Tuesday Night Tackles: LeToux for MVP, a World Record and Beckham Inc.

Major League Soccer MVP Race: Union's LeToux, Quakes' Wondolowski Bolster Darkhorse Credentials – SBNation.com
The obvious knock against Le Toux's MVP candidacy is that he's playing for a team that has never really been in the playoff hunt. You can certainly argue that Le Toux means more to his team than any other player, but at the end of the day that team is still out of the playoffs — much farther out to be sure, but still out. Still, those numbers are pretty hard to brush off. I'm not sure that his numbers are so much better than the other candidates to overlook that potentially fatal flaw, but I have to admit that making the anti-Le Toux argument makes me feel a little like the old-school baseball writers who only want to look at Win-Loss record when choosing the Cy Young.

MLS Designated Player Dissection: Keeping Up With The Superpowers – Goal.com

The case study of the results the DP yields is still inconclusive; while Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York have soared, Chicago and Toronto have failed despite the two designated players apiece on the pair’s rosters. The cautious, inconspicuous accumulation of talent has proven a sound approach for teams, like Salt Lake or the Columbus Crew, who don’t possess the same financial clout of the league’s biggest markets.

David Beckham bare-chested hands young girl his football shirt after LA Galaxy match | Mail Online
But David Beckham might want to hold on to his clothes in future if his accounts are anything to go buy. It has emerged that income from personal sponsorship deals slumped by 10 per cent last year. Newly released figures show that the Los Angeles Galaxy player received £9.03 million ($14.6 million) in 2009 from his company Footwork Productions, which handles the revenue from endorsements from companies including Adidas. In 2008, Beckham received £9.97 million.

More after the jump…

Sounders FC Blog | Major League Soccer releases weekly preview and notes | Seattle Times Newspaper
* The Red Bulls can clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a win against Philadelphia and a loss or a draw by Columbus in Toronto. * While the Red Bulls were held without a goal by Real Salt Lake, Dane Richards continued his rich vein of form while on international duty, scoring the only goal in Jamaica’s friendly win against Trinidad & Tobago. Richards had four goals in the previous six games for New York. * With Richards away, the Red Bulls started Mehdi Ballouchy in a central midfield role behind Juan Pablo Angel and moved Thierry Henry to a wide left position, with Joel Lindpere on the opposite flank.

Guinness World Records® Attempt for Most People Sanitizing Hands a Success – KansasCity.com

The best offense is always a good defense. Prior to the Philadelphia Union versus LA Galaxy soccer match on October 7, 2,151 fans achieved a new record with Guinness World Records for simultaneously sanitizing their hands.