The draft is over, training camps are opening up and the season is less than two months away. It has been a while since we looked at promotional efforts around the league, so we thought the early preseason presented a good opportunity to look at ticket sales efforts as teams gear up for the start of the 2012 campaign.

As we have done every year since starting this site, we think it is time to take a look at holiday ticket promotions around Major League Soccer. This year we will run similar posts over the next couple of weeks to cover the efforts of multiple teams to sell tickets over the holidays. We'll start with Colorado, where the Rapids are offering a Holiday 5 Pack which includes 5 of the most sought after matches, including the home opener, July 4th and the Galaxy visit combined with a free gift from adidas.

D.C. United star Dwayne DeRosario has enjoyed one of the best careers in MLS history and is widely regarded as one of the best players the league has ever seen. He has won multiple championships, and most recently a Golden Boot, but the one honor he hadn't won before was MLS Most Valuable Player.

The MLS regular season wrapped up on Sunday, with the Los Angeles Galaxy blowing away all the competition to win the Supporter's Shield as the top regular season team. However, regular season success does not count for anything when the eliminations begin for the MLS Cup. Think of it as a post-season Cup Tournament like the FA Cup, which has little to do with the standings in the league table and
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By JOSE M. ROMERO

On the outside looking in for a playoff spot to begin the night, the climb toward the MLS postseason got a little steeper for D.C. United.

The Vancouver Whitecaps played spoiler Wednesday night at B.C. Place Stadium, holding on for a 2-1 victory thanks to strong defensive play for 56 minutes, another goal for leading scorer Camilo and the first career MLS goal for forward Long Tan.

Rocking chairs. Porches. Cross-stitching. Some things were made for long international breaks before worthless international friendlies. Entertaining and insightful sports writing is not one of them. At least not in these here parts. Instead, we bring you the next best thing random thoughts and musings sent our way via electronic mail from you the reader.

The New York Red Bulls needed a win against Toronto FC on Saturday to really boost their playoff chances, but for a team with just two road wins all year, a draw was probably the more realistic goal.

Toronto FC nearly left the Red Bulls with zero points, but Thierry Henry stepped up to save New York one more time, collecting a Dax McCarty' corner kick and hitting a perfect turn and shot in the 88th minute to help the Red Bulls salvage a 1-1 draw at BMO Field.

The Philadelphia Union and D.C. United resume their I-95 rivalry tonight with much more than bragging rights on the line.

The two Eastern Conference rivals clash tonight (8pm, ESPN2) with playoff dreams on the line, as the Union still have visions of first place in the East while D.

In an August that saw several MLS players enjoy outstanding months, no player had has strong a showing as Mauro Rosales.

The Seattle Sounders playmaker was the driving force behind a stellar month for the Sounders, which finished an incredible 7-0-1 in all competitions in August.

Rosales was a key figure behind several of the wins.

Busy couple of weeks, busy weekend. All conspiring to keep my post production low, and that means...Grab Bag time.

Better Up Top

Those damnable "local blackouts" applied, leaving me with only the Match Day Live condensed version of the United vs. Quakes tilt. Obviously, I feel pretty unqualified to deal in minutiae as a result, but that won't keep me from making the one obvious observation: De Rosario needs to be up top.

Amidst all the activity behind the World Football Challenge and MLS taking on teams from the English and Spanish leagues, some MLS teams were left to battle each other. Here's your Mid-Week Recap:
DC United 0, New England Revolution 1
New England were finally able to put an end to their 9 game winless streak against DC United in front of a lively crowd of 15,597 at RFK.

The Youth Movement

As the DC United roster of last season was dismantled and retooled it became apparent we were amidst a rebuilding process focused around youth. The foundation of the team came from young players such as Najar, Pontius and Jakovic and was being complimented by Davies, Kitchen and McCarty.

New York's Strategy Hans Backe utilized a strange formation which emphasized possession of the ball in the center of the pitch. Medhi Ballouchy was employed as a left sided midfielder but too often tucked inside to pick up the ball. Joel Lindpere played mostly in the center in front of Dax McCarty and behind Thierry Henry.

Week 17 of MLS action held some remarkable moments. Amidst the slate of games we saw a Dax McCarty and Dwayne De Rosario showdown in New York. A strange goal from a David Beckham PK gave LA the win and we saw one of the greatest soccer rivalries in North America on national television. All in all, a fun weekend of MLS play.

22,200 fans came to The Cathedral of Football on Saturday night to see what should have been a classic derby match. With the rich history between RBNY and DC United, a 4-0 thrashing by the Bulls at RFK earlier this season, and the midweek 5-0 destruction of Toronto FC, the potential for an entertaining, dynamic 90 minutes was in the air.

Philadelphia Union at DC United
Saturday night's contest was an exciting one, at least on paper leading up to the match, as it put the Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia Union on the road at DC United, who were excited to show off their new acquisition, MLS All-Star Dwayne DeRosario.

By CALEB SONNELAND

The New York Red Bulls' goalkeeper situation isn't getting any better.

After moving star player Dwayne DeRosario to DC United on June 27th, speculation was rife that the club was looking to bring in a top quality goalkeeper to fill the void between the sticks.

For the second consecutive weekend, D.C. United allows a late equalizing goal to deny themselves another opportunity to climb the table in the weak Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer. This week's generous recipient were the Philadelphia Union who leveled ...

The San Jose Earthquakes and Philadelphia Union played a game full of controversial cards, including a red card to Union left back Jordan Harvey, back on April 30. Despite going down a man, the Union managed to eek out a 1-0 win on the back of Amobi Okugo's penalty draw and Sebastien Le Toux's successful penalty kick conversion.

By ALAN LEDBETTER

The Gold Cup is over and all players will be returning to their club teams this week from international duty. New York is especially glad to see their players return after being without their starting center backs for the duration of the tournament.

So I was part of the way though prepping a series of posts on probable moves for DC United in the summer transfer window when...

McBoom!

De Boom!

Boom goes my post series.

Hmmm. The best laid plans of mice and fullbacks, eh? Instead of tossing out the whole thing, let me just post what would have been the key conclusions in that series and look at how the moves for De Rosario and McDonald address (or don't address) what I saw as the outstanding needs for United at the midway point.

Just a few hours after announcing the acquisition of Brandon McDonald from San Jose, D.C. United showed they were not done with remaking the squad by acquiring 4-time MLS Cup Champion midfielder Dwayne DeRosario from the New York Red Bulls ...

Tim Ream and Juan Agudelo both started and featured prominently in the USA's 2-0 Gold Cup win over rivals Canada last night in Detroit. Unlike Saturday's "warm-up" game against Spain in Foxboro, where he was paired in central defense with a shaky and rusty Oguchi Onyewu, this time Ream was partnered by Clarence Goodson, and the combination seemed to work well.

Juan Agudelo: Among the MissingAs the Red Bulls prepare themselves for Saturday's evening's home match against Columbus Crew, they do so without six key squad members. Dane Richards is away at Jamaican National Team training in Brazil, Dwayne DeRosario is with Canada, Tim Ream and Juan Agudelo suit up tomorrow against Spain in Foxboro and Rafael Marquez gears up for the Gold Cup with Mexico.

Rodgers: Early Season Team MVPHaving finished May without a single victory (0-1-4), the Red Bulls now turn their attention to the part of the schedule every fan has been dreading since Opening Day. You could argue that the team has been the victim of some bad fortune and questionable calls (*ahem* Akpan), but as the saying goes you make your own luck.

Duncan Fletcher, of SB Nation's Toronto FC blog Waking The Red, and I exchanged three questions a piece, ahead of today's Philadelphia Union-TFC game at BMO Field. To read my responses to Fletcher's questions, click the linked text here.

Scott Kessler: Last year saw the Union drop a game because of a silly foul that resulted in a red card for Danny Califf and the resulting freekick, by Dwayne DeRosario, that was fumbled by Chris Seitz into the net for a 2-1 loss (and of course the penalty that Seitz gave up).

There isn't going to be very much that's pretty about today's clash between New York Red Bulls and the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Galaxy are not yet last year's fluid ball-handling team and are still experiencing drop-offs in the defensive end and the offensive third. New York had the best midfield unit in the league when you combine talent with their ability to work with one another.

The Los Angeles Galaxy and New York Red Bulls are two of the top teams in MLS, and are considered among the favorites to reach this season's MLS Cup Final. When they meet on Saturday night, they will feature five Designated Players as well as some of the best players in MLS.

Before we get into a preview of the match, which we will post later on today, we wanted to hear from SBI readers on who they think will win this marquee match-up.

NOTE: I've been trying to post this for days, but there's been problems with logging in. That's also why there's no picture here. Sorry.

It was a weekend of big wins and losses that continued downward spirals. It was a high scoring one too, with 21 goals in the 9 goals from Friday to Sunday.

Luke Rodgers found himself in the starting lineup yet again, and once again rewarded New York head coach Hans Backe's confidence.

The English striker finished off a Dwayne DeRosario cross in the first half to lift the Red Bulls to a 1-0 victory against Sporting Kansas City at Red Bull Arena on Saturday night.

In order to first preview Saturday's match, it should first be noted that Toronto FC won their first match int the Voyageur's Cup (the Canadian Championship) over minnow FC Edmonton. They should be a bit tired, and may be bouncing from Toronto to Edmonton to Toronto to Seattle in five days, regardless they will have the extra 90 minutes on a few player's legs.

1-When and how did you first get interested in soccer?
Luis (my husband) got me interested when he took me to my first game back in 2006.
2-How long have you been a D.C. United fan?
6 years.
3-Who is your all time favorite United player?
Santino Quaranta.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIPhotos.com

Dwayne DeRosario's New York Red Bulls debut started as well as he and his new team could have hoped, with a skillful assist on his first touch. Unfortunately for the Red Bulls, that moment of brilliance was one of the few the Red Bulls could muster.

Farewell CaptainThere had been online buzz all afternoon of Toronto FC trade of Dwayne DeRosario. Sportsnet had an online post and Fan 590 had it on their 3:20 news (hey, that is just two forms of the same source, isn't it).
Then there were reports that a legal question had arisen and the trade was on hold.

Charlie Davies' early goal and Joseph Ngwenya's second-half strike earned D.C. United a 2-2 draw with Toronto FC tonight in Charleston, South Carolina to help the Black-and-Red to their second consecutive Carolina Challenge Cup win. United has 7 points through ...

-Jason Davis
The Portland Timbers unveiled the returning Kenny Cooper, their highest profile signing to date, at a press conference yesterday. Cooper comes back to MLS after spending a predominantly disappointing season and a half on the books of 1860 Munich of the 2.Bundesliga. Although his European adventure didn't pan out, Cooper is a proven MLS goal-scorer, an asset worth the investment for the Timbers.