Busch accepts Heart of an Ultra award:
Jack’s Bar in San Jose played host to the 1906 Ultras’ award ceremony. The Earthquakes’ fanatics heaped praise on their entrusted leader between the pipes – Jon Busch. Busch, 36, was the recipient of the esteemed “Heart of an Ultra” award. The recognition personifies the desired commitment indicative of the impassioned fan group standing on the north side of Buck Shaw Stadium.
Busch, who habitually reciprocates his appreciation to the 1906 Ultras, was thankful for such an honor. “It means a lot,” Busch explained. “It is the icing on the cake when the fans accept you. You become one of them. It is a tremendous honor. “
Alan Black discusses the 1906 Ultras and Jon Busch’s award here:
Grantland honors the Quakes:
The Quakes storied 2012 season has seen the accompaniment of many postseason awards. As Jon Busch’s Heart of an Ultra explains, some are more sentimental than others.
Grantland’s Graham Parker honored the men in black and blue in yet another twist on the traditional awards banquet.
A full-throttle offensive attack left many teams in the Quakes’ wake in 2012. Franchise-bests of a 19-6-9 record and 72 goals placed a new benchmark for both the franchise’s and league’s history. As such, the Quakes were honored with “Team of the Year” by Parker.
The Quakes were also the recipients of, “Game of the Year”, commemorating the 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the LA Galaxy in front of 50,391 incredulous fans at Stanford Stadium. The match saw Wondolowski’s stunning back-heel strike, comebacks, off-the-ball-drama, and skirmishes.
Check out Graham Parker’s full story here:
2013 MLS Combine Preliminary Attendees announced:
MLS has released its list of preliminary attendees for the 2013 MLS Combine, set to take place Jan. 11-15. The tentative list only includes NCAA Division 1 seniors. Generation adidas players as well as select foreign players will be added at a later date.
Headlining the list of seniors are Big East stars Dillon Powers (Notre Dame), Ryan Finley (Notre Dame), and Carlos Alvarez (UConn). Each is predicted to be taken in the first round.
NCAA College Cup finalists Georgetown were the highest represented with three seniors receiving invites.
For the complete list of seniors named to the MLS Combine, click here:
Messi records number 86:
Lionel Messi can’t stop from scoring goals. His Barcelona team has 43 points out of a possible 45 and are comfortably positioned six points ahead of second-place Atletico Madrid. The FC Barcelona youth product, one of many from the renowned La Masia academy, netted his 22nd and 23rd league goals of the season against Real Betis over the weekend.
The brace moved Messi to the all-time scoring leader in a calendar year. His 86 goals passed Gerd Muller’s 40 year record of 85. Messi has now scored 76 goals for FC Barcelona in 2012 while also adding 12 for Argentina. With three more games left in 2012 for the Argentine, Messi may dive head-first into the 90’s.
For Messi’s reaction, click here:
