Mitch Howard

Photo Captions: 1st Lt. Paul Wistermayer, from Denville, N.J., takes a header in the opening round of the Combined Forces Football Tournament, a Baghdad-wide tourney featuring teams made up of American and Iraqi players. Jamaica native, Pfc. Mark Skeen, assigned to 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, moves the ball, flanked by defenders. Story […]

Who is the real target demographic of professional soccer in the U.S.? Is it Soccer Moms? Is it Soccer players? Is it Latino people? Sure, Soccer Moms, Latinos and Soccer players make up some of the peripheral targets, but who makes up the core target? One U.S. pro soccer fan thinks he's the core target demo. He's 41 and 1/2 […]

I dedicate this post to Otilino Tenorio, who died 4 years ago this week in a car accident at the age of 25. At the time of his death, he was the league leader in goals scored in his home country of Ecuador. It is appropriate that his name lives on at the top of this […]

This year's baseball season is shaping up to have more MLS cities in contention than in past years. The Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners are off to really good starts, and this is not good news for MLS. Currently, both teams sit in first place of their respective divisions. These two cities have drawn better at […]

For one exhibition game tomorrow night in Laredo, Texas, teams play for more than just fine-tuning their skills while getting ready for the regular season. It is a match with historical significance for both sides. The exhibition breaks down borders, both literally and figuratively. This is definitely not just another exhibition […]

Above: USL W-League action featuring the Los Angeles Legends vs. the Vancouver Whitecaps The unpredictability of the USL continues. With the signing of the New York team for the 2010 season, it pushes forward. Maybe they have a better business plan for pro soccer than the critics give them credit for. Do they feel […]

The game Thursday night in Seattle is a big deal, it involves much more than just a soccer game between Seattle and NY. Media will be forced to cover the game and the after-effects of the game. It will have to be a part of Sportscenter and all the talking heads shows of Friday's […]

Is the World Baseball Classic, www.worldbaseballclassic.com , gaining on Soccer's World Cup? Probably not too much, considering baseball is not played in nearly as many countries. But, this Classic is a thorn in the side of MLS. As the opening week of the new MLS season approaches, the Classic will be entering its final days. Who do you […]

These questions for ESPN Soccer Programming Staff were sent to the highest levels at ESPN, and apparently they are afraid to answer these questions. I wanted to know the answers to corroborate what a source at ESPN had told me. I wanted a second source. While discussing ESPN's relationship with MLS, the original source indicated […]

Many U.S. sports fans agree that football is America's pasttime. Baseball once held that mantle, but lost it probably sometime in the late 80's or early 90's to football. But, baseball has put itself in a much more precarious situation due to the steroids era. The danger in the revelations of Alex Rodriguez's (baseball's current best […]

This past Sunday's titillating Super Bowl underscores what Soccer in the U.S. is missing. The entertainment value was remarkable. Even without a rooting interest for millions of fans, it is the sport that comes through under pressure. This past Super Bowl proved once again that football understands American sports fans expectations. Granted, there have been […]

With the release of the United Soccer Leagues 2009 D1 schedule and accompanying Fox Soccer Channel tv schedule, USL shows once again that MLS is not the only game in town. USL proves again that it carries a lot of weight when it comes to professional soccer in the U.S. The USL infrastructure is strong enough to continue to be […]

A purely American soccer league must take the step of changing the goal post dimensions. As it is now, posts are at a height of 8 feet. An American league should make the bold move of moving the height of the crossbar higher. The crossbar needs to be adjusted by the length of 2 soccer balls to make […]

The whole business enterprise of women’s professional soccer is an enigma. It is hard to figure out why the soccer braintrust with MLS has not already put a women’s league together. It would seem that a women's league would be the perfect compliment to MLS. Women's soccer is exciting, competitive, and fun to watch. Women’s […]

It's a shame that the NCAA College Cup is not more publicized and marketed to the sporting public. College soccer is exciting, and it should get more attention. The NCAA is missing an opportunity with NCAA soccer. The 'Final Four' in NCAA basketball and the 'Frozen Four' in hockey have achieved much more fanfare. The basketball championships are […]