MLSnet.com site redesign

MLSnet.com has been redesigned. I like the subtitle of the article: New, improved features keep MLSnet.com as nation's leading soccer Web site. There's nothing like good old-fashioned humility, proclaiming themselves the #1 US soccer site! Personally, I am not yet convinced that the changes are anything more than aesthetic (the site really does look better); at first glance, the functionality has not been improved.

Weekly standings

This week, I did the standings based upon pts/gp, with w/gp being used as a determining factor in the instances where two or more teams were tied after figuring the pts/gp.

1. New England
2. New York
3. Houston
4. FC Dallas
5. Kansas City
6. Chivas USA
6. D.C. United
7. Chicago
8. Colorado
9. Columbus
10. Toronto FC
11. Los Angeles
12. Real Salt Lake

If the Cup were to be played today, it would be between New England and Houston.

Note to other bloggers: even with Blogger's nice little autosave feature, it is still a good idea to have your posts saved elsewhere before you try to post. That way, if you lose power right as you hit the publish button (thereby being kicked offline), you don't lose your post.

Weekly standings

I've decided to take a different approach to the stats this week. In the past, I've ranked teams based on their total of points. However, the results are skewed when you consider that not all teams have played the same number of games at a given point in time. For example, at the time of this posting, FC Dallas has 14 GP under their belt, while LA has only 9. Therefore, I have decided to rank teams based upon their percentage of the games that they have 1) won and 2) tied. (Yes, I realize that others have probably been doing this for a long time, but I am only a wannabe statistician.) The results are the following:

1. Kansas City
2. New York
3. Chivas USA
3. D.C. United
4. FC Dallas
5. New England
6. Houston
7. Toronto FC
8. Colorado
9. Chicago
10. Los Angeles
11. Columbus
12. Real Salt Lake

Compare that to the stats, as done my old way:

1. FC Dallas
2. New York
3. Kansas City
4. New England
5. D.C. United
5. Chivas USA
6. Houston
7. Colorado
8. Chicago
9. Toronto FC
10. Los Angeles
11. Columbus
11. Real Salt Lake

Done the new way, KC (#3 in points, but with a 60% win record), is now ranked over FC Dallas (#1 in points, but with a 50% win record). It also points out the rather painful positions of Columbus (1 win, 9% win record) and Real Salt Lake (0 wins, 0% win record). Ouch.

And finally, in keeping with tradition, if the Cup were to be played today, it would be between KC and Chivas USA, with KC having the edge in percentage of games won.

Weekly standings

1. New York
2. FC Dallas
2. Kansas City
3. New England
4. Houston
5. Colorado
6. Chicago
6. Chivas USA
6. D.C. United
7. Toronto FC
8. Columbus
9. Los Angeles
9. Real Salt Lake

If the Cup were to be played today, it would be between NYRB and FC Dallas. I know that I should probably be over my amazement NYRB's steady success this year, but I'm not. Not yet.

Weekly standings

1. New York (0)
2. Kansas City (0)
3. New England (-2)
4. FC Dallas (-2)
5. Colorado (-2)
6. Chicago (-2)
7. Chivas USA (-3)
7. D.C. United (-2)
8. Houston (-1)
8. Toronto FC (-1)
9. Columbus (-3)
10. Los Angeles (-2)
10. Real Salt Lake (-2)

If the Cup were to be played today, it would be between NYRB and FC Dallas. Ever since resuming my posting this year, FC Dallas seems has consistently stayed at the top of the West. On the east, NYRB has suprisingly had a pretty solid season so far. Columbus has consistently played poorly, and you know what they say about consistency.

Update: FIFA bans high-altitude matches

You may recall this post from last week about FIFA's ban of high altitude matches. Apparently this was a big enough story for the BBC to have collected a selection of readers' views on the ban.

The daily news

Lonestar rivals hook up in Houston (You can see the official MLS preview here.) This should be good one to watch. While this game hardly has the status here as the annual Texas-Oklahoma football game (or the Ohio State-Michigan game in my home state), games like this between two teams within a several hours' drive of each other always have a fun intensity to them, due to the mitigation of the home field advantage.

Site search for MLS team shifts to suburbs News on a possible expansion team in Portland

Pro soccer could return to Bay Area in '08 Portland isn't the only city vying for a team; San Jose wants theirs back.

U.S. Soccer hopes to keep rolling OK, so this isn't MLS news, but it relates to the USMNT, so it warrants a link here.