Expansion Draft

On Wednesday, the MLS expansion draft took place.  With the second pick in the draft, Seattle selected RSL defender/midfielder Nathan Sturgis.  

Sturgis was a player that RSL acquired in the trade with the Los Angeles Galaxy that sent Chris Klien to LA for Robbie Findley and Nathan Sturgis.  

Sturgis has not played a lot for RSL, as he has been plagued by injuries.  In this past season, he only played in 3 games.  He had a lot of potential, but was not able to show it.

So, what do you guys think of this selection by Seattle?  Were you pleased by the pick, or would you rather have seen somebody else selected by Seattle?

Expansion Draft

On Wednesday the MLS expansion draft will take place, as the Seattle Sounders will be joining the league for competition in 2009.  Below is the list of players who RSL chose to protect (you were allowed to protect 11 players only), as well as players automatically protected through generation adidas, as well as players who we left unprotected.

Protected

1. Kyle Beckerman
2. Nick Rimando
3. Javier Morales
4. Jamison Olave
5. Will Johnson
6. Yura Movsisyan
7. Robbie Findley
8. Nat Borchers
9. Robbie Russell
10. Chris Wingert
11. Fabian Espindola

Generation Adidas (Automatically Protected)

1. Chris Seitz
2. Tony Beltran
3. Alex Nimo

Unprotected

1. Andy Williams
2. Nathan Sturgis
3. Dema Kovalenko
4. Kenny Deuchar
5. Ian Joy
6. Clint Mathis
7. David Horst
8. Brennan Tennelle
9. Kevin Reiman
10. Kyle Reynish
11. Tino Nunez

What do you guys think of this list?  I must say that I am bummed to see Andy, Dema, Kenny and Ian on this list, but I cannot think of anybody who I would take off of the protected list to protect these guys.  I think that I can get over anybody but Andy leaving us, as his story has really been a focus of RSL this year.  We will have to see on Monday.

Welcome

Hey there everybody, I would like to welcome everybody to my new blog, "View From the North Goal."  In the upcoming 2009 season, I will be watching every home RSL game from the north goal, and I think that this is going to be a great season coming up.  I will have extensive coverage of the RSL off-season, and the season to come, as well as info on other soccer events that are happening around the globe.  

Feel free to leave me a comment.