Recently in Media Category

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)

It's the final weekend of the MLS regular season in what we are (constantly) reminded is the tightest playoff race in league history, while local colleges are also getting closer to making tournament plans. And, of course, the especially avid fan can see the Galaxy play San Jose at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Home Depot Center (9 p.m. FSN, delayed) and then turn around a few hours later to check in at noon Sunday at the same venue to see Chivas USA play the Houston Dynamo (live on Prime).

So there's plenty to watch on TV, plenty to see locally, plenty to check out below:

TV highlights
*4:30 a.m. Saturday ESPN2 Wolverhampton Wanderers-Aston Villa
*7:55 a.m. Saturday Galavision Mexico-Switzerland (U-17 World Cup)
*9:30 a.m. Saturday FSC Chelsea-Blackburn Rovers
*6 p.m. Saturday FSC Real Salt Lake-Colorado Rapids

*7 a.m. Sunday FSC Liverpool-Manchester United
*9 a.m. Sunday FSC West Ham United-Arsenal
*12:30 p.m. Sunday FSC Chievo-AC Milan
*1 p.m. Sunday ESPN2 Barcelona-Real Zaragoza
*3 p.m. Sunday ESPN2 Columbus Crew-New England Revolution
*3 p.m. Sunday KMEX Club America-CD Guadalajara
*3 p.m. Sunday FSC River Plate-Boca Juniors

In college action Thursday, Torrance's Tyler Krumpe (son of Coach Paul Krumpe) scored the winner in overtime Thursday as the Loyola Marymount men (7-6-1, 2-3-1 WCC) defeated San Diego, 2-1. Also Thursday, the Long Beach State women (5-9-2, 1-4-0 BWC) lost 2-0 to Cal State Fullerton.

Local women's college games this weekend include:
*2:30 p.m. today Cal State Northridge-Cal State Bakersfield
*3 p.m. today USC-Oregon State
*7 p.m. Saturday CSUDH-Seattle Pacific
*1 p.m. Sunday USC-Oregon
*2 p.m. Sunday Long Beach State-UC Riverside
*2:30 p.m. Sunday Cal State Northridge-UC Irvine

Local men's games:
*3 p.m. Sunday LMU-San Diego

A full slate of MLS games returns for the penultimate weekend of play after the WCQ break with the Galaxy on the road against the Dynamo (noon Sunday TeleFutura) and Chivas USA at home Saturday against the San Jose Earthquakes (7:30 p.m. KAZA, delayed 11:15 p.m. Prime), a team that returns to L.A. Oct. 24 to play the Galaxy.

How important are these games this weekend in determining playoff positions?

Check out the playoff standings.

Incidentally, Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena told reporters this week that midfielder Dema Kovalenko, who has had a right Achilles tendonitis issue, could figure in Sunday's game, while midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi is out for the last two games of the regular season with a left groin strain.

While we're at it, here's the latest Chivas USA injury report (not including the half dozen long-term absentees):

QUESTIONABLE: GK Lance Parker (R quad strain); FW Maicon Santos (R knee injury); GK Zach Thornton (lower back strain); PROBABLE: FW Justin Braun (lower back strain); MF Paulo Nagamura (L foot contusion); FW Jesús Padilla (R ankle sprain)

Meanwhile, Chivas USA defender Jonathan Bornstein continues to be the talk of the town - um, make that parts of Central America - in the wake of his equalizing goal for the U.S. Wednesday against Costa Rica.

Plenty to watch on TV, too.

The full slate of games is at the link to the right as always, but here are the ones I'll be checking out in addition to the two already mentioned.

Saturday
4:30 a.m. ESPN2 Aston Villa-Chelsea
6:30 a.m. GolTV Freiburg-Bayern Munich
7 a.m. FSC Sunderland-Liverpool
11:30 a.m. FSC Montreal Impact-Vancouver Whitecaps (USL final, second leg)
1 p.m. GolTV Valencia-Barcelona
3 p.m. FSC New England-Chicago Fire

Sunday
8 a.m. FSC Wigan Athletic-Manchester City
11:30 a.m. FSC AC Milan-Roma

Monday
11:55 a.m. ESPN2 Fulham-Hull City

Prefer live college action?
The Long Beach State women (5-7-2) lost 3-2 in overtime up in Santa Barbara Thursday, but here are your options for games in the L.A. area this weekend:

Men's Games
3 p.m. today Loyola Marymount-Santa Clara
4:30 p.m. today CSUDH-UC San Diego
7 p.m. today UCLA-California

11:30 a.m. Sunday CSUDH-Cal State East Bay
2:30 p.m. Sunday UCLA-Stanford
3 p.m. Sunday Loyola Marymount-Saint Mary's
3 p.m. Sunday Cal State Northridge-UCSB (rescheduled from Saturday)

Women's Games
12:30 p.m. today Loyola Marymount-Gonzaga
3 p.m. today Pepperdine-Portland
7 p.m. today CSUDH-UC San Diego

Noon Sunday Loyola Marymount-Portland
1 p.m. Sunday Pepperdine-Gonzaga
2 p.m. Sunday CSUDH-Cal State East Bay

Enjoy the weekend.

As I sit here watching the first game of the "weekend' - U.S.-Korea at the U-20 World Cup on ESPN2, BTW and reshown on Galavision at 4 p.m. - I was struck by the paucity of quality games on the tube this weekend (Liverpool-Chelsea at 8 a.m. Sunday on Fox Soccer Channel excepted).

Fox Soccer Channel is showing San Jose-New York on Saturday, for instance, on a weekend fraught with playoff implications. (What masochist is going to watch that?) And I think I'll skip Hull City facing Wigan Athletic, Jozy Altidore and all.

That said, here are the other games I'll be playing attention to this weekend (click over on the right for the full slate of games).

9:30 a.m. Saturday Fox Soccer Channel Manchester United-Sunderland
4:30 p.m. Saturday Prime D.C. United-Chivas USA
5 p.m. Saturday KFTR Pachuca-Club America

Noon Sunday Telefutura Houston-Kansas City
4 p.m. Sunday FSC Portland-Vancouver (USL semifinal)

Chivas USA has a viewing party beginning at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, BTW, at the Shamrock Seafood Restaurant in Wilmington, 120 W. G St. Info: 310-630-4586

Click over to the appropriate link to find out what your local college team is doing this weekend. Long Beach State lost their home opener last night 1-0 to Pacific. Game story here.

In men's soccer Thursday, Loyola Marymount beat Riverside 1-0 in a non-conference game at Sullivan Field, freshman Chris Bernardi scoring the winner with just 3:41 left in the second half. The No. 20-ranked LIons move to 5-2 on the season ahead of Sunday's 7 p.m. home game and final non-conference match of the year against Cal State Bakersfield (3-3-1).

In other local college games this weekend:

*The Cal State Northridge women (4-5) meet No. 3-ranked UCLA (6-1-1) at 4 p.m. today at Matador Field. UCLA are without suspended Coach Jill Ellis and striker Sydney Leroux; the Bruins are also likely without senior Lauren Cheney, who is training with the U.S. Women's National Team at Home Depot Center. The big draw: $1 dogs.

*The 5-1 Matadors men are at Cal State Fullerton for a tournament this weekend. They play Denver (2-2-1) at 5 p.m. today and Coastal Carolina at 11 a.m. Sunday at Titan Stadium.

*The UCLA men (3-1) travel to meet San Diego (4-2) at 7 o'clock tonight and host UNLV (4-1-2) at 5 p.m. Sunday

*The Loyola Marymount Women (5-3-1) meet Long Beach State (4-4-0) at 4 p.m. today at Sullivan Field and Cal State Bakersfield (4-6-0) at 1 p.m. Sunday at the same venue.

*After losing 1-0 to Cal State L.A. Wednesday, the Cal State Dominguez Hills men hosts Cal State Stanislaus at 7 o'clock tonight and Chico State 2 p.m. Sunday in a pair of games at Toro Stadium; the CSUDH women meet their counterparts from the two schools at 4:30 p.m. and 11:30 a.m. at the same venue respectively after beating Cal State L.A. 1-0 Wednesday.

As usual far too much soccer on the box to take it all in, so click to the link on the right for all the details.

Here are my picks for what to watch:

*4:30 a.m. Saturday ESPN2 Portsmouth-Everton
*6:55 a.m. Saturday ESPN Classic U.S.-Germany (delayed) at the U-20 World Cup.
*7 a.m. Saturday Fox Soccer Channel Liverpool-Hull City
*9:30 a.m. Saturday FSC Fulham-Arsenal
*11 a.m. Saturday GolTV Barcelona-Malaga
*2 p.m. Saturday FSC Inter Milan-Sampdoria (delayed)
*4:30 p.m. Saturday FSN Crew-Galaxy
*7:30 p.m. Saturday FSC Chivas USA-Red Bulls

*9:55 a.m. Sunday Galavision Brazil-Costa Rica at the U-20 World Cup
*10 a.m. Sunday KVEA Pumas-CD Guadalajara
*11:30 a.m. Sunday FSC AC Milan-Bari
*Noon Sunday Telefutura D.C. United-San Jose

How busy will this weekend be for soccer on TV?

Colorado and San Jose get things under way at 8 p.m. on ESPN2 in a rare Friday evening game.

Oh, and last night the UCLA men beat their Cal State Fullerton counterparts, 2-1. Game story.

For an exhaustive listing of every available game click the live soccer TV link to the right.

But here are my picks for the games to watch, followed by the local college action you can see live this weekend:

Saturday
7 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel Aston Villa-Portsmouth
9:30 a.m. FSC West Ham United-Liverpool
Noon FSC Seattle Sounders-Chivas USA
1 p.m. GolTV Barcelona-Athletico Madrid
7:30 p.m. Prime Galaxy-Toronto

Sunday
5:25 a.m. Setanta Manchester United-Manchester City (I don't usually list games on this pay TV service, but Setanta is having a free preview - at least on DirecTV - that ends Sunday).
-8 a.m. FSC Chelsea-Tottenham Hotspur
10 a.m. ESPN2 Xerez-Real Madrid
Noon Telefutura Chicago Fire-Columbus Crew

College games
4 p.m. today Matador Field Cal State Northridge women-Hawaii
4 p.m. today George Allen Field Cal State Long Beach-Pepperdine
4:30 p.m. today Loyola Marymount-Missouri followed at 7 p.m. by UCLA-Utah at Drake Stadium (UCLA Women's Cup)
11 a.m. Sunday UCLA-Missouri followed at 1 p.m. by Loyola Marymount-Utah at Drake Stadium
1 p.m. Sunday Tari Frahm Rokus Field Pepperdine-Cal State Sacramento (AYSO teams can get free admission to the game. Call 310-506-6018)

The Galaxy are at home Saturday night against FC Dallas, Chivas USA have a noon Sunday game against the New England Revolution in Carson and yet there's plenty of soccer on TV for those unwilling to leave their home.

ESPN issued a press release Thursday trumpeting their 14 games this weekend across their platforms (Freddy Adu fans can check out ESPN360.com Sunday, for instance, to see it he takes the field for Belenenses against the team that holds his contract, Benfica), while El Segundo-based DirecTV finally got around to formally announcing their broadcasts of more than 300 matches in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and La Liga this season that I previously wrote about in my weekly column.

Overwhelmed? Here are my picks for the weekend's best games on the box, followed by the local college action:

Saturday

*6:54 a.m. ESPN2 Liverpool-Burnley
*7 a.m. Stoke City-Chelsea
*9:30 a.m. Tottenham Hotspur-Manchester United
*9:30 a.m. GolTV Borussia Dortmund-Bayern Munich
*6 p.m. FSC Real Salt Lake-Chicago Fire
*6:30 p.m. KFTR San Luis-CD Guadalajara
*10 p.m. Prime Galaxy-Dallas (delayed)

Sunday

6 a.m. FSC Inter Milan-Parma
8 a.m. FSC Fulham-Everton
Noon FSN Chivas USA-New England Revolution

College result Thursday:

UCLA men 4 UC Davis 0 (Palos Verdes Estates' Kyle Nakazawa got a goal for the Bruins, BTW.)

Local college games

The Matadors host a four-team tournament this weekend.

Also:

*4:30 p.m. today CSUDH men-Cal State San Bernadino, followed by the women's game from the two schools at Toro Stadium.
*3 p.m. today USC-Gonzaga at McAlister Field.
*4 p.m. LMU men-San Jose State at Sullivan Field.
*Noon Sunday USC-Michigan at McAlister Field.
*1 p.m. Sunday UCLA women-Gonzaga at Drake Stadium
*1 p.m. Sunday Pepperdine-Hawaii (Tip: fans planning to attend Sunday's game should first head to Lily's Café, Subway or Kentucky Fried Chicken along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and pick up a "Buy One, Get One Free" flyer).

With World Cup qualifying in full flow there are only three MLS games this weekend, (MLS always has trouble attracting fans on Labor day weekend anyway).

Click to the right for a full game schedule, but here's what I'll be checking out (and local college games are listed below, too):

Saturday

7 a.m. GolTV Scotland-Macedonia
9:30 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel England-Slovenia
1 p.m. GolTV Spain-Belgium
2 p.m. FSC (delayed) Georgia-Italy
5 p.m. ESPN Classic U.S.-El Salvador
7 p.m. KVEA Costa Rica-Mexico

Sunday
1:55 p.m. Puebla-CD Guadalajara

Local college action
3 p.m. today Pepperdine-Houston
4:30 p.m. Sunday Cal State Northridge men-Loyola Marymount

Did you know that for the first time ever on American television the English Premier League, the most popular soccer league (in terms of ratings) in this country, can now be seen almost weekly in hi def?

Did you know that coverage of the UEFA Champions League has taken a quantum step forward from announcers calling games in some distant studio rather than being there live, that there is no longer an extremely limited selection of games on TV and that you'll never have to hear the over-used "bulge in the ol' onion bag" phrase ever again?

You do now. (Can you tell I'm just a tad excited about these developments?).

Click the link to the right for the complete, exhaustive listing of soccer on TV this weekend.

But here are my picks for the best of the games followed by a listing of the local games in and around L.A.

TV best bets Saturday:
4:30 a.m. ESPN2 Chelsea-Burnley
9 a.m. Fox Soccer Channel Manchester United-Arsenal
11:30 a.m. FSC AC Milan-Inter Milan
5 p.m. KVEA CD Guadalajara-Pachuca
8 p.m. ESPN2 Galaxy-Chivas USA

Sunday
7 a.m. Everton-Wigan Athletic
2:30 p.m. FSN WPA All-Stars-Umea IK

Local games
Women's soccer
3 p.m. today McAlister Field UCLA-Mexico
1 p.m. Sunday Matador Field Cal State Northridge-Oregon State
3 p.m. Sunday McAlister Field USC-St. John's
5 p.m. Sunday George Allen Field Long Beach State-UCLA

Men's soccer
4:30 p.m. today Matador Field Cal State Northridge-UNLV (first 50 CSUN students through the gates get a free T-shirt)
8 p.m. Saturday HDC Galaxy-Chivas USA

Thursday Scoreboard
Women's soccer -
Cal State Northridge 3 Loyola Marymount 0
Cal State Dominguez Hills 0 Vanguard 1

Meanwhile, the men's program at Harbor College is gearing up for the season.

Finally, this has little to do with soccer, but 18 breweries will be serving up 10 4 oz tastings of their products for $20 Sunday at the inaugural Torrance Block Party, which includes a craft brew festival in Old Torrance. That's where I intend to beat the heat Sunday.

More details are here.