The Road Is Tough

As a founding supporter of the Columbus Crew and MLS, I’ve had discussions/arguments with soccer fans worldwide about MLS’ “quality of play” since 1996.  If there’s one topic that someone unfamiliar with MLS brings up, that’s usually it.  Inevitably, the conversation moves on to trying to stack-rank MLS with some lesser-known European league in order to gauge its significance/relevance to the football purist.  A sane soccer fan, which I consider myself, would not assert that MLS is on the same plane as EPL or La Liga, for instance.  Those leagues’ players are some of the most talented, highly paid and captivating athletes in the world.  But I’ve always held that a giant difference between MLS and European domestic leagues is all-too-often brushed aside – travel.

Major League Soccer faces many obstacles that other leagues do not when it comes to providing a platform that delivers a high quality of play, fairness among clubs and competitiveness on the international stage.  Travel, in my opinion, is its greatest.  While tens of thousands of miles in the air per year may be the norm for teams in the American sporting scene, it is absolutely not the case abroad.  Even with UEFA Champions League matches factored in for those clubs that qualify, MLS clubs’ travel dwarfs that of their European counterparts.  This means higher travel costs, higher difficulty for supporters to attend away matches and a measurable impact on the bodies and spirits of the athletes themselves.

This issue hits home on a deeper level for me, because the last two years I have been employed as an IT Project Manager and Corporate Trainer.  In this role, I travel to locations of my company’s stores to train and support our employees during software conversions.  In 2012, I’ll log about 85,000 miles in the air plus another 2,500 on the highways.  The physical and social impact on my life is tremendous.  Simple tasks like doing the laundry and getting a haircut are shoehorned into busy weekends (Editor’s note: Great Clips is usually open until 9pm, fellas).  All this travel has bolstered my opinion about MLS’ unique challenge and has increased my empathy for the athletes’ situation.  But while all that empathy is great, nothing beats facts (yes, even in election years).  So I decided to roll up my fake sleeves and get my inner spreadsheet nerd on in a quest to dissect the MLS travel schedule.  While I found some very obviously true things to be true, I also found some of MLS’ newly unbalanced schedule to be confounding and damn near controversial.  So if you’re a stats or MLS geek, get a bowl of pretzels and a bevvie.

Step 1 – The Lay of the Land (Literally)

To correctly compare the leagues, first I wanted to understand better the geographic differences.  I consider myself to be a well-traveled geography buff, but… how big is the United States?  How does one even answer that question?  Everyone knows the shape, and that Alaska’s huge and stuff, but do I really know how big it is compared to the whole of Europe?  Is Spain bigger or smaller than Texas?  For me, the best way to get this perspective was to see it.  With a little Google Maps and some magic beans, here’s what I created: 

What most struck me was the relative (lack of) size of the UK, and specifically the island of Great Britain.  Imagine the entire EPL being played in Minnesota; it is about the same size as Great Britain.  Currently, the EPL team located farthest to the north is Newcastle United.  With the farthest southern team being Southampton, the longest trek in the entire league turns out to be 281 miles; I knew this thanks to a fantastic site called Sport Map World.  281 miles is roughly the distance between Columbus & Chicago.

Again to the map, this time with MLS club locations pinned:

This image shocked me.  I’ve been lucky enough to experience a few “NorOnTour” events hosted by the Columbus Crew supporters’ groups.  They routinely plan trips to Chicago, DC, New York & Philadelphia, all of which are equal to or farther than the longest road trip even possible in the EPL. 

I was then curious to create similar images featuring Spain’s La Liga & the German Bundesliga, shown below:

 

 So, Crew fans, here’s your bar trivia for this week:

League	Farthest Distance Between Clubs (miles)	Comparable Distance Between Columbus Crew & MLS Club
EPL	282: Newcastle United – Southampton	279: Chicago Fire
Bundesliga	397: Hamburger SV – SC Freiburg	403: Philadelphia Union
La Liga	629: Deportivo a Coruna – RCD Mallorca	627: New England Revolution

With the proper perspective now established, let’s take a moment to recognize a truth: MLS’ geographic setup is wildly different than that of any European league.  Think about how many more nights prior to and after matches the players, coaches and support staff have to stay in hotels compared to those across the pond.  Think about how many more times that means eating on the fly, and how many hours of sleep are lost to unfamiliar surroundings or lumpy mattresses.  Think about, as has already happened to the Columbus Crew and likely many other teams this year, the flight delays and missed connections.  Think about the negative effect all this extra time away has on the personal relationships of those involved; it’s staggering.

Not to say that these players are being put in undue harm or an untenable situation.  Road trips create bonds on teams.  They can benefit players by exposing them to vastly different parts of the country, or reconnect them with old friends, college colleagues, etc.  Finally, these burdens are shared across the league evenly… right?  Or do some teams travel more than others?  And if so, what is the cost involved?  After a few of these questions sat on my brain, I knew my next move: Dissect the 2012 MLS schedule and see if it could teach me anything.

Step 2 – Us And Them

If I was going to understand nuances of the MLS travel schedule, I would need to establish a good baseline of how far the clubs were positioned away from each other in the first place.  It would stand to reason that teams already located farthest from other teams in the league would have to travel more miles during the season.  Aided again by Sport Map World, I was able to build a matrix of one-way distances between clubs:

Not surprisingly, the 5 west coast clubs are the top 5 farthest teams from everyone else.  Vancouver has the highest total at 28,484 miles, but the other four left-coasters are right behind them, all within a 2000-mile difference.  The far northeastern teams (Montreal, New England) also break the 25,000 mark.  Also not surprisingly, the most centrally located team in the country, Sporting KC, finds itself with the shortest total distance to all other teams.  So while there may not be groundbreaking info here, it gives us a basis from which we can start asking questions later.

Step 3 – Factor in the 2012 Schedule

So we’ve established that MLS has a uniquely difficult issue, excessive travel, with which to contend, and we now know how far apart all their teams are.  How did MLS deal with it in 2012?  This is where I thought things might get really interesting.  Which clubs truly logged the most travel miles in 2012?  How closely would that follow the above list, if at all?  Would clubs that are positioned close together bear similar travel burdens or not?  For instance, would the LA Galaxy travel about the same amount as Chivas USA?  Same question for the New York Red Bulls and Philadelphia Union?

To find out, I needed to compute total miles traveled.  This involved a few steps:

1.     Build another matrix, this time populated with the number of away trips to each opponent.  Since the 2012 schedule was unbalanced, one couldn’t simply plug a “1” into each cell.  3-4 in-conference teams were visited twice, and 4-5 non-conference teams were not visited.

2.     Multiply the number of away trips to each club by the one-way distance, then by 2 (expecting a round trip).

3.     Search the schedule for possible multi-game trips.  (This part stunk).  My intern was off this month, so I decided to set up the following parameters and figure this out myself:

a.     I’m assuming all flights taken on commercial travel – no idea how true that is.

b.     If team had 6+ days between consecutive away matches, I assumed a trip back home.

c.     For short haul trips (under 300 miles), I assumed a trip back home.

d.     Only MLS league matches were assessed.  CONCACAF Champions League or friendly travel was not involved in my computations, but the affected teams are Houston, LA Galaxy, Toronto, RSL, Seattle.  I also didn’t take into consideration the so-called “award travel” of international call-ups or the MLS All-Star Game.

With all this in place, I built the following results:

 

 Houston, it’s a good thing United has a hub waiting for you at IAH.  Dynamo players had to travel nearly 20,000 miles more than Columbus Crew players, who won’t even make Premier status based on miles alone.  However, this brings up a flaw in these figures; distances shown assume no connecting flights.  While that’s a level of detail I’m not choosing to factor in my calculations, it’s worth noting that Columbus has no major carrier hub at their home airport.  Seattle and Portland have a large presence from Alaska Airlines, and the same can be said for Sporting Kansas City with Southwest at MCI, but those clubs’ airports will certainly force them into a taking a connection a few times a year, assuming they’re not chartering jets for those teams.  But that aside, what do we see in these numbers?  A few initial reactions:

Houston & Dallas

I was surprised to see Houston on the top of the miles traveled list, as they are centrally located east-west and were in the middle of the pack in terms of distance from other clubs.  But a dig into the schedule revealed a couple reasons for topping the list. 

·         Houston & Dallas met only once this year, that being in Dallas.  Why not have these clubs meet 3 times a year?  An FC Dallas match would be the closest away match by 3 hours for a Dynamo supporter, but there was none scheduled in 2012.  I hope this changes in 2013.

·         After Dallas, Houston’s next closest clubs are Kansas City & Colorado, at 651 and 882 miles, respectively.  Which brings me to the obvious conclusion: Dallas & Houston are simply isolated from the rest of the league at the time being.  If San Antonio or Austin get an MLS team someday this will alleviate some of the travel, but for the next few years there probably isn’t much help in sight – even a shift to the Western Conference wouldn’t make much of a difference.  More combined-game trips in 2013 would help the cause, but that also comes with the challenge of playing 2 games in 4-5 days.

LA & New England

Other than Houston & Dallas, 6 of the top 8 clubs match in both lists.  Which two clubs got off without quite as much travel as expected?  That would be the LA Galaxy and New England Revolution. 

The Galaxy accomplished this with a near-perfect schedule setup; the trips skipped were all in the northeastern corridor, and the trips doubled were all along the coast except for twice visiting the Rapids.  In fact, they “visited” Chivas USA twice at the Home Depot Center.  Which begs the question – how does Chivas feel about traveling 5000 more miles than the Galaxy even though they’re located in the same city?  Favoritism for one of the league’s marquee clubs, or simply concessions made due to CONCACAF play?

The Revs pulled another favorable schedule, visiting zero venues in Cascadia (a shame for their players and staff, really).  Three of their four twice-visited venues were in the northeast, rounding out a somewhat helpful schedule compared to how far they are from other teams.

CONCACAF Champions League

I’m not sure if MLS took this into consideration, but the Galaxy, RSL and to a lesser extent Toronto seemed to get the benefit of schedules of a shorter distance than one might expect.  Certainly Houston and Seattle didn’t get any special treatment, with the most and 2^nd-most miles traveled in 2012.

Columbus

No excuses here, Crew fans – Columbus has the least travel burden in the league this year by 2500 miles.

Step 4 – Over Analyze This

If you’ve read this far, you now have homework – put on a tinfoil hat, find something else in the data and come up with a conspiracy theory as to why MLS has given unfair advantage to one team or another. 

One thing I’ve grown fonder of after this exercise is the conference setup and the unbalanced schedule, as it reduces travel for the clubs and potentially supporters.  I also begrudgingly have inched closer to supporting NYC2, as it will reduce travel for not just NYRB, but all teams on the eastern seaboard.

As everyone’s favorite Barbasol commercial reminds us, the road is tough.  For some, though, it’s tougher than others.  I initially started this investigation as a tribute to all the road warriors out there – athletes, consultants, auditors, journalists… you know who you are.  But I found there are also serious questions of fairness that arise when the travel burdens on teams is different.  Hopefully we’ll see MLS continue to make accommodations to balance this challenging situation for some teams.  It will be an interesting journey.

My Wedding Playlists

I'm a music junkie, DJ, audiophile, whatever you want to call it.  For as far back as I can remember, I thought about the songs the might play during my wedding and reception.  Everything was always under scrutiny.  Below are the playlists and songs that made the cut.

Wedding

Prelude

• Air on the G String - JS Bach.  Selected by Victoria.  I didn't know much about this track prior to song selection, but it was the perfect 1st song of the wedding prelude.  Gorgeous, sweeping strings without an overpowering melody.  Unfortunately, due to blistering heat I had to cut this song; it was never actually played at the wedding.  Even more oddly, it was inexplicably omitted from the program.  But for reals - it was supposed to have been played!
• Canon in D Major - Pachelbel.  If you hear this, you're probably at a wedding.  My mom surely cried.
• Ave Maria - Schubert.  Selected by Victoria.  Her mom probably cried.

Victoria's Entrance

• Here Comes the Bride - Wagner.  Duh.  I may or may not have cried.  A little.

Electrifying Conclusion

• Wedding March - Mendelssohn.  V found a mariachi version, and it was too fun not to use.  True story!

Dinner/Reception 

After the ceremony, and the immediate hugs/aftermath, we shuffled inside to do the paperwork and escape the 100 degree sun.  About an hour later, we ventured back outside to the terrace, where our dinner table was now set.  I had created a playlist for our long, relaxed dinner.  My thoughts going into building it were varied:

• Much like a great referee, it needed to take a back seat to the main event.  Not just in volume, mind you... these tracks would be low on lyrics and would not call attention to themselves.  Ideally, a track-listing that you realized at the END of the night was really good.
• Latin influences would be appreciated by my South American guests, and a multicultural approach in general would bring a warm, loving and fresh feel to the night.  Heavy doses of Thievery Corporation?  Check.
• A few Easter eggs for myself.  I snuck in tracks by Brainiac, The Cure, Aphex Twin, Daft Punk, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins and Sasha.
• A couple must-play tracks: 
• All My Love - Led Zeppelin.  I discovered this song as a teenager and immediately pegged it in my wedding.  On my first dinner date with Victoria, that track played in the restaurant.  When I heard it, I lost my words.
• Wrapped Around Your Finger - The Police.  I love the concept of wedding rings, and I fall for these lyrics each time.  Another track selected by a young Nate for an older Nate.  Good pick, young Nate.
• I wanted timelessness, which meant firing up the way-back machine.  I don't have a problem with Frank Sinatra or the Rat Pack, but when I hear tracks from that ilk I just think of dudes in Vegas; not exactly romance.  But The Platters - now that's the jam.  Louie Armstrong's What a Wonderful World spontaneously became our 1st dance... could not have worked out better.

So, finally, here's the entire Dinner/Reception playlist.  These are the same songs that played at our family celebration in Dayton.  41 tracks, about 2 hours 40 min.  Shuffle, repeat, enjoy.

Name	Artist
La Femme d'Argent	Air
Ce Matin La	Air
Les Professionnels	Air
J'Ai Dormi Sous L'Eau	Air
Dance Of The Dream Man	Angelo Badalamenti
Insensatez	Antônio Carlos Jobim
Xtal	Aphex Twin
We Are The Music Makers	Aphex Twin
Laru Beya	Aurelio
April In Paris	Billie Holiday
Huepajé	Bomba Estéreo
Night Over Manaus	Boozoo Bajou
Flypaper	Brainiac
Love Song	The Cure
Nightvision	Daft Punk
Veridis Quo	Daft Punk
Under The Boardwalk	The Drifters
El Amor De Este Pueblo	Federico Aubele
All My Love	Led Zeppelin
This Magic Moment	Lou Reed
What A Wonderful World	Louis Armstrong
Tolú	Lucho Bermúdez
Porcelain	Moby
Adrift and At Peace	Nine Inch Nails
Only You (And You Alone)	The Platters
Twilight Time	The Platters
Wrapped around Your Finger	The Police
Eple	Röyksopp
In Space	Röyksopp
Magnetic North	Sasha
Luna	Smashing Pumpkins
A Gentle Dissolve	Thievery Corporation
Fragments	Thievery Corporation
Rebirth	Thievery Corporation
Tamarindio (Thievery Corporation Remix)	Thievery Corporation
Indra	Thievery Corporation
Air Batucada	Thievery Corporation
So Com Voce	Thievery Corporation
Samba Tranquille	Thievery Corporation
Cumbia Sobre el Mar	Trio Serenata
Fiesta - Original Mix	80s Casual

Penalties Are No Way To Decide a Championship

I can't believe it... but I agree with Sepp Blatter on something.

Recently, FIFA's President since 1998 (term limits?!) called for an elimination of the "tragedy" of penalties when deciding matches.  I've got to say, it's about time.  I'm sick of seeing World Cups, Champions League tournaments, various continental cups & even domestic league championships decided by 5 (or more) penalty shots.  Team sports should award championships based on team interplay, not individuals in a skills competition.

If IT Project Management taught me anything it's that usually the best and most elegant solutions are the simplest.  My fix for FIFA and the IFAB?  Golden Goal Extra Time (GGET), with 2 tweaks:

1. Each side allowed one additional substitution
2. Each side must remove one player

Nothing new here, really.  Additional subs will reward a team's depth and bring life to the match in GGET.  Removing a man from the pitch happens frequently enough with red cards that it wouldn't be a shock to the fabric of football.  And that's the beauty, in my view; allowing the game to maintain its integrity while still deciding the winner of a given match.

The previous use of golden goal, from 2000-2004, was ended due to teams bunkering in rather than trying to score.  With each team removing a player from the field, the game will open up a bit and entice more attacking opportunities. 

There was also a lingering concern about player safety due to the fatigue of playing an extreme amount of minutes in potentially unlimited GGET. However, in the current IFAB model, it is mandated that everyone on the pitch after 90 min plays an additional 30.  I'd bet a dollar that 2 out of 3 matches, with an additional sub and a more open field, would be solved within minutes 91-120.

Plus, let's look at who would be taking the field to start GGET in the 91st minute.  Assuming a 4-man defensive line, 6 remaining field players start a game and do the bulk of the attacking.  In the new model, 4 players could have been substituted at some point, and another would have been removed to start GGET.  Not to say that defenders don't get hurt or tired, but if all 4 stayed on this leaves only 1 attacking player forced to play more than 90 minutes.

So, problem solved!  I feel better already.  Time for breakfast.  Will the better team win more often?  Who knows, but at least it will be via a goal created by a team and defended by a team.  Yes... we'll switch ends each 15 minutes to keep any pitch or wind concerns at bay.  No, it might not be as riveting for some fans as penalties... but I refer to my previous argument about this being a team sport.

With the European Championships starting this weekend, I wish a system like this were already in place.  Hopefully a change is in the cards before Brazil 2014.

'twas the night before Crewsmas

'Twas the night before Crewsmas, when all through the state
All Crew fans were stirring; no one could wait.

Their gear was all laid out on floors with care,
In hopes that St. Dunc soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of Renteria danced in their heads,

Glitter Mama in her 'kerchief, that hooligan wench,
If her seats were closer she'd be on the bench.
When soon at Crew Stadium there arose such a clatter,
Casual fans came out to see what was the matter.
To I-71 they flew like a flash,
Tore open their minivans and brought all their cash,
When they got to Hudson St it was packed,
The cars were all decked out in yellow and black.
When, what to their wondering eyes should appear,
But a proud Crew team, just like last year!
With a new central midfield, so lively and quick,
It was that time of year- it must be First Kick!
Faster than one dollar bratwursts they came,
Warzycha whistled, and called them by name:
"Now! Milo, now Duka! Now Gaven and O'Rourke,
"On! Marshall, on! Balchan, on! Hesmer and Anor;
"On to Crew Stadium, as the Nordecke calls,
"Now get out there and kick Montreal's balls!"
As the national anthem was sung by and by,
The teams were lined up, planes raced through the sky;
'Twas there, in Crew Stadium, that everyone knew,
This year was special - the year of the Crew!
And then in a twinkling, the squads took the field
Could this be happening?! Was all of this real?
The bellowing crowd was heard in Whitehall,
Even Gaven's beard shouted, "Close shave, Barbasol!"
McCullers was psyched, from his head to his foot,
Proud of the team on the field that he put;
A bundle of scarves was flung round his neck,
And he looked like a drunken fan in Nordecke:
Fans all poured into Crew Stadium's seats,
And Crew Cat was there to meet and to greet.
The game then kicked off, the battle began,
And thoughts of past glories raced through the fans:
Of McBride and Guille, their heroes from yore,
Who guided their teams to the playoffs and more.
But this team today needed support,
So they cheered and they sang until they were horse.
The Crew responded with multiple goals;
The fans felt rushes of joy in their souls
Reporters reported and bloggers did blog,
Some dude in Portland chopped up a log.
TFC and DC United both lost,
The Hudson St Hooligans clearly were sauced.
A day couldn't be more perfectly set,
The club made a profit and got out of debt.
The only thing left to proclaim with a beer,
"Merry Crewsmas to all, and be massive this year!"

MLS Pre-season

The preseason is a glorious time for a team. Hope springs eternal, and your record is once again flawless. For The Crew, 2011's preseason was compelling. The team was still adjusting to a post-Black Monday world, and fans were still reeling from its impact. Lucky for me, they selected Arizona for their training sessions. This allowed me the unique opportunity to take in four of their matches with virtually no one else there. I could hear all the on-field chatter from the comfort of my camping chair, situated directly at midfield on the sideline. Here were some of my impressions, coupled with what actually went down in 2011:

• There were hordes of new signees and trialists fighting for roster spots. Unless you're a starting 11 talent, preseason is brutal from a player perspective.
  
• Dilly Duka had transformed into a phenom and would push Robbie Rogers for a starting spot (This was going to happen, except that DD was injured for much of the year. I'm still on the DD bandwagon and am expecting the goods to be delivered in '12)
• Andy Iro was filling the power vacuum in the back and establishing himself as a vocal leader. (O-H-I-ro never got his footing after JJ showed up. He was traded to TFC but kept his Crew pride close to heart by playing terribly for them. For such a loyal gesture, I award him figgy pudding.)
• Miranda was an extremely solid pickup at right back. I saw him make only one mistake in about 180 minutes worth of time, and it was basically a communication letdown. (Held true.)
• Mendoza was a jerkface diva, who in one match picked up a red card and was sentenced to running laps. I sheep you not, he had to run laps around the park like he was late for practice in high school. And he didn't even run them; he half-jogged it. (Acted a fool all season, is still a jerkface but thankfully dropped by Crew brass right after season ended.)
• Sporting Kansas City had more A/V support for coaches than The Crew. SKC had a bona fide videographer employed and recording their first training match, while the extent of the Crew's video team was my unwatchable UStreaming of the match off my iPhone.
  

I say all this not to toot my boot about predicting The Crew's future based on a few early season matches, but to point out two things.

1. MLS preseason can be both interesting and fun for fans. With a time frame that aligns with MLB's, league brass would be wise to nurture the spring training concept and help support true cactus (AZ), grapefruit (FL), palmetto (SC) and lone star (TX) leagues. With teams in close proximity, player travel time is reduced and more field time is possible. It would also make for predictable annual travel and bonding experiences for supporters. With the promise of annual use, local facilities across the southern US would be able to rationalize facility improvements that would improve the experience for both players and fans. Spring Training single-handedly transforms Phoenix each March, and with a bit of effort MLS Preseason could generate a similar vibe and product.
   
2. Why not show preseason matches online? I know some matches this year are being streamed; let's send Ashley I to the matches and have her present some Crew-centric content. Should streaming matches on thecrew.com be an operational priority for 2012 or '13? Maybe not. But it would be a fun, relatively low-cost bone to throw to supporters that would build excitement. It would further show that the organization was reaching out to fans to give them a unique perspective into the season. It would give bloggers more game tape & data to stew over, generating podcast fun and more buzz within the established Crew fan base. And while that may not sell another 3000 season tickets, as any GOP presidential candidate would tell you it's never a bad time to solidify your base.
   

The Playoffs Re-imagined: MLS Madness

In September, I read an article from Grant Wahl describing a new proposal for the MLS Playoff structure. In this scenario, first proposed by Brian Straus (now of Sporting News), World Cup style groups would be played to determine the teams in the MLS Semi-Finalists. It sounded exciting and fair, to the point that I wouldn't have minded another make-up-as-you-go rule change midseason that would have implemented it. Now that the regular season has ended, let's revisit the plan.

Again, while I will add a few ideas to flesh out this post, I am standing on the shoulders of giants. Please read these articles first:
Here's the link to Brian Straus' (@brianstraus) original article: http://aol.it/u7cF43.
Here's the link to Grant Wahls's (@grantwahl) article. http://bit.ly/wahlplayoffs.

Done reading? Ok. Let's plug in some teams!

It would start with Wild Card play-ins, grouped this time by conference (imagine that). In the West, FC Dallas would host Colorado on Wednesday at 8:30pm (World Series issues for another time). In the East, the Columbus Crew would play host to the New York Red Bulls, let's say on Thursday night at 7:30pm. Let's examine the impact on this round.

• Compared to the current format, conference grouping would reduce total travel in this round by 55%, from 2539 miles to 1141 miles. Travel is a major issue during the season, and playoffs will be no different. Still, reducing unnecessary travel would be a good start.
  
• While Dallas still hosts and New York still travels, Columbus (47 pts on the season) would now host a home playoff match instead of Colorado (49 pts). While it's nice to reward the team with the better season-long record, I'd say if you're 5th in your conference you don't have a lot of griping room. Just be happy to be in the playoffs.
  

Let's assume that the higher seeds win. The groups are now set.

Group A: LA Galaxy, Houston Dynamo, Philadelphia Union, FC Dallas
Under Brian's plan Group A would include West #1 (Galaxy), East #2 (Dynamo), East #3 (Philly) & West #4 (FCD). LA Galaxy is rewarded for winning their conference by hosting 3 playoff matches. Philly would host Houston & FCD, and Philly would host FCD. FC Dallas, being the wild card team, faces 3 road matches in their group. However, with a few good results they could still advance to the MLS (not conference) Semi-Finals; the top 2 in each group move on.

Group B: Sporting KC, Seattle Sounders, Real Salt Lake, Columbus Crew
In Group B, Sporting KC would host Seattle, RSL & The Crew. Home/Away matches are handled just like in group A, with The Crew traveling to all 3 opponent's venues. Quite the gauntlet - LiveStrong Park, CenturyLink & Rio Tinto!

In terms of game sequence, I would have the 1-4 match played first, followed by the 1-3 and 1-2 matches. This gives the #1 seed the benefit of the (on paper) easier opponents earlier and possibly guaranteeing passage into the Semis sooner. This would mean game schedules might look like this:

Round 1: Saturday, 10/29
Columbus Crew @ Sporting KC	8:00pm EST
Real Salt Lake @ Sounders FC	10:00pm EST
Round 1: Sunday, 10/30
Philadelphia Union @ Houston Dynamo	8:00pm EST
FC Dallas @ LA Galaxy	10:00pm EST

Round 2: Wednesday, 11/2
FC Dallas @ Houston Dynamo	6:00pm EST
Columbus Crew @ Sounders FC	8:00pm EST
Real Salt Lake @ Sporting KC	8:00pm EST
Philadelphia Union @ LA Galaxy	10:00pm EST

Round 3: Saturday, 11/5
FC Dallas @ Philadelphia Union	8:00pm EST
Columbus Crew @ Real Salt Lake	10:00pm EST
Round 3: Sunday, 11/6
Sounders FC @ Sporting KC	6:00pm EST
Houston Dynamo @ LA Galaxy	8:00pm EST

Now, let's break it down, round by round.

Round 1 - Since there are 3 matches guaranteed for each team, one hiccup doesn't cost a quality team their entire season. Games in this round would have urgency, especially since the away team knows that life isn't getting that much easier; the time to press is now, when they're freshest.

Round 2 - The midweek match is really where the pressure hits. All matches would be played on Wednesday, which would cram the TV schedule a bit. No one complains about this during March Madness, and I actually think it would be fantastic to have overlapping playoff matches in this round. It would also help to focus media/hype to one day midweek, as opposed to trying to get the public to remember which teams played on which days. Just my theory, but I think it would help.

Round 3 - Obviously, this is the make or break round. It would be held over the 2nd weekend of the playoffs, with a well-deserved week long break awaiting Semi-Finalists. As happens in the group stage, some teams will likely be eliminated by this point, while others may have already clinched a berth in the Semis.

For our purposes, let's say those emerging from MLS Madness are: 1) LA Galaxy & 2) Philadelphia Union from Group A, 1) Sounders FC & 2) Columbus Crew from Group B (hey, it's my fantasy). I would favor a 2-game aggregate series, with of course A1 vs B2 and B1 vs A2. No extra benefit would be given for away goals. This does a few key things:

1. It "earns" each Semi-Finalist a home playoff match. In the case of the Wild Cards, this could be their first and only home playoff match. If a team went from a 5th seeded Wild Card on to win their road WC match, then get out of their group, they deserve to reward themselves and their fans with a home playoff match.
2. Balances the home/away field time. No team should win a soccer title with home-field advantage in every single match (looking at YOU, SSFC).
3. Does not penalize a team for hosting a high-scoring match (away goal rule not in effect). Maybe it's just me, but I think some games turn out high scoring and others don't. Why should it matter which one you hosted? And if away goals was so important to the beautiful game, why aren't they emphasized during the regular season? I'm not a fan of arbitrarily bringing in new rules just b/c it's playoffs.

All this means that in our 2011 MLS Semi-Finals, LA would face Columbus & Seattle would take on Philly. Here's a question - what if the A1 seed had a lower season point total than the B2 seed? Basically, do you re-seed at this stage, which would change where the 2nd (and more advantageous) match was hosted? I would advocate not to re-seed. It's less confusing, and would allow the organizations and cities to better prepare for possible upcoming matches. That said, we would have:

MLS Semi-Finals: Leg 1 Saturday, 11/12
LA Galaxy @ Columbus Crew	8:00pm EST
Philadelphia Union @ Sounders FC	10:00pm EST
MLS Semi-Finals: Leg 2 Sunday, 11/19
Sounders FC @ Philadelphia Union	6:00pm EST
Columbus Crew @ LA Galaxy	8:00pm EST

The debate on whether MLS Cup should be a 1-game neutral, 1-game at the higher seed's site or 2-game aggregate can be held at another time. At this stage in the game, I'd lean towards a 1-game match at the higher seed's home site. Yes, that means it could be freezing for the MLS Cup, but the Revs, TFC & Vancouver don't look like they're testing that theory anytime soon. I would love to see supporters rewarded with a home match to potentially win the whole thing. I was at MLS Cup '08 when the Crew won, and while I was euphoric & there were hundreds of Crew fans at the HDC, it would have been even more magical in Columbus Crew Stadium.

Ok, that's it! So, this is all good for 2012, right? No matter what you think, there's one thing we can all agree on: at least this championship is settled on the field, without computer polls or strength of schedule affecting anything.