Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The Taunting of Landon

The Galaxy's afternoon practice today was the first chance I had to ask Landon Donovan what he'd said after he scored the first goal for the Galaxy versus Houston on Saturday.

Justin, the Galaxy's media guy at the training, wasn't sure I'd get the chance to interview LD, though.

"Tuesdays are when Bianca's taping (Rules of Engagement), so Landon is usually in a hurry to make it to catch that."

Justin promised to ask, though, and I told him I wouldn't take too long. As Landon was walking away from the post-practice stretch, Justin intercepted him to inform him of my request. Landon nodded and headed over to where the press folk were encamped.

"Thanks, Landon," I said, switching on my recorder. I didn't delay, and just asked him straight out.

It's anticlimactic, really, Landon's response. Before I post the audio, here's what my best guess of what I thought he'd said was; "Don't fucking pull me again!" My take was that LD was actually reacting to getting grabbed on the goal attempt, as well as venting frustration over getting tugged at all through the game.

For those who think Landon's language was vile, don't come to Galaxy practices - the scrimmage today had worse during the 15 minutes I watched.

9 comments:

nothingtoseehere said...

I'm hoping for something along the lines of "NO U."

I'm surprised people are making such a big deal out of Landon yelling at Ianni after scoring that first goal. It's like worse things aren't said at any given time in a game.

Maybe it's because it's LA, evil empire that we are.

charlesj27 said...

I'm with rhdigitalys on the cursing / swearing that goes on during games, practices, scrimmages, etc. Though soccer is not a full contact sport like rugby - there is still plenty of reasons why players would want to, need to vent. I think just witnessing and being "vistims" of some of our MLS referrees' decisions should be enough for players to "strangle the living crap" out of someone - but through the use of words, of course. Hey, I look at this way - maybe some gutsy, hard-nosed yelling and unsavory exchanges are what's needed to get our LA Galaxy team back in MLS playing form. True - I know that soccer games are very family-oriented events; and, as such, proliferation of corrosive verbage must be minimized... but, as no one will argue - considering how our LA Galaxy team has played over the past year... I could certainly be found guilty (now & then) of the occasional "volatile vocal escapes"!

Dan Haug said...

AC... you really like suspense, don't you?

I was guessing it had to do with the ongoing fouling. I thought that in light of Kinnear's comments after the match about how LD makes great runs off the ball, the Houston guys were probably coached to deliberately use physical tactics to disrupt his runs. He was probably sick of it.

Then again... what do I know?

Anonymous said...

haha, damn, everyone is so uptight, eh andrea? i'm a hockey player, born & raised in Edmonton and am now playing here in southern california...what we say in a practice or a game is enough to last a lifetime for most people. Seeing what Landon's reaction and reading what it is he said makes my heart warm up a little :]...I can't picture dave becks cursing or anything, i don't know why...

anyway, sorry to hear about your laptop...may I suggest a mac? nice, white (or black) macbook might be what the doctor ordered!

Anonymous said...

Why does LD have to hurry on over to girlfriend's taping? What is he whipped or something.

Outside of their jobs does their relationship have any responsibilities? No worry about knocking out the rent, no kids, probably no pets, I mean instead of all the things one can do via the freedom of not having your woman around this clown decides to turbo his way back to the production set to watch his woman knock out her job.

Am I the only one seeing this?

A.C. said...

Hmm, Bianca comes to Landon's games, why shouldn't he support her performances as well. It's rude to be late to a taping, as it can disrupt production.

nothingtoseehere said...

Seeing a show taped live is pretty cool actually, it's a different pace than what you see on TV.

From your comment, I'm assuming you've never been in a relationship. Spending time with your girl, or taking an interest in what she does doesn't mean you're whipped.

(They have some dogs)

A.C. said...

Oh, and to clarify, what was anti-climactic about asking Landon was that he never told me what he really said. My guess was just a guess.

Anonymous said...

RHdigitalYS,

What are you the Landon protection squad?

Your assumptions, though wrong, were completely out of bounds. I was making a comment about LD and his whipped ways; not asking for your personal bitter assumptions.