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ESPN is firming up its World Cup coverage plans, including announcing today that it will show the U.S.-England game on ABC HD.

Gotta love this quote from ESPN's executive vice president of content from the story below:

"At some point you've got to treat it like the significant sporting event that is," said John Skipper. "I understand it has not traditionally stopped work and stopped the country to watch it in past years. But we're going to treat it like it should."

It will and it does, Skippy. Just not in your parochial world.

And let us know when ESPN starts taking MLS seriously, too. Hey, at least we'll get rid of those amateurish broadcasts with the announcers stuck in a U.S. television studio. About time.

Here's the story:

NEW YORK (AP) -- At ESPN's offices in Bristol, Conn., a World Cup countdown clock is outdoors, clicking down the hours until the kickoff on June 11.

A room inside has a "Wheel of Fortune" style spinner, where staffers can come in to pick up additional teams to root for. But when the action shifts to South Africa, ESPN and ABC will make a major shift in their coverage.

The U.S. networks will have crews on site for all 64 games at the 10 stadiums.
During the 2006 tournament in Germany, two of five crews stayed home and called 20 matches from the U.S. studios.

"At some point you've got to treat it like the significant sporting event that is," said John
Skipper, ESPN's executive vice president of content. "I understand it has not traditionally
stopped work and stopped the country to watch it in past years. But we're going to treat it like it should."

The networks, owned by The Walt Disney Co., announced Wednesday that 10 games will be on ABC, including the U.S.-England matchup on June 12 and the final on July 11.

ESPN will televise 44 matches, with the remaining 10 on ESPN2. All but the ABC games also will be on ESPN360.com, 46 games will be on ESPN Mobile TV and every game will be replayed at night on ESPN Classic.

In what appears to be an attempt to ambush Univision's Spanish-language coverage, ESPN Deportes will broadcast up to 40 matches -- Cristiano Ronaldo fans take note -- in Portuguese.

ESPN2 will go all soccer for a 24-hour countdown before the opener.

The pre-World Cup concert will be televised live on ESPN on June 10, with an edited version replayed on ABC the following night. ESPN plans about 250 hours of originally programming around the games.

Jed Drake, an ESPN vice president who is executive producer of its World Cup coverage, said the network is sending 165 people to South Africa and will have 50 local hires -- double the staff it used four years ago. The network will be broadcasting soccer 12 hours a day during the first round.

"The level of ambition we have for this project is second to none compared to anything we do at ESPN," he said.

ABC/ESPN acquired rights to the 2010 and 2014 tournaments directly from FIFA in late 2005 for $100 million. For the previous two World Cups, the rights were owned by Soccer United Marketing, an affiliate of Major League Soccer that bought them for $40 million and then purchased air time. Univision bought the Spanish-language U.S. rights for 2010 and 2014 for $325 million.

But South Africa especially will be an expensive place to produce.

One of ESPN's first actions was to hire its own private security company for the tournament. The logistical issues are unusual for a major event.

"How are you going to get around? Eat? Sleep? Get to the stadium? Get in and out? Get there on time? Park or take the bus in?" said Skipper, who thinks people will be safe as long as they don't go off the beaten track. "FIFA, the South African government, the South African police, international security, they can only control so much if guys get themselves drunk and wander down the street with 1,000-rand bills ($132) hanging out of their pockets."

Drake already has made four trips to South Africa in the past year to prepare and is scheduled to go back in February and March.

"It doesn't feel nearly as foreign as it used to," he said. "And the flight doesn't seem as
long. I know that sounds bizarre."

Soccer is one of the few sports whose ratings haven't declined.

ABC's 12 telecasts four years ago averaged 3.5 million households, according to Nielsen Media Research, up from 1.7 million for ESPN's 21 games and 919,000 million for ESPN2's 31 matches. In addition, Spanish-language coverage averaged 1.5 million for 56 games on Univision and 122,000 for four on Telefutura.

When ABC and ESPN broadcast the entire tournament for the first time in 1994 -- it was in the United States that year -- the 52 games were viewed by an average of 1.95 million households.

That was up from an average of 685,000 homes for the 25 games televised by Turner
Broadcasting's TNT network in 1990, when the U.S. made its first World Cup appearance in 40 years.

In an effort to widen soccer interest, ABC and ESPN televised the European Championship for the first time two years ago, and Spain's victory over Germany in the final was seen by 3.76 million viewers on ABC. Skipper said ABC/ESPN intends to bid aggressively for rights for the 2012 Euros, which likely will be put up for bid in about three months.

And this time it has jettisoned Dave O'Brien, criticized for his lack of soccer knowledge, and added Martin Tyler of Britain's Sky Sports along with a pair of retired European stars, Ruud Gullit and Steve McManaman.

For all the enthusiasm, Skipper keeps soccer in perspective. Speaking on Monday afternoon, he cited ESPN's broadcast of Spain's La Liga the previous day.

"It's great counterprogramming for us to the NFL," he said. "We didn't quite beat it
yesterday. I think we did a 0.2 and they did a 33."

A grab bag of Southern California-related soccer news this morning:

*The MLS off-season is over (sort of). The league permits teams to open training camp today.

Galaxy players will report to Home Depot Center Monday for physicals and fitness work in the gym, but won't hit the practice field until Feb. 1. The trio of young Brazilians GM and coach Bruce Arena signed won't be there Monday though; they're awaiting visas. Chivas USA opens camp Tuesday.

MLS clubs must be roster (and salary cap) compliant, with 20 senior players and four developmental, by March 1.

Look for the complete MLS schedule to be released in the first week of February. And as of Wednesday, players under contract in other countries may be signed by MLS clubs through April 15.

*U.S. Coach Bob Bradley was asked whether Landon Donovan playing in the EPL against English players the Americans will see in their opening World Cup game is a good thing. Um, yeah.

*Hotshot UCLA striker Sydney Leroux scored a brace and was named player of the game as the U.S. crushed Jamaica 6-0 Thursday in its opening CONCACAF qualifier for the U-20 World Cup. Game details here.

*PDL team the Ventura County Fusion will play against the Mexican Under-21 team at 7:30 tonight at Buena High School in Ventura, 5670 Telegraph Rd. Tickets are $20 adults, $10 kids under age 12. Kids under the age of six get in free.

*As always, click the link at top right for an exhaustive run-down of the weekend's games, but I'll be paying special attention to:

Chelsea-Preston North End 4:30 a.m. Saturday (FA Cup fourth round) Fox Soccer Channel

Fulham-Accrington Stanley 7 a.m. Saturday FSC (giant killing possibility?)

Leeds United-Tottenham Hotspur 9 a.m. Saturday FSC (the leaders of League 1 play an EPL outfit)

Tigres-CD Guadalajara 5 p.m. Saturday KVEA

U.S.-Honduras 6 p.m. Saturday FSC

And there's two big derbies Sunday: Inter Milan-AC Milan 11:30 a.m. on FSC and River Plate-Boca Juniors at 5 p.m. for those of you who get Fox Sports Espanol.

I'll blog from the U.S.-Honduras game Saturday so check back in then (or better yet if you're local, come on down; I suspect the U.S. could use the support).

Not much of a surprise given the Rose Bowl hosted the 1994 World Cup final.

The USA Bid Committee today released the locations of 18 cities - the maximum allowed by FIFA - as potential World Cup game hosts after an eight month process that winnowed the field from the 45 stadiums in 38 cities identified last June.

This time around San Francisco, which hosted games in 1994, was cut, but San Diego is in.

The two stadiums in Southern California are the aging Rose Bowl (alleged capacity 93,607) and the crumbling Coliseum (listed at an equally uncomfortable 89,000).

The other 16 cities named: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Miami, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa and Washington, D.C.

"Today our hopes of becoming a host nation are strengthened many fold by the announcement of the 18 cities we will submit to FIFA on May 14," said Sunil Gulati, president of the bid committee and U.S. Soccer. "These 18 cities share outstanding leadership with a vision and understanding of what a FIFA World Cup would mean to the United States, along with how well we can play the role of host to visitors from throughout the world."

England, hosts in 1966, are considered the frontrunner for the 2018 World Cup and the U.S. is one of the favorites in 2022.

From the U.S. Soccer press release:

The United States, Australia, England, Japan and Russia have formally declared their desire to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022. Netherlands-Belgium and Portugal-Spain have each submitted joint bids for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, while Indonesia, Qatar and South Korea have applied as candidates to play host only to the tournament in 2022. Mexico withdrew its bid in September.

The winning bidders for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments will be announced in December.

In other news today, Fox will start a new soccer channel picking up rights to the EPL and other leagues relinquished by Sentanta:

From AP:

NEW YORK -- Fox is launching its second all-soccer network in the United States on March 1.

The new network, called Fox Soccer Plus, will televise matches of the European Champions League, England's Premier League, the English Football Association Cup and the Italian Serie A.

Fox Soccer Channel began operation in 1997 as Fox Sports World and changed its name to FSC five years ago.

"As America's interest in the world's game is increasing, the launch of Fox Soccer Plus will complement and enhance our current programming on Fox Soccer Channel," new FSC general manager David Nathanson said Tuesday.

The new network will draw content from Setanta USA, whose sublicenses with Fox are expiring, a person familiar with the negotiations said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity because that detail won't be included in the announcement.

Fox, a division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, is negotiating with cable carriers to determine whether they want to place it on a select tier or offer it as a monthly subscription service for a fee. The new network will be broadcast in high definition; Fox also has been preparing to start high definition telecasts of FSC.

Fox has been televising the Premier League in the U.S. since 1998 and sublicenses some of the games to Setanta USA and ESPN2, which is televising 48 matches this season.

Also Monday, FSC said it was hiring Andy Gray of News Corp.'s Sky Sports in Britain for its studio show during this year's World Cup. Gray, a former Scotland national team player, worked for ESPN's U.S. coverage of the 2008 European Championship.

Catching up on the day:

*U.S. Soccer said today a USMNT Feb. 24 exhibition at home against El Salvador is under consideration. The U.S. has confirmed games before the World Cup begins against Honduras Jan. 23 at Home Depot Center and the Netherlands in Amsterdam March 3.

*Chivas USA announced this afternoon that striker Eduardo Lillingston is going out on loan to second division Mexican team Tijuana.

The 32-year-old veteran led Chivas USA last year with nine goals, but often disappeared for long stretches of games and former Coach Preki was never overwhelmed by his work rate.

Lillingston joins former Chivas USA midfielder Panchito Mendoza, who is similarly on loan from CD Guadalajara, at the club.

Lillingston will supposedly return to Chivas USA after the transfer window re-opens July 15.

"This move allows us some flexibility with our roster, and will give Eduardo a good opportunity to play games during the offseason before rejoining our team," said Chivas USA Vice President of Soccer Operations Stephen Hamilton.

*U.S. Women's National team coach April Heinrich Pia Sundhage has called in 26 players for a 20-day camp running Jan. 17 through Feb. 4 at Home Depot Center ahead of the annual Algarve Cup in Portugal.

The roster is essentially the same as the players called in for a December camp except for veteran defender Stephanie Cox (55 caps); midfielder Tobin Heath, the 2009 U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year who was sidelined from the December camp through injury; goalkeeper Jillian Loyden, Hope Solo's back-up for St. Louis Athletica; and U.S. Under-23 defender Brittany Taylor.

The full roster:
goalkeepers - Nicole Barnhart (FC Gold Pride), Jillian Loyden (St. Louis Athletica), Alyssa Naeher (Penn State), Hope Solo (St. Louis Athletica)

defenders - Lori Chalupny (St. Louis Athletica), Stephanie Cox (Los Angeles Sol), Amy LePeilbet (Boston Breakers), Heather Mitts (Philadelphia Independence), Meghan Schnur (Sky Blue FC), Brittany Taylor (UConn), Cat Whitehill (Washington Freedom)

midfielders - Yael Averbuch (Sky Blue FC), Shannon Boxx (Los Angeles Sol), Tobin Heath (UNC), Lori Lindsey (Philadelphia Independence), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC), Heather O'Reilly (Sky Blue FC), Megan Rapinoe (Chicago Red Stars)

forwards - Lauren Cheney (UCLA), Ella Masar (Chicago Red Stars), Alex Morgan (California), Casey Nogueira (UNC), Kelley O'Hara (Stanford), Amy Rodriguez (Philadelphia Independence), Abby Wambach (Washington Freedom)

*Finally, Fox could reportedly launch a second all-soccer channel called "Fox Soccer Plus," using rights purchased from financially-challenged Sentanta, who dropped EPL games from its schedule this weekend.

That's not going to help viewers this weekend though, because the EPL program is devastated anyway due to the unusually cold weather sweeping Europe.

What's left to watch from England?

Not much.

Wigan Athletic-Aston Villa is still on at this writing (7 a.m. Saturday FSC), as is Birmingham, City-Manchester United (9:30 a.m. FSC).

Hull City-Chelsea is off Saturday, as is Liverpool-Tottenham on Sunday. And before you ask, no, FSC won't be showing Landon Donovan's potential debut for Everton against Arsenal.

But, if you're truly desperate for a little LD facetime, he pops up at 8 p.m. Sunday on ABC on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." And, no, I'm not kidding.

The first live telecast: the Mexico-South Africa game from the World Cup.

A minimum of 84 other live events will follow this year including 25 other World Cup games.

"ESPN 3D marries great content with new technology to enhance the fan's viewing experience and puts ESPN at the forefront of the next big advance for TV viewing," said George Bodenheimer, co-chairman, Disney Media Networks, and President, ESPN and ABC Sports.

From the ESPN press release:

ESPN has been testing ESPN 3D for more than two years. Last fall, ESPN produced the USC vs. OSU college football game which was shown in select theaters as well as to 6,000 fans at the Galen Center on USC's campus. ESPN has developed best practices for utilizing the technology in live game applications which have provided ESPN the ability to streamline workflow operations, adjust 3D camera positioning, test transmission and gauge fan reaction to a 3D telecast versus a traditional telecast.

ESPN's goal: to drive adoption of 3D television sets.

Oh, great. And I just got a 46-inch HD TV a little over a year ago. Wonder if I can just get away with wearing those funky cardboard glasses?

While we await the expected noon announcement of Landon Donovan's likely move to Everton and perhaps vastly improved contract terms to ensure he actually returns to MLS (would the Galaxy schedule a press conference just to announce his loan move away from the club?), it's good to note that the dreams of a group of local kids are certain to come true this year thanks to Daily Breeze readers.

The annual Daily Breeze ball drive reached the goal of 1,400 balls collected for children at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor thanks to a late influx of donations.

Special appreciation to all the 100 Percent Soccer readers who responded to the request for donations in a down economy and especially the Galaxy whose late contribution of 100 goals pushed the Breeze over its goal. Who knows whether one of those kids getting a ball turns out to be the next Donovan or Shannon Boxx?

BTW, a 36-man U.S. Under-20 camp gets under way today at Home Depot Center. Locals involved include defender Cesar Zamora (Chivas USA; Sylmar), midfielder Carlos Martinez (Wilmington Jrs.; San Pedro) and strikers Tristan Bowen (Galaxy; Van Nuys) and Victor Chavez (Real So Cal; Fontana).

For a full listing click the link to the right, but here's my picks for the best games of the weekend:

Saturday
4:30 a.m. ESPN2 Stoke City-Wigan Athletic
7 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel Bolton Wanderers-Manchester City
9:30 a.m. FSC Manchester United-Aston Villa
11 a.m. GolTV Barcelona-Espanyol

Sunday
8 a.m FSC Liverpool-Arsenal
10 a.m. ESPN2 NCAA final: Virginia-Akron/North Carolina winner (the Cavaliers beat Wake Forest 2-1 Friday afternoon)
4 p.m. KAZA Apertura final (second leg): Cruz Azul-Monterrey

Los Angeles Times writer Mike Penner was an occasional press box colleague.

I didn't know him well and won't pretend to.

But he was another voice for soccer in Southern California at a time it seems those voices are diminishing, not proliferating.

And his was an eloquent one.

He came relatively late to the sport. And it showed in his writing. Mike's genuine affection for a game he was still learning about shone through in his prose. Through his writing I came to rediscover aspects of the sport I had taken for granted.

He gave the sport time, space and respect. He understood the sport's celebration of cultural diversity; he understood the sport's inclusiveness. It appeared that it was to him, as it was to so many others, a liberating game.

I think, for a short time, it was a place he belonged.

One of the last times I saw Mike, at the Beckham return to MLS dog and pony show at Home Depot Center in 2008, he had become Christine Daniels. It was one of the first and biggest events Mike had covered as Christine. We hugged. She seemed to have begun to come to terms with who she was.

A few months later she was Mike Penner again.

A Times co-worker told me in recent months that Mike seemed to be withdrawing, spending much of his time anonymously compiling sports briefs rather than penning insightful columns. And on Saturday he died of an apparent suicide, the ultimate withdrawal from the world.

Mike contributed to the growth of soccer in Southern California and will be missed.

Read press box colleague Scott French's tribute to Mike, here.

Wish you were in Seattle? I'll link back to a series of tweets and Twitpics from the lucky ones at MLS Cup.

From USA Today's Beau Dure:

Another:

One more:

The Washington Post's Steve Goff just tweeted:

crazy, crazy rumor: jesse marsch retires to become chicago coach if hamlett is let go. no truth to it, i'm told, but fun item nonetheless

Really getting a feel for the atmosphere from Mr. Dure:

Here's this tweet from the LA Riot Squad:

How do get lars love? Lieweke just bought everyone at the bar a round!!!

Updated 4:11 p.m. from Big Soccer:

Updated 4:14 p.m. by MLS Commish Don Garber: thesoccerdon marching to the match. skies have cleared at #ml

Updated at 4:17 p.m. Sunset in Seattle:

The DVD is the A&E-produced History of the MLS Cup, which was released just before last year's championship game.

I was sent two review copies (that I haven't looked at) so will give one sealed, never-viewed 91-minute history of the cup (great for re-gifting this holiday season!) to the person who correctly predicts the score of Sunday's game in the comments section of this blog post. Feel free to explain your reasoning, too. If more than one reader chooses the correct score, I'll draw a name at random.

Winners of previous contests on this blog are ineligible this time around, BTW. The deadline is 5 p.m. Sunday. I'll notify the winner via e-mail Monday.

Need help figuring out the score?

Former Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid told me this week via e-mail that "I think this is the Salt Lake Cinderella story. Too much speed up top. (Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan) Ricketts is due to make an error - do not ask me why - just a hunch."

And for what it's worth, the Galaxy will win its third MLS Cup with a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake at Qwest Field in Seattle, WA, if you believe an official EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer 10 videogame simulation of the MLS Cup final using the Xbox 360.

The Galaxy's Landon Donovan shreds the RSL defense in this screen shot.

Here's how the simulation went:

The Galaxy led 2-0 early in the second half and then survived a frantic comeback attempt by Real Salt Lake to capture its third MLS title.

Edson Buddle (40th minute) and Landon Donovan (59th minute) gave the Galaxy a 2-0 lead. Late in the first half, Buddle received a smooth pass from Eddie Lewis just left of the penalty mark and fired a rocket with his left foot past RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando. Donovan then made it 2-0 after he pounced on a rebound off a Mike Magee shot, controlled the ball and gently slide it into an empty net while Rimando was still on the ground.

Javier Morales gave Real Salt Lake hope when he fired a shot from 18 yards out past Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts. Salt Lake pressed forward for the equalizer over the final 14 minutes but Ricketts turned back the only dangerous shot, a Clint Mathis blast from the right side, four minutes from the end of regulation.

Galaxy outshot Real Salt Lake 16-5. Donovan was named Man of the Match after firing six shots on goal and scoring the game-winner.

From the ESPN press release:

ESPN2's live coverage of the 2009 MLS Western Conference Finals Friday, Nov. 13, a 2 - 0 extra time victory by the Los Angeles Galaxy over the Houston Dynamo, was seen in an average of 538,000 television homes (700,000 people 2+), based on a 0.5 rating, making it the most-watched MLS telecast ever on the network.

The previous record was on Thurs., Aug. 23, 2007, in a regular-season match between Chivas USA and Los Angeles, seen in an average of 532,000 television homes (658,000 P2+), a 0.6 rating.

Additionally on ESPN Deportes, the match was seen in an average of 73,000 Hispanic television homes (121,000 Hispanic P2+), a 1.6 Hispanic coverage rating.

Hmm. How much higher would the ratings have been if the game hadn't ended at 2:30 a.m. or so back on the East Coast?

Plenty of other soccer on TV in addition to tonight's Galaxy-Dynamo game, while local colleges enter post-season play this weekend.

TV best bets
11 o'clock tonight Fox Soccer Channel New Zealand-Bahrain (World Cup qualifier with former Galaxy man Simon Elliot on the NZ squad).
7 a.m. Saturday FSC Slovakia-U.S.
9 a.m. Saturday FSC Brazil-England
12:55 p.m. Saturday ESPND Argentina-Spain
5 p.m. Saturday FSC Eastern Conference final Chicago Fire-Real Salt Lake

College games
UCLA-Boise State 5:30 p.m. today Drake Stadium. (The final UCLA men's game of the regular season against San Diego State follows at 7 p.m.).

USC-Oklahoma State in Santa Clara

CSUDH women-Dixie State (Utah) at noon today at Cal State L.A.

CSUDH men-Sonoma State at 4 p.m. today at Cal State L.A.

Two days until the Galaxy-Chivas USA Western Conference semifinal from Carson's Home Depot Center (4:30 p.m. ESPN2) and the Galaxy blog reports tickets are going fast and the club is considering opening up the grass berm.

Don't have yours yet? Click here.

Suggested reading/listening/viewing:
*Reporter Phil Collin has more on the game here.

*The Galaxy's Chris Birchall, a mid-season signing, is fast becoming a regular on the starting XI. Did he expect that?

*Former Chicago Fire player Jared Montz talks to Chivas USA's Jesse Marsch in a podcast on his blog.

*Can the Galaxy get a goal or two past the reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year?

I'll have more on the game Saturday.

Plenty of other soccer to watch this weekend on TV (click to the right for a full listing).

Saturday's games
6:54 a.m. ESPN2 Tottenham Hotspur-Sunderland
7 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel Aston Villa-Bolton Wanderers
9:30 a.m. FSC Wolverhampton Wanderers-Arsenal
12:45 p.m. ESPND Athletico Madrid-Real Madrid
5:30 p.m. FSC Chicago Fire-New England Revolution
7 p.m. KVEA Atlas-CD Guadalajara

Sunday's games
6 a.m. FSC Lazio-AC Milan
8 a.m. FSC Chelsea-Manchester United
11:30 a.m. FSC Inter Milan-Roma
Noon TeleFutura Houston Dynamo-Seattle Sounders
2 p.m. KMEX Club America-Monterrey

In local college action:
*Cal State Dominguez Hills (stars and all) is in action today.

*But the season is over for the Cal State Northridge women's team after dropping a 2-1 decision to UC Santa Barbara Thursday. Still, the Matadors finish the year with a 10-10 overall mark and a 6-2 league record that's tied for the best conference result in school history.

*The Matador men end the regular season at 7 p.m. Saturday at UC Irvine. Cal State Northridge (9-7-2, 4-4-1, BWC) won 1-0 Wednesday at home against Cal State Fullerton in OT, keeping their playoff aspirations alive going into Saturday's game. From the Matadors press release:

A Northridge victory will give the team enough points to clinch the fourth spot while an Anteater victory will bump Cal Poly from their current position as the second seed and drop them to third place in the standings, giving Irvine an opportunity to host a first-round game.

*The UCLA men UCLA (9-3-2, 4-1-2 Pac-10) return home for a three-game homestand to close the regular season. First up is a 7 o'clock game tonight against Oregon State at Drake Stadium. At 1 p.m. Sunday the Bruins face Washington at Drake Stadium in a game that is free for all veterans and active military personnel (who receive four free admissions with proper ID). In addition, Sunday is AYSO/Youth Soccer Day. Youth soccer team members and their coaches will be admitted free if they're wearing their team jerseys. Moreover, UCLA Alumni Association card holders will receive four free admissions with alumni association card. Team posters will be given away Friday, team photo cards Sunday.

*The Loyola Marymount men (7-8-1, 2-5-1 WCC) close out their season this weekend with games at 2:30 p.m. today against Gonzaga and 2 p.m. Sunday against Portland at Sullivan Field.

Enjoy the weekend.

Sorry for the short notice.

Here's the brief press release I got from the Galaxy just minutes ago:

Galaxy head coach and general manager Bruce Arena and midfielder David Beckham will go "Inside the Locker Room" with the Petros and Money Show on Fox Sports Radio on Wednesday evening. Beckham will be live with Petros and Money from 5-5:30 p.m., with Arena joining the hosts from 5:30-6 p.m. for a full hour of Galaxy coverage on the network.

Fox Sports Radio is available locally on AM 570 KLAC.

Soccer on TV this weekend kicks off with a broadcast of the USC-UCLA women's game at 7 o'clock tonight on Fox Soccer Channel (and delayed at 8:30 p.m. on Prime) in a meeting of two top 20-ranked teams.

Here are some other highlights of the weekend's televised games (for a complete list click the link at top right) followed by the local college action you can see live.

Saturday's games

5:30 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel Arsenal-Tottenham Hotspur
8 a.m. FSC Bolton Wanderers-Chelsea
10:30 a.m. FSC Manchester United-Blackburn Rovers
Noon GolTV Barcelona-Osasuna
12:30 p.m. FSC AC Milan-Parma

Sunday's games

6 a.m. FSC Livorno-Inter Milan
6:48 a.m. ESPNU U.S.-United Arab Emirates (U-17 WC)
8 a.m. FSC Birmingham City-Manchester City
11 a.m. FSC New England Revolution-Chicago Fire
2 p.m. ESPN2 Chivas USA-Galaxy
3 p.m. KMEX Club America-Jaguares

Women's college games

3 p.m. today Sullivan Field LMU (9-6-2, 1-3-1 WCC) vs. San Francisco (6-4-5, 1-3-0 WCC)
1 p.m. Sunday Matador Field Cal State Northridge (9-9, 5-2 BWC) vs. Long Beach State (5-10-3, 1-5-1 BWC)