Soccer Watch
By Nick Barbaro, Fri., Jan. 30, 2015
It's just a couple of weeks now until the inaugural ATX Pro Challenge, a four-team MLS preseason tournament hosted by the Austin Aztex, Feb. 13-15, at UT's Mike Myers Stadium; tickets are now on sale at all Austin H-E-B stores, or via www.austinaztex.com... The Aztex announced the rest of their preseason schedule this week: It includes a game at the Houston Dynamo at 1pm Wednesday, Feb. 18, and then a series of Saturday games against college squads – SMU at 4pm on Feb. 21, Incarnate Word at 4pm on Feb. 28, and a March 7 double-header against Southwestern at 3pm, and St. Edward's at 5pm – all at Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex and free to the public. The Aztex's inaugural USL PRO season will likely run from late March through September. Season ticket packages start as low as $99.99 and include exclusive benefits for loyal fans... The Aztex also announced that they've signed 25-year-old Canadian attacker Mozesh "Mozzi" Gyorio, who played for Aztex coach Paul Dalglish in the Houston Dynamo academy team, and then went on to success in the NASL and England.
What's the biggest sports rivalry in the world? That's a hard call, but any short list would have to include Glasgow's cross-town Rangers-Celtic derby – not just because they're the two top teams in Scotland, but for all the other social factors at play in the clubs' histories: It's Protestant vs. Catholic, British vs. Scots-Irish, Loyalist vs. Republican, Conservative vs. Socialist, all played out over 125 years between rivals whose home stadiums are less than three miles apart. Sunday's Scottish League Cup semifinal in Celtic's Hampden Park will be the 400th game between the two, but the first since April 2012 – after the Rangers were liquidated for financial malfeasance, and started over in the Scottish fourth division. You'll have to be up early Sunday morning to catch the historic occasion: 7:30am on Fox Sports 1.
U.S. National Team goalkeeper Hope Solo may be the best in the world at her position, but her personal life is pretty much a train wreck: She's now been suspended from the team for a month, and could miss this summer's World Cup, after an incident at the U.S. training camp when her husband, former NFL player Jerramy Stevens (with whom she shared domestic abuse charges the night before their wedding) was busted for DUI after commandeering a team van without permission. Solo, 33, was a passenger in the van, and has agreed to a treatment program and specific "tasks" which could lead to her reinstatement.
