Rank the silverware

[BigKris]

I've seen a lot of concern about how DC is going to manage its roster so as to pull off the quadruple this year :p

Let's assume for the moment that we cannot, in fact, go balls-out in every single competition - I'm interested to hear your opinions on how we should prioritize.

Which of these championships is most important, and which is least? Which should DC put the most effort into and which less?

US Open Cup
Supporters' Shield
MLS Cup
Copa Sudamerica

[RMDad]

MLS Cup
Supporter's Shield
Open Cup
Copa Sudamericana

Payne and company having to spring for a new trophy case straight out of the blocks, now that's a burden I could live with.
:p

Mark

[ursula]

1) MLS Cup is the unquestioned most important trophy.

2) Copa Sudamericana. Winning this would have South America taking notice.

3) USOC

4) Supporter's Shield. This is a tough one. By itself I give it some but not much importance. But winning it gives a #1 seed in the playoffs. Of the 5 times we've been in MLS Cup we've won or tied for the shield twice (97 & 99). The other three times we've finished second in the conference. This year i feel that if we are playing well we could go to KC or NE and get the desired result, but I'd rather do it home in front of you guys.

[JayJay4Pres]

MLS Cup
Copa
Open Cup
Shield

[Bill-DC]

MLS Cup
USOC
Copa

[Nick_78]

1. MLS Cup
2. MLS Cup
3. MLS Cup
4. MLS Cup

[DCunited11]

all of them, duh...the more the better

[MattMathai]

MLS Cup
US Open Cup
Copa Sudamericana
Supporters Shield
Atlantic Cup
La Manga Cup
Fruit Cup
Athletic Cup

[badgoalie85]

In the glorious future that the MLS is bound to have our "double" will most likely be the MLS Cup and then the US Open cup. The USOC is the oldest soccer trophy in the US so it comes with a little prestige already. Winning Copa Sudamericana would be really really big, but in terms of importance you probably have to rank it with the MLS Cup first, then USOC, the copa, then the shield

[BBBulldog]

to win

Copa Sudamerica
MLS Cup
US Open Cup
Supporters' Shield

since we can't realistically win CS,

MLS Cup
US Open Cup
Copa Sudamerica
Supporters' Shield

[wonderman]

I actually met with steve sampson in the preseason and took the opportunity to tell him that his priorities should be -

beat chivas at every oportunity (mission accomplished)
win the supporters shield
win the MLS cup
win the open cup
win international cups (if we ever get into those competitions again)

I take a lot of pride in beating regional rivals because even if the rest of the seasonfalls apart (which it has) we have something to be proud of.

I also think the supporters shield is under rated. I know its not fair that some teams face weaker competition more often, but to me, it still means you were the best that season as opposed to hitting your stride at the right time.

I mean, how would you guys feel if new england had gone on to win the cup last year after just barely scraping into the playoffs?

[badgoalie85]

I mean, how would you guys feel if new england had gone on to win the cup last year after just barely scraping into the playoffs?

you know, now that i think about it, i think the supporter's shield is probably really underrated...maybe it would be nice if instead of calling the winner of the MLS cup the mls champs, we called regular season champs champions of the mls and merged the two divisions

[BigKris]

I think Srdan has hit on an important point (others probably grasped it as well but Srdan made it explicit) : it's not just, "which cup is most prestigous", but also, given how attainable each one is, how should we commit our efforts? Is performing well in CS but not winning it worth it if we fail to win MLS cup as a result?

I also agree with those who have said that the Supporters' shield is underrated. Acknowledging that the supporters' sheild doesn't currently have the cachet that MLS cup does, I actually think it's the more impressive achievement, because it rewards being the best throughout the season.

My rankings:

Copa Sudamerica
MLS Cup
Supporters' shield
USOC

[gnat]

Any real foriegn hardware (Copa since with ********ed the CC :mad: )
USOC
MLS Cup
Atlantic Cup
Anything else

The foriegn (real) stuff is the most important. That is what will ultimately get both DCU and MLS recognition and respect.

USOC is open to far more teams and is much shorter (i.e. 4 - 5 games (for MLS) instead of 32 - 37) so each game is more important.

MLS Cup, we have plenty, but it's nice being on top :)

So they had it one year and it means nothing, but the AC belongs in our house damit! :D

Supports Shield is a joke (as many Crew fans were saying last year) as is anything else that doesn't have a serious monetary factor.

-dave

[badgoalie85]

Supports Shield is a joke (as many Crew fans were saying last year) as is anything else that doesn't have a serious monetary factor.

-dave

maybe it shouldn't be a joke...maybe we as fans should start giving it some respect...after a long tough summer season, the most prestige should go to the team that performed the best the whole season, not just who had a good run right at the end...it doesn't mean that the MLS Cup isn't friggen awesome, but maybe we should pay a little more heed to whoever wins the league...after all most leagues in the world consider the league champions to be the first place team at the end of the season (and yes i think we SHOULD sometimes be just like the rest of the world).

[BBBulldog]

I don't think it's a joke at all, but we had to rank them somehow :) I think any competition should be taken seriously.

Atlantic Cup is a joke tho :D

[gnat]

maybe it shouldn't be a joke...maybe we as fans should start giving it some respect...after a long tough summer season, the most prestige should go to the team that performed the best the whole season, not just who had a good run right at the end...it doesn't mean that the MLS Cup isn't friggen awesome, but maybe we should pay a little more heed to whoever wins the league...after all most leagues in the world consider the league champions to be the first place team at the end of the season (and yes i think we SHOULD sometimes be just like the rest of the world).
I actually completely agree. I would prefer to see the MLS Cup go the way of the dinosaur in favor of a single table format where the 1st place team is the winner at the end of the season.

Until MLS goes that direction though, SS is a joke.

-dave

[CHICO13]

Copa
MLS
SS
USOC


Winning the Copa would be HUGE for both United and the league.

[NattyBo]

Does the Copa winner get a berth into the next Libertadores?

[jared9999]

1. Copa Sudamerica
2. MLS Cup
3. US Open Cup
4. Supporters' Shield