From MLSNET.COM This should REALLY piss Columbus off. I thought it was the Supporters SHield holders.
Let's get you qualified first. It would be great if two past winners stepped it up in that competition after the poor performance from the MLS teams in the past tournament.
Link to the CONCACAF 2005 Champions Cup latest article. Winner goes to Japan for the FIFA Club Championships. It'd be great to see Freddy against the world. Sorry, getting way too far ahead.
For the good of the league, DC United MUST be in the CCC, period! You are our league's best team, and we need you to represent MLS proud!
And even better for you guys, the Guatemalan Phone Company isn't participating this time! PS: Joe Public is no longer a pro team (Jack Warner cut off the funding)
He's talking about the 2nd team being the MLS Cup runnerup, rather than the Crew. Bad decision by MLS.
He meant the second team - and in the past, the 2nd team from the US has been the Supporters Shield winner. I don't think the US Open Cup winner has ever been higher than fourth since the 1998 CCWC was abandoned and the tournament discontinued. The second and third (when applicable) entries have been the SS winner and MLS Cup runner-up. I think an earlier list I saw showed the SS runner-up as fourth - but that was before the current 16 team knockout format. In 2002, the last tournament with four MLS sides, you have to recall that that was a combination of the 2001 and 2002 tournaments. The 2001 tournament was never played. The four MLS entries in 2002 were San Jose (2001 MLS Cup Winner), KC (2000 MLS Cup Winner), DC (2001 Concacaf Giants Cup runner-up), and Chicago (listed as 2000 Supporter Shield winner, but really runner up to both MLS Cup and SS).
Okay, some fans are making a big deal about the Champions Cup now, as teams just won spots, but it was only a sideshow in terms of interest when the Fire and Earthquakes played this past season. Are we likely to see a repeat next year?
The problem MLS sides will always have is that the league is designed on an American style parity system. Weaker teams get high draft picks and you-suck allocations. Every team gets more or less the same salary budget. If there was an international competition for the fifth place team from every league, then MLS would do great. Our best teams, however have trouble keeping up with the best teams from other leagues in the region - and likely will for many years to come. Next year could be even more difficult with the expansion draft siphoning depth off the benches. The two times MLS sides have won the tournament, the tournament finished as top 4/8 teams in the city of the team in question (RFK for DC in 98? and in Los Angeles in January, 2001) KC made it to the semis in the current home/away knockout tournament in 2002, but schedule congestion, and food poisoning caught up with them and they got crushed by Morelia. I think having the tournament end in early May will help aleviate some of the schedule fatigue.
according to MLS, the 2nd spot has always been the MLS Cup runner-up when they had 2 teams, including last year, in which both (MLS runner up and Supporters Shield winner) happened to be the same team.
Um...the reason why we're making such a big deal about it is because the winner and 1st runner up of the Concacaf Champions cup goes to the world club championship! DC United vs. Juventus? Riverplate? Boca Jrs.? Barcelona?? It could happen folks. That's why the CCC is more important now than EVER before!
It was very exciting around DC when DCU won the CCC in 98. It became exciting for the whole US soccer community when DCU beat Vasco de Game that December. It would have been just as exciting if the Gal's had gone on to play in the cancelled WCC after they won the CCC.
What was that quote from Nowak about cups? Something along the lines of "doesn't matter to me, big or small, I want to win it" more or less? I think it was from the pre-season tourney in Charleston.
Not exactly right, if by "in the past" you mean "usually" -- at most, it happened once (last year), assuming Chicago would have gotten the slot if they'd lost to New England last year in the Eastern Final. However, every time the US has had just two entrants, they have been the MLS Cup Finalists, including twice when neither finalist had the best record in the league. 97 -- Cup finalists went, not Tampa (best record) 98 -- Cup finalists went (DC had best record) 99 -- Cup finalists went, not LA (best record) 00 -- Cup finalists went (DC had best record) 01 -- no tournament 02 -- four MLS teams 03 -- four MLS teams 04 -- Cup finalists went (one, Chicago, also happened to be the Shield winner -- they listed them as Regular Season Champion, but whether it was announced that they'd get the bid BEFORE they made the MLS Cup final, I'm not sure)