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MLS West Notes: Chivas USA signs TV deal, Colorado’s Armstrong undergoes surgery, and more

ErickTorresChivasUSA1 (USAToday)

BY MIKE DONOVAN

Chivas USA has reached an agreement to show its remaining nine games on local television with the majority of them to be shown in both English and Spanish.

The Goats have spent the season without a local television deal but that changed Wednesday when the club announced that seven of its matches will be shown in English on KDOC-TV. All of the club’s final nine 2013 matches will also be shown in Spanish on MundoFox22 or Univision.

While Chivas has had its games on local radio this season, Sunday’s match with Vancouver marks the first match this season on local TV.

Here are some more news and notes from around the Western Conference:

COLORADO RAPIDS

On Tuesday, Rapids Homegrown defender Davy Armstrong underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee. Armstrong, who had been playing for Phoenix FC on loan, suffered the injury on Aug. 10 against the Charleston Battery.

According to the club, Armstrong’s recovery is expected to be approximately six months. The 21-year-old became the Rapids first-ever homegrown player when he was signed in 2010 and has played just four minutes in league play in his four seasons with Colorado.

FC DALLAS

Peter Luccin, who was sidelined with an ACL injury in February, is hoping to make his return to the field before the end of the season. The 34-year-old French midfielder has been training with the club’s youth academy and he believes he can help Dallas before the year is over.

“I am very confident that I can make it back and contribute this season,” Luccin told the club’s website. “There are eight games left in the MLS season. I would like to make it back for the final few games of the season and help FC Dallas qualify for playoffs.”

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

David Beckham, who helped lead the Galaxy to two MLS Cups in his six seasons in LA, joined the club for training on Tuesday. The 38-year-old English midfielder retired from soccer four months ago and has spent the majority of that time in Southern California.

“It was fun. He’s great. It brings a good karma to the group,” head coach Bruce Arena told the club’s website. “It’s always wonderful to see David. It was great for the years that he was here and the fact that he still stays in touch is very important to our team and our organization.”

PORTLAND TIMBERS

Due to suspensions and injuries, the month of August has taken its toll on the Timbers, who have been without four central midfielders for parts of the month. Diego Chara was suspended for the club’s 1-0 loss with Seattle while captain Will Johnson, Ben Zemanski, and Jack Jewsbury have all missed time with injuries.

Johnson has been listed officially by manager Caleb Porter as “day-to-day” since he injured his shoulder Aug. 3 in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal against Real Salt Lake.

“I mean he’s got a broken bone in there and it’s very sore,” Porter told the Oregonian. “He’s not quite ready yet. He’s doing fitness, but obviously that’s not the same as playing in a real game where you’re banging guys and falling.”

REAL SALT LAKE

RSL forward Alvaro Saborio is likely to be a game-time decision for the club’s Friday night match with the Portland Timbers. The Costa Rican, who leads the club with nine goals, has missed the last two matches while dealing with a hamstring injury.

“We were really hopeful it would be a short-term injury,” head coach Jason Kreis told the the Salt Lake Tribune. “We’re hopeful that he’ll be available for Friday, I think right now it’s 50-50 still.”

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES

Two San Jose Earthquake fans were arrested Wednesday by U.S. Marshals in connection with an April attack on a Portland Timbers fan prior to a match between the two clubs. The two suspects were booked into Santa Clara County Jail and will be extradited to face multiple charges which include assault, criminal mischief, unlawful entry of a motor vehicle, harassment and disorderly conduct.

According to KATU, a Portland TV station, the two suspects are members of the 1906 Ultras. Portland Police have identified other suspects in the case and more charges could be filed.

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

Blair Gavin, who signed with the Sounders last week, was close to retiring from soccer after being involved in a car accident prior to the 2013 season.

“When I got in the accident and hurt my back, it just kind of felt like the whole world was against me,” Gavin told the club’s website. “I thought the easier way would just go and maybe start coaching or go back to college. It was a lot of soul searching and I fought through it and trained hard and kept going, and now I’m here. What else can I ask for?”

Gavin was scheduled to join the Sounders for their preseason training camp in January but was unable to due to the accident.

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS 

Despite missing Saturday’s match with the LA Galaxy and not training fully Wednesday, Vancouver is hopeful that leading scorer Camilo Sanvezzo will be able to take the field Sunday against Chivas USA.

“Right now, we’re just ramping him up. Obviously, it’s quite a few days until Sunday. I fully expect him to be available, but you never know,” head coach Martin Rennie told the Vancouver Sun.

One player who will definitely be out for Sunday’s match is Nigel Reo-Coker, who is suspended due to yellow card accumulation.

 

Comments

  1. F*** all you chivas haters..watch out for chivas next season when they’ve completely gotten rid of all the terrible signings Robin Fraser and Jose Domene made when they were in charge…you can blame Vergara, true, i agree to some extent but Fraser and Domene made a mess of a roster and now the Goats are looking better..

    Reply
    • Yeah, most people would just prefer to see this silly and admittedly failed experiment end and have a team that’s actually supported.

      Reply
    • I dont really hate Chivas, I felt bad for them for a long time cause they have been so irrelevant for so long. At the beginning of this year I moved into the group of people who think they should be moved and rebranded, waste of a franchise there

      Reply
    • Please don’t try to ruin people’s days by saying Chivas USA will be here next year.

      I wonder how much Chivas USA had to pay the networks to carry their games?

      Reply
    • Actually I loved Chivas, in 2009, great D, team I wanted the Sounders to face the least.
      They have made a mess of that team.

      I hope they make a comeback on the back of diehards like you.

      Reply
  2. My guess is that Chivas has to pay the TV stations to carry their games. In the past, they may have figured they would come out behind because they couldn’t cover those costs with ad revenue. MLS probably stepped in and demanded it.

    Reply
    • Isn’t KDOC an Orange County based station? Back in the day it’s biggest program was Wally George and live concerts from the Crystal Cathedral. But it serves a large population and many in the Central part of the County (Santa Ana, Anaheim, Garden Grove, etc have very large Hispanic populations.

      If Chivas were to move from LA County, a good landing point would be Santa Ana, which is 70 percent Hispanic..Hmmmmm

      Reply
  3. I thought this was going to say that the players of Chivas USA all joined together to take advantage of Directv’s “Refer a Friend” promotion – that’s the only TV deal I could see them getting.

    Reply
    • Pretty funny. Chivas does have 2 things–we can see if Bocanegra is washed up or not and their goalie Dan Kennedy is really first class. He made a great save last week against the Red Bulls that unfortunately got overshadowed by Penedo (I was watching in order to see the Red Bulls and they were really terrible, like the whole team was suffering serious jet lag.)

      Reply

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