Because things are wonky with the site, I had to repost this.
Through the twitter (click to follow me)thing I managed to win a damn amazing prize. A trip for two to West Hollywood for the Sunset Strip Music Festival. This was courtesy of Virgin America and Chris Cornell. I saw the following bands - Ozzy, Korn, Kottonmouth Kings, Shiny Toy Guns, The Donnas, Fishbone and Split Attraction (find them. They rock, despite their age). I went to a party on a hotel rooftop and met Chris Cornell.
My number one topic was soccer. My number two coffee. Whether it was the people managing the contest, the people I bumped into on the streets while wearing the Rave Green I was a Sounder. So while the shows went on, my phone was buzzing with texts from the members of the 214 letting me know plays, scores. Right about when Korn was covering Pink Floyd's "The Wall" I received the following text "83rd minute and Montero makes one! GOAL! 2:1 Seattle" A few minutes later I received the notice of the victory.
Someone walked by shortly thereafter and pointed to the kit and said "nice XBox ad"
"Its a Sounders jersey, and they don't suck like your Galaxy"
Later that night I would be proven right.
So many results went the Sounders way, and now they are in play for a tiny chance at home field advantage. They just need to get a few more points. Two wins at home are vital and beating the Revolution at Gillette would pretty much seal it.
Right now the pacing standings have the MLS Cup Playoffs as follows;
Eastern Conference
C-Bus (53) v Colorado (43)
Chicago (47) v DC (43)
Western Conference
Chivas (48) v Seattle (44)
Houston (47) v Galaxy (45)
Barely missing are New England with 43, Salt Lake with 40 and Toronto with 40. Recall the pacing standings are based on a team's previous performance at home/away and their remaining schedule. No rounding occurs until the final points number.
Seattle's opponents for the West regular season title and home-field have the following strength of schedule based on pacing points of teams remaining
Colorado - 34
Chivas - 37
Salt Lake - 37
Seattle - 42
LA - 42
Houston -42
Columbus - 44 (so yes they are pacing well, but face tough opponents)
I didn't feel the need to include the DCU, NER and TFC because it is increasing likely that only one of those two makes it in as the 3rd Wild Card. The West is just better than the East winning 1.40 points per match on average against the East with a +20 GD for the season.
Also the West has four teams (3 currently in) and the East three teams (1 currently in) competing for the Wild Cards.
What the heck, I'm the numbers guy.
Here's the Eastern Conference contenders schedule by the same measure
TFC - 35
DC - 40
NER - 42
C-bus - 44
Chicago - 46
That sound you hear? That's the sound of parity. Notice that four of the top five teams in pacing also have some of the most difficult schedules remaining. The one that doesn't? Chivas USA, and that's why they are my dark horse to finish with the Supporters Shield.
PS Stats will be updated later. I need to watch the match in order to figure who played what role.