Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Another thumbs down

Seems that I wasn't the only one 'round these parts to take the time in his weekly soccer column to give a giant vote of no confidence to the MLS playoff system. Nick Green of the Daily Breeze and I both apparently feel the same about the MLS playoff system.

Now, Nick brought up some points I didn't. He pointed to woefully low attendance numbers around the league as evidence that there is little excitement for playoff games beyond the hardcore fans. I can't say I disagree. If there were more excitement about these matches, it seems that teams would be able to draw more than just an average home attendance.

With regards to the two-leg opening round, if there is any more evidence supporting what should be the demise of having a two-game series it would be the attendance figures. If all these games were played before large crowds, then you might have at least a financial foot to stand on. Why get rid of a round that draws large crowds? But the opposite is true. This round seems to draw no more than a regular home game. So why bother then? Why bother with allowing all teams to host at least one playoff game when half of them don't deserve to in the first place?

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