Nah, Beyond Burgers are much much better. Especially the cookout style 8 pack I just found at Kroger the other day. Bet accepted!!
Big fan of Beyond, especially the sausages. Roasted some Beyond Sausage earlier this week with cauliflower. Added a a little apple cider vinegar, chili flakes and raisins with some castelvetrano olives as a garnish on top earlier this week. Great weeknight dinner. I'm bullish on plant based meat alternatives, I'm less bullish on the Crew's playoff chances.
Montreal won and Philly ahead with a few minutes left to play. Not great results for Crew playoff hopes.
Sunday, 9/19: MTL 2:0 CHI PHI 3:1 ORL 1. NE 56 8 80 17 +18 2. NSH 41 10 71 10 +16 3. NYC 38 10 67 11 +15 4. ORL 38 9 65 10 0 5. MTL 37 9 64 10 +6 6. ATL 36 9 63 9 5 7. PHI 35 10 65 9 +6 --------------------------------- 8. DC 34 9 61 10 +5 9. MIA 32 10 62 9 -11 10. CLB 31 8 55 7 -5 11. RBNY 26 11 59 7 1 12. CHI 23 9 50 6 -16 13. CIN 20 10 50 4 -20 14. TOR 18 9 45 4 -23 This is why I'm so salty about the two points we gave away in NE yesterday. Atlanta, NYC, Montreal and Philly all won this weekend. All teams we're dealing with. Give us those two points, and we're still within two points of the line. Instead, we're down four. It's a massive opportunity lost.
Wednesday's East results, 9/22: MIA 1:5 NSH CHI 2:3 NE Gil, 91' RBNY 1:1 NYC -- Red Bulls get a VAR penalty 9 minutes deep into stoppage time, which also results in a 2nd send-off for City. Converted in the 102nd. 1. NE 59 7 80 18 +19 2. NSH 44 9 71 11 +20 3. NYC 39 9 65 11 +15 4. ORL 38 9 65 10 0 5. MTL 37 9 64 10 +6 6. ATL 36 9 63 9 5 7. PHI 35 10 65 9 +6 --------------------------------- 8. DC 34 9 61 10 +5 9. MIA 32 9 59 9 -15 10. CLB 31 8 55 7 -5 11. RBNY 27 10 57 7 1 12. CHI 23 8 47 6 -17 13. CIN 20 10 50 4 -20 14. TOR 18 9 45 4 -23 Miami continues to be a fraud. Chicago is, well, Chicago. RBNY still lingering there with games in hand.
Sir, I was told by a certain knowledgeable individual that Miami is one of the best teams in the conference.
Saturday, 9/25 CREW 2:1 MTL PHI 1:0 ATL NE 2:1 ORL (That's good) DC 4:2 CIN (That's not) COL 0:0 TOR NYC 0:1 NYRB (That isn't, either) Sunday, 9/26 CHI 0:0 NSH 1. NE 62 6 80 19 +20 2. NSH 45 8 69 11 +20 3. NYC 39 8 62 11 +14 4. PHI 38 9 65 10 +7 5. ORL 38 8 62 10 -1 6. DC 37 8 61 11 +7 7. MTL 37 8 61 10 +5 --------------------------------- 8. ATL 36 8 60 9 4 9. CLB 34 7 55 9 -4 10. MIA 32 9 59 9 -15 11. RBNY 30 9 57 8 2 12. CHI 24 7 45 6 -17 13. CIN 20 9 47 4 -22 14. TOR 19 8 43 4 -23
I'd just like to post a little ray of sunshine after the win last night: the bottom 4 teams in the league are Chicago, Cincy, Toronto, and Austin.
FWIW, whilst we are playing for a c9ntrived trophy in Wed, most (all?) of our Eastern Conference playiff rivals yake the field in MLS action, thus making up the game in hand they have on us. Except for Philly, NYRB, and Miami, who all have two. Anyway, we should have a better idea of how steep the hill is after Wed. Relevant games: Atlanta (36 pts, 26 gp) v Miami (32 pts, 25 gp) DC (37 pts, 26 gp) v Minny (6th in West) Montreal (37 pts, 26 gp) v NE (SS winners) NYRB (30 pts, 25 gp) v Philly (38 pts, 25 gp) Chicago v NYCFC (39 pts, 26 gp) Nash (45 pts, 26 gp) v Orlando (38 pts, 26 gp) Wins by Minny, NE, Chicago, and Nashville would all certainly help a ton. Rooting for draws in ATL/Mia and NYRB/Philly. If I have to pick a winner, Mia and Philly.
Wednesday, 9/29 Busy night, while we were winning Campeones Cup. ATL 1:0 MIA TOR 3:2 CIN DC 3:1 MIN (yuck) MTL 1:4 NE (yay) RBNY 1:1 PHI (I'll take it) CHI 2:0 NYC (Really?) NSH 2:2 ORL (ORL ties is in stoppage time; narf) 1. NE 65 5 80 20 +23 2. NSH 46 7 67 11 +20 3. DC 40 7 61 12 +9 4. NYC 39 7 59 11 +12 5. PHI 39 8 63 10 +7 6. ATL 39 7 60 10 5 7. ORL 39 7 60 10 -1 --------------------------------- 8. MTL 37 7 58 10 +2 9. CLB 34 7 55 9 -4 10. MIA 32 8 56 9 -16 11. RBNY 31 8 55 8 2 12. CHI 27 6 45 7 -15 13. TOR 22 7 43 5 -22 14. CIN 20 8 44 4 -23 So... a lot of the games in hand were made up tonight. Five points back with seven games to play. Our much improved form leaves us in better position than we were even three weeks ago, but we don't have much room for error. Edit: Someone new is handling the "Toast" thread in the MLS forums, but I'm going with his math... Chicago, Toronto and Cincinnati, quite late, have officially been toasted.
Relevant weekend games: Sat: Montreal (37 pts) v Atlanta (39 pts) Cincy v NYRB (31 pts, 1 GIH) Orlando (39 pts) v DC (40 pts) Sun: NYCFC (39 pts) v Nashville (46 pts) Philly (39 pts, 1 GIH) v CREW (34 pts) Portland v Miami (32 pts, 1 GIH). A. Would help a TON 1. Crew win in Philly 2. Nashville win at Citeh B. Keep chasers off our backs 1. Portland over Miami in Portlandia. 2. Cincy over NYRB at the Tide Bowl C. Teams we are chasing playing each other 1. MTL v Atlanta 2. Orl v DC Remaining schedule after Int break: 10/16 Miami 10/20 at Nashville 10/23 NYRB 10/27 Orlando 10/30 at DC 11/7 Chicago
Looking at the standings and trying to figure out which teams we have the best shot at jumping in the standings. Here are the remaining schedules of the teams bunched around the playoff line in the East. 2. Nashville - 46 points Form - WLWDD Road - 3-3-6 Oct. 3 @ NYCFC Oct. 16 @ DC Oct. 20 vs. Columbus Oct. 23 @ Philadelphia Oct. 27 @ Cincinnati Oct. 31 @ Orlando Nov. 7 vs. NYRB 3. DC - 40 points Form - DWLWW Road - 2-8-4 Oct. 2 @ Orlando Oct. 16 vs. Nashville Oct. 20 vs. New England Oct. 23 @ NYCFC Oct. 27 vs. NYRB Oct. 30 vs. Columbus Nov. 7 @ Toronto 4. NYCFC - 39 points Form - DWDLL Road - 3-7-4 Oct. 3 vs. Nashville Oct. 17 @/vs. NYRB Oct. 20 @ Atlanta Oct. 23 vs. DC Oct. 27 vs. Chicago Oct. 30 @ Miami Nov. 7 vs. Philadelphia 5. PHI - 39 points Form - LLWWD Road - 2-4-6 Oct. 3 vs. Columbus Oct. 9 @ Cincinnati Oct. 16 @ Montreal Oct. 20 @ Minnesota Oct. 23 vs. Nashville Oct. 27 @ Toronto Oct. 31 vs. Cincinnati Nov. 7 @ NYCFC 6. ATL - 39 points Form - WWWLW Road - 2-5-6 Oct. 2 @ Montreal Oct. 16 @ Toronto Oct. 20 vs. NYCFC Oct. 27 vs. Miami Oct. 30 vs. Toronto Nov. 3 @ NYRB Nov. 7 @ Cincinnati 7. ORL - 39 points Form - LLLLD Road - 3-6-5 Oct. 2 vs. DC Oct. 16 @ Cincinnati Oct. 20 vs. Montreal Oct. 24 vs. New England Oct. 27 @ Columbus Oct. 31 vs Nashville Nov. 7 @ Montreal 8. MTL - 37 points Form - LWWLL Road - 3-7-4 Oct. 2 vs. Atlanta Oct. 16 vs. Philadelphia Oct. 20 @ Orlando Oct. 23 @ Toronto Oct. 30 @ NYRB Nov. 3 vs. Houston Nov. 7 vs. Orlando Note: Canadian Championship semi-final match @ Forge FC on Oct. 27. 9. CLB - 34 points Form - LLWDW Road - 2-8-4 Oct. 3 @ Philadelphia Oct. 16 vs. Miami Oct. 20 @ Nashville Oct. 23 vs. NYRB Oct. 27 vs. Orlando Oct. 30 @ DC Nov. 7 vs. Chicago 10. MIA - 32 points Form - WWLLL Road - 4-5-3 Oct. 3 @ Portland Oct. 9 @ NYRB Oct. 16 @ Columbus Oct. 20 vs. Toronto Oct. 23 vs. Cincinnati Oct. 27 @ Atlanta Oct. 30 vs. NYCFC Nov. 7 @ New England 11. RBNY - 31 points Form - LWDWD Road - 3-8-2 Oct. 2 @ Cincinnati Oct. 9 vs. Miami Oct. 17 vs. NYCFC Oct. 23 @ Columbus Oct. 27 @ DC Oct. 30 vs. Montreal Nov. 3 vs. Atlanta Nov. 7 @ Nashville Nashville is clearly the least likely of all the teams for the Crew to clear, but they do end the season with five road games. Could they implode? Possibly, but it'd probably be better for the Crew if they just truck everybody (excluding us). Given how they've played over the past month, NYCFC looks a good candidate, but they do play mostly at home (or in NJ) and one of their 2.5 away matches is against Miami. I want to say I could see us leapfrogging Philadelphia due to the crazy-packed schedule and travel over the latter half of October, but two of the road matches come against Cincinnati and Toronto (and they get another bonus three points against Cincy at home). Orlando had a September largely to forget, but they may be buoyed by the comeback draw against Nashville. Still, they have a pretty tough schedule to finish the year. DC, New England, and Nashville are no joke, but they get all three at home. Montreal just has to be the other team we jump, or we'll need a lot more help from other teams. Of course, all of this is assumes the Crew takes care of business. We'll know a lot more Sunday. Like if I need to start looking for the best place to order vegan burgers.
I always felt like there was something missing from the Crew-Cincy rivalry. Like, I know it makes sense geographically, I just have a hard time conjuring up any authentic ill-will toward the team, you know? But if those bastards keep Austin from winning the spoon, I will never forgive them.
Somehow, inexplicably, CLB/FCKY instantly became the least-bitter rivalry maybe in recorded history. Both teams and their fans badly want to win but the hate just isn't there. Of course the Crew has a deep abiding hate for lots of teams. No shortage of rivals. Maybe we just didn't need another one. But Cincy could probably use a little well-ginned up vitriol towards someone. Of course, first they'll need to stop stinking up the league. It's hard for another team to detest you when they're pounding shit out of you 6-0. Pity just isn't the same thing
As they say during the lead up to the NCAA Basketball tournament - just win and you're in. With the teams we have left, do that and nothing else will matter.