MLS preview

Spring is in the air so it must be time for the domestic pro soccer season to begin. Major League Soccer's eleventh season starts tomorrow. The opening match will be FC Dallas vs Chicago Fire. Unless you get the MLS Direct Kick pay-per-view package, you might want to watch this match. Since national games are usually on Saturday afternoons and Dallas can be pretty hot in the summer afternoon, very few FCD home games are broadcast and their Pizza Hut Park is the second nicest facility in the league. (The game will be broadcast at 4:00 PM Eastern Time on ABC).

The highlight of the first weekend is a rematch of last year's MLS Cup championship final between Los Angeles Galaxy and New England Revolution, who are supported by smarter soccer fans. The "champions" from southern California (who finished 9th of 12 in last year's regular season) are looking for another win against New England, who have not won away to Los Angeles since the league's inaugural season in 1996. There is a budding rivalry between these two sides. Once considered the Buffalo Bills of MLS, Los Angeles has now beaten New England in two MLS Cup finals and a US Open Cup (knockout tournament) final: all by a single goal, all in extra time. That game will also be broadcast on national television (Saturday on ESPN2 at 11:00 PM ET).

Los Angeles and New England are expected to be two of the three best teams in the league this year, along with the Houston Dynamo (formerly San Jose Earthquakes). The MetroStars also changed their name, becoming the New York Red Bulls after being bought by the energy drink company.

The Eastern Conference will be interesting. A lot of personnel changes have occurred. Columbus has a respected new coach in Sigi Schmid and a bunch of new players to freshed up what had become a broken down locker room. The addition of the exciting but erratic Eddie Gaven (in exchange for the equally erratic forward Edson Buddle) should make their midfielder stronger. But the loss of Buddle and Cornel Glen makes you wonder where the goals are going to come from. Kansas City lost key midfielders Chris Klein and Diego Guiterriez but gained the promising but difficult young forward Eddie Johnson. DC United lost the volatile Dema Kovalenko but otherwise kept the core of their team. The Red Bulls changed significantly, losing veteran defender Jeff Agoos and midfielders Gaven and Michael Bradley and forward Ante Razov; but gaining Buddle, midfielder Chris Henderson and defenders Marvell Wynne and former Leicester City man Peter Canero. New York's lack of a spine may hurt them. Defending conference champions New England are the only team without any key changes, so look for them to repeat. Their main challenge will be dealing with player losses to the World Cup. They could lose anywhere from zero to four key starters to the Germany-bound US team. But since the regular season means very little in MLS (as evidence by the 9th place team out of 12 last year becoming "champions"), any June hiccup for New England might not be a big deal.

The Western Conference should be more straight forward and not much different from last year as there seemed to be less player movement. Though Chivas USA, one of the worst team's in league history last year, revamped their squad and brought in a new coach so I expect them to be more competitive this year. Colorado should continue its mediocrity and FC Dallas will continue to excite, if not defend. Los Angeles and their former California rivals now in Houston should battle it out for the one spot.

PREDICTIONS

East
1) New England
2) DC United
3) Kansas City
4) New York
5) Columbus
6) Chicago

West
1) Houston
2) Los Angeles
3) FC Dallas
4) Chivas USA
5) Colorado
6) Real Salt Lake

That's just for the regular season. Who knows how the playoffs will go. One can only hope that this year's MLS Cup will go to a team who actually played like a deserving champion all (or at least most) of the year.