A little different tact today. I usually try to keep my posts limited to one topic, but today's warrants a change in approach. Time is limited and there are a few things that happened this weekend that deserve comment but that I can't really devote 1,000 words each to. So here we go, with the Gold Cup, Beckham's return to LA, MLS parity, and Telemundo's idiocy:

US Beats Panama in Gold Cup Quarterfinals

Unfortunately, family commitments kept me from giving this game as much attention as I would have liked. I managed to follow along, caught each goal, but didn't get to see one second of extra time. As you'll hear on the new MFUSA Soccer Show, Kenny Cooper's penalty wasn't the most confidence-inspiring take I've ever seen; but he got it done, and the US is through to the semis. An uneven performance to say the least, but this younger/more inexperienced team was bound to hit a difficult patch eventually. Honduras is next, and I honestly have no expectations; while I think they should win and go through, I'm not going to assume that or be disappointed if the Hondurans jump up and catch the US.

Beckham Returns to LA

Spoiler alert if you plan to watch the tape-delayed broadcast of the LA-Milan friendly on FSC (and what is that all about anyway): Beckham's return to LA was incredibly entertaining, and I enjoyed it immensely. Not simply because I believe it was the Riots Squad's right to give to Beckham (short of physical confrontation), but because a few LA players showed they could play against world class talent. If you didn't watch it last night (streamed, naturally), I highly suggest to try and catch just a little bit of it. While it meant nothing, the atmosphere was good and both teams put enough into the first 60 minutes or so to make it worthwhile viewing.

Telemundo Officially Announces USA-Mexico Plans

Per the Soccer Insider Twitter feed comes news that Telemundo has officially announced plans to put the English-language broadcast of the USA-Mexico World Cup qualifier on sister channel mun2. Blech. This does not in anyway mean that the campaign to get the game moved will end; in fact, it probably means that we'll redouble our efforts and push even hard to let Telemundo how ridiculous their decision is. There are irons in fires all over the place, but we still need your support via the petition or by your volleying emails at NBC Universal. Check the "Give Us Our Yanks" post for more info.

Also check out Goff's post on the official announcement by Telemundo.

I intend to be back later.