The last-minute marathon negotiating sessions that come with nearly every labor dispute have finally begun in MLS.  Player reps met with the league for eight hours on Tuesday. Seattle’s Freddie Ljungberg says he’s been assured there won’t be a work stoppage, and he’ll report to training on Feb. 1, the day after the league’s collective bargaining agreement expires.

Philadelphia Union training camp stories from the Philadelphia Daily News and Delaware County Times.

Setanta will stop broadcasting in the U.S. on Feb. 28. Will anyone notice?

World Cup tickets aren’t selling well, with one-third still unsold. Apparently, even the English don’t want to go to South Africa,  now that they’ve cut back on the whole imperialism thing.

The AP has a good story on why Ruud Gullitt failed with the Los Angeles Galaxy. He blamed it in part on the U.S. culture, which apparently just sucks.

English club Crystal Palace faces bankruptcy, but it supposedly won’t affect their sister club in Baltimore, where a new stadium is under consideration.

Salt Lake City is considering a massive soccer complex, with help from Real Salt Lake.  The Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas have large collections of soccer fields around their stadiums that are used by local teams. Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, we continue to play on rocks and patchy grass.

Did you know that Barack Obama is a West Ham fan?  Neither did we. WTF? Apparently, Osama bin Laden is an Arsenal fan. He probably liked their name.

In May, a book will be published with the title of “Long Range Goals: The Success Story of Major League Soccer”. How much do you want to bet the writer’s hoping there’s no work stoppage?

The other Seattle Fred, Fredy Montero, may be off to Turkey, where a fat contract may await him at Fenerbahce.

Finally, check out ESPN’s interview with Bob Bradley.