Closing the books on MLS Cup 2009 in Seattle

SEA-TAC AIRPORT, Seattle – I’ll be back later today with closing thoughts from the Major League Soccer’s dramatic and encouraging conclusion to the 2009 season. Why “encouraging?” You’ll have to check back, but you can bet it involves the teeming scene in Seattle, which set the gold standard for how MLS should award and arrange league finals.

I’ll have some thoughts on the under appreciated Kyle Beckerman, on the overly criticized Landon Donovan (you just know the Donovan detractors, and they are inexplicably legion, are all foamy frothy about his penalty kick miss in Sunday’s tiebreaker), on halftime comments from league commissioner Don Garber and more.

For now, I’ve got a full day’s travel ahead.

Meanwhile, you can check out colleague Jeff Carlisle and his overall report on Sunday’s MLS Cup final, my ESPN Soccernet piece that focused on Real Salt Lake, my MLSnet.com piece on how the tactics unfolded or Steven Goff’s good work in Sunday's Washington Post on Seattle as MLS Cup Shangri-La.