which would get them to 44 points -- or they'll need too many favors down the stretch. FCD can, at the very least, take what it's done the final few weeks of the season and try to build on it as it heads into 2010. Fans should also be invigorated by the team's ability to score goals in bunches.
9. The Shield. Don't pack up the Shield and send it to Columbus just yet, supporters. Sure things look good for the Crew, but they now face away games at desperate New England and D.C. that will provide stern tests as they try to wrap it up. If the Crew slip up, any number of teams could creep up on them before the season's final week.
8. Cunny v. Casey. And while we're talking about races, how about the Golden Boot battle that's become a two-man showdown between Jeff Cunningham and Conor Casey. Circle Oct. 17 on your calendar as that's the day FCD and Colorado go head-to-head. A few weeks ago I wrote that no one would reach the magic number of 20 goals this year, but with the Boot on the line, you never know if one of these guys has a couple of multi-goal games left in him. After Wednesday night's FCD-San Jose match, both players will be down to their final two games. Cunningham, who won the Golden Boot in 2006, is one goal away from setting his personal record for most goals in a season.
7. D.C. nude. In case you haven't heard, ESPN The Magazine has some interesting photos in its current issue, which is called "The Bodies Issue." Included in the gallery is a photo of six United players -- Chris Pontius, Bryan Namoff, Clyde Simms, Jaime Moreno, Santino Quaranta and Ben Olsen -- wearing nothing but their socks and boots. Really.
6. How the West will be won. Forget about the Shield. How about the race for the top two spots in the West? That could be the most compelling story of the season's final month. Chivas USA has three of its final four games at home and holds two games in hand on LA, Houston, Seattle and Colorado. Houston's plus-9 goal differential could well be the thing that pushes it to the top, or keeps it in the all-important top two out West.
5. Houston hiccup. What are we to make of the Dynamo's recent struggles? Dom Kinnear's men have won just one time in their last six MLS games. Have all those CONCACAF Champions League matches worn them down, or did they start conserving energy after they built up an early cushion? The next few weeks could provide a lot of answers and it's going to be a real challenge to the Orange to get firing on all cylinders again after so many matches. I'm confident that leaders like Brian Ching will begin to subtly remind teammates how last season ended. And how they don't want to repeat that type of performance.
4. Chivas bookends. Just when it looked like Chivas USA had gone completely in the tank -- that tie with the Red Bulls at home two weeks ago looked like it might deflate the Red-and-White -- Preki's team goes on the road and gets the full three from D.C. United. Talk about a weird game. Chivas, who have so much trouble scoring goals, got two fortunate bounces while D.C. couldn't get anything to go their way. The schedule is set up now for Chivas to finish the season the way they started, with a bunch of points that could put this team in line to do something it's never done: win a first-round playoff series.
3. Games in hand. Sure, it can be frustrating trying to figure out the MLS standings when not every team has played the same number of games, but I've come up with a very unscientific system that seems to help me make sense of it all. This week, I'm projecting every team at 28 games and handing out full points to every team for its game(s) in hand. That makes the points totals look this way: Columbus 49, Chivas USA 47, LA 44, Houston 44, Chicago 41, Seattle 41, New England 41, Colorado 40, Toronto 38, Salt Lake 37, D.C. United 36, Dallas 36, Kansas City 35, San Jose 34, New York 18. Hardly scientific, but it helps illustrate what teams need to shoot for down the stretch.
2. Tough call, coach. I think Bruce Arena is the frontrunner for Coach of the Year and he has done a great job of rebuilding the Galaxy and helping them to return to the playoffs. But is that more impressive than what Sigi Schmid has done in Seattle, taking a team that had nothing but the players it picked up in the expansion draft and leading them (most likely) into the playoffs? You'll get arguments on both sides, but let's not forget that Schmid's Seattle is the first expansion team to play like contenders in 11 years. And as much as Arena had to turn over LA's roster, having a player like Landon Donovan to build around is not a bad starting point. My guess, though, is Arena will get the nod.
1. The time is now. Finally, a lot of my New Jersey friends have been picking out their seats at Red Bull Arena and are genuinely excited about the 2010 season. That's despite the Red Bulls' horrific 2009 campaign. I don't know whether this is a prayer or a plea, but when the doors open to the RBA next season, let's hope that the team on the field is one that's ready to compete in every game and make those fans proud of their investment. I think maybe, just maybe, the Red Bulls run to the final a year ago, combined with their flop this year, has taught a number of N.J. MLS fans that this can't be about quick gratification (a couple of playoff wins) but needs to be more about consistency. A number of fans now look back on some of the young teams they complained about -- booed even -- and see, hmmm, maybe a little patience would've been a good thing. To that end, the 2010 season doesn't have to be a championship season for New York, but it absolutely has to be a step-forward season, and a season that shows the Red Bulls, in their spectacular home, are a team that recognizes what it's going to take to succeed.
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.
