Now that we’ve gotten all those crappy CONCACAF games out of the way, it’s time to get back to some crappy MLS games. Since Knave declared Week 26 would end on Tuesday, that makes today the start of Week 27. In my 14 years on BigSoccer, I’m pretty sure this is the first time I have ever started the weekly PBP thread in MLS N&A. If it all goes haywire, I blame @Ismitje for slacking off at his job and forcing a rank amateur like me to stumble through starting the thread. You’d think, at the salary we pay him, he’d work a little harder. Anyways. All games on MLS Live unless stated otherwise. All times Central Daylight Time, the way the Good Lord intended. Wednesday, September 6 New York City FC vs Sporting Kansas City, 5:30 pm Saturday, September 9 Chicago Fire vs New York Red Bulls, 1:55 pm (Unimas, Facebook) Toronto FC vs San Jose Earthquakes, 3:00 pm New York City FC vs Portland Timbers, 3:30 pm DC United vs Orlando City SC, 5:00 pm New England Revolution vs Montreal Impact, 5:30 pm Minnesota United FC vs Philadelphia Union, 6:00 pm Houston Dynamo vs Colorado Rapids, 6:30 pm Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs Real Salt Lake, 8:00 pm Sunday, September 10 Columbus Crew SC vs Sporting Kansas City, 11:00 am (ESPN, ESPN Deportes) Atlanta United FC vs FC Dallas, 1:30 pm (FS1) Seattle Sounders FC vs Los Angeles Galaxy, 7:00 pm (FS1, Fox Deportes) Remember the primary rule in the weekly PBP thread:
Three red cards in four games? What is this, the 2001 playoffs? Of course, Jair Marrufo was in charge of the fourth game and ruined everything by not showing any cards at all! Back to a normal allotment of matches this week. Enjoy these tasty referee statistics. 2017 Stats: 290 (of 374) games, 3.62 Y/g, 66 R Wednesday, September 6 New York City FC vs Sporting Kansas City R: Ricardo SALAZAR - 245 games, 3.65 Y/g, 68 R 2017: 17 g, 3.29 Y/g, 2 R NYC: 4 g, 3.00 Y/g, 2 R SKC: 34 g, 3.76 Y/g, 10 R NYC: 1 W - 2 D - 1 L SKC: 11 W - 10 D - 13 L Previous matching or reverse fixtures: NONE Saturday, September 9 Chicago Fire vs Red Bull New York R: Alan KELLY - 79 games, 3.38 Y/g, 14 R 2017: 19 g, 3.63 Y/g, 2 R CHI: 5 g, 3.20 Y/g, 0 R NY: 8 g, 3.88 Y/g, 3 R CHI: 2 W - 1 D - 2 L NY: 5 W - 2 D - 1 L Previous matching or reverse fixtures: NONE Toronto FC vs San Jose Earthquakes R: Jose Carlos RIVERO - 84 games, 3.96 Y/g, 22 R 2017: 16 g, 4.56 Y/g, 5 R TOR: 7 g, 4.71 Y/g, 3 R SJ: 13 g, 3.85 Y/g, 6 R TOR: 3 W - 2 D - 2 L SJ: 5 W - 1 D - 7 L Previous matching or reverse fixtures: NONE New York City FC vs Portland Timbers R: Ismail ELFATH - 97 games, 3.18 Y/g, 25 R 2017: 15 g, 3.20 Y/g, 7 R NYC: 3 g, 3.33 Y/g, 0 R POR: 11 g, 3.27 Y/g, 1 R NYC: 1 W - 0 D - 2 L POR: 5 W - 3 D - 3 L Previous matching or reverse fixtures: NONE D.C. United vs Orlando City SC R: David GANTAR - 49 games, 2.49 Y/g, 19 R 2017: 4 g, 2.25 Y/g, 1 R DC: 5 g, 1.60 Y/g, 2 R ORL: FIRST GAME DC: 2 W - 1 D - 2 L ORL: FIRST GAME Previous matching or reverse fixtures: NONE New England Revolution vs Montreal Impact R: Armando VILLARREAL - 87 games, 2.97 Y/g, 21 R 2017: 13 g, 3.23 Y/g, 2 R NE: 6 g, 1.50 Y/g, 3 R MTL: 17 g, 3.06 Y/g, 6 R NE: 2 W - 1 D - 3 L MTL: 5 W - 4 D - 8 L Previous matching or reverse fixtures: 10/11/2014 MTL 2 - 2 NE MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER MATCH 5000 Minnesota United FC vs Philadelphia Union R: Sorin STOICA - 68 games, 4.03 Y/g, 26 R 2017: 11 g, 4.09 Y/g, 2 R MIN: FIRST GAME PHI: 8 g, 3.50 Y/g, 7 R MIN: FIRST GAME PHI: 2 W - 6 D - 0 L Previous matching or reverse fixtures: NONE Houston Dynamo vs Colorado Rapids R: Hilario GRAJEDA - 152 games, 3.43 Y/g, 24 R 2017: 13 g, 3.69 Y/g, 1 R HOU: 15 g, 3.27 Y/g, 4 R COL: 20 g, 3.45 Y/g, 5 R HOU: 4 W - 3 D - 8 L COL: 7 W - 5 D - 8 L Previous matching or reverse fixtures: 8/30/2009 COL 1 - 0 HOU 10/27/2012 COL 2 - 0 HOU Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs Real Salt Lake R: Allen CHAPMAN - 103 games, 3.73 Y/g, 24 R 2017: 17 g, 3.71 Y/g, 5 R VAN: 13 g, 4.00 Y/g, 3 R RSL: 9 g, 5.56 Y/g, 2 R VAN: 6 W - 4 D - 3 L RSL: 3 W - 2 D - 4 L Previous matching or reverse fixtures: 9/27/2014 VAN 2 - 1 RSL Sunday, September 10 Columbus Crew SC vs Sporting Kansas City R: Chris PENSO - 118 games, 3.66 Y/g, 34 R 2017: 20 g, 4.10 Y/g, 3 R CLB: 17 g, 3.41 Y/g, 4 R SKC: 11 g, 3.73 Y/g, 3 R CLB: 9 W - 3 D - 5 L SKC: 4 W - 4 D - 3 L Previous matching or reverse fixtures: 8/22/2015 CLB 3 - 2 SKC Atlanta United FC vs FC Dallas R: Mark GEIGER - 169 games, 3.45 Y/g, 38 R 2017: 10 g, 3.00 Y/g, 2 R ATL: 1 g, 3.00 Y/g, 1 R DAL: 21 g, 3.48 Y/g, 7 R ATL: 0 W - 0 D - 1 L DAL: 10 W - 4 D - 7 L Previous matching or reverse fixtures: NONE Seattle Sounders FC vs Los Angeles Galaxy R: Drew FISCHER - 77 games, 3.18 Y/g, 11 R 2017: 12 g, 3.58 Y/g, 3 R SEA: 6 g, 3.00 Y/g, 2 R LA: 8 g, 3.38 Y/g, 0 R SEA: 3 W - 3 D - 0 L LA: 2 W - 3 D - 3 L Previous matching or reverse fixtures: 7/31/2016 SEA 1 - 1 LA *All team stats include playoff games
See, I assumed that the times on MajorLeagueSoccersoccer.com were Eastern. But they are tailored to my location, which is Central. Which means I screwed up. See, @Ismitje? I told you this would happen. Too late for me to edit, too. I guess that means I have to make you work anyway.
OK, NOW the times are CDT. Sheesh. Wednesday, September 6 New York City FC vs Sporting Kansas City, 6:30 pm Saturday, September 9 Chicago Fire vs New York Red Bulls, 2:55 pm (Unimas, Facebook) Toronto FC vs San Jose Earthquakes, 4:00 pm New York City FC vs Portland Timbers, 4:30 pm DC United vs Orlando City SC, 6:00 pm New England Revolution vs Montreal Impact, 6:30 pm Minnesota United FC vs Philadelphia Union, 7:00 pm Houston Dynamo vs Colorado Rapids, 7:30 pm Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs Real Salt Lake, 9:00 pm Sunday, September 10 Columbus Crew SC vs Sporting Kansas City, 12:00 pm (ESPN, ESPN Deportes) Atlanta United FC vs FC Dallas, 2:30 pm (FS1) Seattle Sounders FC vs Los Angeles Galaxy, 8:00 pm (FS1, Fox Deportes)
You all left out an important game: ALL TIMES PACIFIC! Wednesday, September 6 New York City FC vs Sporting Kansas City, 4:30 pm Saturday, September 9 Chicago Fire vs New York Red Bulls, 12:55 pm (Unimas, Facebook) Toronto FC vs San Jose Earthquakes, 2:00 pm New York City FC vs Portland Timbers, 2:30 pm DC United vs Orlando City SC, 4:00 pm New England Revolution vs Montreal Impact, 4:30 pm Minnesota United FC vs Philadelphia Union, 5:00 pm Deltas Deathwatch: SF Deltas vs Miami FC, 5:00 (Periscope) Houston Dynamo vs Colorado Rapids, 5:30 pm Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs Real Salt Lake, 7:00 pm Sunday, September 10 Columbus Crew SC vs Sporting Kansas City, 10:00 am (ESPN, ESPN Deportes) Atlanta United FC vs FC Dallas, 12:30 pm (FS1) Seattle Sounders FC vs Los Angeles Galaxy, 6:00 pm (FS1, Fox Deportes)
If you are familiar with the You Are The Ref website, they'll commentating on and analyzing tonight's referee. Twitter @youaretheref I don't always agree with their analysis, but it's another perspective.
I'm not motivated to go to Yankee Stadium tonight and the game is being shown tape delayed at 11:30 pm. Oh, I couldn't even sell my tickets for $20 each.
Can I be the first to express my shock at how literate, amusing and well-spoken Carlos Ruiz was last night (in Spanish) as a studio analyst for beIn Sports? The guy has a serious future as a broadcaster if he wants it.
Matt Lawrence is decent, I actually think his comments are reasonable and entertainingly knowledgable. Nate Bukaty is truly awful, though.
Yep, I was eating dinner with the family. Now I'm on the game. I see it's raining, Espinoza got a yellow, and no one has scored. I'm not surprised.
Light blue versus dark blue... that's the sort of complaint I would expect if anyone were watching this.
Well nothing is happening very quickly in this game. With the number of NYC players out and the constant rain falling, I shouldn't expect more.
As a snooker commentator said way back in the early 1970s "for those of you who are watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green".
I just think I prattles on a little too long. He needs to get to the point. On the radio I think he is great the few times I've heard him on the XM soccer station. Bugatti blows. I just figured that was common knowledge that didn't need mentioning.