Defining moments are labeled as such for a reason, and whatever else Landon Donovan has or will accomplish in his soccer career, it will be for a handful of iconic fractions of time on the biggest stage of all that he will be primarily remembered.

Landon Donovan has been the face of USA soccer for more than a decade. (Getty Images)The United States' World Cup history is limited in both its quantity and success and Donovan, as a player who has provided the national team with some of its fondest memories, is the exception rather than the rule.

In the breathless build-up to the next World Cup in Brazil in 17 months time, countless television highlight packages will be largely built around Donovan's exploits in the tournament, from his dramatic injury time winner against Algeria in 2010 to his comeback-launching thunderbolt against Slovenia, or his destruction of Mexico as a carefree 20-year-old in 2002.

Yet no longer can U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann afford to plan on Donovan being his centerpiece for 2014, even considering his pedigree, his status as the

Bradley Wiggins, the 2012 Tour de France champion, might skip this year's race. (Reuters)

Tour de France organizers have made radical changes to the 2013 event in an effort to ease the damage the race has suffered as a result of Lance Armstrong's doping scandal.

Race director Christian Prudhomme started the campaign this week to generate some much-needed positive publicity, unveiling a route of such difficulty and unpredictability that it left riders and commentators stunned.

Admittedly, it is a move that smacks of desperation, but that does not make it wrong. For these are indeed desperate times for cycling, and the specter of Armstrong's sinister dynasty of doom will still be in place next summer and beyond.

The extraordinary report compiled by the tireless United States Anti-Doping Agency didn't have any photographs, but served up the most chilling of images. The report contained details of Armstrong and others gaining an edge by pumping their veins with EPO and their own stored blood, then doses of saline to bamboozle the testers.

The 2013 Tour de France

International soccer chiefs fear they could be subjected to legal action from disgruntled players or teams after finally bringing the game into the 21st century by implementing technology aimed at cutting out unfair goal decisions.

Goal-line technology is aimed at preventing an obvious mistake, like this Ukrainian goal that wasn't. While other sports such as tennis and football have for years embraced an instant replay system, soccer has been slow to catch on, leading to a swathe of negative publicity following embarrassing mistakes from referees in big games.

Yet even though soccer's governing body FIFA has given the green light to two systems that will ascertain whether or not the ball has crossed the line and therefore be awarded as a goal, it immediately acted to protect itself from any financial backlash.

FIFA demanded that GoalRef and HawkEye, the two systems that it granted approval for use, each obtain an insurance policy that indemnifies FIFA against any legal challenge for recompense in the event that the technology gives incorrect information.

FIFA head Sepp Blatter

Lance Armstrong's final escape route was closed to him on Monday, with his complete fall from sporting grace confirmed by the international chiefs of his own sport.

The UCI, cycling's world governing body, upheld the findings of a thorough and damning report by the United States Anti-Doping Agency that accused Armstrong of masterminding a doping strategy that involved prohibited drugs, blood transfusions and elaborate schemes to fool testing authorities.

At a media conference Monday, cycling leaders revealed the 41-year-old will be banned from competitive cycling for life and stripped of the seven Tour de France titles he won between 1999 and 2005, leaving the Texan no more outs except perhaps disclosure of the long-awaited complete story.

"This is the biggest crisis cycling has ever faced," said UCI president Pat McQuaid. "This was an enormous, sophisticated cheating program."

Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life by the UCI. (Reuters file)Monday's events seemed to be the last piece in the puzzle, as there had been some doubt as to

Sleeping tablets reportedly is to blame for the England national soccer team's sleepy performance in a disappointing 1-1 draw against Poland this week in World Cup qualifying.

England was a strong favorite going into the game, but it appears its players may have been caught out when the contest was rescheduled from Tuesday to Wednesday night because of a waterlogged pitch caused by heavy rain in the Polish capital of Warsaw.

Steven Gerrard (left) and England sleepwalked through Wednesday's 1-1 draw.Several English newspaper reporters were alerted to the fact that members of the squad, who reportedly use caffeine pills to boost their energy levels ahead of games, struggled to sleep on Tuesday night once the postponement was announced.

Team doctors then prescribed sleeping pills to those unable to get their beauty sleep – but that decision has been widely questioned in the British media as Roy Hodgson's side looked sluggish and unconvincing against an opponent ranked 49 places below it at No. 54 in the world.

"When you're fired up, pumped up, you've had your

Even smack in the middle of the baseball nirvana that is October, one complete with wild comebacks by wild-card teams, the ankle crack heard around the world and a whole bunch more good ol' sporting fun, few can argue with a straight face that the sport remains the true national pastime.

For football is king these days, with the game's physicality and ferocity taking a firmer grasp of the public psyche. Yet while baseball no longer commands the all-encompassing focus of the United States, there is still one area where it rules the roost. And where football, for all its fantasy stranglehold and weekend omnipresence, cannot compete.

[Related: More on 'A Day of Champions']

The world of sports memorabilia collecting is a small one, and it has to be. There are only so many ultra-rare items pertaining to the games we watch with fervor, and an even smaller number of self-confessed lunatics with the patience, quirk of personality and bottomless funds to acquire them.

Gary Cypres is one of

Crisis was averted for the United States on Tuesday night as the grim specter of a long spell in the soccer wilderness was brushed aside in Kansas City.

Still, there was a reason why the celebrations from head coach Jurgen Klinsmann and his players told a tale of relief rather than jubilation after the 3-1 victory over Guatemala booked a spot in the next round of World Cup qualifying.

Clint Dempsey watches his second goal go into the net. (AP)

The semifinal round of the CONCACAF qualification process shouldn’t have posed any concern for Klinsmann's side. Yet it did, from the frustrating night when it lost in Jamaica to a narrow escape against Antigua and Barbuda all the way to the first five minutes on Tuesday when Guatemala's Carlos Ruiz scored the opening goal that briefly cracked open the door to disaster.

Defeat could have sent the U.S. crashing out and left it with at least six years before it would appear again on a global stage. A strong response was needed, and so it materialized with three first-half goals, including two

Sporting Kansas City has no plans to change the name of Livestrong Sporting Park

On Tuesday night, the U.S. men's soccer team will play a game that carries seismic repercussions for the sport's immediate future in this country. And it will do so at Kansas City's Livestrong Sporting Park, a stadium tainted by an association with cheating that could not be more obvious.

The United States is a heavy favorite to at least tie Guatemala and guarantee a place in the next round of World Cup qualifying. A defeat could lead to elimination and an unthinkable disaster that would take years of head-scratching and reevaluation to fix.

On the subject of dilemmas, the fact that this game will take place in an arena that carries the trademark of the greatest cheat in sports history is one that could be solved far more easily.

Sporting Kansas City is an impressive Major League Soccer club that has built a beautiful venue, generated a loyal core of local fans and structured a team that is one of the finest in the domestic league.

When Sporting KC adopted the Livestrong name