Counterpoint: The New MLS Playoff Format DOESN’T Suck
By: Jerry | February 25th, 2011So, I was reading around on some of the other MLS Offside blogs – as I am wont to do from time to time – and I came across this post from my esteemed colleague Brenton over at the Vancouver Whitecaps Offside blog. He was stating that the new system rewards mediocrity and that the playoff system as a whole seems like a sham. I am inclined to disagree. The biggest problem with most of these arguments is that some people want MLS to be something it’s not: mainly, exactly like Europe.
Personally, I like the playoffs in MLS. Maybe that’s because I just like the idea of playoffs in general. I like the intensity that playoff games bring. I like the do-or-die nature of the playoffs. The “Win, or go home”. Where amazing happens. Will this be the year? And other assorted playoff slogans. The purpose of playoffs is to make the regular season more interesting. By adding 2 more playoff teams, more teams will have the opportunity, down the stretch, to make the playoffs. It’s possible that on the last day of the season we could see 4 or 5 teams that are fighting for those last two playoff spots. Also, there will be a few teams fighting for seeding. How would playing meaningful games at the end of the season be a bad thing for attendance and viewership of those teams?
Another argument is that teams who are bad will make the playoffs. It’s a fact that there will be teams who make the playoffs with a sub-.500 record. That’s not really a problem though because teams who had great regular seasons should be able to easily beat inferior competition. Right, New York and Los Angeles? If you have a great regular season, then you should have no problems beating a lesser team. If you surrender 3 goals at home in the second leg of a playoff (::cough:: Red Bulls ::cough::), you don’t really deserve to win a championship. In the end, it’s all decided on the field of play. If the Galaxy were good enough to win the Supporters Shield, then they should have been good enough to beat 3 teams who were under them for the entire season. Also, luck doesn’t play into this. You make your own luck. Dallas wasn’t lucky when they beat the Galaxy. They were just better than them.
I, for one, am looking forward to the upcoming MLS season with the new playoff format. I believe that we’ll see more meaningful games at the end of the season which will provide better a atmosphere around the stadiums as we head toward the end of the season.
Also, MLS has been at this for 16 years. I think they might have an idea of what they’re doing.
Only 22 days until Opening Night
C’MON THE U!
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Comments
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Touche (accent aigu), good sir.
It’s a fact that there will be teams who make the playoffs with a sub-.500 record. That’s not really a problem though because teams who had great regular seasons should be able to easily beat inferior competition.
Except, of course, that one-game play-offs reward one good game at a time, not an entire series of good games. It’s a different kind of win. Witness Portsmouth’s dramatic run to the FA Cup final. On any given day, Blackpool can beat Tottenham. But better teams prove themselves over an entire season.
If you like play-offs, with their unpredictability and their rewarding this is the format for you. If you like rewarding a team for dominating the entire season, less emphasis on the play-offs is a good thing.
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And kudos for the clip. I thought NBC pulled all their SNL stuff.
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you don’t need playoffs in soccer. You have Cup tournaments for that.
why is MLS so unpopular even with soccer fans in the US?
it’s because it’s been bastardized since its inception. They just never get it right.
I understand that MLS needs to add some end of year excitement because unlike Europe they don’t have a champions league that brings much prestige. But that doesn’t mean you follow a NBA/NHL model where the regular season is a big yawn just so you can have a little excitement in the playoffs. Soccer is not that kind of sport.
MLS could keep the MLS Cup, but call it a cup, not playoffs. The regular season champ in MLS should be the league champ. Then you could have 10 teams qualify for the MLS Cup. This keeps the season interesting to see who will qualify for the cup, while not sacrificing what is the true test of a league champion, the team that does it all year.
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To be fair, I don’t think a normal cup competition could work.
But that doesn’t mean I think teams with losing records should make the play-offs.
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16-year-olds do a lot of stupid things. Hopefully they aren’t so stupid that they prevent said 16-year-old from making it to 17, or 20, or 30. This playoff format isn’t catastrophic, but I agree with Brenton’s analysis, particularly when you compare it to other North American pro sports leagues (not even looking at Europe). Consider also that that the other leagues with 50% playoff participation (NHL/NBA) use best-of-seven formats to ensure that one lucky game doesn’t dump a superior team. To argue that they’ve been at it for 16 years and should know what they’re doing is frankly, an argument only a 16-year-old would make.
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Brenton,
a normal cup competition may not work but if you had a cup competition that allowed 10 team to qualify for while not taking away the regular season league champion you are getting both a legitimate regular season champion and a end of year cup champion.
single table
regular season champ = league champ
10 team MLS cup at the end of the year = MLS cup championsdo we think so little of the American soccer fan that we don’t think they could comprehend the multiple trophies in a year structure that works so well all over the world?
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do we think so little of the American soccer fan that we don’t think they could comprehend the multiple trophies in a year structure that works so well all over the world?
It’s how we’re conditioned to think about sports here. I can’t name the President’s Cup winners in the NHL or the regular season leaders in the NFL, but I can remember who won the Stanley Cup and the Super Bowl. (I can’t really, but you get my point.)
And especially when the league emphasizes it so much.
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brains aren’t collectively conditioned to think that way. Each sport has its own narrative.
Why do traditional soccer fans in this country shun MLS? Because it goes against our soccer narrative. I remember in the 90’s when it was announced that a new soccer league was going to form. I remember all of my family and the community i lived in at the time being excited. Then the league came and it was so Americanized: silly arena league team names, no ties w/ 35 yrd line shootouts, countdown clock,playoffs. Not to mention the name Major League Soccer was so uncreative, basically just cribbed from MLB with one word changed. The poor play on the field didn’t matter as much as everything else that went against the soccer narrative of fans of the sport.
MLS has never got those fans back. MLS’s fan base today is mostly made up of people who see soccer through an ethnocentric narrative. But its a very tiny fan base. They didn’t grow up watching international soccer so they aren’t offended by MLS. Even soccer fans who didn’t grow up watching soccer but now are fans of the sport see soccer through a global narrative – these fans reject MLS as well.
MLS can continue to appeal to that fan base that likes over half the league making end of season playoffs and the league will never go anywhere.
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why is MLS so unpopular even with soccer fans in the US?
Well, one big reason is that the largest group of soccer fans (by far) in the US continue to watch their “hometown” league — La Primera in Mexico.
Incidentally, that league uses playoffs to determine their champion. As do a lot of other soccer leagues around the world. MLS is hardly along in that.
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mexico is not a good comparison because they basically play 2 seasons in one year and then have a playoff.
and I’d really like to see some numbers on how many mexican-americans only watch La Primera. Maybe that’s true in border states but the majority of soccer fans in this country are english speaking.
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