First things first: the Galaxy's Alecko Eskandarian is on Drew Carey's "The Price is Right at 10 a.m. on CBS (sorry for the late notice).

In other momentous MLS Cup related news:

*Seattle introduces - the Galaxy dog.

*Former Galaxy midfielder Ned Grabavoy is a hero in Salt Lake City after scoring the PK that put them through to the final - but may not play Sunday against his former team.

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Donovan's goal came in the Aug. 8 game against New England and was one of 12 he scored during the regular season.

His stunning left-footed volley beat out an Alecko Eskandarian effort and eight other finalists. It's the first time a Donovan goal has received the award.

Compare the 10 best strikes (as voted by fans) here:

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The mix of young and old make the Galaxy a tough team to figure out for the expansion draft. (Getty Images)

We are quickly working our way through the 15 MLS clubs as we gear up for next week's expansion draft. The new kids on the block, the Philadelphia Union will get to select 10 players from the list of unprotected players that each club will have to submit by next Monday.

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Feel the passion!

Thanks to the dozens of you who entered the first ticket contest with prizes courtesy of the Galaxy.

The winners: Mike Crandall of Glendora and Kristinne Uy of Rosemead, who win a pair of tickets each to Sunday's big game.

They correctly answered the question: who is the only player to score for both the Galaxy and Chivas USA this season?

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Eskandarian, Landon, and Eddie Lewis are each nominated for Goal of the Year.

Ricketts and Josh Saunders are each nominated for Save of the Year.

Take a look and rock the vote on this election day.

You can vote for Goal of the Year here.

You can vote for Save of the Year here.

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Welcome back to the playoffs!

It has been three long and, to be blunt, disastrous years since the last time the Galaxy played post-season futbol. That year they peaked at the right time after basically backing in to the playoffs and ended up taking the MLS Cup from New England on Pando Ramirez's only goal of the season.

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Stealing on old bit from the late Big O and Dukes Show, we will spend the next month or so playing "River or Life" with members of the DC United organization, starting with the front office, and then moving on to the players, by position. In an offseason that is bound to include multitudes of changes throughout the club, this will be a great way to show the team who we the fans want to see return next year. Click to continue reading...

U.S. Men's National Team forward Charlie Davies is in serious but stable condition at Washington Hospital Center MedStar Unit after a car accident early Tuesday morning.

A 22-year old woman, identified as Ashley J. Roberta of Phoenix, Md., was fatally injured in the crash and died on the scene.

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Eric Brunner trade turned into a solid deal for Columbus. (Getty Images)

Since we are nearly done with the 2009 regular season I figured it was high time we started looking back at the best deals that were made that shaped this season into what it has become. I say going into every year that there will pretty much be a trade that shakes up things a bit when it happens and really helps push a club towards the playoffs instead of an early start to winter.

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Nationally televised on ESPN2: check.

Playoff implications on the line since the Galaxy can clinch their first playoff berth in four years with a win over the Chicago Fire on Friday night and a D.C. United loss to Chivas USA Saturday: check.

David Beckham returning from what was initially dismissed as a 50-50, long-standing Achilles tendon issue: Maybe not.

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Luis Angel Landin is one of the new faces in MLS. (Getty Images)

I guess you could really say its just been a rather slow week in terms of news. Sure rosters were finalized on Tuesday night for the rest of the year and the league announced their big break next summer but other than that it's been rather calm in Major League Soccer this week.

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A cool and clear night at Home Depot Center, a welcome relief after the humidity and smoke of recent weeks.

The Galaxy have a chance to (temporarily at least) overhaul Houston for the Western Conference lead coming into the game.

The omens are good: the Galaxy have one loss in their last 10 games, haven't conceded a goal in 216 minutes and play a Dallas team that has just one road win all season.

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Alecko Eskandarian's dismal injury-plagued season is all but over with the Galaxy conceding to the inevitable and placing the concussion-prone striker on the disabled list for the final six regular season games.

The former Chivas USA frontman can return for the playoffs, but you've got to wonder if Eskandarian's career is reaching a conclusion, too.

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And those words are: That's what I'm talking about!

Last week I was all about "No More Ties!", not because i have a vendetta against neckwear (and a penchant for lame puns), but because winning teams know how to scratch out wins from adverse conditions at crunch time. The frustrating game in DC was the catalyst, though it was the third game in a week played in the aftermath of a hurricane at the end of August in DC's home stadium.

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The (Torrance) Daily Breeze, LA Daily News and other sisters newspapers in Southern California have a nice-looking graphic preview of today's game in the print editions; sadly that does not translate to the Web.

So here's what you need to know:

*I set the stage earlier in the week with this column.

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So I was browsing through my Twitter, and as there's a lot of Football on this weekend, all the pros are tweeting their hearts out. Here's just a little view of what they're getting up to. I'll start with Alecko Eskandarian, the LA Galaxy forward. alecko11Headed to the HDC to watch the WPS Final, LA vs NJ. Click to continue reading...

First-choice goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts needed 10 stitches to close a gash on his eye brow suffered in a 85th-minute clash in the comfortable win Wednesday against the Chicago Fire. Ricketts was removed and replaced by Josh Saunders.

Club officials said they'll know more about Ricketts' status after a scheduled training session in D.

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Chicago Fire 0 Galaxy 2
The Galaxy's Mike Magee is denied by Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch. (AP Photo).

Games like these can change the direction of a season.

The Galaxy (8-4-10) got better as the game wore on, the 9-5-8 Fire worse at a sold out Toyota Park.

The result was a Galaxy away victory; they're now second in the Western Conference although Seattle can retake the automatic playoff spot with a win Thursday over New England.

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The Chicago Fire take on the Los Angeles Galaxy tonight at Toyota Park. No David Beckham, but LA still does have a strong road record while the Fire don't have the best home numbers.

I'll be watching so I decided to do a running commentary. Whether you are watching, or stuck somewhere you can't watch, please feel free to follow along here.

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The 7-4-10 Galaxy play the 9-4-8 Fire in Chicago live on ESPN2 at 6 p.m.

A Galaxy win would vault them over recent conquerors the Sounders for second place in the Western Conference; a Fire victory would see them pull within a point of Eastern Conference leaders Columbus (who incidentally beat the Puerto Rican Islanders 2-0 in the CONCACAF Champions League last night, winning on a goal by Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers).

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Saw this over at Goff's site.
For a second I couldn't place which team he was one. You know where Alecko Eskandarian has been just in the last four season?
D.C. United (2006), Toronto FC (2007), Real Salt Lake (2007), Chivas USA (2008-09) and L.A. Galaxy (2009).
Dang. Click to continue reading...

Photo by C.J. Guntner

And those words are: Getting there.

In the normal MLS scheme of things I wouldn't be so cautious about a win on the road over the New England Revolution, but the fact is that if not for the Red Bulls' epic FAIL of a season, New England's struggles would be much bigger news.

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It's just after 6:20 p.m. here at the Rose Bowl and the crowd is beginning to filter in.

I took a ride over here on the free shuttle from Old Town and it was incredibly fast and easy; parking spots were available within just a couple of blocks for all of $5, so I recommend that option for those of you still planning to head to the game (shuttle details are in this morning's post - click on arrive early!

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"It's Called Football" is a Canadian podcast out of Toronto.

I've been on the show three times and despite the feeling I get more incomprehensible every time they keep asking me back.

This is their MLS mid-season show and I'm on babbling about Alecko Eskandarian, the Galaxy and David Beckham.

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Image by Victor Decolongon of Getty Images

And those words are: Should've taken three.

I can't remember the last time my frustration from a Los Angeles Galaxy performance was based on the fact that they clearly outplayed their opponent for an entire game, but could not deliver the death blow.

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Chicago's Patrick Nyarko and Seattle's Osvaldo Alonso battle again this weekend. (Getty Images)

We steam roll into another weekend of soccer here starting with one game tonight along with a full slate of games tomorrow. Week 19 is the final week before the league's All-Star break next week.

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An international glare briefly dwelled on Major League Soccer in Week 18. Former England captain David Beckham made his LA Galaxy return against New York Red Bulls and the Galaxy raced into a 3-0 lead sparked by stunning strikes by Alecko Eskandarian and Landon Donovan, Beckham's most high-profile critic.

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It seems like an age ago, but we can only begin this weekend's roundup at Giants Stadium last Thursday, where David Beckham made his second Major League Soccer bow for LA Galaxy. In a relatively uneventful game for Beckham (he saved that for the friendly against AC Milan, during which he became involved in an angry confrontation with LA's Riot Squad supporters), the Galaxy swept aside New York Red Bulls, piling the pressure on Juan Carlos Osorio with a 3-1 win. Click to continue reading...

Two saweet goals from Thursday Red Bulls game. Too bad Lewis wasn't nominated as well, but I suspect it's in the small print that they can't nominate three players from the same team.

So take another look and rock the vote here. Voting closes tomorrow afternoon, so click over and vote quickly.

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Just as promised, even if it is a day behind normal schedule here. Plenty of solid goals this past week in Major League Soccer. I particularly love some of the combinations in plays like the Columbus game between Jason Garey and Steven Lenhart.

By the way, what was with Rob Stone's Max Bretos call on the DeRo goal?

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Picture by Saed Hindash from the Star Ledger

And those words are: Don't get cocky.

That's 4 wins in a row for the Galaxy, which is not the longest win streak since 2006. (The dismal 2007 season featured a 5 game winning streak from September through October.) All of a sudden the team is tied for third in the West and sitting pretty in a playoff spot (granted it has still played a game more than most of the West) and it is surging rather than falling.

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TEAM USA GOLD CUP
Up Next - Quarterfinal Match:
-Sat Jul 18
USA v Panama - 7pm Central on FSC
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field - Philadelphia PA
dN
The Philadelphia Inquirer writes about the type of players on the current USA team.
dN
John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News says the USA team is building depth. Click to continue reading...

                                Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Chicago Fire is considered one of the deepest teams in Major League Soccer and will now have that depth tested as the Easter Conference power is forced to deal with the loss of star striker Brian McBride.

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                                Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Chicago Fire is considered one of the deepest teams in Major League Soccer and will now have that depth tested as the Easter Conference power is forced to deal with the loss of star striker Brian McBride.

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When Chivas USA was shopping around Alecko Eskandarian last month there were plenty of teams wary of taking a chance on an injury-prone player earning a six-figure salary. The Los Angeles Galaxy didn't worry so much, choosing instead to take a chance on a proven MLS goal-scorer.

Eskandarian has repaid that faith pretty quickly, scoring two goals in three matches since joining the Galaxy.

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