99% Full Moon...

Even though there were no big games to really talk about tonight, there is a wide array of expected, surprising, and just old weird news (the moon is 99% full tonight, naturally)...

--Kansas City has fired head coach Kurt Onalfo, replacing him with team executive (and former MLS star) Peter Vermes. The Wizards made the change sitting 2nd-to-last in the Eastern Conference at 5-7-6 for 21 points...a full 11 points ahead of the Red Bulls (2-15-4, 10 points), with 3 games still in hand. Onalfo's career record with KC ends at a very average 27-29-22... Hard to believe that that is grounds for firing, yet the 11-26-14 record of an unnamed coach in NY is satisfying enough to keep him in charge.

--Should New York advance in the CONCACAF Champions League tomorrow evening (hosting W Connection in the 2nd leg, tied 2-2), the Red Bull corporation will have a lot of Champions League to prepare for this year. Salzburg advanced through the 3rd qualifying round in the UEFA Champions League 3-2 this afternoon.

--On one last Red Bull-related note, there's another new twist in the Jozy Altidore "saga" (his story is quickly becoming one since he left for Europe). After getting minimal time with Villareal after his transfer (not at all unexpected), then not playing at all during his loan at Xerez (completely unexpected), there are new questions about where he will play this year. Over the last few weeks, a new loan deal to Olympiakos in Greece appeared likely...but now Premier League side Hull City are said to be offering Villareal 6.5 million Pounds to purchase the American striker. Two other Premiership sides (both with Americans already on the roster), Everton (Tim Howard) and Fulham (Clint Dempsey), are also said to be in the mix, which could lead Villareal to cash in on Jozy. The Spanish side paid MLS approx. $10 million (roughly 5 million Pounds at the time) for Altidore, meaning this could be a quick profit for a player who hardly played for the team.

In more international news:

--Real Madrid is continuing their spending spree, as Liverpool has agreed to sell midfielder Xabi Alonso to the Spanish giants. The move, worth 3o million Pounds, shines the light on a larger problem...

as does...

--Everton defender Joleon Lescott is said to be writing the team's chairman, asking for a transfer to Manchester City. City has had bids on 15 and 18 million Pounds denied, and are reported to be preparing another bid.

The problem? Players demanding transfers. Soccer is one of the only sports in the world where players are commodities, bought and sold by clubs. Even this years swap between Inter Milan and Barcelona saw Inter include $56 million with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in exchange for Barca striker Samuel Eto'o. Players sign their contracts, but an increasing number of these players are trying to force their teams into selling them to competitors (just look at Lescott, who wants Everton to sell him to a Manchester City team that Everton could easily be in a grueling season-long battle with for a spot in European competition next year). In other major sports, when a player signs a contract, they honor that contract until they become free agents...soccer players should be held to that same standard.