Hirdt's latest column provides some info on what matchups have generated the most fouls the past 3 years. Interestingly, the list is dominated by DC United and the Fire. As Gomer Pyle might say, "surprise, surprise, surprise." http://www.mlsnet.com/content/03/analyze0925.html
Hm, yes, I see that one of those past three years matchups listed is Dallas vs. Chicago. Let's break that down on a game by game basis: Code: Dallas Dallas Dallas Chicago Chicago Chicago Date Location Fouls Red Yellow Fouls Red Yellow 29-Sep-01 Chicago 30 1 5 18 0 4 23-Sep-01 Dallas 32 0 2 13 0 3 20-Sep-01 Chicago 21 1 6 23 0 4 8-Sep-01 Chicago 26 0 3 23 0 3 21-Jul-01 Chicago 26 1 2 11 0 1 21-Apr-01 Dallas 17 0 4 18 0 2 10-Aug-02 Dallas 22 0 1 16 0 1 15-Jun-02 Naperville 13 0 1 18 0 3 20-Sep-03 Southlake 28 0 5 20 0 3 18-Jun-03 Naperville 11 0 3 10 0 2 Total All 226 3 32 170 0 26 Average 10 games 22.6 0.3 3.2 17 0 2.6 Surprise? Not the word I would use.
Don't you realize, Jeremy, that the Dallas fouls were undoubtably retaliatory fouls where the respondent (Dallas) gets called for the foul while the instigator (Chicago) gets away Scot free?
Code: TEAM TOTALS TEAM GP G A SHT SOG PG PA BK FC FS OFF CK C Chicago Fire 25 42 32 381 168 5 7 5 409 430 76 115 43 Colorado Rapids 25 31 30 321 142 4 5 4 405 325 77 112 43 Columbus Crew 25 32 35 322 146 2 2 8 381 366 81 121 48 Dallas Burn 25 28 26 278 114 4 5 10 445 323 83 105 48 D.C. United 25 33 39 271 124 5 5 7 435 425 58 141 52 Kansas City Wizards 25 38 31 350 153 5 6 8 351 364 66 103 48 Los Angeles Galaxy 25 29 24 320 150 6 7 6 406 411 73 149 43 MetroStars 25 34 28 347 170 3 4 12 410 433 55 119 44 New England Revolution 25 40 40 363 165 1 2 7 386 410 52 127 42 San Jose Earthquakes 25 39 48 316 143 2 2 10 399 334 64 144 42 TEAM RANKS TEAM G A SHT SOG BLK FC FS OFF CK C Chicago Fire 1 5 1 2 9 4 2 4 7 6 Colorado Rapids 8 7 6 8 10 6 9 3 8 6 Columbus Crew 7 4 5 6 4 9 6 2 5 2 Dallas Burn 10 9 9 10 2 1 10 1 9 2 D.C. United 6 3 10 9 6 2 3 8 3 1 Kansas City Wizards 4 6 3 4 4 10 7 6 10 2 Los Angeles Galaxy 9 10 7 5 8 5 4 5 1 6 MetroStars 5 8 4 1 1 3 1 9 6 5 New England Revolution 2 2 2 3 6 8 5 10 4 9 San Jose Earthquakes 3 1 8 7 2 7 8 7 2 9 As you can see, the overall trend continues this year. Dallas leads the league in fouls committed (FC) and trails the league in fouls sufferred (FS), and is a leader in cards awarded (C). Meanwhile, Chicago is solidly in the middle of the pack in fouls committed, and is a league leader in fouls sufferred. Maybe this is the cause for your bad karma.
More analysis, Chicago and DC: Code: DC DC DC Chicago Chicago Chicago Date Location Fouls Red Yellow Fouls Red Yellow 14-Apr-01 Chicago 22 1 4 21 0 2 2-Jun-01 DC 24 0 5 18 1 2 30-Mar-02 DC 22 0 3 16 0 3 4-May-02 DC 12 0 3 10 0 1 20-Jul-02 Naperville 24 0 4 16 0 2 31-Jul-02 Naperville 19 0 2 17 0 2 19-Apr-03 DC 19 0 2 20 0 1 7-Jun-03 DC 31 0 3 24 0 2 12-Jul-03 Naperville 17 1 1 17 1 1 16-Aug-03 Naperville 19 0 2 15 0 0 Total All 209 2 29 174 2 16 Average 10 Games 20.9 0.2 2.9 17.4 0.2 1.6 As in the three year series against Dallas, Chicago was soundly out-fouled by DC United in the past three years.
Unlike vw, I don't object to a bit of gratuitous violence and chippy play when it comes to matches against the Chicago Fire. But your table doesn't account for the bookings that players have received for "delaying restart" and "dissent," which I'm not sure proves your point that the Dallas Burn is only interested in roughing up the Chicago Fire.
More analysis, Chicago and New England: Code: NE NE NE Chicago Chicago Chicago Date Location Fouls Red Yellow Fouls Red Yellow 12-May-01 Foxboro 24 0 3 13 0 2 23-Jun-01 Chicago 18 0 4 20 0 2 27-Apr-02 Naperville 19 1 2 20 0 2 19-May-02 Foxboro 9 0 0 16 0 0 18-Aug-02 Foxboro 24 1 2 20 0 5 24-Aug-02 Naperville 22 0 3 19 0 2 26-Sep-02 Foxboro 14 0 2 8 0 4 29-Sep-02 Naperville 21 1 5 20 0 3 2-Oct-02 Foxboro 21 0 2 16 1 1 13-Apr-03 Naperville 24 1 1 17 0 3 17-May-03 Foxboro 20 0 1 15 0 4 19-Jul-03 Naperville 19 0 4 18 0 1 30-Aug-03 Foxboro 11 0 1 22 0 3 Total All 246 4 30 224 1 32 Average 13 Games 18.9 0.3 2.3 17.2 0.1 2.5 My my my...Once bitten twice shy. Apparently we're three for three. In the 13 games between Chicago and New England in MLS play in the last three years, including a highly contentious playoff series, New England outfouled Chicago.
Actually, my contention wasn't that Dallas was interested in roughing us up, merely that we weren't responsible for most of the fouls in the series listed. VW's contention was that the Fire, by virtue of appearing in this listing of foul-laden series, were somehow more violent than other teams. Frankly, in the past, that was in fact true. On a per game basis, Chicago is still the number three fouling team in the league, all-time. However, the three major reasons that was true (Bradley, Dema, Hristo) are no longer part of this team, and just because we're able to put it out doesn't tell you anything about the *#*#*#*# we've taken from several teams over the past few years, particularly Dallas and DC. I've got most of the cards for the last three years for the Chicago - Dallas series in a table that I'd be glad to provide to you to settle this, however, I don't know what excuses were given for the cards on April 21, 2001, so my data is incomplete. The cards awarded that day are listed as follows on the Fire site. DAL Pareja 17 CHI Whitfield 32 DAL Suarez 48 CHI Wolyniec 49 DAL Deering 51 DAL Graziani 86 If you have some source for this information, then we can quickly settle this portion of the dispute.
By the way, the tally so far on cautions and ejections: Dallas: 4 Unknown 3 Delay of Game 2 Dissent 1 Bringing the Game into Disrepute 1 Illegally Entering the Field of Play (Ejection) 3 Persistent Infringement 10 Reckless Foul 5 Tackle From Behind (1 Ejection) 1 Tactical Foul 1 Throwing / Kick the Ball 2 Tripping 1 Ungentlemanly Conduct 1 Violent Conduct (Ejection) Chicago: 2 Unknown 1 Agressive Attitude 2 Delay of Game 1 Bringing the Game into Disrepute 9 Reckless Foul 3 Tackle From Behind 3 Tactical Foul 2 Tripping 2 Ungentlemantly Conduct