Somewhere tomorrow someone on BigSoccer will proclaim that last night's MASSIVE! elimination of the Supporter's Shield winning Columbus Crew by the MASSIVE! fourth seed Salt Lake is an example of why playoffs are bad. They will suggest that such systems don't produce "real" champions and they will go on to say that MASSIVE! Columbus should be considered the MLS champs because of their MASSIVE! regular season record.
And they will be wrong.
Every team in MLS is playing by the same MASSIVE! rules. Every player understands that the league champions are the team that wins the MASSIVE! MLS Cup. The MASSIVE! Supporter's Shield does not register with 95 per cet of MASSIVE! MLS fans as anything more than, say, the MASSIVE! Presidents' Trophy in the MASSIVE! NHL.
So, as MASSIVE! as the Crew are, they ain't the champs no more.
I did actually predict a Salt Lake win in this series. I based that on Columbus' play down the stretch, SLC's home record and the Utahans efforts this year against the east. I'm not betting against SLC in the east final either.
[irrational fan]
As for Columbus...I'm not going to lie. I enjoyed looking at all those sad faces in the Nordecke at the end of the game. I'm happy to know that certain BigSoccer bloggers are a little bit sad tonight. The knowledge that C-Bus won't have the cup next year warms my heart.
Yep, they are a better team than TFC. No one in Toronto is denying that (they should be, what, with the 11 year head start and all). But, all that matters not tonight.
All your trophies are belong to someone else.
Petty? Yep, but Toronto invented petty. Every song you sing in the Nordecke too. We invented it all. That's what we really think.
See you in March. It will be MASSIVE!
[/irrational fan]
Congratulations on the fine season Columbus. Enjoy the end of the OSU football season. It is, after all, all you have left now.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
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3 comments:
Maybe the critics should just realize that MLS is a pretty close league in talent, and RSL wasn't THAT far off in points from Columbus.. and that even in the FA Cup or the World Cup, upsets happen when a team plays determined football.
Nice "all your base" reference, but they did retain the Supporters' Shield. Dunno if that technically qualifies as a trophy.
The team's problem? They took off every Sigi.
Agreed that the MASSIVE!ness of this cannot possibly be understated :-).
Truth: I am finding more people that are having trouble arguing against the format, especially with teams in the MLS being in such close quarters in the post-season. There are a number of pluses, none the least of which is watching Columbus supporters cry in their watered-down American beer.
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