Four Star Daily: Down on the Farm, Donovan tries his best

"Because it's up with the blue and gold/down with the red/California's up for a victory/bring down our battle axe on Stanford's head/when we meet her our team will surely beat her/down on the Stanford farm there will be no sound/as our Oski rips through the air/like our friend mister Jonah/Stanford's men will be found/in the belly of a Golden Bear"

• Once a year, usually when playing the Galaxy in a matchup known as the California Clasico, the San Jose Earthquakes play a match in a venue other than their normal second tier college football stadium. In the past it's been the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, in recent years it's been the remodeled Stanford Stadium. Which means that once a year I get to put on my fan hat and make fun of Stanford a little bit. Even the San Francisco Examiner is in on the act, writing that the Quakes-Galaxy rivalry is going to heat up on the Farm this weekend. I know Stanford folks use the Farm as a term of endearment, but when I call it the farm, it's cause it's smells and it's buildings look like they were made with.....
• So anyhow, it looks like plenty of folk from the good city of Palo Alto are going to take a break from dropping a class the day before the final and come out to watch the California Clasico. Over 40,000 tickets have been sold.
• The other news of the day was Landon Donovan's call up to the Gold Cup for the United States. It's his lifeline back to the A-team, and Donovan has pledged to do his best. I believe that's part of the scout promise.
• If you still haven't seen the full Gold Cup roster, check out the New York Times story.