Soccer: League Loves, Hates Selfie Celebration

Seattle

Once there was a time when Sigi Schmid's post-loss quotes sounded an awful lot like Bruce Arena. Or at least that may have been the perception. But Schmid didn't hold up the absence of six regular starters as a reason for the loss in Vancouver, calling the lineup good enough to get a result. The loss may have sucked for us, but it renewed a little bit of faith for the Whitecaps fan.

The Sounders are part of a Seattle sports revolution that has seen one team win a league championship, a previously rudderless ship finding a sail, and even a (STILL!) undefeated squad. With the exception of the Supersonics, the (painful) memory of 2008 can finally drift into the periphery, only coming back out with a bump in the night or Arby's right before bedtime.

National Hero DeAndre Yedlin (who, as of writing, is still a Sounder) can be seen with an Obafemi Martins and an Osvaldo Alonso on one of the side pitches while the Sounders Reserves faced Edmonton. Oba, for what it's worth, looked relatively healthy and was also clearly out in public enjoying time with his teammates (read that as "not Ljungberging"). No, I'm not implying anything about Freddie! You thought I was implying something about him, but I wasn't! Just saying that they haven't tied Oba up to one of his jersey chairs keeping him hidden away for a month.

The New York Times has more words on Yedlin, including the secret to a really cute baby recipe (don't forget the Latvian!). On a more personal note, I have a ton of respect for Yedlin coming out of a non-traditional household, not knowing one of his parents. We can wait for the phone call together, man.

Terrible news out of Wisconsin: Former USL Sounder Brett Wiesner was found dead Saturday after disappearing swimming the night before. He also played soccer at the University of Washington.

MLS

When Sporting Kansas City attacker Dom Dwyer scored the opening goal of the team's match against the Chicago Fire, he took a phone from a KC employee and snapped a selfie in one of the more relevant (or is it passe?) goal celebrations this writer can recall. The picture turned out great, and is that Ellen DeGeneres in the background?

Let me take a selfie. #SportingKC pic.twitter.com/Uy0p6Ep21u

— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) July 6, 2014

Dwyer was accessed a yellow card for his excessive celebration, which reasonable people can debate on and each can be wrong. But then after admonishing his action, the league plastered the photo all over the MLS website. Now, this is far from the first time the league (or any sports organization for that matter) has shown such blatant hypocrisy between their disciplinary committee and their advertising agency. The issue has awoke previously to deal with smoke bombs in the stands. It's just like... obviously they can't just go prison rules on post-goal antics, but can we have a little fun with goals?

LIke for example, adding an extra "o" for each thread of your underwear ruined by watching an incredible shot hit net. It wouldn't be the worst thing if Erick Torres followed in David Beckham's footsteps and started modeling undies.

Chivas USA will need to lean on Cubo even more now: midfielder Martin Rivero will be missing the rest of the season with an ACL tear.

This writer is a big proponent of the downtown stadium model for MLS. With the exception of LA (and maybe Kansas City) the attendance winners are those who get to play where the transportation infrastructure is. But for the teams who built during the suburban stadium boom of the mid 2000s, many MLS fans have to play with the hands they are dealt. This is the case in Commerce City Colorado, where the perception is that getting to the stadium will be long, difficult, dangerous, and boring.

According to Google Trends, there's more attention on MLS now then on any time since the David Beckham signing. Here's hoping for a nice big World Cup bump.

MLS is due to get a substantial World Cup bump according to Google Trends. pic.twitter.com/y4XzOxLPFw

— The Real ZeroCool (@TheRealZer0Cool) July 6, 2014

The league's academy system may be in the hands of a recent lawsuit targeting the NCAA, and potential changes may be for the better.

FIFA

Joey Quinn can't go a day without talking about Debra Morgan, and FIFA can't go a week without some new ethical violation. New in this episode: Members of the non-profit organization are accused of selling tickets to Brazil matches for some cash money. Of course, it is all being denied now. Next week: The walkback PLUS read about the trip through time Sepp Blatter made to delay the onset of goal-line technology!

IF Qatar can curb the human rights violations going along with their World Cup, maybe letting them actually host in 2022 wouldn't be so bad. Oh right, there's the summer thing too...

Brazil is frustrated with the injury to Neymar (among other things), but hope survives.

These games have had it all: from Cinderella stories to (biting) villains and now heroes: This image of David Luiz hugging opposing player James Rodriguez after his team's elimination. Of course, don't expect any of those Cinderella stories to actually come true: The same teams will likely continue to win, year after year.

USMNT

We linked another projection a few days ago, but Big D Soccer takes their own stab at the 2018 roster. This one plays it a little safer but may not be all that far off when it's said and done.

He likes them, he likes them not: Jurgen Klinsmann can't seem to be honest with his feelings for the United States' domestic league.

ESPN has killed it with their broadcast of the Brazil games, but FOX has the rights to Russia. Can they hope to keep up with the Worldwide Leader in Sports?

The game truly appears to be growing more popular in this country, and that might not always be a good thing.