It looks like Owen Hargreaves is off to Manchester City on a one-year deal, where City will presumably spend a billion dollars on him for no reason. So our long national nightmare is over, at least until the summer of 2012. SB Nation's Manchester City blog, Bitter and Blue, already has a post up on Hargreaves and will doubtless have more in the days to come. I was thinking... if Hargreaves completely bombs out with City he'll probably have a hard time attracting another EPL club. He'd come crawling back to Vancouver, which I doubt is run competently enough to refuse him. Which means that I have to cheer for Owen Hargreaves to do sort of well. OH GOD.

Yours truly will be on CBC Radio One Vancouver's The Early Edition for five to seven minutes around 6:43AM. I'll be speaking with Stephen Smart about the Vancouver Whitecaps from a fan's perspective. Expect topics to include the size of the bags under my eyes and if there's any coffee around here. If you have anything better to do at 6:43 AM on a Friday morning (like, I dunno, sleep) they post their full shows online at the link provided so you can listen anyway. Edit, 11:30 August 19: the link has been changed to the specific episode with me in it.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC, in conjunction with Real Salt Lake and Major League Soccer, announced today that the Vancouver regular season home match versus Real Salt Lake will now take place on Thursday, October 6, 2011, on Bell Pitch downtown at BC Place Stadium. Kickoff for the second Whitecaps FC match to be played at Bell Pitch downtown this season is set for 6:30 p.m. PT. The rescheduled match was originally scheduled to take place on July 16, but was postponed after heavy rainfall made the temporary grass pitch at Empire Field unplayable. Source | WhitecapsFC.com

The Whitecaps waived centre back Mouloud Akloul and left back Blake Wagner on Thursday. The club now has two open senior roster spots to work with during the summer transfer window. The Province reported a month ago that Akloul was done with the club. For Wagner, the writing might have been on the wall when Tommy Soehn traded for left-back Jordan Harvey from Philadelphia. The team also has versatile defender Alain Rochat, and, in a jam, Soehn has preferred to put veteran right-back Jonny Leathers on his opposite side rather than use Wagner. Source | Back Of The Net

Vancouver Whitecaps FC is pleased to announce that striker Sydney Leroux and head coach Hubert Busby Jr. have been named finalists for United Soccer Leagues (USL) 2011 W-League awards. Leroux is a finalist in the Rookie of the Year category and Busby Jr. in the Coach of the Year category. Busby Jr. is last year’s recipient of the W-League 2010 Coach of the Year. Awards will be presented at a banquet to be held on Thursday evening in Tukwila, Washington. Leroux, 21, was an offensive force for Whitecaps this season, registering 11 goals and 24 points in 11 appearances for the Blue and White. She was recently named to the W-League’s All-Western Conference team after a dynamic goal against the Santa Clarita Blue Heat this past weekend in the W-League Western Conference Final, helping Whitecaps FC to a 4-3 victory and a berth in this weekend’s W-League Championship ‘Final Four’ in Tukwila, Washington. Busby Jr., in his second season with Whitecaps FC women, led his squad to a record of 8W-2L-4D on route to qualifying for this weekend’s league championship in Washington. Busby Jr.’s squad recorded seven clean sheets on the season, a testament to the team’s strong commitment to defence throughout the year. Source | WhitecapsFC.com

The on-again, off-again relationship between Carolina Morace and the Canadian Soccer Association is now off again following the Italian's resignation as coach of the Canadian women's team. The CSA confirmed Friday that Morace has stepped down from the post she first assumed in February 2009. An international search for a new coach has already begun, with the CSA looking to name Morace's replacement by the fall, if not sooner. Morace's departure comes on the heels of Canada's last-place showing at the 16-team FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany earlier this month. Her side entered the competition to great fanfare as the sixth-ranked team in the world, but bowed out in the first round with three consecutive losses. Morace told the CSA of her decision Wednesday during the organization's formal debriefing following the conclusion of the Women's World Cup. Peter Montopoli, the CSA's general secretary, said he was caught off-guard by Morace's resignation, and that the organization was planning to move forward with her as coach. Read more at cbcsports.ca (Source | CBC Sports)

From the Metro - It seems silly to think that he wouldn't be a DP if he signed here, so a bonus-as-you-play contract would be simple enough.

"He knows of our interest. He’s a great player. He’s a Calgary boy, has connections with the club. We’ll stay in contact," said co-owner Mallett in an interview on Monday night before the Whitecaps lost 2-1 in an international friendly against visiting FA Cup champs Manchester City. It is the first official confirmation the Whitecaps are after the midfielder who is arguably the best soccer player ever reared in Canada. "We’ll make sure, when [Hargreaves] makes the decision, that we’re on the option list," Mallett said. Source | The Globe and Mail

RSL Soapbox, SB Nation's Real Salt Lake blog, has a post up on the rainout and they are understandably upset. As I expected, people are calling for the Whitecaps to forfeit the game and I don't blame them. If it makes the Salt Lake fans feel any better, they're definitely going to beat us in any rematch. Even if they send their reserves I give them pretty good odds.

According to FC Edmonton colour commentator/blogger/only actual reporter Steven Sandor, Edmonton sports radio station TEAM 1260 will be broadcasting FC Edmonton's home games for the rest of the year. The sorts of people who listen to the TEAM 1260 are die-hard Edmonton sports fans just looking for their fix: in short, just the people FC Edmonton needs to be reaching out to! This is a terrific move by all parties and I hope it works brilliantly.