No one cares about the Dynamo. Sorry I haven't updated this thread. Work/school monster swallows up all my time. Planning on getting after it after this weekend.
I'm just glad that we can legitimately show our face in this thread as a playoff possibility again. It sure is nice to have the team that we knew was in there and cheered for in 2010 back.
Possible, but not probable. IF LA and Vancouver maintain their 1.42 points per game rate, they end up with 48.4. Right now we have 32 points with 7 games left. To get 49 points or better we have to win at least 5 of our 7 remaining games (2.42 points per game). The worst records (W-L-T) we can have are 5-0-2 or 6-1-0. This is a dose of reality after the joy and sudden optimism of the last 3 games. More bad news, there are only 2 "easy" games left (Chivas). On the positive side, even though LA has a game in hand on us, if we win this Sunday against them, we close to only 2 points behind them. That’s got to put some pressure on them and give us even more confidence and momentum going forward. More good news, LA has a CCL game on Thursday. Burn baby Burn!
Even though pretty much everyone has games in hand on us, what I'm hoping is that it might help us in the respect that while everyone else is being ground down by having to play a lot of games in a short stretch, we won't. In other words, if LA has to play a lot of games in the coming weeks, they may not be able to maintain a 1.42 PPG pace.
Be weary of that 1.42 ppg pace. Since June LA is 8 wins 3 losses and 2 ties. For 26 points in 13 games for 2 ppg. Prior to June they were 3 wins, 8 losses and 2 ties for 11 points in 13 games for 0.85 ppg.
So I've been really bored and have put together a spreadsheet with some different stats to look at the Supporters Shield race and the playoff race. I had originally set the Eastern Conference teams needing 48 points for the playoffs and the Western Conference at 47 points. I may change that after this weekend though. Code: Eastern Conference PPG Max Pts PPG of Last 7 PPG of Club Pts GP W L T PPG to 48 Possible RMNG Teams Last 7 PPG RMNG Teams Sporting KC 46 25 14 7 4 1.84 0.22 73 1.47 1.86 1.76 NY Red Bulls 44 25 13 7 5 1.76 0.44 71 1.46 1.86 1.46 Houston Dynamo 41 25 11 6 8 1.64 0.78 68 1.27 2.29 1.32 Chicago Fire 41 25 12 8 5 1.64 0.78 68 1.40 1.86 1.54 D.C. United 40 24 12 8 4 1.67 0.80 70 1.28 1.43 1.29 Montreal Impact 36 27 11 13 3 1.33 1.71 57 1.43 2.14 1.47 Columbus Crew 33 23 9 8 6 1.43 1.36 66 1.31 1.57 1.34 Philly Union 24 22 7 12 3 1.09 2.00 60 1.43 NE Revolution 23 24 6 13 5 0.96 2.50 53 0.29 Toronto FC 20 24 5 14 5 0.83 2.80 50 1.00 Code: Western Conference PPG Max Pts PPG of Last 7 PPG of Club Pts GP W L T PPG to 47 Possible RMNG Teams Last 7 PPG RMNG Teams SJ Earthquakes 47 25 14 6 5 1.88 0.00 74 1.17 1.57 1.10 Real Salt Lake 42 26 13 10 3 1.62 0.63 66 1.38 1.29 1.45 Sounders FC 40 24 11 6 7 1.67 0.70 70 1.29 2.00 1.24 Whitecaps FC 37 26 10 9 7 1.42 1.25 61 1.24 1.00 1.18 LA Galaxy 37 26 11 11 4 1.42 1.25 61 1.34 2.00 1.23 FC Dallas 32 27 8 11 8 1.19 2.14 53 1.53 1.86 1.49 Chivas USA 27 22 7 9 6 1.23 1.67 63 1.47 1.14 1.42 Colorado Rapids 26 25 8 15 2 1.04 2.33 53 0.57 Timbers 21 24 5 13 6 0.88 2.60 51 0.29 Some of the other things I put in here are combined average points per game of remaining opponents, points per game for each teams previous 7 games, and combined average points per game for remaining opponents previous 7 games. I didn't complete some of the categories for some of the teams that look like they are out of the race. I also posted this in MLS: N&A
I just spent a lot of time typing out a new table only to accidentally click on the main site so when I hit backspace it went to the previous page and forgot everything. So just follow here: http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings
MVP favorites anyone? Or are we all such boring homers that we don't care or won't admit to being interested? I'd like to see Rosales or EJ rewarded for what they've done in Seattle. Seattle was not a powerhouse for most of this season, and they struggled to win games convincingly until these two became regular starters. Once Rosales came back from his injuries and EJ had proven his worth during Montero's slump, Seattle went from being unpredictable and underperforming to an almost certain winner every week. One of the big downsides to picking either of them is that they weren't able to beat a similarly-unpredictable/underperforming Kansas City side to claim a fourth consecutive Open Cup. Maybe the MLS MVP award only takes league matches into consideration, but it's hard to totally ignore the Open Cup when it comes to Seattle. Wondo would be an obvious pick in terms of his goals and assists. I just think it wouldn't be a particularly interesting or thoughtful choice. San Jose hasn't shown that they rely on Wondo for results the way Seattle relies on EJ and Rosales, so he's less "valuable" to his team in that sense. Still, any other team would probably rather have Wondo than the Seattle players. As a preemptive response against those who are about to say "Ferreira -- look what he did for us when he came back," I say look at what Higuain has done for Columbus since he arrived at about the same time in the season.
Huge game for us on Sunday. Too bad that Colorado is so banged up. If Vancouver fail to get the full 3 points, the gulping and quivering is going to get very serious in Canada.
You pay money for Direct Kick. You actually are home to watch an important game and what happens? The damn Canadian channel that is suppose to be showing the game is showing the end of an NFL game. Wish someone who controls such things gave a shit enough to switch it to the Rapids' broadcast.
Colorado happily shitting the bed, throwing away a goal lead (should have been more) and now down 2-1.
And then Vancouver remembered they were Canadian. Grats. You guys have a legit shot now and are far superior.
Thanks for the well-wishes. It is now playoffs, (albeit in an unofficial way). It is so weird how playing against several opponents on a standings table at the same time you are playing against a matched league opponent can totally screw with your head. What is it Randy Galloway used to clamor for? "Ah but to have a meaningful game in September", and that ladies and gentlemen is where we sit. The knees will knock and the hands will tremble, but the brave of heart and cool of mind will be playing into late October.
I know, it is all over..... but I thought that before too. If we can somehow close the 4 pt. gap and end up tied for points w/ Vancouver we move ahead on the first tie-breaker, (most goals scored). 10/21 fixtures Portland @ Vancouver Dallas @ Seattle 10/27 and 28 fixtures Vancouver @ RSL CUSA @ FCD So, if Vancouver win even 1 game we are done. However, anything less and the odds are still squirming. I fully expect to be scoreboard watching the last week.
All our hope rests on Portland. I don't think Vancouver will get anything against RSL in their house, but first Portland has to deny them a win. The way Vancouver has been as of late, I wouldn't put it past them.
Port v Van has Cascadia Cup implications as well. Portland has to win versus VAN to take the cup. A tie does them no good.
Those BS cups don't mean shit, unfortunately. The Brimstone has the most history behind it and I bet the players barely care about that.