A few broadcast notes:
*The 5 p.m. Wednesday Toronto-Galaxy game is that rarity – unavailable on free TV and can only be seen online or via Direct Kick. The best place to watch in Southern California is at Torrance’s Alpine Village, which has the commercial Direct Kick package.
The event is an official Galaxy viewing party and there are beer specials from among the 15 German brews at AV, which drew hundreds for World Cup games. Take the Torrance Boulevard exit off the Harbor Freeway and Alpine Village is right there. I may well see you there.
Naturally, the UEFA Champions League games will also be shown at Alpine Village earlier in the day Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s Manchester United-Chelsea at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday in the best/closest game of the bunch.
*BTW, Galaxy midfielder Chris Birchall returns from suspension and is available for the game Wednesday, while Jovan Kirovski misses the game after his post-final whistle red last weekend against the D.C. Divers.
Today’s injury report:
OUT – Gregg Berhalter (Left MCL – Sprain), Adam Cristman (Left Knee – Surgery)
QUESTIONABLE – Landon Donovan (Right Knee – Inflammation), Hector Jimenez (Right Wrist – Surgery)
*Random factoid: the Galaxy have scored exactly one goal a game in the last five games, a feat they had not accomplished since the days of Sigiball.
From the Galaxy:
“The last time the club scored exactly one goal on five straight games was at the end of the 2002 season and into the start of the 2003 campaign. LA won their last two games of 2002, beating San Jose 1-0 in each before opening the 2003 season with three consecutive 1-1 draws.”
And those ties were all on the road if I remember correctly, while we awaited the opening of the HDC. Road draws=Sigiball.
*Chivas USA (0-2-2) plays at 4 p.m. Saturday in Vancouver against the Whitecaps (1-2-2) in a game that’s live on Prime.
Chivas Reserves beat the LA Blues 2-0 Sunday in a reserve game scheduled after Seattle belatedly pulled out of the fixture apparently because of airline issues.
*The Lancaster Rattlers, which are moving from the Premier Development League to the National Premier Soccer League has announced a broadcast deal that includes live audio play-by-play coverage for home games and live video play-by-play coverage for all away games.
“This is an excellent move in the right direction, to make it easier for our fans to follow us not only at home but while on the road,” said Gerald Brunner, CEO of Rattlers FC. “Another step to show our intent to bring professional soccer to the valley. We hoping this will also show to our sponsors and sponsors to be how serious we are about the game.”
The Rattlers FC opener is Saturday, April 23rd against FC Hasenthal at Palmdale High.
*United Soccer Leagues has announced a three-year “relationship” with Fox Soccer Channel that includes “regular season and postseason games from USL Pro and the championship games from the Premier Development League and W-League through 2013. FOX Soccer also continues to air the 30-minute magazine show USL Breakaway, which is now a year-round monthly program.”
Coverage of the USL Pro league begins June 11 and includes an 8 p.m. Friday, July 15 LA Blues game against River Plate Puerto Rico.
