Am I missing something, or is the “full read” another three paragraphs? Somehow I got the impression from your post that it was something a little more epic.

Anyway, I guess I’m one of those fans you’re talking about. I’ll turn the question around for you, though. Is it our civic duty as Americans to like conferences, unbalanced schedules, and statistics? I just like single table, no playoff leagues because they’re more satisfying.

In my particular case, I began losing interest in American sports after I graduated high school. Brazil winning the 1994 World Cup played into that a little bit, as did the introduction of Fox Sports World. After a long, gradual decline, what finally killed off my interest in American sports was the 2001 Mariners. I haven’t been able to sustain any interest since then.

Why did the 2001 Mariners kill off your interest? 116 wins?

Was it because they topped the league (“table”) and got nothing for it? It was unsatisfying for you? Imagine the satisfaction beating the league’s top team in the playoffs.

I could go either way. But I do like playoffs. We’re not going to top the table this year. But you’d be unsatisfied if we took the MLS Cup? I would find it quite satisfying. Are the Supporters’ Shield winners the only “true” champions?

The World Cup is a playoff.

Carlos, I don’t think that the ONLY way to watch sports is with a semi-socialist nature (all American sports use caps, revenue sharing, etc), nor with a league structured around divisions and conference, I just see a wisdom in them in such a large country.

I find a parrellel between divisions and Group Play, it controls travel a bit, and helps to narrow the foci of attention for the fans. But I also see a value in playing everyteam in the league at least once.

But one thing I know, is that if there isn’t a fully balanced schedule only the Playoffs can determine a champion. Occaissionally there is a very weak team in a division/conference or two even. Should a good but not great team in that div/conf be granted the championship just for beating down the minnows?

Also, the only way to fully take advantage of the regional derbies in MLS is through what I would just call derby play. A set of three teams (say Cascadia or California) play each in a double home/away, the remaining teams in conference just home/away and the remaining teams in the league just once either home/away.

That means that every two years you would see every opponent at home, but that every year Qwest would host PDX and YVR twice each. The league should take advantage of the size of the nation and maximize the play between cities with easy travel. Especially since game day revenue is the main financial driver in MLS.

Plus, with such a schedule we could actually see a national league in America with 27 total teams and 38 games; where as with a single table and 38 games (the max that could be shoved into a Mar-Nov schedule) the league tops out at 20 teams (with 3 being in Canada). I think the US can handle more than 16 metro areas with first division soccer.

Purists would hate the structure at first. But it would enable thousands to travel on gameday by car/bus/train more reguarly.

Basically if one’s goal is to see MLS as a major American sport, shouldn’t we embrace a structure that would enable an actual majority of Americans to have a team in their home town?

One thing that I have always hated about EPL and such is the lack of a playoff. The ability to say you won the league with 5 games left to play just seems bad to me. Those last 5 games would be such a disappointment to me as a fan (since I have season tickets) those last couple of games would be payed for and the team’s performance would likely drop.

And then you have cases like ManU and Chelsea a few years ago where they each had their final game matter. Both teams were playing for first and yet they weren’t playing each other. Maybe its because I grew up in the U.S. but I love having that big ending. The super bowl, the mls cup, the world series. To me they always seemed to bring about a nice conclusion to the year. And I liked that it gave teams who had problems through the season a bit of a second chance.

Cornchops: That’s a little backwards. The World Cup is a tournament, and I don’t have any problems with tournaments. Playoffs are tournaments tacked on to the end of a season, which basically turns the season into a giant qualifying round. The fact that the Mariner’s could tie a record for wins and not get anything but a t-shirt tested my appreciation of the sport and I found it came up lacking. I couldn’t muster up interest for games which, if the team were lucky enough to make the playoffs, would all be tossed out the window. It ended up being the same for football and basketball. I have tolerated it in soccer because I just love the game of soccer so much. I’ve been known to pull over and watch co-rec games.

As for us winning the MLS Cup, obviously I’d like it. But I’d always remember in the back of my mind, that we were really 4th or 8th or wherever we end up if we make the playoffs. So yes, there will be a little less satisfaction for me. Just like the 2005 USL title is less satisfying for me, because we were really fourth, whereas in 2007 we were unquestionably champions, having also won the regular season.

Dave: Being Brazilian, the “large country” arguments are less persuasive for me becauase in the relevant sporting terms, Brazil is a larger country than the US (i.e. Hawaii and Alaska have never had professional sports teams). Sports in Brazil were allowed to the develop “capitalistically”, as opposed to the more “socialist” model that has always been in place in the US. So pretty much any place in the country that wants to have a professional team, does. And because of promotion and relegation, the teams with talent and resources have risen to the top and they now inhabit the top level league where they earn their keep every year or they drop. In the state of São Paulo, which has a population a little larger than California, has 105 soccer teams in the first four divisions. Up north a little bit, Rio de Janeiro has 81 soccer teams over three levels. And those numbers don’t include the semi pros or amateur teams.

That’s just an example for perspective, two states out of 23. It’s possible to have a very large country with a single table, no playoff league and still have the game spread everywhere. The way to do it is to build the lower level leagues and a system that includes promotion and relegation, so the best teams rise to the top, no matter where they are, and at the same time, anyone who wants a team can start one and try to raise it to the top league. Unfortunately that kind of system is out of the question here, so conferences, unbalanced schedules and playoffs it is.

Derek: I love it when my team wins with five games left. That’s a validation of the effort and commitment over the whole season. I say having five meaningless games at the end of the season is better than having 38 meaningless games over the whole year. Playoffs throw the season in the trash and start over, which always makes me wonder why we went through all that effort. For the MLS example, I was really happy that Columbus won the MLS Cup last year, because I would have found it really disgusting to see New York claim the title after stumbling ass-backwards into the playoffs. And again, if we repeat the same kind of feat and win the MLS Cup, I’ll be happy about it, but it will always be less satisfying, and feel less earned than if we had won the league through a no playoff format. If a team wins the league five matches early, that means they took care of business week in and week out, and their competitors didn’t. Teams who had problems during the year don’t deserve a second chance: they had their chances every week of the season like everybody else.

Just watch the freaking game and stop thinking so much.

Carlos, what is the max. distance traveled by top flight Brazilian clubs this year?

It looks to me like Recife to Porto Alegre is about 1800 miles, but Recife is the only city way out there. The rest of the teams seem to be concentrated in Brasil’s SouthEast corner, which has some relationship to the US Northeast in size and concentration of population.

And Gary, every one that reads this site definately watches the game. I didn’t realize that thinking about what one watches is a problem.

You mean 1800 miles?

Still about half of Seattle to NE.

I totally agree with GaryD, I mean, this is a sport man, a game. Just play it and try to improve yourself on it, this is not philosophy… it is just soccer.
Hope you understand my point :)