I am really looking forward to the MLS playoffs this year. There are already some really good matchups in the first round.
East:
Bye: (1) NY Red Bulls, (2) Columbus Crew
Play-In:
(3) Montreal Impact v (6) Toronto FC: Drogba v Giavinco, should be great. Toronto FC's first time in the playoffs, and they have to face the hottest player at the end of this season.
(4) DC United v (5) New England Revolution: I don't know what to think of this one. Both teams have extreme highs and lows. Being in NJ, I am not very fond of DC.
West:
Bye: (1) Dallas FC, (2) Vancouver Whitecaps
Play-In:
(3) Portland Timbers v (6) Sporting KC: I love watching games in Portland because of their fans. It is very weird to see SKC make the playoffs by the skin of their teeth.
(4) Seattle Sounders v (5) LA Galaxy: Two big name teams that I did not think would be in this position. Could be a great game, depending upon whether each team shows up to play.
I've been a MetroBulls fan since the beginning, so will be sitting back mid-week to see who we play. The end of the day today was nail-biting. We started level on points with Dallas but had the advantage on goal differential. We were cruising up 2-0 away against last-place Chicago while Dallas was 1:1 against San Jose. Dallas went up 2:1 at about the same time we conceded to Chicago.
Being a MetroBull fan for so long, you can probably imagine my outlook on the playoffs, even though we just won the Supporters' Shield.
As a season ticket holding Timbers fan.
Gaaaaah! Gaah! Gwararggglearagh! Whoooooo! ((collapses)).
Yeah, that must have been sweet! Or maybe just a relief. As a GK myself, I like the way it ended.
We have a couple of good rivalry matchups in the next round.
Un bon mot ne prouve rien (A witty saying proves nothing). - Voltaire
This probably should be in the sports section, btw.
I apologize for my ignorance. For some reason I had never actually visited that section, and didn't realize it existed.
Mods please feel free to move the thread, of course.
Un bon mot ne prouve rien (A witty saying proves nothing). - Voltaire
Well that was a pretty poor performance from RB today. Hopefully next week at home will be a little better, but giving up that second goal really hurt.
Well done to Columbus.
Edit: I finally realized that as the thread originator, I could move it to the Sports forum myself.
Un bon mot ne prouve rien (A witty saying proves nothing). - Voltaire
I'm still pulling for New York. If the Timbers close out against Dallas, then that's going to be a much better trip for the MLS final than Columbus. Probably cheaper, too.
Yeah, I think you need two connecting flights, plus a canoe trip (with portage) to get to Columbus.
Un bon mot ne prouve rien (A witty saying proves nothing). - Voltaire
Well, Timbers FC did their part. Hopefully RBNY will do likewise.
Un bon mot ne prouve rien (A witty saying proves nothing). - Voltaire
Ugh, I knew as soon as I saw that Baldomero Toledo was the ref, I was not going to be happy. So far I am not disappoint.
We are lucky it is 0-0 at the half.
Un bon mot ne prouve rien (A witty saying proves nothing). - Voltaire
http://zippy.gfycat.com/ImmenseMindl...
Link didn't work.
You can imagine that I am in the best mood right now. Columbus were definitely the better team and deserved to go on, but that doesn't make it any better.
I will definitely be rooting for Timbers FC in the final.
Un bon mot ne prouve rien (A witty saying proves nothing). - Voltaire
Supposed to be this:
Yeah, that was sweet. I do feel a little sympathy for my fellow GK, though.
Un bon mot ne prouve rien (A witty saying proves nothing). - Voltaire
The Final is at 4 EST today, on ESPN.
The email sent out by the league was titled "Welcome to the Grand Finale", which reminded me of this:
Un bon mot ne prouve rien (A witty saying proves nothing). - Voltaire
Congrats to Portland on the win.
Woeful defending by Columbus, and poor officiating, but still feels like the best team won tonight.
You are comparing apples to cardboard boxes
MattDaddy wrote:Dimmer is mostly correct
The defending was not terrible, but each GK made one colossal error.
The officiating was poor. At least the most egregious errors were balanced. One led to a Portland goal, the other should have been a Portland PK.
I was out with my family this afternoon, so sadly got home at the 13th minute.
I thought Columbus had the better of play for the last 30 minutes of the first half. Portland must have made some adjustment during the interval because they looked very composed for most of the rest of the game.
Un bon mot ne prouve rien (A witty saying proves nothing). - Voltaire
Un bon mot ne prouve rien (A witty saying proves nothing). - Voltaire
Had the opportunity to get a ticket on the Thursday before the game, but balked and decided to buy my wife a really nice Christmas present instead.
Half of Portland is still in a weird state of denial about all of this. Portland and Oregon teams don't really win things; they screw them up at the last minute. Teams I follow don't really win things; they tend to exist in perpetual sub-mediocrity. The whole series was weird. The double post penalty kick, the 7 second slide tackle on the goalkeeper, the golazos against Dallas. Columbus felt like only the second series that the Timbers won decisively next to Vancouver. And it only seemed like they'd been playing well for four or five games up until that point.
This has been part of the Portland gameplan all year. Let the other team come out hot, let them wear themselves down, then take it to them in the second half. At least, that's what I think it must be. Happened way too often this year to be coincidence. I will say that for all Columbus' first half dominance, they finished the game with one shot on goal, whereas the Timbers fairly peppered Steve Clark in the second half.
Awwww.
I grew up as a Philadelphia sports fan, so you don't need to explain that to me.
There is a saying "Always a bridesmaid, but never a bride". Philadelphia teams are frequently not even invited to the wedding.
It seemed to me that TImbers finished the season pretty strong, and that confidence just carried through the playoffs too.
Un bon mot ne prouve rien (A witty saying proves nothing). - Voltaire
Well you keep throwing batteries at the bride!
I was going to say that we only throw batteries at Santa, but those were iceballs/snowballs.
The batteries were for JD Drew and (disgustingly) Dick Allen. Fortunately the fans were too drunk to actually hit anyone with the batteries.
Un bon mot ne prouve rien (A witty saying proves nothing). - Voltaire