Winter vacation? Its ON!

I’m not exactly sure which stage of the seven stages of grief I’m at right now (my team got knocked out of the MLS playoffs this weekend) but life just got a tad sweeter on this side of the pond because there’s now a new annual tournament between MLS, A-League, J-League teams, and maybey eventually Mexican teams starting this February in lovely Hawaii. Now I know our exchange rate is in the toilet so a plane ticket to the island state is more realistic to my budget than an 18 hour Quantas experience to see some A-League action in the flesh. Turns out The La Galaxy have an automatic in for this year’s run (surprised? No, not really) and the other MLS teams will likely be whoever makes it to the league final while the Japanese team will be their league final winner (did that already happen?). I seem to be getting conflicting sources on how many teams from each league are going in so I’ll just sit tight for a few more days and wait for it all to be resolved. As for which A-League teams will get a free trip to Hawaii, since the event takes place before the league final, the teams to go this year are likely the ones knocked out early in the playoffs.

In other somewhat related news, The LA Galaxy lost their coach yesterday effective immediately, so I’m not entirely sure who is going to Oz & NZ with the boys now. I sincerely hope General Manager Alexi Lalas doesn’t suddenly fancy himself an interum coach for the tour.

So did Baan announce the roster yet? I’m searching the internets but cannot find a press release or an article. Stay tuned…