Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Week 26

After week 26 the numbers look like this…

	5 year comparison
	WK 26			183 GP		YTD
	Avg	+/-	GP	Avg	+/-	Avg	+/-	GP
2005	13,173		9	14,968		14,823		171
2006	15,419	17.05%	7	15,310	2.29%	15,014	1.29%	174
2007	23,104	49.84%	7	16,553	8.12%	16,526	10.07%	174
2008	16,948	-26.64%	6	16,417	-0.82%	16,875	2.11%	174
2009	14,973	-11.65%	8	15,710	-4.31%	15,699	-6.97%	183

YTD – 183 Games
	Average	Median	%<10K	%>20k
2005	14,968	12,494	28.57%	17.03%
2006	15,310	13,824	19.67%	18.58%
2007	16,553	15,033	8.74%	27.32%
2008	16,417	15,038	11.48%	25.14%
2009	15,710	14,516	15.85%	19.13%

Here are the attendance comparisons to 2008′s equal number of home games(183):

MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games
	2008		2009
	Att	Cap	Att	Att +/-	GP	Cap	Cap
Seattle	0	0.00%	30,587	NA	13	94.40%	32,400
Toronto	20,110	91.50%	20,324	1.07%	13	92.47%	21,978
LA Galaxy	25,761	95.41%	19,912	-22.71%	12	73.75%	27,000
Real Salt Lake	15,773	77.50%	16,208	2.76%	13	76.04%	19,340
Houston	16,155	71.80%	15,938	-1.35%	12	70.84%	22,500
ChivasUSA	15,253	56.49%	15,673	2.75%	11	58.05%	27,000
D.C. United	19,402	86.23%	15,542	-19.90%	12	69.07%	22,500
San Jose	14,917	90.48%	15,137	1.48%	12	77.31%	10,300
Chicago	17,257	86.29%	14,113	-18.22%	12	70.56%	20,000
Columbus Crew	13,848	69.24%	13,714	-0.97%	12	68.57%	20,000
NE Revolution	17,751	78.89%	13,221	-25.52%	12	58.76%	22,500
Colorado Rapids	13,565	75.00%	12,476	-8.02%	13	68.98%	18,086
N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls	15,894	63.10%	11,929	-24.95%	13	47.36%	25,189
KC Wizards	11,118	107.06%	10,010	-9.97%	11	96.39%	10,385
FC Dallas	13,494	63.67%	9,311	-31.00%	12	43.94%	21,193

My disclaimer about the capacity calculations

Observations

Week 26 games drew 1X,XXX. DCU struggled to draw over 8,000 midweek, about half their season average, in another bonehead scheduled match. Starting just 20 minutes after the critical US/T&T contest, it’s no wonder. This match was rescheduled to make room for the Real Madrid friendly on August 9. But DCU and KC both played on Sep 5 and Sep 12, so moving the game to either Tuesday or Thursday would not have disadvantaged one over the other. Moving on. TFC just plain sells out and did so again for the Rapids visit. DC United and Seattle were at it again at RFK in front of over 19,500. They drew over 17,300 for the US Open Cup Final last week(Wed). RBNY were officially eliminated from the playoffs in front of just over 10,200. RSL upped its seasonal average with a turnout of over 17,600. LA’s defense imploded before a sub-par(for LA) 18,148, while Chivas USA took a hit on its YTD average with 11,334 for a noon start. The top of the table tilt at Crew Stadium pulled in

A great time of year. Every game had playoff implications, from the gaggle in the middle to KC holding on mathematically. Also the berth in the CONCACAF Champions League at stake for the winner of the Supporters’ Shield(best regular season record) as Columbus and Houston went head to head.

Player notes:

• San Jose will be without Darren Huckerby for the rest of the season. Huckerby had hip surgery this week.
• San Jose acquired defender Bobby Burling from Chivas USA.
• RBNY signs its first academy player.
• TFC signs its first designated player, Julian de Guzman.
• DC United acquire Lawson Vaughn.
  

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  Week 26 Games
  DC United	1	DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider
  Kansas City	0	Kansas City – Hillcrest Road
  Toronto	3	TFC Connected
  Colorado	2	Undercurrent
  RBNY	0	Red Bulls Reader
  Kansas City	1	Kansas City – Hillcrest Road
  DC United	1	DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider
  Seattle	2	Seattle Times
  Real Salt Lake	1	RSL – Behind the Shield
  Chicago	1	Chicago Fire Confidential
  Los Angeles	3	LA – Official Blog
  FC Dallas	6	3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick
  Chivas USA	2	Chivas USA – MLSNet
  New England	0	Revolution Soccer
  Columbus	2	Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra
  Houston	1	Soccer y Fútbol – Barnard Fallas

  
  

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  So How Are They Doing?

  Points after 183 Games
  	Pts	GP	PPG	GD	H/A
  Columbus	42	24	1.75	10	2/4
  Houston	40	26	1.54	8	3/1
  Chicago	39	25	1.56	5	3/2
  Los Angeles	38	25	1.52	2	3/2
  Seattle	37	25	1.48	7	2/3
  Colorado	36	24	1.50	8	3/3
  DC United	36	26	1.38	1	3/1
  Chivas USA	36	23	1.57	1	4/3
  Real Salt Lake	34	25	1.36	8	2/3
  Toronto FC	34	25	1.36	-3	2/3
  New England	33	23	1.43	-4	3/4
  Dallas	27	24	1.13	-1	3/3
  Kansas City	27	24	1.13	-7	4/2
  San Jose	20	22	0.91	-13	4/4
  NY Red Bull	16	25	0.64	-22	2/3

  
  Games in hand will be critical. New England’s loss to Chivas USA hurt, but with 3 games in hand over DCU may still have a good chance to make the playoffs. DCU, however, will play 3 of its last 4 at RFK. And all San Jose has to do is win out with games in hand on every other team. OK, so I made a funny. Columbus is poised to win the Supporters’ Shield with its 2 games in hand. Remaining games, home and away are in the last column.
  

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  Streaking

• LA is unbeaten in 6 road games.
  
• Columbus(12 games) are unbeaten at home.
  
• FC Dallas has won 4 straight at home.
  
• RBNY and San Jose are winless on the road.
  
• Colorado has not won on the road in 5 straight(4 losses on the bounce).
  
• TFC has not lost home in 5 straight.
  
• RSL is unbeaten in 8 home games.
  

  
  Just Some Stuff

  The CONCACAF Champions League group phase began last week. DC United, Houston and Columbus are representing MLS in the regional club championship. RBNY and Toronto FC were eliminated in the preliminaries.

  After 2 group play matches in the CONCACAF Champions League Houston has 4 points, Columbus has 3 points, while DC United sit last in Group B with 0 points.

  CONCACAF Champions League
  Sep 15-16	Sep 22-24
  Group Game 3	Group Game 4
  Houston plays Sep 15, 22
  Columbus plays Sep 16, 23
  DCU plays Sep 16, 24

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  USMNT/MLS Scheduling – FUBAR Once Again

  On October 10, when the US plays its penultimate WC qualifier in Honduras, MLS once again has matches scheduled. San Jose at TFC at 4pm ET, Columbus at New England at 7:30pm ET and the Wizards at Chivas USA at 10:30pm ET. The time of the US match has been tentatively set for 8pm ET. It may not matter, however, for as of this writing, the game will not be televised in the US. Yeah, unbelievable, I know, but the rights are held outside of the US and therefore are beyond the control of anyone in the US soccer or broadcasting world.

  On October 14 the US Men play their final WC qualifer at 8pm ET. RBNY play Real Salt Lake in Utah at 10pm ET.

  Young Guns Head to Egypt For The FIFA U-20 World Cup

  MLS Players on the US U-20 roster include:

  GOALKEEPERS (3): Josh Lambo (FC Dallas)

  DEFENDERS (6): Kyle Davies (FC Dallas)

  MIDFIELDERS (8): Danny Cruz (Houston Dynamo), Jorge Flores (Chivas USA), Gerson Mayén (Chivas USA)

  FORWARDS (4): Peri Marosevic (FC Dallas), Brek Shea (FC Dallas)

  The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup runs from Sept. 24-Oct. 16 in Egypt. The U.S. will open against Germany on Sept. 26(10am ET) before facing Cameroon on Sept. 29(12:45pm ET) and rounding out group play against Korea Republic on Oct. 2(12:45pm ET).

  FC Dallas will lose 4 players to the FIFA U-20 World Cup. During that time FCD has matches on Sep 26, 30, Oct 9 and Oct 17. It might not seem like much now, but if they make an improbable run for the playoffs, those matches will be the ones that determines if they make it for the first time in 3 years. Anthony Wallace was an original selection but has been replaced by Chivas USA’s Gerson Mayén due to injury.

  FIFA U-20 World Cup TV Schedule

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