Saturday - MLS All Star Game

MLS ALL-STARS TO FACE BRIAN MCBRIDE AND FULHAM IN 2005 SIERRA MIST MLS ALL-STAR GAME

English Premier League Club Visits Crew Stadium On Saturday, July 30, At 3:30 p.m.

Currently The Only Way To Get Tickets To The All-Star Game Is To Have Crew Season Tickets

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Tuesday, March 8, 2005) - Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber and Crew General Manager Mark McCullers today announced that the MLS All-Stars will face English Premier League club Fulham FC as MLS goes global in the 2005 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game to be played on Saturday, July 30, in Columbus Crew Stadium (live on ABC Sports at 3:30 p.m. ET).

The match will mark the second time in three seasons that the League's best players battle the world's top clubs in the new format for the Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game, which was adopted to ensure the most competitive All-Star spectacle in U.S. professional sports. In 2003, the MLS All-Stars downed storied Mexican club CD Guadalajara, 3-1, at The Home Depot Center.

The game on July 30 will represent the return of forward Brian McBride to the city which he called home for eight seasons while playing for the Crew before joining Fulham in January 2004. Former Chicago Fire defender and U.S. National Team stalwart Carlos Bocanegra, a two-time MLS Defender of the Year, will also make his return to the All-Star Game wearing the black and white of Fulham.

"We are proud to present American soccer fans an All-Star Game that celebrates the League's 10th season and the lasting impact MLS has had in the U.S. and around the soccer world," said Garber. "We look forward to welcoming Fulham and former MLS All-Stars Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra back to Columbus in July for what is sure to be one of the most competitive matchups in the event's history."

"Hosting the Sierra Mist MLS All-Star game, in the league's 10th season, is a tremendous honor for our organization," said Crew General Manager Mark McCullers. "We look forward to seeing Brian McBride back in Columbus and believe that the format and the energy surrounding the Sierra Mist All-Star game will create an outstanding experience for the fans. I would also like to thank our friends at G & J Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Columbus and Sierra Mist for their continued support and look forward to working with them to produce a special event."

Fulham, one of the oldest clubs in world soccer dating back to 1879, is owned by Chairman Mohamed Al Fayed and coached by Welsh Manager Chris Coleman. The team, which makes its home in London's renowned Craven Cottage, features several high profile internationals in its ranks: Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, Canadian star forward Tomasz Radzinski, the second highest all-time goal scorer in the Premiership Andrew Cole, and Senegalese international midfielder Papa Bouba Diop, who scored the winning goal against France in his country's shock 1-0 win in the opener of the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan. Following Saturday's 0-0 draw at home against Charlton Athletic, Fulham stands in 15th place with 30 points and 10 matches to play in the 2004-2005 season.

"I am delighted that we have been able to secure such a high profile fixture as part of our pre-season preparations, and especially pleased that we will be playing the best that the United States has to offer," said Fulham Manager Chris Coleman, speaking at the club's training ground. "We will be expecting a tough game as there will be a lot of pride at stake on the pitch, and it will give us a great platform in which to show what we are capable of against top class opposition before the new season kicks off."

Bowling For Soup - Saturday

GRAMMY-NOMINATED BOWLING FOR SOUP HIGHLIGHTS SIERRA MIST 2005 MLS ALL-STAR HALFTIME SHOW

NEW YORK (Thursday, July 7, 2005) - Texas-based rock band Bowling For Soup will highlight the 2005 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Halftime Show, broadcast live to a national television audience on ABC Sports on Saturday, July 30 (3:30 p.m. ET). Major League Soccer's 10th annual All-Star Game features the 2005 MLS All-Star squad taking on English Premier League club Fulham FC at Columbus Crew Stadium in the return of former MLS All-Stars and current Fulham standouts Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra.

Jive recording artists Bowling For Soup, who will be performing their hits "1985" and "Ohio" during the All-Star halftime show, have become a mainstay on MTV 2 and VH1 following the smashing success of their latest album A Hangover You Don't Deserve, which was recently certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Known for their undeniably catchy pop hooks, their love of old-school metal, and comical interviews, the band scored a Grammy nomination in 2003 in the Best Performance Pop By a Duo or Group category for their power-pop sing-a-long "Girl All the Bad Guys Want."

"Major League Soccer is pleased to welcome Bowling for Soup to highlight our 10th Season celebrations at the 2005 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game," said Soccer United Marketing Enterprises President Doug Quinn. "With performers like Christina Aguilera, Michelle Branch, Paulina Rubio and Switchfoot highlighting past MLS events, we are proud to continue the tradition of providing world-class entertainment at our marquee events."

Hailing from the small town of Wichita Falls, TX, Bowling For Soup's previous single "1985" became one of the fastest-selling digital tracks to date. Their lyrics often deal with relatable stories on relationships and the common trials and tribulations facing teens and 20-somethings.

"Its great to be a part of a Major League Soccer event, as all of us grew up playing soccer," said lead singer Jaret Reddick. "In fact, watch for me doing a bicycle kick during our performance."

Bowling For Soup's 2000 release Let's Do It For Johnny and 2002's Drunk Enough to Dance have sold more than 300,000 copies and spawned the hit singles "Punk Rock 101" and "Girl All The Bad Guys Want." The band recently finished up their first sold-out headline tour and have also co-headlined a tour with Avril Lavigne, following appearances on the 2005 Warped Tour with Blink-182 and Sum 41.

The 2005 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game featuring Fulham FC offers four levels of ticket pricing, ranging from $25 to $45 for individuals, and $17 to $30 for groups of 20 or more. Fans can purchase group and season ticket packages by contacting the Columbus Crew at (614) 447-2739; by logging onto www.thecrew.com and by visiting Crew Stadium advance sales windows during all Columbus Crew home games. Individual tickets can also be purchased by calling TicketMaster - (614) 431-3600 (Columbus area) or online at www.ticketmaster.com and at all TicketMaster outlets.

Crew Stadium, the site of MLS Cup 2001, will host its second MLS All-Star Game since 2000. During All-Star Weekend, Sierra Mist and MLS will host numerous soccer-themed events, activities and tournaments at Crew Stadium and in the Columbus area. Check out www.MLSnet.com for more details.

Publishing

I received in the mail today, my first published book of my own photography. After reading about printing-on-demand (POD) services in the Journal last week, I ordered a book from mypublisher. It is just a sample of my photographs over the last two years, no particular theme, but some of my favorites.

It came out looking great! I am actually inspired to try and sell a few. So I may attempt to come up with a theme, maybe even some text or poetry or something to accompany the pictures.

My initial ideas are for my favorite things feel free to vote for yours:
1. A series of books featuring Yellowstone.
- Yellowstone at Dawn
- Yellowstone at Dusk
- Yellowstone in the Dark

2. A book of the Franklin Park Conservatory (though this will need permission to publish commercially)
- These are some of my favorite photos here and here

3. Insects
- I have taken a lot of pictures of bees on flowers and I love the way they turn out.

I have also considered making a deal to help people publish their vacation photos this way. Maybe the Yellowstone Pharmacy would let me sell to their photography developing customers. However, the margins would be small so I would need to figure out how to get more volume. Perhaps the various fishing and tour guide services would want to offer this service. I could even offer to let people fill the extra pages of their books with my own collection of photos.

Well, this will require more thought, but I hope I come up with more excuses to print these wonderful little books.

More posts coming soon

I finally made two new posts at Truck & Barter. So new posts to this blog are sure to arrive soon.

The quarter from hell is over, and tonight I will be done with two more classes, leaving only 2 classes for the remaining 5 weeks of the quarter.

Life is busy these days. I am travelling a lot. I just got back from D.C. (more in the next post), I am headed to Cleveland for a wedding shower this weekend, then I am off to Chicago to spend the weekend with a friend.

Lots of cool events this month too. MLS All Star game next Saturday and the recently announced half-time entertainment is Bowling for Soup!! Then Bowling for Soup is giving another concert at the Fairgrounds that week, Brad Paisley with my cousins, and Rascal Flatts on the 14th (if I can get tickets from the university).

I have a number of projects that I will be working on. I would like to get better internet access in West Yellowstone, I would like to improve some of my websites, including this blog, and I need to parse my belongings down to only the most necessary items.

I have already filled three garbage bags with clothes today. I could probably come up with another six before I go to bed.