The 2011 Table - Magic Numbers, Tragic Numbers & Other Calculated Distortions [R]

... Table Making Primer ...

I've had a request to make good on my earlier promise to put together a little primer on putting together tables, which can be really easy if you know a few tricks, or really time consuming and tedious if you don't.

I assume your table is initially in a spreadsheet ...

1. Format each column so that each entry in that column uses the same number of characters, including spaces. This is really the big trick because making everything line up after the fact is a big pain in the butt. It's also easy to do this in Excel -- either by adjusting the decimal places, or by using special formats (like the "00" format that makes 1 appear as 01). This is why I use 3-letter abbreviations, not team names. For things like "DCU" and "@DCU" you just add a space at the beginning of the first one (" DCU") to make them line up correctly. This also explains why I use "----" as a placeholder in the schedule: I need something with four characters, so four dashes does the trick. Sometimes it's not possible to get things 100% lined up in the spreadsheet (I tend to adjust the spacing of negative numbers by hand in the final posted table), but you can minimize the work so that it just takes a few seconds of tweaking to get things lined up.

2. Don't forget the column headers. Never let the column header label characters exceed the number of characters in that column's data. If you can, try to make the column header label contain the same number of characters as that column's data. Personally, I don't carry this to the extreme. For instance, I leave W D L as single letters because a) it's minimal to adjust the headers, and b) on these threads I just recycle old, already adjusted headers.

3. Now you want to open a word processor. Copy the table to your clipboard, and then paste it into your word processor as plain text. Select everything, and change the font to Courier New -- a fixed width font. Now you can do your final adjustment of the columns in the word processor. (I also like to have the word processor show non-printing characters when I do the adjustments. Then I can see the blank spaces more easily.)

4. You'll probably have to fix the column spacing. I use two spaces between columns, but when I copy and paste the table as plain text into a word processor, it has tabs between columns. No problem: use the replace function to replace all the tabs with two spaces.

5. After that it's really just a matter of lining things up, and if you've done it right, everything will already line up -- or just about everything.

6. To post your now lined up table on the board, you must use the Code Tag. That's the little "#" button above the advance reply/new post box. You have to use the code tag for two reasons. First, it puts everything into a fixed width font. Second, it preserves all the blank spaces. You need both the fixed width font and the blank spaces to make a table line up correctly, and the code tag is the only way to do that.

7. Just copy and paste your lined up table from your word processor inside the code tags. It won't look lined up in editor window. Don't worry. Hit preview post and you'll see it's all lined up in the actual post.

8. I post all my tables in bold. To my eye, they just look better in bold. I think it's a Courier New thing.

I think that's everything. If I remember something else, I'll add it. But that's basically it. It's not terribly mysterious, but I don't think there's directions for this anywhere. So here you go.

Using these techniques, I can put together a post with all the tables in my big updates in just a few minutes. Because I'm posting this stuff at least once and usually a couple times a week, it's worth my while to have everything really well prepared and adjusted in my spreadsheet. Then it's just copy, paste, replace and so on. For a one-off table I probably wouldn't bother with all that preparation and would do more of the adjustments by hand. But I would copy and paste it into a word processor, and adjust everything there.

With what I have above you should probably be able to quote one of my table posts and figure out how and why I did things the way I did. But if you have any questions, ask.

 

... Quick Update ...

Code:

[B][U]         GP  GR  W   D   L   PTS PPG   PRJ MPP SE# T#  M#  WS# HD#   AD#   CNF[/U]
01  LAG  26  08  14  09  03  51  1.96  67  75  25  44  06  --  -.75  -.76  W
02  SEA  27  07  13  09  05  48  1.78  60  69  19  38  09  --  -.43  -.44  W
03  FCD  27  07  13  07  07  46  1.70  58  67  17  36  11  --  -.14  -.15  W
04  RSL  25  09  12  06  07  42  1.68  57  69  19  38  15  01  0.33  0.32  W
05  CMB  26  08  11  07  08  40  1.54  52  64  14  33  17  03  0.63  0.61  E
06  COL  28  06  10  11  07  41  1.46  50  59  09  28  16  02  0.67  0.65  W
07  SKC  26  08  09  09  08  36  1.38  47  60  10  29  21  07  1.13  1.11  E
08  PHI  25  09  08  10  07  34  1.36  46  61  11  30  23  09  1.22  1.21  E
09  HOU  27  07  08  11  08  35  1.30  44  56  06  25  22  08  1.43  1.42  E
10  DCU  24  10  07  10  07  31  1.29  44  61  11  30  26  12  1.40  1.39  E
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  NYR  26  08  06  14  06  32  1.23  42  56  06  25  25  11  1.63  1.61  E
12  POR  26  08  09  05  12  32  1.23  42  56  06  25  25  11  1.63  1.61  W
13  CHV  27  07  07  10  10  31  1.15  39  52  02  21  26  12  2.00  1.99  W
14  CHI  26  08  04  15  07  27  1.04  35  51  01  20  30  16  2.25  2.24  E
15  SJE  26  08  05  11  10  26  1.00  34  50  00  19  31  17  2.38  2.36  W
16  NER  26  08  04  11  11  23  0.88  30  47  --  16  34  20  2.75  2.74  E
17  TFC  28  06  04  12  12  24  0.86  29  42  --  11  33  19‡ 3.50  3.49  E
18  VAN  26  08  04  09  13  21  0.81  27  45  --  14  36  22  3.00  2.99  W

Current AD-Baseline: 45^[/B]

Code:

[B]GP = Games Played | GR = Games Remaining | PPG = Points Per Game
MPP = Max Points Possible = PTS + (3 x GR)
SE# = SS Elimination Number = MPP - (1st Place PTS) + 1 
M# = Magic Number = (11th Highest MPP) – PTS + 1
T# = Tragic Number = MPP – (10th Highest PTS) + 1
WS# = Wooden Spoon # = (18th Highest MPP) - PTS +1
HD# = Historical Despair Number = [URL="https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24203471&postcount=1"]Full explanation[/URL]
AD# = Actual Despair Number = [URL="https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24203471&postcount=1"]Full explanation[/URL]

- Sorted by PPG, then most GR, then alphabetical.*
- Teams in [COLOR="SlateGray"]gray[/COLOR] have been eliminated from the playoffs.
- Teams in [COLOR="DarkBlue"]blue[/COLOR] have clinched a playoff spot.
- Teams in [COLOR="SeaGreen"]green[/COLOR] are conference seeds.
- Team in [COLOR="Brown"]brown[/COLOR] has won the Wooden Spoon.
- Teams in [I]italics[/I] are conference champions.[/B]

Asterisks

* In the final weeks MLS tie-breakers will replace the final alphabetical sort. But until the final weeks it's seriously not worth the bother.

‡ TFC’s MPP currently sets the pace for this number. When a team sets the pace on this number its WS# is impossible to attain.

^ Set by DCU’s current 44 point (1.29 PPG) pace.

Notes

One game, so little movement. For RSL that was a big win that helped them solidify a place among the elite at the top of the table. For PHI, that was a big loss that tossed them a bit further back into the mid-table muddle. That big muddle in the middle, arguably from 7 to 12 in the table, is also a potentially huge plus. There's separation between these teams (a few teams can coast a little, some others really need to pick up the pace), and one or two teams might move up into more solid playoff positions and a couple others might drop down into more see you next year positions. But right now all of these teams are still in contention for the playoffs, and because all but one are Eastern teams and only CMB is ahead of them, they're almost all in contention for automatic berths. Say what you like about the 10 team playoffs MLS has this year, but for the moment (and this may only last a moment) there's very good reason to hope for a truly epic playoff hunt as we move into the final stretch of the season. That said, it could also break the other way, meaning no real playoff hunt at all, if NYR and POR continue to falter.

 

Re: ... Quick Update ...

Mathematically, 3 does not. But looking at the schedules ... don't do it! Trust me, it's way too early to go there. But let's see really quickly ...

Better to look at the 4 PT question, because just figuring out 4 might answer the question about 3.

4 PTS. That'd be 55 points. NYR, HOU and POR play two games against each other: HOU@POR and POR@NYR. If POR loses its games to NYR and HOU, then both NYR and HOU could end the season at 56 PTS, bumping LAG. If LAG can be bumped at 4, they can be bumped at 3.

I think that's right ... maybe ... could be wrong ... I didn't look through the schedules to see what these assumptions would do to other teams. For all I know these assumptions bump other teams below 55 PTS, rendering all this bunk. Like I said, it's too early ...

In general, I only eliminate nonsense, impossible numbers. I know some people probably do eliminate the M# and T# for teams above and below the playoff cutoff like you describe, but I believe in giving more info whenever possible, not less. And I also believe it's worthwhile having all those numbers there for making comparisons. Plus, some people don't even agree with the way I order the table: by PPG instead of actual PTS. Those folks will have a different top half of the table than me. Of course those people are crazy ...

 

... Labor Day Update ...

Code:

[B][U]         GP  GR  W   D   L   PTS PPG   PRJ MPP SE# T#  M#  WS# HD#   AD#   CNF[/U]
01  LAG  27  07  14  10  03  52  1.93  65  73  22  42  05  --  ----  ----  W
02  SEA  27  07  13  09  05  48  1.78  60  69  18  38  09  --  ----  ----  W
03  FCD  27  07  13  07  07  46  1.70  58  67  16  36  11  --  ----  ----  W
04  RSL  25  09  12  06  07  42  1.68  57  69  18  38  15  01  0.33  0.32  W
05  CMB  26  08  11  07  08  40  1.54  52  64  13  33  17  03  0.63  0.61  E
06  COL  28  06  10  11  07  41  1.46  50  59  08  28  16  02  0.67  0.65  W
07  SKC  27  07  09  10  08  37  1.37  47  58  07  27  20  06  1.14  1.13  E
08  PHI  25  09  08  10  07  34  1.36  46  61  10  30  23  09  1.22  1.21  E
09  HOU  27  07  08  11  08  35  1.30  44  56  05  25  22  08  1.43  1.42  E
10  DCU  24  10  07  10  07  31  1.29  44  61  10  30  26  12  1.40  1.39  E
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  NYR  26  08  06  14  06  32  1.23  42  56  05  25  25  11  1.63  1.61  E
12  POR  26  08  09  05  12  32  1.23  42  56  05  25  25  11  1.63  1.61  W
13  CHV  27  07  07  10  10  31  1.15  39  52  01  21  26  12  2.00  1.99  W
14  CHI  26  08  04  15  07  27  1.04  35  51  --  20  30  16  2.25  2.24  E
15  SJE  26  08  05  11  10  26  1.00  34  50  --  19  31  17  2.38  2.36  W
16  NER  26  08  04  11  11  23  0.88  30  47  --  16  34  20  2.75  2.74  E
17  TFC  28  06  04  12  12  24  0.86  29  42  --  11  33  19‡ 3.50  3.49  E
18  VAN  26  08  04  09  13  21  0.81  27  45  --  14  36  22  3.00  2.99  W

Current AD-Baseline: 45^[/B]

Code:

[B]GP = Games Played | GR = Games Remaining | PPG = Points Per Game
MPP = Max Points Possible = PTS + (3 x GR)
SE# = SS Elimination Number = MPP - (1st Place PTS) + 1 
M# = Magic Number = (11th Highest MPP) – PTS + 1
T# = Tragic Number = MPP – (10th Highest PTS) + 1
WS# = Wooden Spoon # = (18th Highest MPP) - PTS +1
HD# = Historical Despair Number = [URL="https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24203471&postcount=1"]Full explanation[/URL]
AD# = Actual Despair Number = [URL="https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24203471&postcount=1"]Full explanation[/URL]

- Sorted by PPG, then most GR, then alphabetical.*
- Teams in [COLOR="SlateGray"]gray[/COLOR] have been eliminated from the playoffs.
- Teams in [COLOR="DarkBlue"]blue[/COLOR] have clinched a playoff spot.
- Teams in [COLOR="SeaGreen"]green[/COLOR] are conference seeds.
- Team in [COLOR="Brown"]brown[/COLOR] has won the Wooden Spoon.
- Teams in [I]italics[/I] are conference champions.[/B]

Asterisks

* In the final weeks MLS tie-breakers will replace the final alphabetical sort. But until the final weeks it's seriously not worth the bother.

‡ TFC’s MPP currently sets the pace for this number. When a team sets the pace on this number its WS# is impossible to attain.

^ Set by DCU’s current 44 point (1.29 PPG) pace.

Notes

Another one game update, so there's not a whole lot to say. Yes, SKC is going to hate this result, but a draw against LAG is not a bad result for them. For some of the lower table teams, draws are really two points lost instead of three -- what I sometimes call a slow loss. SKC is not in that sort of position. This isn't to say it's a wonderful result. Rather, it's a result that maintains their status quo ante, and their status quo ante wasn't bad. It bumped their PPG down by 0.1 PPG (big deal) and it raised their despair numbers by similarly negligible amounts (meh). To face the top team in the league and come away no worse off -- well, that's a decent result. No, not a great result, but a "you should take this and be OK with it" kind of result.

LAG, of course, needs no further points, except in terms of the SS race. Anytime LAG misses out on maximum points, it makes things better for SEA, FCD and SEA. This could be a big weekend on the SS front.

Indeed, this could be a big weekend in general. But my big update for the weekend won't come until midweek after NER@PHI on Wednesday.

Oh, and CHI, I've got some bad news. You have been eliminated from the SS race. You can console yourself with the fact that you you have not yet been eliminated from the playoff race ... at least technically. Very technically.

 

Re: ... Labor Day Update ...

SEA invented redundant redundancy!

 

... Blown Tire Edition ...

Code:

[B][U]         GP  GR  W   D   L   PTS PPG   PRJ MPP SE# T#  M#  WS# HD#   AD#   CNF[/U]
01  LAG  27  07  14  10  03  52  1.93  65  73  22  42  05  --  ----  ----  W
02  SEA  27  07  13  09  05  48  1.78  60  69  18  38  09  --  ----  ----  W
03  FCD  27  07  13  07  07  46  1.70  58  67  16  36  11  --  ----  ----  W
04  RSL  25  09  12  06  07  42  1.68  57  69  18  38  15  01  0.33  0.32  W
05  CMB  26  08  11  07  08  40  1.54  52  64  13  33  17  03  0.63  0.61  E
06  COL  28  06  10  11  07  41  1.46  50  59  08  28  16  02  0.67  0.65  W
07  SKC  27  07  09  10  08  37  1.37  47  58  07  27  20  06  1.14  1.13  E
08  PHI  26  08  08  11  07  35  1.35  46  59  08  28  22  08  1.25  1.24  E
09  HOU  27  07  08  11  08  35  1.30  44  56  05  25  22  08  1.43  1.42  E
10  DCU  24  10  07  10  07  31  1.29  44  61  10  30  26  12  1.40  1.39  E
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  NYR  26  08  06  14  06  32  1.23  42  56  05  25  25  11  1.63  1.61  E
12  POR  26  08  09  05  12  32  1.23  42  56  05  25  25  11  1.63  1.61  W
13  CHV  27  07  07  10  10  31  1.15  39  52  01  21  26  12  2.00  1.99  W
14  CHI  26  08  04  15  07  27  1.04  35  51  --  20  30  16  2.25  2.24  E
15  SJE  26  08  05  11  10  26  1.00  34  50  --  19  31  17  2.38  2.36  W
16  NER  27  07  04  12  11  24  0.89  30  45  --  14  33  19  3.00  2.99  E
17  TFC  28  06  04  12  12  24  0.86  29  42  --  11  33  19‡ 3.50  3.49  E
18  VAN  26  08  04  09  13  21  0.81  27  45  --  14  36  22  3.00  2.99  W

Current AD-Baseline: 45^[/B]

Code:

[B]GP = Games Played | GR = Games Remaining | PPG = Points Per Game
MPP = Max Points Possible = PTS + (3 x GR)
SE# = SS Elimination Number = MPP - (1st Place PTS) + 1 
M# = Magic Number = (11th Highest MPP) – PTS + 1
T# = Tragic Number = MPP – (10th Highest PTS) + 1
WS# = Wooden Spoon # = (18th Highest MPP) - PTS +1
HD# = Historical Despair Number = [URL="https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24203471&postcount=1"]Full explanation[/URL]
AD# = Actual Despair Number = [URL="https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24203471&postcount=1"]Full explanation[/URL]

- Sorted by PPG, then most GR, then alphabetical.*
- Teams in [COLOR="SlateGray"]gray[/COLOR] have been eliminated from the playoffs.
- Teams in [COLOR="DarkBlue"]blue[/COLOR] have clinched a playoff spot.
- Teams in [COLOR="SeaGreen"]green[/COLOR] are conference seeds.
- Team in [COLOR="Brown"]brown[/COLOR] has won the Wooden Spoon.
- Teams in [I]italics[/I] are conference champions.[/B]

Asterisks

* In the final weeks MLS tie-breakers will replace the final alphabetical sort. But until the final weeks it's seriously not worth the bother.

‡ TFC’s MPP currently sets the pace for this number. When a team sets the pace on this number its WS# is impossible to attain.

^ Set by DCU’s current 44 point (1.29 PPG) pace.

Code:

[B][U]Pace: Deviation from 3 at home, 1 on the road[/U]

[U]         GP  PTS HG  AG  HW  HD  HL  AW  AD  AL  PCE[/U]
01  LAG  27  52  13  14  08  05  00  06  05  03  -01
02  SEA  27  48  13  14  07  04  02  06  05  03  -05
03  FCD  27  46  14  13  08  03  03  05  04  04  -09
04  RSL  25  42  14  11  09  03  02  03  03  05  -11
05  CMB  26  40  13  13  08  04  01  03  03  07  -12
06  COL  28  41  14  14  05  07  02  05  04  05  -15
07  SKC  27  37  13  14  06  05  02  03  05  06  -16
08  DCU  24  31  12  12  03  06  03  04  04  04  -17
09  PHI  26  35  13  13  05  07  01  03  04  06  -17
10  NYR  26  32  12  14  05  05  02  01  09  04  -18
11  HOU  27  35  14  13  08  03  03  00  08  05  -20
12  POR  26  32  14  12  08  02  04  01  03  08  -22
13  CHV  27  31  13  14  04  04  05  03  06  05  -22
14  CHI  26  27  13  13  03  08  02  01  07  05  -25
15  SJE  26  26  14  12  03  07  04  02  04  06  -28
16  VAN  26  21  12  14  04  05  03  00  04  10  -29
17  NER  27  24  13  14  03  06  04  01  06  07  -29
18  TFC  28  24  14  14  04  06  04  00  06  08  -32

Sorted by PCE, then fewest GP, then PPG.[/B]

Code:

[B][U]PPG: Home and Away[/U]

[U]         HPPG             APPG[/U]
01  LAG  2.23    01  LAG  1.64
02  CMB  2.15    02  SEA  1.64
03  RSL  2.14    03  FCD  1.46
04  FCD  1.93    04  COL  1.36
05  HOU  1.93    05  DCU  1.33
06  SEA  1.92    06  RSL  1.09
07  POR  1.86    07  CHV  1.07
08  SKC  1.77    08  PHI  1.00
09  PHI  1.69    09  SKC  1.00
10  NYR  1.67    10  CMB  0.92
11  COL  1.57    11  NYR  0.86
12  VAN  1.42    12  SJE  0.83
13  CHI  1.31    13  CHI  0.77
14  TFC  1.29    14  NER  0.64
15  DCU  1.25    15  HOU  0.62
16  CHV  1.23    16  POR  0.50
17  NER  1.15    17  TFC  0.43
18  SJE  1.14    18  VAN  0.29[/B]

Code:

[B][U]Remaining League Schedule[/U]

[U]       TBA  WK25  WK26  WK27  WK28  WK29  WK30  WK31  WK32[/U]
CHI:  ----  @SJE   CHV   NER  @RSL  ----   FCD   CMB
      ----  ----  ----  ----  @HOU  ----  @DCU  ----
CMB:  ----   TFC   HOU   LAG  @SKC  ----  @NER  @CHI
      ----  ----  @PHI  ----   DCU  ----  ----  ----
COL:  ----  @LAG  @TFC   SJE   FCD  ----   RSL  @VAN
CHV:  ----   DCU  @CHI  @DCU   PHI  ----  @LAG   SEA
      ----  ----  ----   TFC  ----  ----  ----  ----
DCU:   POR  @CHV  @SEA   CHV  @PHI  ----  @VAN   SKC
      ----  ----  ----   RSL  @CMB  ----   CHI  ----
FCD:  ----  @NER   NYR   HOU  @COL  ----  @CHI  @SJE
      ----  ----  ----  ----  ----  ----   VAN  ----
HOU:  ----  @SKC  @CMB  @FCD   CHI  ----  @POR   LAG
      ----  ----   SJE  ----  ----  ----  ----  ----
LAG:  ----   COL   VAN  @CMB   RSL  @NYR   CHV  @HOU
NER:  ----   FCD  @POR  @CHI   SEA   SJE   CMB  @TFC
NYR:  ----   VAN  @FCD   RSL  @TFC   LAG  @SKC   PHI
      ----  ----  ----   POR  ----  ----  ----  ----
PHI:  ----   POR   CMB  @SKC   DCU  @SEA   TFC  @NYR
      ----  ----  ----  ----  @CHV  ----  ----  ----
POR:  @DCU  @PHI   NER   SJE  @VAN  ----   HOU  @RSL
      ----  ----  ----  @NYR  ----  ----  ----  ----
RSL:  ----  @SEA   SKC  @NYR   CHI  @VAN  @COL   POR
      ----  ----  ----  @DCU  @LAG  ----  ----  ----
SEA:  ----   RSL   DCU  @VAN  @NER   PHI   SJE  @CHV
SJE:  ----   CHI  @HOU  @POR   SKC  @NER  @SEA   FCD
      ----  ----  ----  @COL  ----  ----  ----  ----
SKC:  ----   HOU  @RSL   PHI   CMB  ----   NYR  @DCU
      ----  ----  ----  ----  @SJE  ----  ----  ----
TFC:  ----  @CMB   COL  @CHV   NYR  ----  @PHI   NER
VAN:  ----  @NYR  @LAG   SEA   POR   RSL   DCU   COL
      ----  ----  ----  ----  ----  ----  @FCD  ----[/B]

Code:

[B][U]Remaining Strength of Schedule[/U]
(Factoring Opponent Home and Away Performance)

01  HOU:  1.56
02  VAN:  1.47
03  SJE:  1.46
04  COL:  1.39
06  RSL:  1.37
07  LAG:  1.36
05  NER:  1.33
08  TFC:  1.32
09  CHI:  1.32
10  CHV:  1.31
11  DCU:  1.28
12  POR:  1.28
13  CMB:  1.24
15  PHI:  1.22
14  NYR:  1.19
16  SEA:  1.15
17  SKC:  1.13
18  FCD:  0.99[/B]

Code:

[B][U]MLS Numbers Resources[/U]

[URL="http://www.sportsclubstats.com/USA/MLS.html"]SportsClubStats[/URL]
[URL="http://www.kiva.net/~jsagarin/sports/soccer.htm"]Sagarin's MLS Ratings[/URL]
[URL="http://playoffstatus.com/mls/mls.html"]PlayoffStatus[/URL]
[URL="http://usasoccer.blogspot.com/"]Climbing The Ladder[/URL]
[URL="http://www.settingthetable.info/home.asp"]Setting The Table[/URL]
[URL="http://www.mlssoccer.com/content/2010-playoff-standings"]MLSSoccer's Playoff Table[/URL]
[URL="http://www.mlssoccer.com/playoff-format"]MLS Playoff Tiebreakers[/URL]
[URL="http://soccernet.espn.go.com/tables?league=usa.1&cc=5901"]ESPN Soccernet's MLS Table[/URL] 

Please suggest others.[/B]

Notes

One game, so only a small update -- but with the full tables.

That draw, NER, was a slow loss. An exciting, even epic slow loss, but a slow loss nonetheless. NER had little hope before this game. Even before tonight they needed a near perfect run to even have a sniff at the playoffs. Anything less than three points wouldn’t do. After tonight, they’ll need a perfect run. That’s what those despair numbers around 3.00 PPG mean. So NER is burnt toast. Their season is over.

For PHI, the draw against NER is a bit like SKC’s draw with LAG: a result that really didn’t change anything for the team in either a positive or a negative direction. It does keep the Eastern Conference playoff race anything can happen tight, which should make for entertaining (well, at least meaningful) games over the next few weeks.

And there’s a bunch of meaningful games this weekend. Indeed, there’s several mid-table clashes that might very well end up making and breaking seasons. There’s also a whole bunch of overlapping games on Saturday. If you’re a neutral and you want to see the games with the biggest playoff stakes, then these are them.

Saturday, 4:00PM
RSL@SEA
HOU@SKC

RSL@SEA has SS implications, but HOU@SKC is a huge playoff game that could really shake up the Eastern Conference.

Saturday, 7:30PM
TOR@CMB
VAN@NYR
POR@PHI
FCD@NER

Playoff watchers will want to see both VAN@NYR and POR@PHI. Both NYR and POR are right on the edge, but they remain in a position where a couple of wins would turn things around and put them into serious playoff contention. But those wins have to start happening now. POR will have a tough time in PHI (you know Nowak will have them ready for this one). And if NYR can’t beat VAN at home … well, MetroStars jokes will be made.

Saturday, 10:30PM
CHI@SJE
DCU@CHV

There will be few matches this season more meaningless than CHI@SJE. But DCU@CHV is ripe with significance. If CHV is to have even an unreasonable hope of making the playoffs, it needs to beat DCU. A draw does CHV no good. DCU could settle for a draw. It would be wounding, but not fatal. But a win would do DCU a world of good, and it would help to solidify the team’s claim on a playoff spot.

Other than that? Let’s see … um … I’ve got nothing.

 

... First Blue Clinched Edition ...

Code:

[B][U]         GP  GR  W   D   L   PTS PPG   PRJ MPP SE# T#  M#  WS# HD#   AD#   CNF[/U]
[COLOR="DarkBlue"]01  LAG  28  06  15  10  03  55  1.96  67  73  19  42  02+ --  ----  ----  W[/COLOR]
02  SEA  27  07  13  09  05  48  1.78  60  69  15  38  09  --  ----  ----  W
03  FCD  27  07  13  07  07  46  1.70  58  67  13  36  11  --  ----  ----  W
04  RSL  25  09  12  06  07  42  1.68  57  69  15  38  15  01  0.33  0.32  W
05  CMB  26  08  11  07  08  40  1.54  52  64  10  33  17  03  0.63  0.61  E
06  COL  29  05  10  11  08  41  1.41  48  56  02  25  16  02  0.80  0.78  W
07  SKC  27  07  09  10  08  37  1.37  47  58  04  27  20  06  1.14  1.13  E
08  PHI  26  08  08  11  07  35  1.35  46  59  05  28  22  08  1.25  1.24  E
09  HOU  27  07  08  11  08  35  1.30  44  56  02  25  22  08  1.43  1.42  E
10  DCU  24  10  07  10  07  31  1.29  44  61  07  30  26  12  1.40  1.39  E
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  NYR  26  08  06  14  06  32  1.23  42  56  02  25  25  11  1.63  1.61  E
12  POR  26  08  09  05  12  32  1.23  42  56  02  25  25  11  1.63  1.61  W
13  CHV  27  07  07  10  10  31  1.15  39  52  --  21  26  12  2.00  1.99  W
14  CHI  26  08  04  15  07  27  1.04  35  51  --  20  30  16  2.25  2.24  E
15  SJE  26  08  05  11  10  26  1.00  34  50  --  19  31  17  2.38  2.36  W
16  NER  27  07  04  12  11  24  0.89  30  45  --  14  33  19  3.00  2.99  E
17  TFC  28  06  04  12  12  24  0.86  29  42  --  11  33  19‡ 3.50  3.49  E
18  VAN  26  08  04  09  13  21  0.81  27  45  --  14  36  22  3.00  2.99  W

Current AD-Baseline: 45^[/B]

Code:

[B]GP = Games Played | GR = Games Remaining | PPG = Points Per Game
MPP = Max Points Possible = PTS + (3 x GR)
SE# = SS Elimination Number = MPP - (1st Place PTS) + 1 
M# = Magic Number = (11th Highest MPP) – PTS + 1
T# = Tragic Number = MPP – (10th Highest PTS) + 1
WS# = Wooden Spoon # = (18th Highest MPP) - PTS +1
HD# = Historical Despair Number = [URL="https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24203471&postcount=1"]Full explanation[/URL]
AD# = Actual Despair Number = [URL="https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24203471&postcount=1"]Full explanation[/URL]

- Sorted by PPG, then most GR, then alphabetical.*
- Teams in [COLOR="SlateGray"]gray[/COLOR] have been eliminated from the playoffs.
- Teams in [COLOR="DarkBlue"]blue[/COLOR] have clinched a playoff spot.
- Teams in [COLOR="SeaGreen"]green[/COLOR] are conference seeds.
- Team in [COLOR="Brown"]brown[/COLOR] has won the Wooden Spoon.
- Teams in [I]italics[/I] are conference champions.[/B]

Asterisks

* In the final weeks MLS tie-breakers will replace the final alphabetical sort. But until the final weeks it's seriously not worth the bother.

+ Despite the M# of 2, MLSSoccer says LAG is in. I suspect this is due to a combination of a) HOU, NYR and POR cannot all attain 56 points, and b) LAG must hold a few 55 PT tiebreakers. But it's not worth figuring it all out right now. So I'm just going with what MLSSoccer says.

‡ TFC’s MPP currently sets the pace for this number. When a team sets the pace on this number its WS# is impossible to attain.

^ Set by DCU’s current 44 point (1.29 PPG) pace.

 

... Burnt Tortilla Edition ...

Code:

[B][U]         GP  GR  W   D   L   PTS PPG   PRJ MPP SE# T#  M#  WS# HD#   AD#   CNF[/U]
[COLOR="DarkBlue"]01  LAG  28  06  15  10  03  55  1.96  67  73  19  --  --  --  ----  ----  W[/COLOR]
02  RSL  26  08  13  06  07  45  1.73  59  69  15  36  10  --  ----  ----  W
03  SEA  28  06  13  09  06  48  1.71  58  66  12  33  07  --  ----  ----  W
04  FCD  28  06  13  07  08  46  1.64  56  64  10  31  09  --  ----  ----  W
05  CMB  27  07  11  07  09  40  1.48  50  61  07  28  15  03  0.71  0.50  E
06  SKC  28  06  10  10  08  40  1.43  49  58  04  25  15  03  0.83  0.58  E
07  COL  29  05  10  11  08  41  1.41  48  56  02  23  14  02  0.80  0.50  W
08  DCU  25  09  08  10  07  34  1.36  46  61  07  28  21  09  1.22  1.06  E
09  PHI  27  07  08  12  07  36  1.33  45  57  03  24  19  07  1.29  1.07  E
10  HOU  28  06  08  11  09  35  1.25  43  53  --  20  20  08  1.67  1.42  E
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11  POR  27  07  09  06  12  33  1.22  42  54  --  21  22  10  1.71  1.50  W
12  NYR  27  07  06  15  06  33  1.22  42  54  --  21  22  10  1.71  1.50  E
13  CHV  28  06  07  10  11  31  1.11  38  49  --  16  24  12  2.33  2.08  W
14  SJE  27  07  06  11  10  29  1.07  37  50  --  17  26  14  2.29  2.07  W
15  CHI  27  07  04  15  08  27  1.00  34  48  --  15  28  16  2.57  2.36  E
16  NER  28  06  05  12  11  27  0.96  33  45  --  12  28  16  3.00  2.75  E
17  TFC  29  05  05  12  12  27  0.93  32  42  --  09  28  16  ----  ----  E
18  VAN  27  07  04  10  13  22  0.81  28  43  --  10  33  21  ----  ----  W

Current AD-Baseline: 44^[/B]

Code:

[B]GP = Games Played | GR = Games Remaining | PPG = Points Per Game
MPP = Max Points Possible = PTS + (3 x GR)
SE# = SS Elimination Number = MPP - (1st Place PTS) + 1 
M# = Magic Number = (11th Highest MPP) – PTS + 1
T# = Tragic Number = MPP – (10th Highest PTS) + 1
WS# = Wooden Spoon # = (18th Highest MPP) - PTS +1
HD# = Historical Despair Number = [URL="https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24203471&postcount=1"]Full explanation[/URL]
AD# = Actual Despair Number = [URL="https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=24203471&postcount=1"]Full explanation[/URL]

- Sorted by PPG, then most GR, then REVERSE alphabetical.*
- Teams in [COLOR="SlateGray"]gray[/COLOR] have been eliminated from the playoffs.
- Teams in [COLOR="DarkBlue"]blue[/COLOR] have clinched a playoff spot.
- Teams in [COLOR="SeaGreen"]green[/COLOR] are conference seeds.
- Team in [COLOR="Brown"]brown[/COLOR] has won the Wooden Spoon.
- Teams in [I]italics[/I] are conference champions.[/B]

Asterisks

* In the final weeks MLS tie-breakers will replace the final alphabetical sort. But until the final weeks it's seriously not worth the bother.

^ Set by HOU’s current 43 point (1.25 PPG) pace.

Code:

[B][U]Pace: Deviation from 3 at home, 1 on the road[/U]

[U]         GP  PTS HG  AG  HW  HD  HL  AW  AD  AL  PCE[/U]
01  LAG  28  55  14  14  09  05  00  06  05  03  -01
02  SEA  28  48  14  14  07  04  03  06  05  03  -08
03  RSL  26  45  14  12  09  03  02  04  03  05  -09
04  FCD  28  46  14  14  08  03  03  05  04  05  -10
05  DCU  25  34  12  13  03  06  03  05  04  04  -15
06  CMB  27  40  14  13  08  04  02  03  03  07  -15
07  SKC  28  40  14  14  07  05  02  03  05  06  -16
08  COL  29  41  14  15  05  07  02  05  04  06  -16
09  PHI  27  36  14  13  05  08  01  03  04  06  -19
10  NYR  27  33  13  14  05  06  02  01  09  04  -20
11  HOU  28  35  14  14  08  03  03  00  08  06  -21
12  POR  27  33  14  13  08  02  04  01  04  08  -22
13  CHV  28  31  14  14  04  04  06  03  06  05  -25
14  CHI  27  27  13  14  03  08  02  01  07  06  -26
15  SJE  27  29  15  12  04  07  04  02  04  06  -28
16  VAN  27  22  12  15  04  05  03  00  05  10  -29
17  NER  28  27  14  14  04  06  04  01  06  07  -29
18  TFC  29  27  14  15  04  06  04  01  06  08  -30

Sorted by PCE, then fewest GP, then PPG.[/B]

Code:

[B][U]PPG: Home and Away[/U]

[U]         HPPG             APPG[/U]
01  LAG  2.29    01  LAG  1.64
02  RSL  2.14    02  SEA  1.64
03  CMB  2.00    03  DCU  1.46
04  FCD  1.93    04  FCD  1.36
05  HOU  1.93    05  COL  1.27
06  POR  1.86    06  RSL  1.25
07  SKC  1.86    07  CHV  1.07
08  SEA  1.79    08  PHI  1.00
09  PHI  1.64    09  SKC  1.00
10  NYR  1.62    10  CMB  0.92
11  COL  1.57    11  NYR  0.86
12  VAN  1.42    12  SJE  0.83
13  CHI  1.31    13  CHI  0.71
14  TFC  1.29    14  NER  0.64
15  NER  1.29    15  TFC  0.60
16  SJE  1.27    16  HOU  0.57
17  DCU  1.25    17  POR  0.54
18  CHV  1.14    18  VAN  0.33[/B]

Code:

[B][U]Remaining League Schedule[/U]

[U]      TBA   WK27  WK28  WK29  WK30  WK31  WK32[/U]
CHI:  ----   CHV   NER  @RSL  ----   FCD   CMB
      ----  ----  ----  @HOU  ----  @DCU  ----
CMB:  ----   HOU   LAG  @SKC  ----  @NER  @CHI
      ----  @PHI  ----   DCU  ----  ----  ----
COL:  ----  @TFC   SJE   FCD  ----   RSL  @VAN
CHV:  ----  @CHI  @DCU   PHI  ----  @LAG   SEA
      ----  ----   TFC  ----  ----  ----  ----
DCU:   POR  @SEA   CHV  @PHI  ----  @VAN   SKC
      ----  ----   RSL  @CMB  ----   CHI  ----
FCD:  ----   NYR   HOU  @COL  ----  @CHI  @SJE
      ----  ----  ----  ----  ----   VAN  ----
HOU:  ----  @CMB  @FCD   CHI  ----  @POR   LAG
      ----   SJE  ----  ----  ----  ----  ----
LAG:  ----   VAN  @CMB   RSL  @NYR   CHV  @HOU
NER:  ----  @POR  @CHI   SEA   SJE   CMB  @TFC
NYR:  ----  @FCD   RSL  @TFC   LAG  @SKC   PHI
      ----  ----   POR  ----  ----  ----  ----
PHI:  ----   CMB  @SKC   DCU  @SEA   TFC  @NYR
      ----  ----  ----  @CHV  ----  ----  ----
POR:  @DCU   NER   SJE  @VAN  ----   HOU  @RSL
      ----  ----  @NYR  ----  ----  ----  ----
RSL:  ----   SKC  @NYR   CHI  @VAN  @COL   POR
      ----  ----  @DCU  @LAG  ----  ----  ----
SEA:  ----   DCU  @VAN  @NER   PHI   SJE  @CHV
SJE:  ----  @HOU  @POR   SKC  @NER  @SEA   FCD
      ----  ----  @COL  ----  ----  ----  ----
SKC:  ----  @RSL   PHI   CMB  ----   NYR  @DCU
      ----  ----  ----  @SJE  ----  ----  ----
TFC:  ----   COL  @CHV   NYR  ----  @PHI   NER
VAN:  ----  @LAG   SEA   POR   RSL   DCU   COL
      ----  ----  ----  ----  ----  @FCD  ----[/B]

Code:

[B][U]Remaining Strength of Schedule[/U]
(Factoring Opponent Home and Away Performance)

01  SJE:  1.54
02  HOU:  1.50
03  VAN:  1.48
04  CMB:  1.40
06  LAG:  1.37
07  NYR:  1.36
05  CHV:  1.35
08  PHI:  1.34
09  CHI:  1.33
10  NER:  1.31
11  RSL:  1.30
12  DCU:  1.27
13  SKC:  1.24
15  COL:  1.23
14  POR:  1.21
16  SEA:  1.19
17  TFC:  1.11
18  FCD:  0.98[/B]

Code:

[B][U]MLS Numbers Resources[/U]

[URL="http://www.sportsclubstats.com/USA/MLS.html"]SportsClubStats[/URL]
[URL="http://www.kiva.net/~jsagarin/sports/soccer.htm"]Sagarin's MLS Ratings[/URL]
[URL="http://playoffstatus.com/mls/mls.html"]PlayoffStatus[/URL]
[URL="http://usasoccer.blogspot.com/"]Climbing The Ladder[/URL]
[URL="http://www.settingthetable.info/home.asp"]Setting The Table[/URL]
[URL="http://www.mlssoccer.com/content/2010-playoff-standings"]MLSSoccer's Playoff Table[/URL]
[URL="http://www.mlssoccer.com/playoff-format"]MLS Playoff Tiebreakers[/URL]
[URL="http://soccernet.espn.go.com/tables?league=usa.1&cc=5901"]ESPN Soccernet's MLS Table[/URL] 

Please suggest others.[/B]

Notes

By special request of Omar, for this week only the final sort on the main table is reverse alphabetical. Welcome to 12th place NYR! As I said earlier, NYR needed to start winning games. They drew and draws are useless to them. Loss or draw, for them the only difference is how fast the boat sinks.

The only saving graces for NYR are that POR drew as well (which while it keeps POR level with NYR, at least prevents them from jumping ahead of NYR), and that HOU lost (which keeps HOU from running out way ahead of NYR, and which depresses the bar over which NYR must jump – the AD-Baseline fell a point to 44). But let’s be honest, when you can’t beat VAN at home in a must win game, you’re in deep trouble.

That said, the mid-table race between HOU, NYR and POR for the final spot is real tight. The first team to put a couple wins together probably takes the 10th place prize.

Of course, another stumble and PHI drops down into that pack. Meanwhile, DCU took a major step to escape that mid-table pack, indeed DCU is now positioned for that 3rd spot in the East. The question is whether DCU can stay above that pack without Pontius. (And DCU's home and away troubles continue: 3rd best away record, 2nd worst home record.)

At the top of the table, the only substantive change was really that RSL has jumped back into the top of the MLS elite. That and that LAG is now basically running away with the SS. LAG is going to have to stumble, and probably stumble badly, to let anyone else into that game.

As for CHV, they are now most certainly toast. Very disappointing ...

 

Re: ... Burnt Tortilla Edition ...

I write them off because they're a team averaging 1.11 PPG that needs over 2.00 PPG in their remaining games to become playoff competitive.