The Eliminated: Who Are You Rooting for in the Playoffs?
In MLS, 56% of teams made the playoffs this year, meaning your team had a pretty good chance to make at least the 4 v. 5 game of the playoffs (except you, Toronto fans, sorry). Of course, at the end of the season, 44% of teams didn’t. Some just fell short, like Montreal and FC Dallas. Some were a little farther away. But the fact remains that if you are a soccer fan and your team didn’t make the playoffs, even these tantalizing match-ups can be at times hard to watch as you wonder what if.
Except that the playoffs give fans a chance for a little bit of schadenfreude. Even the most kindhearted of fans can admit that seeing a certain team lose or drop out of the playoffs gives them a good feeling and a rooting interest in the playoffs. Living in the DC area, I know the past five years DC United fans rooted hard against the Red Bulls every year to drop out and not break their trophy-less streak.
Teams outside the top 10 have rivals they’d love to see fail; New England fans have plenty of teams to root against in the first round. MLS and soccer fans in general may also root against the Galaxy and Red Bulls as the two most high-profile MLS teams with the biggest stars. Or some fans may root against teams because of players; Steven Lenhart certainly has his detractors and the sight of him raising the Cup may rankle some people.
But there are some positive storylines as well. Maybe you want to see New York FINALLY win a trophy, or see a final of MLS superscorer Chris Wondolowski versus the stout Kansas City defense. Or maybe you want Brian Ching, if he is actually retiring, to hoist the Cup one more time.
Let’s hear from those whose teams aren’t in the playoffs: who are you rooting for or against, and what is your reasoning?
12 Responses to The Eliminated: Who Are You Rooting for in the Playoffs?
Actually, I root for LA because they have the biggest stars and I know that bothers everyone. First though, I root against RSL. Next, I root against Seattle, Portland, Dallas, and Columbus. I guess this year I’m hoping SJ or LA win the cup.
I agree with you on San Jose winning this year.
Bitter a little ?
Are your anti-picks in order. For instance, Salt Lake, then Seattle, then Portland, or are SEA, PDX, Dallas and Col all the same
I’m seeing a therapist.
Well, San Jose is the top team this year, so I am set. When they are not, I always root against LA because the rivalry is so bitter between the Galaxy and the Quakes. I pick based on where I would consider living. I love the west coast and if I ever leave the bay area, I would probably move to Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, or San Diego/LA, so I root for the Sounders, Portland, or Chivas (it would just be impossible to root for LA at this point). If I were to ever move back to the east coast (highly unlikely), it would probably be to the DC area, so United would be my pick. In order, my fallback teams are 1. Chivas USA, 2. Seattle 3. Portland 4. DC United 5. Vancouver.
to be honest i’m rooting for the MLS playoffs to be a TV ratings disaster. It is every year anyway. If it continues to be ignored by even American soccer fans hopefully MLS will wake up and realize that their Americanization of the game with playoffs to decide regular season champ has turned off a lot of people.
How is that working for you so far ?
no one is watching
Yeah, I know. How dare Mexico.
Sounder’s fan for over 30 years….
so Seattle, even though it appears Toronto has a better chance of scoring in a playoff game.
Great games this weekend. The LA San Jose game wouldn’t have been great, but the ET goal was so beyond perfect for the regular season SJ had.
Any team who can beat LA.
So currently that’s San Jose.
LA all the way! Suck it San Jose!
Other than that, my other team is Portland…soo..I guess I missed the point of the question.