Oh..You don't think we're already knee deep in flood water yet??? When do you think we should ask for the sandbags?
This still means that relative to the Eastern Division teams, the Revs should be OK, where if we were in the same division as Houston, RSL, Seattle, and possibly CDC and SJ, we would be in much bigger trouble.
I see what you are saying - I think I forgot. They take the top 3 from the 2 divisions then the 2 with most points. So being in East is theoretically better to get to that 3rd spot.
This is so dumb..! Top 3 in each means if either division really stinks..then there's a possibility again of playing an entire season and having a team with a losing record be crowned champion..Yea, that makes a lot of sense and really stirs the competitive spirit. If anything, give the SS winner a bye to the final...and just have the next 4 teams duke it out for the other final spot..!! Why have everyone play each other home and away and still have conferences??
Because without conferences no one will realize this is an American league, why do you think the flags are on the jerseys?
It's only the top two teams in each conference that get the automatic berths, and those teams are locks to be in the top eight no matter what. After that it's the next four highest points totals regardless of conference. And this season the league has a balanced schedule, which means conference plays no role in who makes the playoffs. It's going to be the eight best teams. Period. It doesn't matter if the teams in the east are relatively weak. That gives Chivas the same boost it gives the Revs. I'm actually surprised by the amount of typing that's been wasted on the topic of conferences in the previews I've read. It's like people have forgotten the change in the schedule and don't know what the playoff format is. It's especially bizarre because the Supporters' Shield arguably IS the MLS championship this season, which is the thing I'm excited about in terms of the league. I'm really hoping the team that wins the season title has the good sense to pop champagne corks when it does.
There was a good interview by Wahl with Garber where I thought he really put the screws to make Don answer the question: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/grant_wahl/11/19/garber.qa/1.html SI.com: Next year, MLS has announced that every team will play each other twice in a 30-game regular season. The conference affiliations have already been rendered useless by New York and Salt Lake winning the opposite conference titles the past two years. Why not just drop the conference affiliations altogether and have a 16-team table next year? Garber: If there's one consistent question I get from every reporter and fan, it's the single table. But then we don't have the two games like we had last week. You can't have a playoff where you're crowning a real conference champion and have the ability for a team to celebrate winning that trophy -- in my opinion -- unless you have conferences which are traditionally a big part of American sports. Seeing [Real Salt Lake's] Kyle Beckerman standing on that stage with the two owners on the field nearly teary-eyed and taking that trophy back to Salt Lake and having a celebration is a good moment. The league needs good moments. We need to have those special times where teams can celebrate even if they don't win the final. Conferences give us the ability to do that. We now have six championships that our teams can win: the U.S. Open Cup, the MLS Cup, the CONCACAF Champions League, the Western Conference, the Eastern Conference and SuperLiga. SI.com: So it's all about giving a trophy? Garber: It's not about giving a trophy. It's about that memorable moment that will always be a part of their history. Also, we're still at the point where we're trying to create rivalries. The best way to create rivalries is to have memorable competition among regional teams. I will assure you that when I'm bounced out as commissioner, which will happen inevitably at some point, the new commissioner will come in and get rid of the conferences just like I got rid of the shootout and other things. This is clearly "a Don thing."
The confusion is understandable. There's almost criminal neglect of the actual league structure in the MLS previews that I've seen. Even writers who are paid to follow the league are missing this stuff.
Yeah, you'd think to whom it may concern might figure that out... take a hint and whatnot. the Don probably didn't list ANY trophies that are stuck in some some 38 year old's wood paneled parent's basement/batch pad either, so its in good company.
The Don pretty clearly omitted the Supporters' Shield on purpose when making that list. The league awards a CCL berth based on it, so it obviously matters. IMO, the problem Garber has with it is that, all by themselves, fans have placed a lot of importance on that title. The league keeps trying to tell fans what to care about and they keep ignoring the league. MLS fans don't just watch MLS, they watch foreign leagues too. Fans are taking their cues from influences far beyond the MLS hierarchy. As a Revs fan, I want a regular season championship far more than a win in MLS Cup. Great season vs. a great month. Easy choice to make from my perspective. Garber is steeped in the NFL way of doing things and he's trying like the devil to make MLS Cup the be-all and end-all for the league. MLS Cup is the cornerstone of his marketing plan. To the people who run the league, a single table and acknowledging the regular season winner as a champion (with MLS Cup as a cup competition between the league's best teams) would be the tail wagging the dog. That wasn't their plan. Mind you, I think they've got the tail-dog dynamic exactly backwards, which is understandable. Everyone thinks they're the dog. Yet we've got a balanced schedule this season and many people are going to consider the league table to be of paramount importance. It'll be interesting to see if any major media outlets decide to display league standings as a single table. It's easy enough to do on the Internet. Click here for single table standings or click here to see standings broken down by conference.
Its also the sports media that see things the way Garber does. They can hardly wrap their minds around out-of-league competition as it is. "Wait, you've got two champions?" Of course you could just point out the NHL President's Trophy vs Stanley Cup as an example but that seems to be too much for them to figure out.
Just the current incarnation (1986). Prior to that you could hang a banner claiming your team as "NHL League Champions" and for 30 years you ended up with the Prince of Wales Trophy. The SS has the advantage of being around since almost the league's beginning.
I have a feeling Garber's upcoming announcement of a 2nd DP per team is going to make the Revs look even more ridiculous. FO should be grilled about this at the STH event--why haven't we used it, or why haven't we traded it for $$$? And what are we going to do with 2 slots when we did nothing with 1?
I wish this had happened before the Supporter's Summit. That crowd would have grilled them. The STH event, from the one I went to, isn't the type of crowd/event where the knives will be out.
I don't think they would have. There was little questions when it came to the roster and salary cap. It seemed like some people were more focused on issues that happened years ago.
It"ll be great for the REVS. Come on, they will say, "We want to use the two DP slots we have but we won't be rushed into just using them on anyone. We're waiting for just the right set of twins to sign." Perfect excuse. How many DP quality sets of twins are there?
didn't know where to put this, but comcast sport net just did a great 2-3 min piece on the revs as part of their sportnet central show. Talked about the new look, etc. Not much depth but a nice piece of coverage none the less.