ESPN will be home to two championship finishes Sunday, NASCAR’s and Major League Soccer’s.
Today we began a three-part series highlighting ESPN’s production of NASCAR all season and counting down to NASCAR’s championship finale the Ford 400 at Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway.
ESPN will air the final race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season at 3 p.m. ET.
Come back to Front Row Saturday and Sunday for more behind-the-scenes pictures and video, and Monday when either Carl Edwards or Tony Stewart tours our Bristol campus as the 2011 Sprint Cup champion.
Six hours later Sunday, Major League Soccer crowns its champion when the Los Angeles Galaxy take on the Houston Dynamo for the MLS Cup (ESPN, 9 p.m. ET).
Enjoy the video above of some of the season’s best goals as compiled by ESPN’s soccer production crew.
Alexi Lalas will carry a lot of good memories back to the Home Depot Center on Sunday when he returns as part of ESPN’s team of 12 English-language television and Spanish radio commentators for MLS Cup 2011.
The former U.S. Men’s National Team defender won his first professional league title in the waning seasons of a 10-year Hall of Fame career with the Los Angeles Galaxy – MLS Cup 2002.
Ex-Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas is now an ESPN analyst.
Following stops as president and general manager of the San Jose Earthquakes (2003-’06) and NY/NJ MetroStars (2005-’06), both teams owned then by the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), Lalas was transferred to the same role with the Galaxy — AEG’s jewel franchise — in 2006.
On a hot summer afternoon July 13, 2007, Lalas welcomed David Beckham to the Galaxy in front of more than 5,000 fans and about 700 accredited media from all over the world at the Home Depot Center.
Unveiling the English soccer icon placed the Galaxy on a path to what Lalas calls a ‘Super Club’ (see Q&A), anchored on the field by U.S. National Team star Landon Donovan and Beckham. It also laid the foundation for the team’s two straight MLS Supporters’ Shield trophies in 2010 and 2011.
After two straight unspectacular seasons, AEG relieved Lalas of his duties in a major shakeup that included the separation of head coach and Dutch soccer legend Ruud Gullit from the organization in August 2008.
Leading up to the Sunday’s MLS Cup 2011 and perhaps, Beckham’s last match in a Galaxy uniform (ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN Radio at 9 p.m. ET), Lalas reflected on some aspects of his tenure as the Galaxy’s president and GM. Excerpts:
On his reaction when he first learned AEG would sign David Beckham to play for the Galaxy: Lalas: “First thing that went through my head was that this is a wonderful opportunity for the club. The second thing — this is not going to be as easy as it sounds. It wasn’t. It was challenging on- and off-the-field. Plenty of mistakes were made. Ultimately, when we look back at it, I’m proud that I played a small part and I learned a tremendous amount. I think the Galaxy has come out on the other side, a better business and more importantly, a better club.”
