Brimstone Cup - Rules changes for 2004

ElJefe · Apr 16, 2004

After much feedback from both Dallas and Chicago fans in the past two years and a couple of controversies, the Brimstone Cup committee (Liam Murtaugh, Paul Darter, and Marcin Tlustochowicz from Chicago and Dustin Christmann, Kevin Lindstrom, and Matt Witosky from Dallas) has decided to get together to iron out the rules a bit. And we've unanimously approved some changes, which have been sent to Buzz to put out on the brimstonecup.com website, but he's having technical issues.

The meat of it is this:

The winner of the yearly series between the clubs will be determined, in descending priority:

i. Total head-to-head record, all regular season MLS league matches played between the clubs during the MLS regular season in a given calendar year (points accumulated according to MLS rules).
ii. The winner (according to MLS rules) of any head-to-head MLS playoff series or match between the clubs immediately subsequent to the regular season in which there is a head-to-head tie.
iii. The winner (according to USSF rules) of any head-to-head Lamar Hunt United States Open Cup match between the clubs during the calendar year in which there is a head-to-head tie between the two clubs during the MLS regular season.
iv. Previous year's holder retains cup.
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What this means is that whoever gets more points between the two teams in our two meetings this year will get the Cup, period. If we're tied after our regular-season meetings, then the Cup will be decided by a playoff meeting. If we don't meet in the playoffs, the Cup will be decided by a US Open Cup meeting. If we don't meet in the US Open Cup, it stays in Dallas for one more year.

So some of you are probably saying, "Hey, what about total goals or away goals or stuff like that?" And the committee agreed not to go with those tiebreakers, for reason that are summed up in the following background explanation which will also be at brimstonecup.com:

During the 2002 and 2003 seasons, there was strong demand by both groups of fans for a revision to the rules. In 2002, although Dallas had all but clinched the Brimstone Cup with a 3-1 victory in Naperville in June and a 3-1 victory in Dallas in August, they did not officially clinch it because Chicago and Dallas could have theoretically met in the first or second rounds of the playoffs. Chicago could have then won both matches of a playoff series, deadlocked the cup at six points apiece, and retained ownership. It was only on the last weekend of the season when Dallas finished with the #4 seed and Chicago with the #7 seed that Dallas' clinching became official, since the two teams could only then theoretically meet in the single-game MLS Cup final. Many felt that this was a somewhat anticlimactic resolution to the series for 2002, since the Cup was clinched not in a head-to-head matchup, but instead by matches against other foes.

In 2003, Chicago won the first match 4-1 against a hapless Burn team in Naperville. However, against all odds, the Burn won the return match in Southlake in September 2-0. Because no additional tiebreaker had been approved by the Brimstone Cup Committee, the Cup stayed with the holders, Dallas. Some felt that this was an injustice because Chicago had won the head-to-head aggregate goals 4-3.

Because of these two instances, in the 2003-04 offseason, the Brimstone Cup Committee decided that a revision to the rules was necessary. First, the Committee decided to revise the rules to count MLS regular-season matches as the first priority. If one team wins the head-to-head regular-season points between the two teams, then no other matches are considered. Playoff and US Open Cup head-to-head matchups are counted only as tiebreakers. This change allows for the Cup to be clinched in during a regular-season Brimstone Cup match more often than under the previous rules. In 2002, these rules would've meant a definitive Dallas victory once they won the second regular-season game.

However, the Committee agreed that aggregate goals should not be a tiebreaker, because unlike the playoffs or an ordinary cup competition, the Brimstone Cup is determined mostly by regular-season matches. And in regular-season matches, the only things that count are "win," "lose," and "draw." Points are vastly more important than goals, in the minds of the players and of the fans. The Committee felt that it would be wrong to put great importance on aggregate goals when that is of secondary importance to the players, if it has any sort of importance to them at all. Late in Dallas' 2-0 victory over Chicago in 2003, there was no frantic effort on the part of the Burn players to score another goal, since the points were secure. This is in contrast to the feverish effort that the San Jose players showed in their playoff matchup versus Los Angeles later that year when they went down 4-0 on aggregate late in the second leg.

Finally, the Committee felt that in this rivalry, victory is all that matters, and the awarding of the Brimstone Cup should reflect that philosophy. If you don't have the Cup, and if you can't take more points from the other team during the regular season than they take from you, if you can't beat them in the playoffs, and if you can't beat them in the Open Cup, then you have no right to take the Cup from them.
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As always, these rules are not writ in stone forevermore. The cold, hard hand of experience may show the need for further refinements. But they are the rules for 2004.

Northside Rovers · Apr 16, 2004

Rule # 1 of the Brimstone Cup:

BEAT CHICAGO

ElJefe · Apr 16, 2004

Northside Rovers said:

Rule # 1 of the Brimstone Cup:

BEAT CHICAGO
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My name is ElJefe and I have approved this message.

burning247 · Apr 16, 2004

Northside Rovers said:

Rule # 1 of the Brimstone Cup:

BEAT CHICAGO
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I second this, I REALLY want to beat those goons tomorrow!