The DSF is going dark for a few days

Also file under:  You probably already figured that out

The domestic soccer calendar really never provides a break. My MLS season goes right up through Thanksgiving. The draft comes up in early January and I'll be in Phoenix watching pre-season practices a month later. In between there might be time to squeeze in a, uh, "research" trip to England to analyze and document the competition abroad. Ahem.

Seriously, Jurgen Klinsmann's first, extended national team camp is likely to happen just after the calendar turn. And there will be international transfers to monitor, etc.. Long story short, there is always plenty to write about, even in the off-season, which is only "off-season" in the sense that actual matches in MLS aren't going on.

So even in the middle of a season, you take your breaks where you can. I'm in Cartegena, Colombia, a beautiful town of Colonial architecture along the country's Caribbean coast. I'll spend a few days here, hurry back through Bogota -- where I watched the FIFA under-20 final on Saturday -- then be back in time to monitor and write about MLS Round 24.

I'll be a few pounds heavier from all the Club Colombia cervezas, all the fresh seafood and the ubiquitous arroz con coco (coconut flavored rice). Not such a bad thing, I suppose. So, hasta luego.