CARSON, Calif. -- Juan Carlos Osorio considers himself a student of the game. And that was literally the case in 1998 when Osorio attended John Moores University in Liverpool, England where he received his master's degree in "Higher Education in Football."
"It was difficult for me, the computer, the statistics, but as far as physiology and anatomy, I could have done it in Southern Connecticut (State)," Osorio said. "It was easier and it allowed me more time to go and see teams training, which was the one of the main reasons I went."
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MLS Cup Sights & Sounds
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SIGHTS & SOUNDS
He thought he'd put his studies to work by attending a Liverpool training session, but Osorio was asked to leave the club's Melwood training ground. Undeterred, Osorio looked for another way. He found a small opening in some bricks, but could only see the first team warm up because he had an obstructed view of the rest of the club's training session.
Still, Osorio soldiered on. He walked along the street adjacent to the training ground and found a house at the end of the street. He knocked on the door at 11 Crown Road and talked his way into watching Liverpool train from a tiny room that overlooked Melwood -- for educational purposes, of course.
Three days later, Osorio asked to rent the room and, after persuading the couple, it became his home for the next year and a half. It was there that Osorio started taking notes, observing then-Liverpool managers Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier at every Liverpool training session.
"I watched countless numbers of sessions," Osorio said.
Osorio continues to take notes today, although it's usually about what he is going to tell his team at halftime of a game. Tucked inside a little black pouch that includes pictures of his family are small pieces of paper.
"When I pray this is what I see, my family," he said. "It never gets lost."
A rare look at the notes from the Real Salt Lake game shows specific instances in the first half, some scribbles and a few key phrases, like "blue-collar mentality," he plans on sharing with his team.
"I need to talk to my team at halftime and I need to be very specific as to what we have been doing well and what we're not doing well," Osorio said. "I tell them exactly the time, the action and the situation."
Osorio said he is open and honest with his players, except, of course, when it comes to his notes.
"I think that's the million-dollar question the whole team is asking," Gordon Kljestan said. "I think we'll all pay a lot of money to see what is in there. But whatever it is, it works and got us where we are."
Stammler gives Sassano high marks: Red Bulls midfielder Seth Stammler has spent most of his career filling the holding midfielder role Luke Sassano plays right now.
Stammler has missed the entire playoffs with a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee after spending most of the last three seasons on the field for the Red Bulls.
When asked to review the rookie midfielder's attempts to fill his shoes in defensive midfielder, Stammler gave Sassano passing marks and pointed out how head coach Juan Carlos Osorio made it easier for Sassano to adjust to the spotlight.
"I think he's done really well," Stammler said. "Coach lets you know what he expects of you. With Luke, he's less concerned about creating stuff offensively. It's more about sitting in that holding spot and breaking up plays."
You betcha: What's a championship game without the obligatory wager between mayors. Well, that is the case in the first MLS Cup Final for both the New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew.
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and Columbus mayor Michael Coleman placed a friendly bet on Sunday's MLS Cup Final. If the Red Bulls win, Coleman will send a package of Ohio State Buckeye candies and a case of Columbus's finest ale from the Columbus Brewing Co.
"Winning the Major League Soccer title would be a fantastic and fitting end to the Red Bulls' come-from-behind season," Bloomberg said in a statement. "Soccer fans from Riverdale to Rockaway will tune in tomorrow to see the team from the country's premier soccer-loving city bring home its first MLS Cup."
If the Crew wins, Bloomberg will send a large John's Special pizza pie in honor of Staten Island's own John Wolyniec, from Basille's Restaurant on Staten Island, a large Italian hero from Leo's Latticini and Mama's of Corona and a case of Brooklyn Lager from Brooklyn Brewery.
"The Crew is the hardest working team in America and the team's excellent players worked harder than ever this season," Coleman said. "Along with all Crew fans, I can taste victory. I look forward to tasting Mayor Bloomberg's Staten Island pizza as well."
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