LA-FCD, Pregame and 1st half

I'm so sick of this "on the verge" crap. Hell yeah, I'm an original. I remember Thor Lee and Said Fazlagic against Tim Martin and Tom Liner.

Ocho Cinco is excited about Becks coming to MLS, good to see.

So we know Waldo's man-crush is Taylor Twellman, is Stoner's man-crush Kenny Cooper?

The Gals will be "rebranded" when Becks arrives. I wonder what they have in store for us.

I do really like the MLS theme music and how the players are coming onto the field now. Very classy...

WALDO (clap-clap-clap) WALDO (clap-clap-clap) WALDO (clap-clap-clap)

I really like the NFL style player introductions for the lineups. I wish somebody would be like Lavar Arrington and introduce themselves as "Mr. Nickels from the School of Hard Knocks". They have FCD in a 4-3-3, but then Nunez introduced himself as a midfielder. Does he think it's a 4-4-2? What happened to the 4-2-3-1? I'm baffled...

Great stat by DOB, Donovan has 13 goals against Dallas over the years.

Cooper almost puts FCD in the lead with a left footed knuckler that Cannon knocks away. Kenny battling with wee Kyle Martino for a loose ball is hilarious.

Juan Carlos Toja loves Led Zep and The Doors. DOB seems enamored with his "70's rock star" hair.

Awful header on the corner by Tyrone Marshall. Waldo criticizes Donovan on the delivery, but he picked Marshall out just like he picked Jimmy Conrad out against Mexico. Conrad hammered his header on goal, Marshall just popped his up.

Great cross from Jazic, Jaqua with the diving header, but it bounces over the top. Nate has to bury that.

Shaka saves a 1v1 from Albright. FCD is living a charmed life so far, LA has been in complete control. With the formation Dallas is playing, they struggle to control the wings.

Waldo rips on Cobi for wearing a suit to high school. Was Cobi a high school geek?

It actually looks like Dallas is playing the 4-3-1-2 they talked about using on the road. The problem with that is that they have no presence on the wings. The outside backs are staying at home, the 3 holding mids pretty much stick to the middle, and Cooper and Ruiz are too high on the field. It just looks pretty awkward to me.

Waldo tries to impersonate Becks, but sounds like a leprechaun instead.

Kyle Martino comes close off a sweet touch from Marshall. Shaka punched the corner sort of clear, otherwise Jaqua would've scored off of Albright's header.

I like the fact that DOB acknowledged Dallas' loss to the Gals in the Open Cup when saying they've never beaten LA at the Home Depot Center.

Saragosa just wrecked his knee on an awkward fall on the sideline and you can hear him screaming. It didn't look like it bent the wrong way, but you never can tell. He's definitely done for the night. Pitchkolan is in for him.

Waldo keeps harping on Landon's floated service on the corner kicks.

I think Toja drives a Camaro. He could be the first Colombian redneck.

Goodson gets a yellow for a second foul on Landon in a minute. If he keeps trying to defend Donovan, the Hoops are in BIG trouble.

Toja blasts a shot from the top of the box that hits Harden in the hand. PK for the Hoops, El Pescadito finishes it! Very, very well-taken PK.

DOB says Ruiz and Ronnie O'Brien didn't get along last year. Did Ronnie try to kick him too? It sounds like Ruiz is a really good teammate, I'm a little surprised for some reason.

Nasty foul by Martino on McCarty, he gets a yellow.

I agree with Waldo, Toja has been impressive in the first half. He's very smooth. I think it's the sweet rocker hair.

Nunez with a free kick, and Kenny Cooper puts Dallas up 2-0! Perfect ball and perfect finish. LA had controlled most of the first half, but they're going to go into the locker room down by two. Que?