What a glorious tangle we've got, eh MLS HQ gargoyles? At this point, would you put it past any of
the teams still in playoff contention (oh hell, let's throw in everybody but the Red Bulls) to beat
any of the others? The Parity Police are slapping...
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With only four games on the docket this international week, you wouldn't expect much movement on
the Pile. But it's an indication of just how tight things are that even four games, two involving
the going-nowhere Quakes, would prompt some...
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Man, doesn't that image look awful? Have no fear, dear reader, the technical glitches with the
Dogpile are high on the off-season agenda. And by the looks of it, I won't be the only one looking
to do a little re-tooling in the winter. Would you look...
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Does no one want to win this thing? No one? Oh, shut up and put your hands down, Columbus. Take a
look, if you will, at who's hot as we plow through this critical stretch of the season. We'll use
the last five results as a measure of en fuego-ness....
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Quick, name the three hottest teams in MLS! Well, sure, there's the Crew, netting ten points from
the last fifteen on offer. Predictable, right? Somewhat more unbelievably, but borne out by their
current league standing, the Galaxy are matching the...
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Now that's the MLS we all know and love, right? Questionable officiating, the playoff race somehow
getting even tighter, the Galaxy shipping six goals while scoring three...the Red Bulls losing.
What's a poor blogger to do when the Parity Police...
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Welcome back to the Dogpile, my friends. The kennel is in chaos with the top dogs from last week
all sitting on the wrong side of 1-0 results, the majority of those engaged in the mad playoff
scramble holding serve, and, of course, the Red Bulls...
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The Crew remain masters of all they survey despite sitting out the week atop that pile of recent
victories and the assorted skulls and captured standards of the rest of MLS. Sadly, neither of
their closest challengers could mount anything resembling...
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As if they needed further confirmation, the Crew clambered atop the table this week (viva los
tie-breakers!) to confirm their status as the MLS Alpha Dogs. More support for said claim arrives
via the five game win streak that has seen them take all...
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I'm experimenting with the Dogpile this week, hoping to make it leaner and meaner, so pardon the
mess (I've still got to get the kinks worked out where the graphic is concerned). Here's hoping the
new format consumes less of my time (and yours!)...
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Dallas and San Jose looked dead and buried a week ago, but courtesy of a couple of lopsided home
shutouts, the also-rans of the West are looking to make late season bids for respectability and
maybe even a shot at the post-season. And while the...
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Wow. Just wait till you see the state of the single table when MLS Table Talk goes live later this
week. Suffice it to say, it's congested. But what else can you expect when many of the sides
chasing playoff spots grabbed wins while most of those...
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So if there was any over-riding picture to take home from this weekends' action, it has to be that
the East is a ferocious snarling mess, and the West will be thankful for it. Why? Consider that all
those Eastern sides that were busy spanking...
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Once again, MLS plodded on with the Gold Cup sucking away players (and, quite probably, dozens of
fans as well). And the Alpha Dogs really could have used the likes of Ching and Holden (and, quite
probably, some video replay equipment) as they got...
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So here I am at long last, back from the (walking) dead to try and squeeze in the Dogpile before we
get to the midweek Open Cup action. SuperLiga, the Gold Cup, and the Open Cup are wreaking their
particular havoc with MLS rosters and schedules...
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In the midst of a sinking SuperLiga (Is anybody paying attention to this tournament this year? Does
it last another?) drawing more than a quarter of the MLS teams away from action, and with many of
MLS's domestic stars away making a dramatic run at...
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SuperLiga rears its SuperHead again, taking four MLS sides (Chicago, New England, Chivas, Kansas
City) out of rotation for a couple of weeks. Considering the fact that three of these teams are in
a dogfight for playoff places and the other has a...
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There's some shuffling going on at the top of the pack, as the descent of the Fire and Chivas makes
way for some new dogs to get a sniff at the front of the Playoff Pack. And down around the fringes,
there's a mighty scramble going on as sides...
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Apologies for the slight delay on the Dogpile this week--family matters intervened. But never fear,
your friendly neighborhood Fullback has his nose to the grindstone and will be giving it his all to
produce the Dogpile and Table Talk columns in...
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The Pile is back, and boy is it confused. What do you do with a Fire side that manages to beat,
albeit controversially, the top dogs, and then gets hammered at home by Dallas? What does it mean
when a decidedly average Rapids side happens to be...
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Major League Soccer, home of the draw? Another weekend where over half of the games ended
deadlocked. We can debate the causes, but the effect on the Dogpile is such that any win or loss
gets accentuated with so many of the participants gathering...
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Here come the Parity Police with the thud of jackboots and the crackle of tasers! Only one of my
previous week's Playoff Pack + Alpha Dog managed a win this week, and it just happened to be a
Chicago side stuck in neutral on the back of five draws...
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So has Preki been making threatening phone calls or something? Stuffing horse noggins in ball bags?
Because it seems that nobody wants to challenge Chivas USA. All of the teams that were within
striking distance of the Goats managed only draws...
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So just how long will it be until the wheels fall off the Goats' cart? They keep piling improbable
result upon improbable result, while the rest of the league stutters along in their wake, watching
Preki's merry band disappearing over the horizon,...
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Chaos abounds, and the goals are flying in around MLS, particularly into the Revs' net. Chivas
suffer the standard-issue Alpha Dog setback, but do enough to maintain their perch, more on the
basis of Chicago's continuing struggle to post points in...
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Here we go again with the Revenge of the Parity Police. Not a single Omega Mutt managed to lose a
game this week, while only one of their Playoff Pack/Alpha Dog brethren recorded a victory. A
pre-season pick to struggle sits atop the table, while...
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Another rash of reds around the league, and all of the top three on the Pile fail to win. And
what's this? All of last week's Omega Mutts managed not to lose? True, only one of them grabbed
three points, and thus levered themselves out of that...
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How many folks had Seattle and Chivas near the bottom of their Western Conference pre-season picks?
How many expected the Crew and Houston to be challenging for their respective conference crowns?
Therein lies a tale of parity and woe, frustrated...
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So what's going on here? The teams that were supposed to be dominant are stumbling out of the
gates. Those supposedly on the decline are picking up points. And, to top it all off, the expansion
side are unbeaten and unscored upon. Ah, I see...div class="feedflare" a
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I know, I know. It's far too early to be breaking out the Dogpile. After all, we only have one
week's worth of results to go on, right? Well, such are the pleasures (and perils) of being a
swashbuckling blogger. We'll give the results a few...div class="feedflare" a
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[I was tempted, sorely tempted, to drop a couple of "actual" playoff sides out of the
Playoff Pack (I'm looking at you, Revs and Red Bulls, but seeing as how the playoff field has been
decided, I've chosen to leave them in the top eight for this season-ending Dogpile. Next week, the
Dogpile and Table Talk will give way to MLS Playoff Prattle.
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[Nine become five as the playoff field shrinks to a more manageable number after an exciting
weekend of fixtures that saw meaningful late goals (and a few curious goals as well). Once again,
we'll have five from the East and three from the West, but who will grab the final three spots on
offer? . . .
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[The West was starting to look ascendant, but a hatful of road draws this weekend sees the East
reclaiming a little of its former glory. Once again, we're back to that old 5/3 playoff split in
favor of the East, but with everybody still in with a shot at the postseason, that split may just
reverse itself in the weeks to come.
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[It wasn't that long ago that we were all maligning the sorry state of the Western Conference. But
after yet another solid week, the Dogpile now has just one Western side sitting in the bottom five
(pretty easy to guess who that is, huh?). Will the trends continue next week? And will someone
please, please, please bring the Crew crashing back down to planet Earth?
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[What are the chances that the West would do it two weeks in a row? Were they pacing themselves?
Whatever the case, the West went 3-1-1 against the East this week, resulting in the conferences
drawing level with four sides each residing in the playoff spots. But it's still those Hard Hats
that are looking unbeatable at the moment, even without their talisman .
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