The U.S. thrashed Cuba 6-1, Jamaica beat Mexico and Croatia shot blanks.

First off, why did Fox Soccer Channel inflict the overly chatty and not particularly insightful Nick Webster and Warren Barton on viewers from an L.A. studio rather than on-site English commentators during the England-Kazakhstan game this morning? (Which also has the effect of lowering the crowd noise from the almost 90,000 in attendance, further detracting from the game).

I don't know about you, but the weekend can't quick enough for me after the less than cheery news this week about what one newsroom wit described as our 301.K plans.

And there's plenty of soccer on TV and live locally to distract us.

I'll be back with a Chivas USA preview Saturday and a Galaxy one Sunday, but the bottom line is although the 1-1 draw last night between Real Salt Lake and the Red Bulls did little to clarify the playoff picture Chivas USA can still qualify for the playoffs while the Galaxy can put themselves (and us) out of their misery and be eliminated from the post-season.

A quiet morning so just a couple of things to pass along:

*Pepperdine (5-6-2) downed Cal State Bakersfield (4-9-1) 2-1 Wednesday in a come from behind win. Pepperdine opens West Coast Conference play at 1 p.m. Saturday at Loyola Marymount in Westchester.

*The Cal State Northridge men (5-4-2) tied defending Big West champion UC Santa Barbara (6-3-2) 2-2 Wednesday with the Matadors missing six starters against the No.

This is an excellent SI article that while not specifically about MLS (in fact the article doesn't even mention soccer) has resonance for Galaxy fans.

This season especially has seen many of these, um, symptoms appear in Carson.

Beatlemania like screams every time David Beckham touches the ball.

A light morning for news (unless you're one of the few people excited the U.S. has climbed seven places in the latest superfluous FIFA rankings released today).

But there are a couple of Chivas USA related items to pass along.

In its continuing efforts to cultivate a larger fan base the club has announced the creation of a "Coaches Connection" aimed at youth soccer coaches that offers "coaching tips and information on Chivas USA's innovative Youth Development System.

Two to talk about.

The three finalists for Honda Player of the Year (given to the best player for the U.S. MNT) are last year's winner Landon Donovan, (who this year became the U.S. all-time leading goalscorer with 36 goals); 2006 winner Clint Dempsey (who has four World Cup qualifying goals so far); and goalkeeper Tim Howard (with five shutouts so far in qualifying).

The naughty boy is one Carlos Martinez, a reportedly supremely talented former San Pedro resident, punted from the U.S. Under-17 Academy in Bradenton, Fla., for repeatedly breaking the rules. His family is moving back to the Harbor Area - and Chivas USA and the Galaxy are among those interested in the wayward teen.

The L.A. entry in the new Women's Professional Soccer is taking shape.

As always, I had more information than could fit in the column, so here's some extra factoids and quotes:

*Amy Rodriguez is widely expected to be the top pick in a WPS college draft scheduled for January. That means she won't be playing in Southern California; the L.

The new Women's Professional Soccer league conducted its third draft Monday, this one for American players not allocated when U.S. Women's National Team players were divvied up or international players not previously allocated.

Here are the complete draft results.

The as yet unnamed L.

It's not often you get interviewed by National Public Radio. But Chivas USA midfielder Jorge Flores did (and so did I).

Anaheim's Flores is one of the first of a new generation of U.S. Mexican-American soccer stars. He's not yet a regular starter, but NPR noticed.

Listen to the podcast of "It's Only A Game" here.

Was this.

Make sure you read the comments on the story.

I'm told one of the criminals was a retired Daily Breeze copy editor (who I used to play pick-up soccer with). Nail him I say.

Manhattan Beach motto: "We're only slightly less uptight than Palos Verdes Estates."

The Galaxy were blacked out:

Chivas USA weren't:

Chivas USA lineup: Dan Kennedy, Alex Zotinca, Claudio Suarez, Shavar Thomas, Francisco Mendoza (Jonathan Bornstein 54), Jesse Marsch, Sasha Victorine, Atiba Harris, Sacha Kljestan (Justin Braun 82), Alecko Eskandarian, Dejair (Jorge Flores 75),

Two teams, two games, same time.

MLS' two highest-scoring teams clash when L.A. play in Columbus at 4:30 p.m. live on Prime where the crowd are encouraged to wear black and "black out the Galaxy," (who are quite capable of doing that themselves, thank you) while at the same time on Fox Soccer Channel Chivas USA take on D.

Charlie Naimo, who last year coached first-year W-League team Pali Blues to the league title, has been named general manager of the as yet unnamed L.A. WPS franchise.

"Combining my coaching experience, work ethic and desire to impact women's soccer with all the great players and resources we have assembled in Los Angeles will give us the ability to create a winning franchise from day one," he said.