I figure that the regular season standings are a crap shoot so all I want to hear about are the semi-final and MLS Cup Predictions. I'll start. Eastern Conference Finals The Crew over Kansas City Western Conference Finals The Galaxy over Dallas MLS Cup The Crew over the Galaxy
KC was in the West last time I checked.... Eastern Columbus (too much firepower and good depth)over DC Western LA (clearly the best team last year once they went to a 3-5-2 and added a world class CB/D-mid) over Dallas (in a toss-up over Colorado) MLS Cup LA over Columbus (sorry, home field advantage)
Riiiiiiiight. OK revised predictions, my bad. Eastern Conference The Crew over the Revs WesternConference The Galaxy over the The Burn MLS Cup The Crew over The Galaxy I picked the Crew just to spite everyone for picking the Galaxy.
East: Crew over DC West (upset special, you heard it here first): Colorado over L.A. MLS Cup: Crew over Colorado
West Colorado over L.A. East Columbus over New England MLS Cup Colorado over Columbus (in extra time)
East Wizards over the Knicks West Lakers over the Mavericks Lakers over the Wizards in the championship
Stone Cold Locks East Columbus Washington New Jersey Chicago New England West Los Angleles --> and not by a little bit, neither! Dallas Kansas City Colorado San Jose [edit] Whoops... RTFM! Columbus over Jersey back east LA over KC out west Los Angeles 2:0 Columbus is your final. [/edit]
W L T Pts SJ 30 0 0 90 Dal 11 9 10 43 KC 10 10 10 40 Col 9 11 10 37 LA 0 30 0 0 Clb 20 5 5 65 DC 11 9 10 43 Chi 10 10 10 40 NJ 9 11 10 37 NE 5 20 5 20 Quarters (Aggregate) San Jose 8-0 Colorado Dallas 4-3 KC Columbus 6-0 New Jersey DCU 4-3 Chicago Semis San Jose 8-0 Dallas Columbus 4-3 DCU Final at Spartan South San Jose 4-0 Columbus
Dude, I love the Quakes, but you're smoking some NorCal skunk if you think we're going to make the playoffs. Is there an 11th. place, I think we own it
East 1. DC United - late season surge 2. Metros - strong second half 3. Columbus Crew - fade late as defense is exposed 4. New England Revolution - reality descends 5. Chicago - inability to hold the ball stresses defense and cripples offense in transition year West 1. LA Galaxy - struggling to find a second scoring forward 2. Dallas Burn - awesome attacking talent and individual defenders but inconsist 3. SJ Quakes - return of healthy Agoos, Dayak, Mulrooney, Lagos and Ekelund help return Quakes to greatness 4. Colorado Rapids - weak back line too much to overcome 5. KC Wizards - revelations of Burciaga and Conrad not enough to compensate for injured Wolff (it happens every year) and lack of finishers Eastern Conference Championship DC United over Metros Western Conference Championships San Jose Quakes over Dallas Burn MLS Cup 2003 DC United over San Jose Quakes ... hey, what can I say, I'm an optimistic United fan. -Digital
East QF: DC advances over NE Columbus advances over Chi West QF: LA advances over KC Dal advances over SJ East SF: Columbus advances over DC (finally!) West SF: Dallas advances over LA (finally!) MLS Cup 2003 Columbus 2 -1 over Dallas (OT) COL Cunningham 34 min DAL Rhine 54 min COL Hejduk 109 min
No love for my Galaxy... Eastern Conference Crew Revs Metros Fire United Western Conference Galaxy Rapids Quakes Wizards Burn EC Finals Crew over Revs WC Finals Galaxy over Rapids MLS Cup 2003, in LA Galaxy 4, Crew 0 Ruiz 2 goals, Pineda Chacon 1 goal, Cobi 1 goal One thing the Galaxy has going for them is that they won't have players missing league matches for national team duty. While Landon is playing for the US, as well as Chris Klein and Brian McBride and Hejduk, Bocanegra, Beasley, etc. the Galaxy will have its full squad pretty much all year. Ruiz will play for Guatemala in the Gold Cup, but that's about it.
Eastern Conference: Columbus Metrostars Revolution Chicago Fire DC United Western Conference: LA Galaxy Colorado Rapids San Jose Earthquakes Dallas Burn Kansas City Wizards EC Finals: Columbus over Metrostars WC Finals: LA Galaxy over Colorado Rapids MLS CUP 2003: LA Galaxy over Columbus SouflyTribeFC: I can't see how LA would win 4-0 over Columbus.
Okay, here's what I think. Yeah, I know, it's the 11th hr. 1. I don't think it's fair that we are subjected to a rematch of the USOC as the only MLS match. WUSA is playing a full slate of games. Why should the other 8 teams have to wait? Why should the fans of the other 8 teams have to wait? EAST: 2. Chicago Fire: On paper, we still have a fairly solid squad with previous experience. It may appear with the loss/retirement of Hristo and Nowak that we have lost a lot, but honestly how much did each contribute on the pitch during the last season? OR even the 2001 season? Armas will be back, good as new. Boca and Beasley have been looking good in the offseason with the US National Team. I think Kelly Gray will begin to come into his own and fill the role that Marsch held for the Fire this season. If Rasov and Faria can get along up top, plus a MF/F placement of Beasley, we have strong Fire power (pun intended). 3. Columbus Crew: Not many changes here. Look for McBride and Buddle to make a killer potent duo up top. Busch will be a contender for keeper of the year, but a lot will have to do with how well the aging back line can handle keeping the opposition at bay. Bad boy will be Oughton (as in "You Oughton do that!"); loss of him on the pitch due to yellow/red accumulation may be a deciding factor in some matches this '03 season. 4. DC United: On paper (like last season's kickoff lineup of the NE Revs), the United look strong. Dema and Hristo are the evil father and son. But a preseason incident in which Hristo broke the leg of a college player during a very rough tackle may put Hristo on Hudson's bench. Look for a trade down the pipe, but after that ordeal, what MLS coach in their right mind would want him or have the salary cap room to take him? The return of Earnie Stewart to the MLS will be an intresting phenom to watch. Has his level of play slipped such that no Eurosquad wants him at the salary level he demands anymore? Look for the DC United to be contenders in the USOC and the MLS Cup. Marco will then retire at the top and happy. 5. NY/NJ Metrostars: New coach. A lot of new players. New pitch. I don't think Bradley is going to put up with the antics of Clint Mathis. The offpitch drama will be more interesting and flashing than the onpitch action in the Meadowlands. 6. NE Revolution: A few personnel changes. Nowak would have been playing for the Revs, but it was truly best for him personally and the league that he retired. Saves everyone a lot of money and keeps Nowak with the Fire organization in a better capacity than his performance last year. The Revs finished well in the end. With the coaching situation solidified, look for the East showdown to be between the DC United and the Revs. WEST: 7. Colorado Rapids: Look for the aging stars to go down with injury allowing the new discoveries to be able to get some time to shine. If they are contendors for a playoff spot (8 of 10), look for them to be carried by the spunkiness of the new generation and not Chung, Fraser, Pablo and Kotschau. 8. Dallas Burn: Not many changes here either. At least they have a new stadium to play in this season. This may be a factor. Young GK Countess and Bonseau will be shining defensive stars. Cerritos and Kreis will continue to try to name the score. The midfield is the big question mark. Control that and they have a chance to challenge LA and SJ for the top spot in the West. 9. KC Wizards: Diego and Wolff are back on the same team (insert tears of pain here from a Fire fan). As long as Bo is the backup keeper for KC, Tony Meola will have his spot secure until he retires. He is still a good keeper, but he showing his age. Preki will contribute leadership skills, and will push the team to finish well so perhaps he can retire this fall. 10. LA Galaxy: The returning double champions have done nothing but ADD to their deadliness. The other 9 MLS teams will have their hands and feet full this season trying to keep them from repeating. How well the Galaxy does in the Champions League play will be interesting to watch. They are the team that plays most like the Mexican and further south play. The other teams are still trying for that European style of play. LA is scrappy and skilled and determined and that is what makes them a great team and a force to contend with. Two more rings and look for Alexi to retire (again) unless a debilitating injury knocks him down for good. 11. SJ Earthquakes: 'Good' days are numbered. Donovan will show leadership skills. In true rivalry fashion, the matches to watch this season will be between SJ and LA the four times they meet. Look for ties and perhaps even a split to the series. SJ is not doing well in CL play so far. They are still not the team they were in 2001 and won't be again unless 'Goos goes and there is more teamwork in the midfield. ************* 12. EAST: NE Revolution DC United Chicago Fire Columbus Crew NY/NJ Metrostars WEST: LA Galaxy Dallas Burn SJ Earthquakes KC Wizards Colorado Rapids Supporters Shield: LA Galaxy MLS Cup: LA again in LA (vs. DC/Revs/Fire) No prediction on USOC. Will depend on strength of A-League teams. Yeah, I think the Fire will have a shot at making the Cup, but first we have to get past the United and the Revs. The Rapids and Bob's Metrostars will not make the playoffs this year. We could easily see a cluster****************** at the end like we did last year with LA being the only ones on the top securely. Beat LA and even beat LA in their new stadium later this season and things will become very very interesting. Enjoy and buena suerte to all. Kirsten