Thursday Breakfast Buffet

Good morning.

Here is your Thursday repast in appropriate portion sizes and food types. Bon appetite.

Fruit Loops - Here is why it doesn't pay to follow every twist and turn in the David Beckham loan saga. Goal.com (a Web site that at least from its European desk manages to be consistently wrong by mistaking rumors and gossip for actual news) reports this morning that the Beckham deal will be finalized Friday (citing, of course, an Italian newspaper report).

ESPN takes the opposite tack, claiming Wednesday night that "another twist" in the story will have Becks returning to the Galaxy after all, per Coach Bruce Arena. All very well except Arena has said that all along anyway, so the only justification for the "new twist" claim is to put a new spin on an old story. Got indigestion already?

Galaxy gruel - Meanwhile, the Galaxy lost 5-2 to the Rapids in a closed door preseason game that had Van Nuys' Tristan Bowen and top draft pick Omar Gonzalez scoring in the losing cause. Arena doesn't want lineups released from preseason games and I wasn't there, but the official Galaxy blog has pics and some names. No worries on over-eating on info there.

Jelly doughnut - This may be the very definition of unnecessary calories, but Fox Soccer Channel will now text weekly programming alerts and match information to fans. Users of AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Nextel, T-Mobile, Alltel , US Cellular and Virgin Mobile can text FSCTV to 37288 to sign up.

Top banana - Now I'm biased, but a healthier option would be to sign up for my Twitter alerts (I'm LAsoccerblog) here. A pledge to those of you who (like me) TiVo games - I will never put a score in a Twitter post.

Oatmeal - Hearty and reliable Joe Tutino returns for his 12th straight season in the Galaxy radio booth where he will call at least 24 games on AM 570 and sister station KTLK AM 1150 (in their second season of airing Galaxy games). Galaxy coach Ralph Perez again joins Tutino in the booth for home games.

Coffee (black and strong) - Feminist Los Angeles soccer blogger Jennifer Doyle has this wake-up call for Women's Professional Soccer, ripping (pun intended) its new uniforms and way they were unveiled. An appetizer:

"The uniforms are bland. They are all cut from the same cloth. The same pattern. The colors even have the same tone - as if opposing teams are supposed to match. They are totally generic and uninspired."

It gets worse (better?) from there. Read the rant here.

Finally, what's breakfast without a little scrambled eggs - And that's probably the best description of the controlled chaos of the western regional qualifier for the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2009 set for Saturday in Santa Monica. There's still time to register and you can play by just showing up (but get there early). The Galaxy's Eddie Lewis will join in the festivities from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the Third Street Promenade. There's also an on-line qualifying tournament. Details and registration info here.