Take Me Out to the Ballgame – Week 31

After week 31 the numbers look like this…

	5 year comparison
	WK 31			217 GP		YTD
	Avg	+/-	GP	Avg	+/-	Avg	+/-	GP
2005	18,417		6	15,957		15,108		192
2006	20,277	10.10%	6	16,157	1.25%	15,402	1.94%	192
2007	20,575	1.47%	7	16,359	1.25%	16,812	9.16%	195
2008	17,338	-15.73%	7	16,173	-1.14%	16,928	0.69%	210
2009	17,267	-0.41%	8	15,894	-1.72%	15,884	-6.16%	217

YTD – 217 Games
	Average	Median	%<10K	%>20k
2005	15,957	14,525	15.90%	22.17%
2006	16,157	14,780	13.27%	23.22%
2007	16,359	15,037	11.58%	24.60%
2008	16,173	14,994	13.11%	22.25%
2009	15,894	14,611	15.21%	19.82%

Here are the attendance comparisons to 2008′s equal number of home games(217):

MLS Attendance – Equal # of Home Games
	2008		2009
	Att	Cap	Att	Att +/-	GP	Cap	Cap
Seattle	0	0.00%	30,739	NA	14	94.87%	32,400
Toronto	20,110	91.50%	20,344	1.17%	15	92.57%	21,978
LA Galaxy	25,938	96.07%	19,946	-23.10%	14	73.87%	27,000
Houston	16,939	75.28%	17,047	0.64%	15	75.77%	22,500
Real Salt Lake	16,076	79.27%	16,211	0.84%	14	76.56%	19,340
D.C. United	19,835	88.16%	16,088	-18.89%	15	71.50%	22,500
ChivasUSA	14,897	55.17%	15,132	1.58%	14	56.05%	27,000
Chicago	17,303	86.51%	14,485	-16.28%	14	72.43%	20,000
Columbus Crew	14,267	71.34%	14,279	0.08%	14	71.39%	20,000
San Jose	13,713	89.93%	14,114	2.93%	15	79.64%	10,300
NE Revolution	17,580	78.14%	13,732	-21.89%	15	61.03%	22,500
FC Dallas	13,024	61.45%	12,441	-4.48%	15	53.67%	21,193
Colorado Rapids	13,659	75.52%	12,331	-9.72%	15	68.18%	18,086
N.Y./N.J. Red Bulls	15,741	62.49%	11,861	-24.65%	14	47.09%	25,189
KC Wizards	10,746	103.48%	10,030	-6.67%	14	96.58%	10,385

My disclaimer about the capacity calculations – Additional disclaimer note: I factored in the Dallas game at the Cotton Bowl as 100% capacity of 51,012.

Observations

Week 31 games drew 17,267. The midweek affair at Rio Tinto against RBNY drew a healthy 16,247. Toronto had its normal 20,000+ in the regular season finale at BMO. And even the Revs finally drew a nice crowd with over 18,000 showing up. More than 16,200 braved a steady cold rain in DC. They must have had giveaways for anything not nailed down as Dallas had its first 15,000 gate since opening day, not counting last week when Mexico played a friendly as part of a doubleheader. The Wizards nearly sold out CAB(they should be selling out everygame). Don’t know if it’s the competition, but Chivas USA didn’t pull in 13,000 for KC(this week) or SJ(last week). Too bad, they were having a very good season at the gate. They’ll still finish OK, but were up over 11% earlier in the year. Closing out the week was the showcase match, Western Conference champion contenders Los Angeles visiting Houston. Does anything think David Beckham doesn’t make a difference? Over 29,400 showed up at Robertson Stadium, 10,000 more than the next highest gate this season.

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Week 31 Games
Real Salt Lake	2	RSL – Behind the Shield
RBNY	0	Red Bulls Reader
Toronto	1	TFC Connected
Real Salt Lake	0	RSL – Behind the Shield
New England	0	Revolution Soccer
Chicago	0	Chicago Fire Confidential
DC United	1	DCU – Steve Goff – Soccer Insider
Columbus	0	Columbus Dispatch – Crew XTra
FC Dallas	2	3rd Degree – Buzz Carrick
Colorado	1	Undercurrent
Kansas City	2	Kansas City – Hillcrest Road
Seattle	3	Seattle Times
Chivas USA	2	Chivas USA – MLSNet
San Jose	2	San Jose Center Line Soccer
Houston	0	Soccer y Fútbol – Barnard Fallas
Los Angeles	0	LA – Official Blog

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So How Are They Doing?

Points after 217 Games
	Pts	GP	PPG	GD	H/A
Columbus	49	29	1.69	11	1/0
Chivas USA	45	28	1.61	5	1/1
Houston	45	29	1.55	9	0/1
Los Angeles	45	29	1.55	3	1/0
Seattle	44	29	1.52	8	1/0
Chicago	42	29	1.45	4	1/0
Colorado	40	29	1.38	7	0/1
Toronto FC	39	29	1.34	-4	0/1
DC United	39	29	1.34	-1	0/1
Dallas	39	29	1.34	4	0/1
New England	39	29	1.34	-5	0/1
Real Salt Lake	37	29	1.28	5	1/0
Kansas City	32	29	1.10	-9	1/0
San Jose	30	29	1.03	-12	0/1
NY Red Bull	18	29	0.62	-25	1/0

MLS Playoffs – In: Los Angeles, Houston, Columbus, Seattle – Out: RBNY, San Jose, Kansas City

Every game had playoff implications, from the wannabees trying to get in to the qualified jockeying for conference championships and home field advantage.

RSL who need to win out, eked out a win over RBNY in a drab midweek affair. It was terrific that Andy Williams, who has been through so much this season, scored the game winner. Unfortunately, their terrible road form continued as they lost at Toronto. Only RBNY, who went winless on the road, has lost more away games than RSL. The 0-0 draw between the Fire and the Revs showed two teams that have struggled down the stretch. Chicago, who started the season unbeaten in 11 matches, has only managed 4 points in 6 games., while New England has taken only 2 points in 4 matches.

The mediocre play(parity?) has even struck Columbus who are a drab 3-1-3(w-d-l) in their last seven and are leaving some drama alive in the chase for the Supporters’ Shield. Chivas USA missed a great opportunity to put itself in the driver’s seat for the Supporters’ Shield, but came up short with a draw vs Kansas City. With the Dynamo/Galaxy draw, Chivas is now the only club that can catch Columbus, but they need Columbus to draw or lose in their last game and the Goats must win its final 2 vs Chicago and Houston, a tall order.

If you are wondering why I’ve listed Toronto in 8th playoff spot, it’s because they hold the tiebreaker over the other three clubs with 39 points, having a better win/loss record against FCD, DCU and the Revs.

Playoff Contenders Remaining Schedule			Points
	Pts		Home	Away
Chicago	42	CHV	18	24
Colorado	40	RSL	29	11
Toronto FC	39	NY	28	11
Dallas	39	SEA	28	11
DC United	39	KC	26	13
New England	39	CLB	25	14
Real Salt Lake	37	COL	29	8
shaded = away game

Playoff Contenders Head to Head
	W-D-L	CHI	COL	TFC	FCD	DCU	NE	RSL
Chicago	42	X	2-0-0	1-1-0	1-0-1	0-1-2	0-2-0	1-1-0
Colorado	40	0-0-2	X	1-0-1	1-1-1	1-0-1	0-2-0	1-1-0
Toronto FC	39	0-1-1	1-0-1	X	0-1-1	1-1-0	1-1-0	1-0-1
Dallas	39	1-0-1	1-1-1	1-1-0	X	0-1-1	1-0-1	1-0-1
DC United	39	2-1-0	1-0-1	0-1-1	1-1-0	X	0-1-1	0-1-1
New England	39	0-2-0	0-2-0	0-1-1	1-0-1	1-1-0	X	1-0-1
Real Salt Lake	37	0-1-1	0-1-1	1-0-1	1-0-1	1-1-0	1-0-1	X

Top 3 tiebreakers.(MLS 2009 Rules of Competition)

Streaking

• FC Dallas has not lost at home in 8(7 wins).
  
• RBNY finished winless on the road(27 total).
  
• TFC has not lost home in 7 straight.
  
• TFC have not won on the road in 7 straight.
  
• Houston have not won on the road in 6 straight.
  
• Colorado have not won on the road in 8 straight.
  
• RSL is unbeaten in 9 home games.
  
• Seattle is scoreless in last 4 home games.
  
• Chicago is winless in 6(4 draws).

MLS Throw Ins

Chivas USA is the only team with even a chance of winning 50% of its games. Surprised? Don’t be, last year only Columbus won more than half of its matches. in ’07 three teams reached the 50% win mark, in ’06 one, and three made it in ’05.

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MLS In CONCACAF Champions League

In Group A, Houston lost at home to Pachuca. They need help in the last match to move on. Árabe Unido will have to lose on its visit to Pachuca while Houston must win at Metapan. Houston holds the tiebreaker over Árabe Unido. DC United stayed strong in Group B this week, with a win over San Juan Jabloteh(T&T). They also hold the tiebreaker advantage over Marathón. Columbus lost to group leaders Cruz Azul, ending its long undefeated(all competitions) home streak. For DCU and Columbus, advancement is in their own control, win and they’re in. Houston must win and Árabe Unido must lose in order to advance.

2.3 CONCACAF Tie-Breaker Procedures

In the event two teams are tied on aggregate goals scored at the end of Regulation time in the 2nd Leg (Preliminary Round or Championship Stage) or on points (Group Stage) the following tie-breaker criteria shall be applied, in order, to determine the winning team or ranking of teams.

Phase 2: Group Stage

• 
  
• Greater number of points earned in matches between the teams concerned
  
• Greater goal difference in matches between the teams concerned
  
• Greater number of goals scored away from home in matches between the teams concerned
  

CONCACAF Champions League
A	w	d	l	pts	diff
Pachuca(MEX)	4	0	1	12	10
Arabe Unido(PAN)	3	1	1	10	5
Houston(USA)	2	1	2	7	2
Isidro Metapan(SLV)	0	0	5	0	-17
B
Toluca(MEX)	4	0	1	12	11
DC United(USA)	3	0	2	9	4
CD Marathon(HON)	3	0	2	9	-4
San Juan Jabloteh(T&T)	0	0	5	0	-11
C
Cruz Azul(MEX)	4	1	0	13	11
Columbus(USA)	2	1	2	7	-4
Saprissa(CRC)	1	2	2	5	-1
Puerto Rico(CFU)	0	2	3	2	-6
D
Pumas UNAM(MEX)	4	1	0	13	10
Comunicaciones(GUA)	2	0	3	6	-3
Real Espana(HON)	2	0	3	6	-7
W Connection(T&T)	1	1	3	4	0