Just a couple of things on my mind this bright Sunday morning, so I'll try to keep it brief

ESPN USA-Mexico Commercial

Apparently I haven't been watching enough ESPN recently, because I just saw this for the first time this morning. It wasn't bad, but it also didn't give me that tingly "holy crap I can't wait for that game" feeling either. ESPN attempted to play up the rivalry angle, they just didn't capture it very well. I'd be interested to see what you guys think.

Donovan in Germany

For some reason, GolTV and FSC are on different packages on my cable system, and I've only been able to convince my wife to let me have one at this point. So I'm watching a live stream of Bayern Munich-Borussia Dortmund. Donovan didn't start, with Klose healthy enough to play despite a knee strain. We'll have to see if Donovan is subbed on (which I expect he will be), and at what point Klinsmann turns to him. I'm hoping Landon gets a little more time to settle in this week than he did against Hamburg last week.

Loaning MLS Players to Europe

Obviously, Beckham is the big story when it comes to players who have been loaned to Europe during the MLS off-season; but with Fulham attempting to bring McBride back until the end of the EPL season, and being frustrated that Chicago turned them down, it's worth a look at how these loans are playing out. If European leagues start to look at MLS as some kind of minor league, from which they can pick up players for temporary duty whenever they feel like it, then MLS will have to review their policy. I'm a bit of a hypocrite on this, as I want Donovan to stay in Germany (because I think it's important for American soccer on the whole), so feel free to call me on the carpet for it. Because the MLS schedule allows for these loan possibilities, we'll more than likley continue to seem them proposed. The league may need to come up with an across-the-board policy that applies to every player under contract with MLS, because allowing/rejecting each loan on a case-by-case basis will only lead to problems when situations like Beckham's continue to happen.

There will probably be more later.