I agree with what you said I would include: The Metros making a Cup final The ESC Section 8 Peter Wilt
Home Depot Center Interest from new investors Fire fans making a spectacle of themselves! Tim Howard starting for Man Utd.. (not sure if it's good for the league except that any player doing well at the top helps the image and respect for the league which is good)
FSW and MLS Wrap Home Depot Center Having a league and franchise defining match (San Jose 5-2 aggregate win similar 49ers 'The Catch')
The oppening of the Home Depot Center (Victoria Street). New play off format. Good attendance without double headers. The little MLS logos on the players numbers (like you see in the EPL)
Greater availability of the shoot-out package. Bradley coaching the Metros. Improvement of coaching, esp Sarachin in, OZ out. A lot of good rookies this year. Progress on SSS's. There was some improvement in refereeing. But a lot remains to be done.
Home Depot Center is the top one in a great year by far. First, it shows how much of an impact having a SSS has on a club, both in terms of financial benefits (keep hearing that L.A. is close to making money) and quality of game (having a real home for soccer). This success has caused AEG to become even more active in building SSS (look how far things have come in Chicago and New York compared to years past). With a great game on the pitch and a sellout crowd in the stands, this years MLS Cup could be a great selling point for MLS. New potential investors see how they can make money now and are more willing to pony up the dough. That is all thanks to HDC. Second is Frisco, because now we have stadiums that can be built with public money rather then investor money. That too will help as long as this place doesn't flop (and it won't) to attract new money men. Third is FSW. Yes, it doesn't get into as many homes as ESPN2, but FSW really gave MLS some respect with their telecasts. It felt major league, as opposed to being something crammed into a time slot to cover airtime between Little League baseball championships and MLB highlight shows. Many may not love the format of MLS Wrap, but having a weekly highlight show hosted by two pro-MLS guys rather then a minute at the end of Sportscenter with two guys tossing off lame lines about "no scoring" or other blah blah lame nightclub schtick. Putting on six playoff games and repeating the San Jose/L.A. second leg when so many wanted to see it are just class acts. There is a big gap between the Premier League and MLS, but on FSW telecasts, you don't get that sense. Both are treated respectfully. Fourth is the incredible playoffs. You may not like the format, but this has been the best yet. And the two conference final games were both incredible showcases of great soccer. Chicago-New England was an impressive display of attacking soccer v. counter attacking soccer. San Jose-K.C. was just balls out exciting soccer (and IMO the best MLS game this year). After seeing how the teams went for it this season, MLS Cup is looming very large in my mind, more so then ever before. Fifth, expansion talks. So low because nothing has actually been confirmed yet. But we do seem to have new investors coming in (one definite right now-Kroenke) and new clubs on the horizon.
Best things - SSS - Additional investors - Playoff format - Tim Howard and almost Bobby Convey - Section 8 and Peter Wilt - Burn leaving South lake for good
new playoff format - for the first time ever I actually liked the playoffs, and thought they showed where the teams actually ranked on the field. And the Burn were not even in the playoffs Landon Donovan focusing on soccer Opening the Toolbox Landing totally new owers and being able to announce expansion Don Garber never having to step out of the Corner Office and settle a problem in a way that reflected poorly on the league Less dissent from players on the field--provided they work to improve reffing
In addition to all of the above: MLS on Yahoo Platinum! I have two cable systems in two locations, both of which (Comcast & Charter) refuse to offer the Shootout package after far too much time wasted trying to get these bozos to offer it. The beauty of Yahoo Platinum is that it lets you watch MLS games wherever you are just by logging on to the internet. And for $9.95 a month, it's only a little more than the shootout package on one of my cable systems. This was a very creative solution by MLS to get around the cable monopolists. Please make sure this continues next year!
-mls sold 2 players (howard & hernandez) and attempted a third (convey) -victoria street -frisco -fire winning 2 titles already -stunning rookie class of noonan, magee, clark, ralph, dunivant, borders, pause -kroenke in -interest in expansion teams -interest in current teams -sss developments in chicago and harrison -possibility of mls' first ever domestic treble -solid second year play of both twellman and ruiz -walker's keeping -armas coming back from an acl -burn sucked -only one team on the fake stuff in 2004 -sarachan -gms of fire and united -fsw -mls wrap -espn2 -eric wynalda -playoff format
It's amazing that really there are so many to chose from. But if i had to chose three they'd be these. Victoria Street New Investor(s)/Expansion FSW and MLS Wrap Bonus 3 The sale of Tim Howard and the DISAPOINTMENT of Spurs for not being able to buy convey The rookie class The playoff format Extra Bonus The quality of play, players and goals this year which I think has been amazing.
As a fan: The rookie class being so good The goals. I loved watching the Top 30 goals, and there were several quality goals not on that list. As someone who wants to see the league survive: Investor Interest HDC