Salutations from the soggy South Bay, where the winter’s biggest storm is drenching us.

Thanks to Scott Wolf and others who contributed to the blog during my week-long absence.

I’m off to a press conference at Home Depot Center shortly where the Galaxy and representatives of the other three teams in the Pan-Pacific Championship will attempt to explain the import of this preseason tournament.

At least for Galaxy fans the Wednesday and Saturday doubleheaders will provide an opportunity to see what sort of job Coach Bruce Arena has done rebuilding the team so far. More on the tournament in Tuesday’s column.

But just have time to note that:

*David Beckham, reportedly the subject of a rejected $3 million bid Friday by AC Milan, limped out of the derby against Inter Sunday after an undistinguished hour or so. More here.

*Landon Donovan meanwhile, came on as a first half substitute for an injured Luca Toni, but couldn’t prevent Bayern Munich from sliding to a 2-1 defeat to Hertha Berlin on Valentine’s Day. With the loss, Bayern relinquished the top spot in the Bundesliga to Hertha.

*And Women’s Professional Soccer announced this morning it has reached a contractual agreement with members of the U.S. Women’s National Team so expect a flurry of signings soon. From the (edited) WPS press release:

“The contract may extend over three seasons and provides for players in the U.S. Women’s National Team pool to be compensated by the teams for on-field play and for off-field commercial and marketing appearances.

The average league salary: about $32,000.