I just love it!! MLS Kick-Off Weekend is almost here and I just cant wait! In a matter of hours we will begin the long and infamous journey that will be Wooden Spoon 2015!! Although it is too early to say who will win the "honors" with 100% certainty---there have to be some favorites going into the season. My pick is --unfortunately--my own team NYRB. A team that is certainly not a stranger to the Spoon. I believe that the new management team of Curtis and Marsch have introduced too many changes all at once and that it will take a long time for this team to come together --if indeed it ever does. Apparently no one at Red Bull has ever heard the old phrase "if it ain't broke don't fix it." Well fix they did--this team has Curtis's and Marsch's fingerprints all over it. As I think past Spoon analysis has shown, you don't get anywhere in this league without a good defense and without goals and Red Bull, unfortunately, dismantled their defense and replaced it with nobodies and we have only one striker up front. The Goal Differences for this club might be in record setting negative territory halfway through the season. We'll see... Anybody else have Wooden Spoon faves as we enter MLS Kick-Off? Unfortunately we have lost perennial Spoon Faves Chivas USA this year--moment of silence Can Montreal Impact repeat as Wooden Spoon winners in 2015? IT'S ALL ABOUT SPOON, BABY!!!
Stacked Western conference might produce a "winner" there. Can Colorado turn it around in time? San Jose?
By the way, being the arch rivals, Toronto FC may "award" the 2014 Wooden Spoon to Montreal Impact, during either (or both) of their home games below: Which date(s) works best?
Predictions by ProSoccerTalk: http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/...r-league-soccers-2015-standings-do-you-agree/ Colorado are overwhelming favorites in the West.
Took the time to compose this Wooden Spoon Chart by year--it also takes note of records set in the comments.
My random selection on the DC United board predicted Philly would win the WS. I thought it was a pretty sensible pick, random ranking or not.
I'm not sure if I may have made a mistake---The San Jose Clash became the San Jose Earthquakes but then moved to Houston and became the Dynamo in 2006, however by order of Garber the records and stats of the Quakes were left in San Jose when they moved to Houston. Then the Quakes name and records were "unfrozen" when they came back in 2008. So perhaps the Quakes could actually be the first team to reach 3 spoons? I know that Quakes records can sometimes be confusing and controversial among fandom...
I think Portland will challenge at the start of the year but won't be able to stay in the hunt for the long haul. For the long haul, my money is on Colorado. The Red Bulls are tempting but the East is not the West.
Yes of course i know DC has won it 3 times and it is reflected in the chart--however San Jose Clash 96, San Jose Earthquakes 2000, San Jose Earthquakes 2008 Fans cant have it both ways--you cant leave the 2 MLS Cups and 1 SS in San Jose after the move to houston, but somehow say that the Spoons don't count because of the move.
Yeah, I don't think I've ever heard a Quakes fan claim that those old Spoons don't count. It's just not something people think much about. Everyone knows 96-00 were terrible... although I'd say 08 was kinda harsh. Won the Spoon on a tie-breaker, while 09, 11, and 14 were much more disgraceful seasons that did more than enough to win a Spoon. There just happened to be even worse teams those years.
How much allocation money will a Spoon winner get for use in the 2016 season, and is it significantly different from the take of the 19th best team? This is a very important race.
Interesting call - why didn't the Revs (or anyone) beat us in the pre-season? RSL is under the radar and will surprise, albeit to the upside.
A different Spoon Chart I worked on today. The chart that I uploaded earlier today was Spoons won by year. This one is SPOONS WON BY CLUB (with included spoon percentage) *Given the fact that this will be the league's 20th year it is pretty amazing to see how the losing has more or less spread itself out equitably. There are only 3 teams that are repeat spooners, while the Canadian teams have suffered because basically they are still new to the league and have gotten off to a slow start. It is amazing to see that 2 charter clubs (clubs that date back to 96) have never won the Spoon at all. They are either incredibly well run organizations or they've simply been on the right side of madame luck. Whatever those guys eat for breakfast is what I'll have please....
Thanks for your support--- runners up never really entered into the equation for me. The 2 charts (spoons by year and spoons by club) I worked on today took much longer than I imagined. Perhaps at a later time?? Anyway only 2008 is of any note in my mind with the Revolution escaping winning the Spoon by the narrowest of margins.
Do you have pics of The Spoon? I love this so. Even if it might be the Quakes' spoon to bear come Oct.
Hi Honore, Thanks for keeping up with these MLS boards all the way from France!! To answer your question: The MLS Wooden Spoon exists purely in the mind of the fans. There is no official physical trophy that is presented by either the league or the fans to the "winning team"--it is simply an end of the year stat in the final table standings. Therefore as much as I would like to, I don't have any pictures of the MLS Wooden Spoon for you. The closest we have come is the photoshopped picture of the Consolation Shield that I made up for posting on these boards. There has also been a wonderful Spoon Scudetto idea that was circulated on these boards as well. There has been talk in the past of making a physical Spoon trophy however such conversations have not, as of yet, resulted in anything concrete. I think you will find that despite the lack of a physical trophy, fan discussions here on Big Soccer regarding the race to the wooden spoon can be quite intense--especially as the regular season nears its end! The fans love the MLS Wooden Spoon!