Charles Renken is now a Timbers. (John Dorton/ISI)

It has been one of those days. First the Sebastien Le Toux trade now these two stories.

First up is former US youth phenom Charles Renken has been signed by the Portland Timbers. The Timbers got the youth star off of waivers somehow. Yes waivers. So far me and probably a half dozen other writers have been asking the how’s and why’s on Twitter but so far we got nothing as to how this was done.

My best guess – and stay with me here as it is a guess – is that someone had a claim to Renken and then waived that claim. Portland noticed said club had waived him and they decided to sign him. Seems simple and complex enough to work with how MLS operates. 

EDIT: According to Ives, all 18 other clubs passed on Renken, thus killing the need for a lottery or allocation draft for him. The whole waiver part is still confusing but that is where it stands. Eighteen clubs passed on Renken, one didn’t. Could be a clever gamble on the Timbers part.

Typically an American player coming to MLS for the first time does not come off waivers but through a lottery or allocation system. Renken really should have gone to a lottery like Lee Nguyen did a couple months ago.

Renken, 18, has been a member of U.S. youth national teams since 2005 and most recently participated in a camp with the U.S. U-23 National Team in Germany last fall. At the club level, he played for the U-19 team of German Bundesliga club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim during the 2010-11 season.

Hoffenheim apparently dropped him from their roster back in the fall without any fanfare.

Again, the kid should have not been coming in off waivers.

But I digress.

I like the move for Portland, if and only if, Renken is healthy again. The kid is coming off some injuries that has sort of derailed his rise to stardom. He’s had a fairly rough life as well and I really encourage you to read this bio from 2008 on him.

Still my wonder is how on earth did the Timbers make this happen. You normally see these sorts of bends to the rules for the Red Bulls and Galaxy.

Now back to the task at hand for the evening dose of links and thoughts. I will first start with a letter that was posted over at 3rd Degree, the wonderful FC Dallas new source. This letter was penned by the man who has been dubbed the “first fan” of the FC Dallas/Dallas Burn.

This guy is a true fan, and even these last couple years has been driving over a 1000 miles to see the club. Yes a 1000! Dustin Christmann is that man that all MLS clubs need.

But that ends next year. This super-fan will no longer as he puts it enable “an incompetent organization in which performance is clearly optional.” Christmann went on to list a bunch of problems by the organization under the Hunts since their takeover of the club.

I can side a bit with Christmann in how the club treats the real soccer fans in Dallas. What’s really weird is I’ve heard the Hunts want to sell Columbus and not Dallas when it is all said and done. That just shows you how silly they really are.

If you read on in the comments you will notice some good suggestions by some folks of what the club should do. It’s nice to see people write letters like this but it really helps when people take it a step further and give the owners something to actually go on with to correct their issues.

Writing the club’s decision makers and letting them know what they can do is a good start if you ask me. Furthermore the club needs to get their brand out there more in the area. Its sad when I can find a DC United soccer ball at a local target and not a FC Dallas ball. Same goes at the airport when I cannot find even a keychain of the club’s logo.

What’s really sad is people working at this club don’t even realize the problems that surround the club in the area.

I don’t want to sound like I am ragging on my local side here but when you see it up close year after year you really start to see the little things that matter. Right now this club just doesn’t take care of the little things that clubs like Seattle, DC, Houston, etc. do. And by the way, Dallas isn’t the only one in this boat that sucks at the little things. I can think of at least three more that come in behind the Red Stripes.

Ode To Dichio

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I love the passion up in Toronto about their players. You can hear it in the fans and even in those that cover the club. Sometimes I feel I don’t have the same passion as those out there that are much more connected to their clubs like those in Toronto. This is an interesting read about the crap that Danny Dichio is having to put up with in Toronto. Definitely worth a read if you’ve ever even cared about Dichio as a player. He’s been one of my favorites since Toronto joined the league a couple years back.

Sounders Going Retro?

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This is one thing I’ve been wanting to see for a year or so now. The league has been around long enough and some clubs have roots that go further back than 1996. Seattle is hoping to do just that with a retro style jersey. Some fans in Seattle are petitioning an old-school style kit and even have a mock-up of what it will look like.

Who wouldn’t want to see this look take the field?

Season Near An End For RSL?

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Some of my favorite writers covering this league are in Salt Lake. Its good to see some of them like Michael Lewis see the light surrounding RSL right now and their tiny playoff hopes. There’s a lot going on with this club right now that isn’t getting a lot of talk. Most of that surrounds Yura Movsisyan’s move to Europe. Its breaking this team up and Jason Kreis is having a tough time fixing it. If it doesn’t get it fixed soon he could very well be out of a playoff contention for real and even out of a job.

Youngsters Getting Time In Europe

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Two names I think we will hear more from in the coming years, striker Joseph-Claude Gyau and midfielder Charles Renken. Both are signed with German side 1899 Hoffenheim.

Yes, two kids from our country who aren’t even 18 are going to Europe.

For the next year the duo will split time between Hoffenheim and the Vancouver Whitecaps’ residency school to prepare for Germany. Which is kind of cool to hear that Vancouver has some links to clubs in Europe for when they enter the league in 2011.

Renken is a name most of us have already heard of by now. He’s been courted by big name clubs for the past couple years. Unlike past teenage players from the US, I hope these two pan out into big time stars.