So Martin Rogers over at Yahoo Sports has finally asked the question which has been bothering me since my beloved Columbus Crew was knocked out of the MLS Cup: What does it say about the state of American soccer if a team with a losing record (eg. Real Salt Lake) can be in the running to win the title of 2009 League Champions?
The numbers paint a disturbing picture:
Of the 13 complete MLS Seasons (1996-2008), only 5 times has the winner of the Supporter's Shield also won the MLS cup (DC in '97, '99; Kansas City in '00; LA in '02 and Columbus in '08). And even more shockingly, only ONCE has the second place team at the end of the season won the MLS cup (San Jose in '03).
The other 7 MLS cups (a majority of those held, mind you), were won by teams that finished third place or lower during the regular season.
When DC United won the inaugural MLS Cup in 1996, it did so with a regular season record of 16-16 (there were no draws) and from third place in the table.
In 1998, the Chicago Fire won the MLS cup from third place in the table (East and West combined) and with a winning record of 20-12 (still no draws).
In 2001, the San Jose Earthquakes won the cup from third place in the table, 8 points behind the leaders and with a record of 13-7-6.
In 2004, DC United won the cup from fourth place in the table, 7 points behind the leaders and with a record of 11-10-9.
In 2005, the LA Galaxy won the cup from a shocking eighth place in the table, finishing a full 14 points behind the leader and with a record of 13-13-6.
In 2006, the Houston Dynamo won the cup from fourth place in the table, 9 points behind the leader and with a record of 11-8-13.
Finally, in 2007, Houston won the cup again, but this time from third place in the table, just 3 points behind the leaders and with a record of 15-8-7.
And this year, Real Salt Lake is just one win away from being the first team in Major League Soccer's history to be crowned champions having lost more regular season games than it has won (11-12-7).
No matter the arguments about how egalitarian or exciting knock-out round cups can be, the fact of the matter is, the MLS Cup has failed to crown the league's best team 8 out of 13 times. And still the winner of the cup carries the title of "MLS Champions."
The fact of the matter is that soccer is a marathon and not a sprint. And for whatever reason, MLS's playoff structure does not appreciate that intrinsic aspect of the game.
What a sad, sad joke.
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