Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 9

FC Dallas and the Montreal Impact maintain the #1 and #2 spots for the 3rd week in a row and the Portland Timbers move into the top 5 for the first time all year. The New England Revolution and Seattle Sounders move out of the bottom 5, replaced by the Chicago Fire and San Jose Earthquakes.

Biggest moves up this week: New England Revolution, Portland Timbers, Columbus Crew

Biggest drops: Philadelphia Union, Sporting Kansas City, San Jose Earthquakes

This week's rankings (+- vs last week):

1) FC Dallas (West)

2) Montreal Impact (East)

3) LA Galaxy (West) +2

4) Portland Timbers (West) +3

5) Houston Dynamo (East) -1

6) Sporting Kansas City (East) -3

7) New York Red Bulls (East) +1

8) Columbus Crew (East) +3

9) Chivas USA (West)

10) Philadelphia Union (East) -4

11) Colorado Rapids (West) +1

12) Real Salt Lake (West) -2

13) New England Revolution (East) +5

14) Seattle Sounders FC (West) +1

15) Chicago Fire (East) -2

16) Vancouver Whitecaps (West) +1

17) San Jose Earthquakes (West) -3

18) Toronto FC (East) -2

19) D.C. United (East)

Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 8

FC Dallas and the Montreal Impact maintain the top two spots in this weeks rankings, while the LA Galaxy takes a top five spot from Chivas USA. After eight straight weeks in the bottom five, the Chicago Fire jump up to number thirteen.

Biggest jumps up this week: Real Salt Lake, Chicago Fire and Seattle Sounders

Biggest drops: Chivas USA and the Vancouver Whitecaps

This week's rankings (+- last week):

1) FC Dallas (West)

2) Montreal Impact (East)

3) Sporting Kansas City (East) +2

4) Houston Dynamo (East) -1

5) LA Galaxy (West) +1

6) Philadelphia Union (East) +1

7) Portland Timbers (West) +1

8) New York Red Bulls (East) +3

9) Chivas USA (West) -5

10) Real Salt Lake (West) +4

11) Columbus Crew (East) -2

12) Colorado Rapids (West) -2

13) Chicago Fire (East) +4

14) San Jose Earthquakes (West) -1

15) Seattle Sounders FC (West) +4

16) Toronto FC (East) -1

17) Vancouver Whitecaps (West) -5

18) New England Revolution (East) -2

19) D.C. United (East) -1

Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 7

A change in the top spot this week! FC Dallas takes over for the Montreal Impact on the strength of a 5 game unbeaten streak, including 4 victories! The LA Galaxy drop out  of the top 5 for the first time all season, with Sporting KC returning after a 3 week absence.

Biggest gainers this week? Colorado Rapids, New York Red Bulls and Portland Timbers

Biggest drops? New England Revolution, LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes

Here you go (+ - vs last week):

1) FC Dallas (West) +2

2) Montreal Impact (East) -1

3) Houston Dynamo (East) +2

4) Chivas USA (West)

5) Sporting Kansas City (East) +2

6) LA Galaxy (West) -4

7) Philadelphia Union (East) +3

8) Portland Timbers (West) +4

9) Columbus Crew (East) -3

10) Colorado Rapids (West) +5

11) New York Red Bulls (East) +5

12) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)   -1

13) San Jose Earthquakes (West) -4

14) Real Salt Lake (West) -1

15) Toronto FC (East) -1

16) New England Revolution -8 (East)

17) Chicago Fire (East) +2

18) D.C. United (East)

19) Seattle Sounders FC (West) -2

2013 Major League Soccer Power Rankings Week 6

Big drops in the rankings this week by Real Salt Lake, DC United and the New York Red Bulls. Nice move up by the Portland Timbers and Colorado Rapids.

Montreal Impact maintain the top spot, with the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas swapping the #2 and #3 spots.

This week's rankings (+ - from last week):

1) Montreal Impact (East)

2) LA Galaxy (West) +1

3) FC Dallas (West) -1

4) Chivas USA (West) +1

5) Houston Dynamo (East) +1

6) Columbus Crew (East) -2

7) Sporting Kansas City (East)

8) New England Revolution (East) +1

9) San Jose Earthquakes (West) +1

10) Philadelphia Union (East) +2

11) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

12) Portland Timbers (West) +4

13) Real Salt Lake (West)  -5

14) Toronto FC (East) +1

15) Colorado Rapids (West) +3

16) New York Red Bulls (East)  -3

17) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

18) D.C. United (East) -4

19) Chicago Fire (East)

2013 Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 5

Were are 5 weeks into the 2013 Major League Soccer season, and we now have a pretty good feeling on the quality of the teams to date.

Here's my inaugural Power Rankings for 2013, Week 5:

1) Montreal Impact (East)

2) FC Dallas (West)

3) LA Galaxy (West)

4) Columbus Crew (East)

5) Chivas USA (West)

6) Houston Dynamo (East)

7) Sporting Kansas City (East)

8) Real Salt Lake (West)

9) New England Revolution (East)

10) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

11) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

12) Philadelphia Union (East)

13) New York Red Bulls (East)

14) D.C. United (East)

15) Toronto FC (East)

16) Portland Timbers (West)

17) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

18) Colorado Rapids (West)

19) Chicago Fire (East)

Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Matchweek 18, 7/10/12

Welcome to the top D.C. United!

D.C. United grabs the top spot this week by the slightest of margins over the San Jose Earthquakes.

Biggest move up in this week's rankings? The Philadelphia Union 7 spots to #11 and the New England Revolution up 6 spots to #7.

Biggest drops? The Colorado Rapids drop 7 spots to #18 and the Columbus Crew drop 6 spots to #10.

My Matchweek 18 Power Rankings:

1) D.C. United (East)

2) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

3) Chicago Fire (East)

4) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

5) LA Galaxy (West)

6) Sporting Kansas City (East)

7) New England Revolution (East)

8) New York Red Bulls (East)

9) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

10) Columbus Crew (East)

11) Philadelphia Union (East)

12) Houston Dynamo (East)

13) Real Salt Lake (West)

14) Portland Timbers (West)

15) Chivas USA (West)

16) Montreal Impact (East)

17) Toronto FC (East)

18) Colorado Rapids (West)

19) FC Dallas (West)

Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Match Week 17, July 1, 2012

I haven't posted these since week 12 (May 30th). I have still been tracking, but got a little lazy in posting them.

The San Jose Earthquakes are #1!

My Match Week 17 rankings:

1) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

2) D.C. United (East)

3) Chicago Fire (East)

4) Columbus Crew (East)

5) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

6) New York Red Bulls (East)

7) Sporting Kansas City (East)

8) LA Galaxy (West)

9) Real Salt Lake (West)

10) Houston Dynamo (East)

11) Colorado Rapids (West)

12) Portland Timbers (West)

13) New England Revolution (East)

14) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

15) Chivas USA (West)

16) Montreal Impact (East)

17) Toronto FC (East)

18) Philadelphia Union (East)

19) FC Dallas (West)

Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 12, 5/30/12

Since Major League Soccer is on an International break, this will be the last Power Ranking for a couple of weeks.

The New York Red Bulls maintain the top spot this week and the Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders make some big moves, although in opposite directions.

Biggest risers? The Columbus Crew rise 10 spots, the Houston Dynamo rise 5.

Biggest drops? The Seattle Sounders drop 8 spots, the Portland Timbers drop 3.

My week 12 rankings:

1) New York Red Bulls (East)

2) Real Salt Lake (West)

3) D.C. United (East)

4) Columbus Crew (East)

5) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

6) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

7) Colorado Rapids (West)

8) Houston Dynamo (East)

9) Sporting Kansas City (East)

10) Chicago Fire (East)

11) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

12) New England Revolution (East)

13) Portland Timbers (West)

14) Montreal Impact (East)

15) Chivas USA (West)

16) FC Dallas (West)

17) LA Galaxy (West)

18) Philadelphia Union (East)

19) Toronto FC (East)

Forgot to Post This Tuesday. Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Matchweek 11

I forgot to post this before last night's Major League Soccer Matches-so pretend they didn't happen...

The New York Red Bulls take over the top spot this week!

1) New York Red Bulls (East)

2) Real Salt Lake (West)

3) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

4) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

5) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

6) D.C. United (East)

7) Sporting Kansas City (East)

8) Chicago Fire (East)

9) Colorado Rapids (West)

10) Portland Timbers (West)

11) New England Revolution (East)

12) Montreal Impact (East)

13) Houston Dynamo (East)

14) Columbus Crew (East)

15) Chivas USA (West)

16) Philadelphia Union (East)

17) LA Galaxy (West)

18) FC Dallas (West)

19) Toronto FC (East)

Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Matchweek 10

The Sounders Maintain the Top Spot!

The Sounders maintain the top spot this week, but there was a significant shuffle in the top 5, with Sporting Kansas City and DC United dropping out, and Real Salt Lake and the Chicago Fire moving in.

Who climbed this week? The New England Revolution climbs 5 spots, while Real Salt Lake and the Columbus Crew each climb 4.

Who dropped? Sporting Kansas City drops 4 spots. DC United and FC Dallas each drop 3.

Matchweek 10 Rankings:

1) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

2) New York Red Bulls (East)

3) Real Salt Lake (West)

4) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

5) Chicago Fire (East)

6) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

7) Sporting Kansas City (East)

8) D.C. United (East)

9) Colorado Rapids (West)

10) Montreal Impact (East)

11) Houston Dynamo (East)

12) New England Revolution (East)

13) LA Galaxy (West)

14) Columbus Crew (East)

15) Philadelphia Union (East)

16) Chivas USA (West)

17) Portland Timbers (West)

18) FC Dallas (West)

19) Toronto FC (East)

Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Matchweek 9

The Seattle Sounders Take over the Top Spot This Week!

The top 5 remain the same in this week's rankings, but with a reordering. The Seattle Sounders take over the top spot, with last week's #1, Sporting Kansas City dropping down to #3. The New York Red Bulls swapped positions with DC United, taking over the 4th spot.

Biggest move up? The Montreal Impact moves up six spots to #9.

Biggest drops? FC Dallas drops 7 spots to #15 and the LA Galaxy drops 3 spots to #12.

This week's rankings:

1) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

2) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

3) Sporting Kansas City (East)

4) New York Red Bulls (East)

5) D.C. United (East)

6) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

7) Real Salt Lake (West)

8) Chicago Fire (East)

9) Montreal Impact (East)

10) Colorado Rapids (West)

11) Houston Dynamo (East)

12) LA Galaxy (West)

13) Philadelphia Union (East)

14) Chivas USA (West)

15) FC Dallas (West)

16) Portland Timbers (West)

17) New England Revolution (East)

18) Columbus Crew (East)

19) Toronto FC (East)

Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Matchweek 8

They Were Idle. Why Should They Lose the Top Spot?

Biggest climbers? Vancouver Whitecaps, Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas Biggest drops? Houston Dynamo and Chivas USA 1) Sporting Kansas City (East)

2) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

3) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

4) D.C. United (East)

5) New York Red Bulls (East)

6) Real Salt Lake (West)

7) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

8) FC Dallas (West)

9) LA Galaxy (West)

10) Chicago Fire (East)

11) Colorado Rapids (West)

12) Houston Dynamo (East)

13) Philadelphia Union (East)

14) Chivas USA (West)

15) Montreal Impact (East)

16) New England Revolution (East)

17) Columbus Crew (East)

18) Portland Timbers (West)

19) Toronto FC (East)

Major League Soccer Power Rankings-Matchweek 7

Sporting Kansas City is #1 in My First Major League Soccer Power Ranking This Year!

With every Major League Soccer team having played 5 matches at this point in the season, I'm ready to publish my first Power Ranking of the 2012 season.

Last year I published my philosophy in producing these rankings. It might need a little tweaking this year due to the unbalanced schedule, but for now I'll stick with last year's formula.

Here are my inaugural 2012 rankings:

1) Sporting Kansas City
2) San Jose Earthquakes
3) Real Salt Lake
4) Seattle Sounders
5) D.C. United
6) Houston Dynamo
7) New York Red Bulls
8) Chicago Fire
9) LA Galaxy
10) Chivas USA
11) FC Dallas
12) Vancouver Whitecaps
13) Philadelphia Union
14) Columbus Crew
15) New England Revolution
16) Colorado Rapids
17) Montreal Impact
18) Portland Timbers
19) Toronto FC

Moneyball? Meh...Movie Review - Moneyball (2011)

I love baseball. I am a statistics freak. I've been known to keep a scorecard at baseball games. I have a formula that I use to determine weekly Major League Soccer Power Rankings and predict Major League Soccer matches.

I monitor RottenTomatoes.com to see the critics' consensus on movies to determine if I want to see the movie in a theater. Rotten? Forget about it. Ripe? I might consider it, as long as the subject matter interests me.

So out comes a movie, Moneyball. A story about Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt), who has to figure out how to form a team with a limited payroll to compete against the big money clubs in Major League Baseball. He hires an economics major as his assistant (played by Jonah Hill) who has the ability to analyze statistics to measure the value of baseball players, thus uncovering "undervalued" players to form a team.

This method of scouting goes against the cultural norms of baseball scouting, providing a great backdrop for the movie.

This movie was ready-made for me.

Baseball? Check.

Statistics? Check.

Great actors? Brad Pitt? Jonah Hill? Philip Seymour Hoffman (playing Manager Art Howe)? Check.

A 94% ripe rating on RottenTomatoes.com? Check!


This movie can't fail!

I was completely underwhelmed.

Don't get me wrong. The movie is OK. The premise is good.

However, I couldn't empathize with the Billy Beane (or Brad Pitt's portrayal of him) in the movie. Maybe it was his ego. The movie tries to show Billy Beane's vulnerabilities, but came up short.

Jonah Hill's character, Assistant General Manager Peter Brand, was somewhat funny. I just felt like I had seen it before, the stereotypical shy nerdy smart-type who is trying to make his way amongst the grizzled veterans in the sport. And how many times do I need to see Jonah Hill do the uncomfortable high five in a movie? Seen it before.

Moneyball misses the mark as it tries to be too many things. Is it a drama about the conflicts of work versus family, or an "us against them I'll be proven right" story, or a biopic on Billy Beane as the trailblazer in the application of sabermetrics to build a successful baseball team?

The movie seems to run too long. Heavy on dialog, as would be expected, but short on the interesting banter I would have expected in the interactions between the characters.

My expectations may have been too high. I can take responsibility for that. But for me Moneyball was, well, meh...

I've Got Some Explaining To Do...Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 27, 9/19/11

I've spent some time on past Major League Soccer Power Rankings posts documenting my philosophy when compiling them each week.


I still like to tweak my formula, but since there are a few surprises (at first glance) in the top ten this week I thought I would post a little more detail/philosophy.


My overriding philosophy in my rankings is to rank the teams from top to bottom in Major League Soccer on who is playing best at that point in time based on a formula. I am not trying to predict how the season will end with these rankings. Theoretically, the top team in my rankings on any given week should be able to beat the other seventeen on a neutral field that given week, the second team should beat the sixteen below them, etc.


I don't purely go by this when I make my MLS match predictions, as I look at each teams' ranking score in my formula and their differential to determine whether the match can be predicted. So if the #1 team's score in my rankings has a very small differential with #2, I wouldn't necessarily pick the #1 team to win. I also take into account the predominant home field advantage that historically exists in the MLS to make my pick.

So what is my formula? I take season to date points per game (not goals, but points earned) as I feel teams should be rewarded for their long term performance in my rankings.  I combine that with points per game in a team's last five matches (a reflection of who is currently hot) to come up with a team's score. I weight season-long performance 60% in my formula and the last five matches' performance 40%. In the last five matches' average I give a higher weighting for away wins, and will punish a team for a home loss.

The LA Galaxy are #1

My Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week #27:

1) LA Galaxy (West)

2) Real Salt Lake (West)

3) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

4) Portland Timbers (West)

5) Toronto FC (East)

6) Chicago Fire (East)

7) D.C. United (East)

8) Houston Dynamo (East)

9) New York Red Bulls (East)

10) Sporting Kansas City (East)

11) Philadelphia Union (East)

12) Colorado Rapids (West)

13) FC Dallas (West)

14) Columbus Crew (East)

15) New England Revolution (East)

16) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

17) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

18) Chivas USA (West)

At first glance, I'm thinking that readers are going to look at this week's rankings and are going to wonder why two teams with a slim to none chance at making the MLS Playoffs, the Chicago Fire and Toronto FC are ranked so high, and virtual locks for the playoffs, FC Dallas and the Columbus Crew are ranked so low.


The reason is current form (last five matches) and it's 40% weighting in my formula. Here are the teams ranked by current form this week:

1) Real Salt Lake (West)

2) LA Galaxy (West)

3) Toronto FC (East)

4) (3-way tie) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

Portland Timbers (West)

Chicago Fire (East)

7) D.C. United (East)

8) (2-way tie) Houston Dynamo (East)

New York Red Bulls (East)

10) (2-way tie) Sporting Kansas City (East)

New England Revolution (East)

12) (2-way tie) Philadelphia Union (East)

Colorado Rapids (West)

14) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

15) (3-way tie) FC Dallas (West)

Columbus Crew (East)

San Jose Earthquakes (West)

18) Chivas USA (West)

Toronto FC (last 5, WLTWW) and the Chicago Fire (TWWLW) are playing very well right now and are ranked in the top six in MLS for their last five matches. FC Dallas (TLWLL) and the Columbus Crew (WLLTL) are currently playing very poorly and are ranked in the bottom four.

I have admittedly questioned the 40% weighting on current form, but if I'm going to use these rankings to predict match results, I feel I have to look at who's hot and take that into account.

So that's my explanation. Not perfect, but it entertains me.

The Galaxy Will Not Relinquish #1! Major League Soccer Power Rankings, Week 26, 9/13/11

The Galaxy is #1 Again

The Los Angeles Galaxy continue to maintain the top spot in my rankings this week. It doesn't look like anyone will overtake them!

Biggest jumps up in the rankings this week? Sporting KC jumped up 7 spots and the New England Revolution jumped up 4 spots.

Biggest drops? Chivas USA dropped 6 spots and the Columbus Crew dropped 5.

Best current form? Real Salt Lake, the Seattle Sounders and the LA Galaxy.

Worst form? Chivas USA and the Philadelphia Union.

My week 26 Major League Soccer Power Rankings:

1) LA Galaxy (West)

2) Real Salt Lake (West)

3) Seattle Sounders FC (West)

4) Sporting Kansas City (East)

5) D.C. United (East)

6) Colorado Rapids (West)

7) Houston Dynamo (East)

8) FC Dallas (West)

9) Portland Timbers (West)

10) Columbus Crew (East)

11) Toronto FC (East)

12) Chicago Fire (East)

13) New England Revolution (East)

14) New York Red Bulls (East)

15) Vancouver Whitecaps (West)

16) Philadelphia Union (East)

17) San Jose Earthquakes (West)

18) Chivas USA (West)