This is terrible. Here we are, about to be beset by another miserable week of MLS, and we don't even have a current running thread. I blame those infernal thread tags. -- All times eastern. All games broadcast on MLS Live and Direct Kick unless otherwise noted. Wednesday, May 3 Toronto FC vs Orlando, 7:30 Sporting KC vs NY Red Bulls, 8:30 Friday, May 5 Colorado vs Vancouver, 10:00 Saturday, May 6 Seattle vs Toronto FC, 4:00, ESPN D.C. United vs Montreal, 6:00 Philadelphia vs NY Red Bulls, 7:00 Columbus vs New England, 7:30 Houston vs Orlando, 8:30 Real Salt Lake vs FC Dallas, 9:30 LA Galaxy vs Chicago, 10:30 San Jose vs Portland, 10:30 Sunday, May 7 Minnesota vs Sporting KC, 1:30, FS1 NYCFC vs Atlanta, 4:00, Univision -- Also, some of you people are tossing around the casual term "toast" way too casually. Nobody is even close to being toast. Here are the numbers as of right now: PHI is doing ... uh ... poorly, but even they are still a far distance from toast. And some of you people with lousy taste in teams are worrying about COL. Well, they're a far cry from toast, too. In fact, there are three teams in the EC that are arguably worse off in terms of playoff positioning than COL. Truth is we're less than 10 games in, and although some teams are digging themselves deeper and deeper holes, those holes are not yet officially toast depth. There just haven't been enough games yet. That said, PHI and COL, don't get your hopes up. -- Finally, don't be a running thread baddie.
Colorado-Vancouver for a thrilling Cinco de Mayo Friday night matchup. Two teams that have combined for 43 shots on goal in 15 games (NYCFC alone has 45 shots on goal in 8 games).
If Philadelphia continues to be this bad, they could be toast around midseason. Some regression to the mean should be expected, and there's the possibility of righting the ship like Minnesota has, but the current pace is rivaling the all time worsts, like '99 Metros, '01 Mutiny, and '13 USOC Champion DCU.
Currently, both PHI and COL are in the realm of TBM '01 and CHV '05. But they're not quite as bad as DCU '13 or NYR '99.
The 2017 Amway Canadian Championship starts tonight. Qualifying Round Wednesday, May 3 Ottawa Fury (USL) v. FC Edmonton (NASL) 7:30 pm Rogers TV (CAN) https://www.youtube.com/c/canadasoccertv/live Wednesday, May 10 FC Edmonton (NASL) v. Ottawa Fury (USL) 9:00 pm Semifinal Round Tuesday, May 23 Qualifying Round winner v. Toronto FC Vancouver Whitecaps v. Montreal Impact Tuesday, May 30 Toronto FC v. Qualifying Round winner Montreal Impact v. Vancouver Whitecaps Championship Round June 20/21 - First Leg June 27 - Second Leg The 2017 winner will face 2016 winner Toronto FC (unless TFC wins again) in a playoff to determine the entrant in Phase 2 of the 2017-2018 CONCACAF Champions League.
Both games tonight are interesting, but Toronto vs Orlando particularly stands out. Kreis seems to have recovered from being EuroSnubbered, and has Orlando playing far better than the overall talent on their team would suggest [kind of the anti-Heaps in that way]. Toronto just has a lot of talent, and then it has Giovinco. It is also solidly coached, with the extra benefit that Jozy seems to be awaking from his many year funk. I have no idea how this game will play out, but it's damn nice to have a midweek game, and a highly promising midweek game, to look forward to.
Is euthanasia legal in Canada? OC #25 making a strong case. MLS is not undone by one enormous poor element, but by a thousand thousand atoms of mediocrity.
What about KCW '99? Just because they weren't the worst team that year, people forget how historically bad they were.