Ever wake up feeling listless? Well, that's me today, which is not a good feeling when you're the keeper of the First XI. I'm not listless because I'm down on soccer or anything in MLS. I'm just listless because I cannot come up with a list. But I guess in the spirit of this column, I've at least got to order my thoughts, so here goes.
- The funny thing is, as we head down the final stretch of the season, I've been thinking a lot lately that this just might be the greatest MLS season ever. I base that analysis on a couple of things. First of all, I look at the teams with 40-plus points (D.C. United and New England in the East; Houston and Chivas USA in the West) and I think we're looking at some of the best, most fun-to-watch teams, to ever take the field in this league.
- And on the other side of the coin, we've had a few catastrophes, none quite as drastic as the one in Los Angeles, with the 18-point Galaxy. I mean, we've had disastrous seasons before in MLS. There were the '99 MetroStars and Wizards. The Expansion Brothers, Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake in '05. How about the 2000 version of D.C. United, the one that went from champions to 30 points. But it's hard for me to imagine a team that I expected more from doing less than the '07 Galaxy. You'd think that with Joe Cannon in goal and Landon Donovan on the field, you'd be a playoff team. Just goes to show you where conventional thinking gets you.
- And how about this goalless drought in Toronto. Have you ever seen anything this crazy before in your soccer playing life? Here's a team that gets after it pretty good, plays in front of energetic crowds, yet they haven't scored in 2-1/2 months. I hate to sound like I'm piling on Toronto and Los Angeles, but as a fan, sometimes I find it as interesting to watch teams trying to right themselves as teams going strong.
- And speaking of teams trying to right themselves, I must say I like RSL's acquisition of Yura Movsisyan. I remember watching Yura dominate at the MLS Player Combine a couple of years ago and I've seen him begin to show glimpses of being a great MLS forward this season in K.C., so I've got high hopes for him in Real Salt Lake. Of course, Yura will struggle until RSL figures out a way to get him the ball. Nothing new there.
- The trade of Movsisyan continues the trend for No. 1 and 2 draft picks to wear out their welcomes quickly in MLS. Think about recent history. Marvell Wynne and Mehdi Ballouchy from '06. Then there's Freddy Adu, Alecko Eskandarian, Chris Carrieri. On and on, you've got a lot of highly sought-after players who ended up on the move. And now comes Yura. Who's next? Certainly not Maurice Edu, though Mo Johnston has proved in his time as an MLS manager he'll not back off any deal.
- And while you're thinking of trades, there have been some pretty good ones in MLS this year, even though most weren't the eye-catching ones. How about Houston's pickup of Nate Jaqua as an example. Or Chivas USA picking up Alex Zotinca, Shavar Thomas and Paulo Nagamura. It seems those under-the-radar trades have really bolstered teams while the noisier transactions haven't really delivered as much.
- Of course, what more can you say about the team in MLS that's come to represent continuity. The New England Revolution. Steve Nicol and his staff have just done a wonderful job through the last four or five seasons of keeping a team intact and improving it with draft picks. Will this finally be the year the Revs break through and win a trophy? They'll get a crack at the U.S. Open Cup, but as luck would have it, they're going to have to win that Oct. 3 matchup on the road, playing FC Dallas in Frisco. With the new playoff format in place, it's not impossible they'd also have to play the MLS Cup in an away venue, if New England and D.C. manage to make it to RFK for the final. Oh well, the Revs can't complain. They had their chance to win a Cup at home in '02. And it hardly seems possible that was five years ago, does it?
- Along those same lines, is it really possible that next season, the Fire will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their one and only MLS Cup championship? Makes you wonder if Fire fans, spoiled so early, will soon start to feel like Cubs fans.
- Of course, they'll get no sympathy from MetroStars/Red Bulls fans, who are now praying for their team to find its form down the stretch and make a run toward their first-ever MLS Cup Final. Ah, forget the final. MetroBull fans would be elated to see their club win a first-round series for just the second time in team history. They haven't been to a conference final since they lost to Chicago in 2000. That was the MetroStars one and only series victory in MLS. Wow.
- And when I think of the failures of the MetroStars, I can't help but think how so many people out there still use the word "parity" when it comes to MLS, as if you've got different teams flip-flopping from worst to first all the time. Take a look, folks, at the teams at the bottom of the standings and the teams at the top over the past several seasons and I think you'll see parity hardly exists league-wide. Any assertions that you can turn a team around overnight are, quite simply, wrong.
- Where does this all leave us? With a great stretch run for the Supporters' Shield, with D.C. and New England battling it out, with perhaps Houston and Chivas USA giving them one final chase. And a great battle at the bottom of the table, where Colorado, Chicago and Columbus are set to slug it out for the final playoff spots. Honestly, I don't see the bottom teams shocking the world this year. I think the Top Four have established they are the best, and we'll be looking at two epic semifinal series. And when all is said, I say there's a good chance that 2007 will be a year that ranks at the top of a future list.
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.
