Monday Roundup: Fair Park latest, USMNT friendlies, Elias Vasquez and more

Another Monday, another roundup. Or something like that, but whatever the case may be, we're again talking about the week preceding us chronologically. (I mean, I guess that's the only way a week can really precede, given the nature of time and all that, but hey, you know the drill.)

We'll start off with the latest on the Utah State Fair Park, understanding that more might come through the pipeline today. The Fair Park board has been talking to the legislative committee the park falls under, and they made a strong plea for operational funding in the short-term, with the argument being that long-term, the Real Monarchs stadium would help the park become profitable.

In more soccer-specific news, Nick Rimando and Luis Gil both featured for the United States yesterday in a 2-0 win over Panama. Rimando played the first half and did reasonably well, despite once firing a pass a bit too strongly at his defender (although one might argue that the defender should have been paying more attention and received the pass well instead), while Gil played a strong 10 minutes in which the U.S. was looking more to conservatively control play than to create opportunities.

Elias Vasquez, center back, is officially on trial at Real Salt Lake, but we suspect that's just until his contractual details are finalized, or until his visa paperwork is done. We're hoping that's soon.

Emery Welshman, a forward who once played a game for Toronto FC and was a first-round pick in 2013, is in RSL's preseason roster, and we think he'd be a candidate for Real Monarchs.

We continued breaking down the full heft of the MLS and USL Pro schedule release, and we'll average a home game every week from the start of the season. That makes us quite lucky. One other competition we'll compete in, the US Open Cup, got a bit of a shake-up, too, with more clubs competing than ever before.

In must-read business, one of our writers here, Weston Jenson, wrote a series on some of the positional battles that will feature in Real Salt Lake's season. He wrote about the forwards, the midfield, and the defense, and in the run-up to the 2015 season, it's a great overview.

That's sort of the long and the short of this week. Anything we missed? Tell us. We take well to criticism. (Ha.)