Congratulations Real Salt Lake on winning the MLS Cup and on ushering in a new era of MLS.

Perhaps, that is an overambitious statement, but I think it can be justified. Actually, the era was begun in 2005, but it is 2009 that has become the pivotal year in the expansion era. With its win, RSL becomes to first expansion franchise since Chicago in 1998 to win the MLS Cup.* Combined with the first year success of Seattle and the fourth straight playoff berth for Chivas USA, there are plenty of MLS expansion success stories from 2009.

I consider RSL’s accomplishment the most important. Attendance records are great for building the game and building a consistently good soccer team should be a franchise’s goal, but RSL’s winning the Cup is a statement.

RSL’s victory is a coming of age story. After a 1-0 victory that they scrapped out in Salt Lake against the Crew, they went to Columbus to face the Support Shield winner that had a 9-4-2 home record while RSL had a 2-2-11 record and a minus 15 goal differential in road games. RSL went down two early, but fought back for a 4-2 aggregate victory. In Chicago, after another tenacious game, it took clutch penalty kicks and three penalty saves from Nick Rimando to extend their season. In a final that was nothing if not competitive, RSL once again proved its determination. Perhaps there was little difference between last year’s RSL team that lost to New York and this year’s that won it all, but there seemed a maturity in this year’s team that was evident throughout the playoffs.

The balance of power in the league will not tip based solely on a four game run by RSL, but the writing is on the wall for the expansion teams of the last five years to begin making some noise. The expansion teams seem to be rising. Chivas or TFC both have the pieces to be next year’s coming of age story. Seattle has laid out a blueprint for how to make a first year team successful. Can it be followed as successfully by the Union? Meanwhile, DC looks to rebuild, LA, Houston, Chicago, and Columbus may all lose stars this off season.

But this moment belongs to RSL. While fans may look back on this win as a paradigm shift in MLS, the players, coaches, and management should all be congratulated for not only surviving but also succeeding in an extremely tough stretch of matches.


* The Dynamo’s wins in 2006 and 2007 were the first for an expansion team, but it was the same franchise as the original San Jose Earthquakes. If you don’t think that matters just look at the success of the Ravens versus the new Browns.

The days leading up to the MLS Cup Final over the last week included more than a few opportunities for Commissioner Don Garber to speak on a variety of topics related to the way the league is run. Among those many topics was single table, and from the way Garber addressed the issue, he's both clearly tired of talking about it and solidly against it.


Last night in Seattle was a perfect example of why The Don sees American soccer as needing playoffs, and defends to the death his position.


When the Real Salt Lake's captain Kyle Beckerman took the trophy from Garber and joined his teammates on stage for the triumphant release, a moment which was immediately preceded by the team chanting "WE WANT THE CUP!", it was hard not to get chills. Without the playoffs, and without a knockout tournament that ends in a final game packed to the breaking point with tension, that moment just cannot happen.


The game itself added to the glory of the moment, of course, though I'm sure the Utahans wouldn't have been any less ecstatic to win had they dominated. 120 minutes of soccer, ugly at some times, well-played at others, but always highly competitive, came down to spot kicks, ratcheting up the drama to the highest level possible. Both keepers, Josh Saunders despite having to come in off the bench, acquitted themselves well. Players on both sides took the moment by the throat and banged in their penalties with authority. Others, as always happens in those situations, failed at the biggest moment, inevitably putting the focus on those that missed. Stars who miss get the lion's share of that focus, and that is what Landon Donovan will deal with, at least for a few days.


But the game wasn't just about Donovan, or Edson Buddle (who also didn't score on his penalty, which was poor), or Beckham; the game was about the crowing of a champion in that way that Americans are so accustomed. It was also about the stage on which the drama unfolded, and it would be wrong not to point out what wonderful stage it was; Seattle and its fans put on a proper Cup Final, showed up in large numbers to support the league despite their team's playoff dismissal, and capped off one of the most extraordinary expansion stories one will ever see. 2009 may just be another year in the developing history of Major League Soccer or it could go down as one of the more memorable ever; the latter seems more likely, with so much to point to in the maturation of professional soccer in the United States. Love them or hate them, much of that is thanks to the record-breaking success of the Seattle Sounders.


David Beckham and the Galaxy didn't get their championship moment. The last chapter (or most recent; we'll see what happens next July) of The Beckham Experiment ends with disappointment. Landon Donovan may have closed out his MLS career on a low, leaving behind the memory of failure in the biggest moment. The Galaxy, a worst to first story thanks to the coaching of Bruce Arena and the reconciliation of their two brightest stars, head back to LA as runners-up. The game doesn't always cooperate when it comes to fairy tale endings.


Unless you're the winner, of course. "Fairy tale" is exactly how one might describe the ending for Real Salt Lake. The last team in the playoffs, lucky to even make the post-season, Jason Kreis and Co. took advantage of their lifeline and turned it into a championship. The RSL story is a good one, whether the playoff system is the best system or not; they stepped up when it counted most, and there's a certain fairness in that. Columbus was the best team over the course of the season, but failed against RSL when given the opportunity to prove their predominance; rail against the "hottest team wins" circumstance if you like, but there's nothing "undeserving" about Salt Lake.


Great drama, great crowd, great game, and a new champion. Congratulations to Seattle, congratulations to MLS, and most importantly, congratulations to Real Salt Lake, your 2009 MLS Champions.

Real Salt Lake are your 2009 MLS Champions. Wow, what a game.


It's late on the evening (morning?) after the MLS Cup Final, and I'm only moments away from dragging myself off to bed; but before I go, I wanted to outline what you can expect from MFUSA in light of the events in Seattle.


I should have a post on the spectacle that is the MLS Cup Final up sometime Monday morning; the game itself and the drama it carried were fantastic showcases for the league, and rightly deserve a look. I also plan to follow up with a piece on the field surface at Qwest, and how it turned a potentially well-played game into a series of poor touches, bad passes, and ugly tackles. Injuries were too big a part of tonight's match, and while Qwest served as a nice backdrop for the game, too much was lost by playing it on artificial grass.*


I'm also hoping to cajole our other MFUSA writers into giving their thoughts on what took place tonight, be it on the game as a whole, the Final-as-showpiece, or the ugly PK miss by Landon Donovan in what might be his last MLS match.


Check back regularly as we attempt to look at the MLS Cup Final from every angle possible.

*All of that is dependent on if I can get my brain to work tomorrow. Here's to hoping.