We are 4 days away from Christmas and low and behold, MLS actually got it's fan a gift - they announced the 2011 home openers for each club. For the third year in a row the MLS season will start in Seattle as the Sounders host the LA Galaxy on Tuesday March 15. That means I can officially start counting down the days til I see the boys in rave and blue on the pitch once again - 84 days to be exact.
It makes sense to me that MLS is using this game as it's showpiece. No offense to Colorado and FC Dallas but the 2010 MLS Cup wasn't really what the network had in mind. In having LA play at Seattle, you have the two most famous soccer players currently playing in the US - Landon Donovan and David Beckham - facing off against the most talked about team. It will be an electric night and one that MLS hopes will draw casual fans.
The one weird thing is that the game will be on a Tuesday night. Now I fully understand the reason behind this was to avoid going against the NCAA Tournament, but I wonder how a prime-time Tuesday night slot is going to work. It could be great or it could be a disaster. But at the very least it shows that MLS is finally getting it - that entire week in March is chock full of sports and trying to go head-to-head with many of them is a losing proposition. I know that the 'First Four' bball games will be going on, but honestly, who wants to watch two 16 seeds play (besides Bucknell who the entire country MUST watch)?
So yeah, thanks MLS for this nice surprise. It has given me the opportunity to write some Sounders related stuff again. While I'm on it, after LA on Tuesday we then turn around and play at Red Bull Arena on Saturday. Talk about being bent over in the first week. Avoiding an 0-2 mark will be really difficult but really crucial. I hope we can get it done.
Here is a complete list of home openers including those of the hated Timbers and Whitecaps.
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