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Time to play a bit of West Coast catch up. Gotta just run right into this one. The take a look at the rewards won, the tweets sent, and what the papers are saying about the LA Galaxy.
At 12:09 Eastern Time it was announced that David Beckham had won MLS Comeback Player of the Year. He, Charlie Davies, and Dominic Oduro were the three finalists. David Beckham tore his achilles in 2010, missed most of the year, then came back in 2011 to have an MVP caliber season.
"I've never been out of the game for such a long time," Beckham said at the time. "It's been a quick recovery and I'm happy with that. I thought I was ready for 90 minutes four months ago but after 10 minutes on the field, I felt like I was dying."
Charlie Davies actually won the media vote, which is the first of these ballots that has been split. The two were only two points apart on their final weighted total. It's safe to say the media stuck with the offseason comeback story, while Beckham's peers saw things a bit differently.
Then at 4:30 PM GMT, this came out of a press conference with the Irish National Team:
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McDonnellDan |
And furthermore:
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kenearlys LA galaxy asked robbie to return. he refused - doesn't want to miss what could be "one of the greatest nights in irish history for myself." 11/14/11 8:29 AM |
For the record, I think both sides did the right thing. The Galaxy have the right to ask their player to return with the series comfortably in hand. Robbie Keane has the right to say there's no way I'd miss this party, and even to feel a bit disrespected.
update: The reporter who original said Keane felt disrespected went back over the tape, and saw that Keane said he felt it would be disrespectful to his teammates.
Now, onto the news:
Major League Soccer's Don Garber is 'pleased … but not satisfied' - latimes.com
Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber has presided since 1999 over the fastest-growing professional sports entity in the country.
The LA Times got a one on one interview with Don Garber. Worth the read.
League expects L.A. to increase MLS Cup’s reach, sales - SportsBusiness Daily | SportsBusiness Journal
Major League Soccer will see all 23 of its corporate partners activate at Sunday’s MLS Cup championship at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles. The full plate of partner activation marks a step up from 2010, when 18 of 23 partners activated at the event in Toronto. ...
Another worthwhile read into the business of making MLS viable.