Sometimes in life we'd be better off if we lowered our expectations. If we did so, we would never be disappointed. One notion we should completely eliminate is the expectation that life should always be fair.
Take the Major League Soccer playoff format. Really, you can take it.
Even Landon Donovan, whose L.A. team took advantage of it, thinks the MLS playoff format is a little silly.
"The Quakes beat up on everybody all year," he said on KNBR Radio this week. "And they have to play their first playoff game on the road. That's not much of a home field advantage."
No it's not, Landon. But it is what it is. The San Jose Earthquakes picked a bad time to have a bad game. And so did the New England Revolution and D.C. United. Those are the three teams most "experts" figured would be the teams to beat in the postseason. That is, if they can survive the goofy first round series format. Not one of those teams won their first playoff game, with both the Revs and the Quakes losing.
The Earthquakes' 3-1 setback in Los Angeles last weekend came just a week after the Quakes had beaten the Galaxy in L.A. by the same score. Go figure.
Landon would be a good spokesman for this series; he is, so far, the biggest difference in the first round. His two goals at The Home Depot Center up his all-time postseason total to 12 goals in 15 games. He had the first 10 goals in a San Jose uniform, helping the Quakes to two MLS Cup titles. There is not a soul in a San Jose uniform who doesn't fear/respect/love/hate/worry about Landon Donovan, and what he can do on the field.
There is some other history that should be considered before you write off the first round series. Two years ago, the Quakes were down by four total goals with 70 minutes to play in game two against the Galaxy, and moved into the Conference Championship by scoring five unanswered goals at Spartan Stadium. It was, and still is, considered the greatest game in the history of the league. In 2004, the lower-seeded Quakes beat Kansas City 2-0 in game one of the playoffs, then went to KC and lost 3-0, giving up the game- and series-winning goal in stoppage time.
Choose your medicine in this one and take it carefully.
The Quakes - who finished the regular season on a 14-game unbeaten streak - will show up Saturday night and they will play hard, and most likely will play well. Whether it is good enough to win by two or more goals is in the hands of the soccer gods. The effort put forth is the sole responsibility of the players on the field.
In two regular season home games against the Galaxy in 2005, the Quakes outscored their Southern California rivals 5-1. They'll need an effort something like that for 90 minutes Saturday night. And the Quakes will need to get off to a quick start, so, whatever you do, don't get to the stadium late. The first 20-30 minutes could set the tone for the entire game - one way or the other.
The motor on the "Little Engine That Could" - as Alejandro Moreno dubbed this team months ago - will need to be up and running, purring like a sports car in Spartan Stadium. And it will need to lap its opponent a few times Saturday night.
Otherwise, the best regular season in the history of the franchise, the 32 games of toil and sweat, the three straight regular season wins over the Galaxy, the long unbeaten streak, the nine road wins, the unbeaten home season, the off-season and in-season reconstruction of the team by coach Dominic Kinnear, and the passion of the best fans in MLS will have gone unrewarded.
Failure would be surely be disappointing - and unexpected.
John Shrader has been the voice of the Earthquakes since 1996 and has worked in television and radio in the Bay Area for the past 20 years. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
