posted by kidpurple
April 30, 2008
Some MLS teams are about to start playing some qualifying games for the 2008 US Open Cup. The teams are organized based on their final standings in the league at the end of last year. This is how it breaks down:
Already In:
- DC United
- Chivas USA
- Houston Dynamo
- New England Revolution
- FC Dallas
- New York Red Bulls
The other teams have to win their way in – some teams have to win more than others (the winner of the bolded games qualify for the US Open Cup):
1. San Jose EarthQuakes vs. Real Salt Lake
2. (Winner #1) vs Columbus Crew
3. (Winner #2) vs Chicago Fire
4. Colorado Rapids vs LA Galaxy
5. (Winner #4) vs Kansas City Wizards
So the Wizards and Fire only have one game to win to get in. Colorado, LA, and the Crew have to win 2. San Jose and Real Salt Lake need 3 consecutive victories to qualify.
That first game between San Jose and Salt Lake is taking place tonight – but unfortunately it doesn’t look like it is going to be televised anywhere.
posted by kidpurple
April 29, 2008
Would have you said I was crazy if I told you 6 weeks ago that today the Columbus Crew would be on top of MLS and that Houston Dynamo would be on the bottom?
I imagine if you say no – you are either lying or a Columbus Crew fan who happens to hate Houston. How many of you are there out there. I suppose it isn’t crazy to think that a lot of any fans hate the Dynamo – they are 2 time defending champions. I don’t think the Crew and Dynamo is necessarily a big rivalry, is it?
Well anyway, how long will it be before Houston is above the Crew? Maybe the Crew stay higher than the Dynamo all year? What do you think?
posted by kidpurple
April 26, 2008
The defending champions Houston Dynamo are the only remaining team without a win on their record. Tonight at 6:30 PM (CST) The Dynamo take on a hot Columbus Crew team who has 9 points from 4 games.
The Dynamo may still be without Pat Onstad in goal. Houston Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear would not say if Onstad would be back in goal tonight – he has been practicing all week. The Dynamo will be without Eddie Robinson who is serving a 3 match suspension for actions taken in the Kansas City Wizards game.
Can the defending champions finally get a victory tonight, or will the Columbus Crew continue their hot streak and take all the points from Houston?
posted by kidpurple
April 24, 2008
FC Dallas has the distinction of being the last remaining unbeaten team in this 2008 MLS season. Two draws followed by 2 wins has FC Dallas in third place on the single table and top of the West. Tonight they face off against annual MLS Cup runners up New England Revolution at Pizza Hut Park.
The Revolution could be missing Taylor Twellman, Steve Ralston, Chris Albright, Jeff Larentowicz, and Sainey Nyassi. FC Dallas shouldn’t expect an easy match even if none of these guys are able to see any playing time – the Revolution still have a lot of fire power available.
This is a tough game to predict with the way the Revolution have played so far this year. They could show up and dominate – or they could show up to be dominated. My MFLS prediction: Dallas 2 – 0 New England. Again, this pretty much ensures at least a point for the Revs so Revolution fans – you are welcome!
What do you predict on this one?
vs 
New England Revolution (2-2-1) 7pts – 4th-T
FC Dallas (2-0-2) 8pts – 3rd
7:30 PM – ESPN2
posted by kidpurple
April 17, 2008
We finally get back to our beloved Thursday night MLS on ESPN.
vs
Columbus Crew (2-1-0) 6pts – 3rd(T)
DC United (1-2-0) 3pts – 9th(T)
The season is so young but these teams are in opposite positions of where they ended last season – and most seasons for that matter. The Crew have picked up 2 home wins while DC United has only a single win with 2 losses in the first 3 weeks of the season. This game Columbus does not have the comfort of playing at home. Starting a season slow is nothing new for DC United. Last year they had an awful start to the season and ended up with the best record in the league. The Crew are looking to get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2004 when they were dropped in the first round by the Revolution.
I don’t think DC United will continue in their losing ways tonight. My MFLS prediction for this game is a 2-0 DC United win. This pretty much seals the deal for Columbus to at least pick up a point. My MFLS team and predictions have been horrible so far this year.
posted by kidpurple
April 11, 2008
The newest team playing in MLS right now is the San Jose Earthquakes. They’ve got 2 games under their belt – in their current incarnation. The Earthquakes were around years ago, but the club moved to Houston and became the Dynamo.
Next year Seattle will have a new team, kinda like an old team. The Seattle Sounders have been playing in the USL for 15 years now. Next year there will be no more Seattle Sounders, but instead they will have Seattle Sounders FC – and they will be playing in Major League Soccer. So they are a new team and kinda an old team.
The owners of the new Seattle soccer team wanted to have a “democracy in sports” philosophy, so they let the Seattle soccer fans vote on a name. The choices were Alliance, Republic or Seattle FC. The winner was the write in option of Seattle Sounders. The owners (mostly) stuck with their democracy in sports philosophy by naming the team “Seattle Sounders FC”.
The new team already has 14,000 deposits for season tickets, long before they have their first coach. Hopefully Seattle shows MLS love like Toronto has. Imagine the day that Toronto FC starts winning some games! As one of the worst teams in the league they have some of the best support in the league.
I would have voted for Seattle Sounders FC if I was choosing a name for a team that I was going to be a supporter of. What do you think of the (kind of) new name?
posted by kidpurple
April 9, 2008
I don’t have much to say about it. DC United has so many great looking chances and they just couldn’t score in their 2nd quarterfinal leg versus Pachuca. It took going down a a goal and desperately needing 3 goals to finally get them going. At least they came back and made it a one goal affair.
Houston on the other hand was embarassed by that Costa Rican team that usually does okay. Sad day 
At least now I’ve got MUFC vs. Roma recorded to watch tonight now that all my hopes of an all MLS CONCACAF Champions Cup final is over.
posted by kidpurple
April 7, 2008
The Kansas City Wizards are on top of the MLS single table after their win over the Colorado Rapid this weekend. This leaves the Wizards and the Red Bulls the only teams with perfect records this early in the season. The Red Bulls only played their first game of the year Saturday with a 2-0 victory of the Columbus Crew.
| Kansas City |
2 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
| Chicago |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
| Chivas USA |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
| Colorado |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| Los Angeles |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| New York |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| D.C. United |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| Columbus |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| New England |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| FC Dallas |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| Real Salt Lake |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Houston |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| San Jose |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Toronto FC |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
posted by kidpurple
April 2, 2008
0 – 2 
The CONCACAF Champions Cup is not going so well for DC United anymore. After an impressive 2nd leg at home in the first round, DC United had to play at Pachuca last night. The game went to halftime without any score, which was probably just fine with DC United.
Pachuca decided at half time that they were going to take the game to DC in the 2nd half. Thanks to my DVR I didn’t get to see the whole 2nd half, but Pachuca could have had several more.
Now the series goes back to DC for the 2nd leg. Hopefully DC can get back on track and overcome the 2 goals they gave up last night. They looked at times in the first half like they were going to take the lead. They should be capable of much much more playing in DC. I don’t think a 3-0 victory for United is too far from realistic.
posted by kidpurple
April 2, 2008
The LA Galaxy will have to be without striker Carlos Ruiz for 4-6 weeks after his knee injury he picked up in their season opener against the Colorado Rapids. Towards the end of that game Ruiz tore the meniscus and sprained the medial collateral ligament of his right knee.
What do the Galaxy do without Ruiz? Do they hope Alan Gordon can step up and score the goals that Ruiz is supposed to be scoring? They could always push Chris Klein up to striker!
