[Schfourteenteen]

Quarterfinals

Real Salt Lake 3
Seattle Sounders 2

Sporting KC 4
Colorado Rapids 0

Houston Dynamo 3
Philadelphia Union 1

LA Galaxy 3
NY Redbulls 1



Semifinals (Sunday)

LA Galaxy 3
Real Salt Lake 1

Houston Dynamo 2
Sporting KC 0

[Sly Fox]

I got a late call to shoot the Dynamo game tonight for Comcast Philly. But I had family commitments. Looks like I missed a good one.

[jbock13]

American Soccer


Although I guess go kansas city or whoever.

[Schfourteenteen]

American Soccer

Not sure what's laughable about it. It's not the best in the world, but it sure is entertaining.

In fact, it's probably close to on par with Championship, and no one in England at those teams....save Portsmouth.

[ALUmnus]

MLS had a higher average attendance this year than both the NBA and NHL (for their last full season). Stadiums are full, that's a good thing.

[From the class of 09]

I'm all for America developing our soccer programs. That way we can beat the world in that too.

[jbock13]

It's still boring, and low quality. Give me EPL, Spanish Premier or even Serie A any day over American soccer.

Just my opinion though.

[Kolzilla41]

It's still boring, and low quality. Give me EPL, Spanish Premier or even Serie A any day over American soccer.

Just my opinion though.

This the same guy with a Columbus Blue Jackets avatar (2w 10l1t 5pts)? Good thing you go with "quality" teams

[Schfourteenteen]

It's still boring, and low quality. Give me EPL, Spanish Premier or even Serie A any day over American soccer.

Just my opinion though.

I have to ask - can you name the last 5 games youve watched?


Also - Doop Doop Doop is the best goal scoring song ever. In fact, we ought to play Maria (I like It Loud) by Scooter at football games.

[TDDance234]

Beckham turned back the clock last night. . .LA is going to be hard to beat with him playing as well as he has.

With the NBA on hiatus, MLS has a real chance to take some of there TV time. It's a shame the season is ending.

[jbock13]

It's still boring, and low quality. Give me EPL, Spanish Premier or even Serie A any day over American soccer.

Just my opinion though.

This the same guy with a Columbus Blue Jackets avatar (2w 10l1t 5pts)? Good thing you go with "quality" teams

Hey now! They suck so bad the last thing they need are people insulting them! lol But I mean, you and I are Redskins fans so... ehm...

[NotAJerry]

As a DCUnited season ticket holder, I can say from watching live just how much the talent level has improved. I would not put MLS squads on par with the English Championship over the course of a season due to the roster limitations that are still in place, but they would be competitive in single games. MLS is leaps and bounds above the awful product that debuted with a handful of names from the 94 World Cup, no infrastructure nor any plan to develop it, and a fan base that was wiser to top level soccer than owners and executives thought they were.

The current NASL is nearly at the level of what MLS was in its first few seasons. That's a good thing to say about a 2nd division soccer league in the US.

These playoffs have already been quite good and the league is getting stronger as each successive round of expansion takes advantage of what has been learned by those who expanded before them.

I'm rooting for RSL and Sporting KC this weekend, but the league is determined to get LA another title so that may just happen.

Let's not forget the excellent new TV deal with Versus/NBC Sports that is going to replace the Fox Soccer Channel deal starting next year. MLS is here to stay and I wouldn't be surprised if it's the #2 sport in the US during my lifetime.

[Schfourteenteen]

That's a fair assessment. For whatever reason, I keep thinking of United's 4-0 win over Portsmouth from last year.... you know, the game where Portsmouth lost their luggage and wore DC away jerseys.

The jury is out on the NASL. The USSF put minimum standards on Division 2 and I'm not sure they'll be able to accomplish them again this year. A one division league is almost impossible to make money off of below the MLS, especially since minor league teams cant secure any valuable youth prospects.

[NotAJerry]

That's a fair assessment. For whatever reason, I keep thinking of United's 4-0 win over Portsmouth from last year.... you know, the game where Portsmouth lost their luggage and wore DC away jerseys.

The jury is out on the NASL. The USSF put minimum standards on Division 2 and I'm not sure they'll be able to accomplish them again this year. A one division league is almost impossible to make money off of below the MLS, especially since minor league teams cant secure any valuable youth prospects.

The NASL should get provisional status again this year, and they are replacing the Montreal squad that is moving to MLS with a solid looking organization in San Antonio. 2nd division soccer isnt' a moneymaker at this point, but it's not the sieve it was just 10 years ago. There's talk of a return for the Austin franchise, rumors of a couple of other potential locations (LA, St. Louis, maybe stealing Orlando from USL), and another Canadian franchise granted for Ottawa in 2013. Carolina, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa are all running at nearly break even right now. Puerto Rico is really well run. Minnesota showed positive signs towards the end of the year including good playoff crowds. Atlanta continues to be a horrible sports town and Edmonton just seems stuck by themselves with little to no hope.

If the Austin and LA franchises come to fruition then they only need 1 more to comply with the ratio of US and Canadian franchises and have teams in 3 US time zones to gain their full status.

[Sly Fox]

I have to love any conversation that references Austin and sub-MLS soccer. My best friend does the TV for the latest Austin outfit and I covered a slew of games under the old Austin Lone Stars when they bounced between 2nd & 3rd Division for a number of years (with regular call-ups to the then Dallas Burn).

The Dynamo stadium here in Houston (that they will have to share with Texas Southern University football for political reasons) is progressing very nicely. As I drove by the other day the concrete bleachers were being set into place. It is just 4-5 blocks away from Minute Maid Park in the downtown area. It is going to be quite an MLS showplace similar to Frisco & Carson.

[Schfourteenteen]

I've heard Austin/USL talks as well. That would be quite ironic wouldn't it?

IMO both NASL and USL are not broad enough to reach Texas franchises. An ownership group would be best off starting a pro team in the 4th Div(PDL), building a fan base while limiting their expenses for now. The last thing we need is another LA Blues(USL).

[Schfourteenteen]

The Dynamo stadium here in Houston (that they will have to share with Texas Southern University football for political reasons) is progressing very nicely. As I drove by the other day the concrete bleachers were being set into place. It is just 4-5 blocks away from Minute Maid Park in the downtown area. It is going to be quite an MLS showplace similar to Frisco & Carson.

You'll need to take pics when it's coming to fruition.

[Sly Fox]

The Dynamo have been playing in UH's 30k football stadium and it is actually a pretty nice MLS venue. But Houston is one of the best soccer markets overall in the U.S. So building a legit quality MLS stadium was a must. But in a city where it is basically a 30-30-30-10 racial makeup the process to build the stadium became highly politicized. That why a SWAC school that couldn't get 3k a game into their own crib suddenly is getting equal billing & access to this new stadium. It is a complete joke. But it was the price to pay to get past a certain voting bloc.

I'll try to snap a pic or two next time I am heading by the place.

[NotAJerry]

Major League Soccer doesn't get the buzz on sports radio or the blogs, but it has corner kicked its way past the NBA in average attendance, according to the news site Examiner.com. MLS attendance has gone up 6.6 percent this season, helping it become the new No. 3 sports league in the United States, based on per-game attendance. An average of 17,870 fans have attended MLS games over the course of the 2011 season -- that's 3.0 percent more than the NBA and 4.1 percent more than the National Hockey League.

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/20 ... rts-league

The inaugural season of MLS had an average attendance of 17,410 and a median attendance of 15,093. During the following 14 years all sorts of gimmicks, international friendlies for double headers especially, were used to pump up attendance figures. This year, in season 16, MLS beat it's own average attendance record with 17,869, and shattered the median attendance record (3 of the last 4 years had beaten the inaugural season by a few hundred) by nearly 2,300 per game for a median attendance of 17,639. To have the average and median be so close tells how far the league has come and how little variance there was.

[NotAJerry]

To follow up a bit, here's a look at where the MLS attendance ranks among leagues around the world:

1. Bundesliga 42,673
2. EPL 35,283
3. La Liga 29,128
4. FMF 26,722
5. Seria A 24,031
6. Primere Arg 20,670
7. Ligue 1 19,650
8. Eredivisie 19,116
9. J. League 18,428
10.MLS 17,869
11.Eng. Champ. 17,388
12.Brazil A 14,839
13.China 14,581
14.Bund 2 14,539
15.Turkey 14,058
16.Scotish PR. 13,677
17.Indonesia 12,533
18.Iran 12,388
19.Russ Prem. 12,322
20.Algeria 12,088

That's not a bad spot to be in. Of course, MLS ticket prices are still fairly low and they aren't making any real TV money yet, but it's still a positive to have attendance in the top 10 for domestic soccer leagues.

[jbock13]

The Dynamo have been playing in UH's 30k football stadium and it is actually a pretty nice MLS venue. But Houston is one of the best soccer markets overall in the U.S. So building a legit quality MLS stadium was a must. But in a city where it is basically a 30-30-30-10 racial makeup the process to build the stadium became highly politicized. That why a SWAC school that couldn't get 3k a game into their own crib suddenly is getting equal billing & access to this new stadium. It is a complete joke. But it was the price to pay to get past a certain voting bloc.

I'll try to snap a pic or two next time I am heading by the place.

Sly, did the CongressWOMAN!!!! have anything to do with it?

[Sly Fox]

She did as well as a coalition of city council members. I tip my hat to their maneuvers while my stomach turns at the same time.

[Sly Fox]

The Dynamo look flat in the midfield but the defense has been salty. Scoreless at the half.

[Sly Fox]

Congrats to the Galaxy. I would assume Becks is most certainly gone now.

[BJWilliams]

LA finished 15-1 in 1 goal games this year including playoffs