MLS Weekend: How To Watch MLS in Week 2

Three Big Storylines

1. Orlando City SC play their first road game as an MLS franchise when it heads to the Houston Dynamo in the Friday Night MLS game on UniMas.  Houston earned a 1-0 home win over the Columbus Crew in their opener while Orlando got a late goal from Kaka to get a point in a 1-1 draw.  Interestingly enough the two British managers of these teams, Owen Coyle for Houston and Adrian Heath for Orlando, have a relationship the goes back to their time as young managers in England and both have at one time managed Burnley.  Orlando created chances in their opener but were not able to link the final pass, Kaka was worth watching in his debut so this should be a good test as to how well they will compete in their innagural season.
2. NYCFC open their home campaign at Yankee Stadium on Sunday.  There is already consternation in New York over the state of the turf in Yankee Stadium with co-habitants NYCFC and the New York Yankees for this year and the foreseeable future.  Also, did you want to get the new iconic Mix jersey?  You are out of luck, as MLS online store has run out of the letter X.  Who knew when MLS let Mix Diskerud go by Mix and not Diskerud that that jersey would be a big seller?  Mix scored the first goal for the NYCFC franchise last weekend in their 1-1 draw at Orlando.  NYCFC host the New England Revolution, the Revs are looking to recover after last weekend's 3-0 loss in Seattle.  NYCFC will not match the 62,510 attendance in Orlando last weekend, but they have now opened the 4^th and final level of seats at Yankee Stadium and should put up a big attendance number in their inaugural home game.
3. The new TV contract debuted last weekend to glowing ratings.  Was that a Week 1 bump powered by the debut of two franchises featuring Kaka and David Villa or a sign of a longer trend?  Admittedly the ESPN2 game listed above earned by far the highest rating, but the UniMas and Fox Sports doubleheader were also way up as compared to last year.  Week 2's numbers will be eargerly anticipated at MLS HQ.

Sounders Point of View:

From a Sounders point of view it is way too early to start gazing at the standings.  But, it will be interesting to see how the LA Galaxy do at Portland Timbers on Sunday afternoon.  Are the Galaxy as good as they looked in Week 1 or were the Chicago Fire just not a very good squad relatively unprepared to play because of the recent uncertainty the last minute CBA negotiations took that was run over in the MLS season opener?

FC Dallas are the Sounders next opponent after a bye in week 3, they host Sporting Kansas City on Saturday in a Western Conference affair.  Sporting drew with the Red Bulls at home on opening week while FC Dallas beat San Jose at home.  Sporting looked disjointed in their opener while FC Dallas labored more than expected in earning three points against the Earthquakes at home, this match will shape impressions for the Western Conference at this early point of the season.

National TV Listings:

Orlando City SC at Houston Dynamo
Friday, 4 PM Pacifc, UniMas
*note, UniMas will carry the game in both Spanish and English.  Use the SAP button on your remote for English.  For instructions on how to use the SAP button, see this video. 
http://deportes.univision.com/

New England Revolution at New York City FC
Sunday, 2 PM, ESPN2
http://espn.go.com/watchespn/

LA Galaxy at Portland Timbers
Sunday 4 PM, Fox Sports 1
http://www.foxsports.com/foxsportsgo/