With their 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo yesterday, the Galaxy reached their season-long goal of winning an MLS Cup and certain high-profile players notched their first North American championship.  Anytime a team wins a championship, writers and bloggers take to the keyboard to assess where that team or franchise fits in the pantheon of previous winners.

This writer is no different, and for the first time in a few years we have to seriously consider how the 2011 Galaxy stack up against the best of the best in MLS (albeit short) history.  The last two MLS Cup winners (RSL and Colorado) arguably slid into the championship game due to playoff format rather than on-field success, so it has been a while since we’ve had a top regular season club win the Cup.

Ultimately it is impossible to compare this era of MLS to the first few years.  With fewer teams and different rules, can the 2011 Galaxy be compared to the early DC United teams that fielded so many USMNT players, or even the 1998 Galaxy or similar successful teams?  Even Bruce Arena didn’t tip his hand, telling reporters prior to last night’s game: “Couldn’t even compare it [his DC and LA teams].  I don’t even know how you do that.”

But the impressive run for the Galaxy demands we place them in a historical context.  So are the 2011 Galaxy the best team in MLS history?  A few points to consider:

• Their 67 regular season points is the most ever in a post-shoot out season and they finished 5-0 in the playoffs.  They allowed fewer goals than games played (28 total)
• Arguably the Galaxy have the best MLS player ever on its roster, as well as the best international (I’ll define that as non-North American) ever to play in MLS.  With his fourth MLS Cup, Landon Donovan joins an elite group of players with four rings and if he continues to play in MLS and score the way he has, he will eclipse Jeff Cunningham as the league’s all-time leading scorer.  And while Beckham has been rightfully criticized for his lack of commitment to the league based on his salary and expectations, when healthy and committed he has been an unstoppable force for LA.
• While the three designated players get the press, it’s the role players that really propelled this team.  The stout back line led by future USMNT call-up (right?) Omar Gonzalez was a key to the Galaxy being able to play their cobra-like quick strike and down offense.  Juninho was a quality acquisition who gave them some game-winners during the season.  And forwards like Mike Magee and Chad Barrett while not world beaters were the roll players that any successful team needs to be, well, successful.
• The travel.  With 18 teams in the league and a balanced schedule, the Galaxy faced more travel than any previous MLS winner within the league.  Outside of the league, the Galaxy faced even more mileage with the competitive CONCACAF Champions group stage, meaning this veteran team spent a lot of time in the air traveling.  This certainly makes it harder to play at a high level on the road and while other MLS champions have also booked lots of mileage, few I wager would have put in the travel of LA.
• Statistically, the Galaxy’s season makes a strong case.  According to Grant Wahl’s stat work, LA had the third best points-per-game season ever in MLS, behind two teams that did not win an MLS Cup (LA ’98 and San Jose ’05).  The metric is the number of points for the season divided by number of games played, with Wahl adjusting for shoot-outs in the early years.  So according to this metric, a regular season that ended with the Supporters Shield looks even better.

Saturday morning Landon Donovan will arrive in Goodison Park to begin his loan spell with Everton.  As he settles into his seat and watches his new team take on Carlisle United in the FA Cup, he will be working on his checklist of what he wants to accomplish over the next 75 days.  This loan spell at Everton, along with his performance in South Africa this summer, will be critical in determining the future direction of Donovan’s career, and he knows there are a number of boxes he needs to check in order to make this loan a success.

Get some serious minutes on the pitch.  It was going to be interesting to see whether Everton Coach David Moyes was going to play him up front like Donovan does for the Galaxy or out wide like he is positioned for the US National team.  However, that decision seems to have made itself.  With Yakubu leaving for the African Cup of Nations, Louis Saha injured and Jo deciding to take an unauthorized Christmas trip home to Brazil, Everton has a gaping hole in their striker corps.  Donovan will have every chance to get a ton of quality minutes in important games, starting with Everton’s trip to London to play Arsenal a week from today.  The only thing standing between Donovan and a slot in the starting lineup is the quality of his play.

Use that first week of training to integrate with his new team as quickly as possible.  Donovan is at his best when he is using his speed to run at players and unbalance defenses.  Everton plays a very deliberate style that relies on crossing, link-up play and solid aerial work for its goals.  Donovan will have to figure out how to incorporate his skills with the Everton scheme.  Donovan is as good a passer as he is a scorer, and to fit in well at Everton he will need to create goals as well as score them.   

Put the ball in the net.  Fair or not, Donovan’s success will be defined by whether he scores.  Last year during his spell as Bayern Munich, Donovan actually played well.  He possessed the ball with skill and was the perfect late game sub to bring a lot of energy onto the pitch as the game was slowing down.  Had he not been associated with the soon-to-be-sacked Jurgen Klinsmann, Bayern would have expressed a lot more enthusiasm about his time with the club.  However, most judged his loan a failure because he did not get on the tally sheet in league play.  Donovan hit the post once and forced several good saves, but strikers need to score and he did not.  With games against Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool , Donovan will have opportunities to score important goals, and he needs to take some of those chances.

Prove that he is not soft.  Ever since he crashed out during his time at Bayer Leverkusen, Donovan has had a reputation as being too soft.  Reputations are hard to shake, and despite the fact that he has been enormously successful both for the Galaxy and the USMNT, has played through just about every injury he has ever gotten and reclaimed the Galaxy this season as his team and helped mold it into a winner, many do not consider Donovan hard enough for soccer at the highest levels.  When commentators say that Donovan will not be able to handle Merseyside in winter, they are really questioning his manhood.  Donovan has a chance to put this nonsense behind him and prove that he has the heart to match his feet.

Don’t say anything stupid to the press.  Donovan has always had a bias towards brutal honesty when talking to the press.  When he screws up, he will tell the press his detailed thought process that led up to his mistake.  When he feels aggrieved, he sometimes struggles to keep that to himself.  That is not a problem in the US sport market which likes its athletes to be revealing and where people barely pay attention to soccer anyway.  The English soccer press and fan culture are completely different, and every word can be taken out of context and printed in blaring headlines.  Whether it is when talking about his teammates or his future World Cup opponents, Donovan need to be as non-controversial as possible.  The British press looks for easy targets, and Donovan needs to make sure he does not give them any.

Don’t get injured.  One of the remarkable aspects of Donovan’s career is how injury-free he has been.  Over the past decade, Donovan has played in over 350 games for club and country and has never had a serious injury during that period.  Part of this is good luck, but a large part of his success has been his commitment to fitness.  He needs to keep that streak going in England.  Nothing would be more disappointing and discouraging to Donovan than to see his short time in Everton cut shorter by picking up a knock of some sort.

That is a daunting agenda, but 2010 is the most important year in Donovan’s career.  For the Everton loan to be a success, Donovan needs to hit all of his marks.

This year’s baseball season is shaping up to have more MLS cities in contention than in past years.  The Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners are off to really good starts, and this is not good news for MLS.  Currently, both teams sit in first place of their respective divisions.  These two cities have drawn better at the gate than any other MLS teams, but will it continue if their baseball counterparts continue to position themselves for a playoff push?

In Toronto on Saturday, Soccer outdrew baseball.  According to MLS-daily.com’s attendance and YahooSports attendance figures for boxscores in baseball, Toronto FC had 19,998 and the Toronto Bluejays had 18,331.

The one city MLS need not worry about in baseball is Washington, D.C.  The Nationals are the worse team in baseball.  But on Saturday, they still outdrew arguably the proudest MLS team.  They drew 19,9950 to the United’s 14,225.  Go figure that one.

The biggest story in baseball so far has been the Los Angeles Dodgers.  They look like they might run away with the division.  If they do, ultimately, that could be better for the 2 LA soccer teams.  But, surely they will be a story to watch for Southern California sports fans this summer.  It also looks like the LA Angels will hang around to try and win the division as they have hung around pretty well for each of the last 10 years , either winning divisions or making it close. 

The Dodgers drew 47,000 Saturday, while the Galaxy drew 21,000.  Surely, the Galaxy would have done better head to head Saturday had Manny not signed that big contract, and had Beckham stuck to the plan. 

At Wrigley Field, the Cubs drew 40,000, probably to be expected, knowing the history there.  The Cubs are a decent team this year and they carry a more than 100 year relationship with sports.  Their drout makes them always the lovable loser and an interesting team when they win.  It would be better for the Fire, who drew 10,000 on Saturday, if the Cubs have a crappy season, but that’s not happening apparently.   

The Fire need to be compared head to head to the White Sox too, who also seem to be contending.  In fact, because of parity, it seems many MLS cities are competing in baseball this year, like the Astros and Rangers.  But, maybe they’ll sail out of contention as the year moves on. 

The Royals of Kansas City would definitely seem a likely candidate to sail out of contention, but it doesn’t help MLS or the Wiz that the Royals are having a decent season.  They have been bad for a long time, so when they are good, it seems an anomaly, and fans start to pay attention. 

One team who won’t fall out of contention this year is the Philadelphia Phillies, the defending champs.  They are riding a wave in which the core of the team is sticking around.  The Phillies have reestablished themselves with their fans via a new stadium and may make it rough on the newest expansion team for MLS next year. 

In Colorado, the Rockies seem to be in the decline, and it appears it will be a long season for their fans.  But, the Nuggets of the NBA are picking up the slack, pulling out John Elway of Arena Football League fame to announce their starting 5 in a crazed playoff atmosphere last night.  The hockey team had a bad year and the Broncos had an unusual year, so as the Rapids average 11,000 in attendance, is it maybe a result of too much sports for one town?  5 pro teams may be one too many. 

Colorado seems a good case for general managers from MLS to look to not schedule head to head against rival sports leagues. 

It seems it is best to hold back on any judgement on the Red Bulls as everyone awaits their new stadium, which looks appealing.  Next year will be interesting to see how they do head to head versus the Mets and Yankees.