Yes, I'm alive and breathing (although I was a little worried about surviving the Sacramento Radisson where I stayed last week). A big thanks to Walsh for keeping things going while I was jaunting across the country these past 3 weeks! Finally got to catch up w/ soccer this past weekend, so here are some observations:

1. WPS Final - Congratulations to the FC Sky Blue for their amazing run through the postseason, winning 3 road games in 8 days to capture the Title. They mirrored my recent cross-country travels, going from Washington DC, to St. Louis, and finally Los Angeles, where they beat the heavily favored Sol 1-0 thanks to a Heather O'Reilly goal in the 17th minute. A VERY controversial red card to the Sol's Allison Falk 11 minutes later allowed the Sky Blue to control the pace of the game, slowing down Marta and the rest of L.A.'s vaunted attack. And remember, this was a team in complete chaos just a few months back, losing 3 coaches due to firing/resignation/suspensions. I watched them play the Freedom just days after Ian Sawyers was removed as Head Coach/GM of the team, and they looked awful. After a few weeks, in comes player/coach Christine Rampone, and away they went. Overall, not a bad inaugural season for the WPS, but there's still a lot of work to do.

2. USL 2 Playoffs - Richmond vs. Charlotte for the Title. Richmond scores in dramatic fashion (the end of OT) to slip past Harrisburg, while Charlotte, a team I left for dead 2 months ago, gets a hard fought victory on the road against regular-season champion Wilmington. These 2 teams have one of the better rivalries (and under appreciated) in soccer; lots of history, lots of close games, hard but clean play, and this game will be no different. I'll give a more detailed preview later in the week.

3. DC United-L.A. Galaxy - It always seem to rain in buckets when Beckham comes to town, doesn't it? Regardless, DC was robbed of 3 points due to a TERRRRRIBLE offside call against Emilio. Even my least favorite announcer, Max Bretos, said it was an "interesting" call. Yes, the refs make mistakes, but there needs to be some form of accountability for things like that. It could very well be the difference in the form a playoff spot for either, or both, teams. Have you also noticed how little effect Beckham is having on recent games? The effort is there, but the play isn't. Interesting...

4. EPL - Has anybody been more impressive these first two weeks as Chelsea's Didier Drogba? The guy looks motivated and fit, and it also looks like he and Anelka are finally on the same page. That could be the difference this year for what looks to be the class of the league early on. At the other end of the scale, has anybody been less impressive than Everton? 6-1 loss to Arsenal to open the season and a 1-0 loss to newly-promoted Burnley puts this squad in an early crisis.

5. Pro Football - Yes, this is mostly a soccer blog, but Walsh and I are also going to talk plenty of football this season. We'll do some fantasy stuff next week followed up w/ some predictions for the NFL the following week, along with your typical and loved soccer coverage... some quick NFL preseason thoughts:

a. Brett Favre will embarrass himself again this year. I'm going with at least 15 int's.

b. Hide your Beagle, Vick's an Eagle.

c. Nice scoreboard, Jerry Jones!

d. To say Jason Campbell is struggling is like saying water is wet...

Walsh is on deck later in the week, and I'll have my USL2 Championship Preview up on Friday.