Recently in Weekly Column Category

I took Monday off. The column returns next week and blog posts later Tuesday.

Lists are "in" these days in online journalism circles. So here's mine.

Who did I miss?

The MLS season is over, but soccer never ends.

Today's televised Champions League games:
*11:30 a.m. ESPN Villarreal-Manchester United
22 p.m. ESPn Classic Bate Borisov-Real Madrid at 5pm on ESPN Classic

Lastly, the NCAA Tournament resumes tonight.

I have it on good authority that Sigi Schmid, coach of the MLS Champion Columbus Crew, will be at the Cal Poly-UC Irvine game. Both his sons are involved (one playing, one coaching) with the Anteaters' program.

I had never written a fairytale before.

But the literary device seemed apt for today's column.

Of course, Red Bull New York is a bit of a Cinderella story, too, so come Sunday we'll see who lives happily ever after.

Columbus management gave Sigi the time and perhaps most importantly, didn't interfere in the playing side of things, and are now reaping the reward. Are you listening, Galaxy front office?

"I've always felt if you hire somebody to do the job let them do the job and if you're not going to let them do the job don't hire them," Schmid said. "It's impossible for anyone to have too many fingers in (too many) pies."

Updated:
UCLA beat San Diego 1-0 Monday on an own goal in a game delayed by the unhealthy air quality caused by the wildfires this weekend to advance to the last 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins play USC at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at Drake Stadium.

Quotable:

"This is the NCAA Tournament and nothing is going to be easy and nothing is going to be handed to you," said UCLA head coach Jillian Ellis. "To be able to win and not play as well as we can play - we have to take that as a positive. Good teams find a way to win. San Diego certainly didn't make it easy for us."

Notable:
*UCLA outshot San Diego 20-9 on the night.
*The Bruins have allowed goals in just four of their 22 games this season.
*It is the fourth season in a row that UCLA has reached the 20-win mark, and the Bruins' 10th straight appearance in the round of 16.
*The Bruins defeated the Trojans 2-1 earlier this season.

U.S. Soccer has named its annual award finalists. Voting begins today here.

Mexico's Burden
With the head of the Mexican Football Federation in L.A. Monday, it seemed like a good time to look at the continuing struggles of that nation ahead of its final first round World Cup qualifying game for today's column.

As always, it's hard to fit everything into a column.

Here's a few bonus quotes from Lalas (and while he declined to speak in detail about his Galaxy experience until January - presumably he's still under some form of contractual obligation - you can read between the lines with some of his quotes).

On the new environment Eriksson finds himself in, despite his track record:

*"I have some experience with making a big splash in terms of who you sign, but ultimately it's in the results. Just because somebody has experience doesn't mean that translates into success. Just because somebody has made a name for themselves some place else doesn't mean it translates into coming into some place else.

He's a great coach and he thinks about things in a certain way, but he has his work cut out for him here in CONCACAF and I think he's recognizing some of the challenges."

*On where Mexico lags the U.S. and other nations:

"I don't think they have enough players who are playing around the world and I don't think they encourage enough players to come into the Mexican league to augment what they have because it is a great league and it is at times wonderfully entertaining.

"Certainly if you look at the Mexican futbol league compared to MLS they have a much greater history and much more to build on, but it's not translating into results."

*On what the U.S.has done right in comparison to Mexico:

"We've been open-minded in terms of the different types of coaches and different types of philosophies. We've encouraged players to play overseas and use that experience in terms of bringing them back.

"We've also recognized that maybe the physical advantage that Americans enjoyed for a while and used to their advantage wasn't enough - the tactical part of it had to be sound also. We also got more wily and less naive in our approach on and off the field in that we understand how to manage games, we understand the difference in playing a home and away game.

"We've thrown a lot of money and a lot of resources into developing our younger players and our national team. It's paid off."

Donovan in Germany
In the least surprising news of the day, the Galaxy's Landon Donovan will train with Juergen Klinsmann's Bayern Munich for 10 days to "stay fit." Yeah, sure.

Of course, Donovan is looking to play overseas, Klinsmann has had close ties with the Galaxy in the past and has said he's in search of a new striker when the January transfer window opens. Goodbye and good luck, Landon.

MLS Awards
Former Galaxy Coach and long-time Sigi Schmid was not surprisingly named MLS Coach of the Year today after leading his Columbus Crew to first in MLS during the regular season.

Here's a look at Schmid's career by the numbers, courtesy of the Crew:

*17 - His number of playoff wins is the best in MLS.

*57 - The Crew's point total this season was the best in club history.

*17 - The Crew's win total this season was the best in club history.

Lalas, who will continue as MLS analyst for Thursday's Crew-Fire playoff game and for MLS Cup, said Columbus is his pick to win the title:

"I am nothing if not a believer in karma and that you are rewarded for your efforts over a period of time. It doesn't always work like that in MLS and in fact we almost discourage that, but a team like Columbus that has played consistently well, that has given their fans an entertaining and ultimately successful product from the beginning of the season - that that will bear out."

Huck's Trucks
Finally, San Jose's Darren Huckerby was named MLS Newcomer of the Year today after scoring six goals and assisting on four others in just 14 games after joining the Earthquakes in mid-season.

I'll be back later in the day with the Honda Player of the Year winner and more.

I cast my vote against the current MLS playoff system.

And I'm not the only one to address this issue at the ballot box.

Pasadena City College product Yura Movsisyan was voted MLS Player of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal in the final minute of regulation in Real Salt Lake's Western Conference semifinal against Chivas USA.

Chicago's Jon Busch was voted MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

Updated:
And how will David Beckham vote on staying with the Galaxy and MLS in 2009?.

Next for Becks: the bright lights of MilanPhoto by Scott Varley

The dimming of the star power at the Galaxy is the subject of today's column. It's a good thing.

David Beckham and Landon Donovan have already left the building judging by their recent comments:

"I'm ready to take that step (of going to Europe) and I want to," Donovan said Sunday. "Competitively I have that itch and I want to do it and I'll make that very clear to people."

And you don't think Becks needs to play in the off-season? Rest is not what he needs. Minutes on the field are. Or his immobility on the field the Galaxy have seen on several occasions this season will be exacerbated. Beckham was hampered by a quad injury Sunday and one reporter observed he looked like he was running on a treadmill:

"It's just my age, maybe," he said only half joking.

By the way, in the wake of Beckham's first full MLS season, I asked him Sunday about some of his impressions of players and teams so far:

*Toughest opponent: - None (he didn't want to single anyone out, perhaps knowing anyone he didn't name might want to make more of an, er, impression on him next time out).

*Best team to play against - "Every time we play against Chivas, for me it's a tough game. I always enjoy that game. It's obviously a huge rivalry, but that's the game I personally enjoy playing in."

*Best opposing player in MLS - "One of the best players in this league is (New York's Juan Pablo) Angel. He's obviously played in top flight football and you can see the quality of the player and how hard he works. He's older now, but still a threat to many teams."

And finally:

*The Houston Dynamo reserves (9-1-2) captured the MLS Reserve Division title Sunday with a 3-0 win over the Chivas USA reserves (4-5-3) at Home Depot Center, claiming a $20,000 first prize. Roberto Nurse was the Chivas USA leading goalscorer with four goals and one assist in six games.

*The Galaxy reserves (1-8-3) finished their season with a 2-0 loss Sunday to their FC Dallas counterparts at the HDC.

*The Chivas USA Under-18 team (5-1) won 5-2 over the San Diego Surf on Saturday keeping them in first place in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy's SoCal Division. Polo Morales had his second hat-trick of the season, and Victor Sanchez, playing his first full game of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy season, added two more.

*The Galaxy Under-18 team (2-4) lost 3-2 to Nomads FC at the HDC.

*The Chivas USA Under-16 team fell 2-1 to the Surf on Saturday. The loss dropped the U-16's to third in their division with a 2-3-1 record (W-L-T).

*The Galaxy Under-16 team (5-1) beat Nomads 1-0 at the HDC and lead the SoCal Division.

The Galaxy's obituary.

The two charts above show the Galaxy's record in the Sigi Schmid (bottom) and post Sigi Schmid era in comparison with other MLS teams that played all those seasons (I excluded expansion teams and used the old Earthquakes' final season combined with the Dynamo's record since it was essentially the same team with a new name slapped on in the upper chart).

Graphic evidence of the Galaxy's decline since Schmid left.

And thanks to KLF for technical assistance with the spreadsheet.

Clarification: The Galaxy "elevated Doug Hamilton to president and general manager" Jan. 1, 2004; he was, of course, appointed vice president and general manager Jan. 14, 2002. So he had been eight months on the job as president when he fired Sigi.

The Mexican-American equation.

Two team's, one season, different directions.

Passion, guts, determination - Chivas USA have embraced those qualities, the Galaxy have not. For the most part, that's the difference between the two franchises this season.

Reading between the lines, Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena appears to agree:

"This is not a project were looking at in the short term, but building this team up over the next couple of years and getting the right kind of characters on the field and by that I mean in terms of their personalities, their competitiveness and their ability. We've got to get the right balance and the right combination of players. Obviously, this year we're going to evaluate what we have and how we can make it better."

Here's Arena on one of the team's major weaknesses that surfaced yet again in Chicago:

"Between (central defenders) Sean (Franklin) and Troy (Roberts) and our goalkeeper (Josh Wicks) in that game ... I bet there's not 50 league starts in there in those three positions - right down the heart of your team and that's obviously an issue."

In a nation of immigrants, the UEFA Champions League has carved a loyal niche among soccer fans and now the CONCACAF version joins the party. Set that TiVo.

Meanwhile, barely in time for today's Women's Professional Soccer U.S. National Team draft, the still as yet unnamed L.A. entry has hired a coach after all.

While speculation continues over the Galaxy's reported interest in former EPL star Nolberto Solano (see previous post), another rumor has resurfaced: the future of Landon Donovan.

The source of this one was two-fold.

Donovan was quoted by England's Sky Sports as saying:

"The older I get and the more I play, the more I'm yearning for that highest level I can play at. I think the Premiership would be the best place to play.''

The Web site Yanks Abroad further stirred the pot when it quoted Donovan's agent Richard Motzkin as saying "sure," Donovan would consider a move overseas by Aug. 31, providing an actual date that lends a sense of urgency to the story.

A couple of observations.

First that quote by Donovan is not new. I've heard him say pretty much the same thing annually since he returned from his aborted stint in Germany.

Donovan loves Southern California. Still, if any club outside Germany dangled a big enough contract at him (his MLS paycheck is relatively modest by EPL standards) you can bet he would consider it.

The second report is more notable for what it doesn't say than what it says. The Yanks Abroad report is technically correct, but they didn't need to run to Motzkin to get the Aug. 31 date.

Why?

That's when the European transfer window closes so Donovan would have to get traded by then or wait until the New Year.

So where does that leave us (and Donovan)?

Probably in exactly the same place as last week. Or last month. Or last year.

And remember, if MLS sold Jozy Altidore for $10 million as rumored, how much would they demand for Donovan?

That said Donovan will certainly be in the shop window at Thursday's MLS All-Star Game (live at 4 p.m. on ESPN).

ESPN observed today that:

"ESPN International will provide live coverage of the match in 87 countries and territories reaching more than 17 million television homes. Tape-delayed presentation of the 2008 Pepsi MLS All-Star Game will also be distributed in 19 countries and territories reaching over 22 million homes.

While we're talking numbers, the one-year anniversary of David Beckham's arrival in the U.S. has prompted a small tsunami of stories summing up his effect on the game here.

Perhaps the best though is one the fewest number of people have seen because it appeared in the subscription-only trade magazine the SportsBusiness Journal.

So for those of you who haven't (and can't) see the story here are the salient stats from it:
*"Television viewership on ESPN2 rose 17 percent to an average of 289,000 viewers over 15 matches in 2008, compared with 246,000 viewers over 13 matches in 2007. Ratings remained flat at a 0.2 cable rating."

*To put that in context the magazine observed "ESPN2 drew stronger ratings for its (midday) Euro 2008 coverage. ... Those games averaged a 0.6 cable rating and 673,000 viewers."

*"Average attendance for MLS over the first half of the season -- which will be Beckham's first complete season with the league -- increased 8.8 percent to reach a 12-year high of 16,378."

(To put that in perspective, those figures are skewed because of the massive 40,000-plus crowds Beckham draws in places like New York.

*"Beckham's Galaxy led the league in average attendance with 22,586 fans through 10 home games at midseason this year. Only three other teams -- Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC and D.C. United -- averaged more than 15,000 fans a game."

Returning to the subject of the MLS All-Star Game, after an altercation between West Ham United and Columbus Crew fans at a recent friendly between the two teams authorities will closely monitor the contingent of English fans arriving in Canada for Thursday's game.

If you read my rant Tuesday on the All-Star game (be sure and check out the comments at the end of the piece) you know how feel about it. I'm not the only one who questions its value.

Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers didn't sound too broken up about missing the game. But then, he's going to the Olympics.

Finally, former Los Angeles Times Chivas USA beat writer Jaime Cárdenas has bid an eloquent farewell to the newspaper (and possibly sports journalism).

The opening round of World Cup qualifying last weekend prompted me to take a look at the differences between the U.S. and Mexico given the disparate results the two nations achieved.

Read my weekly column here.

The U.S. Women's National Team, playing overnight in South Korea, notched its second successive victory at the Peace Cup with a 1-0 win over Brazil. USC striker Amy Rodriguez scored the winner just before half time. It was the first game between the two nations since the U.S. lost to Brazil 4-0 at last year's World Cup.

Next up for the U.S. in its final group game in the tournamant: Italy.

Soccer fans will be inviting ESPN's soccer analyst Tommy Smyth into their homes beginning Saturday when Euro 2008 begins so it seemed appropriate to chat with him for today's column in the Daily News, Daily Breeze and Long Beach Press-Telegram..

The colorful Smyth will work with usual booth partner Derek Rae (ESPN have also signed former Scottish pro Andy Gray up as an analyst for the month-long competition, by the way).

I'll have more on Euro 2008 throughout the week including the views of some locals like longtime South Bay resident and now Columbus Crew coach Sigi Schmid.

*In other news, the Galaxy's Landon Donovan pulled out of the U.S. friendly against Spain (as did West Ham's Jonathan Spector, by the way) and is listed as questionable for this weekend's game against the Rapids.

*Chivas USA learned its third and final SuperLiga opponent Sunday when Santos Laguna captured Mexico's Clausura championship with a 3-2 aggregate win over Cruz Azul. Chivas USA also plays Pachuca and the New England Revolution.

*UCLA goalkeeper Val Henderson and midfielder Tina DiMartino have been called into the U.S. Under-23 camp that opens Thursday at Home Depot Center. The team will play scrimmages against the W-League's Ventura County Fusion on June 9 and the Pali Blues on June 11.

I caught up with former Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid in today's column.

Is a Crew-Galaxy MLS final in Carson possible, perhaps?

For today's column I looked at the imploding Chivas USA defense and the potential consequences for their season.

Meanwhile, David Beckham and the Galaxy arrived in Edmonton Monday for tonight's extraneous game against the Whitecaps where more than 30,000 tickets have been sold.

Longtime injury victim Ante Jazic may return to action tonight for the Galaxy.

Landon Donovan will apparently be absent though, while Canadians are lamenting Beckham's likely non-appearance at the game against FC Toronto at month's end.

Incidentally, the game is televised beginning at 6 p.m. locally on Channel 22.