Off Topic » recorded his fifth shutout of the season

On July 24, 2014, MLS expansion team New York City FC unveiled Frank Lampard as the club’s latest star player, following on from the signing of Spanish striker David Villa. At the time of the announcement, the club and the league went to great lengths to laud the arrival of Lampard as a sign that NYCFC meant business when it came to building their inaugural squad. In their press release, NYCFC stated that Lampard “has signed a two-year contract which starts August 1st (2014), while the player was quoted as saying this: “I am really excited about joining New York City FC and helping to play a real part in building something special in one of the sporting capitals of the world” and “It is a privilege to be able to help make history here in New York City - I just can’t wait to get started and be part of it.” Just two weeks later, the club announced that Lampard would be joining Manchester City – owned by the same group as NYCFC - in England ahead of his debut season in MLS. In that press release, Lampard was quoted as saying this: “Joining up with Manchester City is a fantastic opportunity for me to continue to train and play at the top level and make sure I am in top condition for New York City.” The assumption was that Lampard would be returning to New York at the end of 2014 in order to fully participate in NYCFC’s preseason training camp in the lead up to their first game in MLS. Since joining Manchester City, however, Lampard has made a real impact at the Premier League club – much more so than many would have expected. While he has rarely played a full 90-minute game for City, he has carved out a niche at the club as an impact player who can be relied upon to score goals and swing games in City’s favour when they need a push late on or to solidify the midfield when they need to manage a lead to the final whistle. Lampard’s spell at City has gone so well that City boss Manuel Pellegrini felt the need to extend Lampard’s stay at the club until the end of the Premier League season. There are conflicting reports about how it is even possible for that stay to be extended, as well as the terms under which Lampard initially joined Manchester City. City’s own press release stated the following: “Manchester City can confirm that it has extended Frank Lampard’s contract up to the end of Manchester City’s season, enabling his continued participation in both domestic and European campaigns.” While this may just be a case of the club making a poor choice in wording, there is a big difference between a “contract” and a “loan” in football. A contract implies ownership of a player; a loan implies an agreement between two clubs, whereby the player returns to the club that owns his playing rights at the end of the specified term of the loan. While it was originally reported that Lampard had joined City on loan back in August – as he would have had to do, since it was announced that Lampard’s NYCFC contract started on August 1 – a report from Sports Illustrated journalist Grant Wahl confirmed that this was not the case. According to Wahl’s report, MLS contends “Lampard entered into an agreement with the City Football Group to play under an MLS contract for 2015 and ’16 and to play for Man City until the end of 2014 under a Man City contract. Now that Lampard’s Man City contract has been extended to the end of this season, he will join NYCFC in July and play under an MLS contract.” The entire saga flies in the face of comments made by MLS Commissioner Don Garber in his state of the league address back in December, where he spoke about the league’s perceived lack of transparency. “We recognize that things aren’t as easy for people to understand as they need to be, explained Garber. We look at the Jermaine Jones situation. We had a mechanism, the only mechanism that we could have put in place, to have Jermaine Jones signed in MLS. There was no other way to do it based on the rules that we have, but the public doesn’t understand our rules and most of the media don’t either. As I did say in 2014, transparency is a priority. Transparency is a big priority in 2015. If Garber is serious about transparency being a priority for the league, then situations like Lampard’s – let alone the “blind draw” that saw US international Jones land in New England - simply cannot be allowed to happen. There is a reason that “the public doesn’t understand our rules and most of the media don’t either” as Garber put it – the league’s rules continue to change. While a single-entity league like MLS is certainly unique in the world of football, it isn’t as difficult to understand as some suggest. If the league wants its fans and media to understand its rules, then MLS needs to start by documenting all of the league rules on the league’s website so that fans and media alike can dissect them. MLS fans are passionate, dedicated supporters and they are being robbed of the chance to invest more of their emotional energy into their teams because the league’s rules – particularly the ones regarding player acquisitions - are unclear, unknown or changing on the fly. Consider allocation money, as an example. Allocation money and how it relates to the league’s salary cap isn’t as complicated as nuclear physics - anyone with even a basic understanding of mathematics can add up a team’s salary expenditures and measure that against the salary cap. What better way to create debate and discussion amongst supporters than to have them quibble over the valuation of a signing or trade? When a team trades a player within the league in exchange for allocation money, fans and media alike should have the opportunity to evaluate that trade based on the amount of allocation money exchanged. The fact that the MLS Players Union publishes the MLS player salaries is an added bonus; it gives fans more information with which to assess the performance and value of players. Opponents will contend that transfer fees are rarely disclosed when a player is bought, sold or traded in the world of football. While this is true, that information almost always makes it into the public forum, usually through an intermediary such as a player agent or reporter. There are positives for both clubs in doing this. The selling club can show its supporters that it is receiving value in exchange for selling one of its star players, while the buying club can show its fans that it is committed to achieving success and is willing to spend the money needed to do so. Fans can judge whether or not their club is providing its fans with an entertaining product given its investment in playing personnel, as well as assess the competency of their club’s management team. It’s also important to consider that MLS is a unique league – something that league executives are quick to point out – and as such, might require a different approach to informing its supporters of how its players move from team to team. One thing is certain, though: keeping fans in the dark will not help MLS grow. If anything, it will drive passionate fans of the beautiful game away from the league, frustrated by the league’s hesitancy to tell fans what is really going on. Cheap Jerseys China Authentic . Louis against the Blues. The Canucks picked up their second straight victory in the swings opener on Tuesday in Calgary before getting routed in Minnesota last night, 5-1. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . The Twins announced Thursday the 28-year-old Albers cleared waivers. He will join the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. http://www.stitchedcheapnfljerseyschina.com/ . Ronaldo netted his 14th goal of the season in Europes top competition to give Madrid a clear advantage ahead of next weeks quarterfinal return leg in Germany. But it came at a price as the Portugal forward, who came into the first-leg nursing a sore left knee, came off in the 80th minute. NFL Jerseys China Supply . The 36-year-old Colts receiver is going back to the playoffs as a division champion. Cheap Jerseys From China . Six years of waiting are finally over for the Dallas defenceman. Daley had a goal and an assist, Kari Lehtonen recorded his fifth shutout of the season, and the Stars clinched their first playoff berth since 2008 with a 3-0 victory against the St.TORONTO -- Another start, another win for Bo Levi Mitchell. Mitchells four touchdown passes lead Calgary past the Toronto Argonauts 34-15 on Saturday night. The win was a big one for the Stampeders (2-0), who were without running back Jon Cornish and receivers Nik Lewis and Maurice Price. Cornish, the CFLs outstanding player last season, and Lewis are out with concussion symptoms while Price has a broken hand. But that didnt deter Mitchell, who finished 16-of-24 passing for 268 yards to improve to 5-0 as a starter. He needs two wins to tie the league record for most victories to begin a CFL career held by former Stampeder Jeff Garcia. "Were 2-0 right now, thats all Im worried about," Mitchell said. "Im not worried about my record, Im worried about this teams record and thats what Im going to keep worrying about. "I keep doing everything I can in my power to get us in a position to win the game." Then again, hardly anyone noticed as just 16,102 fans were at Rogers Centre. Last weekend, under 18,000 watched Toronto defeat Saskatchewan 48-15 in its home opener. Calgary head coach/GM John Hufnagel was complimentary of his quarterback. "Bo had a good game, he did what we needed from the position," Hufnagel said. "He had good composure for the most part, threw the ball very accurately." Toronto head coach Scott Milanovich said Mitchell had too much time to look downfield. "I felt like we didnt get much pressure on him," Milanovich said. "If he can stand back there and have time, theyre going to gut you." With Cornish out, Matt Walter and Jock Sanders split the halfback duties, rushing for 46 and 15 yards, respectively, as Calgary ran for 100 yards on 22 carries. Anthony Parker was the Stampeders receiving leader with four catches for 101 yards and a TD while sophomore Jeff Fuller had five receptions for 58 yards and two touchdowns. Calgary also showed some offensive flare that helped stake it to a 17-9 half-time advantage. Mitchell took a lateral from Sanders, then hit Parker with a 58-yard TD pass to end the first and put Calgary ahead 10-6. The play was originally flagged as an illegal forward pass but overturned by review. "Dickie (offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson) felt like we were backed up a little bit," Mitchell said. "We kept being backed up on our drives . . . so we decided, Hey, weve got a couple of first downs, lets get a big one." Then Mitchell found Fuller on an eight-yard TD toss at 5:11 of the second giving Calgary a 17-6 advantage. It was set up by Sanders sparkling 121-yard return after Swayze Waters missed a 34-yard field goal try. But the offence wasnt the only unit playing hurt. Calgarys defence held Toronto without a TD despite losing linebacker Deron Mayo and defensive back Keon Raymond to leg injuriees.dddddddddddd Mitchell said theres a simple reason why Calgary continues to win despite mounting injuries. "The coaching staff," he said. "Those guys, they work tirelessly. "They make sure we have the right gameplan, they make sure were in there studying, theyre on our backs making sure were in there practising the plays." Hufnagel was very matter of fact when asked about his teams injury situation. "Im not going to say much except that every team has 44 players and theyre expected to win football games," he said. "Thats how we approach it." Marquay McDaniel had the other TD for Calgary while Rene Paredes had four converts and two field goals. Waters booted five field goals for Toronto (1-2), which was without receivers Andre Durie (clavicle) and Jason Barnes (knee). Rookies Anthony Coombs and Darvin Adams made their first career starts. After almost scoring at will against the defending Grey Cup champions, Toronto could only muster field goals against a Calgary defence that bent but never broke. The Argos had the ball for over 31 minutes and amassed 445 total yards. "We had our chances to make it a more closely contested game but then we made mental mistakes," Milanovich said. "There was a lot of talk about the guys Calgary was missing . . . . but they always seem to have the talent to bring in." Toronto quarterback Ricky Ray finished 28-of-36 passing for 291 yards after throwing for 407 yards and three TDs against Saskatchewan. Chad Owens had his second 100-yard receiving game with nine catches for 102 yards. "It was a win for their defence," Ray said. "Rich (Stampeders defensive co-ordinator Rich Stubler) mixed it up -- a lot of zone coverage and they kept us in front of them. "They hit hard and it definitely threw us off our rhythm. We werent able to capitalize and only got field goals." A fact not lost upon Mitchell. "Seven is better than three, I know that," he said. "Its not easy to stop that man, Ricky Ray is a guy who will slice and dice you. "Our guys did a great job tonight of making sure they were in the right spot and holding them." NOTES -- Toronto honoured cornerback Byron Parker in the first quarter. He retired as an Argo after signing a one-day contract with the club. Parker spent seven seasons with Toronto and holds the league records for most interception TD returns (nine) and most interception return yards in a season (348). Parker played for Toronto, Edmonton, B.C., and Montreal and was a three-time league all-star. He was also the NCAA slam-dunk champion in 03 at Tulane . . . Linebacker Keenan McDougal and offensive lineman Edwin Harrison were Calgarys scratches while linebacker Greg Jones and defensive lineman Delano Johnson didnt dress for Toronto. ' ' '