The Ryan Martin Show: 7/29/13

If you missed yesterday's show, here it is for your listening pleasure. The USA's Gold Cup triumph naturally took center stage, but talk about Gareth Bale's shaky future at Tottenham and the latest from MLS also featured prominently.

The Calamity That Is Chivas USA

For those who have only begun to follow MLS in more recent years, it is perhaps easy to overlook some of the realities facing the league little more than a decade ago. Miami and Tampa Bay were contracted by the league following the 2001 season, and indeed, the league was still facing something of an uphill battle for survival.

Accordingly, the league was open and willing to take in almost anyone who was ready to invest tens of millions in the league by way of expansion fees for a new MLS team. Ultimately, two new clubs would emerge from this first round of post-contraction expansion: Real Salt Lake, spearheaded by Dave Checketts, and Chivas USA, owned by C.D. Guadalajara owner Jorge Vergara and likewise named after the famed Mexican club.

In the spirit of the all-Mexican ethos set forth by C.D. Guadalajara, Chivas USA initially set out to cater to the targeted Mexican and Hispanic demographics of Los Angeles by signing players of such aforementioned heritage, whether of American, Mexican or other citizenships. A certain arrogance surrounded this approach, as the feeling was that this first rag-tag group of players would show the Americans how soccer is really played, but in the end, the experiment failed miserably. This collection of journeymen and Guadalajara castoffs, save for former Mexico captain Ramon Ramirez, limped to a paltry tally of 18 points in that inaugural 2005 season.

The Ryan Martin Show: 7/22/13

If you missed yesterday's show, here's your chance to listen to it now. Transfer news from Europe, the Gold Cup and MLS were the main topics of the day.

CONCACAF Gold Cup: Looking Ahead To The Quarterfinals

The Gold Cup has certainly faced some derision over the years for being played every two years instead of four and, resultantly, not always featuring the top players from the likes of the US and Mexico at each tournament. Indeed, this year's Gold Cup is the "off-cycle" edition that sees some of the top notch players from the region focusing on their respective club teams in the wake of what has already been a busy summer in CONCACAF due to World Cup qualifying.

Regardless of the fact that many household names are missing from this Gold Cup, there has undoubtedly been a litany of excitement and intrigue to take away from the recently concluded group stage. Panama's win over Mexico, the United States' run through group C, and Cuba's dramatic, if not unlikely, four goal explosion versus Belize to secure passage to the quarterfinals have served us well in offering plenty of reasons to maintain our interest as the tournament enters its knockout phase.

With the four quarterfinal match-ups now set, one needs to only take a glance at the games in store to see that even more storylines are sure to arise this weekend.

The Ryan Martin Show: 7/15/13

Today's edition of the Ryan Martin Show was a special one, as interviews from the Atlanta Silverbacks' championship media day were featured. Other topics included Clint Dempsey being put on the market by Tottenham, the Gold Cup, and the weekend's action in MLS.

Clint Dempsey Transfer Listed By Tottenham

It was but twelve short months ago that we wondered just how the transfer saga between Clint Dempsey and former club Fulham would play out. Dempsey, unquestionably in the prime of his career following a prolific goal-scoring campaign with Fulham, had spoken very openly about his desire to play at a club that could offer European football, and accordingly the writing on the wall suggested that Dempsey's days at Craven Cottage were indeed numbered.

There were significant rumors of Liverpool being a very likely destination for Dempsey, but as the dust settled last August, the confirmation came that Dempsey would be making the move across London to White Hart Lane. Yes, it looked to be the kind of move that would be quite befitting of Dempsey, but as we know, fortunes and situations in this game can change drastically in the span of a year. Maybe few things are so representative of this phenomenon as Dempsey being put up for sale by Tottenham this week. The familiar wave of speculation about Dempsey's next stop has returned.

The Ryan Martin Show: 7/8/13

If you missed today's show, listen to it now! Atlanta's NASL triumph, the Gold Cup, David Villa's move to Atletico Madrid, Jozy Altidore's transfer to Sunderland, and the weekend's action in MLS were amongst the talking points.

Atlanta Silverbacks Win NASL Spring Title

The winter of 2008 was indeed a cold, bitter one in Atlanta for soccer fans. The Silverbacks, who had already not enjoyed the greatest levels of success since their inception in 1995, announced that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus, leaving the city without its longest running professional soccer club and likewise leading many fans to wonder if the Silverbacks would ever return to the field.

The cold winds of that winter would continue to blow until 2011, when the Silverbacks returned to competitive action in the NASL. However, to put it as diplomatically as possible, the results were hardly of a championship caliber once they were reincarnated. The rekindled Silverbacks limped to a paltry haul of 16 points from 28 games in that 2011 season, and a goal difference of -38 only served to cruelly illustrate just how far off the pace Atlanta had fallen in their time away. Indeed, the opening stages of 2012 looked to be more of the same, as loss after loss mounted and the Silverbacks looked set to make the bottom of the table all their own once more.

NASL Spring Season: Three Teams, One Dream

The NASL's decision to go with a split season format in 2013 was one that surprised many and drew skepticism and criticism from others in American soccer circles. To hear the NASL's top brass tell it, the change in format was brought about to generate excitement and lend more relevance to every game played, while detractors would be quick to point out that such a shift was probably facilitated by the fact that the New York Cosmos would not be ready to play until the Fall of 2013 and that the league scarcely wanted to wait until 2014 to see its perceived crown jewel take the field.

Regardless of whatever the reasons were for this season's new format, and indeed there is likely a myriad of reasons attached to it, there can be little doubt that the 2013 Spring Season has come to a zenith that NASL commissioner Bill Peterson could have only dreamed about in his wildest of dreams. With the Spring Season coming to a close tomorrow with Atlanta, Carolina and San Antonio still alive in the championship race, the NASL is sure to have some Independence Day fireworks of their own before the night is out.