when will euro snobs will realize the the Columbus Crew hasto win the MLS Cup to be the official champions of the league...I gues you cant convince to pro-euro snobs like WSD and the 2 Gs who I dont think they really have respect for the development of soccer here in the US especially for MLS. overall if the Crew can win the playoff games along with the MLS cup, then teyll be the Champions.. but right now they not.
I am an MLS snob of the highest order. I don't watch nor do I care about any league other than MLS. Columbus are the champions for this season. Period. Congratulations to them. There will be an additional champion after MLS Cup.
As an avid MLS supporter, I'm hoping for a Columbus-Houston final, clearly the two best teams in MLS this year, one the two-time back-to-back winners (not to mention 2 or 3 crowns in their earlier incarnation in San Jose) versus a Columbus team flying high led by Argentinean gentry and a slew of young American studs. It would be a classic matchup. But of course that's why you play the game, in this case the Playoffs. The only thing MLS is missing heading into November is Beckham & Donovan, and while they do bring a lot of excitement to the place when they play, the Galaxy dug their own grave this year so lay there they shall. Besides that, I'm lookin' forward to some of the best MLS playoff action yet, hopefully with more national exposure than ever (but without Beckham, who knows), we shall see.
So i Guess the NE Patriots should be called Champions for there efforts last season?? they didnt win the Super Bowl but they are champions of the NFL??? yeah right... the season is not complete, they still gotta go thru the playoffs to win, regular season record means nothing going into the playoffs, you have to step up to the next level and win the big ones thats what counts... also remember the SS doesnt get you the star on your shield..
There's no award nor precedent for giving the team with the best overall regular season record in the NFL any recognition. In soccer, on the other hand, there is.
Different year; same arguments. As long as MLS continues to have a really long and relatively balanced regular season and really short and random play-off this discussion won't stop. The only way it stops is if MLS grows to the point where it becomes impossible for every team to play every other team in the regular season and actually NEEDS a play-off to determine a champion. You know, like that NFL you mentioned! Or MLB for that matter. As it is the New York Red Bulls could meet the Kansas City Wizards in the MLS Cup final. Would you really believe that either of them is a better team than Columbus, Houstan, or New England based on the evidence of this season? Even if they are champions at the end? Play-offs have the definate advantage of culminating in one showpiece final BUT what's so Eurosnob about wanting them, if they need to exist, to only include the ELITE teams of the league?
You're right, Columbus are not the champions--they are only the best team. One must be careful to make a distinction between the two. In some other countries they've got it in their silly heads to make their best teams their champions. Often times a champion is crowned a couple weeks before the conclusion of the season, and that's kind of boring, you know. In defense they will tell you things have to be made logical and seem legitimate, and blah blah blah. What a bunch of hooey! In our country we know that's not the purpose of competition. It's an entertainment, and a business. That's all the sense you need to make.
Biased here, but as the schedule is pretty balanced, I think the Supporter's Shield winner is the best team in the league. MLS Cup winner also show you had a decent season (to qualify) and then played four good games to win a small Cup competition. MLS has the right to determine its championship however they want, however, I think the SS is a better indication of the best team, and thus I always think of the SS winner as the champion of MLS. If the playoffs were less random (say 2 of 3 instead of home and home or one game), then I might view them more equally. Also, as a historical side note, in the early days of baseball, there were no playoffs either. Or frequently weren't. The National Association: 1871-1875: best regular season record = champion. National League: started in 1876. There was, for a time, a rival league called the American Association (1882-1891), where the champions of the two league played each other, but it wasn't widely celebrated, and one year even ended with the series tied. The series' took place from 1884-1890. Many fans didn't take to it when the team with the best record, whom they regarded as champions, lost. They felt is was not a good measure of the better team. The AA folded after 1891 and was heading downhill before that, so there was no series in 1891. Nor in 1890 when the Players League also played (3 leagues in 1890). In 1892, the first and second place teams in the NL played each other for the title. And first placed Boston Beaneaters triumphed over second placed Cleveland Spiders and Cy Young. But this only lasted one year. A wealthy businessman (named Temple) tried to organize a playoff form 1894-1897, but it didn't take, as the players (who didn't take it that seriously) and the fans rejected it when the better team (best record) lost 3 of 4. Even after the American league was born in 1901, there were two years without a postseason, and then a World Series, and then another year without. From 1904 on, it has been. But form 1875-1904 (30 years) there were only a handful of debatable championship series. As for football, I'm not as sure, but I have a sinking suspicion there were no playoffs in the early days of the NFL.
The NFL did not begin playoffs until 1933. It was not based on having so many teams that a playoff was needed. It was the first year that the NFL adopted conferences/divisions. Each team played anywhere from 11 to 14 games. I believe the post season playoff was for marketing purposes. As for the Crew they are the Regular Season Champions of MLS. While other leagues choose not to make this distinction, MLS does. The NHL does sort of by awarding the Presidents Trophy to the regular season champion, but because the NHL does not participate in any additional Leagues/Tournaments, this is largely irrelevant. It is also not completely unheard of in the US to have a regular season champion and playoff champion. One need only look at the NCAA especially for Basketball to find both Regular Season champs and Tourney Champs listed with equal stature. I've never heard any fans question that setup.
The league, the players, the coaches all agree that the Championship of MLS is decided by a playoff system culminating in the MLS Cup. None of us can change this. Only the league in its design of the competition can change this. The SS, an important trophy and accomplishment of very high value is not the Champion however. That would have to be stated by the league before hand.
I could agree with this if the league announced it before the season started. "This year, MLS shall recognize two champions .... " etc. The important concept here is one of clearly defining the competition and awards in advance. Whether we like it or not, MLS has declared the playoff winner as THE sole champion.
The question is, if the Crew win the playoffs, which they probably will, will you guys crown them champions then?
Its funny how basically the best team in the regular season are awarded with something that the league itself did not even create. the philosophy of this whole thing is just funny.