MLS Review

I can't believe it! We're only in the first week of May and the Major League Soccer season is 1/4 of the way through. Is it just me or does time really fly as you get older? Anywho...
Most clubs have played 7 or 8 games, a few have only played 6 - MLS has a 30 game regular season. Still, it's a point in the season where some clubs are pulling away, some are still trying to tweak themselves and put a win streak together and others really need to pull it together or kiss this year bye-bye.
Chivas USA are a bit of a surprise to me. They are 6-1-1 for a league leading 19 points. I knew Chivas would be a good squad this year, but they have stormed out of the gate. Goalkeeper Zach Thornton can be credited with some of the glory. He has a 0.38 goals against average and has recorded 5 shutouts. Chivas is winning, but not one player is in the top 10 of MLS scoring leaders. If Chivas can find a "go-to" scorer, look out.
A couple of other surprises are the starts by DC United (3-1-3), who many picked to finish dead last in the East, and Toronto FC (3-2-3). TFC's fans deserve a winner and this could be the year they get into the playoffs.
The only undefeated team is Chicago (2-0-5), thanks in part to Brian McBride. The former National Team Striker is leading the league with 5 goals in 7 games. McBride's teammate, Marco Pappa, has 3 goals and 2 assists.
On the flip side, the defending champs, Columbus Crew, are off to their worst start ever and the worst start by a defending champ ever, 0-2-5. Same with the New York red Bulls - who played Columbus in the final. The Red Bulls are 1-5-2 and are changing their roster weekly.
Seattle Sounders FC are off to one of the best starts ever by an expansion team (4-2-1) thanks to goalkeeper Kasey Keller. Keller is a stone wall between the posts and still looks like he may have a shot at a 4th World Cup next summer.
Speaking of expansion, next season Philadelphia joins the league and on Monday, May 11th, at 11:30 AM EDT (strange time in my book), Philly will unveil the team's nickname, colors and ticket packages. They already have deposits for about 6,000 season tickets.
Finally, a few words about attendance. So far, MLS is averaging 14,796 fans per game - which is a tad lower than what the league would like, but not bad. Too many people want to compare soccer in America with the NFL and that's just insane. Even in Europe, most clubs average anywhere from 15 to 20,000. Only the "super clubs" (Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal) get 50 or 60,000. So as far as people going to games, they are. Seattle leads the league with an average crowd of 29,664. Second is Toronto with 20,180 (which is a sell-out). Third is the L.A. Galaxy at 19,761, followed by Houston (16,085), Chivas USA (14,839) and DC United (14,289). At the bottom are FC Dallas (9,747) - though Dallas is 1-5-1 and winning will turn that around, but it's going to be a long year in Dallas - and Kansas City (9,231). Though, the capacity for soccer at Community American Ballpark is only 10,385, so it' almost a sellout every night.
This Saturday, you can check out the following matches on TV:
7 PM EDT on Fox Soccer Channel - Columbus Crew vs. Kansas City Wizards
9 PM EDT on ESPN2 - Houston Dynamo vs. FC Dallas (The Texas Derby!)