The original premise of the framework of MLS was to determine ways to control expenses and ultimately ensure the financial solvency of the league. A by-product of the centrally-run league, besides being ribbed as a "communist" league, is that parity runs rampant.
If you look at the New York Yankees, or world soccer powers such as Chelsea, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, you see teams that have been able to reside at the top of their respective leagues consistently. They have dominated due to a combination of factors, including having very deep pockets from multiple revenue streams and having no fear about expenditure in order to acquire the very best players available.
In MLS, while there have been teams that have clearly dominated at certain times in the league's brief history, there have been several teams that have either won or threatened to win, evident by the fact that nearly every team in the league - save for the MetroStars and the two 2005 expansion teams, Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA - has played in either an MLS Cup or U.S. Open Cup title game.
On a year-to-year basis, different teams are at least contending for titles, as opposed to the MLS Cup champion being a foregone conclusion. On any given day, any team really can beat any other team.
So how does this all relate to Real Salt Lake? The parity in MLS is evident when teams can go from worst to first in just a year, as has happened a few times (D.C. United's weak start in '96 prior to hoisting the Cup, the 2004 Columbus Crew going winless in their first six games before going undefeated in their last 18 and capturing the Supporters' Shield, etc.).
Just ponder the current RSL situation: how amazing is the fact that a team can start the season without a win for six games, endure fan and media calls for the head of the coach, win two in a row, find themselves in the hunt after only eight games and have their coach being hailed as a genius?
If you are on top of the league, you prefer that the league standings are all one table and at the end of the regular season, the team with the most points wins. If you get off to a bad start, you simply love and appreciate the playoff system and you hope to put together enough points to sneak into the playoffs. Then it's a whole new ballgame.
While it is still early, RSL have given themselves something to build upon. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the mindset that can exist after getting off to a bad start. The wins over the last two weeks have done a great deal toward boosting morale in Salt Lake City and across the Wasatch Front, but the team and organization know that there is still so much work to be done.
Getting the first win was great. Getting the second win in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion, the team's first EVER against an Eastern Conference opponent, was a moral victory in conquering other challenges.
Coming from behind late in the game at home, RSL rewarded the fans, with substitutes Jeff Cunningham and Andy Williams giving the team a boost. It also proved that the first win at Los Angeles wasn't a fluke. RSL defeated a team that knows how to play with a one-goal lead is and one of the best road teams in MLS to boot. RSL also did this without key players, due to many circumstances. These are all important hurdles to overcome for a young team, especially a young team that has endured so much derision, doubt and scrutiny.
Every week of the extended MLS season is going to present different challenges. Until the campaign is over, there are always several questions asked of each team and each player. In the last two weeks, RSL has provided convincing answers.
This weekend, the questions will be asked by Clint Mathis of the Colorado Rapids during his first visit to Salt Lake City since his offseason trade. Perhaps Cunningham, the former Rapid for whom Mathis was traded, and the man who has provided on-field fireworks with three goals in his last 55 minutes, all off the bench, will provide the answers for RSL.
Robin Fraser, a five-time MLS Best XI selection and two-time MLS Defender of the Year, ended his 10-year MLS career and 16-year professional career last October, and now begins his first season with RSL as the team's color television analyst. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Fraser amassed 27 caps for the U.S. National Team and was drafted fourth overall by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the inaugural MLS draft.
Comments? E-mail Robin and the entire RSL broadcast crew at fun@RealSaltLake.com, and your e-mail could be featured in the Computech "Fan Feedback" feature on all RSL on KSL and FSN Utah broadcasts, as well as on KALL 700 AM.
