He's Not Coming Back...

Just like Johnny Utah’s immortal line as Bodhi paddles out into the 50-year storm, Sven-Goran Eriksson won’t be back on the sidelines for Mexico.

Sure, there was some other big news Thursday night. Like Real Salt Lake’s thrashing of defending MLS Cup champs Columbus, who have just two points from three games. And Jay Cutler is a Chicago Bear -- and fortunately not a Washington Redskin, though that does nothing to salvage Jason Campbell’s confidence. But more on those later.
Really, it’s not a shock that the Mexican Federation sent Sven Goran Eriksson packing. Or, if you consider them as “The Special One,” they told “It” to shut up, and more. Can’t wait to see Special One TV this weekend, by the way.

That Mexico had just three points from three games is disappointing. But a spot in South Africa 2010 is theirs to lose. Though apparently that isn’t so, well, apparent.

“The decision was made because we cannot put at risk Mexico's participation in the World Cup,” Mexican Football Federation President Justino Compean said. “We could rely on having to win all of our home games just to qualify for the World Cup.”

As Mark pointed out yesterday, there’s really no way that they won’t book their ticket. But kinda like rooting against Duke in the opening round of the NCAA tournament when you know they won’t lose, it’s still a fun thing to do.

Other thoughts:

- Some left over questions from the USA-T&T match: Is Frankie Hejduk the real life version of Benjamin Button or Spicoli? How much of the $5,000 appearance bonus did Sacha Kljestan kick back to former club manager Bob Bradley? When did Clayton Ince morph into Danny Cepero? How much worse would Jonathan Bornstein have been than DaMarcus Beasley going forward versus how much better would Jonny have been than DMB defensively? (It didn’t matter Wednesday, it will in Costa Rica.)

- Good result for an undermanned Irish team Wednesday in Italy. Was told yesterday that the red card given to the Azzurri’s Giampaolo Pazzini was legit. Leading with an elbow is an emphasis point now and though he didn’t throw the elbow -- he’s not Danielle De Rossi for crying out loud -- having it in an unnatural position is grounds for a red. My boy Jimmy Conrad is wishing this hard line was taken a couple of years ago.

- Not sure that Columbus should be concerned with just a pair of points from three games. They should have taken all three last weekend, but looked out of sorts at Rio Tinto last night. As I was watching in a bar it was tough to see everything, but defensively you know they were missing Frankie Hejduk’s leadership. Another road game at the Tool Shed looms on Sunday, but taking on a seemingly always injury depleted Chivas side should get them back on the right track. However, if it doesn’t, long time Columbus man Robert Warzycha may feel himself on the hot seat. The notoriously frugal Hunt family won’t fire him this year, but he may start to lose the locker room if poor results continue.

- Oh, and a big thanks to Robbie Findley blowing up while he’s on my fantasy bench. Also, thanks to Javier Morales for not being able to get an assist on any of the four goals. No, I’m not bitter at all.

- All of a sudden D.C. United doesn’t seem to have any significant injuries as Louis Crayton will be back in the nets for Josh Wicks. Our boy Craig Stouffer had the lowdown yesterday on his blog. Big decisions loom for Tom Soehn. But it’s not like he’s had any problems with subs this season…

- Elsewhere around the league, Seattle makes their first road trip as they head to BMO Field; I don’t think the Sounders steamroll them, eh, but I sharing the spoils is highly possible letting them head home with 7 points. Elsewhere Saturday, New England will win while L.A. and Colorado will be interesting and, methinks, high scoring. Sunday’s afternoon tilts include a snoozer (Chicago hosting NY in a likely blowout) and two teams heading in opposite directions pitting San Jose’s strength (their offense) against Kansas City’s weakness (their defense).

- Finally, good news as the Redskins didn’t make another foolish trade with Denver. Though the talk around the water cooler had Jay Cutler coming to FedEx, paving the way for Mike Shanahan to be reunited with Cutler and Clinton Portis next year, the Bears overpaid to get a Pro Bowl QB with a losing record. The only problem is the lingering side effects of what happens to Campbell’s confidence after being told he was “their guy” and then finding himself on the chopping block. I think the only hope is he’s as thick when it comes to reading the newspapers as he is reading the playbooks.

- Pat Walsh