Program the PVR. Make sure your Internet connection is fast enough to allow for multiple streams. This weekend marks a landmark in Canadian soccer. Four professional clubs are in action; FC Edmonton and the Montreal Impact kick off their NASL campaigns Saturday with road games in Florida. And MLS? Toronto FC visits the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday night. And the Vancouver Whitecaps head to Texas to take on the Houston Dynamo on Sunday. Of the weekend’s action, only Montreal and FC Edmonton overlap.

It was played in an empty stadium in Antalya, Turkey. There was no television coverage. Fans had to follow the game through Sportsnet’s live chat or on Twitter. But this is what we know: despite coach Stephen Hart putting together a lineup that was heavy on European-based players, an MLS man got the goal that gave Canada a 1-0 win over Belarus in a friendly on Tuesday.

Last week’s preseason brawl between Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City has resulted in some supplemental justice from MLS. RSL defender Jamison Olave got a US$250 fine for Tweeting about his displeasure for the match official after last Wednesday’s game was abandoned in the second half because of the fisticuffs. That’s right. The fighting and fouling hasn’t earned anyone a suspension or fine as of yet — but Tweeting about a referee losing control of the game… well

It’s become obligatory for every sports journalist to provide season previews for the league he or she covers. It’s automatic, and a great space killer! In that vein, The 11 presents its “waited until the last possible second before the regular season” season preview! Why the wait? Because it’s hard to figure out the East. The West? Wow, a lot of power and depth there. As for the East? Last season, New York and Columbus and six other mediocre to bad to awful clubs were in the conference. New York and Columbus left them all in the dust.

In a game filled with trialists, some old problems haunted Toronto FC. Despite twice taking the lead, TFC lost 3-2 to the Houston Dynamo Thursday in their opening match of the preseason Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic in Orlando, Fla.

Major League Soccer released its full schedule today http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/new-rivalries-highlight-2011-mls-regular-season-schedule, but fans don’t yet know how many teams will make the playoffs this season, or if there will be wild-card slots again in 2011. League spokesperson Will Kuhns stated Thursday that “MLS is reviewing the playoff format and playoff schedule for 2011 and will announce details soon.”

It’s rare for Caleb Porter to take a break from his passion. The University of Akron head coach is a self-professed soccer junkie, constantly watching, reading about and developing tactics for the game so it was a strange thing for him to put everything aside for a month following his Zips’ 1-0 win over Louisville in the NCAA title match on Dec. 12. The championship was Akron’s first as a school. But given the stamp the 35-year-old Porter has put on the program in his five years in charge, it might not be the last.

The Houston Dynamo will spend the next season in the East. MLS announced that, to keep the conferences balanced at nine teams apiece and, with two Pacific Coast teams, Vancouver and Portland, joining in 2011, the Dynamo will be the team on the move.

he ‘Caps, as they did in the SuperDraft, held the first pick in the Supplemental Draft. With that pick, they grabbed New Zealander Michael Boxall from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Boxall had been expected to go in the SuperDraft but slipped badly in the eyes of the scouts during the combine.