MLS Saturday Night Live

The Bakery experiment of watching all three games at once was a bit of a success. After playing in a tournament all day, sitting on a couch without moving sounded like an excellent idea. Since all laptops in the house were in use, there was no time for the live blogging. However, here's a few thoughts afterwards:

• New York disappointed me. Starting Angel, Altidore, and Doe and not getting any goals to show for it is a bad sign. I also thought Mathis should've come on earlier. A win for the Red Bulls was crucial. I'm not so sure they can go up to Massachusetts and get one.
  
• The second leg of Dallas-Houston should be fun to watch. These teams just don't like each other. Carlos Ruiz throw a nasty elbow to Eddie Robinson on a header, and then Cochrane and Robinson were both able to get some revenge later. Dallas got the best revenge though, with a goal by Clarence Goodson of all people.
  
• I don't know if Dallas can defend for 90 minutes in Houston. I hope Morrow doesn't get too conservative, I don't think it plays to the Hoops' strengths.
  
• Chivas was kind of screwed going into the game, with both Galindo and Razov out of action. They were forced into an unfamiliar 4-5-1 with Le Croissant playing by himself up top.
  
• I guess Preki wanted to start conservatively, then have the option of bringing on Cunliffe to play their traditional 4-4-2 if needed. Well, it was after Davy Arnaud's free kick went through the wall and took a deflection to get past Guzan.
  
• Cunliffe looked dangerous, but it wasn't enough for the Goats. Knowing who they were missing, I think they're actually okay with the one goal deficit.
  

I hate fantasy sports and prediction contests. I have the worst luck in them, and usually just end up jinxing whoever I pick. It used to be a running joke in my fantasy football or baseball leagues that I would just ruin the career of whoever I took. The worst was when I drafted the reigning AL Rookie of the Year. One month into the season, he went on the DL for "headaches". He was back in the minors a few months after that. I picked Twins' catcher Joe Mauer during his first year. He went 3-3 on opening day, and tore his ACL. I apologize to Cubs fans for picking Mark Prior and Kerry Wood consistently, their balsa wood arms never stood a chance.

That being said, it's no shock that I haven't even scored a point in the Cupcakes/Center DUEL. Maybe next week I'll pick what I don't want to happen, a little reverse psychology might reverse the curse. Either way, it's looking like the Mad Dog might be calling my name...