Weekly(ish) Wrap: Week 2-3 of 31.

Why two weeks?
Well, for starters, I was out of town most of last week and all last weekend, so I didn't have time to type anything up.


What we learned from Week 2:

1. Major League Soccer tickets are a great value. After playing 13 games, the best the road team has been able to do so far is force 3 draws. Both of last years MLS cup participants and the reigning supporter's shield champions have been shut out and beaten by multiple goals on the road. On the other hand, if you are diehard fan of your team, take a nice long look at gas prices before you venture off on a road trip.
   
2. David Beckham is good. Not that any sane individual thought otherwise, but its good to see him play a solid game, and get 3 points in the process.
3. Toronto is awful. Sure, they have played 2 road games, and we know how the road team has done.... but they absolutely got demolished by DC on saturday, even with the garbage goal at the end.
4. You may not like all of ESPN's presentation, but they are putting some effort into MLS. Ok, people like to complain about the camera angles, weird graphics, and other crap ESPN throws into games... but they are clearly trying very hard to sell soccer, and its something we should be pretty happy about. Sure, the "All-Axis" thing is, well, kinda odd, but after almost 5 solid hours of soccer, little/no divergence to other sports, and some token pimping of their ownership of Champions League, Euro 2008, and World Cup rights, its pretty clear that they are taking MLS seriously. Fox Soccer is good for what they are... but watching Saturday Night MLS consists of listening to Max Bretos and the halftime show consists of us learning what Jozy Altidore has on his I-Pod. whoopee.
   

What We Learned from Week 3:

1. Its possibly time to calm down on MLS attendance soaring in 2008... the numbers last weekend were pathetic... 20,000 in LA with Golden Balls, and the worst attendance for the league in the last two years in Columbus. There was some pretty pathetic weather throughout the entire midwest and northeast, so that certainly factors in...
2. The Great Red North. Toronto is probably still pathetic, but not pathetic enough to lose to LA. The circus that is the Los Angeles Galaxy continues. As someone who is already sold on MLS, I find it kinda funny, yet, part of me weeps for the fact that probably one of the most marketable MLS teams ever can't freaking beat Danny Dichio and Co.
3. Chicago keeps clicking. San Jose probably deserved a win, and certainly deserved a draw, at home last Saturday against the Chicago Fire.. Shea Salinas's miss inside the 6 in stoppage time with a wide open goal summed up the day nicely for the Quakes. Chicago, on the other hand, has gotten 4 ugly points in two road games, and walloped the Revolution at home in Week 2. Its hard for me to say that Chicago is a great team this year, but its hard to argue that they are only 1 of 2 teams without a notch in the loss column.
4. 4-0. Real Salt Lake pummeled DC United 4-0. Biggest win in the franchise's 3+ year history. Big win for Coach Jason Kreis, and hopefully one that will get more fans out... RSL had a respectable 13,193 fans out this weekend, which was good enough for the third best crowd of the week (behind Opening Day in San Oakland and Beckhamania (kinda) in LA)

Player of the Week- Week 2:

Jimmy Conrad - Kansas City Wizards
2 goals in 2 minutes against Colorado, Kansas City would go on to win 3-2

MLS Power Rankings (At the end of Week 3)
Not an easy task, there really isn't much seperating 3-11 in MLS except who got the benefit of winning more home games... Chicago and Dallas go 1-2 by virtue of not losing a game yet, and San Jose, Los Angeles, and the Reds go 12-14 because they can't beat anyone but each other.

1. Chicago Fire - only team with 2 wins and no losses. I'm still skeptical of how good this team is, but its hard to argue for any other team OVER them at this very early point in the season.
   
2. FC Dallas - only other team without a loss, including a good result in Houston and a win over New York last weekend
   
3. Colorado Rapids - Good start for Colorado, narrow loss in KC bookended by a drubbing of LA and a win in New England.
4. Real Salt Lake - Big Win last weekend, the draw against Chicago is looking better.
   
5. Kansas City Wizards - hard to get too excited with first 4 games at home and a 2-1-1 record, but it hard to get too excited about most MLS teams so far.
   
6. Columbus Crew - Big win versus the goats over the weekend in a high scoring game that nobody saw.
   
7. New England Revolution - the Revs bounced back from a throttling at Chicago with a big win in Kansas City and then lost at home to Colorado.
8. Chivas USA - they won their home game, and are 0-1-1 on the road... they are a decent team, but nothing eye popping so far this year from them.
9. New York Red Bulls - only 2 games played, the jury is still out on them.
   
10. Houston Dynamo - Done nothing this year to show that they are the champs.
    
11. DC United - so far a throttling of TFC is all they have to hang their hat on.
    
12. Toronto FC - possibly a breakthrough on Sunday, but they still have a ways to go.
13. San Jose Earthquakes - Still better than 2007 Toronto.
14. Los Angeles Galaxy - Toronto?!

The Goals:
From ScaryIce's blog, Climbing the Ladder

Week 2:



Week 3: