1. Which team won the Shield with Most Number of Games to Spare? DC in 2006, they won with 2 games to spare against Dallas! LA in 1998 might have won with 3/4 games to go though, but I'm not sure, as the 1996-1999 shoot-outs makes it difficult to work out the in-season points (if someone can lend a hand here it would be great!). 2. Which team wasted the Largest Lead in the Quest for the Shield? San Jose in 2002, they lead the overall standings by 7 points after 20 games, but eventually lost the Shield to LA on the last day by 6 points. Colorado in 1999 might have thrown away a 9 point lead back then, but again, the shoot-outs complicate things quite a fair bit here (help! help! . 3. What was the Largest Defeat suffered by a Shield Winners? DC in 1997 lost 1:6 by Kansas City, while LA in 2002 lost 0:5 to MetroStars! 4. What was the Worst Position for a Shield Winners in a Season? Columbus in 2004, was 10th out of 10 after 6 games with a record of 1-3-2. (This seemed to fit very well with its tag as the Weakest Shield Winners) Our newly-crowned Shield Winners, DC was 12th out of 13 after 4 games with a record of 0-3-1, only ahead of expansion TFC, what a turn-around!
Going back and taking off the late season results one by one, looks like LA won the shield on 9/13/98, when DC lost to Miami. Here's what the standings looked like before that night: Code: W L SOW Pts 28 1 DC United 22 6 6 54 28 2 Columbus 15 13 0 45 29 3 Metrostars 14 15 2 38 29 4 Miami 13 16 5 29 29 5 New England 10 19 2 26 28 6 Tampa Bay 9 19 1 25 W L SOW Pts 29 1 Los Angeles 22 7 1 64 28 2 Chicago 17 11 2 47 28 3 Colorado 13 15 2 35 29 4 Dallas 14 15 4 34 29 5 Kansas City 12 17 2 32 28 6 San Jose 10 18 3 24
Great analysis! So LA did set the record with 3 games to spare in 1998... The Last 5 Games of LA / DC / CHI: GP LA Game-------- DC Game--------- CHI Game 32 68 1-0 CHI----- 58 2-2 CLB (SOW) 56 0-1 LA 31 65 0-1 SJ------ 57 1-3 MIA------ 56 3-2 NE 30 65 0-0 SJ (SOW) 57 5-0 MTS------ 53 1-0 KC 29 64 5-3 MIA----- 54 3-4 MIA------ 50 3-1 COL 28 61 3-0 DAL----- 54 2-2 TPB (SOL) 47 2-3 DAL
Upon digging up past season's results, I believe the 8 points by '96 LA & '99 COL were the largest SS lead thrown away in MLS history. The following were the in-season overall standings back then: (correct me if I'm wrong) 1996 Round 12: # Team W S D L Pts 1 LAG 10-2-0-0 32 2 TPB 08-0-2-2 24 3 DAL 05-2-0-5 17 4 DCU 04-1-2-5 13 1999 Round 19: # Team W S D L Pts 1 COL 12-2-3-2 38 2 DCU 09-3-2-5 30 3 DAL 09-1-6-3 28 4 CHI 09-1-3-6 28 5 LAG 08-3-4-4 27 6 CLB 07-5-2-5 26 LA's huge lead in 1996 was all the more impressive, as after just 12 rounds, the 3rd & 4th placed teams were already 15 & 19(!) points behind!!
Here's some playoff-related trivia concerning SS winners. We all know that winning the SS is no guarantee of playoff success. In fact, the SS winner has won MLS Cup in only four of eleven seasons thus far. But which teams had the most successful and least successful playoff runs after capturing the Shield? Most Successful 1. DC United, 1997: In the era of three-game playoff series, DCU won every playoff game but one in regular time, with the other a shootout victory. They then took the MLS Cup 2-1 over Colorado. 2. LA Galaxy, 2002: LA needed a Carlos Ruiz goal in sudden death extended time to get a victory in the quarterfinals opener against KC. KC rebounded, pummeling LA 4-1 at Arrowhead, before being bounced out 5-2 by a half-hour Cobi Jones/Carlos Ruiz goal storm. They moved past Colorado in two, 4-0 and 1-0 before winning the MLS Cup 1-0 in extended time over the Revs. 3. DC United, 1999: It took a shootout victory to secure a 2 games to none victory in the opening round against Miami. The conference finals opened with a 2-1 DC victory over the Crew, but Columbus bounced back behind 3 Stern John goals to win 5-1. DC finished the job in the final match 4-0, then went on to win MLS Cup for the third time with a 2-0 win over LA. Least Successful 1. San Jose, 2005: After winning the SS by 5 points over New England, San Jose was rewarded by having to face an LA Galaxy team who they manhandled 3-1 in the season finale. San Jose could only manage a tie in the series, losing 4-2 on aggregate (1-3, 1-1). 2. Columbus, 2004: Having won the SS with the fewest total points to date, perhaps less was expected of the Crew. They delivered, scoring their only goal in stoppage time of the second match in a 2-1 aggregate loss to New England.
This is straight from Wikipedia, but no SS trivia thread could be complete without mentioning the curse: Some other SS facts from Wikipedia:
Hehe, actually I started these 2 sections on Wikipedia, Jinx: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MLS_Supporters'_Shield&diff=prev&oldid=74464297 Trivia: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MLS_Supporters'_Shield&diff=prev&oldid=78457886 The Jinx is also referenced on one of my favourite site (WVHooligan - Soccer Blog): http://wvhooligan.com/supporters-shield-history/
Looks like you need to update that Jinx page. I just hope the effects of the curse ends here for DC and doesn't prevent them from getting their stadium.
Actually the jinx was meant for the same team(s) in the next season(s), but there's no harm if we include some of curse(s) that has already materialized in the same season(s) as well... How ironic, the first team to make the playoffs (DCU) was the first to be eliminated, while the last to qualify (CHI) was the first to advance instead... (P/S: What constitute a materialized curse in the same season? I would like to limit the playoff failures to only those who didn't made it out of first round, such as what happened to SJE in 2005 & CLB in 2004, what do you think?)
Another "Runners-Up Woes" for Chivas in 2007... (so was FCD in 2006, among others, see The Supporters Shield and success in the playoffs for more details)
It still works then, but my reasoning was wrong. The DC loss was due to the jinx from last year's SS.
Time for some more recent updates: L.A. in 1998, they won with 3 games to spare against D.C.! D.C. in 2006, CLB in 2008 and L.A. in 2011 each won with 2 games to spare. Status quo. Status quo. Columbus in 2009 was 15th out of 15 teams after 5 games with a record of 0-2-3 (they remained win-less for 2 more games, breaking the duck only in Game #8). This team would share the tag of the least dominant SS Winners with the class of 2004, equaling the lowest total (49 points over 30 games) for any SS Winners.
Not a record or anything but the Fire won it once but lost it twice on a tie breaker. Same number of points, lost on goal differential or some shit like that.
Did this get fixed? Seems as though DC's back to back Supporter's Shields were rewarded with four (at least) consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs.
As things stand, 2012 should see at least 2 teams (S.J. already and K.C. upcoming) move past the 60-point mark, which would be a first in league history (which almost happened in 1998 & 2005). Chicago was in prime position to join the 60-point league, but alas, it was busted by Phily today...
A philosophical question: Why should there be a tiebreaker for the Shield itself? Yes, you need to have a mechanism to seed the playoffs, but if two teams finish the season with the same number of points, then they share. Screw the "Goals Scored" or "Goal Differential" or "Calvinball" style points, put both teams on there.
Huh? Just last year, Los Angeles earned 67 points and Seattle finished with 63. Chicago can still reach 60; so can New York, DC, and either RSL or Seattle. Likely? No. Possible? Yes.
Argh, my bad, good catch... Chic is playing N.Y. this Sat and D.C. on the final day, hence 1 (or more) of these teams will drop points and miss the 60-point mark...
True, but it is still possible for two of the three to get there. If Chicago and New York draw, both could still finish with 60 points, although this would mean that DC would not. If New York and DC both defeat Chicago, then both could still finish with 60 points (or 62 in New York's case).
You're right. After Week #31, D.C. & Chic are the only 2 sides of the 3 left to post a 60-point season. Both will set new club record of absolute points total if they manage that...
It represents the best team in the league over an entire season. While most of us don't see it as prestigious as MLS Cup, we recognize that in a European league, this would crown the regular season champions. So we want to know who was actually the best. Plus now, it matters for the CONCACAF CL spot.
FWIW, I believe the Quakes are only the 2nd "expansion team" to have won the SS (as an "expansion team" - they also won it as an "original"). Chicago was the other, and San Jose won it in the least number of years since entering (in this case re-entering) the league (5 years vs. I believe 6 for the Fire). Are they also the only SS winner to have gone undefeated at home, or did LA do that last year? The Quakes did the same thing in 2005 (undefeated at home).