Prime Time!! (for the West Coast only)

Two items of note to pass along this morning:

First, MLS Primetime is back tonight with what promises to be a very entertaining match between Chivas USA and DC United. Both teams are playing well at the moment, and both play an attractive style. The game is in CA, so will be aired a little late – 10:30 EST, after the two college football games on tap for tonight. The NFL also kicks off this evening, so lots of competition for MLS, and the ratings should reflect that. But, really, I’d recommend this game to someone trying to get an idea of what the league is all about. (Now watch them go lay an egg!) Cuban refugee Maykel Galindo (watch for future discussion about whether the US MNT can claim him) has been superb for Chivas, and could put on a show with his strike-partner Ante Razov. Same can be said for DC’s similar tandem of Jaime Moreno and Luciano Emilio. I, for one (and hopefully not the only one), will be watching.

Second, say what you want about David Beckham, but it’s hard not to like the guy. Adding support to that idea was a very nice article on Sunday in the Observer Sport Monthly (sister paper of the Guardian). The writer, Tom Watt (ghost-writer for Becks’s autobiography) has some nice things to say about the quality of the play in the MLS. He watched (with Beckham) LA beat Pachuca in the earlier rounds of the Super Liga. Too bad he didn’t see the Super Liga final. Becks on MLS: “The standard is nowhere near as low as people have been saying it is. For a start, you have to be incredibly fit and physically strong to play here: America's a country, after all, that produces some of the best athletes in the world.”

But the best part of the article is Beckham discussing his experiences at the Dallas Cup while a youth player for Essex. Worth the read, and see if you don’t like this guy a little more after reading it. If you don’t, well, I’ll buy you a beer and we can discuss.