September 16, 2010 Notes - Araujo, Talley, OTFATT, and More

1) Paulo Araujo Jr. is player 1,494. Last night, the Brazilian came on for RSL in their CCL match, and scored on his debut. He follows Sheanon Williams, the Philadelphia Union right back, who made his debut on Saturday and was player 1,493. We're now only 6 players away from 1,500 all time for MLS teams in all competitions. With the MLS roster roster freeze having come and gone, there were a few new signings who could be that milestone player. Among them are Junior Carreiro (DC), Carlos Varela (DC), Bratislav Ristic (CHI), and Josh Williams (CLB). 2) From the what goes up, must comes down department: Four teams in MLS currently have streaks of four years or longer for finishing in the top or bottom half of the overall league table. They are Chivas USA (top - 4 years), Colorado (bottom - 5 years), Houston (top - 4 years), and New England (top - 5 years). All of those teams are likely to end those streaks this season. In addition, Chicago has been in the top half for four of the last five years, with a "middle" finish in 2007 (7th of 13 teams). If that counts as a top half streak, then they also are likely to end it. While I'm on the subject of the Fire, I just want to point out that right after I posted on their dominance of expansion teams, they went out and lost to Philly. Of course. 3) OTFATT 2010: Since the last update on 8/13, we're down to 5 players who've played every minute of the regular season. C.J. Brown was rested last week, Daniel Hernandez was suspended on 9/4, and Rapids Matt Pickens and Marvell Wynne both missed time with injuries. 4) Talley traded: With the trade to New York, Carey Talley will join an elite group that contains only three other members. When he steps onto the field, he'll become only the fourth MLS player to play for six teams. The first three are Andy Williams, Brian Dunseth, and Ezra Hendrickson.