Did anyone else feel a bit of glee when K.C. missed out on, at least a chance, for overtime because D.C. got an 'autogol'? Seeing as how they got by S.J. with the same 'gift'. (I would say the hand ball goal that Aleko got was offset by Kovalenko's sending off for the intential hand ball)
Disagree. The hand ball goal by Eskandarian was a bad call. The sending off of Kovalenko was the right call. And it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy...
I was confining my comment to the goals, seeing how Wolff converted the penalty, evening the score in that category so to speak. Your confusing "not seeing" something with "miss judging" something. I think the ref did not even see the ball hit Aleko's arm. Maybe the linesman could have seen it but that was pretty quick action and when the ball made contact a linesman in the correct postion would most likely have had Aleko's body blocking his view. A 'bad-call" is the cluster-f*** Terry Vaughn made in K.C. where he let Zavagnin mug Donavan, then waited until Landon was free and on his way before calling the foul and no yellow for Zavagnin. Couldn't agree more.
That's exactly what seemed to happen. I looked for the linesman in the replays, and he was on the wrong side of the field, thus shielded from the handball. Bad non-call, but since it's doubtful any official saw it to make the call, even worse luck for KC.
In terms of "justice done" taken a little differently, as in "Did the best team win?", I think so, at least on that day. DC was just way, way more dangerous on offense, and KC just seemed anemic. A pretty entertaining match though, good for MLS. The last couple of finals have had lots of scoring. I wonder why that is? Is it just coincidence? The ball that was supposedly slightly ligher? The sun / shadows at HDC? Nerves that can lead to defensive mistakes? MLS conspiracy / script? (Now, after KC scores the first one, let Eskandarian bull his way in for a few - his dad played in NASL, it's a good story, and then in the second half we'll red card the thug and set up a PK - always good drama, and then crescendo to a close finish as DC struggles to hold off KC with 10 men. )
A non-call can be a bad call. It might be hard to blame the ref in this situation, but it's still the wrong call. Yeah, DC looked like the better team yesterday. I'd say they deserved to win, even if one of their goals was suspect. And Jaime Moreno got robbed of the league MVP award.
I have to admit that I was surprised of the outcome, but D.C. appeared to be fired up! I commented to a buddy that it didn't appear that they were a man down for th elast 20 minutes.. K.C. had some good runs, but just plain ran out of steam at the end. I thought it was a good final and D.C. deserved to win that game.
Overall, the better team (on that day) won. Somewhat OT, I am really starting to dislike the entire 'playoff' system MLS uses - too often the better team loses the "winner take all" final game after having been bled during the "home and away" playoffs. I suggest MLS either go to a "home and away" for the final or maybe just have the final be the top finishing team in the East against the same in the West. Any other ideas?
The MLS Cup was the hot team in the EAST versus the best, host team in the WEST. That's the objective of the playoffs! I like it, but it would have been even better if the Wizards had won it all. :coolL
He's from NJ and played for the cosmos. Bets are he's a Metros fan, and didn't want to take crap from his friends for selling out even if his son does play for DC. So he wore a shirt that was United but not DC. P.S. This is just a guess.
MLS needs to do either of two things: First, and preferable, will be to have the final at one of the teams stadiums. Remember the atmosphere when the Revs got a 'home game' in the final? (Too bad they didn't give their fans a goal to celebrate.) Yes, there will be problems of availablity (especially with teams in pointy ball stadiums) and MLS will have trouble arranging their media shows, etc. But so what? Imagine the screaming if that game was in DC? It would look a hell of a lot more impressive on televsion. Failing that, they should make a two week gap between the final playoff game and the Cup to give fans a chance to make the trip. Hey, WE can just drive down I-5. But how many people can scramble for plane tickets to get to LA from DC or KC with just a few days lead time? If this is the showcase game, then the league needs to rethink a few things.
I don't agree. KC had a better record than DC, so by your plan, the game would have been in KC, which would have been a disaster (astroturf, huge football stadium, low turnout). It would be nice to have a two week buffer, but not practical as the season is ending in November-it's too long as it is. And honestly, the Home Depot Center is a great place to have a game. And the weather was perfect (we got sunburned last year).
I thought it was a bit of irony and perhaps some poetic justice that KC got a taste of its own medicine when DC bunkered down and refused to concede another goal. How many times has KC confounded other teams' offensive efforts with the Gansler machine? I had become so exasperated with the KC's game plan that I was even rooting for you guys to finish them.
Arrowhead hasn't ever had a'turf for MLS games. Finals have been held successfully for finals in big stadia. Lastly, all this week the paper had front page articles and even the talk radio wonks had blurbs about the final. I doubt it would have been any less attended than the one in LA this weekend. For the record, Esky's handball is called and it goes to OT tied at 2 and dc down a man.
I agree the HDC is a great place for games, and the football lines would have been a problem. That's why this may have to wait until most of the league is in SSS. But you have to agree that home fans will make for a better atmpshere. So if you can't give teams home field now, at least let fans have more time to get there.
Tony, I love your idea. I would love for MLS to have just four teams make the Cup tournament, and use the home-and-home method for the semi-finals and the final. That would rock. Instead of a whole raft of poorly attended games, you'd get 6 rocking crowds. Cool. Plus, it's a soccer-style solution to a soccer problem. I like.
I thought that was disgusting. You'd think since his kid was playing for DC, he'd wear a DC t-shirt, at least, if he didn't have the DC uni shirt.
I wasn't surprised that DC won. What does surprise me is how DC can pay all their players. Don't they have the same salary cap as SJ. Unofficial Poll: Who had the worst performance Sunday. David Beckham, Switchfoot, or Kansas City?
Other than the error about us having astroturf, it wouldn't have been the best looking final. I bet we probably would've come close if not passed the attendance though. Freddy would still pull a crowd here IMO (D.C. only played here once), and even our bandwagoning casual fans would've come to the first final for this city in 10 years. However, I am confident the league made a ton more even if it would've been less attendance by hosting it at HDC and having the location pre-determined. The biggest problem is the time-window for advertising the game. They can parlay that event into so many other revenue streams.
Good points. The MLS Cup Weekend events need to be planned in advance. I can't imagine the last minute scrambling to figure out where the MLS Awards, Supporter Summit and Supporter Bash would be if teams/cities/fan groups only had a week or two to plan. I guess one could argue those events could be rolled into some preplanned MLS Convention weekend somewhere, separate from MLS Cup, but it would take the urgency and fun out of the events.