since there is a thread talking about the negatives this year, I thought why not talk about the positives also. so, HDC? Timmy Howard to Man U? Kansas City attendance? Chicago almost 30 k in the last two game? Chicago's Supporters Shield and US Open Cup? Rookie ralph? Denver's transition to Kroenke?
those are some tough choices. Each are equally outstanding in their own right. There are great things on and off the feild. But I think the biggest impact will be that Kroenke has thrown his hat into the ring. This truly has been a monumental year for MLS.
If Howard was a field player I would give it to him, but the U.S. has already produced first-class goalkeepers. I'll go with the HDC. Now, if we can just get 16 more of them built...
off the field, its HDC opening on the field, its preki being over the hill, and being mvp. i hate that *#*#*#*#er, but hes been all over this year
So far... No team has ever won Supporters shield and US Open cup in the same year. No team has ever won the triple. The answer to this question has to wait a few weeks for the FIRE to do it all. Then, case closed.
How about the fact that a channel actually paid to broadcast an Open Cup game? MSG paid to show the Open cup final. It was just supposed to be on FSW. Also the idea of SSS doesn't cause hoots of laughter in the non-soccer community. No more debate about the league surviving just how will it thrive. Former North Jersey Imperial Goalkeeper makes good, REALLY good.
MLS Shootout on Dish was excellent this year. Just about every game was televised. Also, the FSW MLS games were a nice addition.
I think the biggest achievement will be if the league comes closer to turning a profit, because that's what will keep this league alive.
How about interest in investing from Chivas, Club America, Kroenke, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Cleveland (I may be missing some). Although Chicago was impressive and some rookies really performed, I think that the fact that people actually want to invest in MLS now dwarfs these in significance.
      The same goese for the MLS Shootout Package on Comcast Digital Cable. Comcast had taken over the cable around here from AT&T, and consequently this was the first year having the Shootout (I've had it since 2000) that I've gotten every single game no problem... in the last month or so of the season in the past few years, games wouldn't come on the TV and I'd always have to call the cable company for them to turn it on again. Not so this year.       A big thumbs up for Comcast! -G
      Also, at the risk of sounding biased, I would have to say the performance of the San Jose Earthquakes this season. Granted, they've kinda stumbled in the past month, but think about it: in the last offseason, they lost the 2002 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and 2001 runner up (Joe Cannon), their leading scorer in 2002 (Ariel Graziani), their rising defensive star that started making appearances for the Nats (Wade Barrett) and another lynchpin of thier 2001 MLS Cup winning run (Jimmy Conrad), among others - and none of them were replaced by big-name signings. Just about everyone and their mothers were predicting the Quakes to finish where Dallas eventually ended up.       Then on top of that, an unusually-high amount of injuries racked the team all season, forcing even a few Quakes fans to despairingly believe early on that their team would finish dead-last. Yet all the team did was win the Western Conference and come within a few points of the Supporters Shield... with Landon Donovan gone much of the time with the Nats, to boot!       That doesn't mean that I don't want them to sign a few big-name players by next season, though. -G
The Fire lost at least what the Quakes lost and were pundited just as low. As of now SJ has won nothing. Chicago has won everything. There is no way to proclaim SJs acheivements this season.
      SJ won the Western Conference title.       When they were expected to finish dead-last by just about everyone at the start of the season, then there is every reason to proclaim SJ's acheivements this season... and Chicago's, too! -G
-Not to say it's necessarily the biggest achievement, but it's good having players of the caliber of Cancela, Guevara, in order to start replacing (in a much cheaper way) the likes of what Cienfuegos, Novak, Pibe and Etcheverry brought to this league...I'm all for developing the US youth, but they too need some guidance from good foreign international players -Kroenke and the "promised" stadium which hopefully comes to fruition soon -Not rushing too quickly to supposed demands made by Chivas/AMerica are also achievements in themselves....We might not be making money yet as a league, but it does not mean we are starving for it enough to just please prospective investors in whatever shape or form
I think this has been the most exciting, promising year ever for MLS. At least since I started following the league 5 years ago. Look at what has happened over the last year (or so): -- HDC Opens to rave reviews and packed houses -- Tim Howard joins the biggest sporting concern on planet Earth -- Kroenke - a rich dude that isn't even a "soccer guy" - evinces his belief in the business viability of MLS by investing actual money in the league -- Frisco announcement -- An actual, bona-fide, confirmed, expansion plan. A new team will join the league. Chivas. Like Chivas or hate them, that a new team is joining the league with new money and a new investor is good. -- LA Galaxy manage to not get destroyed against some decent international competition in Korea -- MLS All Star game was exciting, entertaining, intense soccer on national broadcast television. -- FSW showing games. And paying real money to do it. -- There have been more incredible goals this year in MLS than in any year I can remember. I won't list them all, but think about some of the gems we've had this year. -- Parity and dominance on the field. By this I mean that Chicago has spanked down some ownage this year. But not so much that the league is uninteresting from a competitive standpoint. We have a clear favorite, but one not so dominant that their success is a forgone conclusion. -- Increased print media coverage. I can't verify this, but it seems to me that the daily news threads have more MLS-centric articles than ever this year.
People keep talking about Kroenke, but as Scoey said, we are getting aother investor. Vergara. Not that anyone's being racist or anything, but he is just as big of an achievement as Kroenke, IMHO.