Major League Soccer Match Picks, Week 7

Horrible week last week. I was only 1 for 7. 33% on the year.

Here's my picks this week:

Winners:

Montreal Impact
Philadelphia Union
Vancouver Whitecaps
DC United
FC Dallas
Chivas USA
Houston Dynamo

Draws:

Seattle Sounders vs New England Revolution
Portland Timbers vs San Jose Earthquakes

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)

Major League Soccer Match Picks, Week 6

Winners this week:

Sporting KC
FC Dallas
Columbus Crew
San Jose Earthquakes

3 Draws this week:

Colorado v Real Salt Lake
Portland v Houston
Chicago v New York

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)

Ray Lewis

Ray Lewis played his last home game with the Ravens today. They beat the Colts to move on in the playoffs.

Although the murder charges, subsequent plea bargain and settlement with the victim's family was a horrible thing, it seems as though for once we have a story of an individual learning from past mistakes to become a model citizen. Credit to Ray Lewis for that.

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)

Catching Up. My Joey Votto Jersey Fund!

Joey Votto's Sports Illustrated cover from 2010:

I haven't posted updates since June 12th, so here you go:

Thursday, June 14th. Reds beat the Indians 12-5. Joey is 1-3 (a home run) with a run and 3 RBI.

Monday, June 18th. Reds lose to the Indians 10-9. Votto is 2-4 (a double and a home run) with 2 runs and an RBI.

Sunday, June 24th. Reds lose to the Twins. Votto is 1-3 (another home run) with a run and 2 RBI.

$30 more in my Joey Votto Jersey Fund!

Reds Smoke the Indians 7-1!

Johnny Cueto throws a complete game gem. Joey Votto goes 2 for 4 with a run and 3 RBI. $10 more dollars into my Joey Votto jersey fund!

$20 More in My Joey Votto Jersey Fund!

I haven't posted for a few days, so catching up today. The Reds beat the Astros last Saturday 12-9, and Joey Votto was 4 for 4 with 2 RBI and 3 runs.

Last night the Reds beat the Detroit Tigers 6-5 on a bottom of the 10 inning safety squeeze perfectly executed by Wilson Valdez and Miguel Cairo. I was at the game with my wife Tammy, and sat in the Diamond seats at Great American Ball Park, 4th row behind home plate. What a great vantage point to have to witness a game-winning suicide squeeze!

Joey Votto hit a 3-run home run to dead center in the bottom of the 3rd, 1 run and 3 RBI in the game.