Week 17 Notes:

• There’s no sense in me commenting on the COL/CMB game when Dr. Chuck has already said it all:

NO BALLS AT ALL
NO BALLS AT ALL
WE PLAY IN A LEAGUE THAT'S GOT NO BALLS AT ALL

That's what I'd be singing if I was at Mile High today.

Three things define this match:

• The seeming willingness of Hankinson to accept a draw from the get-go. I mean, Colorado didn't have a single spell where they played a consistent attacking soccer. This was Columbus' game.
• Kyle Martino and Jeff Cunningham running smack into one another with a substantial attack on. I mean, Kyle's got the ball and Jeff tackles him and takes the ball. What the blazes was up with that?
• Very simply: Maisonneuve for Martino, 80th minute. Greg Andrulis might as well have run up the white flag and said "Hey, we're closing it down, thanks for a good game!"

This is why people hate soccer, folks. This game was UNSPEAKABLE. No player or coach on either team should get paid.

Do I really need to say anything more?

• Metros hadn’t beaten Chicago in their last 10 games. Ouch.
  

• Henry Ring was back in goal for Chicago, thus restoring my precarious sense of order in the Universe.
  

• Eddie Gaven has defensive “issues”. I say this because of the difficulty he had on Chris Armas’s goal in the first half. He didn’t look nearly as composed as he does when he’s on the other side of the field. But, as is the norm in soccer, nobody will care as long as he’s scoring. If I were a Metros fan, I wouldn’t.
  

• Speaking of Metros fans, they were in fine voice Saturday evening. You could hear the chants and drums loudly and constantly. It really added to the atmosphere.
  

• Kansas City, on the other hand, has a front office that insists on adding lots of canned music and sound effects to the match. Oy. I rank that kind of thing right up there with white soccer shoes as one of the top aesthetic blights on the game.
  

• John Wolyniec. All this guy does is score winners. If Columbus had any sense, they’d insist on this guy in exchange for Szetela. Since they’re not going to get Gaven, and they’re not going to get Magee, I think Woly would fit the bill. Maybe with a young prospect or a high draft pick thrown in.
  

• I wish there were a way for both teams to lose the same game. That would, for me, be the perfect result of a KC/LA matchup.
  

• Watching the second half of the LA/KC game was entertaining enough to make up for having watched the first. Davy Arnaud is becoming a monster. His goal scoring tear continues. Jack Jewsbury had a cracker of a goal from distance. LA looked beat, and then came up with goals from Sasha Victorine and Tyrone Marshall. Marshall’s came in the 95^th minute. Yes, the 95^th. Tony Meola played a terrific game and deserved better from his defense.
  

• Can LA get through one game without the handbags coming out? Yet another un-manly catfight. Any surprise Ruiz was involved? No one got tossed either. Unbelievable. In fact the only one to get anything was Ruiz, who saw yellow. Schadenfreude, anyone?
  

• Brad Davis had the breakout game all Dallas fans have been praying for. Two goals and an assist as FC Dallas gives United a good ol’ fashioned trip to the woodshed. Finally.
  

• Some kid named Adu scored in that game too. Maybe the poor young man will get some publicity now.
  

• The really bad news from MLS this week was that Clint Dempsey is out for up to six weeks with a broken jaw (thanks, CJ Brown). He’s only the most exciting player in the league this season. I feel for New England, but I also feel for anyone who misses an opportunity to watch this kid play.
  

• Kamler and Brillant were lost to injuries this week for New England as well. It’s like watching a M*A*S*H marathon, this team. Every time you turn around, there’s more wounded.
  

• Jose Cancela started living up to his potential as a goal scorer against San Jose. He really needs to step up, especially with Dempsey out, as the Revs make their annual late-season run on the playoffs. Someone on BigSoccer pointed out this week that the Revs are the anti-Sox. They get hot at about the same time the BoSox fade. Heh heh.
  

• The Revs were up 2-0 going into stoppage time, and ended up giving up a draw. It was an extremely chippy match, and the referee came very close to losing control. Landon Donavan should have been ejected for dissent.
  

• It’s not exactly a disaster for the Revs, who could have jumped into 4^th, and thus into the playoff zone, with a win, but it’s gotta be disheartening. It’s not panic time, though. They get a good break to heal up with the All-Star game coming up, Dempsey will be back after Labor Day with six weeks still left in the season, and I still think they’re a threat to make at least the semifinals.