That's what the Sounders FC GM said earlier tonight for my story on the protected list after I asked him about not protecting James Riley.

There were some difficult conversations between Hanauer, Chris Henderson, Sigi Schmid and at least a few of the players, many of whom would really like to remain here, at least that's what I see.

At any rate, I'm impressed but not surprised at the very intelligent exchange of thoughts and conversation from my posts today. You people obviously care, and there's a reason Commissioner Garber made it a point to credit the Seattle Times' coverage of soccer and how beneficial it was to the league while he was here last week.

You. You read. You posted comments and emailed me. You brought me into your world and I shared some of mine with you. You asked for more. You went to games. You asked about the players and the coach and the front office and the stadium and the officiating and so much more. I'm only part of the equation, and I'm proud of the relationship I have with you all. So if I've said it once, I'll say it again. MUCHAS GRACIAS. Thank you.

Scroll down and down and down...

Chivas USA
Conway, Jon
Curtin, Jim
Harmse, Kevin
Jazic, Ante
Kennedy, Dan
Lillingston, Eduardo
Marsch, Jesse
Razov, Ante
Saragosa, Marcelo
Stepanovic, Bojan
Suarez, Claudio
Talley, Carey
Thomas, Shavar
Trujillo, Mariano
Victorine, Sasha
Chijindu, Chukwudi
Mayen, Gerson
Parker, Lance

Chicago Fire
Banner, Michael
Blanco, Cuauhtémoc
Carr, Calen
Dimitrov, Stefan
Dykstra, Andrew
Myrie, Dave
Rolfe, Chris
Segares, Gonzalo
Woolard, Daniel
Lowry, Peter
Washington, Austin

Columbus Crew
Garey, Jason
Gruenebaum, Andy
Hejduk, Frankie
Iro, Andy
Moreno, Alejandro
Nyazamba, Stanley
Oughton, Duncan
Padula, Gino
Renteria, Emilio
Schoeni, Kenny
Burns, Kevin
Elenio, Cory
Grendi, Alex

Colorado Rapids
Ballouchy, Mehdi
Burpo, Preston
Dalby, Greg
Diz, Facundo
Harden, Ty
Harvey, Jordan
Noonan, Pat
Palguta, Scott
Peterson, Jacob
Ceus, Steward
Holody, Mike
Schunk, Ross

FC Dallas
Burse, Ray
Purdy, Steve
Ricchetti, Pablo
Rocha, Andre
Sala, Dario
Torres, Daniel
Van Den Bergh, Dave
Wagner, Blake
Wallace, Anthony

D.C. United
Emilio, Luciano
Gomez, Christian
Habarugira, David
Jacobson, Andrew
Janicki, Greg
John, Avery
Khumalo, Thabiso
McTavish, Devon
N'Silu, Ange
Olsen, Ben
Vaughn, Lawson
Wicks, Josh
Allen, Ely
Barklage, Brandon
DiRaimondo, John
Kocic, Milos
Shipalane, Tiyiselani

Houston Dynamo
Barrett, Wade
Chabala, Michael
Clark, Ricardo
Cochrane, Ryan
Landin, Luis
Mulrooney, Richard
Onstad, Pat
Robinson, Eddie
Thompson, Abe
Waibel, Craig
Deric, Tyler
Hayden, John Michael
Ustruck, Erik

Kansas City Wizards
Besler, Matthew
Cristman, Adam
Gomez, Herculez
Hartman, Kevin
Hirsig, Santiago
Hohlbein, Aaron
Kraus, Michael
Kronberg, Eric
McKenzie, Rauwshan
Morsink, Kurt
Watson, Lance
Marquess, Matt
Pardo, Boris

New England Revolution
Albright, Chris
Badilla, Gabriel
Heaps, Jay
Igwe, Amaechi
Jankauskas, Edgaras
Knighton, Brad
Matamoros Castro, Mauricio
Ombiogno, Stephane
Phelan, Pat
Thompson, Wells
Tierney, Chris
Videira, Michael
Shuttleworth, Robert

LA Galaxy
Dunivant, Todd
Eskandarian, Alecko
Gordon, Alan
Griffin, Leonard
Jordan, Bryan
Kirovski, Jovan
Klein, Chris
Lewis, Eddie
Miglioranzi, Stefani
Sanneh, Tony
Saunders, Josh
Valentin, Julian
Marshall, Yohance
Patterson, Kyle

New York Red Bulls
Boyens, Andrew
Cepero, Daniel
Garcia, Walter
Kupnik, Leonid
Patterson, Caleb
Petke, Mike
Rojas, Jorge
Sassano, Luke
Ubiparipovic, Sinisa
Wolyniec, John
Mbuta, Andongcho
Zimmerman, Nick

Real Salt Lake
Alexandre, Jean
Campos, Pablo
El Khalifi, Rachid
Gonzalez, Nelson
Grabavoy, Ned
Horst, David
Mathis, Clint
Movsisyan, Yura
Reynish, Kyle
Russell, Robbie
Williams, Andy
Cox, Raphael
Nunez, Tino

San Jose Earthquakes
Amarikwa, Quincy
Convey, Bobby
Elliott, Simon
Pitchkolan, Aaron
Ribeiro, Antonio
Salinas, Shea
Weber, Andrew
Wondolowski, Chris
Graczyk, Mike
Roberts, Jamil
Zaher, Michael

Seattle Sounders FC
Boss, Terry
Eylander, Chris
Graham, Taylor
King, Stephen
LeToux, Sebastien
Levesque, Roger
Riley, James
Scott, Zach
Sturgis, Nathan
Vagenas, Peter
Wahl, Tyson
Brown, Evan
Fucito, Michael
Neagle, Lamar
Nyassi, Sanna

Toronto FC
Edwards, Brian
Fellinga, Lesly
Garcia, Nick
Gerba, Ali
Guevara, Amado
Robinson, Carl
Vitti, Pablo
Gala, Gabe

Press release from the team...

Sounders FC Head Coach Sigi Schmid was released from Bellevue's Overlake Hospital on Monday. Schmid was hospitalized for four nights after being diagnosed with pneumonia. He had been admitted last Thursday night after experiencing difficulty breathing.

"I'd like to thank all of the friends and fans for their good wishes," said Schmid. "I'm feeling much better and I plan to spend the holiday with family and be back in the office next week."

BTW, something of interest for those following the breakup of USL-1:

Every team listed, just scroll down to see them all...

Chivas USA

Bornstein, Jonathan
Braun, Justin
Flores, Jorge
Padilla, Jesus
Galindo, Maykel
Lahoud, Michael
Kljestan, Sacha
Nagamura, Paulo
Thornton, Zach
Cuesta, Yamith
Santos, Maicon

Chicago Fire

Busch, Jon
Conde, Wilman
Brown, C.J.
Mapp, Justin
McBride, Brian
Nyarko, Patrick
Pappa, Marco
Pause, Logan
Thorrington, John
Robinson, Dasan
Ward, Tim

Colorado Rapids

Baudet, Julien
Casey, Conor
Clark, Colin
Cummings, Omar
Gibbs, Cory
Kimura, Kosuke
LaBrocca, Nick
Mastroeni, Pablo
Moor, Drew
Pickens, Matt
Smith, Jamie

Columbus Crew

Brunner, Eric
Carroll, Brian
Ekpo, Emmanuel
Gaven, Eddie
Hesmer, Will (GK)
Lenhart, Steven
Marshall, Chad
Moffat, Adam
O'Rourke, Danny
Rogers, Robbie
Schelotto, Guillermo

FC Dallas

Benitez, Jair
Chavez, Marvin
Cunningham, Jeff
Davies, Kyle
Ferreira, David
Harris, Atiba
Hernandez, Daniel
Ihemelu, Ugo
John, George
McCarty, Dax
Pearce, Heath

D.C. United

Burch, Marc
Carreiro, Fred
Jakovic, Dejan
James, Julius
Moreno, Jaime
Namoff, Bryan
Pontius, Chris
Quaranta, Santino
Simms, Clyde
Szetela, Danny
Wallace, Rodney

Houston Dynamo

Ashe, Corey
Boswell, Bobby
Cameron, Geoff
Ching, Brian
Davis, Brad
Hall, Tally
Hainault, Andrew
Holden, Stuart
Mullan, Brian
Oduro, Dominic
Weaver, Cameron

Kansas City Wizards

Arnaud, Davy
Conrad, Jimmy
Harrington, Michael
Hercegfalvi, Zoltan
Jewsbury, Jack
Kamara, Kei
Leathers, Jonathan
Lopez, Claudio
Souter, Kevin
Wolff, Josh
Zusi, Graham

Los Angeles Galaxy

Beckham, David
Berhalter, Gregg
Birchall, Chris
Buddle, Edson
DeLagarza, AJ
Donovan, Landon
Franklin, Sean
Gonzalez, Omar
Kovalenko, Dema
Magee, Mike
Ricketts, Donovan

New England Revolution

Alston, Kevin
Barnes, Darrius
Dube, Mkhokheli
Joseph, Shalrie
Larentowicz, Jeff
Mansally, Abdoulie
Nyassi, Sainey
Osei, Emmanuel
Ralston, Steve
Reis, Matt
Twellman, Taylor

New York Red Bulls

Angel, Juan Pablo
Borman, Danleigh
Coundoul, Bouna (GK)
Goldthwaite, Kevin
Hall, Jeremy
Johnson, Carlos
Kandji, Macoumba
Mendes, Carlos
Obster, Ernst
Richards, Dane
Stammler, Seth

Real Salt Lake

Beckerman, Kyle
Beltran, Tony
Borchers, Nat
Espindola, Fabian
Findley, Robbie
Johnson, Will
Morales, Javier
Olave, Jamison
Rimando, Nick
Seitz, Chris
Wingert, Chris

San Jose Earthquakes

Alvarez, Arturo
Burling, Bobby
Cannon, Joe
Corrales, Ramiro
Glen, Cornell
Hernandez, Jason
Johnson, Ryan
Leitch, Chris
Moreira, Andre Luiz
Sanchez, Ramon
McDonald, Brandon

Toronto FC

Attakora-Gyan, Nana
Barrett, Chad
Brennan, Jim
Cronin, Sam
de Guzman, Julian
DeRosario, Dwayne
Gomez, Emmanuel
Sanyang, Amadou
Serioux, Adrian
White, O'Brian
Wynne, Marvell

Generation adidas Graduates

Alston, Kevin
Avila, Eric
Beltran, Tony
Bowen, Tristan
Colaluca, Nico
Cruz, Daniel
Espinoza, Roger
Frei, Stefan
Gonzalez, Omar
Guarda, Bruno
Hall, Jeremy
Husidic, Baggio
Ibrahim, Fuad
Igwe, Amaechi
Lambo, Josh
Marosevic, Peri
Myers, Chance
Nimo, Alex
Nyarko, Patrick
O'Brien, Ciaran
Seitz, Chris
Shea, Brek
Valentino, Rob
Wallace, Anthony
Wallace, Rodney
Zakuani, Steve

Biggest shocker for me was James Riley. Perhaps the need to protect Freddie Ljungberg forced James off the list. Interesting that Riley has also been unprotected by his two previous clubs in the expansion draft, San Jose and New England. No way could this be character issues, at least from what I see. The guy does so much off the field.

As for on the field, Riley was if nothing else one of the most durable and fit guys on the club. 2,334 minutes, tied for most of a field player with Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. I would not be surprised if the Union took him.

Big names not protected: Vagenas, Levesque, Le Toux, King, Nyassi, Wahl, Boss, Sturgis, Scott. You have to leave some key reserves off the list despite how clutch they were, like Levesque. Vagenas is a good backup to have for Schmid but expendable with the four midfielders on the protected list. Wahl, Sturgis and Scott lost their left back spot to Leo Gonzalez and it's his position now. Nyassi wore down toward the end of the season. Terry Boss never could get on the field but I think he'll be back to battle for the No. 2 keeper spot in camp.

A lot of potential in Neagle, Fucito and Evan Brown but Philly will look for more experience, I would think. Taylor Graham's injury situation from this year probably takes him off Philly's list, too.

Looks like Sounders FC wanted to keep a lot of its top defenders around, as that was the real strength of the team this year.

The Philadelphia Union cannot select these Seattle players:

Alonso, Osvaldo
Evans, Brad
Gonzalez, Leo
Hurtado, Jhon Kennedy
Ianni, Patrick
Jaqua, Nate
Keller, Kasey
Ljungberg, Freddie
Marshall, Tyrone
Montero, Fredy
Zakuani, Steve

UPDATE: Quick analysis - I got them all right but Jaqua and James Riley and Le Toux. I can see the reason for keeping Nate: He provides offense. No question about that. But his role could change next season depending on whom Seattle adds to the roster. Let's give Jaqua some credit. He gave plenty of effort, he played with head bandages on twice and he scored some important goals.
Stunned that Riley was not on the list, I wonder about that. Very consistent defender all year and a good team guy.
Understandable on Seba, that one was a reach for me. Just thought he'd be protected because he is such an effort guy.

I agree with what a commenter said about Evans' potential. The guy was on the U.S. Gold Cup team so there must be some nationwide respect for his game, and he is still young and can only improve. No-brainers with Gonzalez, Alonso, Hurtado, Keller, Ljungberg, Montero and Zakuani. I told you so about Marshall. The guy provides veteran leadership and when healthy was a force to be reckoned with on the field. Time will tell if his skills start to decline but let's keep in mind, Sigi Schmid knows him, trusts him and must feel like Marshall can still contribute. Ianni, I think, earned his status with his play at the end of the season and really was the top reserve defender on the team, but it looks like the club chose him over Riley.

There was a miscommunication between the league and Sounders FC GM Adrian Hanauer as far as the expansion draft rules regarding the designated player.

So Seattle had to put Ljungberg on its list of 11 players, which will be out shortly, or risk losing him to the Union.

That likely changes things on the final list, as a player who could have been earmarked for protection could now be exposed.

I kind of wish this would come to Seattle. But would it draw good crowds?

The Federacion Mexicana de Futbol (FMF), together with Soccer United Marketing (SUM), today announced the teams, groups and schedule for InterLiga 2010. The seventh edition of InterLiga will be played from January 2-13, 2010 in Houston and Dallas, Texas, as well as Los Angeles, Calif.

Tickets for InterLiga 2010 go on sale today, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009 in an exclusive week-long Visa presale offer. Visa cardholders can visit www.Ticketmaster.com or call 1-800-745-3000 to purchase tickets- exclusively with their Visa cards. Tickets go on sale for the general public on Monday, Nov. 30 via Ticketmaster.com and other regular ticket outlets in each of the participating cities. Tickets are also available by contacting each of the local Major League Soccer teams in the three markets: FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Chivas USA and LA Galaxy.

For further information on the tournament and its history, visit www.InterLiga.com.

InterLiga 2010 Groups

Group A

America
Santos Laguna
Atlante
Estudiantes Tecos

Group B

Monterrey
Puebla
UANL Tigres
Jaguares

INTERLIGA 2010 SCHEDULE (all times ET)

All matches to be broadcast live in the United States by Fox Sports en Espanol.

Saturday, Jan. 2 - Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX

Game 1 - Group A - Atlante vs. Estudiantes Tecos - 6:30 p.m.

Game 2 - Group A - America vs. Santos - 9:00 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 3 - Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, TX

Game 3 - Group B -Tigres vs. Jaguares - 3:00 p.m.

Game 4 - Group B -Monterrey vs. Puebla - 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 5 - Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, TX

Game 5 - Group A -Estudiantes Tecos vs. Santos - 7:30 p.m.

Game 6 - Group A -Atlante vs. America - 10:00 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 6 - Robertson Stadium, Houston, TX

Game 7 - Group B -Jaguares vs. Puebla - 7:30 p.m.

Game 8 - Group B -Tigres vs. Monterrey - 10:00 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 9 - The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA

Game 9 - Group A -Santos vs. Atlante - 8:30 p.m.

Game 10- Group A -America vs. Estudiantes Tecos - 11:00 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 10 - The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA

Game 11 - Group B - Puebla vs. Tigres - 6:00 p.m.

Game 12 - Group B -Monterrey vs. Jaguares - 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 13 - FINALS: The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA

Final 1 - Home Depot Center -- 9:00 p.m.

Final 2 - Home Depot Center -- 11:30 p.m.

InterLiga 2010 will determine two Mexican club berths (Mexico 2 and Mexico 3) for Copa Libertadores. Copa Libertadores begins at the end of January 2010. The eight best teams in the general standings at the end of the current Apertura 2009 season of the Mexican domestic league move on to InterLiga 2010, except for the club that finishes first in the regular season standings, which will qualify directly to Copa Libertadores as Mexico 1 per FMF regulations. Due to their participation in the 2009-2010 CONCACAF Champions League, clubs Toluca, Pachuca, Cruz Azul, and UNAM Pumas will not participate in InterLiga 2010 regardless of their place in the Apertura standings. Due to the events that occurred during Copa Libertadores 2009, Chivas and San Luis will qualify directly into the 2010 edition during the Round of 16.