guys like Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Eddie Johnson, Twellman and Dwayne DeRosario -- I am very focused on the guys on all the remaining teams who do the dirty work. I'm thinking about Shalrie Joseph (a star, I know), Richard Mulrooney, Chris Armas and Sasha Victorine. Watching the games last weekend, I saw a refuse-to-lose look in their eyes.
9. The grind. I guess you have to tip your hats to the Revolution and Wizards for getting the job done in their weekend matches, but here's hoping in one-game semifinal matches, a few more chances are created. In particular, I'm thinking about the Wizards. I mean, Kansas City's ability to hold off Chivas for 90 minutes is commendable, but watching the Wizards milk the clock got pretty tedious. I can't back down from my endorsement of the two-game aggregate system, which I wrote last week, but Game 2 of the Chivas USA-Kansas City series is an example of why many people want it abolished. K.C. scores on a free kick in leg one and sits on that lead for the rest of the series. Guess you do whatever it takes, and I do not expect the Wizards to make any apologies. Also, in the Chivas locker room, they're probably annoyed that K.C. did to them what they were unable to do to Houston in '06, when they coughed up a 1-0 lead in the second leg.
8. The cauldron. It was hard to watch that Houston-Dallas match with the field at Robertson Stadium freshly painted for football, but you have to hand it to fans of the Orange, they make that place a nightmare for the opposition. You never had the feeling that FC Dallas would make that lead stand up, did you? I think Kansas City's going to have a tough time dealing with the rock-hard field and the frenetic pace that has come to define games at Robertson.
7. Hold your heads up. I admit, I root for a team from time to time, and this year, I was pulling for D.C. United to get through to the final for a couple of reasons. First of all, I thought they played really fun and exciting soccer, but most of all, I wanted them to host the final at RFK in front of close to 50,000 fans. I can't fault the effort that United put into the playoff series, but going down 3-0 just proved to be too much for them. If I could make a wish for MLS moving forward it would be for the league to do away with conferences, balance out every team's schedule and make the Supporters' Shield a truly meaningful trophy. Fans in the U.S. are sophisticated enough to recognize the regular season champion (so long as it's achieved on a level playing field) and a Cup champion. Anyway, chins up, D.C. You guys were great.
6. You, too, Chivas USA. And, I wrote it a week ago, but you just got the feeling that Chivas USA would not be able to overcome the loss of Ante Razov. It was a shame, really, because this was a team that was a lot of fun to watch this season. I was hoping for a D.C.-Chivas final, because I think it would've been the most entertaining final matchup in MLS in many, many years.
5. One goal. Taylor Twellman. Brian Ching. Chris Rolfe. Eddie Johnson. Who's going to step up this weekend and put a ball in the back of the net? You just get the feeling that the matchups are going to lead us to a pair of 1-0 games. That's big pressure on the strikers.
4. Real test. Calling out to soccer fans in the mid-Atlantic region. MLS Cup 2007 is going to be the greatest test of fandom in the league's history. We're back in a big, old stadium for the first time in a while and the home team is out. What kind of crowd and atmosphere are we going to be looking at in the final? Back in 2000, fans responded pretty well for a Chicago-Kansas City final. Seven years later, can they answer the call again?
3. Stars align. I mentioned the stars above, stating that, for some reason, my focus in the first round was more on the workers. But I'm not letting Blanco, Johnson, Twellman, De Rosario off the hook. What would be better than for the biggest names to rise to the occasion and provide the biggest moments this weekend? We'd all love to see it.
2. Rookie managers. We've seen it before, first-year coaches winning it all. Bruce Arena in '96 (when all coaches were first-year coaches), Bob Bradley in '98, Frank Yallop in 2001 and Peter Nowak in 2004. Can Juan Carlos Osorio or Curt Onalfo join that list? Both coaches have done a good job of building team spirit and the attitude that anything is possible in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
1. Is it New England's year? The Red Sox. The Patriots. Man, even the Celtics are looking good these days. Kind of makes you wonder if the planets are finally aligned for the Revs to win their first MLS Cup, and cap off The Double. Bring on the weekend.
Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. Send your comments and complaints (200 words or less, please) to Jeff at jbradleyespn2003@yahoo.com and he promises to read (but not respond to) all of them. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
