Here we go (finally?). Salt Lake at Kansas City for all the marbles, unless you're of the opinion that NYRB already took home the marbles with the regular season title. So, for all of these postseason/playoff type marbles at least! The broadcast is scheduled for 4:00 EST on ESPN. As always, keep it friendly here in the neutral PBP thread.
Two good teams who play a very entertaining brand of soccer playing in the cup final at one of the best stadiums in terms of attendance and atmosphere. Ya, I can live with this.
DC United already won the marbles that really count! The authentic, antique marbles. With history! And tradition! Funny how you didn't mention those marbles ... At any rate, I've made a decision. I'm backing RSL for MLS Cup 2013. That's not because I pity their having lost the USOC to my DC United, one of the rottenest MLS teams ever to disgrace the MLS regular season. No, I'm backing them because I don't hate them. In fact, I basically respect them. Regarding the Sporks, however, I can't say the same. The Sporks kind of annoy me -- and not just because every time I add SPORKS to the list of team nicknames on the Spork Wikipedia page, some ninny-Spork-fascist comes along and deletes it, as if Sporks weren't just about the most common nickname for the Sporks. (SPORKS! SPORKS! SPORKS!) The Sporks have a great new stadium, and all sorts of potential, but they aren't much fun to watch. They're not as bad as Houston, of course. But they're no RSL. The Sporks are blah. To me, Kreis is the sort of coach that should be rewarded with trophies, and he hasn't won enough. (He'd have more if his team didn't choke so badly to mine!) Vermes? I've got this sense that he's just way too much into the tough guy, macho soccer player thing. That's fine. Every team needs a thug to thug it up sometimes. But that shouldn't be the overall philosophy. Is that an unfair assessment of the Sporks? Maybe. Still, it's the sense I have. Plus, RSL have Garth Lagerway going for them. It's also, I think, important to oppose @JasonMa in most things. And I know he's rooting for the Sporks.
Damn you MLS. You expect me to remember this thing? I thought United won some championship months ago. I must have imagined that. That team was horrible.
So narrow minded. I am rooting for RSL obviously, but both clubs have been pushing their respective conferences for years and this match-up is both inevitable and exciting. Both should be viewed as legitimate conference winners, neither just squeaked into the Cup, as has happened many times in the past. Should be fun.
Attacking midfield style vs anti-football, chop them down in the midfield. It will be a good match, and a clash of styles. The set-pieces will be epic. Thankfully, SKC will not be unbalanced on defense, or so naive as PTFC was, and give a good showing. I see value in both teams.
weather forecast - mostly sunny but a high of just 25 degrees F: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClic...esult=Kansas City, KS 66111, USA#.UpwAQnazKpg http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...ures-await-RSL-at-MLS-Cup-in-Kansas-City.html
Apparently now RSL fans who don't live in KC aren't allowed to buy available GA tickets tomorrow unless they live in the KC area as verified by their credit card zip code. Honestly MLS? This is getting more and more bizarre. Why not just openly ban RSL fans and subsidize scalpers, oh wait, you did, twice. A more rational discussion below. http://www.kirsoccer.com/ticketgate-mls-cup-ticketing-amateur-hour/
The game will be on a few additional outlets beyond ESPN. http://golazo.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2013-12-07-sporting-kansas-city-vs-real-salt-lake/preview 2013 MLS CUP SPORTING KANSAS CITY vs. REAL SALT LAKE Sat., Dec. 7, Sporting Park, 4:00 pm ET/3:00 pm CT TV: ESPN; UniMas; TSN2/RDS http://golazo.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2013-12-07-sporting-kansas-city-vs-real-salt-lake/preview http://www.mlssoccer.com/tv MLS Cup Final - 4:00 PM ET on Saturday, Dec 7 LOCATION LOCAL NATIONAL ONLINE USA None ESPN, UniMas WatchESPN Canada & Mexico None TSN2 & RDS MLS LIVE And the league may get around to updating this link at some point this week: http://www.mlssoccer.com/international-tv-listings (as it currently still lists some games from Nov 9-10.)