Dein erstes Forum » ow, whether we get to that extent or not

NEW YORK -- Hoping their baseball success will translate to titles in another sport, the Yankees are combining with English power Manchester City to own a Major League Soccer expansion team in New York that will start play in 2015. The team, the 20th in a league that has doubled in size in two decades, will be called New York City Football Club. It has less than two years to find a temporary home while also focusing on where it wants to build a permanent stadium. "Its a powerhouse combination," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said after Tuesdays announcement. Manchester City, owned by Sheik Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, will be the controlling owner. The Yankees were approached about investing last week and will have an interest of 20 per cent to 25 per cent, a person familiar with the deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity because that detail wasnt announced. The expansion fee for the new team is $100 million. It will compete for attention and dollars with 10 other professional big league clubs in the New York market. "Theyll be running all the soccer. We know our way around New York, how to get things done," said Yankees President Randy Levine, who will be the teams lead person in the launch. While the Yankees have won a record 27 World Series titles, Manchester City is more akin to the crosstown Mets. It has just three league championships in England compared with rival Manchester Uniteds 20. Four years ago, after City was bought by Sheik Mansours company, United manager Alex Ferguson derisively called City a "noisy neighbour." MLS has been negotiating with New York City to build a stadium in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, near the home of the Mets. The Mets had explored owning an MLS team before financial turmoil caused by the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme. "Flushing is still the preferred site," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said. However, some community groups have opposed using city parkland. The new owners will consider other sites. "We need a community that supports us. We need a family thats going to embrace us," Manchester City Chief Executive Officer Ferran Soriano said. "So were going to continue this discussion. But the first thing we want to do is to listen, listen to the community, listen to everybody." Holly Leicht, executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, said the Yankees involvement "opens the door for the possibility there might be a serious discussion about relocating where the stadium will go." For a soccer stadium to be built at Flushing Meadows, NYC FC would have to reach an agreement with the Mets to use Citi Fields parking lots. The Mets declined comment on the Yankees deal. "It seems to make sense with the Yankees involved that the doorstep of Citi Field would be less enticing perhaps than before," Leicht said. New Yankee Stadium, which opened in 2009, was built on the site of Macombs Dam Park. That parkland was replaced, but not fully until Heritage Field opened last year on the site of the old ballpark. "While the parks that were built are lovely, theres still a lot of remaining anger among a lot of parks advocates about how that whole process went down," Leicht said. Bloomberg, in the final year of his term, has advocated the Queens site. "Flushing Meadows Park is the right place to put it," he said. "Its at the end of the park that doesnt get as much use, and we could get aid for fixing up and helping up the part of the park that everybody does use." NYC FC will start play at an interim venue. New Yankee Stadium hosted its first two soccer matches last summer and is the site of an exhibition Saturday between Manchester City and Chelsea. The original Yankee Stadium was the home of the North American Soccer Leagues New York Cosmos in 1976. "Yankee Stadium is an option, as are many places," Levine said. The new team is intended to spark a rivalry with the New York Red Bulls, an original MLS team from 1996 that in 2010 moved into a 25,000-seat, $200 million stadium in in Harrison, N.J. "The Red Bulls now will have a rival here in the market providing them with that derby-like competition that is such a driver of what makes football so successful around the world," Garber said. There is a chance NYC FC can serve as a farm team for Manchester City, which in 2012 won its first Premier League title since 1968. Young players unable to break into the Man City squad could be loaned to the MLS team. "I think naturally it will happen, that some Manchester players will end up playing in New York," Soriano said. "But the objective and the focus will be to try to find the right players for the New York team. The New York team is a team on its own." The Yankees have long explored soccer deals. A partnership with Manchester United was announced in 2001, but that turned into a now-expired licensing and broadcasting agreement in which the clubs sold each others licensed goods and exchanged television programming. The Yankees YES Network has broadcast Arsenal games on a delayed basis since October 2010 -- the same month the parent company of the rival Boston Red Sox took control of Liverpool in the Premier League. Legends Hospitality, co-owned by the Yankees, Dallas Cowboys and Checketts Partners Investment Fund, will run hospitality and catering at Manchester Citys Etihad Stadium next season under a partnership with Jamie Olivers Fabulous Feasts that was announced in January. Legends already has started work on premium seat sales. Levine downplayed his verbal sparring with Garber four years ago, which followed the MLS commissioners comments about empty premium seats at the new New York baseball stadiums. Levine said then "if he ever gets Major League Soccer into the same time zone as the Yankees, we might take him seriously." "Don and I are old friends," Levine said Tuesday. "Whats a little fun between friends?" With the decision completed on team No. 20, MLS can turn attention to No. 21. Former Los Angeles Galaxy star David Beckham, retiring as a player this weekend, has an option to buy an MLS expansion team at below cost. Miami appears to be a possible market for Beckham, and groups would like to bring the league to Atlanta and Orlando, Fla. "Its just premature," Garber said. "Clearly weve got to finalize a long-term expansion plan for the league." Hoodies China . Colin Wilson had two goals and an assist, and Mike Fisher scored a goal and helped set up two others in the Predators 6-4 victory over the Red Wings on Monday night. Discount Nike NFL Hoodies . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. http://www.hoodiescheap.com/ . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. Stitched Hoodies .Y. -- Sabres forward Drew Stafford has witnessed plenty of turmoil during his eight seasons in Buffalo. NFL Hoodies Cheap For Sale . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. EAST LANSING, Mich. -- As a disappointing season winds down, Michigan State could use a few signs of hope for the future.Freshman Donnie Corley certainly qualifies.Corley has emerged as a two-way contributor for the Spartans, playing both wide receiver and defensive back in his first season at the college level. It may be too late for Michigan State to salvage much from the 2016 season, but Corley looks like someone who could make a major impact at the school in the years to come.Our idea is to make sure that he is thoroughly exhausted at the end of the football game, coach Mark Dantonio said. Thats the plan.Its no huge surprise that Corley has been able to play right away. Both Rivals and Scout listed him as a four-star recruit, and as a senior at Martin Luther King H.S. in Detroit, Corley had 59 receptions and 10 interceptions.The Spartans (3-7, 1-6, Big Ten) needed to replace several key players from last year, and Corley immediately made his presence felt. In Michigan States second game of the season at Notre Dame, he caught four passes for 88 yards, including a leaping touchdown grab that turned out to be one of the highlights of the season for the Spartans.Corley is now third on the team with 27 receptions, and hes been able to help the defensive backfield as well.We recruited Donnie with the idea that he could play both, and we want to make that happen. Hes skilled enough to do that, Dantonio said. Hes a big athletic guy with ball judgment, he can tackle in space.Part of the reason Corley has played on defense is because the Spartans needed help in the secondary, but his ability to juggle multiple roles as a freshman has been impressive.Its been kind of hard. During the game, adjustments they make on the sidelines, I cant really be there, Corley said. IIm over here with the defense while the offense is making adjustments on the sideline.dddddddddddd Things like that, its kind of hard.The Spartans would be delighted if Corley can develop into the type of two-way threat who make a game-changing play at any time -- like rival Michigan has with Jabrill Peppers. With Michigan State set to host No. 2 Ohio State (9-1, 6-1) this weekend, Dantonio talked a bit Tuesday about the way Chris Gamble used to play both ways for the Buckeyes.Dantonio coached Gamble when he was an assistant at Ohio State over a decade ago.He played six games, I think, where he played over 100 plays. So its doable, Dantonio said. But, you know, whether we get to that extent or not will depend on other people and other personnel, recruiting, and how people and players develop and those type of things.Corley is starting down the path toward becoming a dynamic two-way star, and the experience hes gaining as a freshman could pay major dividends as Michigan State tries to rebound from a season in which little has gone right.Coach D always used to tell (me), `You might play both ways, Corley said. But he always told me that offense would probably be the first thing, then once I learned it, he would try and switch it. I didnt really think that I would learn it that fast and that it would happen that fast. I didnt think it would happen in the first year.Game notes Dantonio said injured DL Malik McDowells status remains uncertain this week. He missed last weekends win over Rutgers.---For more college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '