This afternoon, or this morning depending on where you are, Major League Soccer will be having its 2010 MLS Expansion Draft. The Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps FC will be selecting 10 players each from the field of available candidates.

I'm your host Tyler Walter, and I will be covering each pick selection live: 

3:15 PM: That will do it for live commentary on the MLS Expansion Draft. Thanks for tuning in!

3:06 PM: In my opinion, I would say Vancouver won in this expansion draft. Primarily because Portland has selected players that are likely to stay abroad for some time. They did select a strong midfield, but that does no good if you lack a defense and offense.

If I were to predict the final standings right now, I would say Portland finishes just shy of the playoffs, while Vancouver could potentially be a wildcard in next year's playoffs. Vancouver will be praising Garber if that happens...

2:54 PM: Houston, LA, New York and New England escape the draft without anyone stolen. Flustering if you're a Revs fan.

2:53 PM: Vancouver on the clock for their final pick of the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft.

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The Whitecaps select Joe Thorrington from Chicago Fire. 

2:51 PM: Sorry, haven't kept up-to-date: Vancouver Whitecaps selected Sporting Kansas City's Jonathan Leathers. Portland selected Arturo Alvarez from San Jose Earthquakes as their final expansion draft selection.

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San Jose Earthquakes are removed from the Expansion Draft.

2:47 PM: Surprise! A D.C. United player was selected! Portland Timbers selected United defender Jordan Graye.

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DCU protect Kurt Morsink

2:44 PM: Vancouver Whitecaps on the clock

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Whitecaps FC select San Jose Earthquake's keeper Joe Cannon. 

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The Whitecaps finally decided to go defensive.

2:43 PM: "I love Moreno. Doesn't score a ton of goals but wins an absurd number of free kicks. I did the math one time - he's the all-time leader in fouls suffered per 90 minutes by a ridiculous margin, like 40% or something. Can't remember exactly, but it was crazy." – DJL comment on CoverItLive.com

2:42 PM: First Findley, now Bornstien? Throwing away picks; not the best day for Timbers fans.

2:41 PM: The Union are removed from the draft. Bad news for the New England Revolution and D.C.United: No one has been selected.

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Portland Timbers on the clock

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Timbers have selected Jonathan Bornstien from Chivas USA...I'm serious.

2:39 PM: Vancouver Whitecaps FC select Alejandro Moreno from Philadelphia Union. Third club in the past year.

2:36 PM: Portland Timbers on the clock: The Timbers select Peter Lowery from Chicago Fire.

To answer Lalas' question: Lowery will be a consistent player in the Rose City.

2:34 PM: Toronto FC's O'Brian White will be traveling across the nation. The Whitecaps FC select him. Julian de Guzman has been protected by TFC. Not a huge surprise, I suppose. Was anticipating Chad Barrett to be protected.

2:31 PM: Wow...this is a shocker. Robbie Findley, Real Salt Lake's attacker, was selected by Portland Timbers. Risky move, especially if Findley does go to Brondby or another Scandinavian club. Portland Timbers might have shot themselves in the foot with Findley.

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Vancouver on the clock.

2:25 PM: Whitecaps FC select MLS veteran Alan Gordon from Chivas USA.

2:22 PM: Portland Timbers select Real Salt Lake defender David Horst. Horst, spent most of last season on loan to Puerto Rico Islanders from RSL.

Columbus will have a rebuilding season, but I can understand their initiative to build a strong, young team. That alone could make them go on another solid run very soon.

2:21 PM: Surprisingly....the Union protect Chris Seitz. Seemed like they would do whatever it would take to remove him

2:20 PM: Vancouver Whitecaps FC select Shea Salinas from Philadelphia Union.

2:18 PM: A solid left back from Colorado is now a Timber. Anthony Wallace from the Rapids is selected by Portland.

2:16 PM: The Whitecaps select a pair of (now) ex-Sounders. Vancouver takes Nathan Sturgis.

2:13 PM: Portland Timbers take the Crew out of the Expansion Draft. The Timbers select Adam Moffat.

Portland has given them strength to make a playoff push...a playoff push for the 10th spot...Columbus may just be on track to pull a DC United in 2011.

2:11 PM: Vancouver Whitecaps select Atiba Harris from Dallas. Dallas can no longer have any non protected players selected. Greg Lalas is simply saying EVERY player is a great choice.

2:07 PM: Round 2 has begun. Portland Timbers select Eric Brunner from Columbus Crew. This probably will hurt Columbus' defensive depth, especially given the fact they're dropping Hejduk and Padula.

2:06 PM: Vancouver Whitecaps select Sanna Nyassi from Seattle Sounders FC. Not a huge surprise, perhaps it will add fire to the rivalry?

2:02 PM: Portland is on the clock, should be announce the picks in a moment. Garber announces the rules.

Dallas pulls back Daniel Hernandez.

1:57 PM: It seems likely that Portland Timbers will select Dax McCarty from FC Dallas.

1:53 PM: Simon Borg believes the best selection in the MLS player pool is Dax McCarty. Shocked FC Dallas didn't protect him. Completely agree, but I believe Dallas is hinting McCarty's desire to play overseas or relieving financial strains.

1:52 PM: Portland Timbers will be making their first pick at 2:00 PM EST.

1:47 PM: If you yourself wish to join the draft live, you can listen to MLS ExtraTime Radio.

1:43 PM: This afternoon, or this morning, depending on where you are, Major League Soccer will be having its 2010 MLS Expansion Draft. The Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps FC will be selecting 10 players each from the field of available candidates.

You can follow live updates at: http://www.coveritlive.com/index.php?option=com_altcaster&task=playaltcast&altcast_code=0dbee84d5b

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

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In anticipation of the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft, the Los Angeles Galaxy announced their players on their protected list. The players are as follows:

David Beckham – Midfielder (International Player)

Chris Birchall – Midfielder (International Player)

Edson Buddle – Forward

A.J. DeLaGarza – Defender

Landon Donovan – Forward

Todd Dunivant – Defender

Sean Franklin – Defender

Omar Gonzalez – Defender

Juninho – Midfielder (International Player)

Donovan Ricketts – Goalkeeper (International Player)

Michael Stephens – Midfielder

As a member of Generation Adidas, forward Tristan Bowen was automatically protected. Bowen did not graduate from the program and will be classified as a Generation Adidas player for the 2011 season.

The Galaxy's unprotected players are:

Gregg Berhalter – Defender

Alex Cazumba – Midfielder (International Player)

Bryan Jordan – Forward

Jovan Kirovski – Midfielder

Chris Klein – Midfielder

Dema Kovalenko – Midfielder

Leonardo – Defender (International Player)

Eddie Lewis – Midfielder

Mike Magee – Forward

Yohance Marshall – Defender (International Player)

Brian Perk – Goalkeeper

Josh Saunders – Goalkeeper

The Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps will be the 17th and 18th clubs to join Major League Soccer when they begin play in 2011. Both expansion clubs will select 10 players from the list of unprotected players supplied by the other 16 MLS clubs, though no current team can lose more than two players in the Expansion Draft. The draft will be held via conference call on Wednesday, November 24 at 11 a.m. (PT), with the call being streamed live on MLSsoccer.com.

Each of the 16 teams that competed in MLS during the 2010 season were allowed to protect 11 players, as well as any Generation adidas or Home Grown players, leaving all others unprotected. Additionally, per the rules of the Expansion Draft, the Galaxy had to protect a minimum of three of the seven international players on their roster. The club elected to protect four of their internationals, meaning that three of the club’s 12 unprotected players are categorized as internationals.

Once the draft begins, a team that has a player selected by either the Timbers or Whitecaps can then move one player from their unprotected list to their protected list. If a second player is then selected from that club, the rest of their unprotected players will become protected, ending their involvement in the Expansion Draft.

INS & OUTS

These are the unprotected players for the MLS Expansion Draft from the other 15 teams that competed this past season:

Chivas USA

Borja, Carlos

Bornstein, Jonathan

Chijundu, Chukwudi

Espinoza, Rodolfo

Galindo, Maykel

Gordon, Alan

Kennedy, Dan

Lillington, Eduardo

Maldonado, Giancarlo

Mayen, Gerson

Padilla, Jesus

Romero, Osael

Saragosa, Marcelo

Trujillo, Mariano

Zotinca, Alex

Chicago Fire

Castillo, Nery

Dykstra, Andrew

John, Collins

Krol, Krzysztof

Ljungberg, Freddie

Lowry, Peter

Robinson, Dasan

Thorrington, John

Umanzor, Deris

Colorado Rapids

Akpan, Andre

Amarikwa, Quincy

Ceus, Steward

Joyce, Ian

LaBauex, Ross

Lopez, Claudio

O'Brien, Ciaran

Palguta, Scott

Schunk, Ross

Thompson, Wells

Vagenas, Peter

Wallace, Anthony

Columbus Crew

Brunner, Eric

Burns, Kevin

Garey, Jason

Griffit, Leandre

Gruenebaum, Andy

Hejduk, Frankie

Moffat, Adam

Oughton, Duncan

Padula, Gino

Schelotto, Guillermo Barros

Williams, Joshua

FC Dallas

Avila, Eric

Cunningham, Jeff

Davies, Kyle

Edward, Edson

Guarda, Bruno

Harris, Atiba

Hernandez, Daniel

McCarty, Dax

Rodriguez, Milton

Sala, Dario

Yeisley, Jason

D.C. United

Allsopp, Daniel

Barklage, Brandon

Cristman, Adam

Graye, Jordan

Hernandez, Pablo

McTavish, Devon

Morsink, Kurt

Pena, Juan

Perkins, Troy

Rice, Barry

Varela, Carlos

Houston Dynamo

Appiah, Samuel

Ashe, Corey

Cochrane, Ryan

Mulrooney, Richard

Ngwenya, Joseph

Obodai, Anthony

Oduro, Dominic

Onstad, Pat

Robinson, Eddie

Sporting Kansas City

Aiyegbusi, Korede

Beasley, Jamar

Chhetri, Sunil

Conrad, Jimmy

Diop, Birahim

Hercegfalvi, Zoltan

Hohlbein, Aaron

Kounenakis, Nick

Kronberg, Eric

Leathers, Jonathan

Myers, Chance

Thomas, Shavar

Wolff, Josh

New England Revolution

Boggs, Zak

Burpo, Preston

Colaluca, Nico

Dube, Kheli

Gibbs, Cory

Griffiths, Jason

Linck, Roberto

Murray, Tim

Phelan, Pat

Sinovic, Seth

Smith, Khano

Stolica, Ilija

New York Red Bulls

Angel, Juan Pablo

Boyens, Andrew

Chinn, Conor

da Luz, Austin

Garcia, Irving

Nielsen, Brian

Robinson, Carl

Salou, Ibrahim

Sassano, Luke

Sutton, Greg

Talley, Carey

Ubiparipovic, Sinisa

Philadelphia Union

Arrieta, Cristian

Coudet, E.

Fred

Jacobson, Andrew

Knighton, Brad

Miglioranzi, Stefani

Moreno, Alejandro

Noone, Joseph

Salinas, Shea

Seitz, Chris

Zimmerman, Nick

Real Salt Lake

Alexandre, Jean

Campos, Pablo

Findley, Robbie

Gonzalez, Nelson

Grabavoy, Ned

Horst, David

McKenzie, Rauwshan

Melia, Timothy

Nimo, Alex

Reynish, Kyle

Russell, Robbie

Schuler, Chris

Warner, Collen

Williams, Andy 

San Jose Earthquakes

Alvarez, Arturo

Beitashour, Steve

Burling, Bobby

Cannon, Joe

Corrales, Ramiro

Eduado

Geovanni

Glen, Cornell

Leitch, Chris

Andre Luiz

Morrow, Justin

Ring, Brad

Ward, Tim 

Seattle Sounders FC

Baudet, Julien

Boss, Terry

Earls, Danny

Estrada, David

Gonzalez, L.

Graham, Taylor

Ianni, Patrick

Levesque, Roger

Marshall, Tyrone

Montano, Miguel

Nkufo, Blaise

Noonan, Pat

Nyassi, Sanna

Scott, Zacharias

Seamon, Michael

Sturgis, Nathan

Wahl, Tyson 

Toronto FC

Barrett, Chad

de Guzman, Julian

Gala, Gabe

Garcia, Nick

Hscanovics, Raivis

Ibrahim, Fuad

Kocic, Milos

Martinez, Miguel Angel Ferrer

Nane, Joseph

Sanyang, Amadou

Saric, Martin

Usanov, Maxim

White, O'Brian

Youth Academy Update

The Los Angeles Galaxy were in action on Saturday for their only match in November, against the California Development Academy.

Both the Under-16s and the Under-18s won by the score of 3-1.

Scoring for the Under-16s were John McBean in the 22nd minute, Drew Murphy in the 49th minute and Justin Dhillon in the 80th minute.

In the Under-18s contest, Neil Ignacio opened the scoring in the 39th minute. Eric Verso made it 2-0 in the 42nd minute, and Riley Wolfe put the game out of reach in the 45th minute.

Up next will be a series of matches at the Reach 11 Sports Complex in Phoenix, Ariz. The Galaxy Youth Academy will face the Andromeda Academy on Dec. 4, South Carolina United FC on Dec. 6 and Birmingham United on Dec. 7.

Kickoff for the Under-16s against Andromeda is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. PT, while the Under-18s get underway at 9:00 a.m. PT. Both matches are at Field 3.

Kickoff for the Under-16s against South Carolina United is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. PT, while the Under-18s' kickoff time is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. PT. Both matches are at Field 5.

Kickoff for the Under-16s against Birmingham United will take place at Field 14, while the Under-18s kickoff at Field 13. Both matches will begin at 9:00 a.m. PT.

So long Wizards...hello Sporting Kansas City!?

There is a new team in town...a rebranded one that is. The Kansas City Wizards are now...Sporting Kansas City. Rugby and lacrosse teams under construction.

“This continues the forward-thinking and innovation started by Mr. (former Chiefs owner Lamar) Hunt,” said Heineman, who spoke during a rally at the Power & Light District on Nov. 18.

“Keeping the status quo, quite honestly, was never going to be an option,” Heineman said. “This is all about a new start. It’s a new name, a new stadium, a new time.

“This, to us, is not European whatsoever. This is all about our connection to the community and us trying to be innovative in what we’re trying to do.

“(It’s not) a ripoff. That’s the furthest thing from the truth…we’re not just calling ourselves Real Salt Lake or F.C. Dallas. We’re going to go do and embody the name we’re giving (ourselves). That’s not to say it won’t fail. But I don’t feel it’s going to.

“There’s nothing innovative about the Kansas City Wizards name to me. It’s a name that already exists. It’s a name that doesn’t necessarily connect to any of the things we want to do with the brand going forward. Our convictions are pretty high, we’re committed to it and we’re going to invest and spend against it.  From there, we’ll let the chips fall where they may.”

Who are you fooling, you guys? You will always be the Wizards to the View from Victoria Street.

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Now that the 2010 season is over, two new teams—the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps—have officially joined MLS. They’ll get to build their teams through the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft on Wednesday.

The list of unprotected players has been released and there is a lot of talent on this list. Designated Players Juan Pablo Angel and Geovanni are on it, as is former MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Those players are making max money however, and expansion teams usually lean towards cheaper and much younger options.

With two teams picking players this year, some MLS clubs may lose two players. But here is a list of one player from each team most likely to get selected.

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Philadelphia Union has revealed their list of 11 players that will be ineligible for selection during MLS Expansion Draft 2010 on Wednesday, November 24, 2010.  Additionally, Union’s youngsters Jack McInerney, Danny Mwanga and Amobi Okugo will also be left out of the unprotected list as Generation Adidas players cannot be drafted. 

Interesting to note that the team has left both goal keepers, Chris Seitz and Brad Knighton unprotected in addition to fan favorite Fred. Also, the team has added newly acquired mid-fielder Brian Carroll to their protective list.

Philadelphia Union’s Protective Players:

1

Danny Califf

DF

2

Brian Carroll

MF

3

Juan Gonzalez

DF

4

Jordan Harvey

DF

5

Sebastien Le Toux

FW

6

Justin Mapp

MF

7

Kyle Nakazawa

MF

8

Michael Orozco Fiscal

DF

9

Toni Stahl

MF

10

Roger Torres

MF

11

Sheanon Williams

DF

Generation adidas Players (exempted from selection):

1

Jack McInerney

FW

2

Danny Mwanga

FW

3

Amobi Okugo

MF

Unprotected Players:

1

Cristian Arrieta

DF

2

Eduardo Coudet

MF

3

Fred

MF

4

Andrew Jacobson

MF

5

Brad Knighton

GK

6

Stefani Miglioranzi

MF

7

Alejandro Moreno

FW

8

J.T.Noone

DF

9

Shea Salinas

MF

10

Chris Seitz

GK

11

Nick Zimmerman

FW

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Earlier today, the 16 MLS clubs announced their protected players from being selected by Portland Timbers or Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft. 

One thing I noticed from the list was the mass of talent that could be not only a playoff-bound club, but a club finishing inside the top five. At least...I believe it's possible.

After analyzing the list, I have come to a best starting XI combination of available players using a 4-4-2 formation (a goalie, four defenders, four midfielders, and two strikers).

We will start out with the goalie which would be...

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If there's anything Don Garber seems to create, it's outrage among the hardcore American soccer fans, more eager than ever to Europeanize Major League Soccer.

This season Garber's been chewed out by the public for his reluctance and snarky statements regarding the "need" for conferences and the unwillingness to progress to a single table.

His latest decision is to increase the playoff pool from eight clubs to 10, a move Garber most likely hopes can garner money from fans in the "wild card" round and grab TV contracts.

The price he's paying is a field of less competitive teams (10 clubs qualify, eight don't), plus giving numerous markets the false hope they have a good soccer club so that they will give some interest. There's even more emphasis on playoff play, something that needs to be lightened—and eventually removed entirely.

However, Garber has done many great things for the league to progress in the right direction: He has found the right, medium-sized markets that have embraced their clubs, and he saved the league when it was at the cusp of bankruptcy (and learned Florida hates sports—period).

Although it's modest, over the past two or so years, he's begun to press for some minor interest in competitions including the U.S. Open Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League.

In a nutshell, he has made great progressive steps and has shed the horrid Americanizations originally plaguing the league. That does not mean it's done. It means there are new dynamic steps to take.

I'm not going to preach the need for a single table because the MLS Cup Playoffs have done all the talking about the need to dock the conferences, but adding more teams to a corny playoff system is not the way to cover up these flaws. It just further points it out.

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TORONTO—In their typical scrappy fashion, the Colorado Rapids clawed their way to a 2-1 win in extra time to claim their first MLS Cup.

On Sunday night at BMO Field in Toronto, the Rapids encapsulated their entire season in one physical, gutsy performance that brought the MLS Cup to Colorado.

Early, the game looked as though it would go the way of a pre-written MLS script. 

Recently named league MVP, David Ferreira, scored on a well-timed cross from Dallas midfielder Marvin Chavez. 

With a win, Dallas would also claim their first MLS Cup with the MVP in tow. 

Chavez would of course be named finals MVP, and Colorado would probably look into changing their logo or colors again.

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The 2010 version of the MLS Cup may not have been glamorous, but it was certainly thrilling to the end. The Colorado Rapids came from behind to beat FC Dallas in overtime 2-1, and Rapids forward Conor Casey was named the game’s MVP.

Don Garber spoke during halftime and MLS fans learned some things that the league will change next year (number of playoff teams) and will think about changing in the future (going with the official FIFA calendar). It was intriguing and will certainly be hot topics for debate.

That being said, there were also some things done on the field that are worth talking about. Here are five things we learned from the MLS Cup.

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This is it, folks. The 2010 Major League Soccer Cup is here, fresh, live, and direct from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. One of two teams will earn their very first star to put on their crest.

Who will it be? Will it be FC Dallas? Or the Colorado Rapids? Bleacher Report will give you all the action from a word's-eye view live from BMO Field as we close the door on another successful season in MLS.

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

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This is it, folks. The 2010 Major League Soccer Cup is here, fresh, live, and direct from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. One of two teams will earn their very first star to put on their crest.

Who will it be? Will it be FC Dallas? Or the Colorado Rapids? Bleacher Report will give you all the action from a word's-eye view live from BMO Field as we close the door on another successful season in MLS.

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

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