Talking playoffs and relegation (It’ll never happen ... but it’s fun to discuss)

Major League Soccer has played 223 matches of its 225-match schedule

Round 32 of contests started with a dizzying, indecipherable array of playoff possibilities. Toronto, Dallas, Colorado and DC United couldn’t squeeze out a win on the road. So today, it’s all rather simple: If New England can manage a draw or better in Columbus, the Revs’ walking wounded will go gently into the 14^th post-season. If the Crew protects the home park – doing so with a lineup full of second-choice selections, most likely – then Colorado gets in.

Yep, the same Colorado that hasn’t won in seven matches, while scoring just six times in that time. (You just know everyone team in the playoffs would prefer to get the Rapids to open matters.)

Meanwhile, here’s a little something to ponder:

Relegation will never happen in MLS. It’s just not something that aligns with modern TV contracts, sponsorships, etc. But a boy can dream, eh?

Consider how much more interesting this final MLS stretch would have been had the horror of relegation hung over some of these clubs. How? By adding all the nervous, angst-filled layers of the relegation battle.

Here’s the story I wrote almost two years ago for American Way Magazine about the relegation battle. It was inspired when a manager who once played in England’s first division told me this: “There’s pressure playing at the top of the table. But you want pressure? Go play in a relegation battle. That’s pressure.”