[R] MLS2K, Week 10
Howard Hugh Hamilton
Meola's record-setting shutout streak keeps moving along -- Luis
Hernandez premieres in LA with immediate effect on and off the
field -- United mired at the bottom and desperate for a striker --
Tampa Bay snatches defeat from the mouths of victory to remain
winless on the road -- Miami continues its good form under Hudson
New England 3-4 Colorado [Wed]
25' 1-0 Chronopoulos
39' 1-1 Zambrano
59' 2-1 Baba
67' 3-1 Harris
79' 3-2 Bent
84' 3-3 Zambrano
85' 3-4 Agogo
An incredible turnaround by the Rapids in Boston, or a
shocking collapse by the Revolution in the final 15 minutes
depending on how you look at it. Zambrano ties the game
with his first goal in the second half, but then the Revs
burst into the lead through Baba and Harris. But then the
Rapids pull back, Zambrano nets the equalizer, and one minute
later Agogo give Colorado all three points.
Kansas City 2-0 DC United [Wed]
73' Zavagnin
79' Molnar
Two things continue as a result of this match: DCU's
losing streak (now three games), and Tony Meola's
shutout streak (at 425 minutes).
San Jose 0-0 Los Angeles [Wed]
Another draw for Los Angeles drops them another two points
behing Kansas City in the standings. It was primarily a
duel between two of the top 'keepers in the league: San
Jose's Cannon and LA's Hartman. Hartman made two saves
near the end to preserve the point for LA. San Jose is
still unbeaten at home this season.
MetroStars 3-2 Tampa Bay [aet]
38' 0-1 Diallo
45' 0-2 Diallo
58' 1-2 Valencia
88' 2-2 Valencia
96' 3-2 Villegas
Two goals from each clubs' leading goalscorers -- Diallo for Tampa
Bay, Valencia for MetroStars -- and then a golden goal by Villegas
caps an incredible turnaround by the MetroStars. And all this
without Lothar, too. He was suspended for this game, and he'll be
gone for the next month for Euro2K.
Miami 2-0 Colorado
19' Serna
25' Lassiter
Three wins on the trot for Miami under new manager Ray Hudson. The
management rewarded him for these new developments by giving him
the job for the rest of the season. I'm sure he's delighted as a...
..well, put your favorite Hudsonism here.
Columbus 2-1 Dallas
10' 1-0 Washington
60' 2-0 West
71' 2-1 Kreis
With this win and the losses suffered by Tampa Bay and Chicago,
the Central Division becomes the most competitive division in MLS.
Only five points separate the four teams.
Kansas City 2-0 San Jose
35' Vermes
89' Molnar
The more opponents change, the more things stay the same: another
Kansas City win, another goal from Danish striker Molnar, another
good effort by Meola + the KC defense, and another away loss for
San Jose. The Quakes haven't won in over a month.
Chicago 0-1 New England
31' Harris
A vital away win for the Revolution, placing them above Miami
for first place in the East. Two goals in two games for the
Jamaican international Harris.
Los Angeles 2-1 DC United
35' 1-0 Talley [og]
59' 2-0 Vanney [pen]
75' 2-1 Cooks
The arrival of newly acquired Mexican player Luis Hernandez brought
two important things to the Galaxy: a big gate (over 40000 at the
Rose Bowl) and a win over the champions. Hernandez had a hand in
both goals -- his pursuit of a high ball pressured Talley into
redirecting the ball into his own net, and his charge into the
box drew a penalty. Late in the match, Etcheverry slotted a ball
between two Galaxy defenders on the right, allowing Cooks to walk
into the box and shoot past Hartman on the near post. But DCU never
looked like they were going to score the tying goal -- their forwards
(apart from Moreno) are either uncreative, or really wasteful.
Next week:
New England - Los Angeles [Wed]
Chicago - Dallas [Wed]
Tampa Bay - Kansas City
MetroStars - Chicago
DC United - Dallas
Miami - Columbus
Los Angeles - San Jose
Colorado - New England [29 May]
Eastern Division:
Home Away Total
---------------- | ---------------- | --------------------
G W D L F A | G W D L F A | G W D L F A Pt
New England 5 2 2 1 9 7 | 6 2 2 2 8 7 |11 4 4 3 17 15 16
Miami 7 3 3 1 7 5 | 4 1 1 2 3 5 |11 4 4 3 10 10 16
MetroStars 5 2 0 3 7 8 | 5 2 0 3 6 9 |10 4 0 6 13 17 12
DC United 5 1 0 4 7 14 | 7 1 1 5 11 14 |12 2 1 9 18 28 7
Central Division:
Home Away Total
---------------- | ---------------- | --------------------
G W D L F A | G W D L F A | G W D L F A Pt
Tampa Bay 6 6 0 0 20 5 | 5 0 0 5 3 11 |11 6 0 5 23 16 18
Chicago 5 3 0 2 11 5 | 6 2 1 3 13 12 |11 5 1 5 24 17 16
Dallas 6 4 1 1 10 6 | 4 0 0 4 3 12 |10 4 1 5 13 18 13
Columbus 6 2 1 3 8 11 | 5 2 0 3 6 11 |11 4 1 6 14 22 13
Western Division:
Home Away Total
---------------- | ---------------- | --------------------
G W D L F A | G W D L F A | G W D L F A Pt
Kansas City 7 7 0 0 16 3 | 4 2 2 0 7 1 |11 9 2 0 23 4 29
Los Angeles 6 4 2 0 10 5 | 5 2 3 0 8 3 |11 6 5 0 18 8 23
Colorado 4 1 0 3 4 12 | 8 4 0 4 13 17 |12 5 0 7 17 29 15
San Jose 4 2 2 0 9 2 | 7 0 1 6 3 16 |11 2 3 6 12 18 9
Composite Table:
G W D L F A Pt
Kansas City 11 9 2 0 23 4 29
Los Angeles 11 6 5 0 18 8 23
Tampa Bay 11 6 0 5 23 16 18
Chicago 11 5 1 5 24 17 16
New England 11 4 4 3 17 15 16
Miami 11 4 4 3 10 10 16
Colorado 12 5 0 7 17 29 15
Dallas 10 4 1 5 13 18 13
---------------------------------
Columbus 11 4 1 6 14 22 13
MetroStars 10 4 0 6 13 17 12
San Jose 11 2 3 6 12 18 9
DC United 12 2 1 9 18 28 7
--
Howard H. Hamilton -- PhD Candidate -- AIAA Student Chapter Chairman
Stanford University, Aero/Astro Dept., Stanford, CA 94305 USA
howardh(at)leland.stanford.edu http://www.stanford.edu/~howardh
Scott Hendrick
I really enjoy this "MLS2K" reports -- keep 'em coming!
Scott Hendrick
============================
Please remove the spam-filter (PreventJunk) in my e-mail address
and domain when contacting me by e-mail...
============================
Howard Hugh Hamilton <how...@Stanford.EDU> wrote in message
news:8gdf6o$e...@myth5.Stanford.EDU...
Doug Karpa-Wilson
<js...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Howard Hugh Hamilton <how...@Stanford.EDU> wrote in message
> news:8gdf6o$e...@myth5.Stanford.EDU...
>
> <snip>
>
> > Composite Table:
> > G W D L F A Pt
> > Kansas City 11 9 2 0 23 4 29
> > Los Angeles 11 6 5 0 18 8 23
> > Tampa Bay 11 6 0 5 23 16 18
> > Chicago 11 5 1 5 24 17 16
> > New England 11 4 4 3 17 15 16
> > Miami 11 4 4 3 10 10 16
> > Colorado 12 5 0 7 17 29 15
> > Dallas 10 4 1 5 13 18 13
> > ---------------------------------
> > Columbus 11 4 1 6 14 22 13
> > MetroStars 10 4 0 6 13 17 12
> > San Jose 11 2 3 6 12 18 9
> > DC United 12 2 1 9 18 28 7
>
> Is the line there for a reason or is it just that you are praying for
> relegation?
>
> Jamie Hill
>
above it you're in the playoffs, below it you aren't, unless you are a
division leader.
Doug
--
Irmão das coisas fugidias
Não sinto gozo nem tormento
atravesso noites e dias
no vento - Cecília Mireles
Noah Elliott
>
> San Jose 0-0 Los Angeles [Wed]
>
> Another draw for Los Angeles drops them another two points
> behing Kansas City in the standings. It was primarily a
> duel between two of the top 'keepers in the league: San
> Jose's Cannon and LA's Hartman.
Actually Cannon was out with an injury. San Jose's keeper was Jon
Conway, playing in his first professional match.
--noah
Jamie Hill
Howard Hugh Hamilton <how...@Stanford.EDU> wrote in message
news:8gdf6o$e...@myth5.Stanford.EDU...
<snip>
> Composite Table:
> G W D L F A Pt
> Kansas City 11 9 2 0 23 4 29
> Los Angeles 11 6 5 0 18 8 23
> Tampa Bay 11 6 0 5 23 16 18
> Chicago 11 5 1 5 24 17 16
> New England 11 4 4 3 17 15 16
> Miami 11 4 4 3 10 10 16
> Colorado 12 5 0 7 17 29 15
> Dallas 10 4 1 5 13 18 13
> ---------------------------------
> Columbus 11 4 1 6 14 22 13
> MetroStars 10 4 0 6 13 17 12
> San Jose 11 2 3 6 12 18 9
> DC United 12 2 1 9 18 28 7
Is the line there for a reason or is it just that you are praying for
relegation?
Jamie Hill
>
LHeilb8013
I think my favorite was in yesterday's paper here in South Florida. When asked
about his lack of coaching experience Ray replied:
"Well, I did coach Under 6 girls once. The only difference is that Eric Wynalda
doesn't stop practicing when a fire truck goes by.....
Lloyd Heilbrunn
johnny
>news:8gdf6o$e...@myth5.Stanford.EDU...
>
><snip>
>
>> G W D L F A Pt
>> Kansas City 11 9 2 0 23 4 29
>> Los Angeles 11 6 5 0 18 8 23
>> Tampa Bay 11 6 0 5 23 16 18
>> Chicago 11 5 1 5 24 17 16
>> New England 11 4 4 3 17 15 16
>> Miami 11 4 4 3 10 10 16
>> Colorado 12 5 0 7 17 29 15
>> Dallas 10 4 1 5 13 18 13
>> ---------------------------------
>> Columbus 11 4 1 6 14 22 13
>> MetroStars 10 4 0 6 13 17 12
>> San Jose 11 2 3 6 12 18 9
>> DC United 12 2 1 9 18 28 7
The Rongen era has officially begun.
>Is the line there for a reason or is it just that you are praying for
>relegation?
>
>Jamie Hill
>
>>
Doug Karpa-Wilson
johnny30...@usa.com (johnny) wrote:
> In article <dqFW4.52824$nl3.1...@typhoon.ne.mediaone.net>, "Jamie
Hill" <js...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >Howard Hugh Hamilton <how...@Stanford.EDU> wrote in message
> >news:8gdf6o$e...@myth5.Stanford.EDU...
> >
> ><snip>
> >
> >> Composite Table:
> >> G W D L F A Pt
> >> Kansas City 11 9 2 0 23 4 29
> >> Los Angeles 11 6 5 0 18 8 23
> >> Tampa Bay 11 6 0 5 23 16 18
> >> Chicago 11 5 1 5 24 17 16
> >> New England 11 4 4 3 17 15 16
> >> Miami 11 4 4 3 10 10 16
> >> Colorado 12 5 0 7 17 29 15
> >> Dallas 10 4 1 5 13 18 13
> >> ---------------------------------
> >> Columbus 11 4 1 6 14 22 13
> >> MetroStars 10 4 0 6 13 17 12
> >> San Jose 11 2 3 6 12 18 9
> >> DC United 12 2 1 9 18 28 7
> ^^^^^^^^^^
> The Rongen era has officially begun.
>
He did have the best regular season record his first year with Tampa Bay
and won the championship last year. DCU has been gutted, and hasn't had
an allocation in a while, but gotten thinner on the bench by being
raided. A few injuries now and Rongen's only got high school stars to
turn to. If DCU can hold on to them, they should be in good shape in a
few years, but for now... Also the league'
s been working so hard to get the other teams to catch up that they've all
passed up DCU.
I doubt they'll get rid of the single entity structure because it does
make business sense, but they could make the hiring process independent
for all the clubs subject to identical total team salary caps. MLS can
have its cake and eat it too, by avoiding NASL meltdowns but allowing real
competition between clubs for players. I think *this* will be the next
step in MLS. No more allocations, but teams with room, or willing to make
it, being able to hire the Hernandez's of MLS.
Doug
By the way, Howard Hamilton deserves a Benny Award for match reporting!
johnny
>In article <8gg155$8so$6...@slb2.atl.mindspring.net>,
>johnny30...@usa.com (johnny) wrote:
>
>> In article <dqFW4.52824$nl3.1...@typhoon.ne.mediaone.net>, "Jamie
>Hill" <js...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >Howard Hugh Hamilton <how...@Stanford.EDU> wrote in message
>> >news:8gdf6o$e...@myth5.Stanford.EDU...
>> >
>> ><snip>
>> >
>> >> G W D L F A Pt
>> >> Kansas City 11 9 2 0 23 4 29
>> >> Los Angeles 11 6 5 0 18 8 23
>> >> Tampa Bay 11 6 0 5 23 16 18
>> >> Chicago 11 5 1 5 24 17 16
>> >> New England 11 4 4 3 17 15 16
>> >> Miami 11 4 4 3 10 10 16
>> >> Colorado 12 5 0 7 17 29 15
>> >> Dallas 10 4 1 5 13 18 13
>> >> ---------------------------------
>> >> Columbus 11 4 1 6 14 22 13
>> >> MetroStars 10 4 0 6 13 17 12
>> >> San Jose 11 2 3 6 12 18 9
>> >> DC United 12 2 1 9 18 28 7
>> The Rongen era has officially begun.
>>
>He did have the best regular season record his first year with Tampa Bay
He accomplished little there.
>and won the championship last year. DCU has been gutted, and hasn't had
Barry Switzer has a Super Bowl ring. Rongen inherited it.
>an allocation in a while, but gotten thinner on the bench by being
>raided. A few injuries now and Rongen's only got high school stars to
>turn to. If DCU can hold on to them, they should be in good shape in a
>few years, but for now... Also the league'
>s been working so hard to get the other teams to catch up that they've all
>passed up DCU.
I agree that they've been screwed, but DC still has many good players.
>
>I doubt they'll get rid of the single entity structure because it does
>make business sense, but they could make the hiring process independent
>for all the clubs subject to identical total team salary caps. MLS can
>have its cake and eat it too, by avoiding NASL meltdowns but allowing real
I wish everyone would forget about the NASL. It failed for one chief reason:
the domestic talent level was incredibly poor. It is economically
impossible to make up for this especially for the USA. Since the USA is now
decent at soccer, this is no longer a problem.
Doug Karpa-Wilson
johnny30...@usa.com (johnny) wrote:
> >He did have the best regular season record his first year with Tampa Bay
>
> He accomplished little there.
Many people feel the best regular season record gets called the
"champions". That'd be something I'd say.
> >
> >I doubt they'll get rid of the single entity structure because it does
> >make business sense, but they could make the hiring process independent
> >for all the clubs subject to identical total team salary caps. MLS can
> >have its cake and eat it too, by avoiding NASL meltdowns but allowing real
>
> I wish everyone would forget about the NASL. It failed for one chief
reason:
> the domestic talent level was incredibly poor. It is economically
> impossible to make up for this especially for the USA. Since the USA is now
> decent at soccer, this is no longer a problem.
>
An interesting take. The idea that it failed due to bankruptcy is wrong
then? Competitive spending is a tremendous problem. If MLS were like the
Portuguese or Scottish league, it'd be done for by the end of the decade.
hate to say it, but it is a business and lives or dies on that.
Doug
johnny
>In article <8gh1ho$r1d$1...@slb6.atl.mindspring.net>,
>johnny30...@usa.com (johnny) wrote:
>
>
>> >He did have the best regular season record his first year with Tampa Bay
>>
>> He accomplished little there.
>
>Many people feel the best regular season record gets called the
>"champions". That'd be something I'd say.
>
>
be one of the worst MLS coaches. I hope DC turns things around since they
still do have fine players as well as strong local support.
>> >
>> >I doubt they'll get rid of the single entity structure because it does
>> >make business sense, but they could make the hiring process independent
>> >for all the clubs subject to identical total team salary caps. MLS can
>> >have its cake and eat it too, by avoiding NASL meltdowns but allowing real
>>
>> I wish everyone would forget about the NASL. It failed for one chief
>reason:
>> the domestic talent level was incredibly poor. It is economically
>> impossible to make up for this especially for the USA. Since the USA is now
>> decent at soccer, this is no longer a problem.
>>
>
>
>An interesting take. The idea that it failed due to bankruptcy is wrong
That it went bankrupt is merely a way of saying it failed.
>then? Competitive spending is a tremendous problem. If MLS were like the
Yes, it can be a problem. But so can mediocrity and a sense of a rigged
league.
>Portuguese or Scottish league, it'd be done for by the end of the decade.
My point is that the NASL would have failed under any business plan. I
question whether the single entity is the best plan, but I do agree that there
should be some restrictions on club expenditures.
Donn Viviani
<<<<<<===========Viva Napoli! DC United Forever===========>>>>>>
On Wed, 24 May 2000, Doug Karpa-Wilson wrote:
> In article <8gh1ho$r1d$1...@slb6.atl.mindspring.net>,
> johnny30...@usa.com (johnny) wrote:
>
>
> > >He did have the best regular season record his first year with Tampa Bay
> >
> > He accomplished little there.
>
> Many people feel the best regular season record gets called the
> "champions". That'd be something I'd say.
>
MLS sides don't all play the same schedules though. Calling Lazio
champion is fine, they played every other side twice. When teams (like in
most American leagues) don't play the exact same schedule, it becomes less
useful to use record as the absolute determinant of the championship..
Disclaimer: I am a DC United fan. I don't particularly like Rongen. I'm
not sure who we could replace him with.
Doug Karpa-Wilson
jonny:. When you go down the list, he seems to me to
> still do have fine players as well as strong local support.
I'm just curious why you say that. I'm not saying I disagree. Certainly,
as a New England fan I have no particular attachment Rongen! However, he
put together a pretty good record at Tampa Bay, won coach of the year and
was hired to take Arena's place. *Somebody* who knows a thing or two
thinks he's pretty good at what he does. I'm sure he had Arena's
blessing, although I don't know for sure. Having watched the Revs
struggle under him, I was pretty surprised myself.
That having been said, I don't always agree with his personel choices, and
has been noted here before, he may tend to give up too early on a match.
Still, if he's the worst in the league, that says something about the
other coaches. I haven't seen enough of the others really to say much
about them.
> > > > Doug:
> > > >I doubt they'll get rid of the single entity structure because it does
> > > >make business sense, but they could make the hiring process independent
> > > >for all the clubs subject to identical total team salary caps. MLS can
> > > >have its cake and eat it too, by avoiding NASL meltdowns
> > Jonny:
> > >I wish everyone would forget about the NASL. It failed for one chief
> > > reason:
> > > the domestic talent level was incredibly poor. It is economically
> > >impossible to make up for this especially for the USA. Since the USA is
> > >now decent at soccer, this is no longer a problem.
> >
Doug: [the form of the business plan of MLS and NASL affects their viability]
Jonny:
> >My point is that the NASL would have failed under any business plan. I
> > question whether the single entity is the best plan, but I do agree that
> >there should be some restrictions on club expenditures.
O.k. certainly the level of MLS has gotten good enough that it becomes
worthwhile for fans to watch. Of course, I watched/attended every Rev
match in their first two seasons, so *I* am obviously not that fussy...
Still the quality of the product is important and it's great to hear that
someone thinks that MLS is in a different league, so to speak, as far as
that's concerned. Still I wonder how sensitive revenues are to the
quality of play. There are people who base their decision to spend on
that basis, but I wonder what proportion they constitute of the fan base.
Probably a pretty good chunk.
So let's take the question of financial viability of MLS. Given the huge
returns for investment to be had in other areas, such as .com ventures for
the lucky, but in businesses in general, MLS has to have a pretty large
financial potential or a greatly lower risk to be attractive to investment
dollars. Without people with money in it, no league. From a financial
standpoint the single entity greatly reduces the risk for the investors,
which essentially acts as a premium on the capital. That's a good thing
for the fans of the league.
One thing that makes me wonder is the fact that the league keeps its
finances a secret. It's hard to imagine why that might be done. A key
thing is to realize who they are keeping them secret from. They obviously
show those finances to potential investors, so the fact that the cost of a
stake in the league has increased pretty substantially suggests that the
finances are either in good shape or the trajectory is good. Then its the
fans, the press and the staff/players who are kept in the dark. I can
only see two possible benefits to this: either the league is in miserable
shape, so releasing the figures to the venemously anti-soccer US sports
media would dramatically increase the coverage of MLS in the form of
gloating over the business while what miniscule focus on the field action
vanishes, or the league's in good shape, but doesn't want to let on to
that in the face of player lawsuits and the like. Having MLS look like a
struggling entity is good for business, but people are pretty sick of
shelling out for greedy sports owners, and releasing good figures without
sharing the benefits to the players and staff could really give the league
a black eye it doesn't want.
So, I am in favor of the single entity financial structure with a multi
entity soccer management structure. Now that the shootout is gone, it
seems obvious that the next thing the fans will focus their ire on is the
arbitrary movement of players around the league. No more dumping ground
teams! I think hokey arrangements are going to have to be a thing of the
past very soon. A certain amount of flexibility could be had if every
team had its budget that was hard, but the league itself had a certain
amount of money to pay portions of the salaries of marquee (marquis? How
the hell is that spelled?) players. Clearly, the league wanted Hernandez
not because of his ability to help LA, but because he raises the stature
of the entire league. Since he brings benefits to all the teams, there's
a justification for the rest of the league to pick up part of the bill.
Perhaps having a salary for being a player from LA and money for being an
advertising figure from MLS. It does seem like he need to be trotted down
to the pathetic advertising department so we can get better publicity
than having Leo Cullen whine to an empty stadium "have you seen me?" like
some sort of lost child. That campaign was unbelievably lame! Anyway,
time to get back to it.