Soccer update-- cancellations and more

Today's La Liga match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano was cancelled due to sabotage. (Apparently an electrical cable was cut.)

Above and below: Workers attempt to fix the lights 

Below: Fans outside the Estadio de Vellecas

In Italy, today's match between AS Roma and Cagliari was cancelled due to a dispute between Cagliari and Serie A authorities about whether home fans would be allowed to attend the match.

And finally, Milan's disastrous season continued with a 2-1 loss to Udinese. Highlights included two Milan players sent off with red cards (Cristian Zapata and Kevin Prince-Boateng) and continued speculation about whether Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri will be fired.

Below: Milan players after the match

One half of next weekend's MLS Cup final pairing has been set

The LA Galaxy defeated the Houston Dynamo 2-0 in extra-time last night and will be coming to Seattle for next weekend's MLS Cup. Los Angeles will face the winner of tonight's match between the Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake.

Last night I rooted for the Dynamo, mostly because of their long-standing association with the Soviet secret police. Unfortunately, due to an inaccurately disallowed second-half goal, Houston lost.

Below: Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts leaves the field during one of the two power outages that halted the game.

Wallace Falls

Alexandra and I are just back from Wallace Falls in Wallace Falls State Park near Gold Bar, Washington. I just bought a new pair of hiking boots and wanted to try them out. The worked great, much better than the old ones.




These power lines gave off a very nice buzz, hum, crackle, and even an occasional pop.



Check out the falls in action.