Talk:Landon Donovan

Question about accuracy

I'm not absolutely sure, but I believe that the text that states the following is wrong: "On June 3, 2004, Bayer Leverkusen announced that Donovan would return to the club in 2005, and Landon followed suit, announcing his return to Germany on November 23, 2005."

Shouldn't it be November 23, 2004? It just seems that the timeline does not match up, look in the paragraph that follows for evidence. Just thought I would bring it up - Blake Edwards, b_edwards@mvn.net

06.30.2006 - Althought I'm not a fan of Donovan, his nick name is NOT Landy Cakes!

Yeah it is

Fixed 'Honors' Section

I do not much care for Donovan's attitude, but whomever is responsible for that 'Honors' section needs to look around Wikipedia for the standards. They had the Gold Cup listed twice under United States and International, which are the same thing, so United States was deleted. Also, personal honors were listed under team accomplishments, which I'll never understand. Lastly, I removed "World Cup 2006: First Round" from 'Honors' because finishing last in the World Cup is not much of an honor, but more of a disappointment for which one does not receive the least bit of praise or honor.Ericxpenner (talk) 19:49, 14 July 2008 (UTC)Eric P (talk • contribs) 19:45, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Pre-penalty shot ceremony?

Anyone have information on his pre-penalty shot ceremony? Is he praying? Is he psyching himself up?

I have information on it, I turn off my tv every time he's up to take a penalty because it's the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen. That's worse than Cristiano Ronaldo's little hiccup before his penalties. An absolute embarrassment in the footballing world. He has got to be doing it so that the opposing keeper cannot keep a straight face, because I sure can't.Ericxpenner (talk) 19:48, 14 July 2008 (UTC)Ericxpenner (talk) 19:47, 14 July 2008 (UTC)Eric P

Needs picture

. funny as it is, I cannot believe that "Donovan could not break into the first team with Leverkusen due to his baldness". Perhaps someone can correct this?

Nickname in reverted edit

It's Lannycakes not LandyCakes. Often its just Lanny. I also sometimes hear the 2nd-sylable cutoff that a lot of people have 'Lan'. The media doesn't use Lanny or Lannycakes, so he probably doesn't like hearing them outside of friends of family. --GreatInca 19:59, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

-No, some of the media uses Landycakes, sort of a nickname to show how much of a "pussy" he is for going back to MLS.

-No, some of the FANS uses Landycakes.

-That's great and all but it is certainly not what he is "most commonly known as." The "Landycakes" statement is idiotic and completely out of place. Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this.

-I have heard that in some fan circles that his nickname is, "The Magician".

Canadian American?

How is he a Canadian American? --AW 14:21, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Because he was born in "Ontario" California and someone has a bad sense of humor? 65.11.128.56 (talk) 18:16, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Haha above, funny as that was, I do remember reading somewhere that one of his parents is Canadian.- Bardiak (talk) 03:46, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Poor sportmanship

I belive that since Oswaldo Sanchez has a mention of this in his article Donovan should have one as well. In the same game against Mexico he mocked openly at Carlos Salcido for not been able to cath him on the second goal by the U.S.. Altough not a physical agression its a lack of sportmanship as well porque mejor no me pegan un chupirul —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.181.191.4 (talk) 19:26, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Obviously this is an extremely late reply, but to address this point: Were you on the pitch? Did you actually hear what he said, or if he actually said anything at all? Is there a published interview where Salcido says that Donovan was mocking him? If not, then that's pure speculation on your part. For all we know (and it's a far more likely explanation), Donovan was simply looking back towards Salcido to see how far away he was and if Salcido had any possibility catching him. howcheng {chat} 19:33, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

How about his general "douchiness". I have seen him give the sloat thrash after scoring a goal once in a match. He is also is a real dick when he takes PKs, e. There must be some way that this can be noted in non-POV way in the article. Nlsanand (talk) 04:45, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

Find reliable sources first and then we'll talk. howcheng {chat} 07:26, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

User: 71.195.126.44

This user continues to vandalize this page.--The.Narko (talk) 15:00, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Bayern's name

It is my contention that since we would not translate clubs from other nations (Spain, Italy) we should not translate clubs from Germany. Surely if Landon had signed for Napoli or Sevilla, we would not list them as Naples or Seville. It is a fairly simple standard, namely, one that uses the actual name of the club, excluding the universally excluded "Football Club" and its various forms and abbreviations in the short form of the club's name. This, it seems obvious to me, is the only system that is uniformly consistent, and therefore is obviously preferable. Sorry for not registering this issue on the talk page sooner. -- Grant.Alpaugh 05:05, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

It's late, so I'll comment on this tomorrow. I'm just posting this to suggest to you (Grant) that you revert your last edit. You've violated WP:3RR and can now quite justifiably be blocked. I (honestly) wouldn't want to see that happen. faithless (^speak) 06:49, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

In that case, Grant, I expect you to go through the entire English language version of Wikipedia changing Germany to Deutschland, Italy to Italia, India to Bharat, Japan to Nippon, Norway to Norge, Finland to Suomi, Poland to Polska, and all the dozens and dozens of examples of times where there is a perfectly good local language equivalent instead of using the more common name used in English. Because, clearly, that's what you're advocating here. Now, obviously i'm making a sarcastic point here, but I absolutely cannot understand how you can be pig headed about this. For clarity: I would not change Naples to Napoli because the English language soccer media refers to the club from that city as Napoli. I would not change Sevilla to Seville because the English language soccer media refers to the club from that city as Sevilla. However, the English language soccer media refers to Bayern Munich as BAYERN MUNICH, not Bayern Munchen. And, as we are editing the ENGLISH LANGUAGE version of Wikipedia, then we should use the most common name for the team in ENGLISH. Grant, I've seen you're posts, and you are obviously an intelligent man. How is it possible that you do not understand this? --JonBroxton (talk) 07:12, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

Because I cannot tolerate inconsistency. If this were the standard, then Internazionale Milano would be listed as either Inter or Inter Milan in the UEFA articles, and they are not. For the record, I would be in favor of doing what you suggested with national team names. English (specifically British English) has a really shitty habit of changing the names of countries and cities because they find the pronounciation too difficult. If we can be expected to pronounce "ll" or "ñ", then there's no reason we can't pronounce "ü." I appreciate the compliment, but one important aspect of academics or intelligence is learning to call things by their correct, precise names, and in this area this project is sorely deficient. I'm trying to correct this within the articles of my greatest concern, namely, CONCACAF articles, and I am trying to leave things like page moves alone for articles relating to UEFA and CONMEBOL, because, well, I don't want to deal with angry hordes armed with torches and pitchforks. -- Grant.Alpaugh 13:19, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

Being inconsistent doesn't always mean it's wrong. I agree with you - in a perfect world, everyone would use the name the locals use, and everyone would understand everyone else. The French would say London instead of Londres. The Germans would say France instead of Frankreich. Americans would say Cuidad de Mexico instead of Mexico City. But, unfortunately, the world's not like that, and for Wikipedia to remain a workable, user-friendly tool which educates the layman, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and accept the most common word in a language, even when it is inconsistent. --JonBroxton (talk) 17:03, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

Has it occurred to you, Grant, that maybe the other articles are the ones which should be corrected? As noted above, this is the English language Wikipedia - we use the English names. I don't follow La Liga or Serie A, so I'm not much concerned with the articles for Seville, Inter, or any other examples you'd like to note. But if they're not in English, they should be. Unless you're going to take Jon up on his invitation to start changing every name in Wikipedia to their local name (Germany to Deutschland, Polska to Poland, etc.), I expect you to drop this. And I notice you didn't take my advice; that's fine. I obviously wouldn't block you myself in this instance, but break 3RR again and you will be blocked. And maybe you should ask yourself why you're the only one taking your position. faithless (^speak) 17:36, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

"English (specifically British English) has a really shitty habit of changing the names of countries and cities because they find the pronounciation too difficult." Who's this they then eh? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.99.99.250 (talk) 19:03, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

So would everyone be alright with me changing Bayern Munich to the proper English translation of Bavaria Munich? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.18.45.11 (talk) 03:35, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

While, as a German, I would appreciate if people would use the German names ;-), I have to say that changing the club name to "Bavaria Munich" in this article would be just stupid. Not only does everyone in the English-speaking world call that club Bayern Munich, but moreover that is also the offical translation given by the club itself. You can verfy that by checking out fcbayern.de, then click on the British Flag to view the English version of the site...! 91.216.105.11 (talk) 12:03, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Protected for one week

I've locked down the article for one week. Stop edit warring about this. howcheng {chat} 06:42, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

International Goals

The box (wikitable) that displays international goals does not mention which goals are scored from penalties. It seems like Donovan gets a fair amount of his goals from penalties, and it would be nice to easily see if I was correct. Is there any standard table that would let us easily add which goals are scored from the spot? --Ajwittenburg (talk) 16:02, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

If you want to do that, you'd have to do that for all players; why make a special case for Donovan? Besides, as far as statistics go, all goals count equally, PK or not. But if that is the route you want to pursue, I would bring it up at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Football. howcheng {chat} 16:15, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

What?

"Irish-american"? really? where's the source? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.171.246.124 (talk) 03:28, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

Based on the fact 'Donovan' is an Irish surname, I assume. But better evidence than that is needed. ANB (talk) 00:42, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Yet more vandalism by the Wikipedia Irish Mafia, I assume. Everyone famous is Irish in their eyes - barring perverts and serial killers, obviously.. Guv2006 (talk) 10:35, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Youth/Article Organization

Until 3-4 weeks ago, this article had a perfectly good section about his background and early career. It was also neatly organized into chapters between his clubs (though the Bayern Munich section was a bit long). Why was it all slashed and merged into this messy article there is now? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Possumhiss (talk • contribs) 07:18, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

I removed the layers of titling because it was chronologically wrong, suggesting that his most recent club was Bayern Munich rather than LA Galaxy. Dancarney (talk) 12:18, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Everton Loan

I have added a note in the editing page about not changing the current club until January, when he joins Everton. This seems to have been added and reverted several times already. I've also removed the comment about Everton trying to sign him until the end of the Premier League season - there has been nothing about this in any of the articles I have seen, they have always referred to a short term loan pending the start of the 2010 MLS season; The ref also showed an article saying 3 month loan like the others, and not end of EPL season as stated. Bertcocaine (talk) 18:04, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

main image

I know the image is theoretically a very appropriate image but cmon, he looks like he's about to pounce or something. Can we change this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Boludo29 (talk • contribs) 20:01, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

Find a better freely licensed one, then. howcheng {chat} 21:00, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from 76.169.93.79, 23 June 2010

{{editsemiprotected}} Please change "overtime" to "injury time" in the international career section at the bottom for the game against Algeria. Overtime only occurs in the knockout stages, the extra time added for injuries is different.

76.169.93.79 (talk) 16:22, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Y Done by someone else but it's done.--Giants27(Contribs|WP:CFL) 17:04, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Edit request from 69.243.9.86, 23 June 2010

{{editsemiprotected}} in the last sentence mentioning today's goal, perhaps "on overtime" should be changed to "in overtime" or "during overtime" thanks

69.243.9.86 (talk) 16:58, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

N Not done The term "overtime" was removed at some point to "extra time" which is the proper term. Cheers,--Giants27(Contribs|WP:CFL) 17:05, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Divorce

According to this article, Donovan's divorce from Bianca Kajlich was never finalized and the two are considering reconciliation. It's from the horse's mouth: http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/news/usa-s-donovan-is-reconciled-in-more-ways-than-one--fbintl_ro-donovankajlich062410.html -- MichiganCharms (talk) 19:11, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Greatest American soccer player ever?

The following line has been added to the intro paragraph: "Although still in his prime, Donovan is already considered by many to be the greatest American soccer player ever." The statement cites to an ESPN article which states: "Now the U.S. men find themselves in the second round, with Donovan surging in front of the pack as the best player this country has ever produced."

Personally, I believe it could be possible to consider him the greatest American soccer player ever, but this seems to be just an opinion, and not a fact. (unless a widely accepted opinion is then considered a fact?) Michael Jordan's article includes a quote saying that he is the "greatest basketball player of all time," however this quote comes from the NBA itself, which makes the claim seem more reputable than coming merely from a sports journalist.

So regarding the claim that Donovan is the "greatest American soccer player ever," is it appropriate to make such a claim in a wikipedia encyclopedia article? (I was going to delete the claim, but figured I ought to bring this up in the discussion section first.) CougRoyalty (talk) 20:34, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

This is something that comes up often with many player articles. The usual approach is to state that the player has won such and such awards, perhaps include some relevant quotes from noted luminaries, and leave it for readers to make up their own minds. See Talk:Ronaldinho#World's Greatest for a similar discussion. howcheng {chat} 17:36, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

How is it not factual to state that player is considered by a source to be the best something or other? The article is not saying Donovan is the best American soccer player ever, it's saying that there are sources (whose job it is to provide commentary and analysis) who have made such a claim, or at least have said that it's a reasonable claim to make. It's useful information that provides context for the player's regard within the sports world, so there's no reason not to include it. People who don't know a lot about soccer can look there and see that Donovan is considered by many sources to be the best player that the USA has produced, because he is considered as such by many. It's not like there can be only one player who people think are the best. Some people might say Donovan, some might say McBride, some might say Brad Friedel or Claudio Reyna. Regardless, there's no reason to ignore that this is a commonly held opinion just because it can't be proven. User:TheyCallMeBruce 14:33, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

But what good is some random journalist's opinion? If the USSF declares him to be the best ever, that means something because it comes from the country's governing body. You end up with the case that we have "Many journalists call Donovan the best American player ever" in this article, and then you have "Many journalists call Reyna the best American player ever" in Reyna's article, or even "Many journalists call Walter Bahr the best American player ever". To paraphrase The Incredibles, if everyone is special, then no one is. howcheng {chat} 23:15, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Concur with howcheng. These days reporters and announcers toss around opinions like the air they breathe. It's usually the measure of time that determines whether or not a player is "one of the greatest". To use the singular absolute is not best practice as other "better players" can or will be found. Even to just "cite it" is trite and goes contra Wikipedia policy that the following reader(s) should not encounter the previous WP:NPOV thoughts or posts of a preceeding editor. No, it's best to cite his achievements and if he becomes known as having "the most" of anything will help establish this player or any other other that they are "the best". ----moreno oso (talk) 23:54, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Man of the match

Everything is fine, but you left a very important part: the number of times that Landon was named Man of the Match by FIFA, an honor that few players have. He has had the honor of being MVP two times, source: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/awards/manofthematch/groupstage.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.78.182.165 (talk) 17:24, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

I don't agree that this is an important honour. Ilikeeatingwaffles (talk) 09:42, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Assists

Regarding Donovan's MLS assists. For some reason MLS isn't publicising the career regular season assists list anymore. I know that Etcheverry is fifth on the list with 101 assists and Cobi Jones is sixth with 91. As of July 4, 2010, Donovan has 90. In case anyone cares. Mohrflies (talk) 20:56, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Third American to score in multiple World Cups

There's a {{cn}} tag requesting a citation for Donovan being the third American to score in multiple World Cups. Try as I might, I can't actually find a source for it. However, simple logic will get you to that conclusion. For Clint Dempsey, I added [1] this reference that shows he was the 2nd American to do so (after the US–England match). The next match was against Slovenia, and Donovan scored the first goal, and he had previously scored in the 2002 World Cup, so that would make him the 3rd. Is there any way we can get around not having a citation for that sentence? howcheng {chat} 23:33, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Flags in playing History

I was surfing through and noticed that his playing history didnt conform with the general wiki standards and removed the flags and club crests from the playing history box. --203.206.45.252 (talk) 14:01, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

Other club records

For Donovan's player statistics, should we include his playing with Bayern Leverkusen, Munich and Everton? 72.219.227.230 (talk) 16:12, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

Other club records

For Donovan's player statistics, should we include his playing with Bayern Leverkusen, Munich and Everton? 72.219.227.230 (talk) 16:12, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

Tracking assists in the Career statistics section

Could somebody put an assist column in the career statistics section like on the Lionel Messi page? Also what appearances should be counted in the Senior Career section? Should it be league appearances, MLS cup appearances and U.S. open cup appearances? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.120.158.96 (talk) 08:15, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

Donovan's statistics...

Why the hell are his playoff statistics missing? Before you get your panties in a twist and say that playoffs stats shouldn't be included to follow American rules, bear in mind that this is soccer, and everything should be included. It isn't like Charity Shield or Promotion Playoff games are missing from say, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's stats. —Preceding unsigned comment added by PrescriptionDeath (talk • contribs) 09:30, 21 November 2010 (UTC)