OK, after taking this week off to mostly just troll other blogs and not comment too much on MLS or soccer in general after letting last week's loss sink in, I do have some thoughts on a rash of topics:
(But before I begin, I have to tell you my favorite lines from anyone about events so far this week. Click to continue reading...

Regardless of this result, regardless of any strange non-goal goals, regardless of anything, I remain
Absent the Hainault goal, the result was a well-fought one and deserved, just really, really not what I wanted.
More to be written on this at another date. For now, I sleep late tomorrow and the offseason begins. Click to continue reading...

I was starting to write a long piece on magical thinking and sending orange-colored positive waves westward for tonight's game. Then I read the stories in the Chron today (listing of the stories and Bernardo's blog post here) about how the entire world seems aligned against Dynamo in favor of the Galaxy, including Alexi Lalas (which actually fills me with something like relief. Click to continue reading...

Check this out from Freddy Ljungberg's blog people:
THE BRAWL IN HOUSTON
I'm sorry that it has taken quite some time after the game to post something, but I have actually been quit pissed off and in a bad mood after the game and wanted to think things through before I said anything. Click to continue reading...

It happened right in front of me, and by the lack of reaction on Keller's face it took me a sec to even realize what had happened!
If you check the highlights page on the Dynamo site, you get the Telefutura call ("QUE GOLAZO!!") and then the Dynamo radio call, with James Clarkson yelling so loud I think it knocked them off the air for a second or two. Click to continue reading...

I was kind of hoping for a Dynamo/Columbus final to have the last three champs facing off But wouldn't you know it, the Crew pulled an epic fail, losing a one goal advantage.
At home.
To the worst road team in the league.
Worse than NYRB.
Let THAT sink in. Click to continue reading...

So again, we take a look at the Orange Crystal Ball moving from the unidextrous to bidextrous results.
The first weekend, I have to say, was more than a little strange. From the sublime of the Dynamo/Seattle match to the ridiculous of Warzycha sitting Moreno AND Schelotto to the utterly predictable of a Steve Nicol-team being Lucy to the Chicago Fire's Charlie Brown to the completely surreal of the HDClasico draw. Click to continue reading...

1. Not technically in Seattle, but you don't have to cast a wide net to get this one:
2. Check out these crowds below. Here's a team made mostly famous from Jim Bouton's stories of drugs and debauchery in Ball Four:
3. This courtesy of James Cooke:
4. Click to continue reading...

Apparently, there are six other playoff teams out there fighting for second place. And, get this, they actually all will play their entire ties BEFORE Dynamo run the Greens on Nov. 8. (Homer? Me? What ya talkin' about?)
So now I turn my prediction energies to the postseason, and just to help myself out I will only predict the first legs (The more games I predict, the better my chance to finish with something approaching respectable. Click to continue reading...

So let's start the discussion. Here are some of my initial thoughts from tonight:
1. The Onstad Bump: After the game, Alexi Lalas showed the smarts that made him the GM he was when he said that Onstad should have gotten a red card for that contact. "99 times out of 100, that's a straight red," ranted his Gingerness. Click to continue reading...

So once again, right here on the cusp of the playoffs, when we should all be feeling good about MLS and the competition and the soon-to-be champion, we get reality smacking us in the face that this is a league that is run by a bunch of marketing executives who think that selling toothpaste is the same as running a sports league. Click to continue reading...

After a second half of the season that was a tad weird to say the least, Dynamo get a chance to put on their Tri-umph faces and Lay It on the Line for that third title.
I think this video above truly expresses my feeling about Seattle tonight. And while the truth is I have never once flipped the toggle on an XBox, or done a 360 on top of one, I know for a fact that an Orange Ring of Death exists on those consoles, and that's what I am expecting to see over these two legs, starting tonight. Click to continue reading...

"We adore chaos because we love to produce order."
~ M.C. Escher
In the delicious disorder that has marked the final weeks of the MLS season will come some order after this weekend, and it all started in that mudpit in Bridgeview last night.
So did anyone check out that Chicago/Chivas game last night? Click to continue reading...

There's a red storm raging and it's threatening to overwhelm the Houston Dynamo, if it hasn't already.
So yes I'll start. I am quite bummed about the guys losing to Metapan, who had neither won nor tied a single game in group play before last night. So, not to be a downer here, but it's very possible that the season, which we all hope lasts five more games, might just be over in three. Click to continue reading...

A truly awesome interview with our boy Goalden Holden, who dishes on Rico and "Fat" Ching. Click to continue reading...