You guys probably remember our defender of the year for 2007, rookie Ty Harden. He left to pursue "charity work" with his father, or so we were told.

Turns out that was a shade of the truth, but there's more to the story. I was surprised to find an ESPN article on him in my inbox.

As has been widely reported in the futbol blogosphere, the Galaxy made a trade today with Chivas USA, sending a conditional 2010 draft pick and allocation money down the hall in return for striker Alecko Eskandarian. To make space on the roster, the team cut holding midfielder Josh Tudela on the day his 2009 contract was to be guaranteed.

Ever wonder what happened to the guys from long ago? Yeah, me too, but that will take a little more digging. Until then, here's the latest on the latest former Galaxy guys.

After training with Seattle Sounders FC in the preseason, Ely Allen is now playing for USL's (Premier Development League) Seattle Wolves FC.

Wanna talk about Thursday's game?

Yeah, me neither.

So instead, I'd like to say that anybody who's in New York on Oct 2 can stop by and see former Galaxy guy Kyle Martino playing in a fundraiser game for a

Green'-Carpet Event and Live Auction to Benefit Nonprofit Grassroot Soccer and its Mission to End HIV/AIDS Using the ‘Power of Soccer'

Other players will include:

WHO: Michael Strahan (frmr NY Giants) ** Anthony LaPaglia ("Without a Trace") ** Brandon Routh ("Superman") ** Jimmy Jean-Louis ("Heroes") ** Gilles Marini ("Sex and the City") ** Annie Churchill ** Skeet Ulrich ("Jericho") ** Donal Logue ("The Tao of Steve") ** Costas Mandylor ("Saw") ** Richard Gough (frmr Scotland National Team) ** Frank LeBoeuf (frmr France National Team) ** Kyle Martino (frmr LA Galaxy) ** Lydia Hearst ** Brian Dunseth (FOX analyst) ** Ethan Zohn (Survivor: Africa) ** Heather O'Reilly (Gold-Medalist, 2008 Olympiad; U.

Now that it is The Day After, I have a few thoughts on what just happened.

Alexi Lalas' firing was at least a year too late and was a laughably inept hire in the first place. Lalas was good at many things, like being a salesman extraordinaire, doing color commentary, creating funny ESPN Sportscenter promotional spots, even defending for the US MNT.

This came from Soccer by Ives this week:

KAREN- What happened to Kyle Martino? In light of all the midfielder injuries, could he help the Red Bulls as an option in central midfield? What would the Red Bulls lose by giving him a shot?

IVES- The last I heard Martino had left the game to work on Wall Street or some other corporate sector in New York.

This came from Soccer by Ives this week:

KAREN- What happened to Kyle Martino? In light of all the midfielder injuries, could he help the Red Bulls as an option in central midfield? What would the Red Bulls lose by giving him a shot?

IVES- The last I heard Martino had left ...

For those who were worrying about how our former Galaxy guy Chris Albright has been faring with the Revs after being unceremoniously dumped by the Galaxy?

Fear not.

While our Galaxy boys have been freezing their heinies off in icy cold Asia, Chris has been lounging in Cancun hot tubs.

According to a recent Andrea Canales article on USSoccerplayers.com, here's a bit more on the Chris Albright deal:

After five years as a key player with the Galaxy, Albright signed a new contract with LA in January, even taking a lower salary. Such a move seemed to make sense, as the team was working to squeeze under the salary cap, but the Galaxy then turned around and traded him to New England.

First, about that Beckham photo yesterday. I tried to add text, but Wordpress kept refusing to post readable text and the photo. The photo was more important. The story, though? Becks was in Sierra Leone for Unicef. (Is he done with Arsenal now? I kind of lost track.

Sorry about the lack of updates this week. I've been having lots of fun helping to cover the African Cup of Nations over at our sister site, World Cup Blog. It's fascinating but a bit time-consuming. I'm watching two games a day most days. Yes, my butt is tired.

Back to normal soon, especially with the preseason starting.