In my opinion, today was MLS' finest moment. The league and all of the fans couldn't have asked for a more exciting, well-played game in an incredibly passionate atmosphere. Ruiz was truly remarkable today and his golden goal was the ultimate explanation point to his great season. The Revs played admirably but I think that on this day, LA proved that they were the best team over the course of the entire season. It would have been neat to see Gillette Stadium explode if the Revs would have scored, but I think that everyone left the stands feeling pretty good about the state of the league. 61,000 fans showing up on an NFL Sunday to see an MLS game says a lot. So what if the Rapids only drew 6,000 for a Wednesday night game in April? Today's game was a much more accurate barometer of the strength of the league. I have opposed the playoffs for quite some time now, but this year, I finally began to understand why MLS officials want so much to stick with this format. By having a "one game winner takes all" scenario to decide the league championship, a marquee event is created for established and potential fans to tune into once every year, as well as advertisers and investors to tune into. If we followed the European model of domestic title, league cup, open cup, etc., it would take away from the excitement of having the "one big game". League officials couldn't have been more excited when the Revs qualified last week, knowing that NE fans would turn out in droves, which they did. I still like the European model, but I am getting more and more comfortable with the MLS playoffs. I would like to see them eliminate the best of three series and replace it with a two game total goal series. The MLS Cup Final should be held at the home of the higher seeded team. The drawback to the neutral site approach was evident last year as a bored Columbus crowd (not even capacity) watched two California teams play for the title. I understand that a neutral site can be chosen well in advance to secure stadiums and tv times, but having the game hosted by one of the two finalists, instead of a neutral site makes for a far more compelling event. Would today's atmosphere have been the same if the game would have been played in Dallas or Kansas City? Probably not. Is there any way that MLS could pull off a successful championship game with only one week's notice as to the site? This is the question that I will ponder in the off-season. Well done, MLS.
it was a scrappy game... i thought Nicol should put Kamler long ago... Once Winston Griffin came in, we saw counterattacks back and forth.
While I don't disagree that this was a great moment, I don't know If I could go as far as saying it was the finest. Were you watching this game? It was far from being action-packed and well played. Not that it wasn't a good game, but it was far from one deserving of it's own videotape (i.e. I'm adding the US game in Nov to the tape). And the atmosphere was ok at best. While the crowd really got into it at the end, they only made noice when NE had the ball inside of 20 yards of the Gals goal. On a scale of 1-10 I give the crowd a 6/7. However their numbers were a thing of beauty. A sight to behold to see The Razor filled for this game. I don't think this was necessarily an accurate barometer of the strength of the league as it was a barometer of the number of soccer fans in the NE area.
Re: Re: MLS' finest moment not even soccer fans... most of them just jump into the bandwagon... but alot of credit goes to the NE marketing ppl i believe.
Fully agreed. This was far from MLS at its finest. As far as I'm concerned, this was the worst MLS Cup ever. Great crowd number-wise, but as I've experienced in trips up there, it's only loud at the beginning of the match.
No, it wasn't the prettiest game, but the hardest fought games are often ugly. And it can't be argued that this game provided drama to both sides.
The most important games, like a playoff or wc final, often turn into the ugliest of games. That being said, I think it's a testament to the level of play in MLS that the final was an ugly and uneven, at best, game. 2 teams that worked hard all season fought the tough fight to win the title. The winner was ugly, yet effective. 61,000 is nothing to laugh at!!!
i was at the game with my fiancee and we loved it until that fu c king stupid golden goal bulshit! why not let the teams play the full half hour OT without that bulshit golden goal??? it ruined the game for me and a lot of other people..END THAT ************!
Minor correction: One of MLS' finest moments. LA would not have put that many bodies in the stands, especially with the US baseball championship (c'mon, it's not a world series. ) involving a team from So Cal. Great crowd. Way to go, New England. Bandwagoners? Yeah, sure. Look at the attendance figures for the two previous finals: Big crowds. It only helps that the local team is on the bill.
Apperently you never saw the 97' MLS Cup final in DC.. That was atmoshphere out the wazzou.. The big crowd today was fantastic but the sheer acoustics that RFK brings with the overhead roof lends itself to an almost European feel to the match.. Open air stadiums like The Razor tend to lose a lot of the crowd noise and passion.. Besides, from all the TV shots of the crowd today, mostly what I saw were fans just sitting there and watching.... As for the game itself, it most certainly was not a well played game.. It was very defensive and disjointed and very physical (how Franchino stayed on the field is a complete mystery to me.. No suprise though cause Kevin Terry is pretty gutless)..
I guess I was watching a different game from most everyone else. I thought the play bordered on embarassing. They played redneck soccer, constantly booting the ball up the field hoping a forward would come up with the 50/50 ball. Winston Griffiths was a breath of fresh air. Once he entered the game, far too late IMO, he changed the complexion of the game. When Nicol said the game was "scrappy" he acted like he was choking to get the word out. NOT MLS' finest moment but I'm not gonna p*ss on anyone's parade. Neither team quit and 61,000 was a great showing.
What's stupid about the Golden Goal? The Revs couldn't score after 112 minutes, while the GaLAxy did. You think the Revs would have scored if given eight more minutes?
For this game, I switched my seats from the bench side to the shady (and cold) side of the field. The crowd was not very vocal in section 128. They did jump to their feet whenever the Revs got within 20 yards of the goal, but not much yelling at the Ref or at the Galaxy. The Razor does seem to lose a lot of the crowd noise. Maybe if the Revs had scored, the place would have erupted, but all in all a pretty dull atmosphere from where I sat. I should have stayed in Section 110 with the loyal season ticket holders.
I agree. Both teams I thought played very conservative and took few chances. NE had 10 men behind the ball all game as Harris was checking back all game. Everytime Twellman got the ball up front it was him against 3 LA defenders. I didnt see Heaps make one run up the right flank all game.
61,000 for a domestic league championship is what I call real progress. Just think 8 years ago that would not be comprehensible. I wander what 7 years from now will look like?