Encouraging Wins, Offsetting Defeats

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. Despite a spell of injuries, the league has seemed to move on, and continued strong play and fair attendance. Plus, my AP is on Friday, so in about a week we’ll get over the spell of single-post-weeks. That said, lets go over this weekend.

On Friday, Houston set the tone for the weekend with a 4-1 trouncing of DC in front of 20k. Will Bruin’s hat trick has forced me to use the word “trouncing” for the second week in a row when describing a DC loss, something which should be very disquieting for United fans. Better luck next week.

Seven games took place on Saturday, beginning with the 10-man Philly’s home victory against San Jose. With four cautions, an ejection, and 23 fouls, it goes without saying that this was an exciting game. Columbus then edged Vancouver 2-1, and New York narrowly beat Sporting with a goal from the rising Luke Rodgers. Colorado, who will be without Brian Mullen for a grand total of 10 games, tied the ailing Chicago 1-1 at home, while Seattle avenged the loss of Steve Zakuani with a 3-0 spanking of Toronto, who hasn’t been able to find its pace since parting ways with Dwayne DeRosario. Portland continued strong home attendance with its 1-0 win over RSL, and Chivas found their first blowout win of the season with a 3-0 stunner over the Revs.

(As of this writing Dallas has just pulled ahead of LA 2-1 with a goal from Brek Shea in the 88th)

Attendance was solid too:
At Houston: 20,577
At Philly: 18,279
At Columbus: 11,298
At New York: 20,636
At Colorado: 11,789
At Seattle: 36,287
At Portland: 18,627
At Chivas: 14,058
Average: 18,944

Really no big surprises in attendance; the teams that tend to do well did well, and those who don’t didn’t. This is both good and bad, as it shows that more teams are consistently able to hold on to averages of 18000 or above,but represents a growing trend of a disparity between those whose thousands are always near 20 and those who are closer to 10. The same clubs are consistantly lagging behind, and it’s hurting out averages. People, go out and support. And bring a friend.

Overall, solid week. No injuries (thank god), tons of goals, and a good amount of fans to see them. Seriously, once this AP business calms down you can expect much more frequent posting. Promise.

What do you think?

Category: MLS