Vancouver will be first Canada-based team to play in the MLS Playoffs.

The PSU women's team had a bit of a rough outing in their final home match of the regular season. Needed a late ok to draw with Michigan. But it is enough. They have now clinched at least a share of their 15th BigTen league title in a row. Ip they only need a draw at Purdue next week, which shouldn't be hard, to clinch the league outright. Unfortunately, there's also a league tournament. They'll be a high seed in the NCAA tournament regardless.



The PSU men won in 2OT at Northwestern. NU's first league loss since 2010. Despite losing to Indiana - and some non-conference losses - they could win the league for the first time (they've won the B10 tournament a few times but not the league.)

W&M beat #8 ODU. They're not having a great year, but that's a big win.

I was at RFK last night for DC United's triumphant return to the playoffs after five years of unrelenting mediocrity. Not that it's over yet. They were pretty dreadful, with Columbus playing much the better football. United's defence is a mess, and they rode a fairground full of luck. They have four actual football players - Andy Najar, inexplicably and unforgivably at full back; Chris Pontius, who has to shoulder the entire responsibility of generating any attack besides aimless flank play; and Hamdi Salihi and Branko Boskovic, both on the bench because the moronic rush for the playoffs excludes the possibility that a team might play decent football. Yet when Salihi and Boskovic came on late, DC suddenly looked like a team that might have ideas other than whacking the long ball up to the hopeless beanpoles masquerading as forwards. Though ironically it was that long-term bane of the US professional game - the aging, unknown journeyman Brit - who scored the injury time winner in the form of Lewis Neal, 31. Cue delusional celebrations.

31 is "aging?" That makes me sad.

Vancouver will be first Canada-based team to play in the MLS Playoffs.

Backed in because Seattle beat Dallas. It's shameful to have your biggest rivals propel you into the playoffs, after losing at home to Portland — again. The Caps have stumbled into the post-season and they don't look as if they'll do much now they're there. They've been poor since mid-season. The two Caledonian incomers have been resounding flops, Miller has scored twice in 11 games, and Barry Robson spends most of his time berating officials. I hope they're both gone next year.

Dallas is FC for the bilingual marketing potential: football/futbol club Dallas.

Ben Olsen loathes Salihi and Boskovic because they don't run enough. I'm beginning to be convinced that Olsen needs to be canned.

jefe wrote:


That makes sense. Too bad their stadium is out in a lily-white suburb, though. I go to Dallas to visit family fairly often, but Frisco is a good 25 or 30 miles north of Dallas. I'll have to make it up there some day, but Houston Dynamo has beaten its rival in the stadium-placement department.

Thanks for scoop on Portland and Seattle's grounds. I'm just now figuring out that Jeld-Wen is the same place the Beavers used to play. I've been there for a baseball game, though I wondered the same thing then about why you would have astroturf in Portland.

I am so glad that Ian posted that DC United review. I almost started to feel bad that I hadn't watched a single game or highlight or read a news story about DC United all season (until they qualified for the playoffs).

Now I'm all good and snarky again.

Amor de Cosmos wrote:


Toronto fans dream of backing into the playoffs.

I'll take it.

Given the way things turned out, it was also sort of nice that we nicked the Cascadia Cup out of Seattle's hands and handed it to Portland.

I do not, however, expect this team to do squat in the playoffs.

jefe wrote:


This makes sense and I absolutely believe that's the origin of it; it's also not mentioned on the team's official site or their Wikipedia entry, which seems to fit with it being largely symbolic.

A lot of US teams at various levels use FC and a lot of rugby teams use RFC. Everyone paying attention knows what it means.

Reading, PA's clung is Reading United AC, even though it's only a soccer club. No other athletics. Still, better than their old name, Reading Rage.

Reed John wrote:


But as we've discussed before, not as good as the possible "Reading Rainbow."

I don't think they cotton to that kind of thing down there.

Toronto fans dream of backing into the playoffs.

Emulating the dreams of Toronto fans is no aspiration at all.

I'll take it.

I guess so. But one win (against a truly useless Chivas) in the last seven games is pretty dire.

Reed John wrote:


That's a bit harsh.

Damn autocorrect. I meant Club. Club.

The club can trace it's roots to the merger of two specifically German immigrant clubs about 100 years ago, but I think they chose United to represent that they have both men's and women's programs at multiple levels.

The Entity Formerly Known As (Glasgow) Rangers FC came over here on summer tour about 10 years ago, and for some reason were scheduled to play Reading Rage.

Either 10 or 11-0, I can't remember which.

Oh, and for those who still find it amusing, the MISL starts again in early November. 7 teams again, exit the highly bankrupt Norfolk SharX after 1 year, enter the Chicago Soul. Joining Baltimore, Milwaukee, Rochester, Syracuse, Missouri (KC), and Wichita.

It's a little amusing, but I'm bound to catch a few of the Missouri Comets game each winter. Recently, they had open tryouts and a friend of mine that I play futsal with made the final 8 out of 40 that tried out over a weekend back in September, but he told me last week that he was finally weeded out. He's just a kid, but thought it would be a fun thing to do. Some of the ex Wizards/Sporting guys will phase into the team as well as other local talent, like Will John, played about a quarter of the season with the Comets a couple of years back, (local KC youth played on U.S. U20), as well as for the Wizards and a bunch of teams all over Scandinavia...last I heard he's playing in Israel.

How is Futsal different than MISL-style indoor soccer? I know they are different, but I don't know how.