Posted: Monday, February 20, 2012, 7:55 PM | 3 comments |

A little something to tide you over

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As we all await the start of the 2012 Major League Soccer season, here's something for you to think about.

Daily News stats maven* Bob Vetrone Jr. is celebrating Presidents' Day with an interesting series of posts on his blog, BoopStats. He is examining the number of times in recent seasons that teams with the best regular season records in various sports went on to win their respective playoff championships.

(The idea for this comes from the fact that the NHL awards the Presidents' Trophy to the team with the best regular-season record.)

It doesn't happen very often, whether in baseball, football, basketball or hockey.

Those of you who've followed MLS for a while know that the league has its own history of playoff failures by regular-season powers.

Only six times in the league's 16-year history has the Supporters' Shield winner triumphed in the MLS Cup Final. The most recent team to do so was the Los Angeles Galaxy this past season.

Here is the history. As you read it, make sure at the appropriate moments to remember those teams and team names that have left us over the years. Carlos Valderrama will thank you.

Year	Winner	Wins	Losses	Ties	Points	Playoff Result
1996	Tampa Bay Mutiny	20	12	--	58	Lost Conference Final
*1997*	D.C. United	21	11	--	55	Won MLS Cup
1998	Los Angeles Galaxy	24	8	--	68	Lost Conference Final
1999	D.C. United	23	9	--	57	Won MLS Cup
2000	Kansas City Wizards	16	7	9	57	Won MLS Cup
2001	Miami Fusion	16	5	5	53	Lost Semifinal
*2002*	Los Angeles Galaxy	16	9	3	51	Won MLS Cup
2003	Chicago Fire	15	7	8	53	Lost MLS Cup
2004	Columbus Crew	12	5	13	49	Lost Conference Semifinal
2005	San Jose Earthquakes	18	4	10	64	Lost Conference Semifinal
2006	D.C. United	15	7	10	55	Lost Conference Final
2007	D.C. United	16	7	7	55	Lost Conference Semifinal
*2008*	Columbus Crew	17	7	6	57	Won MLS Cup
2009	Columbus Crew	13	7	10	49	Lost Conference Semifinal
2010	Los Angeles Galaxy	18	7	5	59	Lost Conference Final
2011	Los Angeles Galaxy	19	5	10	67	Won MLS Cup

* - "Maven" is an understatement, but it's all I can come up with at the moment. Among Boop's many responsibilities at the Daily News is assembling all those agate pages with standings, box scores and such. His work often flies under the radar, but it deserves recognition. So here's some.

Posted by Jonathan Tannenwald @ 7:55 PM Permalink | 3 comments

Comments

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:10 AM, 02/21/2012

And of course this is the reason why the Eurocentric fans of MLS will argue that a playoff system is stupid. But my feeling is this; if your team is good enough to finish first over 30+ games during the regular season, then there's no excuse why they can't win 3 more games in a row to win the whole thing.

— BigBrain61

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 10:41 AM, 02/22/2012

yeah well a few "stars" get hurt & referee allow the "players to play" and FOUL all game. Best team is found in a table format.

— PhillyUnionFan

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 1:33 PM, 02/22/2012

Jon
Interesting observation (as usual) but I think the term "history" shouldn't be used in connection with a league that has only been around since 1996. Better to say "Only six times in the 16 years that the MLS has existed...etc etc.

— lmscdad

3 comments

About Jonathan Tannenwald

The Goalkeeper is your home for the latest news about the Philadelphia Union, Philadelphia Independence, U.S. national teams and the rest of the world's most popular sport. It's also a place for fans to gather and celebrate the culture of soccer and its unique place on the sports landscape.

Jonathan Tannenwald is a sports producer for Philly.com. He became a soccer fan while watching the 1998 World Cup at a bar in Avignon, France, and he's been writing about the sport ever since.

He also writes Philly.com's college sports blog, Soft Pretzel Logic.

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You'll also see occasional contributions from Inquirer soccer writer Marc Narducci and Daily News soccer writer Kerith Gabriel.