I would argue that the Supporter's Shield is more important than MLS Cup. Proving your worth over 28 games is much more impressive than getting hot over a 5-7 game stretch at the end of the season w/ games played on crappy pitches that have been chewed up by american football games. But everybody says that MLS fans all think that MLS Cup is the big one. Really? Then why don't they bother showing up at the games? Why are regular season games, which leads to a squad winning the Supporter's Shield, better attended then the supposedly more important MLS Cup playoff games? Why is there more TV coverage of regular season games then MLS Cup playoff games? I would answer b/c the true champion has already been crowned and it is LA Galaxy. How many people showed up at Spartan Stadium to watch the Supporter's Shield deciding match versus LA? Was it around 27,000? How many people showed up for the big MLS Cup playoff match against the Crew? 8,000. This end of season MLS Cup tournement will produce some nice drama to be sure, but for my money the Supporter's Shield was the true test. And it appears a lot of other MLS fans think so as well.
Wrong. Good teams find ways to win must win games (aka playoffs). Each individual playoff game puts more pressure on the team than any individual regular season game. It's much more difficult to win a playoff game, and therefore is more important.
Dumbest post of the year award is secure. Congratulations, you've out dumbed some of my posts. I'll have to spend hours coming up with something dumber than this. I don't think I can do it, but I shall surely try. Yes, folks, now we know why attendance falls off during the playoffs. It's because the fans are all worn out from the Supporter's Shield race. That is, despite the fact that 99.9% of fans think the supporters shield is something out of B-grade King Arthur movie.
I'll simplify my post for you. MLS Cup playoffs are played on horrible pitches, chewed up by football. Remember MLS Cup 99. Remeber Kevin Hartman having trouble playing a ball which led to a DC goal b/c of a horrendous bounce on huge piece of sod. It is played before small crowds. Thus taking the competitive edge of what should be huge dramatic games. If everybody thinks MLS cup games are so important they should be flocking to see them.
I like the Shield concept, but I don't think any player in MLS would trade a Shield for an MLS Cup. The Shield remains a "phantom trophy" that exists primarily in the minds of some of the fans. That could change eventually, but right now MLS Cup is king.
LA has been the best team in MLS over the past 5 years but they have yet to win a MLS cup. The best team over a full season is the best team for that year, not over a 2 week stretch with no TV coverage and small crowds. Why do you think MLS clubs have done so poorly in the Concacaf tournaments? San Jose and Kansas City? MLS Cup - pffftt. Europe understands the concept, I wish MLS would too. Manchester United didn't win the FA Cup the last time they won the Premiership - I guess they weren't the best team in 2001 eh?
1996 - Over 36,000 people come out in a Noreaster rain storm to witness still the best MLS Cup game to date.. 1997 - Over 57,000 people jampack RFK stadium in 40 degree rainy weather to watch DC win 2-1.. Oh by the way, over 85,000 people were just down the road at FedEx Field to watch a Redskins/Ravens game going on at the same time.. 1998 - Over 55,000 people come to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to watch two teams from over 2000 miles away... 1999 - Over 40,000 people watch at Foxboro to watch DC/Galaxy part duex 2000 - 40,000 people come to RFK to watch the boring Wizards sit on a one goal lead to win... 2001 - San Jose wins in Golden Goal OT before only about 20,000 at Crew Stadium, which only holds about 23,000 people.. So basically, you're wrong.....
>>2001 - San Jose wins in Golden Goal OT before only about 20,000 at Crew Stadium, which only holds about 23,000 people..<< Hate to rain on your parade...but I was at MLS Cup 2001...they may have ANNOUNCED 20K, but there sure as hell weren't 20K ACTUALLY THERE. It was more like about 16 or 16 1/2 K.
Nope, that would be Real Madrid, but at least Manchester United made the playoffs. I admit it, MLS is a rip off of Europe. We can't invent everything. BTW, your argument about the Wizards is so absurd as to be beyond belief. We also won the SS that year.
I'm talking more about the playoffs then the actual final. I'm comparing teams regular season home attendance to their playoff attendance. And there actually is no comparison. Don't get me wrong I like to watch the MLS Cup final as much as the next fan. It's exciting, but not as much of a true test of a teams worth as playing over a full season of matches.
The playoffs are badly attended because of the short amount of time to sell tickets and the weekdays that some of them are on. The second round playoff games will be better attended. The MLSCUP is the true sign of who the best team is in the country.
it's a shame that you people have become so Americanized to believe that a team who gets hot for a 2 week period is better than a team that dominates over the whole season. Luckily I know not all of us are like this because the poll we had for the best team ever featured plenty of votes for the 98 Galaxy. The 2 best teams didn't even play in last years MLS cup....Chicago and Miami were the true class of the league. There are too many things that can happen in the playoffs like shoddy refs or a key injury. Like I said, when Arsenal wins the premiership this year but falls in the FA Cup, I want to see how many of you feel they aren't the best team in England. So then Rochester Rhinos were the best team in the USA in 1999 because they won the only cup that they could prove that they were the best in? MLS may make it so that the MLS cup winner is the league champion, but they were also the same people who had the clock run down and had shootouts to determine winners. One day in the US I hope to see a league format how it was intended by the English FA, the inventors of the league format. Not some clowns in New York who are running the league format more like the NBA than like EPL.
How stupid are you, Ted? Kansas City won the Shield the year they won the Cup. I wouldn't consider being a semifinalist, including elimnating the reigning MFL champions in the quarters, doing poorly, but remember - Their CONCACAF play came two years after their MLS success. The KC team that romped through MLS in 2000 doesn't exist anymore.
I was going to make this exact point. Well, except for asking how stupid Ted is. I think it's happened twice that teams have represented MLS in these regional competitions 20 months after winning the big prize. In any event, it's always going to be tough for MLS to show well in these events, with the combination of parity and small squads.
Gosh, we are Americans. What are you, Mongolian? You might get the same results in a baseball poll. That doesn't mean that the World Series isn't the be all and end all. The FA Cup used to be a hugely major deal which carried as much prestige as a championship. Now it's fairly unimportant. One reason is the European Cup. You really don't get it. It's sad, but you just don't. The Rhinos wouldn't have won the MLS Cup. You mean we should have an entire season to determine which teams make the Concacaf playoffs? That's pretty much what it's all about now. Europeans love their playoffs as much as we do.
If the MLS Cup was as long and involved as Champions League you might have a point. But the fact is the MLS Cup tourney lasts 5-7 games, which is hardly enough games to prove a true champion. And it's played on the WORST field conditions of the year no less. In the NBA and NHL, the playoffs are really like a second season w/ the best of 7 format. If the MLS Cup tourney was best of 7, something I hope I never see, then I would say that yes that is an adequate test of the true best team. But until then I'll stick with the Supporter's Shield.
You can stick with it, but it's a fiction. I've always liked the idea of a SS, but it's pretty ludicrous to equate it with a championship. Your Cup analogies are way off when you consider that the SS winner has taken the MLS Cup 1/2 the time. The champion is almost always one of the best teams during the regular season. Are half the FA Cup winners EPL chams? Of course not! In fact, a tiny % of them are. The fact that the MLS Cup determines the champion has a great deal of bearing on the outcome. It's quite plausible that the team that doesn't do well in the playoffs simply wasn't that good of a team. I would also argue that the fact that an SS in not a champion has some bearing on the outcome of the regular season. I will keep bringing up the European Cup for the simple reason that it proves that Europeans like playoffs. Fans everywhere demand some sort of playoffs. The idea that a second division team can finish 6th and be promoted to the EPL via a playoff system speaks volumes. Europe has a more entertaining playoff system. There is nothing we can do about that. We're always going to have playoffs. I don't see what purpose is served by pretending that the SS is the champion.
Some of you guys say this is a very dumb post. However I think it certainly shows the facts the way they ARE. Though the precise reasons may not be exactly correct the fact that a considerable about of fans attend regular season matches even up to the last weak yet a playoff match sometimes withing days of the last regualar season match all of a sudden there is a huge drop in attendence. This has been happening since year one of MLS and it seems to be getting worse. Just look at this first round of MLS playoffs compared to the last few weeks of the MLS regular season **by the way, MLS Cup is not what TWR or I are talking about we're taking about nearly every game LEADING to MLS cup** Look at Chicago I believe they sold out their last 4 regular season matches in Naperville yet in a do-die match on a weekend, today and they can't even get 10j,000 in the stands... amaizing! So you can say all you can but the numbers PROVE it. I wish MLS could make a scientific poll to find out what the reasoning behind this beyoud our own speculation. There is something going on and MLS should seriously look into this. And it isn't just the "people can't come out for something durring the week" or "last minuite" or someother dumb excuse. Believe me I am an MLS or should I say WAS a regualar MLS fan(before they eliminated my Fusion) and believe me I'd do almost anything to be there for those playoff matches. I'd lose sleep, cancel whatever I had to do to go to playoff matches.... It because of that, that it is so intrgueing to see a Columbus Crew match but a few weeks ago for a regular season 0-0 game be sold out with over 24,000 in the stands but barely over 13,000 show up for(a Saturday night match) their 2nd win and qualifiying match for the 2nd round as they upset and eliminate the league champs, San Jose. Those numbers seem rather absurd, but thats reallity no matter how silly we think it is, its the black and white TRUTH. MLS seriously needs to look into this, immediately.
Re: Re: Supporter's Shield more important than MLS Cup Would 24,000 have shown up if there were no playoffs and the Crew knew in June that they had little to no chance at the championship?
Ted, Please make a coherent arguement and not talk rubbish. The World Cup crowns a world champion based on the performance of 7 games and MLS crowns its champion over the performance of 5-7 games AND the European Champion is won over 6 games AND the Champions League crowns their champion based on a playoff format after an incomplete league. It seems the entire world likes championship games not just America. BTW leagues determine the best team over a certain amount of games, but that doesn't mean that is the best team. An couple injuries can turn the best team into the third best or such. Neither leagues nor playoffs determine the best team, but both can crown champions. Now unto the unfathomably absurd. The FA Cup is not playoffs for the EPL so no it doesn't determine the champion. The US Open cup does not determine the MLS champion so the Rochester example is absurd. However, Gold and Tennis determine who is best over a series of competitions not just 1 season or 1 playoff. That is why the "double" is significant in Europe and the treble of league cup, league title, and champions league is super special. Even Real Madrid who have a world allstar roster have never accomplished that. Euro worshipping is silly. How about Brazil who use to have a series of tournaments and no league for their professoinals. BTW how accurate would MLS supporter's shield be for determining the best team when not everybody plays the same schedule? By the way Ted. Why does an injury in playoffs matter more than an injury in the league for determining who the champion is?
Re: Re: Re: Supporter's Shield more important than MLS Cup I suppose not, however I think 1st June is rather early to close the door to anyone particularly when 8 of the 10 teams make the postseason. Actually I do believe they most certainly would have more than 13000 in the stands for a regular season match in June. Regardless that is not my point. Fact is, by the numbers, that by the first week of the playoffs teams lose somewhere from 35 to 50% of their fan base for supposedly more important matches. PS: The "(American rules) football" factor is not much of an answer. Big crowds where showing up right up to mid September and the last week of the MLS regular season...well into both the NFL and college football seasons.
If a team wins the Supporters Shield than they shouldn't have a problem winning the MLS Cup. Plus the playoffs are more exciting, it gives teams more to play for. Just think if you were NE and it was a "supporters shield only" thing, they would have just given up half way through the season. I for one like the playoff thing, now if they only stopped that "first to 5" s h i t and change the regular season to a straight table like the rest of the world then we would be in business.
Re: Re: Supporter's Shield more important than MLS Cup "This end of season MLS Cup tournement will produce some nice drama to be sure, but for my money the Supporter's Shield was the true test. And it appears a lot of other MLS fans think so as well ." Dumb.