Dan Borislow, who is the owner of WPS team magicJack, had filed a lawsuit in a Florida court seeking to prevent, in the suit’s words, “the League’s threatened immediate termination of the Team as a League member” after their abysmal showing last year. The suit was made public a by the league and claimed Borislow was “asking a Florida court to bar the League from exercising its right to terminate his franchise at the end of the season for breach of his contractual obligations.” Obviously, its completely untenable for any league to operate without the ability to control what teams can play in it, and compel owners to follow those rules.

The battle between the league and Borislow has been well publicized with the owner feuding with the league over everything from game day scheduling to pitch side billboard, which Borislow complained were a rip off. After being fined draft picks, naming rights, and everything else under the disciplinary sun the WPS finally had enough and voted to terminate his franchise, and his ownership. At the time the suit was filed, Mark Washo, managing partner of sports agency Playbook Management International, said he hoped the dispute could be resolved and quickly.

“There [is] enough general interest in Women’s Soccer for WPS to capitalize on, to slowly build and grow a sustainable professional league,” Washo wrote in an email. “However, the ‘battle’ must be fought externally to win over fans, media, ticket buyers and sponsors. Therefore, the more time and energy WPS spends with internal issues, only detracts from the external efforts needed to continue to capitalize on the momentum of Women’s World Cup. I hope all sides can come together to work through the challenges, so the owners can be united in building the league these gifted athletes deserve to play in.”

Unfortunately, it seems the potential legal cost of fighting Borislow’s suit has sunk the whole league. We always knew the WPS had a small budget, and has been struggling, but the true story here may not be the lawsuit itself bringing down the league, but its own lack of success. A successful league, even one in its infancy, should easily be able to fend off a lawsuit from a disgruntled owner, and its unbelievable that the WPS cannot come up with the money to fight back. It may be that overspending on marketing, under-performing sponsorship contracts, and a lack of TV ad dollars have finally taken their toll, and while Borislow undoubtedly bears some of the blame here, it seems he’s only hammered the final nail into the coffin.

There may be someway back from the brink for the league, and it remains to be seen how all this plays out, but it seems one way or another Dan Borislow will no longer be welcome as part of it.

Written by: Matthew Wall, editor, soccerprose.com

- Credit for quotes: http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-opinion/6830670/women-professional-soccer-league-turmoil

These youth soccer cleats are made from a soft, pvc-free synthetic leather, and are very durable. For me, this is one of the biggest positives of these shoes as there is nothing worse for a parent than having to buy two pairs of youth cleats in one season. They are also easy to clean and have a good fit to them giving a great ball feel for any player. A high-density die-cut recycled EVA sockliner keeps feet comfortable on the inside, and helps the shoes stay smelling fresh for longer.

Another cool feature on these shoes are the inject rubber bottom that combines conical rubber forefoot studs and bladed studs on the heel for a great compromise in traction and stud pressure reduction. The rubber cleats on the bottom mean this shoe can be used on turf field as well with out too much discomfort for the player or damage to the turf. Overall, its a rough and tumble shoe for rough and tumble kids that will hold up well, play on different surfaces, and won’t break the bank. You can pick u pa pair today from our favorite sponsor, soccerpro.com

Written by: Matthew Wall, editor, soccerprose.com

Another great thing about these gloves is a finger grips. Whenever you have to wear gloves, it always becomes hard to grip the ball for throw-ins. With these gloves, that problem will cease to exist. All of the fingertips have grips and the index finger and thumb have grips that go all the way down the fingers. This will help to give you enough grip to do proper throw-ins for now on. These are currently going for $26.99 which at first seems a little pricy. However, these will help you perform basic soccer plays with the new grips as well as stay warm with the fleece. These gloves are a great buy and you will be extremely happy once they are in your possession.

Written By: Eric Stoyanov, Contributing Writer, soccerprose.com

Fourteen minutes into the game Sharp found the back of the net with a lovely volley and burst into to tears as he lifted up his jersey to reveal a t-shirt saying “Thats for you son.”

Rovers manager Dean Saunders said Sharp had wanted to score for his boy saying, “He rung me and asked if he could play – he wanted to play. He wanted to score a goal for his son and his family and he was ready to go. When he said that to me I couldn’t really refuse.”

The action of revealing a message on a T-shirt is usually followed by a yellow card, but referee Darren Deadman chose not to apply the letter of the law on this occasion in light of the circumstances and deserves praise. The Rovers’ subsequent defeat was almost forgotten as fans and players took to Twitter and Facebook to pay tribute to the Sheffield-born player and his wife.

Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray added praise after the match saying: “Taking the professionalism out of it, I’m delighted for the boy that he’s scored such a fantastic goal on such an occasion for him. It’s amazing to think for anyone who’s had children the emotional drain that must have been with him – I couldn’t put it into words. For him to score a wonder-goal, your headlines should be there really – a goal from heaven.”

Its truly a tragic occasion for both Sharp and his wife Jade, and if you’d like to leave a message of support here is his Twitter @BillySharp10. Messages have already porued in, but I’m sure they’d could always do with a few more.

Style
As I stated above, the brand new color scheme consists of white, black, and yellow. The shoe is made out of synthetic leather with cloth around the sock liner and heel. The front of the shoe as well as the inner side of the toe box has overlays that help provide extra durability. Another feature that gives added durability is that the toe and inner front side of the shoe have a tougher material to help protect against the toes tearing apart from the tough indoor surface. The sock liner is made out of a soft cloth that helps provide great comfort and breathability. The outsole consists of low profile, non-marking rubber that is designed for ultimate traction and control on the ball.

Feel
These Elastico’s feel incredible on your foot. The leather is extremely soft for ultimate comfort and durability. The cloth that surrounds the heel and sock liner is very soft and feels much better than the shoes that are made out of leather. It takes no time to break these in and you will not have the problems with blisters that you can have from sock liners that are made of leather. The support on the forefoot and heel are also very good. They provide good comfort and a lot of stability that sometimes is lacking in indoor shoes. Another nice thing about these Elastico’s is that they are extremely lightweight which is very nice for indoor shoes. However, they do run a little narrow which is something you should take into account when purchasing these shoes.

Overall
These new Junior Nike5 Elastico’s are a great shoe at a great price. They cost $34.99 which is not too steep of a price for the quality shoe you are getting. The combination of comfort, durability, and lightness make this a great option for any young player that is about to start their indoor season.

Written By: Eric Stoyanov, Contributing Writer, soccerprose.com

To enter, you need to get on Facebook, and like soccerpro.com’s Facebook page, which you can find here. PS3, Xbox, PS2, and Wii formats are available and the contest ends September 27th, 2012.

Posted by: Matthew Wall, editor, soccerprose.com

This colorway was released to coincide with the anodized purple/electricity/infrared color scheme, so they’re of course both vying for the hearts of adizero wearers everywhere. Factor in the white leather scheme, and you’ve got quite the competition between adizero boots. While not my favorite of the three, I still believe the electricity and infrared is a solid, appealing option fit for a lot of players out there.
The primary color for these boots is of course the electricity, which is basically a bright yellow-green, leaning more on the yellow side of things. The primary color is then complemented by purple and red accents, or “anodized” purple and “infrared,” respectively. The purple accents are realized through the pattern at the toes, the heel cup, sock liner, tongue and laces; the red accents come in the three stripes, tips of the studs and the smooth yet edgy lines moving from the toes to the mid-foot. The one criticism I’ve heard is that this looks a little like a Joker scheme from Batman. On the one hand, such criticism implies a comic book, cartoonish look to the soccer shoes, but on the other hand, it implies a kind of flair and a kind of unique style. As a speed boot, the adizero is almost required to have a flashy, loud element to them; this specific colorway takes flashy and loud to the limit and announces your feet on the pitch. While not my personal style, I still think these boots look great on the feet and will provide plenty of style for those who strap on a pair.

You can also expect the same design and quality construction out of this boot as you do any other adizero. The upper is made out of synthetic SprintSkin, which is a lot of the reason the adizero weighs in at a whopping 5.8 ounces. The chassis is the same sprintframe with molded traxion cleats strategically placed to provide proper bite in acceleration while keeping you stable and balanced. The boots come with two insole inserts—ultralight and comfort. They provide exactly what their name says, however there is no concern that the ultralight is uncomfortable or that the comfort is heavy. Both inserts provide excellent comfort without being cumbersome. If there’s to be concern in an area, then that concern rests with the tension points at the sides of the foot. These tension points cause the sprintskin upper to fold into a relatively small point, which invites stress and tearing. I should temper that statement by saying tearing has come up, but it isn’t a regular thing. It’s basically the same story as just about anything you buy—a fraction of users have an issue or problem with proper functionality, but the vast majority of users have no hang ups at all.

Despite the last point on tearing, I think you should be able to confidently purchase a pair of these bad boys without worrying about the quality of construction. The boots wouldn’t see update after update unless they were properly made and designed. Soccerpro has them listed for $159.99 right now, which is a deal, especially if you’re in the market for a speed boot.

Written by: Kris Dyer, contributing editor, soccerprose.com

But the Irish Herald, a daily newspaper, recognizing his importance to Europe’s football retirement home, the MLS, has decided to mention Henry’s birthday in their celebrity section, although just like the bag claim at the airport, its not quite an honorable mention.

Posted by: Sergio Squirelle, co-editor, soccerprose.com