and people still assume he'll be fired.
At the same time, the U.S. soccer media -- myself included -- is not yet sophisticated enough to really critique the game or to have an effect on the teams. This fact is probably good, but it'll end in the coming decades.
I fully expect the Crew to keep the good times rollin', even this weekend against the Quakes. I don't say this because I think the old and improved Crew are the greatest thing since the good Doctor Khumalo set up his practice in Columbus. No, it's because I laid a big-time bet right after they won their first game that they'd win five in a row. MLS is so paritied (I don't think that's a word) that even the smallest spark -- such as a 0-0 draw at home to the Burn while mired in a backs-against-the-locker-room-wall slump -- can ignite a fire under a team's cleats.
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My pick: Because of injuries and national team duty, both San Jose and Columbus are shorthanded. I think Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear asked Alexi to suit up, and Crew coach Greg Andrulis called me about my availability. (Yeah, right.) So the pick comes down to taste-Bud syllogism: If beer is good and I bet a beer -- one single, solitary cool, effervescent beer -- that Columbus would win five in a row, then Columbus will beat San Jose. (And, yes, all you philosophy geeks, I know this is not technically a syllogism.)
Greg Lalas played for the Tampa Bay Mutiny and the New England Revolution in 1996 and 1997. Views and opinions expressed in this column views and opinions are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
