Quality of Life Index: End of Offseason Entering Pre-season 2011

Apparently most of our off season transfers got snowed in and couldn't make it...

So the last time we brought you the Quality Of Life Index it was somewhere around the halfway point of the offseason, with pre-season having started we look at what's gone on since the last QoL post.

TDIF Band Of The Week-The Appreciation Post

Alright all you power pop fans this week we present to you The Appreciation Post, probably one of the most underrated bands in Boston right now.  Who doesn't like some good upbeat party music from time to time? The Appreciation Post are playing a special 90's theme party this Friday at TT the Bear's in Cambridge with The Organ Beats, Zombie Radio, and Mr Fyner and The Tech Ed Room.  90's cover songs will be played and well just a lot of 90's stuff apparently, but we highly suggest going if you like the video below and so as always we present the video...


(We must warn you... both a Fred Perry Shirt and Ben Sherman shirt were harmed in the making of this video)



AWESOME 90's PARTY! The Appreciation Post, Organ Beats, & more!
Download their music for free here.

Ultras Possibly Leading Egyptian Protests

In an interview with Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah on Al Jazeera, he makes mention of Egyptian Ultras being involved in the leadership of the protests going on in Egypt right now. This story is starting to circulate in soccer cirles and is certainly an interesting development. We are going to keep an eye on this part of an obviously very complex story that for the most part we have no business talking about.

Read what others have to say that do have more business talking about it:

Inside the Egyptian Revolution 
Are soccer supporters groups leading Egyptian protests?

DC United Release Third Kit

 

I must say this are mighty slick... way better than Seattle's electric yellow kits that were released last year.  DC released the kit today during a special event at the Washington Auto Show.  In addition there is a giant 15x15 foot version hanging in the main lobby of the Washington Convention Center for the duration of the auto show.

A portion of the sales from these jerseys will got to Red Card Cancer, a fundraising initiative for cancer research in partnership with Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

Red Card Cancer

TDIF and Rev Army Present "This Is New England Not L.A." March 20, 2011

Finally we can announce this!!!  Our event!  We in conjunction with the Rev Army are hosting our Revolution season opener party  "This Is New England Not L.A." The lovely people at Church will be hosting us and we look forward to doing more events like this!  Legendary Boston ska band The Allstonians will be headlining with soon to be Boston punk legends The Snipes opening for them as soon as the game is over... win or lose not matter... we will rock... Pre-game and in between sets Brigade Loco (featuring members of the TDIF team) will be spinning punk, ska reggae, soul, new wave and whatever the hell else they want!  We are still workign on a fe other things but this is not an event to be missed.

Yes the game is on a Sunday night but we promise we'll be done by midnight at the latest so come out watch the game and enjoy some tunes.  Cover only applies if you show up after 8:30.... but you are coming to watch the game aren't you?  By the way the cover will only go to support the awesome bands that are playing for us and not into our pockets!  Any questions feel free to email us!

Facebook Event


http://www.churchofboston.com
http://www.allstonians.com
http://www.thesnipesboston.com
http://www.revolutionsoccer.net

TDIF Band Of The Week-Tim Armstrong

Ok so this album (A Poet's Life) is a few years old but I just started listening to it again and well it's a pretty fucking awesome album.  Tim Armstrong of Rancid does his Reggae/Ska thing backed by perhaps the best modern day reggae/ska band The Aggrolites... There had been rumors of a second album but nothing as of yet has happened.  Watch the videos and enjoy (If you go to YouTube there is one of these noir style videos for pretty much the entire album)...

Chivas Have Some Coronas... What should the Revs have?

"CARSON, Calif. (Tuesday, January 25, 2011) – In a landmark agreement between Club Deportivo Chivas USA of Major League Soccer and Grupo Modelo, the leading beer company in Mexico and one of the top brewers in the world, Corona Extra has become the presenting sponsor of Chivas USA. The multiyear agreement will see the logo of Corona Extra, the leading brand in Mexico and the top imported beer in the United States, on Chivas USA team gear, as well as having a significant and visible presence at Chivas USA’s home games and other events." (link)

So Chivas has officially picked up Corona as their new jersey sponsor, in light of that news we drew up some what if's for the Revolution... remember support your locals.  (Although the free money from a jersey sponsor sure would be great to pay for a Designated Player or something...)

Sporting KC Players Get Into A Fight With Supporters...

...A snowball fight that is... Sporting KC's Kei Kamara organized the snowball fight over Twitter and well it's just some good old fashioned winter fun.

With Boston set to get 6-10 inches of snow tomorrow do any Revolution players or staffer want to duel? We're down for it...

Check out more pictures at Westside Studio KC

Recent Pickups

Looking to the start of the season we know all too well that it will be cold, a cold that gets seriously bitter after a few hours of tailgating. Of course, the warm embrace of pre-game booze is always comforting, however, a good jacket can also help. Here at TDIF we abide to the 'drink local' ideology as much as possible, so why not dress local too?

If you are looking for a new jacket to blow part of your christmas bonus on look no further than Penfield (www.penfieldusa.com). This is a New England company making clothes for New England weather.

Having recently, and accurately, been described as "paler than an Alsakan ghost" (yeah, I would ghost lurk on Sarah Palin) it is no secret that I like cold games in which I can cover up, something I can now do in the jacket pictured above.

New York Cosmos Have A Broader Market Reach Than The Revolution

... and they don't even exist yet... What the hell... what the hell...  Look at these pictures from their little publicity stunt today.

The Cosmos have just hired on the legendary Manchester United player Eric Cantona as their Director of Soccer... are you kidding me?!??  Says Eric Cantona, “I am very honored to join the legendary club New York Cosmos. It’s a big project, a wonderful project. The Cosmos are very strong, beautifully made, with a great past. It’s kind of a mix between football and art.  In addition to my artistic engagements, I will do everything that I can to help us first find our way to regain the #1 position in the United States, and then for us to become one of the best clubs in the world over the coming years.”

Here is a 'team' that has never played a game, do not have a league, do not have a stadium (well the Revs don't either), and do not even have any players, yet they are making bigger splashes than many MLS teams, Revolution especially included.  Honestly I am not sure whether I am angry, sad or impressed by this.  They are doing something that we as Revolution supporters can only dream of, yet we have a team and are in a league.  One can only hope that as the league grows the Revs will grow with it, however it is sad to see that the Revolution need to go with it.

TDIF Band Of The Week-Dropkick Murphys

Seriously, Dropkicks? You ask... yes we answer.  DKM has just announced their new album Going Out In Style coming out on March 1st.  Rolling Stone has the new single Memorial Day streaming on their site now, check it out here.

Dropkicks will continue their St. Patrick's extravaganza yet again this year at the House of Blues.  Against Me! has been announced as direct support for all shows, no other openers have been announced yet but DKM has always been very good to local bands by putting them on these shows to gain some exposure and we hope for more of the same.

And now, as always on the BoW posts... some you tube action....

March 26th 4:30 Kickoff... The Revs HomeOpener... Survival Tips...

Get your grills and coolers ready, the Revolution's first home game is March, 26th vs. DC at 4:30pm.  That means, unless you make other arrangements, the tailgate lots open at 2:30.  So this must be something unique to American soccer... the tailgate... please let me know if I am wrong.  For those of you who a) aren't from the US or b) have lived under a rock your entire life, since many soccer stadiums aren't in neighborhoods like they are in other parts of the world there aren't really bars/pubs for supporters to go to before the match.  Now for us in New England our stadium is in the middle of absolutely nowhere and requires you to drive, since we drive we bring the party to the parking lots, beer food and all.

So many of you are used to this by now but we're going to give some suggestions...

REVOLUTION DP THREAT LEVEL: ELEVATED

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentleman,

We have gathered some interesting intelligence today and there is enough to lead us to believe that Juan Pablo Angel may be a target for the New England Revolution.   It is still early on and we are still trying to find out more information.  JPA's rights are currently held by LA Galaxy and negations for his rights would need to happen.  As we have said this is early and details are still coming out so this is still a very fluid situation, that being said we decided the people must know of this elevated threat level even if we are jumping the gun.

Revolution Sign Didier Domi

Alright the Revs actually signed someone before training camp started!! Shit before the Draft! The first of many seriously needed steps for the Revolution. We are cautiously optimistic over the signing of 32 year old, French LB, Didier Domi.

Domi who was out of contract at Olympiacos in Greece has an impressive resume including Paris Saint-Germain, Newcastle, Leeds United and Espanyol.  He comes the Revs with UEFA Champions League and Europa Cup experience as well.

Domi's experience should help to shore up the Revs backline and fill one of the many holes in the Revolution roster.  However the Revolution still need to make some major moves for attacking players.  His age is of some worry as we have had bad experience (Jankauskus) with aging European players.  We hope that he'll be able to keep up during the summer heat and playing on Field Turf.  Domi only played 60 games in four years with Olympiacos so one must worry about why that is, whether it be health, form or if he was just out of favor.

Domi has a transfer value of around $975k but at this time we do not have any salary information.  Domi has not been signed as a DP, if we had to guess about salary we would estimate in the $200k range.  We will look for more details and keep you updated as we find out more

TDIF Band Of The Week-Cee Lo Green

Ok, I realize we've taken a couple of weeks off but we're back this week with Cee Lo Green.

Cee Lo Green got his start in Atlanta when he was 18 with Goodie Mob, he's released 2 other solo albums that have not done all that well.  He is also known for his work as part Gnarls Barkley. That song "Crazy" still gets stuck in my head and it's nowhere near as good as his current work.

Speaking of his current work, it has a throwback sound of 60's and 70's soul and R&B, but still maintains a modern/current edge... and it works without sounding like it's trying to hard.  It's a sound that is lacking these days, I love old soul and R&B but would never listen to what falls under those classifications today.  Oh and there's real music too... not samples and computer beats... fancy that... instruments for soul music!!

Now if you haven't scene the video for "Fuck You" you quite possibly have been living under a rock for the past few months so we'll start off with that, followed by a live version of it from when he performed on the BBC show Later... With Jools Holland.  After the "Fuck You" videos check out some of his other songs that are really quite good...

2022 World Cup Will Most Likely Be Held In Winter.... So Much For Respecting the International Calendar...

We bring you this gem off the wire from Reuters... it's amazing what greed and corruption can do:


(Reuters) - The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will probably be staged in January rather than June or July, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said for the first time on Friday.

Speaking to a media roundtable in the Qatari capital before the opening match of the Asian Cup, he said: "I expect it will be held in the winter.
"We have time to look at this question, it is still 11 years away but we must decide the most adequate period for a successful World Cup which means January or the end of the year."

Summer temperatures in Qatar can soar to over 40 degrees Celsius while those in the winter months are far more comfortable.

Fred Is Too Sexy For The Revs, Too Sexy For The Revs, So Sexy It Huuuuurts

We only post this because it gives us another chance to use this video...



From MLS SOCCER

"MLS veteran Fred appears to be entertaining different career options instead of signing with the New England Revolution, the team that drafted him during last month’s Stage 2 of the Re-Entry Draft.

Revs officials have confirmed that the 31-year-old Brazilian is currently “pursuing other opportunities abroad” after he appeared in 25 games last season for the expansion Philadelphia Union. New England picked Fred with the only selection of the second round of Stage 2 on Dec. 15, with an eye on potentially bringing in a playmaker to a team that missed the postseason last year for the first time since 2001.

Originally from Belo Horizonte, Fred spent a decade playing in his native Brazil and Australia before joining D.C. United in 2007. He appeared in 72 games for United before he was dealt to the Union, where he scored four goals and was a vital veteran presence during the team’s first season in MLS."

So what really happened to the Revolution's Mauricio Castro?

(Note: Due to better translation we found Castro's knee was injured not ankle)

When Mauricio Castro left the Revolution there wasn't much known about him.  From 2008-2010 he made only 30 appearances for the Revs and never really made a mark on the team.  In the Rev's final playoff game of 2009 against the Chicago Fire, Castro had a run in with the Fire's Cuauhtemoc Blanco, while at the time he didn't seem to be hurt too badly he later realized it was much more serious than previously thought.

In an interview with Honduran newspaper La Tribuna he states that come January he had problems running and had apparently torn ankle cartilage in the incident with Blanco.  Obviously an injury like this should have been something that he should have spoke up about as soon as he realized there was a problem but he did not, however what is even more damning is the way according to him that he was treated by the Revolution.

Fans.... Football and Music

Fans from Colm Sheenan on Vimeo

I cam across this interesting documentary comparing Irish Manchester United Fans and U2 fans. You could very easily replace the team or band and still come up with a similar piece that shows and highlights the similarities in passion for supporting your favorite team or supporting your favorite band... well worth a watch.