Just glancing into my CD collection for inspiration ... and I'm going to put on ...

Tom Waits' "Closing Time." And off we go.

Today, my brain is cluttered. Mostly with soccer, but with some other stuff as well.

Let's clean it out.

· Think Josh Wolff, Clint Mathis, Joe-Max Moore, Landon Donovan, Brian McBride and Ante Razov will still be buddy-buddy when the dust settles on the World Cup? The battle for two forward spots will be something to watch. Now, don't start e-mailing me to tell me that none of them can clean Michael Owen's boots. That's not the point. Duh.

· I think everyone in and around MLS and U.S. Soccer would have rather DaMarcus Beasley tweaked his knee than suffer another concussion. I heard someone refer to DaMarcus' first concussion as minor. If a concussion that keeps a player off the field for a month is minor, I'd hate to see a major one.

· How many days until MLS spring training? Uh, there will be no MLS spring training this year ... not the centralized one they usually hold in Fort Lauderdale, anyway. Every team is now on its own.

· The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming that the United States Soccer Federation and MLS are unfairly controlling what matches are played at the Coliseum. In a nutshell, this lawsuit explains why L.A. is the most difficult soccer market in the United States. I mean, the Galaxy can't even draw at the Rose Bowl when a Chivas match is on Galavision.

· The White Sox had the best record in the American League in 2000, and still couldn't draw fans to Comiskey Park. So, putting the Fire there for two years seems like a good idea, right? Yeah, yeah, I know the club has no other "options." I just would've hoped by now MLS would be creating options -- the way Lamar Hunt did in Columbus -- instead of searching for them.

· To anyone who thinks the Motley Crue episode of "Behind the Music" was the best ever, I have one word for you. Poison. That was like watching Spinal Tap all over again.

· Let's nip this right in the bud. Aside from making it to the World Cup final (not going to happen), there is nothing the U.S. national team can do in Japan/South Korea to make soccer any more popular in the United States in 2003 than it is in 2001. It's time we all stop pinning the future of the game on the guys who wear the national team uniform. We should all know better by now.

· Made a joke about Phil Anschutz and the $11-a-share Qwest stock last week, saying the MLS's future could be somehow linked to that stock. Upon further review, I think Anschutz is the least of our worries when it comes to MLS investors. Take that any way you please.

· There was a picture of Hristo Stoitchkov helping to carry Diego Maradona off the field at Maradona's testimonial match in Buenos Aires. It appeared that Hristo had also joined Diego at the local All-You-Can-Eat Argentine Barbeque the night before.

· Which reminds me of a story. When former Dallas coach now-MLS-ExtraTime analyst Dave Dir went on a scouting trip to Argentina several years ago, he was asked how the trip went and replied: "Twenty-one days, 21 barbeques."

· The "salary budget" of an 18-man MLS roster is said to be just below $2 million. If that number does not go up this year -- and teams have been told to prepare as if it's staying put -- we're going to see some big deals.

· I'm still amazed that anyone second-guessed Bob Brenly for pitching Curt Schilling three times in the Series. And, can you imagine if the Boston Red Sox or Chicago Cubs blew a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of a World Series Game 7 because their closer threw a bunt away? I guess winning 26 World Championships and four in five years teaches you to accept such things.

· My five-year old plays in a six-on-six league with small goals that are supposed to be left open so, you know, kids can score goals. Last week, we played a team that camped two defenders in front of the net. I remained calm, but it took all my mental power.

· No matter how you try to juice up a game like U.S.-Trinidad last weekened ... no matter how much you talk about "dangling carrots" in front of players faces ... no matter how many soccer-fan-internet-shut-ins want to slam their fingers into their keyboards and type out rants about "who played themselves off the squad" ... remember, it was 90 degrees with high humidity and blazing sun in Trinidad on Sunday. Even if this game meant something, it would have been a difficult game to play. The fact is, the game meant nothing and once the heat kicked in, that "fact" ruled anything else in the players' brains. There's only so much a body can do in those conditions, motivated or not.

· Man, do I miss Napster.

· Did anyone think there was a chance Brazil and Germany would not qualify? I mean, really?

· I'm waiting for the day when a reporter asks Ray Hudson about a player and Ray says the Fusion have "absolutely no interest in him" or "it's not a realistic possibility." I know Ray's trying to sell the game, but Fusion fans musing over a potential lineup of Carlos Valderrama, Paul Gascoigne, Mamadou Diallo and Davor Suker ... I mean, c'mon.

· I've only seen him play a handful of times, but I think John O'Brien is an attacking player. So, leave me out of the underground movement for John to replace Chris Armas as the U.S. defensive midfielder.

· For those of you who hated the self-serving stuff I wrote from the Boston Marathon last April, please don't read the rest of this note. Remember I said I'd never run another marathon? Well, I ran the Marine Corps down in D.C. on Oct. 28. No fun at all, I ran the first 18 in 2:25 and bonked ... took me 1:25 to run the final 8. Oh yeah, I'll run another ... can't retire on that note.

· Frankie Hejduk, please pick up the white courtesy phone.

Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at jeff.bradley@espnmag.com.