First Becks and now Chelsea.
Say what you will about the original team out here on Planet LA, but they do know how to make a splash, don't they?
We soccer fans out here are about to get a little spoiled, especially for a non-World Cup, non-European Championship summer.
Because the MLS season, Superliga, Gold Cup and Copa America aren't going to be enough, we now have the return of the World Series of Football.
This is great, and we here on the Planet have it all to ourselves. Circle the dates: July 17 and 21 for the four-team event featuring the Galaxy, Chelsea, Tigres from Mexico and Suwon Bluewings from the South Korean K-League.
Two doubleheaders, with the Galaxy playing both Chelsea and Tigres. Nice.
And the rumor mill has already begun: Will Galaxy-Chelsea be the debut of a certain English midfielder?
I gotta say it: in the early years of MLS, it seemed like a very East Coast-centric league in many respects.
But these days with what is going on with the Galaxy and with a legendary club like Chivas putting a team out here - it's getting harder and harder not to call Planet LA the soccer capital of the U.S. of A.
THE NEWS: While the Chelsea-Galaxy news began the column this week, it is far from the most exciting piece of information I have heard this week. Because there is a piece of gossip floating around that may be the greatest one I have ever heard in MLS. Seriously.
TCS SAYS: How about the rumors, I don't care if they are remotely true or where they came from, that none other than Cuauhtemoc Blanco could possibly, potentially, maybe end up playing for the Chicago Fire.
Can this offseason be any more fun?
I honestly haven't been this excited since I saw the actor who played Long Duk Dong in "Sixteen Candles" shopping in Target a few weeks back.
Now, again, I have zero inside scoop on this; I have only read what you have. But you probably weren't openly drooling at the time like I was.
I mean, c'mon, taking one of my least favorite players in the world and putting it one of my least favorite teams in the world?
The only thing that would top this would be if MLS mandated the Fire change their jerseys to the same green as the Mexican national team.
Of course, that wouldn't be fair, because then the Fire would be guaranteed to lose every match on MLS soil by the scoreline of 2-0.
Anyway, how great would it be for a nasty player like Blanco to join the Fire, which is the Rosie O'Donnell of MLS teams from a likeability standpoint?
I guess it does make sense in one regard: the fine people of Chicago love to eat their sausages, so much so that many of them tend to get large enough that their necks slowly disappear.
Perfect! We haven't seen Blanco's neck since ... well, ever.
OK, I know I am being a little harsh, so I will back off for a second and say that in all candor, I would absolutely love to see a player like Blanco in the league.
Love him or hate him, he would be a great addition to MLS. He is the exciting and polarizing kind of player - Mexican or otherwise - that I would gladly pay to see play.
And I'd pay even more to see the first time he gets two-footed for his troubles.
THE NEWS: Do you like the reality shows kids?
TCS SAYS: While I still watch American Idol (Chris Richardson is my early pick) and am obviously dying to see NBC's Posh Beckham series this summer, I'll be tuning into The Apprentice for the first time in years Sunday.
The big competition in this Sunday's episode was actually filmed at a Galaxy game last year, when two teams of Donald Trump's minions staged competing halftime shows.
I'll be interested to hear the audio, because I happened to be there for that game, and let's just say the crowd in attendance was not exactly showering the two halftime shows with adoration. Neither the Donald nor his hair had to be happy with the performance by his band of MBA-toting contestants. Then again, anybody can get an MBA. Trust me.
So if you hear a lot of cheering from the Home Depot Center crowd Sunday night, well then you know why many people have a tough time calling these programs "reality" shows!
FLICK-ONS:
But, I made it to the finish line, after which I immediately called a press conference and retired from marathons.
From now on, I go back to the kind of marathons this cruel joke of a body is built for: back-to-back-to-back-to-back episodes of Hogan Knows Best or some other crappy show that is long enough that I can order out to have fried food delivered at least twice.
Now that is a marathon worth participating in.
During the season, The Clean Sheet runs each week on MLSnet. Views and opinions expressed in this column views and opinions are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com. Send any questions and comments to tcsresponses@yahoo.com
