Congrats to SKC

Congratulations to Sporting Kansas City for winning MLS Cup 2013 in a 10 round penalty shootout versus Real Salt Lake

Here is my final predictions update for the 2013 MLS Season

Playoff Predictions

Knockout Round

Colorado Rapids @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win	Correct SEA Win 2-0
Montreal Impact @ Houston Dynamo	HOU Win	Correct HOU Win 3-0

Conference Semifinals (Home & Away)

Houston Dynamo vs New York Red Bulls	NY Win	Wrong HOU Win 4-3 on aggregate
New England Revolution vs Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win	Correct SKC Win 4-3 on aggregate
Seattle Sounders vs Portland Timbers	POR Win	Correct POR Win 5-3 on aggregate
LA Galaxy vs Real Salt Lake	LA Win	Wrong RSL Win 2-1 on aggregate

Conference Finals (Home & Away)

New York Red Bulls vs Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win	Correct SKC Win 2-1 on aggregate but played vs HOU
Portland Timbers vs LA Galaxy	POR Win	Wrong RSL Win 5-2 on aggregate

MLS Cup Final

Portland Timbers @ Sporting Kansas City

POR Win

Wrong SKC Win vs. RSL 1(7)-1(6) in penalties

 I went 5 for 9 or 55.55% in my pre-playoffs predictions for the 2013 MLS Playoffs.

The Week That Was - October 29th

Here are the updated standings:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3qPRqJFXHoRaVhYdm0yWUxoZ2c/edit?usp=drive_web

Toronto FC

We did our part but the necessary results did not fall our way to eliminate Montreal from the playoffs but what we did do was make them have to take the hardest path to MLS Cup and probably, with the poor form they showed against us, will not make it past the first round.

But on to what we did right.  Earnshaw made a goal-scorer’s deflection to put us up early in the game and we continued to push and could have scored 2 or 3 more if not for the framework and Troy Perkins.  Finally Bendik showed again why Stefan Frei has been able to get games making two incredible game saving stops in the 53^rd and 87^th minute.

But it could have been completely different if the referee had made the correct call in the Earnshaw skirmish where he hit a Montreal player in the face and should have received a red card for his actions.  This kind of officiating is one of the major roadblocks to the growth of MLS and the refs need to be called out on every bad call not just the ones that affect each supporters own team.  If we do not speak up nothing will be changed in the quality of officials in MLS.

The win was a good way to end the season but now is when the real work begins and we will see if something will finally change with this club and if this group of people in control does not change it I don’t see many people being around for when the group that does change it comes around.

Movers of the Week

The Western Conference kept the same order of the 5 playoffs teams after this weekend’s games.  But the Eastern Conference saw a lot of shake ups.  Chicago fell from 4^th to 6^th just outside of the playoffs, which New England took advantage of and jumped from 6^th to 3^rd. Houston followed suit and moved up from 5^th to 4^th as Montreal slipped from 3^rd to 5^th.  All of this movement will surely lead to some exciting playoff soccer.

Predictions

Last Week

Chivas USA @ Real Salt Lake	RSL Win	Correct RSL Win 2-1
Sporting Kansas City @ Philadelphia Union	SKC Win	Correct SKC Win 2-1
Montreal Impact @ Toronto FC	TFC Win	Correct TFC Win 1-0
FC Dallas @ San Jose Earthquakes	SJ Win	Correct SJ Win 2-1
Portland Timbers @ Chivas USA	POR Win	Correct POR Win 5-0
Houston Dynamo @ DC United	HOU Win	Correct HOU Win 2-1
New England Revolution @ Columbus Crew	NE Win	Correct NE Win 1-0
Chicago Fire @ New York Red Bulls	NY Win	Correct NY Win 5-2
Colorado Rapids @ Vancouver Whitecaps	VAN Win	Correct VAN Win 3-0
LA Galaxy @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win	Wrong Draw 1-1

Last Week’s Prediction Record	9-1
All Time Record	67-62

For a 51.94% success rate in my predictions across the season since July 23^rd

Playoffs

Knockout Round

Colorado Rapids @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win
Montreal Impact @ Houston Dynamo	HOU Win

Conference Semifinals (Home & Away)

Houston Dynamo vs New York Red Bulls	NY Win
New England Revolution vs Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win
Seattle Sounders vs Portland Timbers	POR Win
LA Galaxy vs Real Salt Lake	LA Win

Conference Finals (Home & Away)

New York Red Bulls vs Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win
Portland Timbers vs LA Galaxy	POR Win

MLS Cup Final

Portland Timbers @ Sporting Kansas City

POR Win

The Week That Was - October 22nd

Here are the updated standings:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3qPRqJFXHoRYlpOQndiODFJeFE/edit?usp=drive_web

Toronto FC

What an amazing save, that is why Stefan Frei has been one of my favourite Toronto FC players and it was good to see him play what was probably his last game with the team.  But other than that the game was just infuriating we had barely any attacking prowess and the referee lost the game for us.  What should have been a nil-nil draw turned into an example of the horrible officiating calls that go on in MLS.  First a hand ball call outside the penalty area that was suspect and Toronto players were arguing with the ref over, but no good camera view showed what actually happened.

But on the ensuing free kick Mike Magee lines up a shot and as it travels around the wall it hits Jonathan Osorio’s upper arm which is right against his body and he has turned sideways to shield his face.  With hand ball calls one of the first things that goes through a ref’s mind is if it was ball to hand or hand to ball, this was a clear example of the ball travelling and hit the players hand/arm and the said player having no time to move it out of the way.  Furthermore the next step that I would take as a ref would be to imagine if their hand/arm had been in a different spot would the ball still have been blocked by a different part of their body such as when a player has their arm against their chest, the handball did not give an unfair advantage to the defending team so I would not call a penalty.  As you can see in the highlights of the match around the 4:00 minute mark Osorio’s arm is tight to his body as he turns and the ball hits his upper arm/shoulder area if he had for some reason had his arm raised it would have hit him in the under arm which would not have led to a penalty kick and game winning goal. So in my opinion if MLS is to be one of the top soccer leagues by 2020 calls like this need to be eliminated and the overall quality of refereeing needs to increase.

Movers of the Week

In the west, Portland, Salt Lake, Los Angeles, and Seattle all clinched playoff spots this past week.  And the fifth spot is all but wrapped up by Colorado who would have to lose 6-0 and San Jose would have to win 12-0 to swap places.  Vancouver was eliminated from playoff contention after a hard fought 3-2 loss and probably sealed the release of Martin Rennie as coach.  While in the east no new teams clinch a playoff spot but Columbus was officially eliminated.  But Chicago had the biggest rise getting 4 points closer to clinching a playoff spot through a win and the highest max total points of a non-playoff team dropping by 1.  Philadelphia had the biggest drop of 5 points through a loss and 5^th place points total increasing by 2.

Predictions

Last Week

Montreal Impact @ LA Galaxy	LA Win	Correct LA Win 1-0
DC United @ Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win	Correct SKC Win 1-0
Philadelphia Union @ Montreal Impact	Draw	Wrong MTL Win 2-1
Seattle Sounders @ FC Dallas	SEA Win	Wrong FCD Win 2-0
Vancouver Whitecaps @ Colorado Rapids	COL Win	Correct COL Win 3-2
Columbus Crew @ New England Revolution	NE Win	Correct NE Win 3-2
Toronto FC @ Chicago Fire	CHI Win	Correct CHI Win 1-0
Real Salt Lake @ Portland Timbers	POR Win	Wrong Draw 0-0
New York Red Bulls @ Houston Dynamo	NY Win	Correct NY Win 3-0
San Jose Earthquakes @ LA Galaxy	LA Win	Wrong Draw 0-0

Last Week’s Prediction Record	6-4
All Time Record	58-61

This Week

Chivas USA @ Real Salt Lake	RSL Win
Sporting Kansas City @ Philadelphia Union	SKC Win
Montreal Impact @ Toronto FC	TFC Win
FC Dallas @ San Jose Earthquakes	SJ Win
Portland Timbers @ Chivas USA	POR Win
Houston Dynamo @ DC United	HOU Win
New England Revolution @ Columbus Crew	NE Win
Chicago Fire @ New York Red Bulls	NY Win
Colorado Rapids @ Vancouver Whitecaps	VAN Win
LA Galaxy @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win

The Week That Was - October 15th

Here are the updated standings:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3qPRqJFXHoRenQxd1ljdXpzSlU/edit?usp=drive_web

Toronto FC

Toronto did not play this week but after the other games this week Toronto’s final two games have greatly increased in significance.  Chicago has had a string of good results over the last few weeks and has made their way into a playoff position.  But all of that could be for not if Toronto is able to put together a good effort and get a result playing spoiler.  But for me the more exciting option is to play spoiler against Montreal in the last game of both team’s season at BMO Field.  Before that can be an option though, Montreal plays LA on the road and Philadelphia at home.  With Montreal’s poor road form and possibly keeping players at home for the Philly game they will probably lose to LA and dependent on the result of Montreal vs. Philadelphia, the Toronto game could be the make or break game for Montreal.  Although this season has been horrible for Toronto if we could be the team to eliminate Montreal from playoff contention that would be the icing on the pile of dog shit cake called the 2013 Toronto FC Season.

Movers of the Week

Sporting Kansas City has joined New York Red Bulls in clinching a playoff spot, while FC Dallas was eliminated from playoff contention this week.  For the rest of the field there was not much movement.  In the west, Portland was the biggest and only mover with a win, getting them 3 points closer to clinching a playoff spot, now only 1 point away from clinching.  While Vancouver and San Jose, the two teams still in playoff contention below the red line, held course by both winning and not getting any closer to elimination.  In the east, Houston was the biggest mover getting 1 point closer to clinching a playoff spot.  While New England and Columbus both lost 1 point through the 5^th place team points total increasing by 1.

Predictions

Last Week

Sporting Kansas City @ Houston Dynamo	SKC Win	Wrong Draw 0-0
Vancouver Whitecaps @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win	Wrong VAN Win 4-1
Colorado Rapids @ San Jose Earthquakes	COL Win	Wrong SJ Win 1-0
New England Revolution @ Montreal Impact	MTL Win	Wrong NE Win 1-0
Philadelphia Union @ DC United	PHI Win	Wrong Draw 1-1
Chicago Fire @ FC Dallas	Draw	Wrong CHI Win 3-2
Seattle Sounders @ Portland Timbers	POR Win	Correct POR Win 1-0

Last Week’s Prediction Record	1-6
All Time Record	52-57

This Week

Montreal Impact @ LA Galaxy	LA Win
DC United @ Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win
Philadelphia Union @ Montreal Impact	Draw
Seattle Sounders @ FC Dallas	SEA Win
Vancouver Whitecaps @ Colorado Rapids	COL Win
Columbus Crew @ New England Revolution	NE Win
Toronto FC @ Chicago Fire	CHI Win
Real Salt Lake @ Portland Timbers	POR Win
New York Red Bulls @ Houston Dynamo	NY Win
San Jose Earthquakes @ LA Galaxy	LA Win

The Week That Was - October 8th

Here are the updated standings:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3qPRqJFXHoRM3VfNExybEpWcWs/edit?usp=drive_web

Toronto FC

Didn’t watch but I bet I can tell you what happened.  The game starts out pretty even until half way thru the second half when Toronto has a string of chances that should have been buried and put the game to bed, but they cannot finish. Philadelphia comes back in the last few minutes to score the winning goal after a stupid decision by one of our inexperienced defenders.  Let me check. Yep, I was right.

Movers of the Week

We have our first team clinching a playoff spot, New York Red Bulls.  In the west, LA and Colorado made the biggest jump, to join New York in the playoffs, both getting 3 points closer to clinching.  While Vancouver and Dallas both dropped 5 points closer to getting eliminated through each drawing separate games and the 5^th place team’s points moving up by 3.  Kansas City, Houston, and Philadelphia all tied in the east each getting 4 points closer to clinching through each winning their respective game and the highest max point total of a non-playoff team dropping by 1.  My prediction of which team will break into the playoffs in the last few games became much harder of coming true after Columbus had the biggest drop getting 6 points closer to being eliminated through a loss and 5^th place points going up by 3.

Every team is now a part of the under 10 club but Columbus and Dallas are the closest, 3 points, to being eliminate from playoff contention.

Predictions

Last Week

Chicago Fire @ DC United	CHI Win	Correct CHI Win 3-0
Montreal Impact @ Houston Dynamo	Draw	Wrong HOU Win 1-0
New England Revolution @ New York Red Bulls	NY Win	Wrong Draw 2-2
Sporting Kansas City @ Columbus Crew	Draw	Wrong SKC Win 1-0
Toronto FC @ Philadelphia Union	PHI Win	Correct PHI Win 1-0
FC Dallas @ Real Salt Lake	RSL Win	Wrong Draw 1-1
Seattle Sounders @ Colorado Rapids	COL Win	Correct COL Win 5-1
Chivas USA @ LA Galaxy	LA Win	Correct LA Win 5-0
Portland Timbers @ Vancouver Whitecaps	Van Win	Wrong Draw 2-2

Last Week’s Prediction Record	4-5
All Time Record	51-51

This Week

Sporting Kansas City @ Houston Dynamo	SKC Win
Vancouver Whitecaps @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win
Colorado Rapids @ San Jose Earthquakes	COL Win
New England Revolution @ Montreal Impact	MTL Win
Philadelphia Union @ DC United	PHI Win
Chicago Fire @ FC Dallas	Draw
Seattle Sounders @ Portland Timbers	POR Win

The Week That Was - October 1st

Here are the updated standings:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3qPRqJFXHoRTFNiUkFxN0FKeDQ/edit?usp=drive_web

Toronto FC

We Won! 4-1!! Against DC United, oh.  Against DC United’s B/C squad, ohh. Bright Dike scored his first, Alvaro Rey scored his first and created an own goal, and Darel Russell had an incredible turning volley goal that is up for Goal of the Week honours.    But against any other team this game would have been completely different.  DC was resting their squad for a game later tonight in the US Open Cup where if they win they will not only win hardware and a spot in the 2014-2015 CONCACAF Champions League but they will pull as I like to call it a “Toronto” where even though you are in last place in your league you are a part of the “Champions” League.  Really though with the defensive lineup put out there of Morgan, Agbossoumonde, Henry, and Bloom any team could rip us to shreds.  So let’s enjoy the win and see it for what it was a meaningless game that is one step, winning games you are supposed to win, of the thousands of steps needed to turn this club around. 

Movers of the Week

Both Portland and Seattle got 6 points closer to clinching a playoff spot in the West through winning their respective games this week while Vancouver gave them the other three points through their loss.  While Vancouver and FC Dallas both got 3 points closer to being eliminated from the playoffs through their losses.  While in the East a rather inactive week occurred with New York, Montreal, and Houston all getting 2 points closer to clinching through draws gaining them 1 point and the highest max points of a non-playoff team dropping by 1.  Chicago was the biggest loser in the East with a draw dropping 2 points and then the 5^th place points total moved up 2 for a total of 4 points closer to elimination.

It really is getting close with all teams in the bottom of half of the west being less than 10 points away from being eliminated.  In the East though it is much more likely for one of the currently non-playoff teams to fight their way into the playoffs my money is on Columbus to beat out Philly for that last playoff spot in the East.

Predictions

Last Week

Philadelphia Union @ Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win	Wrong PHI Win 1-0
DC United @ Toronto FC	TFC Win	Correct TFC Win 4-1
Real Salt Lake @ Vancouver Whitecaps	Van Win	Wrong RSL Win 1-0
Houston Dynamo @ New England Revolution	Draw	Correct Draw 1-1
Montreal Impact @ Chicago Fire	MTL Win	Wrong Draw 2-2
LA Galaxy @ Portland Timbers	POR Win	Correct POR Win 1-0
Columbus Crew @ FC Dallas	CLB Win	Correct CLB Win 4-2
New York Red Bulls @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win	Wrong Draw 1-1
San Jose Earthquakes @ Chivas USA	SJ Win	Correct SJ Win 1-0

Last Week’s Prediction Record	5-4
All Time Record	47-46

This Week

Chicago Fire @ DC United	CHI Win
Montreal Impact @ Houston Dynamo	Draw
New England Revolution @ New York Red Bulls	NY Win
Sporting Kansas City @ Columbus Crew	Draw
Toronto FC @ Philadelphia Union	PHI Win
FC Dallas @ Real Salt Lake	RSL Win
Seattle Sounders @ Colorado Rapids	COL Win
Chivas USA @ LA Galaxy	LA Win
Portland Timbers @ Vancouver Whitecaps	Van Win

The Week That Was - September 24th

Here are the updated standings:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3qPRqJFXHoRcGhVdkV2R20zaUk/edit

Toronto FC

Before the game, last Friday September 20^th, Tim Leiweke and Toronto FC announced they had found their GM, another MLS Head Office suggestion and former Senior Director of Player Relations and Competition with MLS Tim Bezbatchenko.  With MLS he oversaw the budgets of many different MLS teams and has an intimate understanding of contracts and league rules.  He was brought in here to have control of the budgeting side of Toronto FC’s team and to assist in player selection; he will not be the be all and end all in player acquistion like the “typical” general manager in North American Professional Sports.  So Leiweke has finished putting together one team now the hard work begins trying to turn Toronto FC into a team.

What a team they currently are, and with Jonathan Osorio’s 2 game suspension announced the day before the Kansas City game I knew it was going to be a long day for TFC.  The game ended 2-1 in Sporting Kansas City’s favour not that unexpected but the way in which the game went down was not.  The Kansas City goals were both by C.J. Sapong who took advantage of lackluster defending by Doneil Henry on the first and Mark Bloom on the second.  Toronto also took advantage of a bad pass reception by Aurelien Collin who gave up the ball to Rey who passed to Russell and he slotted it in the bottom left hand corner.  But that was not it for Collin, already sitting on a yellow when defending Alvaro Rey who was making his way along the right side of the 18 yard box Collin deliberately elbows Rey in the face.  Collin looked to see where Rey was before throwing his elbow out, this could have been a red card and was definitely a yellow card but neither was shown.  Furthermore a penalty was not called even though it looked to be inside the box.  In addition to this, in the 91^st minute Toronto had a free kick at about half and sent everyone up, the kick was headed on further into the box and when Justin Braun went up to head the ball on frame Collin tackled him preventing him from getting to the ball and again no card was shown but even worse no foul was given and in turn no penalty.

Here we are with 4 games left and currently the same point total as last season of 23 supported by the higher number of draws this year because we have one less win compared to last year.   And it doesn’t look like that will change much we arguably have one last shot at tying the win total of last year.  That is the next game coming up against DC United but with Osorio and Caldwell out and then all of the injured players it looks bleak.  At least we will have a good draft pick, oh wait we traded it.

Movers of the Week

The biggest movers in the West were the Portland Timbers who through a win vs. Colorado and the highest max points of a non-playoff team dropping by 2 they moved 5 points closer to clinching a playoff spot.  While FC Dallas had the largest drop of 5 points with a loss vs. New York and the 5^th place points going up by 2.   In the East, New York, Kansas City, and Houston were the biggest winners all moving 6 points closer to clinching the playoffs through each of their respective wins versus Dallas, Toronto, and Chivas and the highest max points of a non-playoff team dropping by 3.  Whereas Chicago had the biggest drop through a loss and the 5^th place points rising by 1, they fell 4 points closer to elimination.

The under 10 club makes it return finally with one member San Jose Earthquakes who are 9 points away from being the next club eliminated from the playoffs.

Predictions

Last Week

Colorado Rapids @ Portland Timbers	POR Win	Correct POR Win 1-0
Vancouver Whitecaps @ Montreal Impact	MTL Win	Wrong VAN Win 3-0
Sporting Kansas City @ Toronto FC	SKC Win	Correct SKC Win 2-1
DC United @ New England Revolution	NE Win	Correct NE Win 2-1
Chicago Fire @ Columbus Crew	Draw	Wrong CLB Win 3-0
Chivas USA @ Houston Dynamo	HOU Win	Correct HOU Win 5-1
San Jose Earthquakes @ Real Salt Lake	RSL Win	Wrong SJ Win 2-1
Seattle Sounders @ LA Galaxy	LA Win	Wrong Draw 1-1
FC Dallas @ New York Red Bulls	NY Win	Correct NY Win 1-0

Last Week’s Prediction Record	5-4
All Time Record	42-42

This Week

Philadelphia Union @ Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win
DC United @ Toronto FC	TFC Win
Real Salt Lake @ Vancouver Whitecaps	Van Win
Houston Dynamo @ New England Revolution	Draw
Montreal Impact @ Chicago Fire	MTL Win
LA Galaxy @ Portland Timbers	POR Win
Columbus Crew @ FC Dallas	CLB Win
New York Red Bulls @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win
San Jose Earthquakes @ Chivas USA	SJ Win