2012 season schedule is published

Home games against Eastern Conference:
DC United
New England Revolution
New York Red Bulls
Philidelphia Union
Toronto FC

Away games against Eastern Conference:
Sporting Kansas City
Montreal Impact
Houston Dynamo
Chicago Fire
Columbus Crew


2 Home games against Western Conference:
Real Salt Lake
Portland Timbers
FC Dallas
Vancouver Whitecaps

2 Away Games against Western Conference:
Colorado Rapids
Seattle Sounders
Chivas USA
San Jose Earthquakes

 

Looking at which teams in the East we travel to, and which teams in the West we have 2 road games against, it appears LA was given a break on travel miles.

 

We get the 3 worst teams from last year in the Eastern Conference at home.

 

The one positive I see from this schedule is that we have two "away" games with Chivas USA, which means we have 19 out of 34 games at the HDC.

 

I cannot believe that we are not playing in one of the 3 games televised on NBC.

It's ridiculously lame that we have to play opening weekend between our CCL matches and Toronto and Seattle get that weekend off.

 

Weren't they gonna broadcast playoff games too? Maybe we'll be in those

 

I want there to be the largest rain storm that Southern California has seen in recorded history on March 10th.

I want it to pour buckets of water from the sky.

2011 started and ended with a rain storm and that worked out well. So my superstitious side says:

LET IT RAIN on 3/10!!!!

 

One thing that occurred to me is, if an eastern conference team wins the supporters' shield this year, it's bogus. We only get to play NERev and Impact once, but we have to play the Sounders and RSL three times. Wack.

 

At least they've pretty much eliminated the mid-week home games. Only 2 this year, and one of those is 4th of July.

 

I would be extremely happy if we won against Seattle all three times. Personally, I'd rather have that than be undefeated at home...

 

Yep. First, last and probably only. I understand the reasons, sort of, I mean Europa League teams have pretty insane travel Tottenham played in the middle of Russia, still I appreciate the lack of ambiguity when it comes to determining the Supporters’ Shield winner.

 

I would be extremely happy to win every game against every opponent

 

Matches I'm looking forward to
Sat., March 10 [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Real Salt Lake[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]7:30 p.m. opener[/FONT]
Sun., March 18 [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]D.C. United[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]4 p.m. How can you not hate DC[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sat., April 7[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]@ Sporting Kansas City[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2 p.m. Top team in the E.C. last year[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Wed., May 2[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]@ Seattle Sounders FC[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]7 p.m. Nothing needs to be said[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sat., May 5 [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]New York Red Bulls[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]5 p.m. Overpayed over hill rejects[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sat., May 19[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]@ Chivas USA[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]7:30 p.m. Honda Super Classico[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Wed., May 23 [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]San Jose Earthquakes[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]7:30 p.m. California Classico My birthday[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sat., May 26[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]@ Houston Dynamo[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]11:30 a.m.MLS Cup rematch[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]S[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]at., June 30[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]@ San Jose Earthquakes[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]7 p.m.California Classico[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sat., July 21 [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Chivas USA[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]7 p.m.Honda Super Classico[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sun., August 5[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]@ Seattle Sounders FC[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]7 p.m.Nothing needs to be said[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sun., August 12[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]@ Chivas USA[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]8 p.m.Honda Super Classico[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sun., October 21[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]@ San Jose Earthquakes[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]4 p.m.California Classico[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sun., October 28 [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Seattle Sounders FC[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]6 p.m.Nothing needs to be said[/FONT]

 

It is just hardening the steel.

The unbalanced schedule will accentuate the average superiority of the western conference. It is not exactly a secret that LAG, SEA, RSL, and FCD are the quality of the league, and they are all western conference. Eastern conference teams will be coasting, doing what is required to win a playoff position in the eastern conference. You could argue that this will damage the parity of the league in that the eastern conference teams are required to do even less to maintain the pretense of balance between east and west. It makes them look better with less effort. Western conference teams will be bringing it at the highest level because they have to if they expect to survive just within their own conference.

Hell, let's just fast forward to the future and call the eastern conference "second division". (I kid, I kid, a couple of the eastern conference teams will be solid contenders. Some day.)

That said, LAG has taken some damage in the off-season in a troublesome way. It is hard to imagine them coming into next season as strong as they were in the last unless some killer contracts show up. LAG is as good as it is because of their defense; there are other sides in MLS that have no difficulty competing with their offense.

FCD had real offense problems, but they are clearly making an effort to address those in the off-season. SEA had the best offense in the league last year and an above average but unremarkable defense. In the off-season, they have started a wholesale house-cleaning of defense with clear upgrades in talent. If Seattle gets Zakuani and White back, they will be absolutely ferocious on offense. RSL... well, I haven't been following or seen anything that has gone on with that club but it is top-tier for the MLS so you know they are doing something to reinforce their status as a top-tier team.

I have some respect for the top teams in the western conference, even if they are my mortal enemies on the pitch . Quality clubs that consistently play quality soccer are something to be respected and potential dangers to boot. These are the clubs I'll watch just for the quality even if they aren't mine. LAG seems to be losing some of their strength while at least two of the other serious MLS clubs are aggressively adding to theirs. That cannot be good for the Galaxy.

 

I guess then you only care about the MLS Cup. I for one, respect the Supporters' Shield more, and hold it in a higher regard. But of course I'm greedy and want to win in all competitions and cup's this year, including the Desert Diamond Cup.

 

On the contrary, I think the Shield is the title of the best team. I have relatively little interest in MLS Cup in the order of things, in large part because it seems so arbitrary.

Unfortunately, the Shield will mean a bit less given the disparity between the eastern and western conferences with this unbalanced schedule. It must be nice to dodge the western conference for most of the year. I'm all about consistent dominance, not hot streaks for a month at the end of the season.

 

Which can lead to metal fatigue and early fracture. Sorry, but having the tougher schedule is not an unmixed blessing.

 

Might have to plan a trip up to Portland mid-July...

 

I am confident in the Galaxy no matter what MLS team they play

 

Went up there last August for our road game. Had a blast... despite the result.

 

Ahhh block after block of brew pubs....