New Clint Dempsey song!!!

Download link Oh My God. You're not going to believe this. I have somehow gotten ahold of the new Clint Dempsey track. That's right, Deuce is back with the REMIX of "Don't Tread" and if you thought he was good (or bad) before, well, just listen to this. This is either the greatest or the stupidest thing ever. Here's the video of the original for comparison.

MLS 2006 - Week Five goal compilation

Youtube link Download link Music is Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - "If You Must." Enjoy. Previous MLS Compilations 2006 - Week 4 - YT - DL 2006 - Week 3 - YT - DL 2006 - Week 2 - YT - DL 2006 - Week 1 - YT - DL 2005 - Season's Best Goals 2005 - RSL 2005 - Happy Without You 2004 - MLS Cup Playoffs

MLS Alltime Best XIs by team?

Since MLS has been around for a decade now, some of the league's teams have been releasing their "all decade" or "alltime Best XI" teams as voted on by the fans, D.C. United being the latest. COL - DAL - DC - LA - SJ I thought it would be cool to put together a full 18 man alltime roster for each MLS team, and that's what I did. But there's a catch: To make it more interesting, I only used each player once. That led to some tough choices, such as Roy Lassiter for DC over TB. I picked a 4-4-2 for each team, and did not include Chivas and RSL. The amount of games/years played for the team was probably the biggest factor in the selections, although if a player was good enough he could make it just one season. And I'm not really worried about positions here, meaning that four CB's can make up a defense. I also took into account the fans' opinions that I read on those Best XI's listed above, and on Bigsoccer. It's hard for me to do this kind of thing, because I didn't start following the league until 2000. So I can't really know for sure how good the players in the early years of MLS were. But it was a lot of fun, and I would love to hear your comments if you disagree with my selections. The three players with the most games played who didn't make it onto a team: Mark Santel, Peter Vagenas, Chris Albright. Chicago Fire Starters: Thornton, Bocanegra, Okaroh, Kubik, Brown, Beasley, Armas, Marsch, Nowak, Razov, Stoitchkov Bench: Ring, Curtin, Whitfield, Kovalenko, Kosecki, Ralph, Wolff I felt that Kovalenko and Wolff meant more to the Fire than DC/KC. I chose Kosecki over Podbrozny, although I don't know if that was the right choice. Colorado Rapids Starters: Cannon, Trittschuh, Balboa, Borchers, Martinez, Beckerman, Chung, Henderson, Limpar, Bravo, Spencer Bench: Hahnemann, Kotschau, Vaudreuil, Hart, Paule, Dely Valdes, Harris A lot of their players could've made another team. Cannon was a hard decision, but he never played better than in 2004 with the Rapids, so he goes here instead of San Jose. Columbus Crew Starters: Friedel, Clark, Dooley, Yeagley, Marshall, Maisonneuve, Warzycha, West, Martino, McBride, John Bench: Busch, Lapper, Denton, Perez, Farrell, Buddle, Cunningham Probably the best set of forwards for any team. D.C. United Starters: Rimando, Agoos, Llamosa, Pope, Nelsen, Harkes, Olsen, Etcheverry, Gomez, Moreno, Lassiter Bench: Presthus, Talley, Sanneh, Williams, Stewart, Eskandarian, Diaz Arce More overall talent than any other team. F.C. Dallas Starters: Dodd, Rodriguez, Farrer, Morrow, Dade, Deering, Pareja, O'Brien, Alvarez, Kreis, Graziani Bench: Jordan, Suarez, Gibbs, Valakari, Rhine, Johnson, Washington Dodd played fewer games, but was in the league's Best XI while he started. The fan vote had Gibbs in the Best XI, but I dunno. Kansas City Wizards Starters: Meola, Gutierrez, Garcia, Conrad, Vermes, Zavagnin, McKeon, Klein, Preki, Molnar, Johnston Bench: Oshoniyi, Okafor, Prideaux, Arnaud, Simutenkov, Brown, Takawira Prideaux goes here instead of DC because of his role in that great 2000 team. Missing a lot of talent that were better contributors elsewhere. Los Angeles Galaxy Starters: Hartman, Vanney, Lalas, Fraser, Caligiuri, Elliot, Jones, Machon, Cienfuegos, Ruiz, Hurtado Bench: Campos, Califf, Hendrickson, Pena, Victorine, Welton, Hernandez Lots of talent left off here: Albright, Calichman, Gomez, Hermosillo. Miami Fusion Starters: Cassar, Mastroeni, Marshall, Maessner, Cullen, Vargas, Williams, Rooney, Bishop, Serna, Chacon Bench: Lagerwey, McKinley, Webber, Gorter, Bilyk, McLaren, Gutierrez Probably the toughest team to pick, because so many of their players belong elsewhere. Rimando, Preki, Henderson, Heaps, Llamosa are all from that great 2001 team, but don't make it. On the bright side, I have Mastroeni and Marshall here. But the bench is very thin. New England Revolution Starters: Brown, Franchino, Burns, Heaps, Pierce, Joseph, Noonan, Kamler, Dempsey, Twellman, Moore Bench: Reis, Dunseth, Chronopoulos, Naveda, Cancela, Baba, Cate I know what you're thinking. Cate? But so many of their forwards only had one good year, and more with another team, like Savarese and Diaz Arce. I also thought Wolde Harris was more of a Colorado player. So Cate it is. New York Red Bulls Starters: Howard, Petke, Jolley, Harty, Matthaeus, Ramos, Guevara, Djorkaeff, Donadoni, Mathis, Savarese Bench: Ammann, Semioli, Leitch, Sorber, Gaven, Wolyniec, Valencia They have a couple other forwards who could be there instead of Wolyniec, but it's not like any were great. Maybe Faria or Comas? San Jose Earthquakes Starters: Onstad, Barrett, Dayak, Doyle, Wright, Mulrooney, Lewis, DeRosario, Ekelund, Cerritos, Donovan Bench: Kramer, Robinson, Martin, Corrales, Mullan, Ching, Wynalda No Agoos or Conrad hurts them defensively. And Joe Cannon, as I previously mentioned. Tampa Bay Mutiny Starters: Garlick, Yallop, Kooiman, Addo, Hejduk, Vasquez, Galderisi, Ralston, Valderrama, Diallo, Shannon Bench: Dougherty, Kinnear, McCarty, Quill, Lagos, Ramos, Prampin No Lassiter, but they do have Ralston. Should Keller or Eriksson be here?

MLS 2006 - Week Four goal compilation

Youtube link Download link (video Ipod compatible) Music is Robbie Williams - "Spread Your Wings." Enjoy. Kyle Martino's goal for the Crew is missing, because it was on HDNet only, and therefore the highlight isn't on MLSnet. Also, I have uploaded video Ipod compatiable versions for weeks one and two. Click on the "DL" below for the respective week. Previous MLS Compilations 2006 - Week 3 - YT - DL 2006 - Week 2 - YT - DL 2006 - Week 1 - YT - DL 2005 - Season's Best Goals 2005 - RSL 2005 - Happy Without You 2004 - MLS Cup Playoffs

OTFATT 2006: Update #2

4/11 (85 players remaining) With nearly a month gone, already the list has been pared down. Once again, this is where I track which players have played every single minute of the season for their MLS teams. 66 guys are left, including every goalkeeper. Two rookies are on the list: Bornstein and Wynne. I plan on updating this every two weeks. Dropped off (19): Eric Denton Mike Petke Ritchie Kotschau Chris Gbandi Clarence Goodson John Wilson Ryan Cochrane Kevin Goldthwaite Kelly Gray Eddie Johnson Shavar Thomas Herculez Gomez Tyrone Marshall Pat Noonan Steve Ralston Chris Henderson Jeff Parke Carey Talley Andy Williams CHICAGO (7) C.J. Brown Ivan Guerrero Justin Mapp Logan Pause Chris Rolfe Thiago Zach Thornton CHIVAS USA (7) Jonathan Bornstein Brad Guzan Sacha Kljestan Jesse Marsch Juan Francisco Palencia Tim Regan Claudio Suarez COLORADO (5) Kyle Beckerman Joe Cannon Terry Cooke Jovan Kirovski Chris Wingert COLUMBUS (4) Jon Busch Eddie Gaven Chad Marshall Rusty Pierce DALLAS (4) Bobby Rhine Dario Sala Simo Valakari Greg Vanney D.C. UNITED (6) Brian Carroll Facundo Erpen Joshua Gros Jaime Moreno Ben Olsen Troy Perkins HOUSTON (4) Brian Ching Brian Mullan Pat Onstad Adrian Serioux KANSAS CITY (5) Davy Arnaud Nick Garcia Bo Oshoniyi Sasha Victorine Kerry Zavagnin LOS ANGELES (4) Chris Albright Landon Donovan Kevin Hartman Ugo Ihemelu NEW ENGLAND (7) Clint Dempsey Andy Dorman Jay Heaps Daniel Hernandez Shalrie Joseph Matt Reis Taylor Twellman NEW YORK (7) Edson Buddle Taylor Graham Amado Guevara Carlos Mendes Tony Meola Danny O'Rourke Marvell Wynne REAL SALT LAKE (6) Jeff Cunningham Scott Garlick Chris Klein Eddie Pope Douglas Sequeira Daniel Torres

Playoff Streaks: April 20, 2006

Now that the NBA and NHL regular seasons are over, we can look again at how MLS teams stack up when looking at the USA's longest playoff streaks. This list is limited to the top 4 leagues, plus MLS and the WNBA. Playoff Streaks 1 Detroit Red Wings NHL 15 2 Atlanta Braves MLB 14 3 Colorado Avalanche NHL 11 3 New York Yankees MLB 11 3 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 11 6 Los Angeles Galaxy MLS 10 7 Indiana Pacers NBA 9 7 New Jersey Devils NHL 9 7 Ottawa Senators NHL 9 7 San Antonio Spurs NBA 9 11 Sacramento Kings NBA 8 12 Los Angeles Sparks WNBA 7 13 Dallas Mavericks NBA 6 14 Detroit Pistons NBA 5 14 New Jersey Nets NBA 5 14 San Jose Earthquakes MLS 5 I last looked at this in December, and the only team that dropped off from the top ten was the St. Louis Blues, whose 25 year streak finally ended in emphatic fashion. The Indianapolis Colts have the longest streak in the NFL, at only 4 years. The Galaxy have only five teams ahead of them. Who knows, with a majority of MLS teams making the playoffs every year, they could put together their own 25 year streak. The Earthquakes will fall off after this year, obviously. The next two MLS teams are the Colorado Rapids and the New England Revolution, both with 4 year streaks. Of course, making the playoffs isn't always an indication of a good team, thanks to every league other than MLB/NFL allowing a ton of teams to make the playoffs. So here's another, possibly more prestigious list of years in a row over .500: Over .500 Streaks 1 Atlanta Braves MLB 15 2 Detroit Red Wings NHL 14 2 New Jersey Devils NHL 14 4 New York Yankees MLB 13 5 Colorado Avalanche NHL 11 5 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 11 7 Dallas Stars NHL 9 7 San Antonio Spurs NBA 9 9 Boston Red Sox MLB 8 9 Ottawa Senators NHL 8 9 Sacramento Kings NBA 8 12 Oakland Athletics MLB 7 13 Dallas Mavericks NBA 6 13 St. Louis Cardinals MLB 6 15 Detroit Pistons NBA 5 15 Houston Astros MLB 5 15 Minnesota Twins MLB 5 15 New England Patriots NFL 5 15 New Jersey Nets NBA 5 15 Vancouver Canucks NHL 5 Here's where the baseball teams get their dues. The 1994 strike season is counted here, although it wasn't in the playoff streak list above. The Braves and Red Wings switch places here. MLS' top team is the Kansas City Wizards, with only 3 seasons in a row over .500. The WNBA leader is the Seattle Storm with 4. Under .500 Streaks 1 Pittsburgh Pirates MLB 13 2 Detroit Tigers MLB 12 2 Golden State Warriors NBA 12 4 Baltimore Orioles MLB 8 4 Tampa Bay Devil Rays MLB 8 6 Arizona Cardinals NFL 7 6 Atlanta Hawks NBA 7 8 Cincinnati Reds MLB 5 8 Colorado Rockies MLB 5 8 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 5 8 Detroit Lions NFL 5 8 Florida Panthers NHL 5 8 New York Knicks NBA 5 Since there are a lot of baseball teams on the over .500 list, it's only fitting that MLB teams dominate this list as well. The Pirates should continue their streak, although the Tigers look like they'll break theirs. The Milwaukee Brewers finished exactly at .500 last year, or they would be tied with Pittsburgh at 13 years. Only three MLS teams had a losing record last year (plus 2 teams at .500), and two were expansion teams. RSL and Chivas USA were incredibly bad, so the only other team to have a losing record was the Columbus Crew, who had the league's best record in 2004. So no MLS team has a losing streak longer than 1 year. The WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars lead that league with a 3 year streak.

MLS: 2006 Milestones

1) As I noted previously (and I was just reminded of on Bigsoccer), Ben Olsen is set to make his 200th appearance for D.C. United this weekend. He'll become only the 23rd player to hit the 200 mark for his MLS club. 2) Ante Razov and Francisco Palencia both have scored 3 goals in their Chivas USA careers, and are 1 goal away from the alltime mark of 4 (Cuadros/Martins/Romo). Impressive, I know. 3) Amado Guevara's goal against Real Salt Lake on Saturday was his 31st for New York. He's currently in third place in franchise history, and only needs 13 more to tie Giovanni Savarese for the team record. That's probably one for next year, although a nice Open Cup run could help him. 4) Counting shootouts as draws, the Kansas City Wizards' alltime record is now 1 game under .500 in all competitions (139-140-88). They were under .500 for over seven years (4/18/1998 to 8/13/2005), finally clawing their way back last year. But the bad stretch to end 2005 put them back under. So a win this Sunday at Dallas would make them even again. 5) If Columbus dramatically improves their attendance this year, then they could post the biggest increase for any one year, currently 5,421 fans per game. It's currently held by their 1999 season, the inaugural year at Crew Stadium. They would need to average 18,338 for that to happen. Or, maybe Chivas (22,502) or Dallas (16,611) or New England (17,947) or New York (20,499) could do it. 6) There's another attendance record that could be set, but this isn't a good one. If the Colorado Rapids average less than last year's total of 13,638, then they will become the first team to have attendance decline for four straight seasons. 7) If Carlos Ruiz gets to double digits in goals, then he'll become the first MLS player to score 10 goals in five straight seasons.

One & done, with no league matches

Today, we're going to look at a select group of players. These are the guys who only made one appearance for that particular MLS team, but did not play in a regular season or playoff game. Rather, they only played in an Open Cup or CONCACAF Champions Cup match. There are only eight of them. Chicago 1) Kalin Bankov (2001) - The former Mutiny defender and Bulgarian international came on in the 78th minute for Dema Kovalenko in the 3-0 Open Cup 2nd round win over San Diego. 2) Miguel Saavedra (2002) - Played his one match in the Champions Cup quarterfinals at Morelia. The former USA U-18 man came on for David Vaudreuil in the 78th minute. 3) Jared Montz (2005) - Developmental player is still with the team, and made his only appearance coming on for C.J. Brown against Western Mass. in the Open Cup last year. Dallas 1) John DeBrito (2001) - Former NE/KC/MET/CLB player made his only Dallas appearance as a starter in the horrible Open Cup loss to the Seattle Sounders Select, and was subbed off in the 52nd minute. D.C. United 1) Jorge Geddes (2003) - A goalkeeper, came on as a sub in the 61st minute after Doug Warren was red carded. Nick Rimando was already hurt going into the game. They would go on to lose 3-2 on the road. Possibly now a management trainee? Kansas City 1) Taly Goode (2002) - Another goalkeeper who got into action after Meola/Oshoniyi were both unavailable. Started and got a clean sheet in the Open Cup quarterfinal against Milwaukee. New England 1) Gilberto Flores (2005) - Picked up from the Metros and started in the Open Cup loss against Chicago. Tampa Bay 1) Matt Nyman (2001) - A goalkeeper who came on at half time of the Mutiny's 3-2 away loss at Connecticut in the Open Cup, replacing Scott Garlick. None Chivas USA, Colorado, Columbus, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Real Salt Lake, San Jose

MLS 2006 - Week Three goal compilation

Youtube link Download link (video Ipod compatible) Music is J.C. Chasez f/Basement Jaxx - "Shake It." Enjoy. Previous MLS Compilations 2006 - Week 2 2006 - Week 1 2005 - Season's Best Goals 2005 - RSL 2005 - Happy Without You 2004 - MLS Cup Playoffs

Missing the playoffs

I sort of touched on this before, but with the way MLS works, it seems that missing the playoffs is better than just getting in. That's due to the YSA (you suck allocation) and the draft order. The 2005 Los Angeles Galaxy are the only team for whom sneaking in actually worked out. The seeds for the MLS Cup winners in the are 2-1-2-1-1-5-1-1-2-4. The three bold numbers are for 2000-2002, where all playoff teams were seeded 1-8. The rest were the seeds within the conference playoffs. 26 teams missed the playoffs from 1996-2004. 17 of 25 would go on to make the playoffs the next year (TB 2001 did not have a chance), or 68%. Overall, in ten seasons of MLS 72.7% of teams have made the playoffs. Not a big difference there. For teams that missed the playoffs, the average change in Adjusted PPG (APPG) is 0.30 per game. That's a difference of 9.66 points in a 32 game season. The average change for playoff teams is -0.09, but that's not a really meaningful number considering how many teams make the playoffs. To figure out if what I said in the opening paragraph is true, I am now going to take a look at teams who made the playoffs despite a losing record, and see how the did the next season. The only team at with a non-losing record to miss the playoffs is the 2005 Kansas City Wizards. Of course, I'm counting shootouts as draws like usual (or else the "19-13" 1999 San Jose Earthquakes wouldn't count. They were really 9-10-13). There are 25 such teams from 1996-2004, exactly the same number as the playoff teams that they'll be compared with. While that group included teams like 2004 NE/SJ, who improved significantly the next year, it also included some teams that dropped off badly, like the 1998 Metros. Overall, those teams improved by an average of 0.12 APPG, or 3.79 points over the course of a 32 game season. Like I figured, not as good as the teams that missed the playoffs. Here's a nice summary of the data: Change Teams Missed Playoffs 0.30 25 PO-losing record 0.12 25 PO-.500+ record -0.20 46 I don't know how much some of the non-playoff teams will have improved this year (CLB, RSL), but it seems like not much. That's similar to the 1999 season, like 2006, the second season after expansion to 12 teams. That year three of the four teams that missed the playoffs also missed them in 1998. This There's no real comparison to make this season, because none of the playoff teams had a losing record last year. That's because two teams were absolutely awful last season. COL and LA were both only .500, though. But they were always assured of their playoff spots. Perhaps a better comparison would be to look at each year individually. For example, take the non-playoff teams and an equal number of the worst playoff teams for each year, and see who did better in the following season. That's what I'm going to look at next. So for this season, you would think that KC/CLB/RSL/CHV would improve more as a whole than CHI/NY/COL/LA (or, if you want to take just the lowest seeds that made it, NY/LA). The thing about this year though, is that RSL/CHV can improve hugely without actually being good, just like the 2004 Dallas Burn. If both of them play .500 soccer, then they'll be among the top improvements in league history.

A few things...

1) Updating this post, Chicago and Kansas City both fielded their 100th players in the season openers. For KC, Matt Groenwald and Eddie Johnson will have to share the honor, as the Wizards were on 98 heading into the season and they both started the game. For the Fire, Calen Carr became their 100th player as he came on for Diego Gutierrez in the second half. 2) Brian Ching has 5 goals in two games. I don't believe anyone has done better in a two game span. However, when it comes to three consecutive games, he'll need a hat trick on Saturday at D.C. to equal the record. Diego Serna scored 8 times in three games to close out the 2000 season, after the Fusion were already eliminated from playoff contention. He scored all 4 goals in a 4-1 home win over the Metros, then 1 goal at the Metros (in a 1-2 loss), and 3 more at D.C. in a 6-2 away win. Maybe one D.C. hat trick deserves another? Oh, and a few more players have scored 7 goals in three games: 1996-Eduardo Hurtado 1998-Stern John 2000-Clint Mathis 2001-Diego Serna 2001-Alex Pineda Chacon 3) There is only MLS player to score in his only game in the league: Michael Butler. 4) I have made another MLS compilation, this one consisting of all RSL goals (at least the ones on tv) in their inaugural season. I think the song lyrics fit perfectly.

MLS 2006: On the field, all the time

Yes, it's time for this again, the pointless following of which MLS players have played every minute of every MLS game. It's only happened 24 times in 10 seasons, and only 15 of those were field players. From here on out, these posts will be abbreviated "OTFATT." Looking ahead, other than goalkeepers, here are my top 5 picks to make it: Nick Garcia, Jay Heaps, Chad Marshall, Tyrone Marshall, Greg Vanney. And if I have to pick somebody other than a defender, I'll go with Kerry Zavagnin. If he doesn't make the World Cup, he has a pretty good shot at it. After two weeks, there are 86 players remaining: CHICAGO (7) C.J. Brown Ivan Guerrero Justin Mapp Logan Pause Chris Rolfe Thiago Zach Thornton CHIVAS USA (7) Jonathan Bornstein Brad Guzan Sacha Kljestan Jesse Marsch Juan Francisco Palencia Tim Regan Claudio Suarez COLORADO (7) Kyle Beckerman Joe Cannon Terry Cooke Eric Denton Jovan Kirovski Mike Petke Chris Wingert COLUMBUS (5) Jon Busch Eddie Gaven Ritchie Kotschau Chad Marshall Rusty Pierce DALLAS (6) Chris Gbandi Clarence Goodson Bobby Rhine Dario Sala Simo Valakari Greg Vanney D.C. UNITED (7) Brian Carroll Facundo Erpen Joshua Gros Jaime Moreno Ben Olsen Troy Perkins John Wilson HOUSTON (7) Brian Ching Ryan Cochrane Kevin Goldthwaite Kelly Gray Brian Mullan Pat Onstad Adrian Serioux KANSAS CITY (8) Davy Arnaud Jose Burciaga Jr. Nick Garcia Eddie Johnson Bo Oshoniyi Shavar Thomas Sasha Victorine Kerry Zavagnin LOS ANGELES (6) Chris Albright Landon Donovan Herculez Gomez Kevin Hartman Ugo Ihemelu Tyrone Marshall NEW ENGLAND (9) Clint Dempsey Andy Dorman Jay Heaps Daniel Hernandez Shalrie Joseph Pat Noonan Steve Ralston Matt Reis Taylor Twellman NEW YORK (9) Edson Buddle Taylor Graham Amado Guevara Chris Henderson Carlos Mendes Tony Meola Danny O'Rourke Jeff Parke Marvell Wynne REAL SALT LAKE (8) Jeff Cunningham Scott Garlick Chris Klein Eddie Pope Douglas Sequeira Carey Talley Daniel Torres Andy Williams

Starting well

Five MLS teams are undefeated after two games (KC-DC-NE-NY-DAL). I thought I would get a list of each team's best run to start the season, and here they are. Like always with this blog, I count shootouts as draws. DC's 1997 run of 14 games is the best, although it included 3 shootout losses. It ended with a 1-6 loss in KC. CHI 1999: 7 games (5-0-2) CLB 2003: 3 games (2-0-1) COL 1999: 9 games (5-0-4) DAL 1999: 12 games (6-0-6) DC 1997: 14 games (9-0-5) KC 2000: 12 games (10-0-2) LA 1996: 12 games (10-0-2) NE 2005: 11 games (7-0-4) NY 2004: 3 games (2-0-1) SJ 2003: 6 games (4-0-2) CHV 2006: 1 game (1-0-0) RSL 2005: 1 game (0-0-1) MIA 2000: 4 games (1-0-3) TB 1997: 3 games (3-0-0)

MLS 2006 - Week Two goal compilation

Youtube link (streaming video) Uploading.com link (to download) Music is Oasis - "Keep The Dream Alive." Not as exciting as last week's, but still fun to watch. Enjoy. Goals by: Jaime Moreno (x2) Chris Albright Jim Curtin Chris Klein Kenny Cooper Mark Wilson Chad Marshall Jovan Kirovski Kyle Beckerman Fabrice Noel Brian Ching Sasha Victorine Jose Burciaga Jr.

Awww, you ruined it!

Until last season, the future MLS Cup winner had won their season opening game 7 years in a row. The Los Angeles Galaxy screwed it up by losing 3-0 at the Columbus Crew. I guess that bodes well for New England and Houston. They also lost their final regular season game, but that's not a big deal for future champions. So much for momentum. Future Champions First regular season game: 7-2-1 Last regular season game: 3-4-3

MLS 2006: Who will join the 200 club?

Last year on September 21, I blogged about the MLS players who had made 200 appearances for their team in all competitions. There were 22 such players then, and that's how the 2005 season ended. Here they are: 200 Club Members ***Chris Armas CHI 213 ***C.J. Brown CHI 249 Mauricio Cienfuegos LA 270 Mike Clark CLB 265 Jeff Cunningham CLB 219 Marco Etcheverry DC 241 ***Nick Garcia KC 213 ***Kevin Hartman LA 273 Chris Henderson COL 204 ***Cobi Jones LA 329 Chris Klein KC 235 Jason Kreis DAL 287 Brian Maisonneuve CLB 208 Jesse Marsch CHI 260 Brian McBride CLB 200 ***Jaime Moreno DC 266 Oscar Pareja DAL 206 Preki KC 254 ***Zach Thornton CHI 248 Greg Vanney LA 212 Richie Williams DC 213 ***Kerry Zavagnin KC 212 All numbers are through 2005. The ones with the asterisks still play for that team. Cobi Jones is already in the 300 club, and it looks like Hartman and Moreno could join him soon. But there's only a handful of players who have a chance of making it this year: Ben Olsen DC 196 Bobby Rhine DAL 180 Peter Vagenas LA 162 Joey Franchino NE 161 Jim Curtin CHI 160 Jay Heaps NE 154 Those are the only other guys with 150+ appearances for their current club. Olsen and Rhine are probable, but the rest are looking at 2007.

Which teams need to be successful in 2006?

It's fun to predict the 2006 MLS season, and pick who you think is going to be good and bad. But it's important to take a look at which teams would benefit the most from success. It rarely has a huge impact on the team's overall popularity, unless a team is constantly good (DC) or bad (Metros). So it can have an impact, even though ultimately it probably isn't a huge one. Although if SJ won titles in 1996, 1997, and 1999 while DC sucked, I wonder how it would've turned out? Feel free to post who you think should rank the highest. The top 2-3 are pretty obvious, but after that it's kinda hard. 1) Chivas USA Number one has to be Chivas. Normally I would say that the teams with SSS's aren't as important (because their future is secured), but Chivas is different. First, it's not their stadium. They could get contracted and there would still be a team to play there. But Chivas needs to be successful more than any other team so that this incredible experiment can be a smashing success. If MLS can draw a ton of Mexican fans with Chivas, it's one step closer to reaching all soccer fans in this country. 2) Red Bull New York Need to keep this enthusiasm and momentum going all year long. 3) Houston Dynamo It's like an expansion team. First year in a new city will draw fans regardless, but you want to make a good impression. They also have a stadium deal to work on. 4) Real Salt Lake Another new team working on a stadium. More importantly for this ranking, you don't want them to get a loser reputation. 5) FC Dallas A history of mediocre teams and attendances. It would be good to see a better team now that they have PHP, to capitalize on fans checking it out. 6) Chicago Fire They have the new stadium, which will attract fans no matter what, and a history of success. But it would be nice to open it with a good team. 7) Columbus Crew Could use a good team after their worst year both on the field and in the stands. Don't want to make that decrease permanent. 8) Kansas City Wizards Team has always struggled to draw fans (and don't try to use 2003 to disprove that, doesn't work), and are looking to get a stadium. 9) New England Revolution No chance of a new stadium any time soon, and Kraft owns their current stadium. But a few good years could erase the drop in attendance from the 90s. 10) Colorado Rapids Historically crappy team needs a good year going into the new stadium year. But it's kind of a throwaway year. 11) D.C. United Great fan base and Freddy Adu. Plus they've already survived the Rongen-Hudson era. 12) Los Angeles Defending champions, highest attendance, sweet stadium.

MLS 2006 - Week One goal compilation

Youtube link (streaming) Rapidshare link (to download) Music is Blink 182 - "Roller Coaster." Enjoy.