People inclined to statistics, which I am not, will tell you that sample size matters. A large number of events is always better than the alternative, and little can be gleaned from one or two events.


Of course, when it comes to soccer, that rule is of little comfort or consequence, depending on the results, to passionate fans.


For the winners, things are bright. The Wizards look like world-beaters, a dangerous attacking team that can challenge the favorites in the East if they play similarly all year, and their fans must be bursting. New York got their first win in their new home out of the way, and no doubt their fans are brimming with optimism thanks what appears to be a much more organized and disciplined team. Colorado actually won on the road, and likely has their fans already dreaming of playoff glory.


For fans of Seattle, Columbus, and LA, this week's win was the first step down the trail they've presumably plotted to the MLS Cup Final.


The losers are bumming hard, particularly in DC, Chicago, and Toronto. There is consolation to be had in the fact that the losses came away from home, but none can be happy with their performances. Perhaps only Chicago fans can take any real positives out of their defeat, while the DC faithful are already in full hand-wringing mode.


The balanced scheduled and additional team, meaning that only half the clubs in the league will make the playoffs, ratchets up the importance of each and every game. With that knowledge comes less patience and more angst if a club has a bad start or shows poorly in their opener.


But MLS is a league of parity, and parity means that one game isn't necessarily a good indicator of a team's quality. Maybe United just had a bad night. The Fire were almost as unlucky as New York was good, and Toronto went into Columbus undermanned.


So relax everyone. Even you Galaxy, Sounders, and Columbus fans might want to put your wins in perspective; LA beat a team missing their best player, Seattle beat an extremely young expansion team, and Columbus beat a Toronto club that seems to think the season actually starts on April 10th. Points are points, of course, but it's a long season, and we won't really know who's good and who's not for at least a month. Maybe more.


The First Kick performance is just one brick in a thirty-brick wall that will be built over the course of the season.


It's curious, then, that Kansas City jumped from last in the Examiner's pre-season power rankings to first after one match. One very good match, to be sure, but one match nonetheless.

In an effort to cover the week of play in Major League Soccer, I'm introducing new feature called "The One Thing". These won't be match reports or recaps but will instead grab the most glaring (to me at least) story or element from the game. Keep in mind that each match's "The One Thing" is dependent on how much of it I'm able to see, and in those cases where I wasn't able to catch any of the action, I'll be focusing on the one moment, player, or decision that influenced the match the most (read: highlights).

If you're looking for a more comprehensive match report, I'll link to one in each capsule.


Here we go with an eventful First Kick weekend, which brought quality goals, dominant teams, and a few surprises.


Seattle Sounders 2, Philadelphia Union 0
Recap - AP via Fox Soccer

The One Thing: Union rough play

It would be nearly impossible to make anything else the focus for this game. The Union came out, with all of their youth and inexperience on full display, and tried to bully Seattle. That's not to say that the Sounders weren't guilty of their own moments of roughness, but Nowak's side was beyond the pale. And then Nowak goes and complains, calling Freddie Ljungberg "dishonest"? I'm no fan of Freddie's penchant for simulation, but Nowak's off his rocker here. Seattle looks good, though it's tough to tell how good they actually are until their tested by a more cohesive team that isn't suffering from debut jitters.


Chivas USA 0, Colorado Rapids 1
Recap - Goal.com

The One Thing: Maybe Wynne's a centerback

Yes, Omar Cummings is good, and yes his goal should probably be the one thing; but Marvell Wynne's steadiness in central defense on Friday night was somewhat surprising, and has me wondering if we'll see the speedster there all year long. Wynne had just joined the Rapids after his trade from Toronto, played in the center due to injury, and looked like he belonged there. It's completely counter-intuitive to put such a speedy player anywhere but fullback, but perhaps Wynne's instincts and inability to cross actually make him more effective elsewhere. TFC tried him in other spots in 2009, and never found the right fit; with Preki dumping him and Smith stumbling into a good performance from Wynne in the center, maybe its finally time for Marvell to solidify himself.


FC Dallas 1, Houston Dynamo 1
Recap: Zach Woosley for Goal.com

The One Thing: Atiba Harris

Just a well taken goal. Harris had way too much space at the top of the box, but the finish was fantastic nonetheless. FC Dallas is an enigma, a team with speed and talent in many spots coming off one of the most uneven seasons in recent memory. If Houston is to be their usual selves despite the loss of Clark and Holden, they'll need to hold on to leads. Credit Harris for getting his shot and curling it nicely to the far post, and FC Dallas for stealing a point in front of a terrible home crowd.


Columbus Crew 2, Toronto FC 0
Recap: AP via Google News

The One Thing: Schelotto's Crew

If GBS goes down with injury for any meaningful length of time this season, the Crew's chances for a top seed in the East might be done. But for now, Schelotto is what makes Columbus go, and Saturday against Toronto was no different. My ability to see this match was hampered by struggles with a certain online streaming service (ahem), but I saw enough to glean that as good as Columbus is, they'd be much different without their Argentine star. Columbus wasn't great, and Toronto is obviously still unsettled (not even having a full compliment of players at the moment) but the better team carried the day.


New York Red Bulls 1, Chicago Fire 0
Recap: ESPN Soccernet

The One Thing: Joel Lindpere

New York's Estonian signing alone makes the Red Bulls a much better team than they were in 2009. With Juan Pablo Angel struggling to impact the game, Lindpere took it upon himself to provide the offense in the regular season debut of Red Bull Arena. It's too early to label Lindpere an impact newcomer, but I'm going to do it anyway; I'm also going to do as far as to say he could be a surprise MVP candidate by the end of the season. His influence is notable both on offense and defense, and combined with a great home environment, should help New York turn around their fortunes.


Kansas City Wizards 4, DC United 0
Recap: Steve Goff at the Washington Post

The One Thing: Wizards In-sync

What was that? United made Kansas City look like an All-Star team, and suddenly I'm worried I've massively underrated the Wizards. Ryan Smith (injury report pending) appears to be a great pick up, Kei Kamara looked dangerous all night, and the Wizards defense shut down DC. It's impossible to know how much of that was United being poorly prepared and how much was Kansas City's talent, but for one night the Wizards looked like East contenders. Their passing was crisp and on target all over the field, they created chances, and finished three. The Jewsbury penalty was simply the icing on the cake for KC and the salt in the wound for DC.


San Jose Earthquakes 0, Real Salt Lake 3
Recap: Goal.com

The One Thing: Javier Morales

Wow. Two goal of the year candidates right off the bat for Morales, a player who can carry RSL all by himself when he wants to. The Quakes are poor, and there was no reason to believe they would give the champs a serious test in the opener; but the emphatic way the Utahans won the game, and the quality shown by Morales, bodes well for a good start in Sandy. The first goal was particularly jaw-dropping. I think I'll go watch it a few more times.


Los Angeles Galaxy 1, New England Revolution 0
Recap: AP via the Boston Globe

The One Thing: Donovan's Impact

Though he failed to dominate the game, its clear that Landon Donovan heads into the MLS campaign a very confident player. His class was on display at several points against New England, and thought he'll need to adjust back to to teammates who might not always be where they should, he alone can push LA's offense. The Galaxy methodically beat a Shalrie Joseph-less Revolution that they honestly should have thumped by three or more; but the defense was solid, Donovan provided the perfect service that led to Buddle's game-winner, and the Galaxy showed why they are one of the Western Conference favorites.

FC Dallas 1 Chicago Fire 3

As great as Cooper's goal was, there's absolutely no way he should have been able to score from there. Makes for great video though. Chicago looked thoroughly dominant to me (I might have missed the first 20 minutes or so), and I love the way Blanco takes free kicks. It's like he's trying to sneak the ball into the net.

KC Wizards 2 Toronto FC 3

I don't care who you are, soccer lover or not, this was a fantastic game to watch. It had a little of everything, included two absolute bombs from Davy Arnaud (one with each foot), a Chad Barrett-special (horrid effort on goal), and fantastic effort from Amado Guevara. Give KC credit for getting back in a match that looked lost. All that being said, I'm not sure if the game gives us any real indication of how good either side might be. Oh, and for only 10k, those fans in KC make a lot of noise.

Chivas USA 2 Colorado Rapids 1

Out of all of the games on Saturday, this is the one I probably paid the least attention to. I was attempting to write while watching this game on FSC, while also trying to follow New England-San Jose; so my impressions of the game are based solely on highlights and brief glimpses. In what seemed to be a running trend thoughout the weekend, goals were scored as a direct result of defensive blunders. Again, I think it's hard to tell how good either team actually is.

San Jose Earthquakes 0 New England Revolution 1

Again, a goal scored off what appeared to be a poor defensive play. Arturo Alvarez usually leaves me cold, but it appears as though he played relatively well in this match. I don't have much more; need to go back and take another look at the game, but that's not happening during the work day.

LA Galaxy 2 DC United 2

Somehow I missed this game when I posted this originally. Quickly then: Disappointment for DCU after being up 2-0, Donovan is the entire Galaxy team, that was not a penalty, good to see Ben Olsen playing again, where are all the people? There. Done.

Lemme explain. No, there is too much. Lemme sum up.

In summary, I thoroughly enjoyed the first week of the season, even if I didn't get to properly pay attention to any specific game. I did like the multi-game liveblog (hard to keep up obviously), but I may have to pick one game a week to focus on in the future.

The two teams that most impressed me? Seattle and Chicago, though I'm very aware of what that atmosphere meant to the Sounders; it's unlikely that they play quite that well going forward.

Feel free to share you impressions or your completely bias analysis in the comments.