L.A.'s Donovan set to join Bayern Munich on loan

Soccer Betting Lines

11/20/2008 - Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - United States star Landon Donovan is set to join Bayern Munich on loan in January, it was revealed Thursday, and the German club hopes the likely two-and-a-half month deal could become permanent.

Donovan, who scored 20 goals for the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, joined Bayern for a 10-day trial last Tuesday and impressed the team enough to open the possibility of a move.

"He's made an excellent impression here, so we've agreed to open talks with MLS about a loan spell starting [in] January," Bayern coach Jurgen Klinsmann said on the team's website.

At just 26, Donovan is already the all-time leading scorer in U.S. history. He showed off his abilities on Wednesday by scoring both goals for Bayern's first team in a 2-1 win over Bayern's B team in a practice match.

Los Angeles teammate David Beckham previously agreed to join AC Milan on a loan for part of the MLS offseason, and Donovan seems set to spend at least most of his offseason in Munich.

"Landon has a verbal agreement with MLS to play in Europe for two-and-a-half months, like Beckham's," Klinsmann said. "He's made such a good impression here that we've agreed to talk to MLS.

"The goal will be to see if we can get him long term, at least until the end of the season."

Donovan completed training with Bayern on Thursday and will return to the U.S. on Friday. He will receive his record fifth U.S. Player of the Year award at the MLS Cup final on Sunday.

With over 100 appearances for the U.S. - and 37 goals - Donovan would provide a great option for Klinsmann behind Italian striker Luca Toni and German strikers Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski.

Donovan was signed by Bayer Leverkusen when he was 16, but failed in his first attempt in the Bundesliga. He's set for another chance with Bayern and may find a niche with Podolski possibly leaving the club during the transfer window and Toni and Klose both 30 or older.

Bayern Munich has won 21 German titles and the Champions League four times.

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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their “supplements” to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this won’t be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a “truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit.” And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. “The plug-necked yahoos on your team,” you can say, “will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.”

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesn’t focus only on your opponent’s team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Where’s your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, “I’ll try to type slower for you next time.” Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, don’t just conclude by saying your opponent is a “twerp who drafts like my grandmother.” Say that your opponent is a “sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars.” By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You won’t be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, I’m sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.