Mercifully Short MLS Cup Final Preview

I'm leaning heavily on video this post. Largley because a picture tells a thousand words, so at 24 frames per second, video tells 24,000 words per second, much faster than I could ever hope to type here 10 days before finals. So since I'm way behind on my outlines I'll make this quick. Yes, I screwed up in my regular season and Cup Playoffs picks, continuing this blog's fine record of gambling accuracy. My predicted Houston-Chicago final did not pan out and instead we are left with a boxing-match-style game between New York and Columbus; or as Don King or some other promoter would likely put it "Lucky vs. Good."

Both teams are going for their first MLS Cup title ever. For New York, they're going for their first-ever trophy in any competition.

Columbus was the best team in the league all season. They had the best record, best goal differential, and second-best goals-against average. They boast the MVP (Guillermo Barros Schelotto), Coach of the Year (Sigi Schmid), Defender of the Year (Chad Marshall), and Goalkeeper of the Year runner-up (Will Hesmer).

New York snuck into the playoffs on the last day of the season because DC United hit the post 4 times against Columbus; enabling RBNY to qualify. New York managed a tie against Houston at home, then for 90 minutes in Houston played the game of their lives while the defending champs laid an egg. In the semifinals, New York won 1-0 because RSL hit the post 3 times.

So Columbus is by far the better team, but would you rather be lucky or good? Here's a look back on some past great MLS Cup Final moments.