Did Ya Miss Me?

I fully deserve the shots Walsh has thrown at me over the past few weeks. This whole "real job" thing is working me to death. But, for you fans who eat up every word I say, I made a vow this weekend to actually put something up that I hope is relatively coherent... Lots of things to get to, so let's get rolling.

MLS:

1. DC United's season is mercifully over. The worst season in the team's history ended with another loss, a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Toronto. Jaime Moreno gets a goal in his final DC appearance. Anybody notice the irony that it was from the penalty spot? Regardless, farewell to Moreno and his fabulous career. If he isn't the best player in MLS history, he's at least in the top 3. So where does DC go from here? And, as Walsh accurately pointed out to me last week, they don't even have the #1 pick because of the expansion teams, who have numbers 1 and 2. Just keeps getting better, doesn't it?

2. L.A. Galaxy win the Supporters' Shield - They struggled down the stretch, which could mean trouble against a good Seattle team in the 1st round of the playoffs. However, Bruce Arena is one of the best postseason coaches in MLS history, so I fully expect him to have his boys ready to play.

3. Columbus loses Will Hesmer - A broken shoulder in a collision with Danny Califf (maybe the dirtiest player in the history of MLS, and yes, I know about Dema Kovalenko and Danny Pena) really hurts the Crew. This is still a very good team, but how quickly can they regroup after a big loss? And do they trust Andy Gruenebaum in goal?

4. MLS Playoff Predictions -

Let's see how poorly I do with this (remember, I'm the one who said DC United would finish 3rd in the Eastern Conference back in April). I just hope teams score some goals in the playoffs. Historically, the games are really defensive and low-scoring. And I think this might be the most evenly matched group of playoff teams ever. All 4 of the lower seeds could legitimately beat the higher seeds, and none of them would be stunning upsets.

Columbus Crew vs. Colorado - As I mentioned above, the Crew will miss Hesmer, but I think they enough talent to get past a very good Rapids squad. Schelotto is the glue for the Crew, it looks like Eddie Gavin and Robbie Rogers might be ready to fulfill their potential, and never underestimate the playoff experience and grit of defensive midfielder Brian Carroll. The Rapids counter with arguably the league's best 1-2 punch in Omar Cummings and Conor Casey, but I'm not sold the defense will hold up over 180 minutes. Colorado needs to make this a track meet of a series, and I'm not sure the Crew will allow it.

Columbus wins 3-2 on aggregate

FC Dallas vs. Real Salt Lake - I said a little more than a month ago that it would be a crime for these two to meet in the 1st round, because both teams are good enough to win the whole thing and 1 will be out in just 2 weeks. Dallas' run through the last half of the season is one of the most impressive in recent memory, and they have been playing ridiculous defense. Can relative youngsters Brek Shea and Dax McCarty step up in their game in the playoffs? The defending champions in Salt Lake City were almost as consistent as Dallas in the 2nd half of the season and almost overtook L.A. for the Supporter's Shield. Jason Kreis has turned out to be a great coach (more imagination that Bob Bradley? Just askin'...) and will have the team ready to go. Nick Rimando has played lights out this season, and Alvaro Saborio can light up the scoreboard. Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales will make the difference and lead this team into the next round in a low-scoring series. Overtime might even be necessary to decide it.

Real Salt Lake wins 2-1 on aggregate

New York Red Bulls vs. San Jose Earthquakes - On paper, Red Bulls should win this series easily. Angel, Marquez, and Henry resemble the legendary DC United "Magic Triangle," but they haven't won anything yet. Dane Richards and Tim Ream lead a solid supporting cast. San Jose has the best player you've never heard of in Golden Boot winner Chris Wondolowski. After a terrible season last year and the rough start to this one, people wondered if Frank Yallop would last the season as the man in charge. Now, he should be in the running for Coach of the Year. This is another interesting series that could be decided late.

The guess here...(gulp): New York winning 3-2 on aggregate

L.A. Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders FC - The final of the 4 compelling and largely equal playoff series. L.A. won the Supporter's Shield but face a Seattle team that will open the playoffs in front of 35,000 screaming fans. Can't think of a tougher opening road game for any team in any major U.S. sport. L.A. has arguably the best player in the history of MLS in Landon Donovan, a fully fit David Beckham, and as I mentioned previously, has Bruce Arena as coach, and the underestimated Dave Sarachan as the "X's and O's" guy. Seattle counters with their own great head coach in Sigi Schmidt, the legendary Kasey Keller in goal, and the explosiveSteve Zakuani. The addition of Swiss international Blaise Nkufo took a little time to work itself out, but he seems to have found his role on the squad and will be dangerous to L.A.'s back 4. I think this could be the highest scoring matchup of the 1st round.

L.A. wins 4-3 on aggregate

Guess we'll just have to see how I did in 2 weeks.

In other quick news and notes:

1. How badly do Florida fans wish Cam Newton had stayed there? Can't blame him, though. He was too good to be stuck behind Tebow and waste another year of eligibility.

2. If you're down by a score and have the ball with 2 minutes left, there are about 15 NFL QB's I trust with the ball in their hands over Brett Favre right now. And how pissed was Brad Childress last night in the postgame press conference?

3. In a local note, Jen Woodie is going to be the W-League Coach for the expansion Fredericksburg Impact in the 2011 season. Jenn has a ton of experience and credibility for the job, and the people outside of the organization I talked to have all said she is the perfect hire for the team.

4. Don't care for baseball, but a San Francisco/Texas World Series is perfect. No Yanks or Phillies this year. Although the suits at Fox have got to be upset that their ratings will more than likely suck.

Can't think of anything else, so I'll sign off with that. Thanks as always for reading, and we'll see you soon!