About last week

Right, so nothing happened. Let's run down the "highlights" shall we? Landon Donovan did some stuff in garbage time against the Kansas City Wizards of England. And, um, speaking of Kansas City, their fans are going to play a pick-up game against the fans of AC St. Louis.

Kasey Keller hopes to play until he's 1000. There was a friendly in which the USMNT was outplayed and outcoached in Europe (again). Tom Dunmore Pitch Invasion had a lot about stuff I don't really care about at the moment. In fact, other than the USWNT winning the Algarve Cup over Germany (mwa), there wasn't a whole hell of a lot going on.

Which is exactly why I turned this site into Fake Fake Sigi Rumors Rumors and took the rest of the week off. To be frank, I didn't care. Hell, if FS patron saint Steve Davis decided to go on vacation, my conscience is clear. No, I don't care that he actually did some work and I didn't.

What about the MLS collective bargaining, you might ask. They brought in a federal mediator! This has meaning! Excitement! Titillation! Ah, yes, nothing like a one-paragraph statement that spawns 100 death spiral comments.

I'll be honest, I haven't read too much about the mediator. I took the week off, remember? But I will say that no matter who's idea it was, the mediator represents the perfect opportunity for the players to get out of this mess they've created for themselves. Backed yourself into a corner? Bring in someone else to tell you what you should be asking for, sign the agreement, and get back on the field without losing too much face. If you want a prognosis, in my opinion this just gets MLS closer to starting the season with an agreement. Based on the almost total silence from the players last week, I'd say they're getting ready to settle things.

Bill had some good posts on how the owners have messed up their labor negotiations, and how the players are getting killed on the public relations front. But I really have nothing to add to those points, so I won't.

It will be nice to have some actual MLS games to talk about in few weeks, won't it? In the meantime, I've got plenty of rounds in the chamber, and just need the opportunity to squeeze a few off. Let's see how this week goes.

-FS