Kaboom!

That’s the sound of the Galaxy’s season imploding.
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Needing to win to stay alive this season, the Galaxy naturally went down by three goals within the first 25 minutes Saturday to the Houston Dynamo.

Ah well, at least Houston look like they will clinch the Western Conference over Chivas USA. Way to stick it to the Goats, Gals.

Have you ever seen a more disgusted look on Bruce Arena’s face?

Greg Vanney just missed making it four!

Good thing Houston are tired after facing the Earthquakes in midweek or it could be worse.

Now we know the answer to the question how do you make Nate Jaqua look world class? Have him play against the Galaxy rather than with them.

I hope the defense calls home after the season is over. I’m worried. I haven’t seen them in so long.

How bad are the Galaxy? They’re looking at Alan Gordan, who came in just before half time, to be the Galaxy’s savior. And he just hit the bar.

It’s half time.

The Dynamo had a 5-1 shot advantage in the first 45 minutes.

The Galaxy have 45 minutes left in their season.

Think I’ll go do something productive like wash my hair.

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Friday’s College Scores: Bruins, USC Win & More

UCLA men 2 (4-4-5) Washington 0 (7-4-1)
From the Bruins press release:

UCLA shut out Pac-10 leader and 23rd-ranked Washington 2-0 on Friday evening to put the Bruins in a tie with the Huskies for first place in the conference with a 2-1-1 Pac-10 record. A pair of first-half goals by Jason Leopoldo and Prince Lapnet provided all the scoring UCLA would need as goalkeeper Brian Perk recorded his third shutout of the season.

UCLA snapped a six-game Husky unbeaten streak and allowed just six shots.

UCLA women 3 (12-0-2) ASU 0 (6-4-3)
From the Bruins press release:

No. 3 UCLA outshot ASU, 20-5. … UCLA now has 12 shutouts in 14 matches this season, outscoring the competition 35-2.

USC 2 (12-1-1) Arizona 0 (8-5)
From the USC press release:

The offense got the game-winner from freshman Ashley Freyer and a second-half strike from senior Ashley Nick.

Cal State Northridge 2 (6-7-1) UC Davis 0 (6-5-3)
From the Cal State Northridge press release:

A pair of rookies, Nancy Avesyan and Brielle Slepicoff, scored the goals for the Matadors and sophomore Leah Elliott recorded her second shutout of the season in net.

It was the Matadors’ 100th win in program history.

Pepperdine 2 (6-7-2) Gonzaga 0 (5-8-2)
From the Pepperdine press release:

Emily Wynne scored three points and Kayla Stolte pitched her fourth shutout of 2008.

(BTW, since when did we “pitch” shutouts in soccer?).

Cal State Dominguez Hills men 1 (14-2-1) Cal State L.A. 0
From the Cal State Dominguz Hills press release:

Junior Hiram Rangel (Oxnard) headed home the game-winner inside 4th-ranked Cal State L.A.’s box seven minutes into overtime to give CSUDH its third-straight win.

Cal State Dominguez Hills women 1 (10-7) Cal State L.A. 2 (5-7-2)
From the CSUDH press release:

Freshman sensation Jessica Murphy (Torrance/West High) scored her team-best ninth goal of the season.

Santa Clara 2 Loyola Marymount men 2 (4-3-5)
From the LMU press release:

The tie does snap the Lions’ eight-game WCC road losing streak, although it extends the program’s streak of consecutive road games without a victory to 15.

LMU set a record with its fifth tie of the season.

Portland women 3 (12-1) Loyola Marymount 0 (6-5-3)

Finally, from an (edited) Loyola Marymount University press release:

LMU womens soccer player Stefanie Baduria has been selected as one of 10 finalist nationwide for the 2008 Lowes Senior CLASS Award. Baduria is the only representative from the West Coast Conference and is the first Lion womens soccer player to be nominated for the award.

Baduria (Long Beach) is in her fifth year at LMU having battled back from two season-ending knee surgeries. A team captain in 2008, she suffered a third season-ending knee injury on Sept. 5 and has not played since.

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How the Credit Crunch is Affecting Soccer Broadcast Rights Fees

It isn’t, at least not yet, as this Associated Press story points out.

The ever-escalating rights fees broadcasters are apparently willing to pay is one reason rich Americans are buying EPL teams, while eyeing similar growth in MLS.

As soccer’s popularity grows in the U.S. we’ll see a similar situation here – the would-be owners of MLS clubs willing to plunk down a $40 million expansion fee are counting on it. And of course, this story doesn’t mention it, but ESPN has long been rumored to be interested in securing the rights to EPL games in the U.S.

GENEVA (AP) If one sport can survive the global financial crisis, it’s the world’s favorite game: soccer.

Yes, individual clubs will certainly suffer – some losing sponsors or investors and perhaps players who become too pricey. But cash flowing into the top end of the market, from television deals and multinational backers, is unlikely to dry up.

If anything, soccer at its highest level is poised to become an even stronger TV draw in
hard times when people want cheap entertainment.

Look at the numbers.

The 2010 World Cup is already sold, and FIFA expects to bank $3.2 billion before
kickoff.

UEFA earned a net profit approaching $400 million from this year’s European
Championship, and the Champions League will pull in $1.115 billion this season.

Also, television deals for the 2009-12 Champions League seasons are already done in
the main markets, where prices are reportedly up 10 percent, and rights to show the
English Premier League – where huge revenues help explain overseas interest in clubs
– will soon be sold for the 2010-13 seasons.

Industry experts believe the domestic deal for Britain will beat the current 3-year cost of
$2.94 billion paid by subscription broadcasters Sky and Setanta. Global television and
new media rights will earn English league clubs another $1.73 billion in that time.

Philipp Grothe has traded football media rights for two decades. Last week, his
Swiss-based Kentaro agency struck a six-year deal with the U.S. Soccer Federation to
distribute national team matches.

He believes that when money is tight, football is a reliable commodity.

“Only the big live events in sport, i.e. football, generate the mass audience,” Grothe said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “They are the ones delivering to
sponsors and broadcasters the big audience numbers.”

The World Cup is one of the globe’s most-watched sporting events, and FIFA claims the
2006 tournament in Germany had an accumulated television audience of 26.3 billion
viewers on 376 different channels.

FIFA, which relies on the World Cup for 90 percent of its revenue, has budgeted to get
$3.2 billion from television and marketing rights to the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

“FIFA believes that this is a realistic forecast,” FIFA spokesman Pekka Odriozola said in
an e-mail. “Certain contracts are secured with bank guarantees. All TV partners have
fulfilled their contractual obligations.”

The Zurich-based body has six commercial partners for the World Cup.

One, Coca-Cola, is signed until 2022. The Emirates airline paid $195 million to sign through the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

UEFA, which declined to discuss marketing strategy, had revenue of roughly $2 billion for its three-week tournament in Austria and Switzerland, but has not started selling Euro 2012, scheduled for Poland and Ukraine.

UEFA’s club football commitments seem solidly grounded. It has signed four commercial partners – Ford, Heineken, MasterCard and Sony – out of six intended for the 2009-12 Champions League seasons.

The competition’s playing format has been copied around the world, though not its riches.

European champion Manchester United earned $67 million in prize money and television shares last season.

Critics say the Champions League has created a self-perpetuating elite, leaving other
clubs unable to bridge the gap. UEFA president Michel Platini, however, wants the power to ban indebted clubs from the competition.

His words were widely interpreted as an attack on the English teams that now dominate
the Champions League.

Chelsea, last season’s runner-up, owes more than $1 billion, though its interest-free loans from Russian owner Roman Abramovich are not yet vulnerable.

Manchester United, valued at $1.8 billion by Forbes Magazine, has big debts, but it also
has a global brand.

When shirt sponsor AIG received a bailout from the U.S. government last month, there
was speculation the insurance firm might pull out of its 4-year, nearly $100 million deal.

That might seem like a financial nightmare, but Grothe said it would be a win-win scenario for the club.

“Man United would get a hefty signoff fee to release (AIG) and the day after they could
close a deal which is even bigger,” he said.

An important test of soccer’s prospects will come next month, when domestic television
rights are offered in Germany to broadcast the Bundesliga.

Public broadcaster ARD and subscription service Premiere are favored to win the deal,
with the price is expected to be more than $544 million a season.

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Rumor of the Day: Becks to England – no, Make That Italy

Actually, two.

David Beckham is interested in joining an EPL club in the MLS off-season.

Or he is heading to Italy’s AC Milan – and a permanent deal is possible.

And the MLS season isn’t even over yet (well, OK, the Galaxy’s probably is).

For what it’s worth, neither of these two sources are infamous tabloids, but then respected papers need to sell copies, too.

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Friday Football: Waiting for the Weekend

The game of the weekend – for Chivas USA and Galaxy fans alike – is the L.A.-Houston Dynamo game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday live on Prime.

With a win, the Dynamo can clinch the Western Conference and eliminate any lingering Chivas USA hopes of the regional title.

The Galaxy are four points out of the last of the two MLS wild card playoff spots – currently occupied by Kansas City – but no longer have control over their own destiny even with a win.

Complicating matters is that incredibly the home team has won just once – the Dynamo did so in 2006 – in the all-time series between the two clubs. The Galaxy have two wins and a tie in their last three trips to Houston. A loss, then, is on the cards as any fatalistic soccer fan would agree.

The Wizards, BTW, play San Jose, statistically the worst team in MLS.

Chivas USA play at noon Sunday (live on Telefutura) at Home Depot Center against the desperate Colorado Rapids, losers in Carson last weekend to the Galaxy. Chivas USA are finishing strongly, riding a club-record four-game winning streak.

Swag alert: The first 7, 500 fans through the stadium gates get a Chivas USA hat. The team also has a $10 Internet ticket special. Check it out here.

The pick of the weekend’s games include:
*7 a.m. Saturday Fox Soccer Channel Arsenal-Everton
*9:30 a.m. Saturday FSC Manchester United-West Bromwich Albion
*5 p.m. Satuday KAZA Indios-Club America
*5 p.m. Saturday KVEA CD Guadalajara-Atlante
*8 a.m. Sunday FSC Stoke City-Tottenham Hotspur
*1:30 p.m. Sunday FSC (delayed) River Plate-Boca Juniors

Among the local college games in Southern California this weekend:
*7 tonight UCLA men-Washington at Drake Stadium
*2:30 p.m. today Cal State Northridge women-UC Davis at Matador Field
*1 p.m. Sunday UCLA men-Oregon State at Drake Stadium
*2:30 p.m. Sunday Cal State Northridge women-Pacific at Matador Field

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Chivas USA Playoff Tickets on Sale

Circle Saturday, Nov. 8 on your calendar.

Chivas USA announced today that’s the date for the second leg of its opening playoff series against an opponent to be determined and put tickets to the game on sale starting at $14. For tickets, call 1-877-CHIVAS-1.

Swag available to the first 10,000 fans: a free Chivas USA playoff T-shirt.

Former AEG executive (and now Chivas USA co-owner, President and CEO) Shawn Hunter even managed to get in two subtle digs in one quote in the press release at their stadium co-tenants just down the hall:

“We would like to congratulate Preki and the entire team for leading Chivas USA to the playoffs for the third year in a row. In the face of injury and international call-ups, our coaching staff and players have shown tremendous resilience and determination during the course of this season,” said Chivas USA President and CEO Shawn Hunter. “Our ultimate goal is now to make history by playing for an MLS Cup in front of our fans on November 23 at the Home Depot Center.”

The Galaxy, of course, are on the verge of missing the playoffs for a third consecutive year, let alone reaching the final in their own stadium.

A Chivas USA playoff two pack is also available – starting at just $24 or $12 a game – that gets fans into the Nov. 8 game and the regular season finale Oct. 25 against the Houston Dynamo. Potentially, that’s a huge game – with six points at stake Chivas USA is just five behind the Dynamo going into the penultimate regular season contest at noon Sunday against the Colorado Rapids in Carson.

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Thursday Kicks

A young U.S. team lost 2-1 to Trinidad & Tobago in World Cup qualifying on a penalty scored by an experienced Dwight Yorke, Mexico tied Canada 2-2 meaning qualifying for the next round for El Tri goes down to the final game and Croatia and England won.

Meanwhile, Frank Yallop’s chances of returning to MLS Cup at Home Depot Center are all but gone after the San Jose Earthquakes tied 1-1 lost 2-1 Wednesday to a 10-man Houston Dynamo (Lawndale’s Kei Kamara was sent off early in the affair).

The Galaxy have officially announced as expected that they will return Down Under in the post-season and play two games, including one Dec. 11 against the Queensland Roar. They also play an all-star team in New Zealand Dec. 6.

And in case you’re wondering why the Anschutz Entertainment Group-owned Galaxy decided to play this particular team – why, because they just happen to play in an AEG-owned stadium that needs a bit of a boost. Shocker, huh?

Luckily the Roar aren’t much better than the Galaxy. They currently sit fifth in the eight-team A-League with a record of 2-2-3.

Finally, the Cal State Northridge men drew 0-0 with UC Irvine Wednesday and the Cal State Dominguez Hills men beat UC San Diego 2-0, while their female counterparts lost 2-1 to the same school.

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And the Official List of MLS Expansion Cities Announced This Afternoon Are…

pretty much the cities I listed this morning with the exception of Vegas (damn): Atlanta, Miami, Montreal, Ottawa, Portland, St. Louis, Vancouver.

Your preferences?

I’ll take the beautiful city of Vancouver, B.C. (a natural rival of the expansion Seattle team) and the Barcelona-backed Miami bid (Thierry Henry come on down).

What say you?

Details from the (edited) MLS press release:

MLS intends to add two more clubs in the next few years, bringing the League to 18 teams. Seattle Sounders FC begin play next year as the 15th team in MLS, and Philadelphia will join in 2010 as the league’s 16th team.

(snip)

An announcement regarding which markets will receive the next two expansion clubs will take place during the fourth quarter of 2008 or the first quarter of 2009.

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