Sons of Ben
Jonathan Tannenwald
BREAKING NEWS MUST CREDIT... the AP wire from last month?
A photo of the Sons of Ben celebrating Carlos Ruiz's goal in the Union's home opener against Vancouver is being featured on the Drudge Report today.
Not surprisingly, this got the attention of the Internet.
Jonathan Tannenwald
Sorry this is so late. The reason, to be frank, is that people were slow in voting. But the Union having the weekend off gave me a bit more time to get this up.
Goalkeeper
Faryd Mondragón: 6.51
- "Mondragón was good again, along with the defense. It was really weak to give up the 3 pts. on a late goal but given the conditions, I'll give them a mulligan." (Dave Q.)
Jonathan Tannenwald
UPDATE: I changed the bus stop intersection for getting to Widener after getting some new information from the Independence. See below.
Tomorrow has the potential to be a pretty special day for local soccer fans.
Although there isn't going to be a proper Union-Independence doubleheader at PPL Park this season, tomorrow will bring us as close as we will get. The Union play the Seattle Sounders at 4 p.m. at PPL Park, then the Independence play their home opener against the team formerly known as the Washington Freedom at 6 p.m.
Jonathan Tannenwald
As best I can tell, we got the most responses in Rank and File history this week. So congratulations to all of you for that. You all had a lot to say, too, so let's get right to your player ratings for Saturday's game.
Goalkeeper
Faryd Mondragón: 7.65
- "Mondragón was energetic, commanding ... and very, very lucky. He was caught completely flat-footed on the Agudelo shot which hit the post and was out of position on the shot which hit the crossbar." (Fake Peter Nowak)
Jonathan Tannenwald
A reminder to check out the first part of my exclusive interview with ESPN soccer commentator Adrian Healey. Click here to read it.
This schedule is worth taking note of. With kickoff time scheduled for just after 7:00 p.m., there aren't many scheduled postgame trains to Center City. So I think you will want to make sure you are out of PPL Park quickly enough that you can make the 9:43 p.m. departure.
You won't have to really rush, but since the next train after that isn't for another two hours, the timing of things after the game is something you should keep in mind.
Pregame service
From Center City
| Market East | Suburban | 30th Street | Chester |
| 2:29 p.m. | 2:34 p.m. | 2:38 p.m. | 3:04 p.m. |
| 3:29 p.m. | 3:34 p.m. | 3:38 p.m. | 4:03 p.m. |
| 4:29 p.m. | 4:34 p.m. | 4:38 p.m. | 5:04 p.m. |
| 5:29 p.m. | 5:34 p.m. | 5:38 p.m. | 6:03 p.m. |
From Newark, Wilmington, Marcus Hook and Chester
| Newark | Wilmington | Marcus Hook | Chester |
| ----------- | ----------- | 3:47 p.m. | 3:53 p.m. |
| ----------- | 4:36 p.m. | 4:48 p.m. | 4:54 p.m. |
| ----------- | 5:35 p.m | 5:47 p.m. | 5:53 p.m. |
Postgame service
To Center City
| Chester | 30th Street | Suburban | Market East |
| 9:43 p.m. | 10:10 p.m. | 10:15 p.m. | 10:20 p.m. |
| 11:24 p.m. | 11:51 p.m. | 11:56 p.m. | 12:01 a.m. |
To Marcus Hook, Wilmington and Newark
| Chester | Marcus Hook | Wilmington | Newark |
| 9:04 p.m. | 9:10 p.m. | 9:22 p.m. | ----------- |
| 10:55 p.m. | 11:01 p.m. | ----------- | ----------- |
Jonathan Tannenwald
Sorry this is a day late. I've had so many projects with my real job to work on over the last day and a half that I couldn't get this up yesterday.
(For those of you who don't know, the job I actually get paid to do is working as a night editor of Philly.com's sports pages. So that takes priority. It is what it is, and it's a real job with real benefits, so I'm not complaining.)
Anyway, before we get to your ratings from Saturday's game against the Galaxy, I wanted to talk about tonight's game real quick.
Jonathan Tannenwald
I had more than enough to say yesterday about Saturday's game, so now it's your turn. Here are your player ratings and comments on the Union's win over Vancouver.
Goalkeeper
Faryd Mondragón: 7.92
- "Mondragón continues to show why the Union went after him. A calming presence on the defense, he's shown he can work the refs a bit, which is in valuable." (Joe Grady)
- "He must think MLS is easy, he comes in and posts shutouts. Can he skate?" (Nick Youngstein)
Jonathan Tannenwald
Another sign that the soccer season is truly upon us: I give you the information you need to know in order to get to PPL Park by rail.
As with last year, there will be a free shuttle service from the Chester Transportation Center starting four hours before the match. With tomorrow's kickoff set for 4 p.m., here's how the schedule stacks up.
Earlier today, I posted an exclusive interview with ESPN soccer commentator Ian Darke previewing tomorrow night's U.S.-Argentina game at the Meadowlands. Check it out here.
Jonathan Tannenwald
Here we go again with another season of your player ratings from each Union game. We have a lot more voters this year, which I'm very happy about. If you'd like to join in, just email me and I'll add you to the list.
Goalkeeper
Faryd Mondragón: 8.17
- "The new captain has a clear calming presence on the rest of the team, especially the defense." (Isaac B.)
- "Mondragon just oozes confidence, charisma and leadership. Barely touched the ball yet had a huge influence on his team." (Alex Seldin)
Jonathan Tannenwald
Believe it or not, the 2011 Major League Soccer season starts tonight.
Yes, really.
The first of 306 fixtures this season kicks off at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time tonight, as the Seattle Sounders host the Los Angeles Galaxy at Qwest Field. ESPN will broadcast the match beginning at 9:30, or perhaps a bit later if the Harvard-Oklahoma State basketball game runs long.
Reach Jonathan at jtannenwald@phillynews.com or 215-854-2330.
