Did you all enjoy that week off between games? Good, because you won't be seeing another one of those for a long while now as we go into the crazy mess that will be July on, with this month filled to the brim with league action and the following months filled with CCL games to go with the league. Here's some stuff for you to read before the

Soccer Beating Baseball to Ticket Buyers | TheStreet - Pretty cool to see that our beloved football is catching up to the game known as 'America's Pasttime.'

Bob Bradley Is Not The Problem For The USA - SBNation.com - I disagree wholeheartedly with pretty much everything in here, but meh.

North Korea blame loss to U.S. on players getting struck by lightning - Dirty Tackle - World Soccer Blog - Yahoo! Sports - Pretty much the funniest excuse ever. See, this is why North Korea is Best Korea.

Mexico players sent home following scandal - ESPN Soccernet - This time instead of 'tainted chicken' we had 'tainted love', eh? (Shut up, I'm proud of that one)

Let's just all forget about what happened yesterday, shall we? ...Yeah. Here's a gang of links for you to read before game-time against the Crew tonight.

Gold Cup: Costa Rica's Marshall dies in car accident | MLSsoccer.com - Sad news out of Costa Rica last week.

In Support of the Fort - We all know about what happened to Revolution fans in Gillette Stadium with the security debacle. Supporters groups across MLS created a group to 'Support the Fort'.

U-17 MNT starts off World Cup in style - Hot Time In Old Town - Well at least the U-17 team isn't completely terrible, right guys? Right? ...Guys?

Germans to hold oracle octopus competition during Women’s WC - Dirty Tackle - World Soccer Blog - Yahoo! Sports - This is pretty much the greatest thing ever. Not only are they buying into the Octopus thing again, but they're extending it to other sects of the footballing world.

As usual, here's something for you to read while waiting for Game Time!

Gold Cup preview: USA ready to rally vs. raucous Jamaica | MLSsoccer.com
CONCACAF Gold Cup: US – Jamaica Preview | - A couple of game previews I found for the Jamaica match that the USA will be playing today. Go Yanks!

Japan thanks the world for its help, but more still needs to be done to rebuild - Goal.com - Kosuke Kimura talks to Goal.com about Japan's continued plights since the Quakes hit them a few months ago.

John Spencer suspended and fined by Major League Soccer | OregonLive.com - Portland head coach - and former Rapids star - John Spencer was fined and banned for a scathing review of the referees during the Rapids match that has continued all week long since.

YouTube - ‪Alaska Air John Spencer Commercial‬‏ - Speaking of Spencer, this is a fantastic commercial and I'm glad that Alaska Airlines is making such great work out of their partnership with the Timbers.

As usual, we're here to provide you with something to read before game-time. Here's the gameday linkdump.

The United States Is Not Catching Up To Mexico, The World - SBNation.com - Kevin nails it here, the States will not be going anywhere at their current rate of 'growth'.

The Free Beer Movement: The Great Jersey Question. Buy American. - I am probably one of the biggest advocates against bandwagoning in sports that I know, so this article is a favourite of mine. I simply can't respect a natural born American who's probably of Irish heritage supporting Spain.

Spanish hangover: Was U.S. Soccer a little naïve here? - Daily Soccer Fix - That game was a complete failure on just about every level!

MLS Tifo of the Week – Week 12 | The Endline - The Pid Army got the Tifo of the week for... holding their shoes aloft during a chant. Even Pid Army was confused at winning with that!

A shout out to the Rapids, Colorado’s most recent champions | All Things Colorado Sports — Colorado sports news blog — The Denver Post - Probably not sincere, but eh.

As usual, here's some fun reading material for you before the game today.

Monday Morning Centre Back: Koke is Spanish for Quitter - Dynamo Theory - Cowardly move by Koke to ditch out on the Dynamo. The opposite of class from the selfish striker after a few sub-par appearances.

BBC Sport - Wolverhampton Wanderers release keeper Marcus Hahnemann - Hahnemann was a member of the Rapids squad in 1997 that made the MLS Cup final against DC United. He's getting old but don't forget that he was an EPL starter last season, it takes a lot of skill to get that far. Seattle appears to be the team most interested in him in MLS.

YouTube - ‪Two Kids On The Sidelines Episode 117‬‏ - No Fan Alone's weekly... I'm not sure what this is, but it involves children and Ross LaBeaux.

USA eyes potential 2022 World Cup revote - World Soccer - Yahoo! Sports - Hurr durr

Hannover and U.S. international winger DaMarcus Beasley's possible move to Mexico would be a blow for MLS - Goal.com - I disagree that losing Beasley would be a terrible thing for MLS. It's true that we can use as many high profile players as we can get around this league but I would argue that losing a player to the Mexican leagues isn't really a blow. If he went to Qatar or something, I'd get worried. It's a money and prestige issue and Mexico wins in both of those capacities.

As always, we strive to give you interesting stuff to read here, so here's some of said stuff before the match today.

Barcelona vs Man Utd. Preview - Goal.com - A preview of today's match that is supposedly more important than the Rapids match.

Bulldog Supporters Group " 72 Hour Game - Pretty cool, the BSG supporters group are putting together a 72 hour long football match!

Seattle Sounders at Real Salt Lake - Three Questions - Sounder At Heart - I just like the fact that they actually brought up Drogba and Forlan's names when asked who they might target in the summer. Really?

OSSIE’S DREAM: Paying for the Shirt – An entirely selective, completely biased and semi-coherent rambling on jersey sponsorship - A fun look at jersey sponsorships.

Sporting KC 5-0 New England Revolution: The Beat Down That Had Been Brewing - The Daily Wiz - The last game that the Sporks played ended quite nicely for them, 5-0 in the Open Cup!

In Lax We Trust - For Pro Lacrosse Fans - Marisa asked me nicely to link to her site, I write there as well.

Retirement waits as Marshall is reborn | Colorado Rapids - MARSHALL MARSHALL MARSHALL!

The Voyageurs Cup and the Association That's Disgracing It - Eighty Six Forever - Some good old fashioned rage after the Toronto debacle earlier in the week.

So, that rapture thing didn't happen after all, what a shame. I thought my chair was shaking, my house was burning and I saw Jesus for a bit yesterday but that was just because I had Taco Bell on Friday, I think. Either way, here's some fun football-related stuff for you to read before the game starts tonight, collected throughout the week.

Plata Receives Ecuador Call | Toronto FC - Might we not see the little Ecuadorian spitfire today? (Please?)

Vancouver vs Toronto FC Report - Goal.com - Match report from the first leg of that Canadian cup.

El Piojo cerca del retiro | MLSsoccer.com - Claudio Lopez, remember that guy? (This one's in Spanish!)

Stoke City to buy Rapids Strike Force Casey and Cummings - This would have been better satire had they not been so damn blatantly obvious about it. The Onion you ain't, NFA!

Colorado Rapids get CONCACAF Champions League draw with Honduras Real Espana | All Things Colorado Sports - More on our CONCACAF draw.

So You Want To Compare Houston and Dallas? - Dynamo Theory - I love this commercial.

Bemused Spencer blasts Sounders as full of excuses | MLSsoccer.com - I love Spencer even more than I love that commercial.

Something to Rile Up TFC Fans - Eighty Six Forever - This was released before Vancouver blew the first leg of that cup, but I still laughed at the ROASTING.

VI Questions with Andre Akpan - Nofanalone talks with my favorite young Rapids player.

Major League Soccer for Minnesota | Major League Soccer for Minnesota - Fun site trying to get some MLS in Minnesota. I wouldn't say no!

Yeah, just going to pimp the new MLS blogs that SBnation added to the roster this week. Go stop by and say hi to them if you haven't already, all that's left to cover for us is Chivas (who is getting a blog very soon!) the Crew and the Galaxy!

Waking The Red - The new Toronto FC blog on SBnation, go over and say hello if you didn't see my tweet or you haven't already. I'm sure Toronto fans could use the sympathy.

Quake, Rattle and Goal - The new San Jose Earthquakes blog on SBnation. I'm still mad that they didn't use my idea for the blog name, 'Left Lateral Transform Faultball'.