2009 Houston Dynamo - Not Record-Breakingly Old

Before the season, I examined the average age of each MLS team in league history. That's done by taking the average age of all the players for the season (using July 1st birthdates) and multiplying it by minutes played. It's then divided by the total team minutes. I think it was one of the more interesting posts I've ever had on this blog. So let's revisit one comment I made on that post. I made lists of the top ten youngest and oldest teams, and the 2008 Houston Dynamo were the 8th oldest team in MLS history. I wrote: 55% of their minutes were to players over the age of 30. That's the highest of any of the top ten, and probably any team in league history. They could make a run for the top spot this season, as Dwayne DeRosario is the only one of their older players to leave. Since the season is now past the halfway point, I thought I'd check in on the Dynamo to see how the quest for the record is going. Here's the results: 2008 Dynamo - 28.79 years 2009 Dynamo - 28.58 years Unfortunately, they've actually gotten younger and are nowhere close to the record mark of 29.56, set by the 2002 Colorado Rapids. What gives? Most importantly, injuries to Eddie Robinson (31.03) and Wade Barrett (33.02) have meant that Geoff Cameron (23.97) and Andrew Hainault (23.04) are starting instead. In addition, Brian Ching has missed nearly half the season's minutes while Kei Kamara has become a full time starter. They've also traded for Dominic Oduro and Cam Weaver while Ade Akinbiyi has done little. Unlike last year, only 37% of their minutes have gone to players over 30. Don't worry, they're still a really old team. In fact, they're currently on pace to be the 10th oldest team ever. They're just not record-breakingly old.