The Fall Season Halfway Mark, or The Combined Table Two-Thirds Mark!

There are many reasons to love American sports leagues. One of the best parts is the irrational way leagues schedule games and determine the playoffs. In the NBA it's not uncommon for teams with losing records to make the playoffs. In the NFL teams don't even face half of the other teams in the league. I couldn't even began to tell you how the NHL operates. Thankfully the NASL structures their schedule in a similarly irrational way.

Last Saturday, our Loons played their ninth game of the season, meaning they hit that all-important fall season halfway mark. If the fall season ended now they'd be in 2nd place in the fall table and 1st in the combined table. Of course this wouldn't matter because they won the spring season, a nine game stretch that was completed nine games ago. Winning the spring season gave Minnesota one of four spots in the playoffs, but those don't start for another nine games when the fall season ends.

This all makes sense right?

The NASL playoffs consists of four teams: the winner of the nine-game spring season, the winner of the eighteen-game fall season, and the two teams with the best record in the combined season that didn't win either the fall or spring season. It's as clear as mud, folks.

This season's structure is a new one, and it seems to have something to do with the World Cup. NASL thought it necessary to take a six-week break at the same time the World Cup was played. I guess that's out of respect for the FIFA calendar because I'm not sure the tournament had any impact on NASL rosters. So with a break happening early in the summer, the league was left with too few weeks to work with in the spring and too many to use in the summer and early fall.

There are some out there don't like this lopsided split-season. Having one playoff spot determined after just nine games could open a spot for a team with a losing record after the full 27-game season ends. Plus, that nine game season means half of the teams will play one more home game than the other half of the league, giving them an unfair advantage.

I don't see the problem with any of this. The league has arbitrarily given advantages to half the teams in the league and potentially given a leg up for crappy teams. Isn't that the American way? The alternative to this type of split season, one with nine games in the first half and eighteen in the second half, is what exactly? Two evenly split seasons with nine games each? Or just one season with eighteen games where each team plays everyone once at home and once away? And what, the four best teams overall advance to the playoffs? This sounds a little too rational. Where do people think they are, Europe?

How does that work for Europe anyway? After 22 seasons, the English Premier League has crowned just five teams as champions. One of them, Manchester United, has won the league 13 times. And just last spring in Spain, Atlético Madrid were the first team not named Barcelona or Real Madrid to win the league in ten years. Those two leagues perfectly illustrate how a rational schedule can lead to the richest teams winning all of the trophies.

If anyone wants a good example of the pitfalls of a free market, especially when compared to the benefits of socialism, look no further than professional sports. The laissez-faire nature of European soccer has lead to an elite few dominating financially, while the redistributive policies of American sports leagues has lead to greater parity and has strengthened smaller teams who are without deep pockets. That's right, the Americans are the socialists in the sports world.

It's that type of irony that makes me love American sports. That, and the irrationality.

I'm not sure what schedule the NASL will come up with next year, but one can hope they continue their slide towards American-style irrationality. Maybe they could split the season into three parts instead of two. And then they could have playoffs after each mini season to determine the champions of each season, who then go on to another playoff to determine the champion of the full 2015 calendar year. No matter what happens the season will differ from the 2014 season as two new teams, Jacksonville Armada and Oklahoma City FC, join the NASL. Can't wait to see if any of these newcomers will challenge for the Late Spring/Early Summer 2015 Cup.

Those Darn Rowdies

I'm enjoying these photoshop jobs by Minnesota United's PR team today:

Be part of something special. Our championship season continues Saturday! #MNUvTBR tickets: http://t.co/R8JXmSSDDa pic.twitter.com/4BIT7xKfuE
— Minnesota United FC (@MNUnitedFC) September 4, 2014

Two awesome fan images, blown up to add that nice pixel-look, making that cut-and-paste job that much more difficult for the art department. There's shade of the the LA Galaxy Landon Donovan send off in these pics:

Such a choppy beard, you have

Like the top image points out, United have a game agains the Rowdies tonight. There's a quasi-rivalry between these two teams because Tampa Bay and the Twin Cities make for a natural rivalry, geographically speaking.

Minnesota won the 2011 NASL championship in the league's first season, and Tampa Bay won it the next year. More recently, Minnesota won the spring championship at Tampa this past June. Both teams tend to score a lot of goals when they play each other, including a 3-3 draw this year and a 6-4 United victory last year. Tampa Bay's Brian Shriver won the golden boot last year and United's Christian Ramirez will most likely win it this year.

There's a lot of similarities between the two clubs and the league is eager to play this up into a rivalry. Maybe you buy into this, maybe you don't. Rivalries bring fans, and yet it's hard to find natural ones with a 10 team league. With that said, Tampa Bay already has a more natural rivalry with Ft. Lauderdale, and Minnesota fights for the Flyover Cup every year with FC Edmonton. Both seem to be a natural fit based on a map of NASL teams.

On the other hand, the drive to Edmonton from Minneapolis is 1200 miles, while a drive to Tampa is 1600. Neither distance really seems geared to foster much of a rivalry for fans. Maybe it's time for Minnesota fans to try and kickstart a more natural rivalry, say with a team like Indy Eleven. The only problem with that is Indy's team has won a measly 8 points out of 9 games this spring season, and it's much harder to start a rivalry with a team struggling like they are.

After thinking it over, maybe it's not such a bad idea to play up this Rowdies-United rivalry. I mean, seriously, who can love a team called "The Rowdies." And those colors. Green and gold? Ugly. Stupid Rowdies. I hate them so much. Go Loons!