The semifinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup came and went last night with thin notice (even on this site; forget being a bad fan, I’m a crappy blogger to boot). But the two finalists, the Chicago Fire and the Los Angeles Galaxy, made bold statements through their victories over DC United and the Houston Dynamo, respectively.
Surly as Chicago’s 3-0 win over DC appears to have been, it adds weight to speculation (well, my speculation) that Chicago’s progress bears close watching down the regular season stretch. Moreover, I’d be very surprised if last night’s game was the only semifinal between these two teams this 2006; a similar result would hardly surprise me either. Unless I missed something, not a lot of people expected much out of Chicago this season; whatever they’re doing, it’s working and everyone ought to pay attention.
While less surprising, Los Angeles’ 3-1 win over the Houston Dynamo puts still more weight behind some key advice to the Western Conference: watch your butts. Since the team excised the cancer that is Steve Sampson (Yallop Therapy?), trends out of LA have been damned favorable, leaving one to wonder whether Week 24 will be the one to end with Los Angeles inside the playoff picture. With the West Conference starting to resemble the Eastern, not only does that seem likely, but something else entirely unexpected could come to pass: the Open Cup final might not be the only one featuring Chicago and Los Angeles this 2006.
What about DC United in the East, one may ask? What about FC Dallas in the West? With regard to the latter, they’ve got a bad, bad post-season history, especially against LA. For my money, DC has a better shot of stopping Chicago...though last night’s game, not to mention overall trends, does get one a-wonderin’.
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