This isn’t a SuperLiga game, so the chances of a Galaxy victory are slim to none. Never mind that the Rapids are one of the only teams that could possibly qualify as even more craptacular than the Herbalites. Beckham will be sitting this one out after playing 3 games in 6 days last week, so things could get ugly pretty quickly. Word is that Carlos Pavon will not be in the starting lineup either, with Donovan and Xavier both questionable as well.

This game has been announced as a sellout, but my guess is that the tickets were sold weeks ago, so I’d expect a lot of no-shows. And while we’re on the topic of no-shows, I would fully support Joe Cannon if he decides to just pack up and leave this team. They’re embarrassing him and leaving him high and dry time and time again.

Word now in that EIGHT players were left behind in California, including Donovan. They just flashed the starting lineup, and it includes three players who have not started an MLS game in their lives. Maybe the freshness will be good?

Kickoff coming up at 6PM Central Time. We join the action:-Reporter from FSN now using the tough summer schedule as yet another excuse for the Galaxy’s poor record. Yallop again uses the word “frustrated” to describe his feelings. He seems to like words that begin with the letter F. One that he’ll probably be hearing soon: fired.

-The Rapids have cheerleaders who march out with the team for the introductions. This is exactly what the MLS does NOT need. The league needs to be as un-American as possible to survive.

1m: This is a newly built soccer-specific stadium, and it has horrid shadows and bad sightlines. One of the ends has a stage for concerts instead of seating. Not okay.

3m: The Galaxy bring EVERYONE back for corners and set-pieces in their end. How can they possibly be marking effectively with that many players crammed into the box? The Rapids will get a goal if the Galaxy midfielders and striker(s) start crashing into their own defenders.

5m: Close call as Cannon had some trouble with a cross; he appeared to lose it in the sun. He falls over and nearly coughs it up to Conor Casey.

8m: Frank Yallop is donned in a suit and tie for this game. He’s clearly become superstitious.

11m: Colorado’s Jovan Kirovski goes down and clutches his knee, resulting in a delayed yellow on Kyle Veris for his extremely late tackle. Luckily, Kirvoski screwed up a 2-on-1 and crossed the ball to Cannon instead of Casey.

14m: Gavin Glinton had a quick acceleration to almost jump on the end of a loose ball, but he seemingly lost all momentum at the last second. He clips the Colorado keeper and irks the 4 Colorado fans in attendance.

16m: The Galaxy are sending balls all over the place. They don’t seem to have adjusted to the elevation very well, as the ball is sailing waaaay long every time they send it in the air. It’ll be interesting to see if they run out of gas well before the 90th minute.

24m: Cannon had to make a rush on Casey to prevent a golden opportunity at a goal. Just noticed that Cannon is wearing the captain’s armband tonight.

27m: Conor Casey scores a goal by dragging the ball from his right to his left foot, beating Cannon and splitting two defenders. Chris Klein attempts to save it off the line but fails.

Alright It’s 2-0 Colorado right now, so what I’m gonna do is leave for an hour and then come back. I hope the score surprises me. Actually I probably won’t even bother checking. I really can’t stand to watch this team play any more. Just look forward to Wednesday when the Galaxy pull it off against Pachuca to claim the title of “Best Club in North America”. haaaaaa.

If you want to know why I haven’t been posting until this point, read the pregame blog and thank the WNBA

We join the action 12 minutes into the game:

12m: Finally, ESPN coverage has begun! Wynalda and O’Brien immediately inform us that Beckham had yet another “scary moment” with his ankle.

13m: Geeky shot of Bornstein walking through an airport with an iPhone and an iPod.

15m: “Pavon is the kinda guy who will stick his nose where most guys won’t”- Eric Wynalda. This could mean any number of things.

16m: “If you ever get the opportunity to hang out with David Beckham, he’s a really nice guy and a joy to be around”- Eric Wynalda. Thanks for the tip.

19m: Suarez cleats Buddle but is able to get away with it somehow. Wynalda makes another smart-ass comment after he confuses a player from Saudi Arabia with a player from Mexico.

20m: Didn’t notice until now, but Landycakes is NOT starting for the Galaxy. He’s sitting on the bench and he looks very hung-over: some pretty extreme jetlag. Wynalda points out that Beckham deserves to be captain since he’s man enough to play tonight. Donovan sitting isn’t much of a surprise to me.

26m: Magnificent pass by Galindo, leading to a great chance for Chivas to take the lead. Cannon rushes and is able to snatch the ball away before a good shot is taken.

27m: A booking was issued to Chivas’ Orlando Perez after a hard tackle on Cobi Jones.

29m: Galindo dribbles end-to-end and almost gets off a shot against Cannon. Less than a minute later, he receives a pass and fires off a hard shot from just outside the 18. High and to the right.

31m: Razov shoots for the far post and wins a corner. A point-blank chance off the corner bounces off Canon. A long ball goes into the 5, but Xavier absolutely crushes Mendoza and breaks up the play. Probably should have been booked.

35m: Beckham’s first corner of the match swings out and barely misses 3 heads. Good cross, but no result.

37m: Beckham attempts a long ball and earns a free kick off a Chivas hand ball. Keeper way off the line. Beckham’s cross is cleared by Chivas. Beckham didn’t really have any options, as there were only 4-5 Galaxy players in the box.

39m: A full-blown mariachi band is spotted in the crowd, complete with violins, guitars, a cello, and drums. They appeared to be in the Chivas section.

40m: Lawson Vaughn makes a stupid tackle on Beckham and earns a yellow card. This game is starting to get chippy. The ensuing free kick is taken by Beckham and chipped wide off Pavon’s head.

43m: Buddle becomes the third Galaxy player in a row to head the ball wide of the cage.

45m+: Chaos ensues after a poor challenge prompts Beckham to get in the face of a few Chivas players. Punches and Zidanebutts were thrown, and two red cards were given. Kevin Harmse from the Galaxy and Alex Zotinca from Chivas are out of the game. GET YO POPCRN RDY!

HALFTIME: Looks like the second half will be 10-on-10. Hopefully this opens things up a little.

46m: Abel Xavier has moved up to the midfield to play alongside Beckham. This will either be extremely disappointing or unbelievably awesome. Edson Buddle has been replaced by Troy Roberts.

46m: Chivas are still playing with two forwards despite only having 10 men. On the other hand, the Galaxy leave Pavon stranded alone up front in typical USA “win the midfield battle” tactics.

49m: Galindo gets free and got a little too cute with his shot, which was well-struck but off-target by a pretty good distance.

53m: Beckham takes another corner that sails over the mixer. David seems to have a different gameplan than his teammates. Given the Galaxy’s performances over the course of this year, I’ll take Beckham’s side. Now he takes a good strike from about 30 meters, but it goes wide. Would have been saved if it was on target.

56m: Landon Donovan is starting to warm up and has a camera following him. The Landon Cam’s popularity is debatable. He’s not helping himself by hiding behind barriers.

58m: While I was typing that last sentence, the Galaxy commit a horrible mistake and give up a goal. Kyle Veris just demonstrated every single defensive mistake in the book. He attempted to chip the ball back to Cannon, but instead gave it right to Galindo. Easiest goal one could possibly score.

60m: Landycakes is already shouting at the ref after being on for a grand total of 8 seconds. He appeared to be stepped on by a Chivas player.

61m: Martino takes his mandatory test-of-fate foul and earns a yellow card. Almost a red.

64m: Beckham plays an awesome ball to Donovan, but they play was called offsides. It was an extremely close call.

69m: Kljestan sends a ball up to Mendoza, who finds Galindo wide open on the run. Galindo easily scores his second goal of the game, 10th goal of the season. Beckham looks too tired to be angry, and the crowd has gone extremely quiet. Wynalda says they should be booing, and I’d agree.

72m: Alan Gordon comes on for Kyle Martino, which means that Beckham will once again go the whole 90 minutes. He already looks gassed (understandably), so I wouldn’t expect much out of him or the Galaxy.

76m: Landon Donovan again proves his worthlessness by playing a horrible ball intended for Gordon, ending one of the few offensive buildups the Galaxy have had.

78m: Gordon just came on, but he still looks like one of the laziest, slowest players currently out on the pitch.

81m: Beckham sends another corner to Veris, who is able to connect and put a header on target. The ball is saved off the line by one of the defenders covering the right post.

85m: Randolph’s shoe has been untied for the last 5 minutes, but he hasn’t tripped yet.

87m: Chivas again execute a 3-on-1 goal that looks like a practice drill. Mendoza notches his first of the year to salt away the wound and embarrass the Galaxy.

89m: Wynalda takes a shot at Donovan’s inability to head the ball, saying “Donovan can’t jump on anyone, so he’s not gonna. Those crosses aren’t gonna work. That’s not Brian McBride down there, that’s Landon Donovan.”

90m: Three minutes of added time. Very unnecessary.

This game finally whimpers to an end. Beckham can barely even walk off the pitch. There were absolutely no positives to take from this game, unless you’re one of Chivas USA’s 4 fans. Also here’s a fun fact: the Galaxy have given up more goals in the last 2 games than they’ve scored all year in MLS play. Luckily the MLS’s flawed playoff system means that they still have a chance to win the cup…. somehow.