• Speaking of financial instability and overspending, the MLS pragmatists need only point Down Under for an example of where league could be if the powers that be aren't careful. Australia's A-League is struggling with red ink, declining attendance, and a tough decision between slow-growth and rapid expansion. Sound familiar? The parallels between the A-League and MLS may be overblown just a bit, but there's probably a lesson in there somewhere. Australia is bidding, just as the U.S. is, for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, something that gets some of the blame for the A-League's lack of direction. The one parallel that doesn't exist is who controls the league; the Aussie FA runs the club competition there, a setup many American soccer fans would cringe to conceive of here.

• MLS players are (generally) underpaid, a situation that most observers and fans rightfully lament. But the opposite viewpoint is that American players are the opposite of "spoiled", a condition often applied to players in other parts of the world. A Polish site has taken a look at the difference between "spoiled" Polish players and those in Major League Soccer, using the latter to criticize the former (this was passed through Google translate, so I apologize for the difficult read); most interesting is the implication that here it's about winning, while there it's about money. I'm not sure that makes players here more virtuous, necessarily (some of them have little choice about where to play), but it does put our little league into perspective. Most galling for the Polish writer is the thought that the Americans, many of whom play in MLS, will be competing for the World Cup next year while those pampered Polish stars sit home.

• After all of the consternation over the needed renovations to Portland's PGE Park in preparation for the Timebers' MLS debut, the remodel plan won't increase the stadium's current capacity. Well, it will/can in some situations, but the typical capacity will be set at 17,000. That seems like a fairly low number to me, even with the mentioned ability to increase available seating to 22,000 when needed. I can't imagine that those Portland residents that continue to vehemently oppose the city's investment in soccer (and paint the league as risky proposition that isn't likely to last) will be too impressed.

• In contrast to Portland's low attendance bar is the continued raising of Seattle's; the Sounders are considering opening up the "Hawks Nest", general admission bench-style seating at the north end (shame on the writer for referring to the area of the stadium as the "end zone" in a soccer story) of Qwest Field as a response to high demand for tickets. The section of seats has a capacity of 2,200, meaning that sold out Sounders game next year could take place in front nearly 35,000 fans. The simple fact that Seattle has averaged 30,000 this season is stunning. If the momentum continues, and the Sounders prove that the initial heat won't be wearing off, 2010 should be another record-setting year in the Pacific Northwest.

• From the high of increased capacity at Qwest Field, we go to the low of the confirmation from Philadelphia Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz the the club won't be playing their home opener at the new Chester Stadium. Even worse, Sakiewicz suggests Union's second home game might not be played their either; construction delays are stealing some of the club's thunder as they head towards their MLS debut next year. I've joined the chorus of voices that suggest the league send the Union on an extended season-opening road trip to allow for stadium preparations to be completed rather than play in front of a half empty Lincoln Financial Field.

As I said during the March expansion announcement, the selection of Portland is contingent on the renovation of PGE Park and the relocation of the Beavers to another venue outlined in the deal between the City of Portland and the Paulson family. Without the fulfillment of this plan, MLS cannot expand to Portland.