I've learned a lesson, boys and girls; staying home sick from work can be hazardous to your health. The MFUSA Day Job, that which torments me on a daily basis, is extra stressful today after an impromptu three day weekend. Thus, Deep Cuts, which might not be as deep as usual, comes to you in an abbreviated form.

• Yank and Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner is often held up as an example of proper American investment in English football; Lerner loves his club by all accounts, and does right by it in every way that the Glazers at Manchester United and Hicks and Gillette at Liverpool do not. But while Villa is thriving by most standards, Lerner's other sports property, the Cleveland Browns, continue to flop around the bottom of the NFL. That fact has one Cleveland writer calling for Lerner to choose one or the other, reckoning that the dual-focus of owning clubs in two kinds of football is dragging the Browns down. I'm ambivalent about Lerner selling his NFL team, though I wonder if he might have some cash to buy into MLS if he were to divest of his American football stake. If Lerner loves the game as much as it seems, he would make the perfect MLS owner (unlike certain billionaires currently attempting to take over storied London clubs while their MLS franchise looks neglected).

• The push for another American World Cup is picking up steam, with cities all over the country vying for a host city spot. The current list includes twenty-seven cities, with eighteen making the cut for the US bid book that will submitted to FIFA on May 14th of next year. Orlando was a host city in 1994, and the city's mayor hopes to be so again in 2018 or 2022. The city's $12-14 million investment would see a return on the order of $100 million; while I think Orlando is a bit of a long shot with some of the other cities involved and the newer stadiums available, I expect that they'll move forward simply based on the business sense. There are too many communities in the United States that would turn down that type of economic boost if given the chance.

• You'll have to sign up for a free trial at Sports Business Journal to read this article, but it's certainly worth the effort; SBJ has an in-depth look at the growth of soccer in the United States since 1994 as it relates to both next year's World Cup and the US bid for 2018 or 2022. The gamut is covered here, and included are polls of sports industry insiders on what they expect for the 2010 World Cup's success in the United States. It's these types of stories that indicate just how far soccer has come in this country, and help remind us that we should do our best to take a long view of things. The growth of professional soccer, both from an awareness perspective as well as the success of MLS, is moving much faster than it did in the years immediately following the '94 World Cup. By the time the event returns (knock on wood), things will be so drastically different that it's almost impossible to frame. Starting from essentially zero, where the game is now is a significant improvement, even as we often find ourselves frustrated with the lack of respect the game receives.

Deep Cuts appears every weekday, and highlights American soccer-related items from around the web. If you have a story for Deep Cuts (even shallow ones), you can send it along to matchfitusa@gmail.com.