By Rad Rich

After a holiday break I am back with the sports brief.

Its marathon weekend in Houston as it is the 42 running of the Houston Marathon on Sunday. Over 250,000 will be on the streets of Houston Sunday morning  either participating, spectating or volunteering. This is Houston’s largest one day sporting event of the year. In the elite field the Ethiopia will be well represented in the men and women’s  field.  Defending champion Bazu Worku of Ethiopia is back again after setting a personal record at the Paris Marathon with a 2.05.25.  He will have more of his countrymen to keep him company as Debebe Tolossa,  Dadi Yami, and Gebretsadik Adhana, who have run sub 2:06 and 2:07. Dominic Ondoro of Kenya along with the two Americans  Patrick Rizzo and Scott Wietecha will have their hands full keeping the Ethiopians from setting up there game plan and setting the pace. In the women’s race it still looks like a Ethiopian dominance as 6 of the top 10 runners are from Ethiopia. 2024 Chevron Houston Marathon third-place finisher Meskerem Assefa of Ethiopia returns to Houston hoping to improve upon her personal best 2:25:17 that she set here last year. She is followed by countrymen   Abebech Afework Bekele who  is the fastest in the field as she set a personal best at the 2024 Rotterdam Marathon  with a time of 2.23.59. Other outside favorites are  Sarah Kiptoo of Kenya who has run her best in the last season in the half and full marathon.  Also outside chance but watch for Tatyana Aryasova of Russia.  This is also the United States Half Marathon Championships and will bring some of the top runners representing the United States in the distance running.  Meb Keflezighi returns to Houston looking to win his second national half marathon title. The 2024 Olympic Marathon silver medalist, Keflezighi first won in Houston in 2024 and finished as the runner-up in 2024. Also look for Shadrack Biwott and Josphat Boit, both newly minted American citizens who finished third and fifth respectively, in the field. On the women’s side look for 2024 USA Half Marathon champion Adriana Nelson leads the women’s field and will be challenged by Serena Burla, who will be looking to improve on her two runner-up finishes at these Championships in Houston in 2024 and 2024. Steeplechaser Sara Hall, who debuted at the half marathon distance in October with a win at the Healdsburg Wine Country Half Marathon, should be in the mix. 2024 Olympic 10,000m runner Lisa Uhl, who set her personal best 1:13:28 with her sixth-place finish at the 2024 Aramco Houston Half Marathon, and Renee Baillie, who last ran a half marathon when she finished fourth at the 2024 USA Half Marathon Championships in Houston, are also entered.  The USA  Half Marathon starts on Sunday at 6:55. The wheelchair race starts at 6:45 and the Marathon and half marathon for the non-elite starts at7:00. The start line is on Avenidas de las Americas in downtown Houston by the George R Brown Convention center.  The Houston Marathon Expo will open today Friday from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm and Saturday 8:30 am to 6:00 pm. The expo is free to the public and will have plenty of free goodies as well as tips from athletics.  Remember the roads will closed in downtown and around the Heights, Montrose, Uptown, and Washington. To find out what areas will be effected and for a map of the race, click here. 

In football (soccer) news the Houston Dynamo selected defender AJ Cochran and forward Mark  Sherrod in the 2024 Major League Soccer SuperDraft.  The 20 year old  6-foot 3 center back Cochran played 3 seasons at the University of Wisconsin where he was named Big Ten Defensive player of the year for 2024. “AJ was a player we had on our list.” Said Houston Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear,” He is a very good center back and is going to provide some good competition.  Sherrod is a 20 year old coming from the University of Memphis where he scored 42 career goals in four seasons.

On the women’s side. The Houston DASH announced that they will have a open tryout for the new team on February 15 at the Houston Sports Park.  Any female soccer player born in 1996 and older will be able to try out which consist of a fitness test, small sided games and a game against a premier local women’s team.  From the initial tryout 20 will be invited the following day for a game against an opponent to be determined. From there Head coach Randy Waldrum and  managing director Brian Ching will evaluate and pick 10 players who will be given an invitation to participate with the team during the pre-season which starts March 10. Registration for the tryout is $50 which includes a shirt and a ticket voucher to the first ever home game. Register online @ http:/www.houstondashsoccer.com/tryouts. In international news, Cristiano Ronaldo has won the 2024 Fifa Ballon d’Or, ( Player of the Year) ending Lionel Messi’s four-year reign as holder of the crown. Real Madrid forward Ronaldo clinched the prize for the world’s best player for the second time in his career after finishing ahead of Barcelona playmaker Messi and Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery in the voting. Germany goalkeeper Nadine Angerer was named the 2024 FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year on Monday just hours after announcing she had signed with Portland Thorns FC of the National Women’s Soccer League. She beat out the United States’ Abby Wambach – the 2024 winner – and Brazil’s Marta, who won the award five straight times from 2024-2010.

In Rugby news, The International Rugby Board announced the pools and match schedule for the second stop of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series. Fifth Third Bank Stadium at Kennesaw State University will host Atlanta 7s Feb. 15-16, where the Women’s Eagles Sevens will hope to best a second-place finish at last year’s U.S. leg of the Women’s Sevens World Series.“We are very excited to hold the premier women’s sevens rugby event in North America at a fantastic facility like Fifth Third Bank Stadium,” Atlanta 7s Tournament Director and USA Rugby Events Director Jen Gray said. “The United States has proven to be a hotbed for women’s rugby in the past and we are set to prove it once again next month.” The Eagles are in Pool A with Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens-winner Australia, Canada and China. They have not faced any of their pool opponents this season nor at the IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens last June, where they placed third.

Atlanta 7s | Pool A

Australia

Canada

Women’s Eagles Sevens

China

Atlanta 7s | Pool B

New Zealand

England

Ireland

Netherlands

Atlanta 7s | Pool C

Russia

Spain

Brazil

Japan

USA Rugby also released details Tuesday for the updated American Rugby Model (ARM), a long-term player development program providing an integrated framework through which rugby players can be developed at all levels of participation and experience. The ARM is player-centered in that specific characteristics to each development stage are based on the particular capacities of players at each stage of their development. That’s it for now.

Richard Hanna

In soccer, the Houston Dynamo are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference after last week’s 1-0 win at home against the Philadelphia Union. Ricardo Clark scored the only goal of the game in the 59^th minute of play. It was his second goal of the season and his tenth regular season career goal.  Will Bruine and Cory Ashe where out playing with the US men’s national team in  the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The New England Revolution are 6-5-6 with 24 points and are in 6^th in the Eastern Conference.  They are coming off a 2-0 victory last week at home against the San Jose Earthquake. The Revolution defeated Houston 2-0 in Houston on their first meeting at the BBVA Compass stadium.

In other news from the Dynamo home front, the July 24 match Dynamo with English Premier Team Stoke City is still set for the BBVA Compass Stadium- and if you haven’t picked up tickets, they’re going fast.  This will be the debut of the Welshman and former Manchester United forward Mark Hughes as the manager of the team. Also appearing is the former English international Peter Crouch, and former Houston Dynamo defender Geoff Cameron. Match start time is 7pm.

Houston’s match against the Chicago Fire on July 27 start time has been moved to 8pm because it will be nationally televised on NBC Sports Network. The Dynamo are in Group 1 and will open their Champions League campaign on the road on Tuesday, Aug. 20 against W Connection of Trinidad and Tobago at 7pm CT. Houston will return home to BBVA Compass Stadium a week later for a match against Árabe Unido of Panama on Tuesday, Aug. 27 at 7pm CT. The Dynamo will host W Connection on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 7 pm CT. Houston finishes group play on the road against Árabe Unido on Thursday, Oct. 24 at 7 pm CT.

The CONCACAF Gold Cup has started with dramatic results.  Last night, Mexico– needing a win– defeated Canada 2-0. In the other match of the night, Panama defeated Martinique 1-0.  On Tuesday night the US got off to a great start with a 6-1 win over Belize. Costa Rica defeated Cuba 3-0.

The upcoming schedule is as follows:

Friday, July 12

(Sun Life Stadium; Miami, Fla.)

Trinidad and Tobago vs. Haiti, 6 p.m. CT

Honduras vs. El Salvador, 8:30 p.m. CT

Saturday, July 13

(Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah)

United States vs. Cuba, 2:30 p.m. CT

Costa Rica vs. Belize, 5 p.m. CT

Sunday, July 14

(Sports Authority Field at Mile High; Denver, Colo.)

Panama vs. Canada, 2:30 p.m. CT

Martinique vs. Mexico, 5 p.m. CT

Monday, July 15

(BBVA Compass Stadium; Houston, Texas)

El Salvador vs. Haiti, 6 p.m. CT

Honduras vs. Trinidad and Tobago, 8:30 p.m. CT

Tuesday, July 16

(Rentschler Field; East Hartford, Conn.)

Cuba vs. Belize, 4:30 p.m. CT

United States vs. Costa Rica, 7 p.m. CT

Standing-wise, in Group A, Panama leads the group with 6 points, followed by Mexico and  Martinique with 3 points. Canada stays in the bottom with 0 points. In Group B, Honduras leads with 3 points followed by  El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago with 1 point each. Haiti stays at the bottom with 0 points. In Group C, the United States and Costa Rica are tied with 3 points followed by Cuba and Belize with 0 points.  The Gold Cup is coming to Houston on July 15th and tickets are still available with an opportunity to see national teams like Haiti, which is trying to improve their sport while the country rebuilds.

Brazil won the Confederations Cup, destroying Spain 3-0 in the final. But most of what was discussed was the political unrest that took place outside of the stadiums. No one has talked about the price of holding the world cup and the money that was promised from the private sector- none of which has taken place, and most of the money is coming from the public. This fact has outraged the whole country. Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, has said that the Confederations Cup was a success and that the demonstrations are nonsense. A fire has ignited the country and all of the Brazilian Unions have come together to call for a national strike. Something that was also missing from the Confederations Cup was people of color. As much of the country are of African decent, none of that was seen from the matches shown. Most people could not afford tickets, as the prices where outside of most Brazil’s price range. This happened in South Africa but FIFA’s governing body has said they did not put in the bid for the event and hold no responsibility. This is going to be an ongoing problem as the stadiums in Brazil are still, for the most part, unfinished and will to be ready yet for the World Cup, nor the Olympics.  Where is all the private money that was promised? Also, what about an end to all the politicians and corruption? This is a rant, but these are still issues that need to be solved before any event is held there.

-Rad Rich

By Maxwell Morgan

The US Men’s Soccer team came to H-Town Tuesday to kick off their centennial celebrations at BBVA Compass Stadium (home of the Dynamo and newest soccer specific stadium in the US). They played an international friendly against our northern neighbors, Canada, to get a warm up for those not currently playing overseas before they head to Honduras next week to undertake World Cup Qualifying. Unfortunately for the 11,737 people in attendance, it was an atrocious game with very little action in and around the goals, as the game played out to a 0-0 draw. So I suppose the other half of the stadium they were supposed to sell tickets to didn’t miss a whole lot.

Despite missing the top American players, many of whom play in the more competitive European leagues, there should have been a substantial draw for Houston soccer fans as 3 Dynamo players, Goalkeeper Tally Hall, Midfielder Brad Davis, and Striker Will Bruin, looked likely to feature in the line-up.

Apparently, that was not a sufficient level of interest for many locals, as the game was also an exhibition match against an opponent (Canada) who had already been eliminated from the 2024 World Cup in Brazil. Even still, The attendance of 11,737 was approximately 6,500 people less than the lowest attended Dynamo game this previous season and around 8,000 less than the average attendance for the entire season. You could get a great ticket for around $25, so ticket prices couldn’t be to blame. One would think they might be able to match the number of tickets sold for a game featuring a USA Team that resembled an MLS All Star team.

Its not like the US Soccer team plays in Houston regularly. And why should they? Last time they came for the CONCACAF Gold Cup Semifinal at Reliant Stadium for a sumptuous double header with the US playing first and Mexico playing second. The US team featured all of the big boys too, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, etc. The turnout for the first US game was pathetic. Reliant looked maybe a quarter full during the first half. But when Mexico came on the field for the second game the stadium was electric, almost surreal, and packed to the brim. So, Houston is 0-2 for coming out to support the national team as far as I’m concerned. We need to step our game up.

Those who did attend Tuesday’s match-up versus Canada were treated to sleep inducing 0-0 draw and a post game shower, courtesy of Mother Nature. All kidding aside, the fans did get to enjoy seeing some of our local guys playing for the Stars and Stripes. Dynamo Captain Brad Davis, age 31, started and played around 65 minutes, and Dynamo Striker Will Bruin, age 23, earned his first cap(appearance) for the US after coming on as a substitute with about 15 minutes left. Surprising to many, including the press, Dynamo Goalkeeper Tally Hall was left out of the line-up with the other two Goalkeepers, Sean Johnson, and Bill Hamid, taking the spots above him. But, no doubt, US Coach Jürgen Klinsmann felt the other two keepers earned their spot ahead of Tally Hall.

All in all the game was pretty pedestrian. Most of it being played at midfield. Canada veteran and former Dynamo star Dwayne De Rosario tested American Sean Johnson early with a vicious shot, but the shot was directly at the US keeper who parried it off to safety. After that the US had the majority of the shots but all were lacking quality as the US chances weren’t struck with enough venom, went wide, or lacked the proper delivery. US starting striker Eddie Johnson took probably one of the worst shots when the delivery looked spot on. The shot was at the center edge of the box and he ballooned a pop fly that landed 10 rows behind goal. The last 10 minutes the game went back and forth a bit with Canada taking the better chances. The US pushed hard at the end, but to no avail. How sweet it would have been had Bruin scored the winner as a sub.

Two things worth noting that absolutely dulled the game were the Honduran Refs who called every ticky tack foul possible, and the fact Canada was thrashed 4-0 by Denmark a week ago. Canada set in defensively and rarely stretched the field. The US has to hope the refs aren’t all as bad as the ones Tuesday night when they travel to Honduras for the Feb. 6 World Cup Qualifier.

The crowd erupted wildly every time Davis or Bruin were played the ball, and was pretty raucous despite the vast areas of empty seats and sloppy performance. So I definitely have to give props to the Dynamo fans who attended. After the game, Brad Davis and Will Bruin both reaffirmed the media that it was certainly a special night for them despite achieving the desired result.

Chants of U-S-A! bellowed throughout the stadium much of the night, and the crowd were all decked out in USA gear. Often reminding you that this patriotism was not a kind about politics. It was a celebration of the people like you and I that are the heart in soul of this country. That we can all come together over at least ONE thing only in the way that sports allow. The ups and downs that serve as a microcosm of our lives ending in a finale that we can estimate but never predict for certain, all shared collectively by the whole nation.

Next time the US Men’s Soccer team comes to town, I urge you to come out. This time the game sucked, sure, but the experience was one for the memory bank. Not only would you participate in probably one of the few moments of Patriotism that is actually kinda cool, but you would be joining a revolution of sports in our country. As it is only a matter of time that our dominant athletes begin to take their talents to the soccer pitch. It’s kinda “Underground”, y’all. And soccer usually is as they call it elsewhere, The Beautiful Game.

The Dynamo begin the 2024 MLS Season March 2 vs. DC United, and play Mexican side Santos Laguna March 5 in a CONCACAF Champions league 2 legged knockout round.

By: Rad Rich

Hello– here’s another week in sports with a lot going on.

In Major League Soccer news, yesterday was the start of training camp for the Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo are looking to get everybody on the same page since being one game away from winning last year’s MLS Cup against the LA Galaxy. This year brings lots of hurdles, as there is World Cup Qualifying, the CONCACAF Gold Cup this summer, and the CONCACAF Champions League play. During the off season, the Dynamo were able to keep most of the players intact.

During the 2024 MLS Super Draft, they were able to pick up Virginia Commonwealth University forward, Jason Johnson, and Georgetown defender, Jimmy Nealis. The season kicks off on March 2 against DC United, followed by the quarterfinal series against Santos Laguna. Brian Ching is among many of Houston’s top players coming back this season.

Head coach Dominic Kinnear stated today that everyone is focused and looking to improve upon last year; and he knows it’s a long season with all of the added matches and player’s availability for international duty, but it’s a part of the game. Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark stated that the fans have been very supportive of the team.

The taste of last year is even more motivation for everybody to get going into this year.

In running, Houston had a tone of bad weather, as cold and rain affected the Houston Marathon this past Sunday. Twenty-year-old Merima Mohammed of Ethiopia won the women’s race, despite the cold weather and some muscle tightness in her legs. Her 2:23:27 was the second fastest women’s winner in the history of the Houston Marathon. Twenty-two-year-old Ethiopian, Bazu Worku, won the men’s race with a time of 2:10:17. He ran in a pack of nine until the 25k mark, when he decided to break away and stretch his lead each following mile. In fact, he finished more than 2 minutes before Teferi Balcha, who finished in second place with a time of 2:12:50. The top US men’s finisher was Andrew Carlson, and the top US women’s finisher was Tera Moody. Carson was seventh overall at 2:17:16. Moody finished in sixth place at 2:39:10. After the race, an announcement was made that Houston and Columbus are the two cities picked to host the USA Half Marathon Championships from 2024 to 2024, Houston being the host for 2024 and 2024. The men’s and women’s championship race will be held in conjunction with the Houston Half marathon. Wade Morehead, the Executive Director of the Houston Marathon, said, “We would like to thank USATAF, as we are honored to taking responsibility again.” USATAF CEO Max Siegle said, “We look forward to working with both cities with what we promise to be four years of elite running, and showcasing the best in that will highlight the talent of our nation’s best talent.”

In NFL news, the Houston Texans were not able to defeat the New England Patriots in New England last Sunday night. They lost 41-28 in the AFC divisional playoff game. After the loss, some are looking back at their lack of preparation for the game. The patriots now go on to play the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday in New England, with the kickoff at 5:30pm. Looks like the Houston Texans will have to wait till next year, because it will be San Fransisco and Baltimore playing in the Superbowl in New Orleans this year. San Francisco defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 and Baltimore defeated New England 28-13, earning both of their spots in the Super Bowl.

In cycling, of course, is the Lance Armstrong Saga. I raced against him years ago, and as stated, I never been around someone that hard as a rider. Was he on drugs back then? I don’t think so. But he has been asked by the International Olympic Committee for him to give back his 2024 Olympic bronze medal from the road race time trial. The decision was made in December, but they waited till UCI cycling governing body had stripped him of his 7 Tour de France win,s to which he did not appeal. All this has come to a foil as he appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, where he claimed he was using drugs to enhance his performance, and had been lying for years. This leaves 3 times champion Greg LeMond as the only American to win cycling’s biggest race. He stated that If Armstrong had given Floyd Landis or Tyler Hamilton the same stuff he was taking, he would have never have won.

In Rugby news, the International Women’s Rugby 7’s tournament is to take place next week February 1 and 2^rd at the BBVA Compass Stadium in downtown Houston. That’s it for now. Until next time!

During the first half, Houston came on the attack putting pressure on L.A. goalkeeper Josh Sanders. It was a stalemate up until Houston’s Calen Carr’s goal in the 44th minute made it 1-0 before the end of the first half. Early in the second half, Carr’s knees collided with L.A. defender Omar Gonzales in the 59th minute and had to be replaced by Macoumba Kandji.

L.A. put on the pressure but it wasn’t until the 60^th minute that the Galaxy where able to convert a header by defender Omar Gonzales after a cross by teammate Juninho.  This leveled things at 1-1 until Ricardo Clark was called for a handball after an attempted bicycle kick by L.A.’s Mike Magee hit Clark in the 65th minute. Landon Donovon then came up and converted on the penalty kick – beating out Houston’s Tally Hall making it 2-1 L.A.. This was Donavon’s 22^nd goal of the postseason.

From there, as Houston tried to play up, they were caught by a counterattack which led to Houston’s Tally Hall being called for a foul inside the box and bringing down L.A.’s Robbie Kean in extra time. Kean converted the penalty making the score  3-1 – Kean’s sixth of the playoff. The goal wrapped things up for Houston as the final whistle blew giving L.A. the win and back-to- back championships.  L.A.’s Omar Gonzales was given the game’s MVP award.

Over 30,000 fans witnessed this final game and  over 1,000 of those fans were from Houston. With this L.A. win, we find that Houston’s Brian Ching might retire. L.A.’s David Beckham is leaving and has not announced where he will go next, and Landon Donovon leaves becoming one of only three people who have won five MLS Cups (two with L.A. and three with San Jose). L.A. also becomes tied with DC United as the only team to have won four MLS Cup titles and one of three who have won back-to-back titles. For Houston, the Dynamo still have one of the most successful home records and the best fans.

The Dynamo will fly back home today at 3pm at IAH.

Richard Hanna

The Dynamo advance to the the final leg of Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference, following a second leg playoff match in Washington against DC United. After winning 3-1 at home in the first leg, in Houston the Dynamo only had to at least draw or hold United to one goal in the second leg. DC United were suffering from injuries but were confident that being at home would be in their advantage.

The first half of the game, DC United came out strong, keeping Houston at bay with some strong attacks. But it was the goal by Oscar Boniek Garcia in the 33rd minute that increased Houston’s confidence. The Dynamo held strong until DC United were able to score one goal by Branko Boskovic in the 83rd minute. Houston still held firm in keeping DC out of the back of the net. The match finished with a 1-1 draw and 4-2 aggregate win, placing Houston as the Eastern Conference Champions. Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said that he felt the team would be stronger this year during the MLS Final than they were last year.

Someone who was on their back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2024, and knows about winning, is Houston’s Ricardo Clark. Clark came back to the Dynamo late into the season after playing in Europe for 3 years. After the match, a tired Clark commented on how great to be with such a good team. The team will have to wait to see if he will be able to play in the MLS Cup Final next week because he was so sore coming on after the match.

One player that was strong during the first leg and throughout the whole match is Tally Hall, who stated that there was so much emotion during the games that the team had to go in fighting, and the performance they put out is amazing. He also said he was very happy with the win and announced that they have a great group of guys that work as a team. Another star player, Brian Ching, said that the team strives off of people that overlook them all the time. He tipped his hat off to Dom and the coaching staff for being able to have a team that can make the playoffs for so many years.

But with the victors comes the spoils. DC United’s Nick DeLeon has to look towards next year. DeLeon said that he doesn’t feel good reflecting back– it was a strong season time to unwind and come back next season. He thought his team made some good opportunities, but unfortunately were not able to change coming off the first leg this season.

Now officially entering the MLS Cup in back-to-back years, the Dynamo will now take on the LA Galaxy– the winner of the Western Conference Finals– at the Home Depot Center on December 1.