MLS, Players Union Staring at March 25 Deadline

Landon Donovan took a plane from London to Los Angeles on Sunday, wrapping up his 10-week loan spell with Everton.

After hitting an In-N-Out, he’ll be getting set to start the MLS season with the Galaxy.

Maybe.

As I’m sure you’ve heard, his fellow MLS players have voted to strike if a new collective bargaining agreement with the league isn’t reached by March 25, the scheduled opening night for the league.

We haven’t heard much from the league in recent days, but players are still making their case in the media.

Seattle keeper Kasey Keller told the Associated Press, “This is truly a case of guys who could make more money going out and getting a job, but they’re trying to live out the dream.”

He went on to add, “I understand where the league was coming from five, 10 years ago when it was up against the wall if we were going to still have a league. That’s now no longer the case and some of the things they were able to get away with just can’t happen anymore.”

Well, somebody had to provide the “it’s not all about the money” quote.

And, just in case the league needed something else to worry about, David Beckham ruptured his Achilles’ tendon and will likely miss the 2010 MLS season.

If there is one.

There’s still time to get a deal done, but we’ve been saying that since the old agreement expired in January.

The silence on the owners’ end of the table is somewhat telling.

The players union, it seems, is gearing up for a fight.

A season – one with an expansion team, shiny new stadium in the New York area and a promised World Cup-bump for the second half – hangs in the balance.

Which way, I wonder, will it tip?