Major League Soccer

There might be more at stake than simply a summer trip to London when the U.S. team opens play in the CONCACAF men's Olympic qualifying tournament Thursday in Nashville. Because with 14 of the 20 players on the American soccer squad coming from Major League Soccer teams, the eight-nation tournament can rightly be seen as a referendum on the progress of MLS as well. "It's a strong statement about our league and the development of young players that the Olympic tournament — a reflection of the strongest young players in each country — includes so many that are on our clubs," MLS spokesman Will Kuhn said.

When: 1 p.m. PDT Where: Olympic Stadium, Montreal. On the air: TV: KDOC, KWHY. Radio: 1150, 1330 Records: Galaxy 3-5-1, Montreal 3-5-2. Record vs. Montreal: First meeting. Update: David Beckham's North American Tour stops in Montreal for the first time Saturday and the expansion Impact is bracing for a record crowd that could reach 60,000. But what kind of soccer will they see? The Galaxy, which has been struggling, played perhaps its worst match of the season last week in a home loss to the depleted New York Red Bulls.

Comcast Corp.'s NBC Sports Group has scored a broadcast-and-cable-rights deal with Major League Soccer, its latest move in a push to compete more aggressively against ESPN and Fox Sports. Although Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN is still the primary home of Major League Soccer and carries most of the major games, the new MLS partnership is a blow to News Corp.'s Fox Sports, whose package was acquired by NBC Sports. Spanish-language broadcaster Univision also has MLS rights. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but people familiar the matter put the price tag between $10 million and $12 million a year over three years.

Goalkeeper Josh Saunders will be lost to the Galaxy for an indefinite period after being enrolled in Major League Soccer's substance abuse and behavioral health program. The Galaxy was informed Friday that Saunders would be unavailable to play until he completes a treatment protocol. Team officials insisted Tuesday that Saunders did not fail a league-administered drug test but have been evasive in explaining his absence. Saunders missed Saturday's tie with FC Dallas and is unavailable for Wednesday night's match in Seattle, with Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena saying only that the keeper was missing for "personal reasons.

Galaxy and U.S. national team forward Landon Donovan was named Major League Soccer's most valuable player for 2009. Donovan finished ahead of New England Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph and FC Dallas striker Jeff Cunningham to win the award for the first time. He is the second Galaxy player to take the honor. Guatemalan striker Carlos Ruiz won it in 2002. A nine-year veteran of MLS, Donovan won league championships with the San Jose Earthquakes in 2001 and 2003 and with the Galaxy in 2005.

Officials * Referee: Kevin Terry * Assistant referees: Chip Reed and Laszlo Nagy * Fourth official: Paul Tamberino Coaches * Bruce Arena (Washington): Winner of five NCAA titles at Virginia, two MLS Cup victories, a U.S. Open Cup and, this season, the CONCACAF Champions Cup, making D.C. United not only the top team in the United States, but also in all of North and Central America and the Caribbean. * Bob Bradley (Chicago): Arena's assistant the last two years with D.C.

Major League Soccer has selected Dallas-based Dieste & Partners to handle advertising for its upcoming 1998 season. The league's advertising budget wasn't disclosed, but MLS Commissioner Douglas G. Logan said the league will spend "significant" dollars on targeting Latino consumers. Dieste & Partners, which initially was hired to become the league's first-ever Latino-owned agency, subsequently was handed the entire advertising contract.

Tab Ramos, who has spent the last five seasons playing in Spain, is the first player signed by Major League Soccer, which is due to begin operation in the spring of 1996. Ramos, a midfielder, appeared in every U.S. game in the 1990 and 1994 World Cup tournaments. Ramos, 28, was a high school teammate of fellow World Cup players John Harkes and Tony Meola at Kearny, N.J., and competed in the Youth World Cup at Mexico in 1983 and in the 1988 Olympic Games at Seoul.

Carlos Valderrama, former South American player of the year and three-time Colombian player of the year, signed Thursday with Major League Soccer, instantly becoming the league's marquee player. Valderrama is one of international soccer's premier midfielders, a playmaker of exceptional skill. At 34, his best years are behind him, but as he showed recently in leading Colombia to a 2-2 tie against Mexico at the Coliseum, he has lost little of his pace and none of his vision.

There might be more at stake than simply a summer trip to London when the U.S. team opens play in the CONCACAF men's Olympic qualifying tournament Thursday in Nashville. Because with 14 of the 20 players on the American soccer squad coming from Major League Soccer teams, the eight-nation tournament can rightly be seen as a referendum on the progress of MLS as well. "It's a strong statement about our league and the development of young players that the Olympic tournament — a reflection of the strongest young players in each country — includes so many that are on our clubs," MLS spokesman Will Kuhn said.

The North American Soccer League should have been entering its prime when it expired after 17 years, its life support mercifully unplugged after the 1984 season. An autopsy was never performed, but the suspected cause of death was greed, which fueled unchecked expansion and led to rosters chock-full of imports. Major League Soccer kicked off its 17th season this weekend appearing to be in the pink of good health. But the lessons of the past are never far from mind. "I don't think the ghosts of the NASL ever leave the offices of Major League Soccer," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said last week.

When: 7:30. Where: Home Depot Center. On the air: TV: KDOC, KWHY; Radio: 1150, 1330. Records: Season opener. Record vs. Real Salt Lake (2011): 1-1. Update: The defending MLS champion Galaxy hasn't lost a match at home since 2010 but hardly looked unbeatable in its first match of 2012, needing a goal from Landon Donovan in the final minutes to tie FC Toronto in a CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal Wednesday in Canada.

Reporting from Glendale, Ariz. — "I look completely normal, right?" a completely normal-looking Taylor Twellman says. It's something he asks often, and the response is always the same: nodding heads, words of affirmation, smiles. In reality, though, Twellman is far from normal. Three and a half years ago, the then-New England Revolution forward and former Major League Soccer most valuable player was accidentally punched in the jaw by Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin while scoring on a header.

It's just past 8 on a sparkling morning, and John Laslett is sitting in a corner booth of a darkened English pub in Santa Monica, sipping tea and watching soccer on a small television hung from the ceiling. "I love to get up Sunday morning and do this," he says. "This is kind of a ritual. " It's not just any soccer that will draw the UCLA history professor emeritus out of bed. It has to be the English Premier League -- and not just because the British expat is homesick. "The Premier League is a really fun league to watch," he says.

Clark Hunt's business card is a little crowded given that he's chief executive of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs and owner of Major League Soccer teams in Dallas and Columbus, Ohio. "I probably most frequently introduce myself as someone who's involved with both professional football and professional football," he says with a grin. Hunt is also smiling because with attendance, TV revenue, franchise values and expansion fees all at record highs, this is a very good time to be involved with futbol.

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber has presided since 1999 over the fastest-growing professional sports entity in the country. The league, which had 10 teams in 2004, will start next season with 19. And that's not the only number that has increased. MLS is now drawing larger average crowds than the NHL or NBA — and outdrawing professional soccer leagues in Scotland, Brazil and England. Television viewership is way up and expansion fees have more than quadrupled since 2007.

Comcast Corp.'s NBC Sports Group has scored a broadcast-and-cable-rights deal with Major League Soccer, its latest move in a push to compete more aggressively against ESPN and Fox Sports. Although Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN is still the primary home of Major League Soccer and carries most of the major games, the new MLS partnership is a blow to News Corp.'s Fox Sports, whose package was acquired by NBC Sports. Spanish-language broadcaster Univision also has MLS rights. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but people familiar the matter put the price tag between $10 million and $12 million a year over three years.