The Sin: Pride is often called the "ultimate sin" because it leads to so many of the other sins. According to Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goeth before destruction". It's true, too. I define "pride" as the unwillingness to view one's own abilities objectively, or to put it bluntly insincere self-respect.

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Lots of stuff for Wolff again this week, who is having a career year in terms of goals and minutes played.
Josh Wolff's goal was his 11th of the season, a career high in MLS play for Wolff.
Wolff's goal was his 73rd in MLS play in his career, tying him with Edson Buddle for 13th all time. Click to continue reading...

Haminu Dramani catches Reyna napping on the ball
(2006 World Cup)

Buried deep in the mountain of sports news on college football, NFL, and the baseball playoffs in the NY Times, Jere Longman writes about the US qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. It was not exactly on top of the sports news in the major broadcasting networks either.

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Dear DC United,
I thought you weren't supposed to handle balls in the penalty area HA HA HA HA OH GOD THE COMEDY it burns
Boy, I'm really glad you guys got a chance to do that picture. Remember when Brian McBride and Cobi Jones did the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue? Remember those fashion shoots the Nats did - boy, I sure hope they do another one next summer! Click to continue reading...

Much of this is old news, but I wanted to share just in case you missed it.

Cobi Jones marries his long time girlfriend.

Day on the Links charity golf tournament. Chris Klein all but accuses Eddie Lewis' group of cheating.

Mauricio Cienfuegos "interning" with Sigi Schmidt in Seattle.

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Josh Wolff's goal was his 10th in league play, tying a career high.
It was also Wolff's 82nd in all competitions, tying him with Cobi Jones for 14th on that list.
Wolff's goal was his 40th in league play for the Wizards, breaking a tie with Chris Klein for second on that list.
It was also Wolff's 43rd in all competitions for KC, tying him with Chris Klein for 3rd on that list. Click to continue reading...

Funny how when you score all these stats come up. Anyways, TONS of stats from last night's game, plenty of them have to do with Josh Wolff and his performance.
Josh Wolff's second goal last night, was the Wizards 600th in league play. KC is the 7th MLS team to hit that mark. Wolff also scored the team's 400th goal back in 2005 against Colorado. Click to continue reading...

 I was always find the players on the end of the bench to be as fascinating as the players on the pitch.  Who knows? You might be looking at the club's next rising star.Â

Robbie Findley sure hopes so.                      Â

If you're an MLS fan then Robbie Findley probably needs no introduction.

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A win! Kansas City snapped the winless streak and the scoreless streak on their way to a 4-2 victory over the Revs at Gillette. It was our first four-goal game since May 26 of 2007. That also took place here at Gillette. Lots of fun notables tonight to read through. I'm sure I also missed some. Mike will likely fill us in on more tomorrow in his Sunday-after stats series. Click to continue reading...

Seguimos recuperando protagonistas que hacen del fútbol lo que es hoy en día. Hoy le toca a un jugador que sin ser determinante, sí que puede ser tomado como aquellos a los que denominamos "que hacen equipo" por el ejemplo de trabajo en el campo y su compañerismo en el vestuario. El centrocampista norteamericano Cobi N'Gai Jones. Click to continue reading...

As Landon Donovan's national team career ticks on, previous records continue to fall. With the all-time goal scoring title firmly his, a cap on Saturday night will give him the overall lead in World Cup qualifiers with 32.

At the moment Donovan is currently tied with Kasey Keller, Eddie Pope, and Claudio Reyna at 31 qualifying appearances and barring unforeseen circumstances will make the record his own on Saturday night in Sandy, Utah.

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The trivia question was prompted by an item in the Chivas USA game notes for the July SuperClasico I scoured Monday as I researched today's column.

Chivas USA claims nine players on its roster who were either born or grew up in Southern California:
Jonathan Bornstein (who was born in Torrance and grew up in Los Alamitos)
Chukwudi Chijindu (Fontana)
Jorge Flores (Anaheim)
Dan Kennedy (Yorba Linda)
Sacha Kljestan (Huntington Beach)
Gerson Mayen (Los Angeles)
Ante Razov (Los Angeles)
Sasha Victorine (Corona)
Cesar Zamora (Sylmar)

Three of these players - Bornstein, Razov, Victorine - played college soccer at UCLA, while Dan Kennedy played at UC Santa Barbara.

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The Colorado Rapids will celebrate the newest addition to their Gallery of Honor during halftime of the team's match Aug. 30 against the Houston Dynamo.

Former Rapids captain John Spencer will have his name and number hung permanently inside Dick's Sporting Goods Park, becoming the fourth player in the Gallery of Honor.

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U.S. SQUAD OVERVIEW: Cobi Jones is considered one of the best U.S. midfielders ever and currently still holds the record for most U.S. national team appearances with 165 caps during the span of his international career (which ended in 2004) . Jones served as a U.

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Celestine Babayaro in a rare appearance with the LA Galaxy at an Adidas store in Seoul, South Korea.
With the release today of Grant Wahl's text "The Beckham Experiment" we continue to post interesting, or funny excerpts likely overshadowed in the whole Beckham vs Donovan brouhaha.
One of the more fascinating mini plots of the whole Beckham to LA Galaxy saga was one that occurred last off season when Newcastle man Celestine Babyaro was brought in to bolster the Galaxy right side. Click to continue reading...

AP Photo

Or so they said after David Beckham's first official Galaxy training session Monday morning since his return from Europe.

"It's over," said David Beckham, who said he had sat down with Donovan and Coach Bruce Arena to hash things out. Donovan, the only Galaxy (or Chivas USA) player named to the MLS All-Star team today for the July 29 game against Everton, had questioned Beckham's commitment and leadership in the forthcoming book "The Beckham Experiment.

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With all respect to DaMarcus Beasley's spell at PSV, Claudio Reyna at Rangers and, erm, Cobi Jones at Coventry City, Oguchi Onyewu signing for Milan is arguably the most high profile move by an American soccer player, ever. I'm not counting Tim Howard's move to Man Utd, because Howard is a goalkeeper and the world already [. Click to continue reading...

For the full pre-game press notes, click here
Some highlights:

• Jonathan Spector and Jay DeMerit have stepped in to start and play 90 minutes in three straight games for a total of 270 minutes each. For Spector, that's more minutes than he played for the U.S. from June 13, 2007, until the start of the Confederations Cup, and for DeMerit that's more minutes than he played from June 29, 2007, until facing Italy on June 15.

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Being a little under the weather, I only have a little bit of the pre-game portion ready of the LA Galaxy Alumni vs MLS Personalities match. As for the match itself, I actually have a large portion of it on video, but will be putting together some of the highlights in the coming days for those of you wanting to see Mauricio Cienfugeos in action, Cobi Jones scoring, and Paul Caligiuri slotting a ball home. Click to continue reading...

Most of us who follow sports have a sort of mental photo album, kind of like a file folder of images which for one reason or another ended up indelibly etched in our minds.
Sometimes the image is just what you'd expect: a snapshot of joy from a signal victory of some kind, or a favorite player on a favorite team scoring a crucial goal. Click to continue reading...

In terms of US National Team history very few days have matched yesterday in terms of pure drama. Just three days after Team USA equaled its worst ever loss to Brazil and six days after the national teams worst loss to Italy since 1934, the US found itself in a position to clinch passage to the semifinals of the Confederations Cup.

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Next blogging: Galaxy-Real Salt Lake 7:30 p.m. at Home Depot Center (delayed until 8:30 p.m. on Prime).

An alumni game precedes it at 5 p.m. featuring the likes of Cobi Jones, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Robin Fraser, Dan Calichman and Alexi Lalas.

The first 7,500 fans receive a soccer ball, just in case you need added motivation to get there early.

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LA Galaxy legend Cobi Jones, Fox Sports en Español and HOLA will host an exciting soccer clinic in Los Angeles, aimed at empowering inner-city youth to advance their lives by improving their grades and preparing for college. Forty young people from the Rampart District will get the chance to attend a soccer clinic hosted by Cobi Jones and get pointers to enhance their soccer skills.

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For the second time this season, forward Josh Wolff has been named MLS Player of the Week following an impressive two-goal performance. Wolff is the first player to capture a pair of Player of the Week honors this season and now has seven for his career. That total ties him for 6th all-time in MLS in number of POW awards. Click to continue reading...

Los Angeles Galaxy Founded: 1995 Home Stadium: The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA Record Since 2000: 105-102-63 All Time Scorer in MLS: Cobi Jones (70) All Time Cups/Shields: 2 MLS Cups, 2 Supporters' Shield, 2 US Open Cups, 1 CONCACAF Champions Cup 2008 Record: 8-13-9, 33 pts, 7th in Western Conference 2008 Leading Scorer: Landon Donovan (20) 2008 Keeper: Steve Cronin (2. Click to continue reading...

I've always had a weird interest in uniform numbers, I don't know why. Maybe because it's the only part of the kit that's somewhat personalized (aside from their name). It makes you wonder why a player would choose a particular number. Like why does Salt Lake's Clint Mathis wear 84?

Here's a brief statistical analysis of the chosen MLS digits:

- The lowest number not worn by any player is 35.

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Really Stupid Commentary, Part I
So because I'm apparently completely inept with a computer - I keep telling everyone, but they don't believe me - I spent the day unable to log on to BigSoccer.
So instead, in between dealing with the contractor who showed up at the house 1) with an incredibly hot mid-20's female "helper" in the tightest pants I've ever seen in my life and 2) stinking of booze, I looked at some other soccer websites. Click to continue reading...

Happy Easter everyone, here are you Sunday after stats.
Davy Arnaud's goal was his 44th in all competitions, moving him into sole possession of second place on the all time list, past Chris Klein.
Arnaud's goal was the Wizards first against the Seattle Sounders, and the first the Sounders have allowed in their young history. Click to continue reading...

Kansas City earned its first road win of 2008 with a 1-0 shutout of Seattle Sounders FC that included a red card to former US international Kasey Keller and another stunning long-range goal from Davy Arnaud. What a way to deal Seattle its first loss since joining MLS. With the win, Kansas City moved up to 3rd place in the Eastern Conference after all other East teams lost or tied Saturday. Click to continue reading...

It's still barely Sunday, but here are your stats from today's game.
Claudio Lopez scored the Wizards 50th goal against San Jose in league play.
Today was Jack Jewsbury's 100th MLS start
Davy Arnaud's assist today was his 29th in MLS playing, moving him past Mo Johnston on the all time assists chart for the Wizards. Click to continue reading...

Nothing particularly surprising happened in LA yesterday: the now-routine MLS "Hat Trick of the Week" award goes to Conor Casey, who a) scored the second fastest goal in league history, b) had the game winner in the 84th minute and c) was so dedicated to defending that he got a caution for persistent infringement. Click to continue reading...

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First, if you haven't yet done our Weekend Quiz, stop by this post to see if you can identify our players. So who were the international legends in my quiz? Every one of them was guessed by someone among our readership, but all of them were not guessed by any one person. [...] Click to continue reading...

Spent the day columnizing for Tuesday's newspaper about the most popular national team in Southern California - Mexico - which plays an 8 p.m. Wednesday exhibition at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum against Chile.

Fans who want to get an autograph or two from Mexican National Team stars should show up at the adidas Sports Performance store Tuesday on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

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Ah, the joys of AYSO!
Many people in the U.S., including Cobi Jones, first kicked a soccer ball around in AYSO. Besides introducing kids to the joys of soccer, the organization also supports projects to make the world a better place. They're working on a new venture with Barsa these days.
An AYSO worker explained: AYSO is working with FC Barcelona on a Malaria No More campaign. Click to continue reading...