November 2008 Archives

Give the gift of balls this holiday season.

We're where Palos Verdes Boulevard T's into Torrance Boulevard in Torrance, BTW.

UCLA reached it by pulverizing Duke 6-1 Saturday night at Drake Stadium.

UCLA haven't lost at home in more than three years (a 55-game stretch).

The bracket.

The 4 p.m. Friday game against North Carolina will be shown live on ESPN2.

When Cal State Dominguez Hills goalkeeper Derby Carillo left for Division 1 St. John's the job was up for grabs this year.

Daily Breeze 2004 Player of the Year Miguel Benitez of Gardena transferred over from Loyola Marymount where the former Bishop Montgomery High star played five games in three seasons and CSUDH never missed a beat. Now Cal State Dominguez Hills leaves Tuesday for Tampa, Fla., and a place in the Division II final four.

The Toros will host a pep rally on campus at 11:30 a.m. Monday ahead of their Friday game against Tampa.

Benitez chatted via e-mail:

Question: You came over from Loyola Marymount in search of playing time - and you got it. How has the experience of playing with the Toros been compared to the Lions?
Answer: It has been great. The time I spent with the Lions was a good learning experience for me, but I always lacked that game experience that I needed in order to get better and bring my game up. There was always something that kept me out of the line up at LMU, whether it was the coaches, injuries, or whatever. I needed the opportunity to get out on the pitch and get better. The Toros have given me just that. I feel that all the game experience that I have received here with the Toros has made me a much better goalkeeper, and honestly, I feel that I'm at the best I have ever been in my college career.

Goals actually haunt me now, whether it's in games or even at practice because I feel that I have gotten to a level now where I can make a save on every shot.

Q: Coach Flanagan called you a "difference maker" in your last game over Midwestern State where you made six saves. How was the game from your perspective? How does that game stack up from both a personal and team point of view with others you have played?
A: The Midwestern game was an incredible game. They had the best two central midfielders that I have seen all year, they were dangerous on the ball and moved it around well. The first half, I feel that we struggled a bit to find a rhythm offensively, but as soon as the second half came, we found it and together with the great support we got off the bench from Scott Mariano and Jordan Rover, we found the back of the net. The last 10 minutes though were honestly the longest 10 minutes I have ever played through.

Midwestern State was playing for their season so they were doing their best to outwork us and dump in as many balls as they could to try and get something. I knew that I was going to have to really stay on my toes mentally and physically, to both organize the team and make saves to keep us in it. But in the end, we really held it together and even though we gave up a goal in the last five minutes, I feel we all put a really great effort in to hold on to the win.

Q: You said in the CSUDH media guide that your goal was to win a national championship. You are now one game away from playing for the national title. Are you surprised that you came over from LMU and are promptly in the Final Four?
A: When I first came to Dominguez Hills last spring to talk to Joe Flanagan about becoming a Toro, I told him that I was tired of losing. I came here to win games. So to me it's no surprise to me that we're in the Final Four. At the beginning of the year when we first got together as a team for a pre-game dinner all the players sat together and established what our goals as a team were. We made it clear that we are here to win a championship, and now we're only two games away, we are where we are suppose to be.

Q: Do you know much about your opponents on Friday? Who are their main threats? What are you going to have to watch closely for?
A: We haven't really discussed them much as team yet in practice. Usually when we come up against a team we haven't seen or played before, we focus on the one thing we can control, us. If we go and play our game I feel we'll be fine. One thing I am worried about is playing Tampa at Tampa. It's always tough playing on the road but in this case I feel it will be especially hard because of the importance of this game, it's a national semifinal and Tampa is playing at home.

Q: Can the team win a national title? What's the mood of the team going into the weekend?
Answer: I definitely feel we can win a national title. Ever since our first game in playoffs, we started counting down the games to the title. Now, there are only two games left until we have that title. All we have to do as a team is get out there and play the way we know how, outwork our opponents, and most importantly finish our chances. Personally, I'm going to have to stay focused throughout both games so that I can come up big when I have to. I've had a couple of big saves this year in big games so I just have to keep doing what I have been doing and yell and scream to organize the team and be there to make those big saves when I have to. There's a huge buzz going around in our team right now, we all know what's at stake, but we're confident that we can go to Tampa and bring back an NCAA national title to Dominguez Hills.

Well, it's Sunday in New Zealand. And Beckham and the Galaxy aren't there yet (they leave Monday - and get there Wednesday).

With the Galaxy taking former UCLA player Leonard Griffin (among others) on the club's one-game trip to New Zealand Monday, game organizers down under have countered with former Dutch international Edgar Davids.

Granted, he hasn't played in months, but then neither has the Galaxy.

Meanwhile, after two trips to New Zealand in two years perhaps fans down there have a little of the Beckham blahs.

Don't care how the David Beckham and Tom Cruise clans spent Thanksgiving?

Then don't read this.

You know the bloom is off the Beckham rose when his Galaxy replica jersey is on sale at a deep discount this holiday season.

I notice these things because I'd guess more than half of my casual wear - clothes I don't wear to work - is soccer-related. (For the record, I do not own a Beckham shirt, although my wife does). That includes free T-shirts the Galaxy and Chivas USA give away at games, promotional items that show up unannounced in my mailbox at work and the like.

In October for my birthday my geeky GIS-infatuated wife thought it appropriate to present me with a massive 3 1/2 foot X 2 1/2 foot satellite shot of all 125-acres of Home Depot Center. It's a pretty stadium to be sure, but who knew I would have a massive photo of suburban Carson on our living room wall.

So I know a thing or two about soccer-related gifts and merchandise.

I thought I'd offer a little 100 Percent Soccer Holiday gift guide on an irregular basis (read: whenever I find time) through Dec. 24 if only to give me motivation to actually look at the stack of review copies of soccer DVDs and books that have accumulated on my coffee table throughout the year.

First up, aptly enough for the Thanksgiving weekend, are tickets for a second annual charity event at Home Depot Center Jan. 17: the Mia Hamm and Nomar Garciaparra Celebrity Soccer Challenge.

Attendees for the event have yet to be announced, but last year the charity soccer game included the likes of Landon Donovan, Chris Albright, Brad Guzan, Alexi Lalas, Cobi Jones, Kyle Martino, Kristine Lilly, Abby Wambach, Julie Foudy, and Brandi Chastain.

Tickets, priced at $20, went on sale last week.

More about the charitable cause that will benefit from the game is here.

Check out the highlights of last year's event:

First, the flameout:

From the press releases pile-up department:
*Simi Valley-based Los Angeles Futbol Club has become the third youth team in the U.S. to partner with EPL team Chelsea.

What does that mean?

From the (edited) press release:

LAFC will now be LAFC Chelsea and host Chelsea tournaments, training sessions and a player and coach exchange program. As a result of the partnership, LAFC Chelsea will offer more scholarships for young athletes with financial hardship. LAFC provides kids across Southern California and throughout the country the opportunity to play competitive soccer regardless of ability to pay club membership costs.

Chelsea FC Chief Executive Peter Kenyon said: "Our youth super club network is designed to support soccer development in the US. LAFC shares the same goal and has demonstrated rapid growth of their club and talent.

"Since its inception, LAFC has provided young athletes the opportunity to play competitive soccer through financial support. With our new partnership, we hope that the association with Chelsea can attract and leverage additional funding scholarships, helping to further develop the academy and club.

"Providing elite training for young talent is critical to the long-term development of the sport in America."

The club will make its debut under the new LAFC Chelsea nameplate Saturday when its Under-16 and Under-18 teams take on the U.S. Youth National Teams.

LAFC President Don Sheppard said: "LAFC was created to provide an affordable option for skilled players to play top-tier club soccer. We've been able to reach out to economically disadvantaged communities to recruit some of the best talent in the US.

"For a world-renowned club like Chelsea to recognize our mission and be a part of it shows the caliber and quality of their organization and their commitment to develop US soccer.

"We are a young program and a partnership like this allows us to reach the next level on skill development, player participation and overall club exposure. We have a top-tier coaching staff and now with Chelsea our players will receive an international view of the game - something they may not have received otherwise."

LAFC includes over 50 boys and girls teams with 800 players from ages eight to eighteen. Throughout the last year, the academy has placed seven players on US national team rosters.

LAFC is just three years old. Excellent article on the club by Sports Illustrated here.

The details on Saturday's event here.

*Staying in Simi Valley for the moment, Chivas USA will host tryouts there Dec. 12 for its pro and youth teams.

*The Ventura County Fusion also has tryouts Dec. 13-14.

*And for those already pining for summer, registration for the Southern California Beach Soccer Championships in May in Oceanside is open.

By the way, if you're home for the holidays and need a soccer jolt, check out the Women's Under-20 World Cup: at 1 p.m. it's Norway-Brazil on ESPNU and Mexico-North Korea at 2 p.m. on Galavision.

The U.S.lost Wednesday 2-0 to China, BTW, although the team had already qualified for the quarterfinals. Next is England on Sunday.

Finally, here's your gratuitous David Beckham mention of the day.

And here's a gratuitous new David Beckham commercial (he doesn't speak, much less rap and that's really something to be thankful for.) Happy Thanksgiving.

It's safe to say many Galaxy fans won't be sorry to see Pete Vagenas - often derided as "Pass-back Pete" - leave for Seattle.

But journalists will.

Why?

Because Vagenas was coherent, articulate and often funny. Not many athletes are. And that's journalistic gold when you're on a deadline.

He's definitely a member of my all-quote team.

The departure of Vagenas breaks the last tie with the Sigi Schmid era of players who were smart, chatty and downright fun to talk to.

Chris Albright? Gone. Kevin Hartman? Ditto. Tyrone Marshall. Done.

Those were players journalists flocked around when they held court in front of their locker after a game. They had something to say and a way of saying it.

Edson Buddle is a nice guy, but he is terminally shy and downplays his achievements. Nobody wants another "I just stuck my leg out and got lucky" quote.

Landon Donovan (apparently all but gone from these parts) is valued by the press precisely for his openness. He takes his sweet time emerging to talk after a game (that's fine, he's doing the things he needs to do as a top class athlete such as dipping in a whirlpool and getting a massage), but when he does he'll talk until you have no more questions.

I can't count the times an interview has ended with a flock of journalists looking at each other going "got anything else?"

So Pete's gone. Seattle-area journalists don't know how good they have it.

Message to Chris Klein: do not leave.

Or we'll have no-one to talk to.

Brazilian Alvaro Pires, veteran Joey Franchino and youngster Jeremy Barlow were waived by the Galaxy today.

Franchino started 10 games for the Galaxy this season, but did not appear to be part of Coach Bruce Arena's plans; Pires, another hold-over from the Lalas-Gullit era, had also fallen out of favor under Arena.

They will be available for other clubs to pick up in the waiver draft later today.

The Galaxy also announced their travel roster for the trip to New Zealand. It includes UCLA product Leonard Griffin, who was originally drafted by the Chicago Fire and played this year with the USL Portland Timbers.

Landon Donovan, eyeing a move to Germany, will not make the trip.

Neither will goalkeeper Steve Cronin (scheduled to receive surgery to remove a plate in his right hand after injuring it in August), Charles Alamo, Edson Buddle, Ante Jazic, Vardan Adzemian, Eduardo Dominguez and Israel Sesay .

The travel roster: goalkeepers Josh Saunders and Josh Wicks; defenders Sean Franklin, Michael Gavin, Leonard Griffin, Chris Klein, Mike Randolph, Troy Roberts and Julian Valentin; midfielders Ely Allen, David Beckham, Eddie Lewis, Brandon McDonald, Mike Muñoz and Josh Tudela; forwards Tristan Bowen, Alan Gordon, Bryan Jordan and Jovan Kirovski.

The Galaxy plays against an all-star squad Dec. 6 in a 10:30 p.m. game the club announced today Fox Soccer Channel will show live.

Updated: Chivas USA announced today they have waived defender Alex Zotinca.

He had played in just four games this after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery following a preseason injury. Chivas USA signed Zotinca from the Kansas City wizards in february 2007.

The longest-tenured member of the Galaxy, UCLA product Pete Vagenas, was picked today by Seattle in the Expansion Draft.

Vagenas, 30, joined the Galaxy in 2000 and played more than 180 games for the club. His best season came in 2005 when he captained the club to the MLS Cup-U.S. Open Cup double, appearing in 29 of the club's 32 games that season and scoring a career-high five goals.

But he struggled with injury problems this year - he was not scheduled to go on the club's trip to New Zealand that begins Monday - and with a $138,0000 a year salary, Vagenas' move will clear cap room for Coach Bruce Arena as he seeks to rebuild the team.

"Pete's a champion," said Seattle Technical Director Chris Henderson. "He's a guy who has been in the battles. ... He's among the best passers of the ball in the league and probably in the history of the league. ... He's a great competitor. I think his veteran leadership is going to be very important to us."

His move also adds further fuel to the fire that former Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid could be reunited with Vagenas in Seattle. Another indicator: Seattle also chose Brad Evans in today's draft.

Chivas USA was one of four teams not to lose a player.

The full list of players taken by Seattle:
Nate Jaqua (Houston Dynamo)
Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake)
Jeff Parke (New York Red Bulls)
Jarrod Smith (Toronto FC)
Khano Smith (New England Revolution)
Peter Vagenas (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Tyson Wahl (Kansas City Wizards)
James Riley (New England Revolution)
Stephen King (Chicago Fire)
Brad Evans (Columbus Crew)

Seattle has another chance to add players at 1 p.m. today in a waiver draft.

BTW, Sounders FC selection Nate Jaqua will be available to play for the Dynamo in tonight's CONCACAF Champions League game.

Also: the Galaxy announced today that Fox Soccer Channel will air live at 10:30 p.m. Dec. 5 their exhibition against the Oceania All-Stars.

Before you head to Gramma's house for the holiday, know that:

*Those English newspaper reports were true for once and MLS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gazidis is off to England's Arsenal as chief executive officer in the new year. Is this Stan Kroenke at work?

Arsenal Chairman Peter Hill-Wood said: "Ivan's credentials are first class. It is evident that he has a wealth of business acumen together with a broad knowledge of football that will not only help to maintain Arsenal's pre-eminent standing but enhance our reputation within the football community and international commercial markets."

The South African was one of the founding executives of MLS and was responsible for all player contracts.

*The Sigi Schmid family's run of cup success continues. UC Irvine, (15-1-6) where the MLS Cup-winning Schmid has a son who plays and another who is an assistant coach beat Cal Poly 3-0 Tuesday to advance to a NCAA Tournament semifinal Saturday against St John's. The game was played before the first-ever sellout (and drenched) crowd of 2,500 in the OC.

Complete bracket.

Soccer on TV today:
*At 11 a.m. on ESPNU the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team plays China in its third and final group game of the U-20 World Cup; the U.S. is through to the final round already, while China must win.

*At 11:30 a.m. on ESPN Bordeaux plays Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League.

*At 2 p.m. on ESPN Classic it's Sporting Lisbon-Barcelona.

* At 5 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel it's the Houston Dynamo and El Salvador's CD Luis Angel Firpo in the CONCACAF Champions League. The Dynamo must win to advance.

Back later with word on the MLS Expansion Draft.

The most amazing thing about this snapshot is it's only two years off in foreshadowing the champion in the picture.

This is the South Bay Gunners 11 years ago in a Nike ad (?!).

When I asked the person who supplied the photo which 10-year-old kid was Robbie Rogers, who grew up in Rolling Hills Estates, he said "Far right, blonde with pot belly."

Is this like your mother showing your naked baby pictures at age 2 to your fiancee? Close.

Champion.

Home Dept Center will host six InterLiga games Jan. 8, 9 and 11 in the eight-team competition that determines Mexico's participants in the Copa Libertadores, it was announced today.

Morelia plays Pachuca at 7 p.m. on Jan. 8, followed by Toluca verses UAG in the third and potentially pivotal group games for the four teams in Group A.

The big night is Friday when Mexico's two biggest clubs take the field. Atlas faces Club América at 7:30 p.m. followed by Tigres-Chivas in Group B action..

The finals of the sixth annual competition (and fifth year in Southern California) are on Sunday beginning at 4 p.m.

The first eight games take place in Texas on Jan. 2, 3, 5 and 6.

Competition details from the Soccer United Marketing press release:

InterLiga 2009 will determine two Mexican club berths for Copa Libertadores known as "Mexico 2" and "Mexico 3." The other spot known as "Mexico 1" has been awarded to San Luis de Potosi due to the club's finish as SuperLider of the Mexican Torneo de Apertura 2008, or the regular season champions of the current Mexican season.

Following the draw for the 2009 Copa Libertadores, it was revealed that Mexico 2 will be part of Group 6 with Lanús (Argentina), Everton (Chile) and Caracas (Venezuela). Mexico 3 will play a two-leg play in series against la Universidad de Chile. If victorious, Mexico 3 would be placed in Group 3 with Aurora (Bolivia), Boyaca Chico (Colombia) and a team to be determined from Brazil.

The new qualification system for InterLiga 2009, announced in March of 2008 by the FMF, to accommodate the CONCACAF Champions League, is as follows: the eight best teams in the general standings at the end of the current Apertura season of the Mexican domestic league move on to InterLiga, except for the club that finishes first in the regular season standings, which will qualify directly to Copa Libertadores as "Mexico 1," per FMF regulations. Due to their participation in the 2008-2009 CONCACAF Champions League, Atlante, Cruz Azul, Pumas and Santos will not participate in InterLiga regardless of their place in the Apertura standings.

InterLiga was a great spectacle earlier this year, BTW. Highly recommended viewing.

A pre-sale for Visa cardholders begins Dec. 8.

Incidentally, Fox Soccer Channel announced today it has secured English-language rights for the 2009 and 2011 editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Lists are "in" these days in online journalism circles. So here's mine.

Who did I miss?

The MLS season is over, but soccer never ends.

Today's televised Champions League games:
*11:30 a.m. ESPN Villarreal-Manchester United
22 p.m. ESPn Classic Bate Borisov-Real Madrid at 5pm on ESPN Classic

Lastly, the NCAA Tournament resumes tonight.

I have it on good authority that Sigi Schmid, coach of the MLS Champion Columbus Crew, will be at the Cal Poly-UC Irvine game. Both his sons are involved (one playing, one coaching) with the Anteaters' program.

That's according to blogger Jen Striker, citing a Swedish Web site.

Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena made his first major (I use the word loosely) player deal today, reacquiring midfielder Jovan Kirovski from San Jose - and then promptly leaving him unprotected in the expansion draft.

Arena must figure Seattle won't be crazy enough to pick a player whose stock has dropped precipitously since his 2005 move to MLS with the Galaxy.

Kirovski was traded for a first round draft pick when he moved to Colorado in 2007 after an unimpressive 48 games and 12 goals for the Galaxy; this time around, after missing most of last season through injury, he was nabbed for a conditional pick in the 2010 Supplemental Draft.

Kirovski, who has been training with the Galaxy recently, scored 12 goals in 61 games with the Rapids.

"Jovan is an experienced player who we are happy to have back with the Galaxy," Galaxy General Manager and Head Coach Bruce Arena said. "He has shown the ability to play abroad, internationally and in MLS and is a welcome addition to our roster."

If you say so, Bruce.

At least he'll be familiar with another under-performing former Manchester United youth team colleague - David Beckham.

So which 11 players did Arena choose to protect?

Here's the list: defenders Sean Franklin, Ante Jazic and Troy Roberts; midfielders David Beckham, Eddie Lewis, Brandon McDonald and Alvaro Pires and forwards Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan, Alan Gordon and Bryan Jordan.

Gordon? Pires? Hmmm.

By subtraction, that makes the following players are available: Vardan Adzemian, Charles Alamo, Ely Allen, Jeremy Barlow, Steve Cronin, Eduardo Dominguez, Joe Franchino, Micheal Gavin, Jovan Kirovski, Chris Klein, Mike Munoz, Michael Randolph, Josh Saunders, Josh Tudela, Pete Vagenas, Julian Valentin and Josh Wicks.

The alphabetical list of Chivas USA protected players: Jonathan Bornstein, Justin Braun, Bobby Burling, Alecko Eskandarian, Maykel Galindo, Atiba Harris, Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Panchito Mendoza, Paulo Nagamura and Shavar Thomas.

So here's whose available on the Chivas USA roster: Kraig Chiles, Jim Curtin, Eric Ebert, Dejair Ferreira, Jorge Flores, Anthony Hamilton, Dan Kennedy, Gerson Mayen, Roberto Nurse, Daniel Paladini, Lance Parker, Ante Razov, Keith Savage, Claudio Suarez, Carey Talley, Zach Thornton, Lawson Vaughn, Sasha Victorine, Raphael Wicky and Alex Zotinca.

Braun and Harris were protected, but Flores and Kennedy weren't?

Remember, each team can only lose one player in the ten-round expansion draft and four teams won't lose any personnel.

Notable names available for Seattle include goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, midfielder Eddie Gaven, Quavas Kirk, Ben Olsen, Nate Jaqua, Clint Mathis, Dema Kovalenko, Andy Williams and Ned Grabavoy.

Game story.

Highlights:

Sigi's a winner.

Robbie Rogers on the year with Sigi:

"It's been a great season. I don't know if I'll ever have a season this great again. He said to me "great that I can win a championship with you" so that means a lot. I hope there's more to come. ... It feels great to win it in L.A. where I grew up watching the Galaxy.

Quotable - Crew Coach Sigi Schmid:

"It was special walking out and having the Riot Squad chanting for me and say that they still remember me."

On his future:

"I don't know where I'm going to be next season, to be honest. My contract expires at the end of this month.; (I) didn't want to talk about it during the playoffs, but the last offer came in two days before the last regular season game. I felt that was too late, so I just wanted to get through this and get through the playoffs."

Aly Moreno:

"It was an emotional moment there for me I lost it there for a couple of seconds because Sigi means a lot to me and a lot to my career. He stuck his neck out for me, I stuck my neck out for him and we've won two championships together."

Frankie Hejduk on whether the Crew should hustle to re-sign Schmid:

"Of course. He's one of the main reasons why this club's where it's at. He built this club to be here today. He had his three-year plan and it worked to perfection. He got all these players together and we made the rest happen on the field. I really hope he re-signs and is able to go back a long time and hopefully they can get that sorted out. "

Sigi Schmid 3 Galaxy 1

Columbus Crew 3 New York Red Bulls 1

Justice is served, MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto is a worthy MLS Cup MVP with a record three assists in an MLS Cup game and Crew Coach Sigi Schmid has his second MLS title in the home of his former employer in the South Bay where he has lived so long.

The third goal, especially, was a thing of beauty as a supremely confident Schelotto flicked an impudent ball over four Red Bull defenders that Frankie Hejduk connected with by sending a close-range header past Danny Cepero.

Schelotto could even have had a goal; he cracked a 20-yard shot off the bar in the 77th minute.

The Red Bulls had struck first six minutes after the break, the dangerous Dane Richards beating four defenders with a simple three-yard ball to John Wolyniec, who equalized.

But the Crew was back in the lead within a minute, MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall turning into the attacker of the moment, heading home a Schelotto corner kick.

I'll have more later.

Columbus Crew 1 New York Red Bulls 0

The goal came just as I was about to write at the 30th minute mark that Columbus had failed to use the flanks - one of their strengths - that playmaker Guillermo Barros Schelotto had barely touched the ball and the Crew had rarely threatened the New York goal.

Schelotto sent a long ball up the right wing, Alejandro Moreno beat Red Bull defender Diego Jimenez and slotted it home at the far post.

Until then, the Red Bulls had the better of the play and more attacking opportunities, with Dane Richards in particular causing consternation in the Crew defense with his runs.

Richards did well just before the goal to find Juan Pablo Angel, who could have taken more time before snapping off a shot.

Still, it was New York that finished the initial 45 minutes without a shot on target; the Crew found the goal mouth, if not the net, four times.

An overcast day (ah, the sun is just beginning to break through) and 68 degrees here in Carson - perfect for football.

Still, quite a few empty seats; it will be interesting to see if they fill in.

The New York Red Bull starting XI (4-4-2): goalkeeper Danny Cepero; defenders Chris Leitch, Diego Jimenez, Carlos Mendes and Kevin Goldthwaite; midfielders Dane Richards, Luke Sassano, Sinisia Ubiparipovic, Dave van den Bergh; strikers Juan Pablo Angel (Capt.) and John Wolyniec.

Not much in the way of surprises here: Mendes is preferred over Andrew Boyens who is on the bench; Sassano, who has been nursing an ankle injury, is fit enough to satisfy Coach Juan Carlos Osorio.

Mike Magee is among the options off the bench.

The Columbus Crew starting XI (4-4-2): goalkeeper William Hesmer; defenders Frankie Hejduk (Capt.), Chad Marshall, Danny O'Rourke, Gino Padula; midfielders Eddie Gaven, Brian Carroll, Brad Evans, Robbie Rogers; strikers Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Alejandro Moreno.

This is the same team that beat Chicago 2-1 in the Eastern Conference final. Former Galaxy players Ezra Hendrickson and Stefani Miglioranzi, as well as Pat Noonan are on the bench.

The game is on ABC.

There's a sense of destiny for the Crew.

There's hope of an upset for the Red Bulls.

Both will share the stage today at 12:30 p.m. on ABC from Carson as the drama unfolds.

Me, I'm just hoping for goals.

There's hope: the Crew ranked in the top three this season in goals scored and allowed; the Red Bulls have the third-worst defensive record of any team to reach an MLS Cup and conceded 48 goals this season, 12th most among the league's 14 teams.

But New York also have Juan Pablo Angel, who has scored 33 goals over the last two years; that's more than any other player.

Is Red Bull Coach Juan Carlos Osorio expecting a lot of goals, too?

"No. This is a one-off (game). This is the final, so you cannot just go ahead and play forward and try to score too many goals and leave your back line exposed."

Crew Coach Sigi Schmid hedged:

"I think you're going to see a game where there is going to be chances. I can't ever promise goals because goals don't always result from chances, ask Salt Lake, ask Houston."

The central figure for the Crew is Argentine MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who does his homework, Schmid said, which has allowed him to thrive in a league where other big-name foreign players have failed:

"When he came to our team in our league he already knew what was going on. He knew how our system worked, he knew who the best teams were, he knew some of the players that were in the league. ... He studies the game, he's knowledgeable and he knows about it and as a result of that he respects it, and once you respect it you approach it in a good manner and with a good attitude."

Missed earlier posts leading up to the game?

*Here's a few words from New York Red Bull attacking midfield threat Dane Richards; and here's the perspective of his Crew counterpart, Robbie Rogers of Rolling Hills Estates.

*Three Crew players were named to the MLS Best XI.

*And former Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid is hoping for a happy ending.

So we'll give Schmid the final word: "To become the first coach to win the title with two different teams would be very rewarding," he said.

I'll be back with more later from Home Depot Center. Enjoy the game.

A 13th minute goal proved lucky for UCLA (21-0-2) Saturday, giving them a 1-0 win over USC (16-5-2) and a sixth straight NCAA Quarterfinal appearance.

Game story.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills men defeated Midwestern State 2-1 and earned a place in the NCAA Division II Final Four for the first time in seven years. Jordan Rover (Los Alamitos High) and Scott Mariano (Artesia) scored for CSUDH.

CSUDH will play Dec. 5 against the winner of Sunday's Tusculum-Tampa match-up.

Game story.

Earlier today, the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team beat Argentina 3-0 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Under-20 Women's World Cup in Chile. UCLA's Sydney Leroux got her second assist in two games.

New York's consistently improving Jamaican midfielder Dane Richards, a speedy, but increasingly versatile and perceptive attacker, has been one of the most eye catching players in MLS this season.

Here's Red Bull Coach Juan Carlos Osorio on Richards:

"Objectively, I think last season he has scored one goal; this season he has scored four, (he's had) more assists and I think now he's a player capable of coming inside. Before he was just pure pace and getting in behind so I think he has added to his game and now he is a complete player.

Here's what Richards had to say Saturday ahead of Sunday's MLS Cup clash against the Columbus Crew:
Question: What do you see as the Crew's main threats?
Answer: Well, we all know they are good on set plays - in the box they try to find (MLS Defender of the Year Chad) Marshall. They're always capitalizing, so we've just got to mark up in the box and try to exploit their wing backs. They've got some competent defenders, so we've just got to be disciplined and keep them off the score sheet and finish when we get our chances."

Q: How do you think your speed matches up against them?
A: Well, my speed matches up against any team in this league. I've really got to use it tomorrow, got to be smart, when I choose to go, when I choose to stay back. I've just got to be smart hopefully, cause them some problems.

Q: How do you assess your season? It seemed like toward the end you were maturing before our eyes every game.
A: I'm happy it looked that way. ... Each and every game I just tried to do better. ... I started out with an injury and tried to come back from it and it was pretty hard, but I managed to get over it.

"The coaches are really happy for me and no exception tomorrow, so I just have to go out there tomorrow and do the best I can."

Here's what Dane Richards is capable of:

Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers capped off a breakout season today when he was deservedly named to the MLS Best XI.

Also named: the Galaxy's Landon Donovan and Chivas USA's Sacha Kljestan, both of whom enjoyed the best seasons of their respective careers so far.

Rogers scored six goals and added three assists for the Columbus Crew, was a constant threat on the flank and teamed incredibly well with MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

Donovan was one of the few bright spots on a ghastly Galaxy team, finishing as the league's top scorer with two hat tricks en route to a 20-goal total and winning the Honda Player of the Year award for an amazing fifth time.

Kljestan scored five goals this year, but more importantly was the propulsive spark in midfield for an injury-stricken Chivas USA team that needed his stability and leadership.

The complete team:
goalkeeper Jon Busch (Chicago Fire)

defenders Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Bakary Soumare (Chicago Fire), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew)

midfielders Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago Fire), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Shalrie Joseph (New England Revolution), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA)

strikers Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy).

Cooper was also named MLS Comeback Player of the Year after scoring 18 goals this season, rebounding from the broken shin he suffered eight games into the 2007 season.

Meanwhile, New Yawk Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and his Columbus counterpart Michael B. Coleman placed a friendly wager on Sunday's game.

The bet from the (edited) Red Bull press release:

If the Red Bulls win, Mayor Coleman will send a package of Ohio State Buckeye candies and a case of Columbus's finest ale from the Columbus Brewing Co. If the Crew wins, Mayor Bloomberg will send a large John's Special pizza pie in honor of Staten Island's own, Red Bulls' Forward John Wolyniec, from Basille's Restaurant on Staten Island, a large Italian Hero from Leo's Latticini and Mama's of Corona and a case of Brooklyn Lager from Brooklyn Brewery.

Photo by Juan Miranda/Chivas USA

Plenty of media attention for Juan Pablo Angel and the New York Red Bulls Friday, but is the general public noticing?

I pitched my editor (the news, not sports editor) a front page Robbie Rogers profile on Sunday to coincide with MLS Cup in Carson.

I figured it was a safe bet: a South Bay native, one of the best players on the best team in the league, an Olympian, MLS Goal of the Year finalist, a 21-year-old having a breakout season who was named to the national team for the first time.

Who's going to turn down that story?

He did.

Obscure athlete playing for an obscure team in an obscure league for an obscure championship, he said.

Instead, he said, why don't you write a story about how many people locally know whether a national championship of a supposedly major league is being played here?

So I did, figuring if that sort of story was going to get written (yet again) at least it will be by someone (who thinks) he knows something about the game and not some ignorant soccer bashing reporter.

I'm of the P.T. Barnum mindset when it comes to soccer: there is no such thing as bad publicity.

And the story duly landed on the front page, at least publicizing the game (and this blog).

There was no other mention of the game in the entire newspaper this morning. Soccer still has a way to go whether fans like it or not.

I usually don't print e-mails sent to me privately, but I thought I'd share the following one below that appeared in my inbox before I'd even staggered out of bed this morning:

Just read your article on MLS Cup.

Here's my take on the event.

First off, it's time to get rid of the myth that Americans love to play not watch soccer.

Ratings for major Soccer events (World Cup, Euro Cup, English Premier League) have been increasing at a rapid upward pace for a number of years.

As far as MLS. The relevant metric for a 12-year old-league, which unlike other American leagues exists in a worldwide environment, is hard core fans put into the seats on a weekly basis.

By that standard MLS is doing quite well, averaging more that 16,000 fans per game, in a terrible economic climate especially for families (i.e. the non-corporate crowd) who make up the core of the MLS' fan base.

I wonder where the NBA, NHL, MLB, etc. were in their 13th year?

Are fans into the MLS Cup in New York? Not really the right question. Hard core fans of the Red Bulls like me will and given time the "gospel" will spread to the masses, just as it happened in football, baseball etc.

Perry
Flushing, New York.

Amen, Perry.

Thanks for writing.

Of course, even the soccer-hating guy mentioned in the article watches World Cup soccer so there's a tremendous difference between MLS viewership and how many people watch the World Cup.

And as the Commish pointed out Thursday in his speech at USC, ratings for the Galaxy are higher than for the Kings, but ratings are higher nationally for the NHL than for MLS.

Fans going to the game tomorrow should be aware that:
*The Red Cross will collect donations for victims of the recent wildfires outside the entrances to the stadium.

*The Los Angeles Sol, the new Women's Professional Soccer franchise, kicks off a toy drive Sunday with defender Kendall Fletcher signing autographs for all donors who drop off a toy at the Sol booth before the game. In addition, any fan donating an unwrapped toy worth $3 or more will receive a voucher for one free ticket with the purchase of a full-price ticket to any Sol home game in 2009. The Team LA store at Home Depot Center also has a collection box.

Also, earlier this week I blogged here about some of my favorite South Bay bars, eateries, etc., for those of you visiting the area from out of town (or locals who live under a rock).

MLS Cup is not the only soccer game at the HDC this weekend, BTW.

At 7 tonight Cal State Dominnguez Hills plays hosts Midwestern State at the Track & Field Stadium with a place at the Division II NCAA final four at stake Dec. 4 in Tampa, Fla.

That's the way to start the final crucial round of World Cup qualifying: at home Feb. 11 against a reeling Mexico.

Coach Bob Bradley must be sharpening his knives already (and we'll know at noon when he talks to the media).

No venues have yet been set.

Here's the rest of the schedule:
March 28 in El Salvador
April 1 Trinidad & Tobago
June 3 in Costa Rica
June 6 Honduras
Aug. 12 in Mexico
Sept. 5 El Salvador
Sept. 9 in Trinidad & Tobago
Oct. 10 in Honduras
Oct. 14 Costa Rica

The complete CONCACAF qualifying schedule is here.

Also today, FIFA conducted the draw for the Confederations Cup.

The U.S. gets Italy and Brazil in its group. Ah well, no worries about a U.S.-Iraq final then.

Updated: Reaction.

Playoff-bearded Robbie Rogers leaves Columbus Wednesday;

Robbie Rogers is not happy with the team's mandatory playoff beard - it feels weird, he said Friday at Home Depot Center.

And the demand for tickets for an MLS Cup played in the South Bay where he grew up is intense: "I'm not answering phone numbers I don't have in my phone," he said, observing players get four tickets apiece and that he can't shake down teammates for any spares. "They all need their tickets so I'm buying 10 more and put a limit at that."

The Rolling Hills estates product has had a breakout season becoming one of the best players on the best team in the league, an MLS Goal of the Year finalist and getting a national team call-up for the first time:

Q: Assess the season
Answer: I think that overall it's been a consistent and totally great season. I think this team is different from last year and its been a totally different experience because we've had so much success.

Q: Were you surprised with your performance this season or not?
A: I felt like I was capable of this, but I'm still not happy with where I am. I can still learn from these guys and keep improving. Playing for the MLS Cup - it doesn't get any better, but I still think I have a lot to learn.

Q: How has Guillermo Barros Schelotto helped you this year?
A: He talks to me as much as he can at practice and before and after games. His English has gotten a lot better. Last year he couldn't really tell me stuff except through (an interpretor). This year's been a lot of help and a lot different to last year. I know how he plays now, too, so it's easier.

Q: As a South Bay lad you must know how much this game means to Crew Coach Sigi Schmid.
A: I was around (the Galaxy), watching them play at the Rose Bowl. I've been to so many games here to watch them play and I know he was fired and stuff so I would think he would be a little bitter - I would if I got fired the way he did - so I think for him to be back here in front of all our families and friends with a chance to win MLS Cup - it doesn't get any better."

Q: Do you see yourself returning to Europe?
A: Maybe after next season or something. I've talked to the coaches and agents and we've decided I'm going to come back for sure next season so we'll see what happens after next season.

The Bruins are done for the season.

Despite riding an eight-game unbeaten streak dating back to Oct. 12, UCLA (10-5-6) lost 1-0 to Cal Poly (11-5-6) Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Cal Poly faces UC Irvine Tuesday.

"I'm heartbroken," said Maxwell Griffin, one of four seniors playing in his final college game. "This was my last time playing in a UCLA shirt. I can't believe it. It just wasn't our night. We weren't keeping possession like we used to, and we didn't match up with them for the duration of the game."

Palos Verdes Estates' Kyle Nakazawa was not in the UCLA lineup.

More here.

MLS Commish Don Garber announced several competition changes for next year at today's Annual State of the League address:

*The four-year-old reserve division has been discontinued, with that money diverted to a "bolstered senior roster" (read better, more expensive, players).

*Senior rosters will now be between 18-20 players (it was 18 this year), but no longer will there be up to 10 developmental players. Now there will be four (although teams with more than four Generation Adidas players will have those grandfathered in).

*The season opens March 21, a week earlier than this year, although there will still be 30 league games. The fifteen teams next year (Seattle comes aboard, you'll recall) play each other home and away with two other games (presumably against regional rivals, if the MLS suits are smart) added. MLS will either clear its schedule completely on two weekends for national teams games (or play with a reduced schedule over four weekends).

*The playoff format reverts to that last seen in 2007 with the top two teams in each conference automatically qualifying for the post-season and the next four with the most points regardless of conference earning wild card berths.

*To ease fixture congestion, MLS teams may no longer play in both SuperLiga and the CONCACAF Champions League, although all 15 will play in the U.S. Open Cup. Therefore the Champions League participants next year are the Columbus Crew, New York Red Bulls and Houston Dynamo. Playing in the SuperLiga: Chivas USA, Chicago Fire, Kansas City Wizards and New England Revolution.

U.S. Soccer announced today its customary new year friendly at Home Depot Center Jan. 24 following a week-long U.S. Men's National Team training camp.

The 5:30 p.m. game will air live on Fox Soccer Channel and Galavision.

The U.S. beat Sweden 2-0 last January in a game that saw the Galaxy's Landon Donovan set the all-time U.S. scoring record. The U.S. is making its sixth visit to Home Depot Center where it has a 4-0-1 record.

Next year is a big one for the U.S. with CONCACAF Final Round qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the 2009 Confederations Cup.

Tickets, priced between $18 and $60, go on sale Monday.

A few quick items before I head out to the HDC this morning:

*Tickets priced as low as $15 remain for MLS Cup Sunday, but officials have begun to sell $36 "seats" on the grass berm in an indication the game between the Columbus Crew and New York Sunday is heading for a capacity crowd.

*The Chicago Fire's Cuauhtémoc Blanco became the latest MLS player to go out on loan during the MLS offseason, joining Santos Laguna of the Mexican Primera Division for the playoffs of the Apertura. He will rejoin the Fire for next season.

*Former Galaxy midfielder Jovan Kirovski is training with the club and is under consideration for a spot on the roster for the New Zealand trip, club officials said. He remains the property of San Jose. Also on the team's training field in recent days: former Galaxy holding midfielder Simon Elliot, Torrance's Jack Stewart, last seen with Real Salt Lake in MLS and Cedric Uras, a guest player from Litex Lovech in Bulgaria who played with Greg Vanney at Bastia, according to the Galaxy blog. Coach Bruce Arena just returned from a scouting trip to Argentina.

*Pac-10 champion UCLA (10-4-6) opens NCAA Tournament play at 7 tonight against Cal Poly (10-5-6) at Marshall Field at Drake Stadium. Tickets are $9 for adults, $7 for students and youth.

Game preview here.

MLS officials are concerned about the quality of the U.S. Men's National Team and how that could reflect on the league, Commissioner Don Garber told more than 200 students, faculty and guests Thursday at the USC Marshall Sports Business Institute.

"Our national team is struggling," he said flatly. "We looked great last night - last night we beat Guatemala. ... All of those players on that field were playing Major League Soccer or played in Major League Soccer. Many of them came up through the youth system, many of them played in the U.S. Soccer Academy down in Florida and they were pretty good - they beat Guatemala pretty handily.

"You take that team and play them against England's - maybe not England's, but Germany's or Italy's first team - and boy, we've got a long way to go. ... Let's not believe our own press and think that we're OK because we're beating each other. Let's think about how we're competing against the world - and against the world, we're worried.

"I'm really worried about how we're going to do," (in 2010 is what it sounded like he was going to say here), before he quickly added "I hope there's no media people here, they'll get me in trouble for this," (too late, Don).

"We're going through qualifying pretty well, we're one of the best teams in our region. But when we get out we have to compete against world powers who have been doing this for 100 years. It's not the same game - and that's a big concern of ours."

That's because, Garber observed, the league's number one goal is to raise the respect and credibility of the league domestically and internationally in the eyes of an "increasingly more sophisticated soccer consumer."

"We think we could be as big as the NFL," said Garber, former head of NFL International.

But the quality of the product is the key to that.

"We have to have value, we have to have a product people care about," he said. "We've got to show our fans and players the game matters."

One way is to have more than a cursory knowledge of it.

So here's a little "Are Your Smarter Then Don Garber When it Comes to Soccer?" quiz.

Question: How many teams are in InterLiga, the competition played in the U.S. (including Home Depot Center) that qualifies two Mexican teams to enter Copa Libatadores?
Answer: Garber wondered aloud whether the answer was 10. If you said eight, you're smarter than Don Garber.

Question: Does Mexico have relegation and promotion?
Answer: Don said "no" they have the same system the U.S. does. Not so. If you said Mexico does have relegation, again, you're smarter than Don Garber. (The system is based on a formula over three years designed to ensure the richer/bigger clubs are unlikely to go down and lose out on the revenues from the top league).

Still, he conceded about relegation, "Our fans are screaming for it. Our coaches are screaming for it," while adding, "We're not structured for it."

Meaning rich dudes paying $40 million for a franchise plus the cost of building a soccer-specific stadium don't want to entertain the prospect of playing in the USL.

Finally, Garber noted that although MLS has the cheapest average ticket price of any major sport ($21) "the sports business is not immune from the economic crisis we're living through." He said he didn't feel "as good" as he did six months ago about the league's financial prospects.

Join the club, Don.

Not much of a surprise there.

BTW, Carson shelved the idea of a Home Depot Center ticket tax - for now.

A generous Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA helps the U.S. win while a roundup of Wednesday's international action is here.

Mexico loses, but advances in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. Will Sven keep his job?

And Landon Donovan is loaned to Bayern Munich.

A completely subjective guide to some recommended pubs and restaurants in the South Bay especially for those in town for MLS Cup.

Courtesy of map-savvy klf.

Enjoy:

View Larger Map

UCLA striker Sydney Leroux, who played for her native Canada at age 14 in the Under-20 Women's World Cup four years ago, came off the bench to score two goals and create another in the 3-0 U.S. win today over France in Chile.

"Today, it was Sydney who was the star," said U.S. Coach Tony DiCicco. "I have a lot of players who can step in and be the star. We felt that this was the right situation where Sydney could step in and help us in the second half. She was very determined to prove that we were correct."

Leroux came on at the half and set up Alex Morgan's game-winning goal in the 55th minute. Leroux added goals in the 56th and 71st minutes, her third and fourth strikes of the year.

She scored five goals and added six assists for the Bruins this season.

After a 0-0 draw between Argentina and China in the first game of today's doubleheader, the U.S. now sits in first place in Group B with three points. The Americans play Argentina Saturday.

It's that time of the year.

Real Salt Lake forward Will Johnson's game-winner in a crucial Oct. 18 game against Dallas was voted the MLs Goal of the Year in balloting revealed today. Nicely-controlled and well-executed, but Goal of the Year material? I think not.

MLS detractors will seize upon this as more evidence of the stolidly unspectacular level of play in the league. I will simply note there were better candidates. See it here.

Which begs the question: how many of these previous Goals of the Year do you recall?
2007: Cuauhtémoc Blanco - Chicago Fire
2006: Brian Ching - Houston Dynamo
2005: Dwayne De Rosario - San Jose Earthquakes
2004: Dwayne De Rosario - San Jose Earthquakes
2003: Damani Ralph - Chicago Fire
2002: Carlos Ruiz - Los Angeles Galaxy
2001: Clint Mathis - MetroStars
2000: Marcelo Balboa - Colorado Rapids
1999: Marco Etcheverry - D.C. United
1998: Brian McBride - Columbus Crew
1997: Marco Etcheverry - D.C. United
1996: Eric Wynalda - San Jose Clash

Meanwhile, those still seething that Landon Donovan prevailed over Tim Howard for the Honda Player of the Year Award have a chance to put things right in the annual U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year competition. Those two are among the finalists for the Male Athlete of the Year Award. Voting began today.

Shannon Boxx of Torrance is a contender for the women's version.

Robbie Rogers of Rolling Hills Estates and Maurice Edu of Fontana are among those up for Young Male Athlete of the Year, along with Sacha Kljestan of Chivas USA.

The complete list:
U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year Candidates
Shannon Boxx, Midfielder
Lori Chalupny, Defender
Angela, Hucles, Midfielder/Forward
Carli Lloyd, Midfielder
Christie Rampone Defender
Hope Solo, Goalkeeper

U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year Candidates
Carlos Bocanegra, Defender
Michael Bradley, Midfielder
Clint Dempsey, Midfielder
Landon Donovan, Midfielder/Forward
Tim Howard, Goalkeeeper
Oguchi Onyewu, Defender

U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year Candidates
Kristie Mewis, Midfielder
Vicki DiMartino, Forward
Michelle Enyeart, Forward
Alyssa Naeher, Goalkeeper
Keelin Winters, Midfielder
Courtney Verloo, Forward

U.S. Soccer Young Male Athlete of the Year Candidates
Maurice Edu, Midfielder/Defender
Stuart Holden, Midfielder
Sacha Kljestan, Midfielder
Michael Orozco, Defender
Robbie Rogers, Midfielder
Marvell Wynne, Defender

Vote here.

Finally, UCLA Coach Jorge Salcido was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year after leading a young Bruin team (12 newcomers) to a fifth conference title in seven years and a dominant 7-1-2 record.

And junior midfielder Michael Stephens was named the Pac-10 Men's Soccer Player of the Year, the third Bruin - Matt Taylor (2003) and Patrick Ianni (2004) were the others - to receive the honor. He has seven goals and nine assists on the season.

OK, so you don't care about the U.S. Men's National Team game against Guatemala (live at 5 p.m. on ESPN Classic and Galavision from Colorado) because the Americans have already qualified for the final round of World Cup qualifying.

Still, there are five teams vying for three remaining places in CONCACAF's hexagonal.

Guatemala must win and hope Cuba beats Trinidad & Tobago, which only needs a tie to qualify.

Mexico needs a draw against Honduras to qualify (live at 5 p.m. on Telemundo). Honduras needs to beat Mexico or tie and hope Jamaica beats Canada. Jamaica is still mathematically alive, but needs a big win over Canada.

The draw for the final round is Saturday.

In other televised World Cup qualifying games today it's:
*Saudi Arabia-South Korea at 8:30 a.m. on Fox Soccer Channel
*Bahrain-Australia at 10:30 a.m. on FSC
*Quatar-Japan at 12:30 p.m. on FSC

Plus:
*GOLTV has the England-Germany friendly at 11:45 a.m.
*Greece-Italy at 1:30 p.m. is on ESPN2
*At 10 a.m. it's the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team-France on ESPN2 in the opening game of the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup.

If you're going to be in the L.A. area beginning Wednesday, here's what you need to know:

Wednesday:
*At about 2 p.m. the MLS Goal of the Year will be announced.

*At 4:25 p.m. the Columbus Crew arrive at LAX on Delta Flight 945 from Atlanta.

*From 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Dolphin Park, 21205 Water St., Carson the Galaxy and Volkswagon host a pick-up soccer tournament with the Galaxy's Chris Klein and Chivas USA's Panchito Mendoza. Fans can have their photo taken with the new Phillip F. Anschutz Trophy.

Thursday:
*From 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. the Columbus Crew train at Field No. 1 at Home Depot Center.

*At about 1:45 p.m. on ESPNews the MLS MVP - either Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago Fire), Landon Donovan (Galaxy) or Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew) - will be announced.

*From 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. the Road to MLS Cup Block Party at The Block at Orange with the MLS Cup championship trophy on display.

Friday
*From 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. the Columbus Crew train at Field No. 1 at Home Depot Center.

*From 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. the New York Red Bulls train on Field No. 6.

*Noon to 3 p.m. the Road to MLS Cup Block Party at the Third Street Promenade with the MLS Cup championship trophy on display.

Saturday:
*From 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. the Supporter's Summit at the Home Depot Center Stadium Club with special guest MLS Commish Don Garber. Breakfast will be served. To attend call Mike Breton at footballermichaelbreton@yahoo.com or at 714-893-8312.

*8 a.m. to 5 p.m. adidas MLS 7v7 Soccer Challenge at Home Depot Center with MLS Players available for autographs and photo opportunities with fans and 7 v 7 Under-14 soccer tournament.

*Comeback Player of the Year and MLS Best XI announced at the Gala Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles.

Sunday:
*10 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. MLS Cup Soccer Celebration at Home Depot Center with interactive games and live t-shirt screening.

*12:30 p.m. MLS Cup from the Home Depot Center live on ABC.

Note: The teams train Saturday inside Home Depot Center, sessions that are not open to the public, although the Supporters Summit is being held in the bar overlooking the field while the Crew train in the morning. Specific flight information for New York's arrival at LAX was unavailable,

Not enough? MLS is twittering.

I had never written a fairytale before.

But the literary device seemed apt for today's column.

Of course, Red Bull New York is a bit of a Cinderella story, too, so come Sunday we'll see who lives happily ever after.

Columbus management gave Sigi the time and perhaps most importantly, didn't interfere in the playing side of things, and are now reaping the reward. Are you listening, Galaxy front office?

"I've always felt if you hire somebody to do the job let them do the job and if you're not going to let them do the job don't hire them," Schmid said. "It's impossible for anyone to have too many fingers in (too many) pies."

Updated:
UCLA beat San Diego 1-0 Monday on an own goal in a game delayed by the unhealthy air quality caused by the wildfires this weekend to advance to the last 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins play USC at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Drake Stadium.

Quotable:

"This is the NCAA Tournament and nothing is going to be easy and nothing is going to be handed to you," said UCLA head coach Jillian Ellis. "To be able to win and not play as well as we can play - we have to take that as a positive. Good teams find a way to win. San Diego certainly didn't make it easy for us."

Notable:
*UCLA outshot San Diego 20-9 on the night.
*The Bruins have allowed goals in just four of their 22 games this season.
*It is the fourth season in a row that UCLA has reached the 20-win mark, and the Bruins' 10th straight appearance in the round of 16.
*The Bruins defeated the Trojans 2-1 earlier this season.

U.S. Soccer has named its annual award finalists. Voting begins today here.

UCLA (10-4-6) hosts Cal Poly Friday (10-5-6) at 7 p.m. Friday at Drake Stadium with the winner playing 14th-seeded UC Irvine (14-1-6) on Tuesday.

Chatted with former Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid on Sunday who took pains to point out this is the Anteaters (!) first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. His son, Kyle, is on the team, while another son, Kurt, is an assistant coach. More with Sigi in Tuesday's column.

Complete pairings here.

A busy day as I write Tuesday's column about the karmic Sigi Schmid, but wanted to note in passing that:

*The Galaxy's poor season cost David Beckham a spot on England's squad to face Germany Wednesday so cue speculation he must leave MLS for good to keep playing for England.

*MLS Rookie of the Year and Cal State Northridge product Sean Franklin was named to his first U.S. squad along with Chivas USA's Sacha Kljestan and Jonathan Bornstein and Rolling Hills Estates' John Thorrington.

The full roster for Wednesday's meaningless (from a U.S. perspective) World Cup qualifier against Guatemala:

goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF), Matt Pickens (out of contract); defenders Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Sean Franklin (Los Angeles Galaxy), Cory Gibbs (Colorado Rapids), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution); midfielders Freddy Adu (AS Monaco), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), John Thorrington (Chicago Fire); forwards Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Davy Arnaud (Kansas City Wizards), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire).

And the season ended Sunday for the Cal State Dominguez Hills women.

A thick pall of smoke is mostly blotting out the sun in Torrance this morning, miles from the worst of the wildfires in Orange County where hundreds have lost their homes.

A layer of gray ash is coating cars, sidewalks and everything else.

And there's a muffled, slightly subdued quality to the light and sound of this Sunday Southern California morning, lending an unreal edge to what has been a surreal last few days.

Welcome to Los Angeles in November.

Hopefully, things will have improved a week from now otherwise the air quality at Carson's Home Depot Center will surely affect MLS Cup.

And just a week ahead of the second biggest event of the year at the stadium (the X Games are the biggest), the city of Carson is again contemplating a ticket tax at Home Depot Center.

If I recall correctly legal experts have differed in the past over the legality of such a tax being imposed (the HDC sits on California State University property, which didn't, for instance, need any sort of planning permission from the city when the sports complex was built), but apparently it is now more than a possibility.

On one hand you can't blame the city of Carson, which lacks much of a sales tax base, for eying the revenue stream. The HDC hasn't done much to spur economic revitilization around the stadium (cleaning up graffiti on a KFC across the street appears the extent of it, sadly) yet makes planty of money for Anschutz Entertainment Group.

AEG, naturally, opposes the tax as the story points out:

Rod O'Connor, the general manager of the Home Depot Center, said that a 10 percent tax on tickets would be the highest in the Los Angeles area. He warned that one of the stadium's two professional soccer teams - Chivas U.S.A. - has already been exploring getting its own venue and that any additional taxes might prompt event promoters to take their business elsewhere.

"This puts us at a disadvantage," O'Connor said. "We feel strongly that the solution ought to be a fair solution that asks everyone to contribute a little bit, not something that is targeted at one business in our community."

It's an argument that might be a little more convincing if greedy AEG was more inclined to share the wealth themselves or at least give patrons a break from the likes of those crushing $20 parking fees.

And Chivas USA, struggling to broaden their fan base, is unlikely in this economic climate to make any move that would cost the club even more money, anyway.

Still, overall, the proposal feels more than a little like fiddling while Rome burns at this particular time, so perhaps that calls for an appropriately dark song to remind us of what's really important:

Updated 1 p.m. Sunday
UCLA has just issued this press release:

"Due to several fires in Southern California resulting in poor air quality, Sunday's NCAA Second Round match between top-seeded UCLA and San Diego has been postponed. The match has been rescheduled for Monday at 6:00 p.m. (PST).

The winner of Monday's match will advance to face fourth-seeded USC in the round of 16."

It's Red Bull New York verses Columbus Crew at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at MLS Cup in Carson.

NYRB beat RSL 1-0 Saturday.

Juan Carlos Osorio has done what Bruce Arena couldn't in New York. Former Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid has done what his former employer failed to do. And Juan Pablo Angel and Guillermo Barros Schelotto have outshined David Beckham in MLS.

No doubt MLS is just glad it's not a Columbus-Salt Lake final; the two smallest markets contesting the championship of the most lightly regarded major sports league would have spelled marketing disaster.

Instead we have clear favorites against an erratic underdog, small town America against urban heavyweight and plenty of story lines.

Western Conference Final highlights:

Saturday's College Scores
*USC beat BYU 2-1 Saturday afternoon on penalty kicks. USC plays either UCLA or San Diego in the NCAA Tournament third round.

*Cal State Dominguez Hills beat Cal State L.A. 4-0 to win the 2008 NCAA West Region title Saturday in Carson. The Toros host a quarterfinal match-up next Saturday against Midwestern State, a 5-0 winner Saturday over Fort Lewis.

Complete game story here.

*The UCLA men beat San Diego State 6-1 Saturday extending their unbeaten streak to eight games. Junior forward David Estrada scored two goals and added an assist, while junior midfielder Michael Stephens tied the school record with four assists.

Notable: The six goals scored were the most by a Bruin team since a 7-1 NCAA quarterfinal win in 2002 over Penn State.

Quotable: "I'm very pleased with how strong we finished the regular season," said UCLA head coach Jorge Salcedo. "We possessed the ball really well, defended well and scored goals, and we look forward to continuing that in the postseason."

Long Beach State's run in the NCAA Tournament was short.

UCLA had no such problems.

Former West (Torrance) High star Jessica Murphey led CSUDH past San Francisco Friday and into the next round of the NCAA Division 2 Far West Regional.

Either Real Salt Lake or Red Bull New York will make club history tonight when the victor of the 6:30 p.m. game (live on Fos Soccer Channel) will face Sigi Schmid's Columbus Crew next weekend at MLS Cup in Carson.

And lastly, David Beckham apparently doesn't expect to be named next week to the England squad.

The season is over for the Galaxy and Chivas USA, but scores of kids will play this weekend in the finals of the inaugural Serie de Campeones at Home Depot Center.

The Galaxy program is aimed at the Latino community, providing independent teams - not top club teams - the opportunity to play for a trophy at a lower cost than usual.

Still, there's talent out there. A Galaxy scout found Alejandro Covarrubias, a senior a Bell High School, at one of the tournaments who has become a regular on the club's Under-18 Academy Team and was recently added to the U.S. Under-18 National Team Pool.

Serie de Campeones is a five-tournament program in which the winners of the first four tournaments participate in the fifth one.

There are seven divisions for various age groups, including a competition for girls.

Participating teams include the Gunners, Kids USA, Liverpool, St. Patricks SC, Tigres de Oxnard, Manchester and a Galaxy team.

Games run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday on fields 5 and 7 (the David Beckham Academy field). Admission and parking are free.

,

Bayern Munich will decide next week whether to sign Landon Donovan from the Galaxy.

Donovan even took a bit of a swipe at David Beckham in the article when he rejected any comparison with Becks: "I am not a good-looking posterboy, I am a footballer," he said.

Ouch!

Meanwhile, Long Beach State is gearing up for its first-ever NCAA Tournament game tonight at UCLA's Drake Stadium.

Thanks to those readers who asked about my mum, BTW. She was evacuated last night because of the massive fire in Santa Barbara. She's safe and her little rented cottage has escaped the flames (for now) although the fire came very close and burned some homes just up the street.

As you can imagine I've had concerns other than blogging, but I'll return with more later, (the Santa Ana winds permitting).

First, my thoughts are with the folks in Santa Barbara tonight where a horrific conflagration of historic proportions is ripping through the city and thousands (including my 80-year-old mum who rents a cottage up there) have been evacuated and don't know whether they will have homes to return to.

In light of that, the night's soccer news is rather minor by comparison, but Sigi Schmid's Columbus Crew did defeat the Chicago, um, Fire 2-1 tonight in the Eastern Conference semifinal to reach MLS Cup in Carson. It was a gutsy come from behind win by the Crew in front of a delirious crowd who will meet the winner of Saturday's Real Salt Lake-New York Red Bulls Western Conference decider.

Highlights:

In college games tonight:
*USC beat Boston University 2-0 in Utah. USC will face either BYU or Virginia Tech in the next round on Saturday.

*Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills will meet Saturday in the Far West Final. CSUDH disposed of Notre Dame de Namur 3-0 with senior midfielder Kyle Holland getting his first career hat trick. Cal State L.A. advanced in a 5-4 penalty kick decision over Sonoma State.

Also: UCLA's Tina DiMartino was named Pac-10 Player of the Year.

MLS today named Cal State Northridge product and Galaxy defender Sean Franklin as its Rookie of the Year. Franklin is scheduled to talk to reporters later today from the U.S. Men's National Team training camp in Colorado.

How big of an accomplishment is this?

Franklin played all year in the center of a bad Galaxy defense, yet according to Coach Bruce Arena he's not a central defender.

In other MLS awards-related news, Rolling Hills Estates Robbie Rogers is one of the five finalists for Goal of the Year. Vote here. Roger already beat out Beckham to become one of the finalists; can he do the same to Blanco?

And in other Galaxy-related news, Bayern Munich's Web site has more on Landon Donovan's German adventure. Hmmm, is he going to be there 10 days or 10 weeks?

Oh, and even though this was reported a while back the Galaxy has officially announced that Tristan Bowen, 17, of Van Nuys has become the first player to come through its youth academy to sign a multiyear contract with the club.

"Tristan is an exciting and talented young player who has impressed me and all of our coaches during his time training with the club," Galaxy General Manager and Head Coach Bruce Arena said. "He has many of the attributes which are required in order to become a good player in MLS and has shown the drive and desire to improve all areas of his game. We are excited to have him join the club and look forward to seeing him grow in a Galaxy uniform."

In Wednesday night games, Mexico beat Ecuador 2-1 in Arizona and CD Guadalajara lost 2-0 in the first leg of their Copa Sudamericana semifinal.

At 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2 the Crew and Fire face off in the Eastern Conference final with the winner heading to MLS Cup on Nov. 23 at Home Depot Center.

Even though former Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid is being circumspect about what it would mean to him to walk out on the home field of the club that fired him in the league's title game, Crew forward Alejandro Moreno - who played for him in L.A. - isn't as reticent:

"We know it's special and we know he's a California guy. I think what's special is that I was in L.A. when Sigi got fired and probably at the time I thought it was wrong and even now I thought it was wrong and even with the Galaxy having won the MLS Cup after that I still think it was wrong.

"There was a lot of people who wrote him off and there was a lot of people who didn't think he was the coach he was when he was back with the Galaxy and I'm here to tell you he's still the coach (he was)."

Sigi talks here:

The MLS season is over for Chivas USA, but the injuries keep piling up.

Midfielder Sasha Victorine is out six to eight months - yes, months - after undergoing microfracture surgery on his left knee today in Santa Monica.

The former Galaxy midfielder played just five games for Chivas USA, scoring two goals, after his Sept. 15 deadline day trade from the Kansas City Wizards.

Originally, Victorine was supposed to be out a matter of weeks, not months, after suffering the injury Oct. 19 against Colorado.

Blog housekeeping that it is.

Keen-eyed readers will notice I've eliminated some outdated links, scrubbed some of limited interest entirely (most of the junior colleges are gone, for instance) and generally streamlined the list that's on the right-hand side of the blog.

I added a few here and there, too, that were long overdue for inclusion (such as the official Chivas USA blog) and Luis Bueno's new offering The Touchline (the successor to Sideline Views minus Andrea Canales). The list still needs to be worked on a bit, so if you have suggestions for links (especially those with a Southern California flavor) don't hesitate to jump in.

Thanks to Web master supreme Chris Berry for the (very) quick work updating those.

The fall housecleaning gave me the opportunity to look at blogs and sites I don't always have time to check out and so with that in mind (and the absence of much actual news this morning), here's a look at what folks are chatting about around the Web:

*First off, Mexico plays Ecuador in Arizona tonight (live at 7 on Telemundo) in a friendly that could nevertheless have a bearing on the future of Sven-Goran Eriksson, according to one writer.

*While we're on the subject of coaches and job security, although conventional wisdom has held this season that Chivas USA Coach Preki was largely helpless to do much in the playoffs given the team's crushing number of injuries, there are dissenters out there who believe otherwise and are calling for his head (or at least ouster).

Some valid points there.

Chivas USA likes to point out just how many enforced changes there were over the course of the season (the team fielded 30 different line-ups in 32 games) because of a "total of 183 man-matches (lost) due solely to injuries, averaging nearly six players per game."

True enough, but Preki also made some alterations to his line-up (or failed to in a few cases) that had more than a few observers scratching heir heads.

The tubby and past it Zach Thornton starting ahead of fan favorite Dan Kennedy in goal for the final playoff game? Jonathan Bornstein playing center back in the first playoff game for the first time in his entire life? And the signing of a clearly out of his depth Roberto Nurse from the Mexican second division that had panic written all over it.

I could go on (and probably will in a future column), but add it all up and it's not surprising some hard-core Chivas USA fans are questioning Preki's future.

Preki won't get fired, but the fact fans are discussing the possibility is healthy for a team that still needs to cultivate a larger base of support. And it's fun reading, too.

Meanwhile, there are already rumblings of potential problems for Women's Professional Soccer, while Brazilian star (and would-be L.A. Sol player) Marta is apparently demanding big bucks.

Finally, let's end with a couple of minor news items:

*The always suspect FIFA rankings are out today with the U.S. dropping three places to 24th (just above Mexico) and England rising four places to 10th. Seven nations, including American Samoa are tied for 201st and last in the table, BTW. Complete rankings here.

*Fox Soccer Channel will air live at 10 a.m. Monday the sixth-annual Match Against Poverty from Morocco.

From today's (edited) FSC press release:

Captains Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo will lead teams that will include Victor Valdes and Seydou Keita (FC Barcelona), Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (Zenit St. Petersburg), Joseba Etxeberria (Athletico Bilbao), Ivan Leko (Club Brugge) and Lauren (Portsmouth).

Not a whole lot to set the pulse racing, but hey, it's for a good cause.

The Galaxy's Landon Donovan was named the Honda Player of the Year for the second consecutive year and the fifth time in the last seven years at a ceremony today in downtown L.A.

Donovan accumulated 297 points in the balloting by 213 journalists, ahead of goalkeeper Tim Howard, (249 points) and Clint Dempsey (176 points). A player receives three points for each first-place vote, two points for second-place vote and so on.

Full disclosure: I voted for Donovan.

His accomplishments this year included becoming the all-time U.S. leading scorer with 37 goals.

His reward: a Honda Civic Hybrid and a (likely) transfer to Europe.

Also today, U.S. Men's National Team Coach Bob Bradley named a 19-man training squad for a four-day camp that begins Wednesday. Invitees include the Galaxy's Sean Franklin and Chivas USA's Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan.

The full squad: goalkeepers Brian Edwards (Toronto FC), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF), Matt Pickens (out of contract); defenders Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Sean Franklin (Los Angeles Galaxy), Cory Gibbs (Colorado Rapids), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Drew Moor (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (New England Revolution); midfielders Colin Clark (Colorado Rapids), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Nick LaBrocca (Colorado Rapids), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids); forwards Davy Arnaud (Kansas City Wizards), Chad Barrett (Toronto FC), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas).

Bradley names the U.S. squad to face Guatemala in Colorado Nov. 19 in the meaningless final World Cup qualifier at the conclusion of the camp.

Mexico's Burden
With the head of the Mexican Football Federation in L.A. Monday, it seemed like a good time to look at the continuing struggles of that nation ahead of its final first round World Cup qualifying game for today's column.

As always, it's hard to fit everything into a column.

Here's a few bonus quotes from Lalas (and while he declined to speak in detail about his Galaxy experience until January - presumably he's still under some form of contractual obligation - you can read between the lines with some of his quotes).

On the new environment Eriksson finds himself in, despite his track record:

*"I have some experience with making a big splash in terms of who you sign, but ultimately it's in the results. Just because somebody has experience doesn't mean that translates into success. Just because somebody has made a name for themselves some place else doesn't mean it translates into coming into some place else.

He's a great coach and he thinks about things in a certain way, but he has his work cut out for him here in CONCACAF and I think he's recognizing some of the challenges."

*On where Mexico lags the U.S. and other nations:

"I don't think they have enough players who are playing around the world and I don't think they encourage enough players to come into the Mexican league to augment what they have because it is a great league and it is at times wonderfully entertaining.

"Certainly if you look at the Mexican futbol league compared to MLS they have a much greater history and much more to build on, but it's not translating into results."

*On what the U.S.has done right in comparison to Mexico:

"We've been open-minded in terms of the different types of coaches and different types of philosophies. We've encouraged players to play overseas and use that experience in terms of bringing them back.

"We've also recognized that maybe the physical advantage that Americans enjoyed for a while and used to their advantage wasn't enough - the tactical part of it had to be sound also. We also got more wily and less naive in our approach on and off the field in that we understand how to manage games, we understand the difference in playing a home and away game.

"We've thrown a lot of money and a lot of resources into developing our younger players and our national team. It's paid off."

Donovan in Germany
In the least surprising news of the day, the Galaxy's Landon Donovan will train with Juergen Klinsmann's Bayern Munich for 10 days to "stay fit." Yeah, sure.

Of course, Donovan is looking to play overseas, Klinsmann has had close ties with the Galaxy in the past and has said he's in search of a new striker when the January transfer window opens. Goodbye and good luck, Landon.

MLS Awards
Former Galaxy Coach and long-time Sigi Schmid was not surprisingly named MLS Coach of the Year today after leading his Columbus Crew to first in MLS during the regular season.

Here's a look at Schmid's career by the numbers, courtesy of the Crew:

*17 - His number of playoff wins is the best in MLS.

*57 - The Crew's point total this season was the best in club history.

*17 - The Crew's win total this season was the best in club history.

Lalas, who will continue as MLS analyst for Thursday's Crew-Fire playoff game and for MLS Cup, said Columbus is his pick to win the title:

"I am nothing if not a believer in karma and that you are rewarded for your efforts over a period of time. It doesn't always work like that in MLS and in fact we almost discourage that, but a team like Columbus that has played consistently well, that has given their fans an entertaining and ultimately successful product from the beginning of the season - that that will bear out."

Huck's Trucks
Finally, San Jose's Darren Huckerby was named MLS Newcomer of the Year today after scoring six goals and assisting on four others in just 14 games after joining the Earthquakes in mid-season.

I'll be back later in the day with the Honda Player of the Year winner and more.

No blogging today since I spent the day at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown L.A. for the 11th annual Hollywood Symposium (the precursor to Tuesday's Honda Player of the Year announcement).

A mostly tedious event was saved (in part - the muffins helped, too) by the presence of a rumpled and relaxed-looking Alexi Lalas who I chatted with for Tuesday's column about the shaky performance of the Mexican National Team (ever-politic Justino Compeán, president of the Mexican Football Federation, was one of the three speakers) so far in World Cup qualifying. (The FIFA guy droned on in Spanish for over an hour reading - I kid you not - from slides he was displaying. You could actually feel the audience tense up when a slide was particularly wordy).

Column done (check back for that Tuesday morning), let's catch-up on the news of the day:

*Galaxy owner Phil Anschutz is reportedly in the running to buy troubled Newcastle United of the EPL. That would fit Anschutz' bottom-feeder mentality, excuse me, shrewd strategy of buying undervalued properties, and might actually give the Galaxy its first partnership producing tangible results in terms of player loans and the like (no, we don't want Joey Barton). DuNord has a comprehensive round-up of which (mostly) English newspapers are saying what here (you have to scroll down to England news).

The NCAA announced its women's Division 1 and men's Division II post-season tournament match-ups late this afternnoon.

UCLA (18-0-2) hosts Fresno State (11-8-2) 5:30 p.m. Friday at Drake Stadium and Long Beach State (14-4-4) plays the University of San Diego (14-4-2) at the same site in its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance with the two victors meeting Sunday. USD beat Long Beach State in October so revenge is a factor here.

USC (15-4-1) plays Boston University (15-5-1) in Utah Thursday.

For the fourth consecutive year the No. 4 Cal State Domnguez Hills men will host the NCAA Far West Regional in Carson beginning Thursday. Action begins with CCAA Champion Sonoma State facing Cal State L.A. at 4:00 pm followed by CSUDH-Notre Dame de Namur in the Track and Field Stadium at Home Depot Center.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills women play San Francisco State Friday in Bellingham, Wash., in the NCAA Far West Regional.

The Galaxy's Tristan Bowen of Van Nuys and Chivas USA's Jorge Flores of Anaheim were named to the U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team Roster for a eight-day training camp in Spain that begins Saturday.

Finally, the Galaxy Under-16's beat their Chivas USA counterparts 1-0 last weekend, while the Galaxy Under-18's downed Chivas USA 3-0.

The New York Red Bulls' surprisingly comfortable 3-0 upset triumph (4-1 on aggregate) over the MLS defending champion Houston Dynamo before more than 30,000 today in Texas means that we're down to the final four in MLS. It's only the second time in the franchise's 13-year history they have reached the second round of the playoffs.

The speedy and increasingly impressive Dane Richards scored the first, drew the foul that led to Juan Pablo Angel's second from a penalty kick and then assisted on John Wolyniec's strike for the third goal (it was the first of the season for the former Galaxy striker).

"I feel sick to my stomach," said Dynamo Coach Dominic Kinnear. "I think it's the most lopsided 3-0 loss I've ever seen in my life. You have to score to win games, and that was very evident today. ... Sometimes you make your own luck. They made a lot of luck, but we didn't."

New York hadn't won on the road in the playoffs in eight years. Angel has 14 goals in his last 17 games and has scored in four straight.

So that means:
*At 4:30 p.m. Thursday, it's the Columbus Crew against the Chicago Fire live on ESPN2 for the Eastern Conference Championship.

*At 6:30 p.m. Saturday, it's Chivas USA vanquishers Real Salt Lake against NYRB live on Fox Soccer Channel for the Western Conference Championship. (BTW, the Red Bulls have never lost to Real Salt Lake).

The winners meet at 12:30 p.m. Nov. 23 in Carson for the championship.

Weekend College Scores
*Long Beach State lost 6-5 on penalty kicks to UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Tournament championship game Sunday at George Allen Field. The contest remained even at 1-1 after regulation and two scoreless overtime periods. Long Beach missed its eighth (!) PK to lose the game. The school now waits to see whether it receives an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The selection show airs live at 5 p.m. on ESPNews.

*The Loyola Marymount women closed out the regular season with a 2-0 win over Saint Mary¹s at Sullivan Field Saturday, securing a third-place finish in the West Coast Conference. LMU similarly finds out Monday if they receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

*No. 9 USC finished third in the Pac-10 by beating Oregon State 1-0 today. The Trojans will stay glued to ESPNews Monday to find out their first-round NCAA Tournament opponent.

*The UC San Diego women beat Cal State Dominguez Hills 3-1 in the CCAA Championship Sunday, meaning the Toros' post-season fate also rests with the NCAA committee, which will determine the six teams that qualify for the NCAA Tournament that starts next week.

*The Cal State Dominguez Hills men also lost the CCAA championship 6-5 on penalty kicks Sunday to Sonoma State. The No.4-ranked Toros are in the NCAA tournament though; they'll find out who they play at 4 p.m. Monday.

*Leading scorer Maxwell Griffin scored his 10th of the season Saturday as No. 19 UCLA (9-4-6) beat No. 25 Cal Poly, 2-1. The Bruins, unbeaten in seven straight and 13 of its last 14 games, wraps up the season Saturday at San Diego State.

*The Cal State Northridge men were eliminated from post-season tournament contention with a 2-1 defeat Saturday to UC Irvine.

*Pepperdine beat San Francisco 3-0 Saturday to end their season at 9-9-2.

*The LMU men dropped a 2-1 decision to Gonzaga in Spokane, Wash., Sunday to guarantee a second straight losing season.

Lastly, the U.S. women beat South Korea 1-0 Saturday in Tampa, Fla., before 4,263 on a Heather O'Reilly goal. Next: verses China Dec. 13 in Carson.

Photos by Sean Hiller

It was a glorious draw, um, defeat.

Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake drew 2-2 Saturday, but the Goats lost 3-2 on aggregate to go down to another first round playoff exit.

Still, Preki and his team threw everything they had at RSL, including removing defenders Jim Curtin and Cary Talley in the second half for attackers Alecko Eskandarian and Justin Braun and going with a three-man back line. But even being urged on by a frantic crowd of 19,265 wasn't enough and Preki still doesn't have a post-season win on his resume, despite his team pouring forward in a desperate attempt to get the third goal that would have tied the aggregate score.

Striker Ante Razov, who is out of contract and may not return next season, said the team gave everything they had:

"I think every guy walked off that field exhausted tonight. It just wasn't meant to be. We pushed and we pushed and we pushed. We left ourselves open and that's how they got that second goal. This is soccer.

"We went down swinging," he added. "We threw it all out there, gave it our best shot and sometimes things don't bounce your way. I thought we pressured them well. They countered well, give them credit. You've got to gamble when you need a goal, they punished us on that second goal. But these guys never gave up and we should be proud of what we accomplished in an unbelievably difficult year."

Game story.

Highlights:

Bonus quotes:
*RSL Coach Jason Kreis on the Chivas USA attacks in the second half:

"We were under an extreme amount of pressure. There were a lot of balls cleared out of our box. (Goalkeeper) Nick Rimando was an absolute monster for us.

"If this game had happened earlier in the season I think we would have been in some real big trouble."

At right: Justin Braun gives Chivas USA hope.

*Preki, on why he went with goalkeeper Zach Thornton instead of Dan Kennedy, who had impressed in the veteran's absence and had returned from suspension:

"Before he got injured Zach was the number one. Kennedy had a good spell. Then he gets a red card. Zach, we thought, he had a good game in Salt Lake, was sharp and we always feel it's not a good thing for the group to change the goalkeeper every week. He played the last game, he was solid, so we keep him in."

*Kreis, on the impressive play and late season goal scoring exploits of Pasadena's Yura Movsisyan who had grabbed seven goals in nine games, including two consecutive 90 minute goals, coming into the game:

"He's just coming into his game. The coaching staff looked at each other in preseason and said 'this guy can score 10 goals for us.' We really thought he was going to be our goalscorer and then at the beginning of the season he picked up a little bit of an issue with his knee. ... He just didn't look 100 percent for a long time (and had surgery). In hindsight, I think that was a fantastic decision. It got him away from the game, away from some of the frustrations he was feeling and then he came back very, very strong. He's a guy who works extremely hard, he's a player who wants to stay after training every time and you have to like that. As a former forward I think I have a few things to offer him and he's taking the messages and really working on them and putting them into his game."

*Razov, on what Chivas USA needs to do in the off-season:

"I think everything needs to be assessed from training methods from guys' professionalism maybe, to our workout programs. Everything has to be looked at. Each and every guy has to look at themselves and see where their breakdowns were and what caused that. A lot of times injuries happen - you can't really prevent some of them - but I think all of that has to be looked at and see why this was going on, what particular type of injuries we were having. That's all to be assessed at a later date."

*Razov on whether he'll return next year with Chivas USA:

"I'm not retiring. My contract is up with Chivas. There's some other things out there, so I'm going to have to look and see maybe whether it's time to move on. I'm proud of what I've done here. I've been in the playoffs every year with a team that had one of two games before that. I feel good with my run with Chivas. We'll sit down and see how things work out."

BTW: Overheard in the Chivas USA locker room was this comment by the classy Jesse Marsch: "Ante, if this is the last time we played together, it's been a pleasure."

Ante was pretty choked up at that moment, but to his credit returned to continue with interviews. One observer called it "a pretty awesome moment you don't always get to see between such veteran achievers."

My wife is just upset one of the hunks of the team is apparently leaving.

Sacha Kljestan sums up the night of Chivas USA after missing an opportunity in the 89th minute.

Both the Galaxy and Chivas USA may be done for the season, but there are still Southern Californians out to make a difference in MLS this year.

Foremost among them are the pair with the Columbus Crew: coach Sigi Schmid, who grew up in Torrance, and gifted young midfielder Robbie Rogers, who was raised in Rolling Hills Estates.

Schmid, the former Galaxy coach, not only led the Crew to a first place finish in MLS, but has now got Columbus into the Eastern Conference final with a 2-0 win Saturday over the Kansas City Wizards (3-1 on aggregate).

"We are happy to be moving into the conference finals," Schmid told ESPN. "It's been a long time since the Crew has won a playoff game, so that's good."

It's the Crew's first playoff win since 2002; they had gone 0-2-4 since then.

Rogers, 21, - who also remains in the hunt for the MLS Goal of the Year Award - scored the Crew's second goal that culminated a finely worked play by likely MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Alejandro Moreno.

"I knew if Alejandro was out wide then someone else has to get in the middle," Rogers told ESPN. "I think maybe Eddie (Gaven) was near post and the ball just came back post perfectly. It sat perfectly for me. I just thought I better put this on target or they are going to kill me."

The Crew meet the Chicago Fire Thursday in Columbus with a place at MLS Cup in Carson at stake

Check out the highlights:

Final score 2-2, 3-2 on aggregate to give RSL the win.

It appeared this game - and Chivas USA's season - was over in the 77th minute when a Real Salt Lake counter attack saw Javier Morales beat Sacha Kljestan, thread the ball through Shavar Thomas' legs and send a shot wide into the net past the immobile Zach Thornton.

That made the score 2-1, 3-1 on aggregate and surely a deficit that couldn't be overcome.

But self-confessed RSL fan Justin Braun gave Chivas USA hope with a lovely 83rd minute goal that made it 2-2.

Chivas USA valiantly went in search of an equalizer, buoyed by five minutes of overtime but failed to break RSL down.

Chivas USA's season is really over now.

More later.

It's 1-1 at the half (although 2-1 to RSL on aggregate).

This is a tense, but open game being played at breakneck speed - a great ad for MLS.

Chivas USA had taken the lead after a half hour from the penalty spot, Javier Morales pushing Ante Razov from the back and Sacha Klejstan confidently punching the ball past Nick Rimando into the right top corner of the net. Wonder what that RSL player said to Kljestan before the spot kick was taken in an effort to psyche him out before he was pushed away?

Real Salt Lake replied nine minutes later, a superbly threaded ball by Robbie Russell splitting a square Chivas USA defense. Morales ran onto it and sent a hard cross over that was met by a diving Dema Kovalenko for the equalizer.

Plenty of passion so far in this one - RSL has three yellow cards, Chivas USA one.

The match-up between Chivas USA's Atiba Harris and Jamison Olave is one to watch. At one point the pair clashed, Harris objected to the challenge and Olave could be seen on TV saying "You want a piece of me?" Harris got a piece of him a couple of minutes later - and Olave had to leave the field for treatment.

The shot count stands at seven for RSL, six for Chivas USA.

Plenty of passion off the field, too.

Legion 1908 unfurled their huge flag that covers the entire north end of the stadium below the grass berm for the first time since the fourth SuperClassico against the Galaxy in 2007. Chivas USA won that game - and the series, BTW.

There was also a delay of game immediately after kickoff when Legion 1908 hurled a torrent of red and white rolls of paper that literally papered Nick Rimando's goal. It required the efforts of a small squadron of staff (and several RSL players) to remove the stuff.

I bumped into Greg Vanney before the game, too. Did he quickly turn into a Chivas USA fan upon his Galaxy retirement?

Plenty more to come tonight.

Chivas USA retains Zach Thornton in goal for the second successive game tonight.

Jonathan Bornstein resumes his more familiar position at left back after playing in central defense last weekend in Salt Lake City, with Jim Curtin moving from the subs bench last game into the starting lineup alongside Shavar Thomas in central defense. Cary Talley is at right back.

Panchito Mendoza moves into midfield for the first time in a while out wide on the left, Sacha Kljestan is his counterpart on the right. In the middle it's Jesse Marsch and Paulo Nagamura.

Atiba Harris returns from injury up front in place of Justin Braun alongside Ante Razov.

Alecko Eskandarian is on the bench.

The Real Salt Lake starting XI: goalkeeper Nick Rimando; defenders Jamison Olave, Nat Borchers, Robbie Russell, Chris Wingert; midfielders Dema Kovalenko, Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales, Will Johnson; at forward are Clint Mathis and Yura Movsisyan.

Andy Williams and ex-Galaxy striker Robbie Findley are among the options Coach Jason Kreis has off the bench.

Do I need to say this?

Chivas USA must win; RSL, with a 1-0 advantage from the first leg, don't even have to score to advance.

Looks to be a relatively large, noisy, playoff-oriented crowd tonight.

It has come down to this for injury-ravaged Chivas USA: they must beat Real Salt Lake, which holds a 1-0 edge from the first game of the two-game Western Conference semifinal, tonight at 7:30 at Home Depot Center in Carson or their season is done.

It's exactly the same scenario as last year, when an injury-riddled Chivas USA failed to overcome a 1-0 deficit and were knocked out.

Notable stats: Chivas USA is winless in their last three outings; RSL hasn't lost in its last six games.

Game preview.

The RSL perspective.

Chivas USA defender Alex Zotinca speaks.

And, in case you missed it, from earlier in the week:
* Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein speaks.

Finally, this little nugget from Chivas USA beat writer Phil Collin: I was downstairs interviewing Preki just outside his office earlier in the week and we were just wrapping up when a shirtless Becks was being escorted into the room across the hall from Preki's office.

Said Becks: "Good luck in your game."
Said Preki: "We need some."

The game is live on Fox Soccer Channel, but really, with tickets starting at just $14 shouldn't you be there?

Those who can't make it can follow along here: I plan to blog from the game as usual.

Friday's college scores:
No. 9 USC 1 Oregon 0 women's (Amy Rodriguez' first half goal bumps the Trojans' overall record to 14-4-1 and improves their conference standing to 4-3-1 with just one game remaining in Pac-10 play.)

LMU men 0 (5-7-5, 3-5-1 WCC) Portland 1

Both the Cal State Dominguez Hills' men's and women's programs advanced to their respective title games on Sunday.

Photo by Juan Miranda/Chivas USA

Chivas USA striker Justin Braun has had an amazing rise within a year from rec league player in Utah to MLS pro. He could play a major role in Saturday's 7:30 p.m. must-win Chivas USA-Real Salt Lake playoff decider (for tickets call 1-877-CHIVAS-1) that follows last weekend's 1-0 loss in Utah.

Q: Reflect on the last year going from recreational soccer to professional player. Are you still pinching yourself?
A: This time last year I was working in a soccer shop, working probably 20 hours a week, going to school, having fun with that. As far as where I came from to where I'm at, it's been a crazy ride. I'm kind of settled in now, I'm starting to realize that I'm here, and I'm looking forward to keeping to play. It's kind of crazy how I got started; I'm trying to take it and run with it now.

Q: Were you a Real Salt Lake fan before signing for Chivas USA? What's it like facing the pro team from your home state here?
A: I was a fan. My parents had season tickets and I was at most of the games, in the crowd cheering for them. As far as playing against them now, I always want to get the chance to be on the field, and it's been fun. But it's just another team, as for me right now, and I kind of take it like it's another game.

Q: How was your first playoff game as a pro in your home state? And were your family and friends cheering for Real Salt Lake or Chivas USA?
A: It was a great experience. I probably had around 20 close friends and family, there was a group of them. They were definitely cheering for Chivas - had all their Chivas gear on, I had gotten most of them jerseys. So it was good to have them there, and get their support. As far as the first game, it was an amazing experience, something I never thought I'd get to experience and it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me.

Q: Assess your strengths and weaknesses as a player. What are your best
attributes? What do you need to work on?
A: I think my best attribute is my willingness to work hard. I think I have some speed that can be used, and I'm willing to fight. As far as what I need to improve, I think I can work on a little bit on technique and my touch. If I can get that a little better I'd be much more of a threat.

Q: How do you like the Southern California lifestyle compared to Utah or do you miss the skiing (which I think they may just be starting up there). What do you like to do in your spare time?
A: I'm enjoying living down here. I'd rather live in Utah; I grew up there and it's kind of my comfort zone. I enjoy the weather a bit more in Utah, the change of seasons. I live here with a few of the other guys from the team, and as far as free time, all of us just hang out all the time, go to the beach, and try to stay busy.

Q: What are your goals with Chivas USA for the remainder of the season/next year? Or are you just taking things as they come?
A:The ultimate goal [for me] right now is I'm trying to get a spot on the senior roster, earn a spot on there. I'm just trying to do my thing, and hopefully I'll get rewarded for the progress I've made this year.

A few things to mention briefly:
*FIFA announced today that the draw for the teams in the CONCACAF final qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup takes place Nov. 22. Teams will learn their opponents as well as home and away dates for all 10 qualifiers that will determine the three automatic berths for the region in South Africa. The United States, Costa Rica and El Salvador have already advanced to the final round, with the remaining three teams to be determined.

FIFA will also conduct the draw that day for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup scheduled for June 14-28 in South Africa. Participants are the United States, hosts South Africa, Brazil, Egypt, Iraq, Italy, New Zealand and Spain.

*Mexico announced the roster today for Wednesday's game against Ecuador in Arizona, which includes American Edgar Castillo and Manchester City's emerging star Nery Castillo. Here's the complete squad.

Lastly, the No. 4-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills men opened the defense of its two consecutive CCAA titles, advancing 5-3 on penalty kicks in the semifinal over Chico State today, after a 1-1 double-overtime tie in regulation. The 16-2-3 Toros meet the winner of the Sonoma State- Cal State L.A. semifinal on Sunday.

Lots to talk about this morning including Chivas USA's playoff hopes, Brad Guzan, history for Long Beach State, joy for CD Guadalajara and more.

Let's get to it:
*An undermanned New England Revolution predictably succumbed to the Chicago Fire Thursday and now it's Chivas USA - in a similar situation in terms of personnel and facing a must-win game in Carson - that's feeling the pressure.

*Not surprisingly, RSL are preaching defense to preserve their slender one goal advantage.

*I'll be back later today with a Q & A with Chivas USA striker Justin Braun, who could have a key role to play Saturday. And yes, tickets starting at $14 are still available for the 7:30 p.m. game that's also live on Fox Soccer Channel. The first 10,000 fans get a free T-shirt. Call 1-877-CHIVAS-1.

*Meanwhile, former Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan earned a shutout Thursday in only his second senior appearance for England's Aston Villa. Coach Martin O'Neill calls his performance "briliiant."

*Also brilliant: CD Guadalajara Thursday, who dealt shock Argentine bottom feeders River Plate yet another blow.

*Long Beach State won its first post-season game in program history Thursday and now has a chance Sunday at an even bigger prize: a first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

*Other college action in Southern California this weekend includes Pac-10 champion UCLA (8-4-6 overall, 6-1-2 Pac-10) hosting Big West leader Cal Poly (10-4-4) in its home finale. Game time is 7 p.m. Saturday at Drake Stadium.

*The pick of the televised games this weekend:
7 a.m. Saturday Fox Soccer Channel Sunderland-Portsmouth
9:30 a.m. Saturday FSC Liverpool-West Bromwich Albion
8 a.m. Sunday FSC Fulham-Newcastle United
10 a.m. Sunday KAZA Puebla-Guadalajara
11:30 a.m. Sunday FSC Lecce-Inter Milan
Noon Sunday Telefutura Houston Dynamo-New York Red Bulls

It was a pleasant surprise this evening to turn on the New England-Chicago playoff game on ESPN2 and be greeted by former Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas.

Lalas may have had issues as GM, but he's always articulate and entertaining.

Lalas has kept a low profile since getting fired from the Galaxy and I believe the comments he made about the situation before the game were the first of any depth.

Here's an excerpt of what he had to say about what new GM and Coach Bruce Arena needs to do:

"His first order of business is to find some leadership, to fill the void that exists in the Galaxy with leadership. He needs to go out there and find some real SOB's; some guys who don't care about saying the truth, don't care about hurting people's feelings and aren't afraid they're going to lose their job for doing so.

"He needs to make one of those guys captain, to be quite honest. This not a question of a Galaxy that doesn't have talent, it's a question of there was a leadership void. The fact is you need to send a message that nobody is bigger than the club whether you're David Beckham or whether you're Tristan Bowen, an 18-year-old coming into the club.

"Everybody has to understand it's the team first.

"If I regret something it's that I recognized that early on and probably didn't do enough to correct that situation."

I wonder how Beckham would react to having the captaincy taken away from him? And why does a team that has the experienced likes of Beckham, Landon Donovan and Pete Vagenas not have leaders anyway?

Still, Lalas' prescription for improving the Galaxy sounds an awful lot like Arena's, who has essentially said the same thing.

Incidentally, Beckham is joining a team in AC Milan that is top of the Italian league for the first time in four years.

BTW, Beckham is supposedly going to share taking free kicks with Ronaldinho.

And what could be - let's emphasize the could - Beckham's first game is the 11:30 a.m. Sunday Jan. 11 encounter against Roma. Fox Soccer Channel will televise that game live.

Tickets to a Dec. 13 game between the U.S. Women's National Team and China at the Home Depot Center in Carson go on sale Friday priced between $18 and $150.

The game is part of a post-Olympics "Achieve Your Gold Tour," which continued Wednesday night in Cincinnati with a 0-0 tie against South Korea before 5,877.

U.S. lineup: 18-Nicole Barnhart (22-Briana Scurry, 46); 2-Heather Mitts, 3-Christie Rampone (capt.) (4-Rachel Buehler, 60), 15-Kate Markgraf, 17-Lori Chalupny (19-Marian Dalmy, 66); 9-Heather O'Reilly (21-Kacey White, 46), 7-Shannon Boxx (14-Stephanie Cox, 33), 10-Aly Wagner, 16-Angela Hucles; 5-Lindsay Tarpley, 6-Natasha Kai.

Incidentally, Torrance's Shannon Boxx, named a finalist for the FIFA Women's Player of the Year Award last week, e-mailed me her thoughts on that:

"It is an honor to be named as one of the top 10 for the FIFA Player of the Year Award. To be considered with this group is quite amazing. I believe that you need great people around you to perform your best and I've been very lucky to be surrounded by great teammates."

In other women's soccer news:
*Long Beach State plays a 2 p.m. Big West Conference Tournament semifinal game against Pacific at George Allen Field today.

*Ventura County Fusion General Manager Ranbir Shergill will take over as coach of the Fusion's W-league team for the 2009 season. Shergill was with the Cal South Olympic Development Program in 2008 and won a national championship as coach of the Cal South Under-16 girls team. Incidentally, the Fusion's men's and women's teams have open tryouts Dec. 13. More info here.

*Named to the California Collegiate Athletic Association first team were Cal State Dominguez Hills junior forward Melanie DeSalvo (Chula Vista) and former West (Torrance) High star Jessica Murphy.

In other college soccer news:
*Cal State Northridge men's team Coach Terry Davila notched his 100th collegiate victory Wednesday as the Matadors came from two goals down to beat Cal State Fullerton, 3-2. With the win, the Matadors keep pace with fourth-place UC Irvine in the Big West standings; the teams meet Saturday in Northridge in the final game of the season with the winner earning the fourth and final spot in the inaugural Big West Men's Soccer Postseason Tournament.

*Former Galaxy defender Paul Caligiuri has resigned as men's soccer coach at Cal Poly. The team's record this season: 4-11-3.

*Cal State Dominguez Hills junior defender Kevin Gallaugher (Walnut, Calif) and Kyle Holland (Anchorage, Alaska) were named CCAA first-team selections.

Lastly:
*Former Galaxy forward Clint Mathis is profiled here ahead of Saturday's Real Salt Lake-Chivas USA clash in Carson.

*In Utah, they're thinking skiing not soccer.

*David Beckham clears up just when he's leaving for Italy here.

*The MLS playoffs resume tonight with the Palos Verdes Peninsula's John Thorrington and his Chicago Fire taking on the New England Revolution. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

*And Columbus Crew's Chad Marshall was today named MLS Defender of the Year.

Photo by Juan Miranda/Chivas USA

Jonathan Bornstein is a local lad who was born in Torrance, raised in Los Alamitos and has played his entire collegiate and professional career in Los Angeles.

And last weekend in the MLS playoff opener against Real Salt Lake he played an unusual role for Chivas USA in central defense, dislodging experienced Mexican icon Claudio Suarez from the lineup in the process.

He's also a perceptive (and fun) player to interview, which I did via e-mail this week ahead of Saturday's Chivas USA-Real Salt Lake playoff decider (tickets still available, folks):

Q: How did you like playing in central defense last week? Ever played there before? Do you prefer left back or are you getting used to being in a utility role?
A: Central defense was pretty interesting. I'd never played there as a professional before - actually, I've never played there before (period), so definitely my first time ever! I liked it. I liked the responsibilities of having to win balls out of the back, everything over the top I felt like was easy to read. It gives you a little bit more defensive responsibility, but at the same time you don't attack at all - you just get balls to the forwards. In terms of being a utility player, it's always good to be that type of player because you get on the field a lot more, not just in one spot. But sometimes I wish there was more consistency, and master one spot rather than bounce back and forth.

Q: Assess your season compared to last year. Like the team you struggled a little with injury this year and you didn't seem to recapture last year's form. What do you think?
I agree with that a lot. I think injuries been a burden on our team this year, myself included. We haven't been able to field one lineup (consistently), whereas last year we had a core group of guys - probably 12, 13 guys - that played every game, and were healthy every game and would show up and you knew who was going to play. So it's been a big difference, and for myself included, I think last year was a lot more consistent. I knew where I was playing a lot, not being injured, and this year's just been a little bit more of a battle.

Q: What's your perspective on the U.S. Men's National Team? For a while it seemed you were the next regular left back until your injury. What do you think you need to do to get a regular slot back?
A: Same thing. Consistency is a big thing. I've got to continue to play well day in and day out, and if that happens and you're free from injuries, I think that will help propel me to the National Team, or even further.

Q: Chivas USA is in the same spot coming into Saturday's game as you were last year in the playoffs, having lost the first game, but if anything the team's injury issues are even worse this year. What does the team have to do to ensure things turn out differently?
A: I think we need to stick together as a team, and we need to trust in the guys who will be playing. I actually think we have a bit more depth this year than we did last year, so that might be a big help. What we also need to do differently is score goals. I think in my last three playoff games we haven't scored a goal, so you're not going to be able win a playoff series if you don't score, even if you do keep goals out of the back of the net. That's it, we just have to score goals and play together as a team to our best abilities.

Q: You were born in Torrance, grew up in Los Alamitos, went to college at UCLA and now play for an L.A.-based pro team. How freaking cool is it to have played virtually your entire soccer career "at home" close to family and friends?
A: It's amazing. I was talking about it this week with my dad, about how it's been pretty amazing to get to play in front of my friends and family almost every weekend. People who knew me in college get to come to the games, and high school friends and high school fans. So it's pretty cool, I couldn't ask for anything more, and hopefully it keeps going well.

Q: You just recently started eating sushi (it says in the Chivas USA media guide). Mmmmm. Can you recommend a sushi place or two locally? Got a favorite?
A: I've been to quite a few places around Los Al. We go to this one called Sushi Moto and it's pretty good - they've got all you can eat lunch specials for like 19 bucks, and dinner is 25 dollars for all you can eat. So for sushi I feel like it's a good price. Also, down in Seal Beach I've been trying to get to this one for probably two years, and every time I go it's too packed so I'm thinking it's good - it's called Mahe. I've been there once when we actually got in, but I didn't have sushi because that was at the time when I didn't like sushi!

Great story in The Salt Lake City Tribune today about the life and death struggles Real Salt Lake striker Yura Movsisyan endured as a child growing up in war-torn Azerbaijan before his family emigrated to Pasadena. His proud parents will be watching their son from the Home Depot Center stands at Saturday's playoff decider against Chivas USA.

Read the story here.

U.S. Soccer began accepting nominations today for its seventh annual end of year awards for best blog, soccer bar, store and video. Details here.

Finally, one of the best executives in MLS got his just reward today: the Galaxy's Tom Payne was named president of business operations by Anschutz Entertainment Group.

From the (edited) press release:

Payne will oversee all of the Galaxy's business operations, including corporate partnerships, ticket sales, marketing, programming, communications, broadcasting, operations and community development. Payne, who has been with the organization for six seasons, will report directly to AEG President Tim Leiweke.

"From the start, there was no doubt that Tom was the ideal person to take on this new position within the Galaxy," said Leiweke. "With his vast knowledge of soccer and MLS, Tom has the respect of the staff, the players and the fans and will now play an even bigger role in helping this club to grow and become more successful. Despite our struggles on the field, Tom has done an outstanding job on the business side and together with (Coach) Bruce (Arena), we are confident that with their leadership, next year will be a positive one for us."

Payne, 44, carries with him an extensive background in the sports and entertainment industry. He has worked for the Galaxy since 2003 and previously served as the club's Assistant General Manager (2006-08) and Vice President of Programming and Business Development (2003-05). He was instrumental in opening a number of additional revenue streams for the club, including negotiating international exhibitions against teams such as Yokohama F. Marinos, the Korean National Team, Real Madrid and Chelsea F.C. Payne has also been instrumental in helping the Galaxy lead MLS in attendance in all six of his years with the club, including an MLS-best average of 26,009 fans per game in 2008, which is the second highest single season average attendance in MLS history.

Arena, you'll recall, is GM on the soccer side of things for the Galaxy. And in case you were wondering, yes, Payne is the brother of D.C. United GM Kevin Payne.

Gene Maddaus is a Daily Breeze staff writer. He covers politics. He tunes into soccer about once every four years, which makes him an extremely casual fan, although he has been to a few Galaxy games. He just returned from Argentina where he took in a soccer game on his honeymoon.

Being journalists, the first thing my wife and I did when we arrived for our honeymoon in Buenos Aires was to turn on the news. As we learned, the country was in the grips of two major crises. The first was economic: the government was about to take over the nation's private pension system. The second was soccer-related: River Plate was headed for the bottom of the standings.

If anything, people seemed more worried about "La Crisis de River." Economic disruptions were routine enough to be taken in stride, but how often was one of the country's two great club teams so awful? We decided to see a match in an effort to plumb the Argentine psyche.

We found ourselves at "La Bombonera," the home of Argentina's other major club, Boca Juniors. The guidebooks recommended getting tickets for the "platea," where seats are assigned. But on the day of the match, they were mysteriously unavailable, and no amount of inquiry in my beginner's Spanish could make them appear. That left us to fend for ourselves in the "general" area, where fans squeeze in shoulder-to-shoulder and where, if there is to be trouble, it is most likely to start.

On the way in, I was given a pat-down search. Once inside, we found that there was literally no place to stand. Our section was surrounded by aging concrete walls and high fencing -- the sort you see on international news coverage of crushing deaths during soccer riots. Many younger fans were already hanging from the metal fences to get a better view of the action. There were none of the amenities of an American sports stadium -- concessions, souvenir shops, bathrooms -- just a mass of Argentine soccer fans sandwiched together in the hot sun, a dense mass of blue and gold.

We squeezed into a spot near the top of the section. There were only a few inches separating us from the surrounding fans, some of whom had no inhibitions about leaning on their neighbors for support. As the match began, the crowd launched into the first of many songs of tribute to Boca, punching the air in unison. The density of the crowd amplified its fervor, and we had no choice but to be swept up in it.

Having been exposed to professional soccer mostly via the MLS, we were awed by the level of play. The players had such a fluidity with the ball and awareness of the field that scoring chances developed almost instantly, and from nothing. When Boca missed a chance, the crowd grunted "uh" in unison. At eight minutes in, Boca scored and our section exploded.

We were amazed to see a vendor parting the crowd in front of him, weaving his way with a tray of watery Cokes aloft in his right hand. Then, from behind, a man who smelled strongly of alcohol forced his way forward. Fans allowed him to pass only because he was carrying a toddler on his shoulders who might have fallen if the man's momentum had been stopped. He plunged down into the crowd and out of sight.

At the half the section sat down, en masse, for the first time. When play resumed, they stood again and remained on their feet for the rest of the game. The opposing club, Rosario Central, scored an equalizer early in the second half. The crowd did not boo or whistle, but seemed to redouble their intensity during the songs. When the Boca star Juan Roman Riquelme made a dazzling run and nearly scored, the crowd chanted "RI-QUEL-ME."

Boca went on to win on a goal in the 87th minute, and moved closer to first in the standings. Our taxi driver explained that with a San Lorenzo loss, Boca now had a real chance, something that seemed unthinkable a few weeks before.

River Plate, meanwhile, continued to lose, and is now dead last in the race for the Apertura championship. Like the global economic crisis, there is no end in sight.

Retiring Galaxy
MLS rosters are frozen until the MLS Cup, but rookie Galaxy defender Scott Bolkan has wasted no time in deciding what to do with the rest of his life - he's retiring from pro soccer at the tender age of 22.

Bolkan never made a Galaxy first team appearance and saw action in just two reserve games. He spent most of the season with the USL Portland Timbers and then missed the last month with a hip injury.

No word on whether that was behind his retirement, although given that he must be one of Stanford's lowest paid alumni ever at an annual salary of $12,900 it's perhaps not hard to figure out.

Hall of Fame Releases Player Ballot
The names of players eligible for induction in January into the National Soccer Hall of Fame were released today and include former Galaxy star Mauricio Cienfuegos, Chivas USA Coach Preki and Palos Verdes Peninsula native Joy Fawcett.

Here's the complete list:
*Jeff Agoos - 134 caps, 1988, 2002 World Cup, 10 seasons in MLS, 5-time MLS champion, 3-time MLS all-star.
*Mike Burns - 75 caps, 1992 Olympic Team, '94 and '98 World Cup team, 7 MLS seasons.
*Mauricio Cienfuegos - 8 MLS seasons, 3-time MLS All Star, MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup champion.
*Raul Diaz Arce - 6 MLS seasons, 2-time MLS Cup champion, U.S. Open Cup champion.
*Thomas Dooley - 81 caps, 1994, 1998 World Cup team, 4 MLS seasons, MLS all star, 1992 Honda Award.
*John Doyle - 53 caps, 1990 World Cup team, 1988 Olympic Team, 1991 Gold Cup champion, 5 MLS seasons.
*Marco Etcheverry - 8 MLS seasons, 4-time All Star, MVP, 3-time MLS Cup champion, U.S. Open Cup champion.
*Joy Biefeld Fawcett - 239 caps, World Champion 1991 and 1999, Olympic Gold in 1996 and 2004.
*Robin Fraser - 26 caps, 10 seasons in MLS.
*Dominic Kinnear - 54 caps, '91 Gold Cup champion, 5 MLS seasons.
*Frank Klopas - 40 caps, 1988 Olympic Team, 1994 World Cup, 4 MLS seasons, MLS and Open Cup champion.
*Roy Lassiter - 30 caps, MLS all star, MLS scoring champion, MLS Champion.
*Shannon MacMillan - 176 caps, World Champion in 1999, Olympic Gold in 1996.
*Pato Margetic - 5 NASL seasons, 2-time NASL champion, 3-time NASL all-star, 15 indoor seasons.
*Joe-Max Moore - 100 caps, '92 Olympic Team, '94, '98, and '02 World Cup Team.
*Victor Nogueira - 6 seasons in the NASL, 13 seasons indoor soccer, 4-time MVP.
*Peter Nowak - 5 MLS seasons, 3-time MLS all star, MLS Cup champion, 2-time Open Cup champion.
*Cindy Parlow - 158 caps, World Champion in 1999, Olympic Gold in 1996 and 2004.
*Preki Radosavljevic - 28 caps, 4-time MLS all star, MLS champion in 2000.
*Mike Sorber - 67 caps, 1994 World Cup team, 5 MLS seasons.
*Earnie Stewart - 101 caps, '94, '98, 2002 World Cup team, Honda Award winner in 2001, MLS champion in 2004.
*Steve Trittschuh - 38 caps, 1990 World Cup team, 6 MLS seasons.
*Carlos Valderama - 7 MLS seasons, 3-time MLS all-star, MVP.
*Tisha Venturini Hoch - 132 caps, World Champion in 1999, Olympic Gold in 1996.
*Peter Vermes - 67 caps, 1988 Olympics, 1990 World Cup, 7 MLS seasons, MLS Cup and Open Cup champion.

Long Beach State Ranked
Long Beach State was ranked No. 25 in the nation in the latest NSCAA/adidas poll released today after capturing its third consecutive Big West Conference title this weekend after victories over UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly.

Sophomore forward Kristen Kiefer earned Big West Conference Player of the Week honors after notching two goals and an assist in the 49ers' victories.

Long Beach hosts Pacific at 2 p.m. Thursday at George Allen Field in the semifinal of the conference tournament.

I cast my vote against the current MLS playoff system.

And I'm not the only one to address this issue at the ballot box.

Pasadena City College product Yura Movsisyan was voted MLS Player of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal in the final minute of regulation in Real Salt Lake's Western Conference semifinal against Chivas USA.

Chicago's Jon Busch was voted MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

Updated:
And how will David Beckham vote on staying with the Galaxy and MLS in 2009?.

San Pedro native Peter Hazdovac, 22, who I first blogged about here is continuing to make his mark on the Croatian Regional Third Division.

Here's the latest message I received from him today on Facebook:

We had a game today verses Zagora, a third division team who are actually in the final eight of the Croatian Cup (their next game is verses Dinamo Zagreb and in the last two rounds they knocked out division one team NK Osijek and division two first-place team Karlovac). They haven't lost a home game in 23 games.

Anyway to the game: we go down 1-0 in the first half after they scored a header on a cross. They had us on the ropes in the first half. It was a six-hour bus ride for us and we really came out flat!

Second half the tide changed and we took control.

In the 90th minute we hit a long ball into the box, the other forward chests it downs but slips and from the ground pushes the ball to me and I rip it inside the near post from about eight yards.

We went nuts. My jersey was off in one second (I got a yellow card) and was mobbed by the entire coaching staff and team.

What a freakin' feeling.

They took the kick off and the ref blew the whistle!

Quite the game.

Huge point for our team. We still remain tied for first place.

And unless I missed a game or a goal somewhere that's six goals for Peter in nine games. And five goals in the last three.

Four more games until the winter break in Croatia.

Busy riffing on the MLS Playoffs and Chivas USA for Tuesday's column, but wanted to pass along:

*Real Salt Lake is confident and wary and unshackled and confident.

*But if die-hard fans were goals, Chivas USA will win Saturday.

*What to do when you need a column? Bash Becks.

Sunday College Soccer Roundup
*The UCLA men (8-4-6) clinched the Pac-10 title and the automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament that comes with it Sunday with a 2-0 win over Stanford. Senior Maxwell Griffin scored both goals for the Bruins in the second half, and goalkeeper Brian Perk recorded UCLA's sixth consecutive shutout. UCLA, unbeaten in 12 of their last 13 games, won its sixth conference title in nine years.

*The UCLA women (16-0-2, 7-0 Pac-10) defeated Cal 3-0. UCLA out-shot Cal 26-6.

*USC (13-4-1, 3-3-1, Pac-10) fell 2-0 to Stanford at the Coliseum.

*The Cal State Northridge women beat Cal State Fullerton, 3-1, in their final game of the season.

*The Loyola Marymount women (9-6-3, 4-2, WCC) shut out San Francisco, 2-0. LMU finishes its season next weekend and can finish no worse than third in the conference.

*Pepperdine (8-9-2 3-3, WCC) got its biggest win of the season, demolishing St. Mary's, 4-0. Pepperdine finishes up the season at home Saturday against San Francisco.

*Long Beach State (13-4-3, 7-0-1, Big West) edged Cal Poly 3-2. Long Beach hosts its Big West Conference Tournament semifinal Thursday afternoon.

These days it seems random lists pass for journalism.

And they are popular.

World: Meet Mr. Beckham.

While Kevin Hartman's fictitious cat wasn't called upon it was striking how many players with Southern California roots played influential roles Saturday in the MLS playoff openers.

Exhibit 1: Pasadena's amazing Yura "Boots" Movsisyan who scored a 90th minute winner for the second consecutive week for Real Salt Lake against Chivas USA.

"In my career, I never thought that would ever happen to me," the former Pasadena City College standout said to The Salt Lake City Tribune of his cheeky back-heel. "I always thought I was going to earn every goal I scored. But I guess you have to have some luck, too, once in a while, and I think it's the right time to get lucky."

It was his seventh goal in nine games. I'd say he earned his luck Saturday.

Exhibit 2: Lawndale's Kei Kamara, who couldn't score in San Jose, but has had much more success with the Houston Dynamo where he contributed an opportunistic 85th minute equalizer against the Red Bulls Saturday to salvage a 1-1 draw.

Said Dynamo Coach Dominic Kinnear to the Houston Chronicle:

"It was a great play by Kei to be able to get a toe on it. "We always say that when you're in the box, just hit low and hit on target, and good things can happen."

And remember, the former Leuzinger High star was suspended for the last two games of the regular season.

Check out the highlights and don't miss Juan Pablo Angel's excellent goal either.

Exhibit 3: In Kansas City former Galaxy, Cal State Dominguez Hills and UCLA goalkeeper Kevin Hartman relinquished a goal two minutes into second half stoppage time to send the Wizards back to Columbus for the second game tied 1-1.

The equalizer came after former Galaxy forward Herculez Gomez got himself sent off for a two-footed on a Crew defender. Until then the Wizards had largely limited Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers and the rest of the Sigi Schmid-led Crew to a relatively quiet day, although Columbus did hit the bar twice in three minutes in the second half.

The Wizards must now beat the MLS regular season winner in their own stadium to advance:

"Now we're not going there to try and protect a lead, we're going there to try and win, which gives us a little bit more incentive, makes it so we're not playing tentatively," Hartman said. "We look forward to it. It's going to be difficult, but to be the best, you have to beat the best team. We're ready."

Chivas USA Coach Preki looked like someone had punched him in the gut on the Fox Soccer Channel post-game interview after his team conceded the game's lone goal in the 90th minute. Pasadena City College product Yura Movsisyan scored the worthy game winner with a sweet touch for a Real Salt Lake team that may have played its best game of the season.

Until then Chivas USA had successfully repelled what was at times a wonderfully inventive and expressive Real Salt Lake attack; the home team finished with 21 shots to just three for their opponents. Goalkeeper Zach Thornton was effective upon his return to goal in place of the suspended Dan Kennedy, Jonathan Bornstein - playing an unusual central defensive role - largely matched the pace of Movsisyan and even striker Ante Razov cleared a shot off the line.

Matchtracker.

Game story.

Return leg: Nov. 8 at Home Depot Center.

RSL are woeful on the road and Chivas USA must attack; a good combination for an intriguing game.

Updated:

Quotable - Chivas USA Coach Preki on the late goal:

"For a moment it was going to be one of those days where we escape, not conceding a goal and putting ourselves in a good spot going home. But one play off of the throw in, we fall asleep for a second, and it's one-nothing."

On facing a deficit going back to Home Depot Center:

"We're in the same spot as we were last year. We're going home and hopefully this time it will be a little different for us. Even if it was 0-0 here we'd have to go home and win, so we have to win no matter what."

Chivas USA Captain Jese Marsch:

We didn't play great, by any means. [Real Salt Lake] came after us pretty hard. Around the 65th minute it calmed down a little bit, and we had chances to play and created a little bit more, but we were two minutes away from accomplishing what you set out to do when you come on the road. It's unfortunate and we're disappointed and upset, but it's halftime right now. We're going home and you have to score a goal to advance anyway. So we're going to take it to them at home like they took it to us here."

Highlights:

The series opener against Real Salt Lake is at 3 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel.

For those so inclined, don't forget the Union Ultras viewing party at Red Vest Pizza, 12639 Glenoaks Blvd., Sylmar. Tell 'em 100 Percent Soccer sent you.

Plenty of Chivas USA and game coverage here:
*Check out the game preview.

*The challenges Real Salt Lake midfielder Andy Williams and his family are facing that make this game almost meaningless by comparison.

*The homecoming and unlikely story of Chivas USA striker Justin Braun.

* A Q & A with Chivas USA striker Ante Razov.

* A Q & A with Chivas USA midfielder Carey Talley.

Here's what went down in Southern California college action Friday:

*No. 10 USC 2 (13-2-1, 3-2-1 Pac-10) No. 25 Cal 0 (10-6-1, 3-3-1 Pac-10)

*No. 3 UCLA women 1 (15-0-2, 6-0 Pac-10) No. 2 Stanford 0 (16-1-1, 6-1 Pac-10)

*UC Santa Barbara 1 (11-6-1, 4-2-1 Big West) Cal State Long Beach 2 (12-4-3, 6-0-1 Big West). CSULB wins the Big 10 title with the double overtime come-from-behind win.

*No. 23 UCLA men 0 (7-4-6, 5-1-2 Pac-10) No. 8 California 0 (7-2-5, 2-1-3 Pac-10) The Bruins remain atop the conference.