Major League Soccer

Haha. How'd you feel about deciding the title by playoffs rather than league table? I know it's standard practice in US sport, but its flaws are kind of obvious right now.

I don't really know how to feel about it. They've tried to make the regular season mean more with the Supporters' Shield winner (team w/ best record, the "real" championship most everywhere) being made eligible for the champions league. Now that only half the league makes the playoffs, and with the entry of more teams in the next few years, the race for the last couple playoff spots makes the regular season come down to the wire a lot more than even like 4-5 years ago where the top teams would coast through to the end of the season and the bottom feeders would give up.

But the East/West thing is confusing for a lot of people and a holdover from the NFL/MLB/NBA/NHL systems where there are 30+ teams in the leagues -- but in MLS Colorado is playing San Jose for the Eastern championship and a berth in the final. A few years ago New York was the (fluke) Western champions. So that's got to be fixed. Some of it is down to regionalism too. MLS doesn't have any teams in the southeast, and one thing you hear again and again from non-North-American players is the travel between games is a huge adjustment. So that plays into it as well.

IMO if the league can keep growing and survive with more teams, a divisional system based on regions (north, south, east, west) makes the most sense. If they hover at 20 teams for a while after Portland, Vancouver, Montreal, and the alleged 2nd New York team enter the league, a single table would make more sense. I'm not even going to talk about promotion and relegation because I don't think it will ever work here.

btw The Don says they're looking at changing the format: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/garber-we%E2%80%99re-looking-changing-playoff-format

then there's this:

Club,Sum of 2010 Guaranteed Compensation,% of total League Compensation
NY ,$15,666,639 ,22.10% out of playoffs
LA ,$10,978,594 ,15.50% still in playoffs
CHI,$5,559,104 ,7.80% didn't make playoffs
TFC ,$5,214,381 ,7.40% didn't make playoffs
SEA ,$3,118,104 ,4.40% out of playoffs
NE ,$2,983,033 ,4.20% didn't make playoffs
KC ,$2,945,107 ,4.20% didn't make playoffs
DAL ,$2,924,318 ,4.10% still in playoffs
PHI ,$2,886,400 ,4.10% didn't make playoffs
DC ,$2,881,530 ,4.10% didn't make playoffs
CLB ,$2,808,204 ,4.00% out of playoffs
COL ,$2,710,114 ,3.80% still in playoffs
RSL ,$2,645,722 ,3.70% out of playoffs
HOU ,$2,565,875 ,3.60% didn't make playoffs
SJ ,$2,518,590 ,3.60% still in playoffs
CHV ,$2,477,548 ,3.50% didn't make playoffs

GOALS! GOALS! GOALS!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faJrNKPHN48&feature=player_embedded

partial to angel's oddly just because thank fuck, someone plays to the whistle

allegedly KC Wizards are changing their name to Sporting KC? lame-o

should take advantage of lucrative sponsorship tie-in and name themselves KFC imo

Toronto FC already has a lock on being called KFC

I hope the Wizards don't change their name. They have the best name in professional sports, ffs!

better than the Washington Wizards?

never forget

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/16/KansasCityWiz.png

lol la

I'm so happy to wave goodbye to the Galaxy. I know it would be good for the league for Becks and Landycakes to win but I find them both pretty unlikeable, and Landon's "Manning face" is a thing to behold.

Yeah I had a big long post typed going on about what this means in the grander scheme, but it basically comes down to Dallas being a better team than they seemed and Colorado being pretty lucky. Dallas *might* be qualified champions, but the Rapids ain't no matter how you spin it. LA will still be in CCL next year, and someone might care about their best regular-season record.

so what does it say if Colorado beats Dallas then?

(pretty sure either way it'll be, "playoffs don't follow scripts")

It says about the same thing as last year's final, except RSL were/are a better team than Colorado. I'm picking Dallas, though, unless it's super freezing cold in Toronto next weekend -- they have a lot of players from much warmer climes.

http://theoriginalwinger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/galaxy3.jpg

Beckham looking Aslan-esque there

league best 11

GK- Donovan Ricketts, D- Jamison Olave, D- Omar Gonzalez, D- Nat Borchers, M- David Ferreira, M- Dwayne DeRosario, M- Sebastien LeToux, M- Javier Morales, M- Landon Donovan, F- Edson Buddle, F- Chris Wondolowski

lot of teams playing 3-5-2 in MLS lol

with 5 attacking mids lolol

how good is gonzalez? will he be the first choice cb for the us?

I'm sure he'll get a good look. I've read he's too slow to deal with top forwards but a lot of guys are like that. Definitely a scoring threat too.

Major League Soccer foolishly ignores the sport's American history.

ugh

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fc/Sportingkansascity.png

ugh

whats crazy is that a lot of these shitty MLS logos are just 90s-upped versions of what could be classy designs. like, why is that "3D" and not just a line drawing?

btw is there some central MLS design planning committee?

also

http://logoinspirations.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/MLS-Eastern-Conference.jpg

ffs this isn't team fortress 2

Because in the absence of any kind of historic tradition or "classic" imaging to fall back on, all sports motifs ever are designed to PUMP! UP! 14-year olds.

I figure we just have to wait another 50-70 years until the imagery from now seems quaint and tasteful to future sports fans, some of whom will no doubt be horrified by whatever the commercial aesthetic is in 2070.

xp That's what that Slate article argues, that they're bucking what history and tradition *does* exist in the name of "brand identity" and such.

I maintain that the Fire have one of the only truly classic logos in the league. DC's is pretty good, I have no real beef with TFC's or Philly either.

Also lolsome is apparently the KC prez left the door open for changing the name/crest back if it becomes even more obvious that the new one is a piece of shit.

yeah the chicago logo is def the best, hands down, and while i always thought the ~name~ was silly, the logo salvages it completely.

cf the mn wild logo, which is probably about as good as a Nu Wave design-by-committee logo can get (still not "classic", but acceptable)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4d/Minnesota_Wild_alternate_logo.svg

as pointed out in the slate article, abandoning this logo should be a crime:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/PortlandTimbers_OriginalNASLLogo.png

yeah, it's pretty flawless

columbus crew has to be my least favorite current mls crest, but this is one is just hilariously ugly:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4f/TampaBayMutiny.png

love the typeface

the guardian podcast has a preview of this weekend's final today, predictably they mostly make jokes and talk about Beckham

When I see that Mutiny crest my inner voice talks through a vocoder.

Sporking Kansas City
Kansas City Sportards

Jay DeMerit signs with Vancouver

damn it, I was really hoping the Fire'd snag him

That Slate article otm.

I think I've said on here before that they should revive some of these ancient clubs wholesale and see what sticks: Bethlehem Steel, Cosmos, Hakoah, etc. It was a whimsical notion that they might have a place in some kind of folk memory, but the article makes it obvious - that the history stuff is attractive in itself. The branding culture as it is does seem particularly brain dead - Galaxy or whatever is just a peg, 'Field Club' would do the same job and might actually bring something else to the table too.

I dunno, I quite like 'Sporting'. They should've called themselves Axis Kansas City though.

yeah, it bummed me out when i found out that there was an old team, west hudson athletic, that played in the same town where the new red bull arena is.

would definitely support a new Brooklyn Hakoah.

When I see that Mutiny crest my inner voice talks through a vocoder.

yeah it sure feels like it's this guy's favourite team
http://www.overidon.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/mega-man-2-air-man.jpg

One of the Fire communications dept staffers suggested "Kansas City City" xps

haha that would be awesome

http://unprofessionalfoul.com/2010/11/18/your-top-25-futuremlsfranchise-names/

priceless, I love "Newell's Old Boise"

also "Savannahthinaikos"

Racine Santander and Galatallahassee my faves

Galatallahassee and Dayton Orient for me.