Not really, which was @bunge's point. Don't make me drag out my 2010 example again. If you want to make teh case that the best team is probably in the top 3 of the Shield standings that's probably accurate, but not that the BEST team is the one that won the Shield.
Except, some teams are playing in multiple tournaments and aren't trying to win the SS. So how do we define "BEST"? If we define it as the team with the most points, well, duh. But since we define "BEST" as winner of MLS Cup, then that's the best team, not the SS winner. EDIT: Whoops. I missed @JasonMa's post.
Champion though, in our context, is defined as "a winner of first prize or first place in competition". And that, in our context, is the best team.
I didn't say that the best team wins the shield - I said that it's the best indicator. I'm sure that there are many seasons when the best team doesn't win the SS - just like there are many seasons when the best team doesn't win MLS Cup - don't make me drag out MY 2010 example.
Winning the Conferences leading to CCL spots rather than the Top Two teams in the league overall getting them is already an admission by MLS itself that the unbalances schedule DOES matter. Like Bunge said, no team is putting the SS as it's first overall goal, much different from Euro Leagues with balanced schedules, where winning it is the first goal period. If given a choice, a team will field it's best team against a team that it is fighting for first in their conference, rather than one from the other conference it is fighting for first overall for the SS.
MLS recently changed CCL qualification - now the top 2 regular seasons teams get in, along with MLS Cup and USOC champions.
By that logic, goals scored are more important than goal differential in settling ties on points, and overall wins are more important that both. Some will agree, some will disagree.
Bleh, tiebreakers, that's a whole other can of worms. I will just say this; as a defender, I feel that goals scored being higher than goal differential means that my work doesn't matter. To me goal differential is a true team effort, and this is a team sport. Goal differential being lower priority is not for sporting reasons to me, it's for entertainment value. Man, I've been an off-topic person today, sorry.
Not true. The best record in each conference gets the CCL. Obviously one of them will also win the SS.
Not that I'm aware of but I will double check. Also add the Voyageurs Cup winner too. That's five possible spots open to MLS teams, although only four are available to the Canadian and American teams individually.
The 16-1 New England Patriots and NFL fans with a brain would like to weigh in here. In fact, the NFL is the perfect example of your comment not being true at all. Yes, we crown a champion in the Super Bowl and they are recognized as champions. However, it is quite often that the discussion is about who the best team was regardless of who was crowned champion.
That's brilliant. People discuss lots of shit. So what? I don't think we're talking about personal opinion. If YOU are, then obviously there's no answer.
@ceezmad is correct. Besides the USOC and MLS Cup winners, the USSF's CCL berths now go to the SS winner and the first-place team from the other conference. If a Canadian team occupies any of the last three spots, then the corresponding berth goes to the next eligible team in the combined table. This is also correct. A Canadian team cannot receive any of the MLS CCL berths, because those are actually awarded by USSF. CSA awards its one and only CCL berth to the winner of the Voyageurs Cup.
The consensus is that winning the Super Bowl is how you prove that you are the best team in that league. That's common knowledge.
You must not be much of a fan of football then. People still talk about that Patriots team being the best despite not winning the super bowl. Hell, one of the biggest discussions about the NFL is that the playoffs equalize everything and that the winner of the Super Bowl usually isn't the best team .... THAT is common knowledge ... and @bunge knows it too.
The only thing I know about the Patriots is that they cheated and should have had some championships removed from their history.
In the wake of SB 42, the few who argued that the Pats were the best (none who were actually Pats fans) got shot down and disproved. Over at the patsfans.com forum, no one thought they were the best, they were utterly disappointed, and rightfully so. Unless a team wins the Lombardi, they do not have any proof that they are the best.
If the Patriots fans thought they were worse than the Giants going into the game, the Patriots fans wouldn't have been disappointed they lost the Super Bowl. I'm a Giants fan so I liked that Super Bowl. The Patriots were among the best regular season teams in any American sports league ever along with the 2001 Seattle Mariners who went 116-46 to tie for the most regular season wins ever and didn't reach the World Series.