None of the marquee teams made the MLS Cup final and one of the teams will be sewing on their first MLS Cup star. It's incredibly hard to argue that FC Dallas do not deserve to be there. Well, not that hard. The on-going debate about MLS Cup vs. the Supporters' Shield rages on and thanks to their incredible start, L.A. has not gone home empty-handed. Nevertheless, the Gals collapsed late in the season and seemed incapable of bring their A-game against any opponent other than Seattle. FC Dallas had one hell of a run and has refused to lose games all season. Atiba Harris can go ***** ***** ***** his ***** *** **********ing ******* with a blue ****** *****; I'll still support them as I have to feel they deserve it more.
Speaking of Collapses
Colorado is there too, after squeaking into the playoffs and winning the East. Wow, wasn't the East terrible this year? Columbus collapsed and couldn't hang on to the top spot in the East. The RedBull New York Red Bulls of Harrison, New Jersey had a magnificent turn-around from being the worst team in the league last year (hopefully, DC can repeat the feat next year). Much has been made of RBNYRBHNJ purchase of three designated players. That said, their first, Angel, and a number of non-designated players like Ream and Lindpere were the ones who dragged them to the top. Rafa Marquez (I didn't think I could hate the Pink Cows anymore, but they've pulled it off. What a franchise!) has been fine, as has Henry, but New Jersey wasn't leaning heavily upon them. However, the MetroScum were inconsistent and I would not have predicted them to make it too far in a playoff format.
FCD FTW
For my prediction, I'm going to say FC Dallas 2-1. I also think it will be a good game. Both teams have reliable offenses and good strike partnerships - neither really plays on the counter. I expect attacking soccer from them both. Although the game is being played in the frozen tundra of Toronto and the game could slow down if the players become frozen to the turf. The cold may play to Colorado's advantage, but I don't expect it to be too large a factor. So there it is: my prediction. Let's see how much crow I have to eat tomorrow.
P.S.
"Sporting Kansas City?" Yeah, it's a stupid name. Yeah, it's another name that harkens back to the Old Country (and to Portugal? How obscure - maybe they're trying to appeal to indie kids.) instead of trying to manufacture a new club. But it's better than "the Kansas City Wizards" and certainly better than "the Wiz." I know I follow at team called "United," but I agree with those who argue attempting to link MLS clubs to European giants, if only in name, sells those clubs short. I freely admit that I don't have any great names to recommend, but I would like to see a club take the suffix "S.C." rather than "F.C." if only to be true to our culture and to begin to craft our own identity as a league. But before you go too critical on MLS team for the derivative names, let's not forget that "serious" soccer countries in South America are riddled with teams named the likes of "Everton."
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