Here we go. Tuesday 21 November Toronto at Columbus, 8:00 EST, ESPN Seattle at Houston, 9:30 EST, FS1 I am very excited to have the MLS back. But I've waited all this time for the next round to start, and here I don't even get to watch both games in their entirety because they overlap. That's odd. Good broadcast outlets can do that to you I suppose. As always, keep it friendly here in the neutral PBP thread.
Are we sure kickoff on the later game is 9:30 EST or is that just pregame and kickoff will be at 10-ish?
I believe they moved the time to 8:30pm (originally it was a 9:00pm start) to help out selling out the game and it is a weeknight after all.
Yep. This game was originally set for a 9:00 pm CST start. It was changed to 8:30 pm locally to help get fans out. The team is telling us that the pre-game stuff at the stadium will start at 8:00 pm with the game starting at 8:30. That doesn't mean kickoff but the teams procession, that kind of thing. That usually means kickoff before 8:40. If the game doesn't kickoff until 9 pm locally there are going to be a lot of unhappy people.
The best argument for the various alternative playoff formulas being touted is... I would have games to watch this weekend.
I saw the Dynamo tweet that their game is sold out. Yet nothing from the Crew on that game being sold out. Odd. It is almost as if the owner & the league have it out for Columbus.
Oh, the league and the ownership have been completely up front Andy on the up and up with the entire relocation issue. Heh Heheheheh Ha Hahahahahahaahahahaahhahahahahahahahahaahhahahaahahahah
Selfishly, the playoff schedule has worked out perfectly for me because of my work schedule. I was able to attend the last home game without taking any time off. And I will be able to catch the upcoming game on TV right after work and I don't work Thursday through Saturday. So the home game works out. And MLS Cup on Saturday is great as well since I can watch all of it. Unlike last year... When I was working through most of it.
I'm conflicted... I think Toronto Is the better team and has had a very good season and somehow deserve to go all the way. But damn.. i want the crew to win MLS cup because It would be like a spite in the face for Garber and Precourt.
Five games to go, including MLS Cup. With Penso, Sibiga, Kelly, and Marrufo on the conference finals, it seems obvious that this year's final will be refereed by Allen Chapman for the first time. All that's really left to determine is who he'll be officiating and where. Here are the stats for both legs of the conference finals. 2017 Regular Season Stats: 374 games, 3.53 Y/g, 92 R (0.25/g) All-Time: 5077 games, 3.42 Y/g, 1302 R (0.26/g) 2017 Playoff Stats: 12 (of 17) games, 3.50 Y/g, 3 R (0.25/g) All-Time: 304 games, 3.84 Y/g, 70 R (0.23/g) Tuesday, November 21 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL, LEG 1 (5)Columbus Crew SC vs (1)Toronto FC R: Robert SIBIGA - 46 reg. season games, 3.57 Y/g, 9 R (0.20/g) 2017 reg.: 24 g, 3.88 Y/g, 4 R (0.17/g) All-time playoffs: 2 g, 2.00 Y/g, 1 R (0.50/g) 2017 playoffs: 1 g, 2.00 Y/g, 0 R CLB: 5 g, 1.20 Y/g, 1 R (0.20/g) OPP: 1.40 Y/g, 0 R REC: 0 W - 3 D - 2 L (0.600 PPG) TOR: 6 g, 1.00 Y/g, 0 R OPP: 2.00 Y/g, 1 R (0.17/g) REC: 1 W - 4 D - 1 L (1.167 PPG) Previous matching or reverse fixtures: 7/13/2016 CLB 1 - 1 TOR WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL, LEG 1 (4)Houston Dynamo vs (2)Seattle Sounders FC R: Chris PENSO - 123 reg. season games, 3.71 Y/g, 36 R (0.29/g) 2017 reg.: 25 g, 4.24 Y/g, 5 R (0.20/g) All-time playoffs: 4 g, 3.75 Y/g, 2 R (0.50/g) 2017 playoffs: 1 g, 6.00 Y/g, 2 R (2.00/g) HOU: 18 g, 1.33 Y/g, 1 R (0.06/g) OPP: 1.61 Y/g, 3 R (0.17/g) REC: 4 W - 5 D - 9 L (0.944 PPG) SEA: 10 g, 1.70 Y/g, 3 R (0.30/g) OPP: 1.80 Y/g, 2 R (0.20/g) REC: 6 W - 2 D - 2 L (2.000 PPG) Previous matching or reverse fixtures: 8/10/2014 SEA 2 - 0 HOU Wednesday, November 29 EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL, LEG 2 (1)Toronto FC vs (5)Columbus Crew SC R: Jair MARRUFO - 222 reg. season games, 2.77 Y/g, 41 R (0.18/g) 2017 reg.: 12 g, 2.17 Y/g, 2 R (0.17/g) All-time playoffs: 20 g, 3.25 Y/g, 3 R (0.15/g) 2017 playoffs: 1st game TOR: 15 g, 2.07 Y/g, 4 R (0.27/g) OPP: 1.33 Y/g, 3 R (0.20/g) REC: 9 W - 3 D - 3 L (2.000 PPG) CLB: 27 g, 1.59 Y/g, 2 R (0.07/g) OPP: 1.70 Y/g, 3 R (0.11/g) REC: 8 W - 7 D - 12 L (1.148 PPG) Previous matching or reverse fixtures: 9/10/2011 CLB 2 - 4 TOR Thursday, November 30 WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL, LEG 2 (2)Seattle Sounders FC vs (4)Houston Dynamo R: Alan KELLY - 85 reg. season games, 3.32 Y/g, 14 R (0.16/g) 2017 reg.: 25 g, 3.36 Y/g, 2 R (0.08/g) All-time playoffs: 3 g, 2.33 Y/g, 0 R 2017 playoffs: 1 g, 0.00 Y/g, 0 R* SEA: 13 g, 1.15 Y/g, 1 R (0.08/g) OPP: 1.77 Y/g, 0 R REC: 8 W - 1 D - 4 L (1.923 PPG) HOU: 5 g, 1.60 Y/g, 1 R (0.20/g) OPP: 1.40 Y/g, 0 R REC: 1 W - 2 D - 2 L (1.000 PPG) Previous matching or reverse fixtures: NONE All team stats include regular season and playoff games *Refereed first half of CLB-NYC, showing no cards, before being replaced by Ismail Elfath
Rumor has it a game is about to start. Just what I need as I'm still recovering from back surgery last week.