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When I first heard about the potential new stadium for the Dynamo, I favored it on the condition that the deal would be like it was reported – the city contributed the land and the team paid for the rest of it. Then the city committed to purchasing a bunch of land just east of downtown for the stadium, but they failed to get anything in writing from the Dynamo, and the Dynamo were implying that the terms had changed, and gave an April 1 deadline for reaching an agreement.

That deadline has passed.

According to team president Oliver Luck, most MLS teams enter into partnerships with cities wherein the city pays 90 percent of the cost of the stadium. Now, this is a lot different than the city providing the land and the team building the stadium. I don’t even think that Drayton McLane, Les Alexander or Bob McNair were able to get that kind of sweetheart deal.

One year ago today I wrote my first post for Houstoned Ballz – I’m still not sold on that title – and I used the space to say that Brad Lidge was on his way to another disastrous season. I’m not writing about baseball today. There’s no need to get too depressed, at least not until the season starts. Instead, I’m going to respond to some reader mail I got.

A regular commenter recently sent me a note asking about the latest on the Houston Dynamo stadium situation. I’m not going to reveal his name, because I don’t want to ruin his reputation, but I thought the least I could do for someone who’s been reading me for the better part of a year was to answer his question.

I can't believe I'm about to write this post. First, because I hate soccer. (Yes, I know it's the great worldwide sport, but I find it the game to be as boring as a Richard Attenborough biopic.) Second, because I hate it when cities help to finance new sporting palaces for rich team owners. But yet, this post I'm writing.

Various Houston media sources are reporting that the city has signed letters of intent to acquire enough tracts of land between the George R. Brown and MMP -- on the other side of the freeway -- to build the Houston Dynamo their own, brand new, pleasure palace.

There just seems to be a hold up. The Dynamo have yet to sign any papers, and there's still some haggling going on over who's paying for what. It appears that for once in this city, the owner of a sports franchise is actually going to pay the cost of building the pleasure palace, which would be quite the welcome relief. But the Dynamo are trying to get the city to pony up the cost for all of the infrastructure development.

Yesterday the Dynamo became just the second team in history to win back-to-back Major League Soccer titles, taking down the New England Revolution 2-1.

After falling behind 0-1, the Dynamo scored twice in the second half, thanks to the quick feet of Joseph Ngwenya and – you know it – Dwayne De Rosario.

And it’s not Steve Harris. Check out the latest marketing blitz from the Dynamo. All in all, not a bad idea. – Margaret Downing

If you were watching the Major League Soccer All-Star game last night, you might have noticed something. These guys can’t get enough of David Beckham.

Seriously, we get it. He’s coming to play for the MLS, he’s one of the best players ever, him being here will do a lot for American soccer, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, got it, thanks. During the game it was almost as if the announcers had some Beckham quota they had to meet. His name was said at least every five minutes, either that or they cut to a shot of him watching the game. That’s right, Beckham’s name was probably said more times than any other player’s name and he wasn’t even playing.

Hey girls, tired of how confusing soccer is? Want to find out why your boyfriend can’t peel his eyes away from the game? Or do you just want to meet some cute soccer boys?

[insert girl giggles and shrieks here]

Yeah, we weren’t exactly drawn in either when we received the press release from The Hucksters, a PR agency that apparently thinks most women are clueless when it comes to soccer. The agency is hosting an event called Houston Dynamo Soccer 101, which is aimed at teaching all the clueless women of Houston about the sport.

It looked good for the Scribes. We were up 4-0 at the half, and halfway into the second half we were still shutting the Throats out. The game was part of the Dynamo’s inaugural Media Match, which pits Houston media against Houston media – radio and television (Throats) vs. print (Scribes). In the last six minutes, however, they got recovered in a comeback that tied the game at 4-4. The Throats then took the victory in a shoot out, which Stephen Colbert once described perfectly during the World Cup, “like deciding the last game of the NBA Finals on a game of horse.”

But we all had fun. And hey, where else in the dog-eat-dog world of media are you going to see journalists working together and slapping hi-fives? However, don’t be surprised if you hear a number of radio and television new personalities talking about how they schooled a bunch of newspaper reporters. (That is, however, if their writers remember to put it in their script/teleprompter. Oh, SNAP!)

Looks like someone has designed the perfect T-shirt for this Sunday's Dynamo game against F.C. Dallas.

-- Keith Plocek

I want to love soccer. I really do. Oh, we’ve had our torrid flings in the past. In fact, I’ll never forget the first time we hooked up. It was the summer of ’96 and I was young, carefree and looking to sow my wild oats while working abroad. We met in a pub just outside of London, where the European Championship was taking place that year. After a few initial awkward moments, we found some common ground and the chemistry was undeniable. It was fresh, exotic and mysterious; you know, everything you would ever want and hope for in a summer romance. The more time we spent together, the deeper I fell. What can I say? I had never experienced such an intoxicating combination of passion and beauty before. I was smitten.

Of course, you know how these relationships end up. They never work. When the summer came to a close, I returned home and that was that. Sure, we checked in on each other once in awhile, but we both knew it wasn’t the same. Before long, our correspondence consisted of nothing more than an extended catch-up session that took place every four years. The ocean between us had conspired to douse the fire within my heart and though I still felt fondly toward my former flame, I moved on and didn’t waste much time thinking about it.

That is, until fate intervened ten years later.

On Friday, the Houston Dynamo will announce the roster of the inaugural Dynamo Girls entertainment squad. A press release describes the Girls as “the team behind the team,” which sounds like the setup for a joke that’s best avoided. Dynamo Girls factoids: “A few of the Girls are teachers. One is a psychotherapist,” and, to work the meta factor, “another is a collegiate soccer player.” The occupations of the remaining 14 have thus remained a mystery.The unveiling will take place at ROCBAR in Bayou Place.

“First, our mascot, Dynamo Diesel. Now, the Dynamo Girls,” Dynamo President Oliver Luck raved in the press release, thus putting these 17 women on par with a dude in a big orange fox outfit. Named effing Diesel. But anyway…come to ROCBAR to support the first-ever Dynamo Girls lineup and then check out the Dynamo take on Chivas USA the following day. Who knows, maybe you can carpool with the girls. -- Craig Malisow

It was a cold day to sit on an aluminum bench for the kind of outcome that gives non-soccer fans the chance to lecture: “See, soccer is boring.” Ninety minutes of regular play and three minutes of stoppage time tagged on and the result of the Dynamo home opener against Los Angeles Galaxy was a goose egg tie. The biggest cheers were for Ryan Cochane as he walked majestically off the field after he got a red card for grabbing the jersey of Robbie Findley as Findley was on his way to what appeared to be a sure fire goal.

Add to that was one of the lamest halftimes ever. Last season the Dynamo promoted local kid players during the break, bringing teams on to battle it out at Robertson Stadium. This time they had Dynamo Diesel, the team’s mascot in the form of a fox. A fox? WTF? And he was boring.