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NEW YORK, N. Colin McCarthy Jersey .Y. - The troubled tenure of Jorge Vergara and Angelica Fuentes as owners of Chivas USA has ended with Major League Soccer purchasing the team. MLS said Thursday it had assumed operation of the team, which had the second-worst record in the league last year at 6-20-8 and averaged a league-low attendance of 8,366 at home. Vergara and Fuentes have controlled the Mexican club Chivas Guadalajara since 2002 and had a 50 per cent interest in Chivas USA when it was created in 2004 and started play the following year. The pair took operating control of Chivas USA in August 2012 when they bought out former partners Antonio and Lorenzo Cue, who had been running the team. "The original plan which we came up with in 2004 and executed in 05 was to extend one of soccers most venerable brands into the United States," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said during a conference call. "The concept was to take a team that in essence represented the hopes and dreams of Mexican soccer fans both in Mexico and the United States and try to extend that here to the United States. "Ultimately the concept didnt work out," he added. "I came up with the idea with folks here at the league. I dont believe it was the concept as much as there was some executional issues." The concept of a league owning a team is not unprecedented. An entity owned by Major League Baseball bought the Montreal Expos in 2002, moved the club to Washington, D.C., for the 2005 season and sold it to the Lerner family the following year. The NHL had operational control of the Phoenix Coyotes from 2009-13. MLS said Wilmer Cabrera, hired as coach on Jan. 9, will remain on the job. The league said it will sell the team to an ownership group committed to keeping the team in the Los Angeles area. Garber hopes to have a deal in place by the end of the year. "Sometimes it takes time to get this done. Were not in a rush," Garber said. Garber said the new ownership group must intend to build a new stadium, and he mentioned the site of the L.A. Sports Arena as a possibility. Chivas USA shares the StubHub Center with the Los Angeles Galaxy. David Beckham was not considered a possible buyer. The former Galaxy star exercised his option to purchase an expansion team in Miami. "I wonder if he would have thought differently if his option execution date was a year from now versus a year ago," Garber said. The team will use the Chivas USA name this year, then will get a new name and logo along with new owners. "When Angelica and I gained full operational control of the team for the first time 15 months ago, we were hopeful we would be able to turn it around," Vergara said in a statement. "However, there is only one Chivas de Guadalajara, and we have realized that it will require more time, further resources, and a level of commitment that would divert too much of our focus from our other business interests." Two former Chivas USA youth coaches, Daniel Calichman and Theothoros Chronopoulos, filed a discrimination lawsuit against the team last May in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming they were fired because they arent Mexican or Latino. "Its been resolved. Its no longer a pending case." Garber said. "It was resolved very recently." Authentic Colin McCarthy Jersey . Pelfrey hit a tiebreaking two-run double and limited the Rockies to three solo homers, helping the New York Mets to a 4-3 win over Colorado on Tuesday night. Authentic Bernard Pollard Jersey . New Orleans All-Star forward would have difficulty convincing the Hawks. Davis had 34 points, including 13 in the Pelicans fourth quarter, and New Orleans beat Atlanta 111-105 on Friday night.TORONTO -- Randy Carlyle knows all about the "Nashville Predator way," and he figured his Toronto Maple Leafs would have to outwork their opponent Thursday night. That didnt happen. The Predators were zoned in on their workmanlike style, the Leafs played a mistake-prone game and the result was a 4-2 loss at Air Canada Centre. "We just didnt play well enough," captain Dion Phaneuf said. "I dont think you can say much more than that. We didnt do enough of the little things against a team that always comes hard. They play very disciplined to their system, they have for a long time, and we just werent good enough." Not good enough to the tune of blowing an early lead with a couple of ill-timed penalties and some spotty defence around the net. After Peter Holland scored his first goal with the Leafs 5:48 in, it seemed like the whole team went into cruise control. Carlyle saw things change at the first intermission. "We were flat after the first period. We didnt seem to have any energy, we didnt seem to have any enthusiasm," he said. "It just seemed like the game turned, and then we couldnt get it back." Thats because the Predators (11-9-2) pounced on mistakes. When Toronto winger Mason Raymond high-sticked David Legwand, rookie defenceman Seth Jones scored on the power play off Jay McClements stick. Sleepy defence put the Leafs behind at 11:14 of the second. Matt Cullen, who finished with a game-high four points, whiffed on his original attempt but had no trouble recovering the puck and scoring while Paul Ranger and the Leafs stood around watching. It got worse before it got better for Toronto when Craig Smith scored the first of his two goals with James van Riemsdyk in the penalty box for boarding. Add it up and it was a 4-1 lead for the Predators. "Second period I thought we locked down our structure, got on to our game plan a little bit better," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "I think we were watching Toronto a little bit. ... We created some penalties and our power play was real huge for us today and I thought we locked down the game pretty good." It was a period the Leafs (13-8-1) would love to forget. "I think we just got away from our game plan a little bit, got off the forecheck," Holland said. "We werent going in on them as hard, we were letting their skilled guys make plays and they capitalized on the power play as well. Unfortunately theres breaks in the game and they seemed to capitalize on them." The breaks kept going against the Leafs, but most of that was self-inflicted. Goaltender Jonathan Bernier, who was dominant in nine previous starts against the Predators, gave up a soft goal in the third to Smith when the puck nicked his glove and bounced over him and into the net. Bernier finished with 24 saves on 28 shots. Nazem Kadri scored late in the third in his return from a three-game suspension for elbowing Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom in the head to provide a brief burst of energy and bring the crowd of 19,256 to life. The Leafs were buzziing with an extra attacker, Holland even hit the cross bar and the post, but it wasnt enough to beat Marek Mazanec, who finished with 24 saves. Wesley Woodyard Tennessee Titans. "We had some chances, so youre never out of it," Carlyle said. "We had some enthusiasm going, but we hit a cross bar, post, and that was it." The Leafs looked out of it for much of the night because the Predators were living up to their reputation as a hard-working, difficult team to play against. Once they built a lead, the task of skating against that tide became even tougher. "They make you earn what you get," Leafs defenceman Cody Franson said. "They dont take a lot of chances, they pick their spots and if they get one, they play very tight." Trotz said just getting the first goal was enough to create some momentum. Nashville had killed off two penalties in the first period and got a spark when Jones scored his third of the season 2:01 into the second. "It was a good play on the power play," Jones said. "We worked around pretty well all night. I kind of got it started there. It wasnt a very hard shot but it found a way to get in." At the core, Franson said the Predators scoring twice on the power play and the Leafs coming up empty on their two chances was the difference. Of course there was more to it. "Its not like our power play wasnt generating anything. We just couldnt put it in the back of the net," Franson said. "They play a tight defensive game and its tough to create stuff against a team that plays that tight." When the Leafs struggled to create a lot, they turned the puck over and stunted their own efforts. "When we were pressing, it seemed like we started to play like individuals in the third period," Carlyle said. "Thats a natural state that athletes go to is theyre trying to take the responsibility and say, Well, Im going to be the guy that makes the difference, and then it just compounds, compounds and it gets worse versus getting better." Leafs star Phil Kessel is often counted on to be the difference-maker, but he took only five shifts in the second and six in the third for a total ice time of 15:27. Carlyle juggled his lines in the third period, promoting Colton Orr to play alongside Kadri and Raymond, while Kessel was a non-factor. Carlyle deflected when asked if Kessel was playing banged-up. "I dont know. I think all our players have bumps and bruises," he said. "They all have their ailments. Thats why we have maintenance days, thats why we have physiotherapists, thats why we have massage therapists, thats why they have all that stuff to try and keep these guys at the peak of their physical (condition) and feeling well, and its difficult when some situations the bumps and bruises do pile up." NOTES -- Leafs centre Tyler Bozak missed his 11th straight game with a hamstring injury. He could return as soon as Saturday night against the Washington Capitals. ... Ten of the Predators 12 points came from U.S.-born players. General manager David Poile is the general manager of the U.S. Olympic team. ' ' ' |
