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From the narrow, walled-in pitch in Costa Rica to the new front line for DC to the new Dynamo Away Jerseys, I’m loving the a href=”http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=411383&root=mls&cc=5901″>Champions Cup.

But MLS is not the only domestic league in the news. Apparently, WUSA is coming back, and just in the nick of time. The ladies are stock full of new players looking poised to bring home the World Cup. It’s just too bad the women’s skill is still sharing time with their appearances. These two stores sat next to each other in Soccernet’s ‘voices’ section. I was upset by the juxtaposition, and Soccernet should be better than the despicable Page 2. The rest of this week’s news is after the jump…

Soccernet’s lead story on Tuesday was Ives Galarcep’s take on Zidane’s non arrival to MLS. It’s amazing, especially for the typically wonderful Galarcep, the amount of circumstance and conjecture in this piece, as apposed to fact. If, but, maybe, what if, etc, etc, etc. I knew this was going to be bad from the headline, which read: “The only player who could have added the necessary second boost to MLS, to go along with David Beckham’s arrival, is Zinedine Zidane. Unfortunately, he isn’t coming writes Ives Galarcep.” I don’t have the time or the patience to explain how horribly wrong this entire statement is, I’m just hoping it is the last column about what ‘big names’ are coming to MLS. (but I know it won’t be).

Our ability to make profit - not soccer players, but soccer profits – has some thinking that FIFA will send the Cup our way before Europe gets another one. Whatever the reason, I’ll never turn down a Cup – I’m not saying I want to steal it from South Africa - though I still kind of like Bruce’s and my leanings toward a 2022 Cup. Steve Davis thinks it’s a long shot, but recent comments from Sepp Blatter might force Davis to rethink his opinions.

Paul Gardner at the NY Sun follows the lead of several others by supposing the Designated Player Rule isn’t going to work for anyone but Beckham. I really hate these pieces that jump the gun. The MLS transfer window is open until mid-April, and a lot can happen in six weeks, even more in a few years when a piece like this would be warranted if there are still empty DP slots. Gardner placates that “only already established stars fit the DP profile,” which is something I would take issue with. Everyone likes to complain about the washed up superstars coming to America, so why not spend the extra cash on an up-and-comer? When the next teen phenom comes to light in South America, drop the hammer, outbid Europe, and let the boy play. Even if he later leaves for Europe, a hefty transfer fee would likely go to MLS. But I’ll almost always choose raw youth over their fragile elders.

But a fragile elder Becks is not. He’s the man, as long as you’re talking about celebrity, not soccer. While others held down the ‘he’s old, he’s done, he’s over’ arguments on the field, I proposed that soccer will be the least of his worries or his contributions to America. Toeing the same line, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Details, the metrosexul-ist men’s magazine (yes, there is stiff competition I know) has the best article on the Beckham coming stateside yet. My favorite quote from the Michael Hirshorn feature:

“He will be happy to see us and we will be happy to see him, for we need eachother. Our celebrity culture is burnt. Too many ‘hos showing their junk and sending e-mails filled with misspellings. With the exception of one errant set of text messages (more on that later) Beckham has been the model of restraint, politesse, decency. Being a nice guy is a key part of the brand, and Hollywood is short on nice guys at the moment. He goes out all the time, but is never seen getting drunk in public. He is insanely extravagant and also, weirdly, and in a way that will translate particularly well in the U.S., classy.”

It should be noted that last line is a poke at American culture. Hirshorn goes on to explain, “In the American context, for all the Beckhams’ marginal taste in hairstyles, designer brand names, and tattoos, their extravagance is what is now considered ‘class.’” Details, details.

Andrea Canales makes the correct argument others have made about taking the Gold Cup more seriously than Copa America, but that’s not the reason I link to this story. Given my last two posts, I just wanted to point out 365 has labeled this piece a Feature, when it is clearly a Column. Let’s call a spade a spade, and better yet, get some real features in there.

And last and least, I add this little nugget from Greg Lalas because for once, I agree with him. I wish I could get Lyon games on TV, and of course, Juninho!