During the time of the soccer calendar where plenty of European clubs are unveiling new kits, the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer had a kit unveiling of their own.

Just hours after the club acquired MLS veteran Pablo Mastroeni from the Colorado Rapids, they made a much bigger splash through social media with their new third kit (via MLSSoccer.com).

According to the press release on the club's official website, the kit was designed by a fan named Carlos Rodriguez.

The kit resembles the color scheme that the Galaxy used when they started as a franchise in 1996.

Rodriguez's inspiration came from attending a Galaxy match at the Rose Bowl in that inaugural season against the New York-New Jersey MetroStars, which is the franchise now known as the New York Red Bulls.

“That year set forth what this team is about. The team didn’t win MLS Cup that year, but this team is built to win and these colors represent winning to me,”

                                                    -Carlos Rodriguez via lagalaxy.com June 15, 2013.

Los Angeles president Chris Klein also chimed in on the fan contest that was in charge of choosing the new kit design.

“It’s important to involve our fans in anything that we do, so to do this in an innovative way where we, literally, put the design of our third kit in their hands was something that we’re really excited about,”

                                                   -Chris Klein via lagalaxy.com June 15, 2013.

According to the same press release quoted above on the club's website, the new kit will be worn for the first time on August 17 against Real Salt Lake.

What do you think of the new Galaxy kit?

Comment below or leave me a comment on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

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It has taken three weeks for a new club to find their way to the top of the MLS Power Rankings and unseat Montreal from the top spot.

That is exactly what happened this week after a small but important group of five league fixtures played on Saturday.

Read on to see who is the new No. 1 in the power rankings this week.

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The MLS action in Week 16 was as awe-inspiring as it was disgraceful...and that’s just Kenny Miller.

FC Dallas goalkeeper Raul Fernandez put forth a Herculean effort in a 1-0 loss to the Portland Timbers on Saturday. The Peruvian international exhibited his world-class ability in each of his seven saves. 

Steven Lenhart returned to his 2012 form for the San Jose Earthquakes. The 26-year-old forward scored his first goal of the season in emphatic fashion.

But neither player was able to make the list of best and worst from MLS Week 16.

Read on to find out who did.

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The US Open Cup is the domestic cup tournament in the United States, a single-game knockout competition only followed by hardcore soccer supporters in America. I love Cup competition and think there's an inherent excitement in them, so, to get others on board, here are three things that can be done to increase viewership.

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As always, the most recent round in the 100th edition of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup featured plenty of great action, goals and surprising results.

Some teams undoubtedly took the tournament more seriously than others, and some lower-division players made their marks by getting on the scoresheet or putting on a solid defensive showing.

Let's examine the three biggest things we learned from the fourth round.

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When you only have five matches to choose from over a weekend, it's not easy to come up with a whole bunch of teams to put on upset alert.

Sometimes, you have to really stretch the meaning of the word "upset."

Which is what I've done for this weekend's matches in MLS.

Upset Alert #1: D.C. United v. Toronto

It's really a stretch to call either team winning this match an upset. Considering they have two wins between them in the league this season, the word for either team winning this match would probably be "shocking," "unbelievable" or "miraculous."

However, I will put D.C. on upset alert due to the fact that they will be feeling pretty good about themselves after their 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Union in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night. Dwayne De Rosario's hat trick in that game was 1 more goal than DC scored in the entire month of May, unless you count the penalty kicks in their game against the Richmond Kickers in the third round of the Open Cup.

Toronto, on the other hand, has not played since June 1—a 1-1 home draw with Philadelphia. They've also scored twice as many goals in league play as D.C. United. That's not saying much, considering D.C. only has six goals.

Upset Alert #2: Portland v. Dallas

Front-running Dallas should be on upset alert when they visit the Rose City on Saturday.

While both clubs posted clean sheets in the fourth round of Open Cup play, Dallas shouldn't let the fact they knocked off Houston go to their heads. Houston's substitute-heavy lineup didn't really stand much of a chance. First-choice goalkeeper Tally Hall was among the spectators at FC Dallas Stadium for Houston's 3-0 defeat.

Thoughts? Think I'm loony? Let me know in the comments.

Follow @FntnCitySoccer

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Teams will need to deliver more than pizza in MLS Week 16. Crucial points are on the line.

Ten teams returned to action on Wednesday. Five advanced to the quarterfinal of the U.S. Open Cup with victories. Inclement weather forced the Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew to postpone their match to Thursday afternoon.

The MLS action continues this weekend with five matches scheduled for Saturday night. But what warrants your attention in Week 16?

Read on to find out.

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For those unfamiliar with the 100 year old competition, the US Open Cup is the oldest ongoing soccer competition in the United States. It's similar in format to many of the more well known cup competitions, such as the FA Cup and Copa del Rey. In short, it's a knockout tournament where losing one game means you're out.

The third round, which took place two weeks ago, pitted all 16 stateside MLS teams against opponents from lower leagues in the US soccer pyramid. As always, there were some upsets, with LA Galaxy, San Jose, Seattle and Colorado losing to clubs farther down the food chain.

Some teams take this competition more seriously than others, but along with it comes $250,000 and a place in next year's CONCACAF Champions League.

The fourth round, which will take place on June 12, will feature 8 matches, and I'll be predicting the result of each. Starting now.

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While it may have been a short weekend in Major League Soccer with just five matches played, fans of the league did have plenty to talk about when the matches ended. 

In four of the five matches this week, more than three goals were scored and plenty of late-match heroics were shown as well.

Read on to find out where your favorite club sits in this week's power rankings. 

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Less was more in MLS Week 15. Especially in Seattle.

A total of nine teams were idle this weekend. Unfortunately, DC United and the New England Revolution weren't among them. They might as well have been. The two played to a scoreless draw at Gillette Stadium on Saturday.

But how did the other active teams fare this week? Was it worthy of being mentioned in the best and worst from MLS Week 15?

Read on to find out.

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