Are you ready for some...

MLS? Who would have guessed that the MLS could create compelling soccer news while the following were still going on:

1) European Domestic League Seasons - OK, England and Spain are pretty much done thanks to Roman's riches and the ravages of the aging process on the gentlemen of Madrid. But Juve and Milan are still fighting it out in Italy, Bayern are trying to hold off the competition in Germany and PSV are just barely on top in Holland (and no, no one cares about the French first division so it doesn't deserve a mention).

2) Champion's League - Liverpool vs. Juve? Yikes

3) World Cup Qualifying - How is it that there are no good match-ups in European qualifying?

Anyway, with all that still going on MLS somehow managed to get my attention this week in a few different ways:

1) Landon Donovan - um, is there any evidence that he actually landed in Germany and played for Leverkusen? I'm starting to think that this is just a continuation of Germany's attempt to get inside our collective head because they realize that we were better than them in JapOrea '02. Does it mean that we're making progress as a soccer nation now that we've started throwing people tabbed for super-stardom under the bus before they turn 24?

2) Ruiz-to-Dallas - the fallout of Donovan-to-LA might lead to the first legitimately frightening strikeforce in MLS history. OK, its not exactly Ronaldo and Raul (circa 2003, that is) but tell me that Blackburn Rovers or West Brom wouldn't rather have Ruiz and Johnson than the chumps that they're sending out there right now. OK, maybe they will and maybe they won't forge a productive partnership but on pure talent, MLS has never had anything close.

3) Hunter Freeman - OK, this one is purely speculation on my part but I'm going to back this kid as Rookie of the Year. Somehow I've gotten pretty good at reading reports on athletes and deciding which ones are blowing smoke and which ones have something to them. This kid is going to be our first legitimate wingback. He'll play pretty good defense and still manage to be a difference-maker on the offensive end of the field. Sort of like the role that Albright has started carving out for himself - except he'll be better at the defense part and the offense part.

Not exactly the stuff that national sports headlines are made of in this country and I'm sure no one in Europe other than Landon Donovan's neighbors in Germany have noticed any of this as they watch their national teams beat up opponents who can barely fit both a soccer stadium and a practice pitch inside their national boarders but I'm here to make sure that at least the 5 people that read this blog have noticed.