Only in America ...

I’ve got to be honest, when my friend told me we should go down to the Home “Deee-poh” Centre I thought he wanted help choosing a barbecue. But being a guest in LA, who was I to make a fuss?

So we headed down the six-lane car park which claims to be a freeway (I thought the A3 was bad, but Becks has a bitch of a journey to work) and before long I’m in my seat waiting for the mouth-watering prospect of LA Galaxy taking on Colorado Rapids. Before a ball had been kicked we’d had fireworks, pitch parades and national anthems. It felt like a World Cup Final only with more hotdogs … and less people. Seriously, bearing in mind this is a marginal sport in the US, who would pay $80 to get in, even if “Davey Beckingham” is playing?

So what was the match like? It hinged on a red-card ejection. Galaxy’s player pulled off a decent takeaway before showing the Rapids defensiveman a shutter step. But before the Galaxy offensive lineman could unload, the umpire thought he saw some bulldogging, when actually it was nothing more than a bear kiss. But next thing we know, the Rapids are 10-11 down, with less than a minute left on the game clock. At the time, Galaxy looked to be cruising towards a two-zero shut-out at the midway, after Beckham, team leader of converted set-plays, had sent in a diagonal service towards the top of the D. With the Rapids defense unsure of their match-ups, it pin-balled before falling to Galaxy’s strikeman, Pires, on the doorstep of the shot zone. He uncorked a slow roller which sailed past the Rapids goaltender.

After Beckham holed in a loop, it looked like Galaxy would convert a headscore, but it was smothered by the Rapids cornermen. However, a net shot opportunity fell to the Galaxy late in the third quarter after rookie Ely Allen curled into the upper 90. Two late net busters from the Rapids made for a tense last quarter, but at the final signal it was the Galaxy who returned jubilant to the locker room. Is that clearer?

By the way, the draft system, I’m having that. It could certainly sort out a few issues over here. Ronaldo wouldn’t be having sleepless nights about whether or not to sign for Real Madrid as he’d be off to Stoke … and I’d probably be on my way to Anfield.