i first must admit that i've been away from mls and these here boards way too long...but when i did resurface this year and watched the conference finals, I just assumed there would be a return fixture...much to my dismay, there wasn't. anyway, obviously i've been on hiatus, so i'm not the expert on these matters, that just struck me as extremely insane. could someone please explain this matter to me? the league is on a nice "getting it right" streak, including ditching the shootout, ditching the "Burn" nickname, etc ... i can live with a one game MLS Cup (for obvious reasons), i just can't figure out why the conference finals aren't home-and-home, aggregate...that seems to be clearly the most sure fire way of getting the better team through. seriously, am i the only one that thinks this?
So far, the higher seeds have been 4-0 in conference finals the last two seasons: 2003 Western Conference: #1 San Jose beats #2 Kansas City in OT 2003 Eastern Conference: #1 Chicago beats #2 New England in OT 2004 Western Conference: #1 Kansas City beats #2 LA 2004 Eastern Conference: #2 DC United beats #4 New England in PKs
i have no explanation other that a one game scenario, feels more "AMERICAN", ie it feels more like an american playoff system ... i would probably prefer home-and-home for everything save for MLS Cup ... but hey what do i know...
I think more fans would like to have the entire playoffs single elimination than to have another home-and-home series. Teams should be rewarded for regular season success, and single elimination is a much better way to reward the top teams than to let them host the 2nd leg of another home-and-home series.
How is that so? The only major sport that has this is the NFL. And there are multiple reasons why they dont do a game 2. The rest all go 7 games.
I don't really get the point of going home-and-home for the first round but one-off in the next. It might make more sense if they flipped it, or something.
Scrambles--the Hunts believe that hosting a playoff game builds a bond between fans and the team. In the current system, everyone gets a home match. College basketball. ------- On the basic question, a big fat no. What vw said...I'd rather see all one-game knockouts. MLS already has a problem in that the regular season doesn't mean enough. This suggestion makes the problem worse.
The Hunts also believed that Wiz and Crew were good names for a soccer team and that a high school stadium with a plastic field was a suitable place for a pro soccer team to play.
i think my problem lies more deeply with a playoff system in general...the fact that an entire 30 match regular season can be nullified by three or four lucky matches (ANOTHER TOPIC FOR ANOTHER TIME). but i do think they might as well keep the whole thing uniform if they're going to have it...
Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with the Hunts. I definitely favor the NFL-style knockout. It has so many benefits! Reward regular season excellence more. Shorten the season by a week, thus eliminating either an iffy-weather date in April or a Wednesday night match. Lose a playoff game, which are all money losers right now. I was just saying why we have it. The Hunts want it.
I hear you. I was just feuling the fire that Hunt has been wrong before. Lamar is a saint - but he is not infallible. Come on - a home and home conference final eliminates 99% of any meaning to a better regular season record. Lets at least keep that.
Doh, I voted for home-and-home by mistake. I was thinking this was about MLS Cup. Hosting big playoff matches is the necessary advantage given to teams that have superior seasons. Heck, I'd love to see MLS Cup be a one-game match hosted by the team with the best record. That would really make the supporters' shield significant. Of course, I also understand the importance of having a predictable venue for travel planning, yada yada yada.
I personally think that conference semis and finals should be both home-and-home OR both single-off. I perefer home-and-home, but as long as both the semi and the conference final have the same format, I don't mind. AND...MLS Cup has to be single-off!
uh, no it's not... the playoffs start out home-and-home, then switch to a one game scenario completely indiscriminately. your wrong and you should never post here again.