US Open Cup Pick'em Contest

by Dave Clark on Jun 14, 2011 8:34 AM PDT in Sounders: US Open Cup

Notice: Get your picks in by 4pm Pacific today when the first Cup game kicks off. Just leave a comment with your teams.

Due to high demand (1 person asked) we are going to run a 2011 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup contest. The unique nature of this tournament makes an NCAA style bracket is impossible; hosts aren't known throughout the tournament and we still don't know match-ups for the eight MLS teams that will enter the contest in the Third Round. But we have a work around, and hopefully this will create a little more interest in the First and Second rounds, as well as non-Seattle Sounders matches from the Third Round to the Final.

You will have 50 points to pick teams. Each level on the US soccer pyramid has a different point valuation based on past performances. Each time any of your teams win, your entry will get rewarded with a point (1 in the First and Second Rounds, 2 from the Third Round to Final). Check the early round pairings while you make your picks so you don't pick too many from the same region of the country and lose out on chances. As the bracket develops with MLS entries, it is likely that these will be regional as well. In the case of a tie on total points the entry wit the highest finish by a non-MLS team will be the winner (or highest finish by most non-MLS in the case of same pick).

Here's an example; you "purchase" the Kitsap Pumas for 3 points and they win in the First and Second rounds before losing to the Seattle Sounders. That would get your entry 2 points toward your total. If you also had the Seattle Sounders with 20 points, they would get 2 points for their Third Round win.

Read on for the rest of the rules:

Every team and their point valuation

MLS Teams	20 Point Cost
Chicago Fire	New York Red Bulls
Columbus Crew	Real Salt Lake
FC Dallas	Seattle Sounders
Los Angeles Galaxy	Sporting KC

USL Pro Teams	12 Point Cost
Charleston Battery	Orlando City
Charlotte Eagles	Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Dayton Dutch Lions	Richmond Kickers
Harrisburg City Islanders	Rochester Rhinos
LA Blues	Wilmington Hammerheads
FC New York

PDL	3 Point Cost
Carolina Dynamo	Reading United
Central Florida Kraze	Real Colorado Foxes
Chicago Fire Premier	Ventura County Fusion
Chivas El Paso Patriots	Western Mass Pioneers
Kitsap Pumas

NPSL	2 Point Cost
Brooklyn Italians	Hollywood Hitmen
Chattanooga FC	Madison 56ers

USASA	1 Point Cost
AAC Eagles	ASC New Stars
Doxa Italia	NY Pancyprian-Freedoms
DV8 Defenders	Phoenix SC
Iowa Menace	Regals FC

Use the comments on this post to reveal your selections. These entries must be in prior to 4PM Pacific on Tuesday as the first games are that night.

My own will be the Seattle Sounders (20), Charleston Battery (12), Rochester Rhinos (12), Kitsap Pumas (3), Chattanooga FC (2), Doxa Italia (1) for 50 total spent.

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Chicago Fire (20), Chicago Fire Premier (3), Madison 56ers (2)., Chivas El Paso Patriots (3), Orlando City (12), Iowa Menace (1), Brooklyn Italians (2), Carolina Dynamo (3), Western Mass Pioneers (3), NY Pancyprian-Freedoms (1)

by Daniel Casey on Jun 12, 2011 10:00 AM PDT reply actions

JWays Entry

Sounders (20), Red Bulls (20) Central Florida (3) Western Mass (3) Chicago Fire Prem (3) Iowa (1)

Unofficial Sounder Fan Club President - South Dakota Division

by JWAY on Jun 12, 2011 10:48 AM PDT reply actions

I'm into this

Here we go: Sounders (20), FC Dallas (20), Chicago Fire Premier (3), Kitsap Pumas (3), Brooklyn Italians (2), Hollywood Hitmen (2).

by jelky on Jun 12, 2011 11:23 AM PDT reply actions

Upset lineup

I’m going for the always fun upsets (except for the Sounders of course): Seattle Sounders (20), Richmond Kickers (12), Kitsap Pumas (3), Reading United (3), Chicago Fire Premier (3), Carolina Dynamo (3), Brooklyn Italians (2), Chattanooga FC (2), Doxa Italia (1), NY P-Freedoms (1)

by Dizzo on Jun 12, 2011 12:47 PM PDT reply actions

Blues Entry

Seattle Sounders (20), Sporting KC (20), Kitsap Pumas (3), Madison 56ers (2), Brooklyn Italians (2), Chattanooga FC (2), Doxa Italia (1)

Pretty sure all non-Sounders picks are made of fail.

by asteroidblues37 on Jun 12, 2011 2:09 PM PDT reply actions

Real Salt Lake (20), Rochester Rhinos (12), Charleston Battery (12), Kitsap Pumas (3), Carolina Dynamo

by Reo Tsuchiya on Jun 12, 2011 2:56 PM PDT reply actions

Hm

I feel obligated to go with a non-homer roster, since there will be a lot of Sounders and Pumas picks here.

RSL (20), Charlotte Eagles (12), Pittsburgh (12), Ventura County (3), Hollywood (2), DV8 (1)

Nos Audietis

by sidereal on Jun 12, 2011 4:17 PM PDT reply actions

Yep, Homer

Sounders (20), Orlando City (12), Richmond Kickers (12), Kitsap Pumas (3), Reading United AC (3).

by agtk on Jun 12, 2011 5:20 PM PDT reply actions

No MLS

Richmond Kickers (12), Rochester Rhinos (12), Wilmington Hammerheads (12), Chicago Fire Premier (3), Kitsap Pumas (3), Real Colorado Foxes (3), Ventura County Fusion (3), AAC Eagles (1), NY Pancyprian-Freedoms (1)

Going for early points.

by bmvaughn on Jun 12, 2011 5:58 PM PDT reply actions

Thought I was going to be original

by doing the same thing but you stole my thunder :-)

With there not being a multiplier in each round seems like it may be a good strategy.

by wannascribble on Jun 12, 2011 6:10 PM PDT up reply actions

Only one overlap

Could make our picks interesting!

by bmvaughn on Jun 12, 2011 6:20 PM PDT up reply actions

Love this technique

plus if one of your teams goes on a cindrella run that will raise the excitement level a bit.

I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart

by Dave Clark on Jun 12, 2011 6:22 PM PDT up reply actions

Definitely

by wannascribble on Jun 12, 2011 6:39 PM PDT up reply actions

ALL BUT ONE!

Sweeeeet, all but one team made it through. 8 for 9!

by bmvaughn on Jun 15, 2011 7:05 AM PDT up reply actions

Congrats

I had a plenty of teams knocked out. Probably because I didn’t spread out my picks enough. Too many New York teams!

by Dizzo on Jun 15, 2011 9:09 AM PDT up reply actions

Let's see

FC New York (12), Orlando City (12), LA Blues (12), Kitsap (3), Reading (3), Carolina (3), Madison (2), Chattanooga (2), Regals FC (1)

by wannascribble on Jun 12, 2011 6:13 PM PDT reply actions

Entry from Sam in Puyallup

FC Dallas, LA Galaxy, Chicago Fire Premier, Real Colorado Foxes, Reading United & Phoenix SC

by Sam in P-Town on Jun 12, 2011 8:06 PM PDT reply actions

Really hard to guess how the regional breakdown for MLS will look.

Really crowded in the NE, really empty NW to SW, Sounders to RSL to FCD. Would they make us go all the way to Florida?

Map.

by Cornchops on Jun 12, 2011 8:34 PM PDT reply actions

Wow, Phoenix SC is in the northeast

Who knew??

by Sam in P-Town on Jun 12, 2011 8:51 PM PDT up reply actions

Also going the non-MLS route.

LA Blues (12), Orlando City (12), Rochester (12), Carolina (3), Fire Premier (3), Real Colorado (3), W Mass (3), Chattanooga (2)

Spent way more time on this than my fantasy team.

Go Sounders.

by Cornchops on Jun 12, 2011 9:14 PM PDT reply actions

MLS regional entry

Here’s what I expect for which MLS teams will enter where:

New York Red Bulls vs. Brooklyn Italians/NY Pancyprian-Freedoms/Western Mass Pioneers/FC New York
Columbus Crew vs. Harrisburg City Islanders/Reading United/Rochester Rhinos/Phoenix SC
Chicago Fire vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds/Chattanooga FC/Richmond Kickers/Dayton Dutch Lions
Sporting KC vs. Carolina Dynamo/Charlotte Eagles/Central Florida Kraze/Wilmington Hammerheads
FC Dallas vs. Orlando City/ASC New Stars/Charleston Battery/Regals FC
Real Salt Lake vs. Madison 56ers/AAC Eagles/Iowa Menace/Chicago Fire Premier
Seattle Sounders vs. Real Colorado Foxes/DV8 Defenders/Chivas El Paso Patriots/Kitsap Pumas
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. LA Blues/Hollywood Hitmen/Ventura County Fusion/Doxa Italia

Purely guesses, purely based on regionality. The SKC match-up is the only one that I’m not sure of.

by bmvaughn on Jun 13, 2011 7:17 AM PDT reply actions

How did I do?

NYRB,SKC,Sounders,Galaxy correct
Crew/Fire swapped
RSL/Chicago swapped

Happy with my estimates…

by bmvaughn on Jun 15, 2011 3:39 PM PDT up reply actions

FC Livo entry (Tgos)

AAC Eagles (1), NY Pancyprian(Freedoms (1), Doxa Italia (1), DV8 Defenders (1), Madison 56ers (2), Chicago Fire Prem (3), Real Colorado Foxes (3), Kitsap Pumas (3)
Western Mass Pioneers (3), Orlando City (12), Los Angeles Galaxy (20)

by TGos on Jun 13, 2011 6:09 PM PDT reply actions

Chicken dinner? We'll see.

AAC Eagles (1), ASC New Stars (1), Doxa Italia (1), Hollywood Hitmen (2), Chicago Fire Premier (3), Reading United (3), Ventura County Fusion (3), LA Blues (12), Richmond Kickers (12), Orlando City (12)

by AVUrlacher on Jun 13, 2011 6:15 PM PDT reply actions

My picks

RSL (20), Richmond Kickers (12), LA Blues (12), Kitsap Pumas (3), Real Colorado Foxes (3)

Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, MLS editor SB Nation. Follow me on Twitter

by Jeremiah Oshan on Jun 13, 2011 9:05 PM PDT reply actions

Non-MLS for funsies. Picking across the bracket!

Rochester Rhinos (12), Richmond Kickers (12), Orlando City (12), Real Colorado Foxes (3), Carolina Dynamo (3), Chicago Fire Premier (3), Ventura County Fusion (3), NY Pancyprian-Freedoms (1), AAC Eagles (1).

by yuniform on Jun 13, 2011 9:10 PM PDT reply actions

Almost exactly the same as mine!

by bmvaughn on Jun 13, 2011 11:28 PM PDT up reply actions

We have different USL teams, at least.

I swear I wasn’t copying you, just looking at the goal differentials this year and the brackets. Your regional guesses is interesting.

by yuniform on Jun 14, 2011 8:24 AM PDT up reply actions

My shot at it

Sounders (20), FC New York (12), LA Blues (12), Kitsap (3), Chicago Fire Premier (3)

by Dylema on Jun 13, 2011 10:02 PM PDT reply actions

My Entry

NYRB – 20
Dayton Dutch Lions – 12
Orlando City – 12
Kitap Pumas – 3
Chicago Fire Premier – 3

by element1151 on Jun 13, 2011 11:18 PM PDT reply actions

Picks lock at...4?

When the first match kicks off?

by bmvaughn on Jun 14, 2011 7:16 AM PDT reply actions

Yeah, sounds good

Nos Audietis

by sidereal on Jun 14, 2011 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions

Lets do this...

Sounders (20), Rochester (12), FC New York (12), Kitsap Pumas (3), Hollywood Hitmen (2), Regals FC (1)

by Timm Higgins on Jun 14, 2011 9:08 AM PDT reply actions

A shot in the dark

Seattle (20), LA Blues (12), Orlando (12), Kitsap Pumas (3), Chattanooga FC (2), Iowa Menace (1)

Fan of: Cardinals, Blues, Sounders, Yellow Jackets, Wolverines, Rams, and Blazers.

by ColinMacLeod on Jun 14, 2011 9:27 AM PDT reply actions

I'm going for upsets and even distribution across brackets - see if I can get lucky.

Sounders (20) because I hate conflict of interest in fantasy games. I root Sounders. Period.

Orlando City (12)
FC New York (12)
Chivas El Paso Patriots (3)
Iowa Menice (1)
Doxa Italia (1)
Phoenix SC (1)

by Orothar on Jun 14, 2011 9:34 AM PDT reply actions

Go Iowa!

Unofficial Sounder Fan Club President - South Dakota Division

by JWAY on Jun 14, 2011 9:35 AM PDT reply actions

Pell-mell

Sounders (20)
Rochester Rhinos (12)
Real Colorado Foxes (3)
Brooklyn Italians, Hollywood Hitmen,, Chattanooga FC, Madison 56ers (2)
ASC New Stars, Doxa Italia, NY Pancyprian-Freedoms, DV8 Defenders, Phoenix SC, Iowa Menace, Regals FC (1)

by Garrincha on Jun 14, 2011 9:55 AM PDT reply actions

Here we go

Seattle Sounders (20)
Sporting KC (20)
Chicago Fire Premier (3)
Kitsap Pumas (3)
Ventura County Fusion(3)
NY Pancyprian-Freedoms (1)

With no D-2 teams, this is the year that MLS does a clean sweep of the 3rd round.

by lefthand on Jun 14, 2011 10:45 AM PDT reply actions

Here's Mine

Seattle Sounders (20)
Orlando City (12)
Charleston Battery (12)
Chicago Fire Premier (3)
Chattanooga FC (2)
NY Pancyprian-Freedoms (1)

by Colin Johnson on Jun 14, 2011 11:02 AM PDT reply actions

Here goes nothin

RSL (20)
Charleston Battery (12)
Rochester Rhinos (12)
Chattanooga FC (2)
Brooklyn Italians (2)
Doxa Italia (1)
AAC Eagles (1)

Does anyone know if tonights games are going to be broadcast anywhere?

by swingman24 on Jun 14, 2011 11:44 AM PDT reply actions

There'll be a liveblog

on http://thecup.us/
Not sure where they’ll be getting their info from, though

Nos Audietis

by sidereal on Jun 14, 2011 12:27 PM PDT up reply actions

I know the Puma's..

..will be live Tweeting their match v Chivas El Paso Patriots

by Timm Higgins on Jun 14, 2011 2:47 PM PDT up reply actions

Going to the 56ers game tonight

So they better win…

Seattle Sounders (20)
Charleston Battery (12)
Pittsburgh Riverhounds (12)
W. Mass Pioneers (3)
Madison 56ers (2)
Phoenix SC (1)

by Squared23 on Jun 14, 2011 11:56 AM PDT reply actions

Go Menace!

Menace (1)
Sounders (20)
Charleston Battery (12)
Rochester Rhinos (12)
Carolina Dynamo (3)
Madison 56ers (2)

by Shooter McGavin on Jun 14, 2011 12:00 PM PDT reply actions

My teams:

Seattle Sounders – (20)
Rochester Rhinos – (12)
LA Blues – (12)
Kitsap Pumas – (3)
Madison 56ers – (2)
NY Pancyprian-Freedoms – (1)

by quacker27 on Jun 14, 2011 12:01 PM PDT reply actions

I usually have a "no betting on own team" rule,

but unlike most MLS teams, I know that we will be playing to win this.

by quacker27 on Jun 14, 2011 9:24 PM PDT up reply actions

What do I know?

Rochester Rhinos (12)
Orlando City (12)
LA Blues (12)
Real Colorado Foxes (3)
Chicago Fire Premier (3)
Reading United (3)
Kitsap Pumas (3)
Chattanooga FC (2)

"But who would listen to Little Old Me anyway?"
-by -Dave Clark
and -thehemogoblin

by Little old me on Jun 14, 2011 12:08 PM PDT reply actions

Quantity, Not Quality

AAC Eagles (1)
ASC New Stars (1)
Doxa Italia (1)
NY Pancyprian-Freedoms (1)
DV8 Defenders (1)
Phoenix SC (1)
Iowa Menace (1)
Regals FC (1)
Brooklyn Italians (2)
Hollywood Hitmen (2)
Chattanooga FC (2)
Madison 56ers (2)
Carolina Dynamo (3)
Reading United (3)
Central Florida Kraze (3)
Real Colorado Foxes (3)
Chicago Fire Premier (3)
Ventura County Fusion (3)
Chivas El Paso Patriots (3)
Western Mass Pioneers (3)
Kitsap Pumas (3)