I was going to write a full post about each team's playoff chances, but its getting close to game time and the three teams left (Toronto, San Jose and LA)... Well, let's just say I don't need to delve too deeply into analysis to discover these teams probably are not going to make it. The Sounders [.. Click to continue reading...

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.

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We're into the last few weeks of the season for MLS. And since MLS is The League That Does Not Recognize International Breaks, this makes it one of the few leagues still playing this weekend. This makes it a good time to look at what's happening. First, I'd like to point everybody toward our [...] Click to continue reading...

Over a year TOR posed the question "Who the f*ck is Michael Enfield?" Today I saw some halfway executed story about him on SI.com and found myself once again muttering aloud "Who the fuck is Michael Enfield?" For someone who ain't sh*t he sure gets a lot of ink. Click to continue reading...

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.

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How messed up will it be if Landon Donovan breaks 20 goals and snags the Golden Boot this year while not making the playoffs? Click to continue reading...

The Z-man takes a look at the last place Galaxy guys.

Vanney remembers, I think, what it was like to consider the Galaxy a special team, back before they had Becks. The thing is, I'm not sure Arena gets that, either.

Arena does touch on what I've always considered to be tough for incoming coaches - they never have their own guys around. Click to continue reading...

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).

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The Colorado Rapids are selling playoff tickets on their website. That's an unusually strange move for a team that would barely qualify for the postseason if the regular season ended today. I guess you could call it confident though, which is never a bad thing in pro sports. Well, so long as you're not overconfident, that is. Click to continue reading...

Who do you pick now to make the playoffs? With a handful of games remaining there are now three teams who have assured themselves of a playoff berth - New England, Houston, and Columbus, one team that hasn't been there in awhile, two that have been there time and time again. Who's next? That's a [... Click to continue reading...

So Tristan Bowen, who was the first player the Galaxy signed to their youth development program, could be the first player from that program to advance to the senior team. Officially, he has not signed with the team yet, but a lot of signs point in that direction. It's likely all over but the official confirmation. Click to continue reading...

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.

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As always, Ives has the scoop. The LA Gals are set to make forward Tristan Bowen the first youth academy grad gone pro. The Rapids have had a kid from their youth team play in the annual intra-squad pre-season friendly, but the Gals are signing one. Perhaps they realize they can't field a full team with both Landycakes and Becks on the payroll? Click to continue reading...

Could Klinsi come back to Cali and coach the Galaxy?

I wouldn't bet against it. If Philly lures Arena away, or he becomes the latest coach to be dumped from the team, something tells me there is a good chance Klinsi would be available.

The other questions would be - would this choice help the team? Click to continue reading...

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),

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Remember when DC United and the LA Galaxy would have solid arguments in either camp for ultimate MLS supremacy?

As recently as 2004 and 2005, both claimed the MLS title. This past weekend, losses for both sides leave them close to missing the playoffs. The Open Cup title might provides some consolation for DC United, but coming against a USL team in a year when so many shiny new trophies with international prestige attached were available, it doesn't have as much luster. Click to continue reading...

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.

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It's an exciting time of year. As the crisp autumn weather cools most places around the country, the playoff race is heating up. Teams are fighting for their postseason lives, anxious to be one of the eight to have a shot at the MLS Cup. It has been well documented here that Columbus is the [...] Click to continue reading...

GAME OF THE WEEK: Serbian Superliga - Red Star Belgrade vs Partizan Belgrade When: Sunday, October 5, 17:00 CET Where: Stadion Crvena Zvezda, Belgrade Why: One of the most heated, violent and dynamic derbies in world football, this one's extra special because of all the recent happenings in Belgrade. Click to continue reading...

The USA announced their roster for the Cuba match, to be played at RFK Stadium on 10/11/08.  With advancement to the next round close to a sure thing, Bradley has taken a few more risks (well...I'd be happy to debate anyone on how "risky" they actually are) and called in some younger players.  I, for [. Click to continue reading...

How cute. LA think they have a shot against the now-mighty Columbus Saturday at Crew Stadium. There a bunch of scrappy 'lil guys aren't they? Bless their little deluded hearts. Click to continue reading...

A few soccer nuggets to get your day started:
*There's a crucial game in the tight Western Conference tonight when MLS Player of the Month Darren Huckerby and the San Jose Earthquakes face Kenny Cooper (second in scoring in MLS) and Dallas at 6 tonight on ESPN2 in a game both the Galaxy and Chivas USA will watch closely.

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There's plenty to talk about after another busy weekend of MLS action. A few teams look dead and buried (DC, LA, and Toronto), while others storm to life at the right time - RSL and Colorado - to give themselves the inner track in the race to the playoffs. But if this season of the [...] Click to continue reading...

LA coach Bruce Arena: "In the last five years of this league the L.A. Galaxy have the least amount of points of any team." See Nick Green's article in the Los Angeles Galaxy section.

~and~

Contributing more fuel to my theory that soccer is the Sport Of The Internet in America, Jack Bell of the New York Times sites this stat in his Extra Time column today: "According to an analysis of more than 100 million blogs, message boards, and postings on social Web sites performed with Zeta Interactive's RelevantNoise software technology, MLS was third worldwide in the total volume of soccer posts, at 16 percent. Click to continue reading...

Two team's, one season, different directions.

Passion, guts, determination - Chivas USA have embraced those qualities, the Galaxy have not. For the most part, that's the difference between the two franchises this season.

Reading between the lines, Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena appears to agree:

"This is not a project were looking at in the short term, but building this team up over the next couple of years and getting the right kind of characters on the field and by that I mean in terms of their personalities, their competitiveness and their ability.

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September 29, 2008 - I am giddy with excitement. Last week, Marta was assigned to the as-yet unnamed L.A. Women's Professional Soccer team when the new league, which begins play next April,  held its draft of the world's top foreign players. It always irked me that L.A. didn't have a team during the last incarnation of [. Click to continue reading...

Storm clouds were (literally) gathering as the Galaxy practice ended Monday at Home Depot Center, the suffocating miasma of the sticky air seemingly reflecting the deepening gloom engulfing the team.

Veteran Pete Vagenas, usually one of the friendliest and most accommodating Galaxy players, walked off the field, his gaze locked at the ground straight ahead in a clear sign he was in no mood to talk.

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The group of investors previously committed to bringing an MLS expansion club to Las Vegas is now in discussions to buy a portion of the Columbus Crew franchise from Hunt Sports Group, according to a SportsBusiness Journal article. Hunt Sports Group President John Wagner has confirmed that there have been discussions with the group over a potential minority investment, but stressed that no agreements have been reached and talks are ongoing. Click to continue reading...

Here are the results that mattered Saturday for Chivas USA:
Chivas USA 2 Kansas City Wizards 1
Houston Dynamo 1 Toronto FC 1
Colorado Rapids 5 Red Bull New York 4
Real Salt Lake 3 San Jose Earthquakes 2
Dallas plays D.C. United at noon Sunday
(Just for the sake of completeness, Sigi Schmid's Columbus Crew beat the New England Revolution, 1-0, and lead the league.

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Wanna talk about Thursday's game?

Yeah, me neither.

So instead, I'd like to say that anybody who's in New York on Oct 2 can stop by and see former Galaxy guy Kyle Martino playing in a fundraiser game for a

Green'-Carpet Event and Live Auction to Benefit Nonprofit Grassroot Soccer and its Mission to End HIV/AIDS Using the ‘Power of Soccer'

Other players will include:

WHO: Michael Strahan (frmr NY Giants) ** Anthony LaPaglia ("Without a Trace") ** Brandon Routh ("Superman") ** Jimmy Jean-Louis ("Heroes") ** Gilles Marini ("Sex and the City") ** Annie Churchill ** Skeet Ulrich ("Jericho") ** Donal Logue ("The Tao of Steve") ** Costas Mandylor ("Saw") ** Richard Gough (frmr Scotland National Team) ** Frank LeBoeuf (frmr France National Team) ** Kyle Martino (frmr LA Galaxy) ** Lydia Hearst ** Brian Dunseth (FOX analyst) ** Ethan Zohn (Survivor: Africa) ** Heather O'Reilly (Gold-Medalist, 2008 Olympiad; U.

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The amazing thing about the Galaxy's awful record in the past two months (winless in 13 of 14) is the fact they aren't dead in the water. Even in the woeful West, their 29 points still gives them an outside chance at the MLS playoffs. When you're a league that accepts 8 of 14 teams, [...] Click to continue reading...

So it's the day after the Los Angeles Galaxy's awful 3-1 loss to Chicago on Thursday and you're probably wondering where the Galaxy will go from here. I can tell you where at least one of their players is.

None other than David Beckham is in New York City today along with wife Victoria to promote their fragrance lines.

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Static from the untuned dial on a sullen Friday afternoon . . . The Bearded Bombardier is done for 2008. Duh. In the land of notional great seasons, a healthy Benny reigns supreme. And his beard is luxuriant. Pardon while I prepare to visit said land of imaginary success for United in FM/WSM 2008. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Wouldn't you know it. After three months off, You Write the Caption has made a strong comeback, with this week's entry drawing a new record for submissions entered.

Let's face it, the above photo of Josh Wicks can't help but inspire the comedy writer in all of us.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

Wouldn't you know it. After three months off, You Write the Caption has made a strong comeback, with this week's entry drawing a new record for submissions entered.

Let's face it, the above photo of Josh Wicks can't help but inspire the comedy writer in all of us.

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