Let's get started with notes from today's training sessions:

Juan Pablo Angel sustained a left arm injury and rib injury in training after colliding with goalkeeper Danny Cepero.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

As you may have learned on SBI this morning (or Sports Illustrated on Tuesday), Columbus Crew playmaker Guillermo Barros Schelotto has been named MLS Most Valuable Player.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

If the suspense over finding out who will be named MLS MVP was getting to you, you can relax, the wait ended even sooner than most thought it would.

While hundreds of lucky fans will make the pilgrimage to Home Depot Center to see their home teams in the final, there will be thousands more who can't make the trip and will be watching the event back home.

On the Red Bulls side was Juan Carlos Osorio and wunderkind Danny Cepero, while the Crew was represented by Sigi the Scarf and the ageless wonder, Frankie Hejduk.

Good evening all. Apologies for the lack of posts this afternoon (and the failure to deliver on Red Bulls/RSL preview and the Weekend soccer TV schedule). I am on the way to JFK for my flight to Salt Lake City and today and will look to crank out some posts in these hours before my flight.

Second-half goals from Chad Marshall and Eddie Gaven helped Columbus erase a 1-0 halftime deficit and give the Crew a 2-1 victory in the Eastern Conference final at Crew Stadium on Thursday night.

The teams tied their two regular season meetings and both squads are loaded with award winners and all-stars.

Will the Crew maintain their impressive home form, or will the Fire show why they had the best road record in MLS this year?

Two of the best teams in MLS all season, the Crew and Fire both bring in loaded lineups in a match-up that is difficult to predict the outcome of.

After a weekend of clutch performances, and one historic upset, the final four teams are set for the MLS Conference finals. The Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire, the two best teams in the East this year, meet in the East final, while the underdog New York Red Bulls have crashed the Western Conference final, where they will meet fellow West final debutante Real Salt Lake.

Columbus Crew defender Chad Marshall has been named the 2008 MLS Defender of the year, edging out Chicago Fire central defender Bakary Soumare and Kansas City Wizards captain Jimmy Conrad for the award.

Both teams come in on strong end-of-season runs, though the Crew come in sporting the league's best record.

It isn't going to be easy, and not just because the Crew is playing some of the best soccer in MLS. The Red Bulls are dealing with the distraction and on-field impact of performance enhancing drug suspensions for starting goalkeeper Jon Conway and starting central defender Jeff Parke.

There is still a month to go in the MLS regular season but with two clear front-runners for the MVP award we can start to talking about who might win the award.

Kandji sat out Tuesday's training to receive treatment on his injured right ankle, but he trained on Wednesday and could be in uniform on Thursday night.

There was some concern about whether the game would be played because of major blackouts and a state of emergency in Ohio after the state was battered by the remnants of Hurricane Ike.

Good afternoon folks and welcome to the first installment of Emptying the Notebook. I plan on making this a weekly segment where I touch on all the topics and stories I wasn't able to get to during the week.

So who is the most wanted man in Major League Soccer? No, this isn't a David Beckham joke. The answer, it turns out, is Kansas City Wizards technical director Peter Vermes. Less than a month after turning down an offer to become general manager of the Los Angeles Galaxy, now comes word that he has turned down an MLS head coaching job.

The fact that Columbus beat red-hot FC Dallas to move into first made the accomplishment even more impressive.

Dallas will be looking to keep pressure on Real Salt Lake and Houston at the top of the Western Conference standings while Columbus tries to regain second place in the East, as well as avoid falling into the pack chasing the final playoff spots in the East.

Houston's 2-0 win over a quality Columbus squad showed just how well the Dynamo is playing as it moves toward its rightful place atop the West standings.

Good morning all. The end of a very busy and news-filled week is upon us and as we wind down toward Saturday's MLS schedule (and David Beckham's return to the New York area), it is time to catch up on some news and notes from the soccer world.

Okay, I'll wait while everybody takes in that last sentence. And no, you aren't dreaming.

RSL is enjoying the best run of form in club history (and yes, I know that's not saying a lot) and now sits in first place in the extremely weak Western Conference.

Well, it wasn't. Not when Chicago held a two-goal lead early on and looked like it might find that long-awaited victory.

Unfortunately for Rapids fans, the under-achiving and points-dropping squad they have grown accustomed to in Colorado also appears to be back.