SQUAD GOALS How David Beckham’s Inter Miami could line up with a star-studded starting XI including Cristiano Ronaldo and Gerard Pique

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https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/9363549/david-beckham-inter-miami-starting-xi-ronaldo-pique/

SQUAD GOALS How David Beckham’s Inter Miami could line up with a star-studded starting XI including Cristiano Ronaldo and Gerard Pique

DAVID BECKHAM'S very own football club will take to the MLS for the first time in 2020.

The former England captain, 44, has sorted a name - albeit a dubious one that could be stripped from him - a kit and crest which are not to everyone's liking, and a derelict stadium 25 miles away from Miami airport as a two-year temporary home.

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https://news.worldcasinodirectory.com/the-tampa-bay-rays-are-exploring-the-idea-of-splitting-home-games-between-tampa-area-and-montreal-67999

The Tampa Bay Rays are Exploring the Idea of Splitting Home Games between Tampa Area and Montreal

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https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2842407-how-would-the-rays-splitting-time-between-tampa-and-montreal-actually-work

How Would the Rays Splitting Time Between Tampa and Montreal Actually Work?

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https://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2019/06/24/offside-remarks-birth-of-a-sportswriting-career-many-years-ago-2/

OFFSIDE REMARKS: Birth of a sportswriting career many years ago

Michael Lewis (left) and Soccer America columnist Paul Gardner (right) during a World Cup symposium in Brazil in 1987.

On Monday, June 24, FrontRowSoccer.com editor Michael Lewis celebrates his 45th anniversary in the newspaper business. That was the day Lewis joined the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle in 1974.

Six months later, Lewis was assigned to cover the Rochester Lancers of the old North American Soccer League.

Since then, Lewis has covered the sport at every level, from youth to high school to amateurs to semi-pro to professional to the international end.

He has attended and written about 13 World Cups (eight men and five women), seven Summer Olympics and a host of other championships and finals and is the only media person to attend and cover every MLS Cup.

Lewis also covered the game in which Pele scored his first NASL goal and attended his last competitive match at Soccer Bowl ’77.

This is the start of a two-part series on Lewis reflecting at his career and the beautiful game that has spanned the years. Yes, he interviews himself.

Today’s story is about how he got started and how he was introduced to the game kicking and screaming.

Michael: OK, so how did you begin covering soccer?

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https://photos.cltampa.com/former-rowdies-owner-puts-his-st-pete-guest-house-on-the-market-for-6-2-million/?slide=1&screen-shot-2019-06-24-at-3-06-50-pm

Former Rowdies owner is selling his St. Pete guesthouse for $6.2 million

Bill Edwards, former Tampa Bay Rowdies owner and current owner of the Sundial entertainment complex in downtown St. Petersburg, is selling his guesthouse for $6.2 million. Edwards apparently no longer uses the Snell Isle home, and says the sale has nothing to do with his ongoing lawsuit for allegedly defrauding veterans to the tune of $180 million, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

"I don't use it,'' said Edwards to the paper. "I thought it'd be a guest house but I don't have enough guests in there to make sense. I thought it was good investment and I still believe it is.''

The home, which is currently the most expensive piece of property on the market in that particular neighborhood, comes with five bedrooms and bathrooms, a large salt water pool, a private dock, a gym, a guest casita, an "Ale Bar'' in the dining room, and a beauty salon.

The listing agents are Bonnie Strickland and Jim DiMartino of Douglas Elliman/Strickland Group.

Photos via Zillow

Posted Jun. 24, 2019 & filed under NEWS VIEWS. HOME » NEWS VIEWS » FORMER ROWDIES OWNER IS SELLING HIS ST. PETE GUESTHOUSE FOR $6.2 MILLION
Tags: Bill Edwards, florida mansions, St. Pete homes for

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https://www.businessobserverfl.com/article/shave-cave-expansion-relocation-barbershop

Second barbershop business expands presence in area

St. Petersburg-based Shave Cave will relocate and double in size.

ST. PETERSBURG — Last week, Denver-based Floyd’s 99 Barbershop announced it’s expanding to south Tampa. Now a locally owned competitor, The Shave Cave, intends to relocate and double the size of its downtown St. Petersburg location.

Currently located in Bill Edwards’ Sundial retail, dining and entertainment complex, Shave Cave will move to 215 1st St. N. According to a press release, a grand opening is planned for fall 2019.

At 1,200 square feet, the new location will be double the size of the current Shave Cave, which markets itself as a classic barbershop for the modern man. The facility will feature six state-of-the-art barbering stations, a craft beer and wine lounge, big screen TVs, snacks and an arcade.

“I love St. Pete,” Shave Cave owner Max Glazer states in the release. “I couldn’t imagine growing anywhere else. Our commitment to our clients has fueled growth, and we’ve simply outgrown our current space. The new location will provide us the opportunity to better serve our guests, host larger groups, and offer more to our current and future clients. We can’t thank Mr. Edwards and the Sundial enough for the first five years, and we are looking forward to many years to come.”

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https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/charleston-battery-signs-bishop-england-soccer-star-right-out-of/article_cbea20c0-96be-11e9-8807-efd4645dbfaa.html

Charleston Battery signs Bishop England soccer star right out of high school

The Charleston Battery has signed former Bishop England High School soccer standout James Cox, pending league and federation approval.

Cox just wrapped up a successful high school career at Bishop England, located just a few miles away from the Battery’s MUSC Health Stadium on Daniel Island.

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https://www.valdostadailytimes.com/sports/national_sports/david-scott-would-major-league-soccer-work-in-charlotte-gold/article_f52ced43-e248-5f54-b586-9cc73ef0c899.html

David Scott: Would Major League Soccer work in Charlotte? Gold Cup’s success a reason why it would

Any doubt that Charlotte is ripe for Major League Soccer expansion? Sunday’s scene at Bank of America Stadium should have erased it.

A crowd of more than 50,000 — fueled by a raucous, daylong fan fest outside the stadium — were entertained by two entertaining Gold Cup games. Canada sealed its spot in the tournament’s quarterfinals with a 7-0 thumping over Cuba in the opener. Mexico, with its legions of fans roaring from the stands, played Martinique in the late game but had already clinched a quarterfinal spot with two earlier wins.

Sunday’s crowd isn’t a guarantee that a potential MLS franchise — which is being pursued by Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper — would be a success in Charlotte. But it did show that interest in supporting the game at a high level has been consistently strong over the past nine years.

Sunday was the third time Charlotte has hosted Gold Cup games — with the popular Mexican team being featured each time. Attendance in the Panthers’ 75,412-seat stadium for the games that decide CONCACAF’s championship has never been lower than 55,000.

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https://www.sporttechie.com/mls-don-garber-soccer-startups-league-growth/

MLS Commissioner Don Garber Calls for Startups to Accelerate His League

MLS Commissioner Don Garber speaks at the unveiling of a David Beckham statue. (Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

Startup accelerators and innovation hubs are increasingly turning their focus to the sports industry, MLS Commissioner Don Garber is welcoming their growth, seeing them as crucial to the league’s long-term development.

The wave of in-house accelerators and innovation hubs in sports has been driven by leagues and teams searching for technologies that can modernize their operations and help them remain relevant to new generations of fans. Earlier this month, Garber put out a call for more of them to pitch him with ideas that he might eventually be able to deploy on a league level.

MLS currently works with two active accelerators, which it runs through the venture capital firm R/GA. The league launched a strategic partnership with R/GA in June 2018 with a focus on identifying “groundbreaking technologies to drive continued growth of the MLS fanbase.” The league is also among the dozen sponsors of a separate R/GA project, called Global Sports Venture Studio, alongside UEFA, the NHL, Fox Sports, the Dodgers, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Adidas.

“The RGA accelerator is about trying to take as much of that energy we have over two or three specific ideas and going out to a startup space and thousands of potential folks and trying tp get them to pitch to us so we can invest in them and ultimately use that technology to achieve our goals,” Garber said.

At the heart of the league’s interest in the venture capital world is information. Garber said MLS is searching for data providers that might be able to offer its front office and its clubs analytics about players, fans, and operational efficiencies.

“The entire tech space, which is enamored with sports and data and analytics, has been very focused on how to use all that innovation to benefit player analytics, team, and fan insights,” he said. “For us it’s in the fan space: fan analytics—understanding who is going to our games, why they are going to our games, where they are when they’re in our stadiums, what’s turning them on, what’s turning them off, what can we do to motivate them to be more engaged with us.”

The commissioner also hinted that the league is considering several “event oriented” data-driven ideas as it works to test new technologies. The MLS is looking for “insight and understanding” into consumer behavior, such as using artificial intelligence to build predictive models about the likely actions of a fan. One product centered on player tracking may debut at the MLS All-Star game at the end of July, according to Garber.

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https://phillysoccerpage.net/2019/06/24/match-report-bethlehem-steel-1-2-tampa-bay-rowdies/

Match report: Bethlehem Steel 1-2 Tampa Bay Rowdies

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https://www.brotherlygame.com/2019/6/24/18715758/james-chambers-became-all-time-leading-goal-scorer-for-bethlehem-steel-in-100th-appearance

James Chambers became all-time leading goal scorer for Bethlehem Steel in 100th appearance

Chambers passed Cory Burke on the all-time scoring list with his 16th goal

James Chambers celebrated his 100th match for the Bethlehem Steel and became the club’s all-time leading goal scorer with a penalty kick in second half stoppage time at Goodman Stadium on Saturday.

The fierce competitor the 32-year-old Irishman has shown himself to be since joining the team in their inaugural season in 2016, he was more concerned with the final score.

“It was nice for sentimental reasons, but it doesn’t count for anything now because we’ve lost the game,” Chambers said after the game. “That’s the disappointing thing.”

Playing at Goodman Stadium for the first time since they beat the Tampa Bay Rowdies on the last day of the regular season last October, the visiting Rowdies took the lead with a pair of first half goals.

“I think it was a nice little touch,” Chambers aid about playing in Goodman Stadium again. “I was coming up in my car and I was telling my Mrs. as well that it was a nice little touch to come back to Goodman [Stadium] for the 100th game. It wasn’t in La Salle [University] and obviously we couldn’t be in Talen [Energy Stadium].”

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https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/c4tbxr/ralphs_mob_shows_their_pride/

Ralph's Mob Shows their Pride

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https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2019/06/24/ralph-s-mob-shows-their-pride

Ralph’s Mob Shows their Pride

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https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/c4v1x3/pride_night_tickets_prideraiser_food_drive/

Pride Night Tickets, Prideraiser, Food Drive, Merchandise Updates...A Busy Week Ahead!

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https://www.ralphsmob.com/post/pride-night-tickets-prideraiser-food-drive-a-busy-week-ahead

Pride Night Tickets, Prideraiser, Food Drive...A Busy Week Ahead

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https://www.clickliverpool.com/features/33670-major-league-soccer-where-aging-football-stars-go-to-retire/

Major League Soccer: Where Aging Football Stars Go to Retire?

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http://www.hastingstribune.com/sports/david-scott-would-major-league-soccer-work-in-charlotte-gold/article_20cb364b-658d-5565-8f63-f9df1dfc2e92.html

David Scott: Would Major League Soccer work in Charlotte? Gold Cup’s success a reason why it would

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https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/jun/24/wayne-rooney-represent-dc-united-mls-all-star-game/

Wayne Rooney to represent D.C. United in MLS All-Star Game

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https://sports.yahoo.com/martinez-wondolowski-join-rooney-mls-star-squad-214515343--sow.html

Martinez, Wondolowski join Rooney in MLS All-Star squad

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https://sportstalkflorida.com/soccer/mls/https-wp-me-p81oan-1mzn/

Raleigh, North Carolina Investors Want A Major League Soccer Franchise

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https://www.reddit.com/r/TampaBayRowdies/comments/c50373/food_drive/

Food Drive

Dear Rowdies (specifically Ralphs Mob)

I clicked a link in here and saw y'all are having a food drive this Saturday? I'm an Ottawa Fury fan, but y'all care if I bring stuff? I've got some non-perishable food cans at my place that I brought down from Canada (they don't expire till like 2021 or 2022). Just trying to help out the community, anyways see y'all Saturday