Save the dates, update your calendars and plan accordingly. Major League Soccer's postseason schedule is set -- released by the League office earlier today -- as Sporting Kansas City aims for a fourth consecutive playoff berth to defend the team's 2013 MLS Cup title.
Now we know the dates, what does #SKCnation think? Leave us a comment below. Here are our 10 quick thoughts on today's news:
1. The obvious. For the first time in the League's 19-year history, there will be MLS action played on Thanksgiving weekend. And not just any MLS action. The decisive legs of the Conference Championships to set the MLS Cup match-up. Now that's how you start a tradition.
2. Top three, please. Sporting Kansas City will want to avoid the Knockout Round (Oct. 29-30). A fourth or fifth place finish in the East would see Sporting KC tasked with five games in 15 days -- three coming away from home -- on the road to MLS Cup: Oct. 18 at Philadelphia, Oct. 23 at Saprissa, Oct. 26 vs. New York, Oct. 29/30 in the Knockout Round and Nov. 1/2 in the opening leg of the Conference Semifinals.
3. Away goals. The playoff format remains the same in 2014, however the major change comes in the form of the away goals tiebreaker being introduced to decide the Conference Semifinals and Conference Championships if the score is even on aggregate. That's good news in theory for a Sporting KC squad that has scored 22 goals away from home in 2014, most among all Eastern Conference teams.
4. KC sports scene. Who's up for trips to Sporting Park and Arrowhead Stadium on the same weekend? That could be the case when the Chiefs host the New York Jets on Nov. 2 and/or the Denver Broncos on Nov. 30. And that's not to mention the options in store for the area's college football fans, i.e. the KU vs. K-State rivalry game on Nov. 29.
5. Get em' while they last. All three playoff matches at Sporting Park in 2013 were hot tickets, including capacity crowds of 21,650 for the Eastern Conference Championship and MLS Cup. Sporting Kansas City season ticket members will have the first opportunity to secure their seats for the postseason -- information coming soon.
6. For club and country. MLS has taken the Nov. 14 and Nov. 18 FIFA international match dates into account and will take a two-week break between the Conference Semifinals and Conference Championship rounds. That means no playoff matches conflicting with international games and hence, no tug-of-war for players between clubs and national team federations. Which international matches could affect SKC? Have a look...
USA vs. Ireland on Nov. 18 in Dublin, Ireland
Honduras vs. Japan on Nov. 14 in Toyota, Japan
Honduras vs China on Nov. 18 in China
Philippines vs. Nepal on Oct. 31 in Doha, Qatar
Philippines vs. Indonesia on Nov. 25 in Hanoi, Vietnam
Philippines vs. Vietnam on Nov. 28 in Hanoi, Vietnam
7. Happenings in Houston. Since 2011, it's been a matter of when -- not if -- Sporting Kansas City will face the Dynamo in the postseason as the two teams have met in each of the last three postseasons. That said, the Dynamo are seven points off the pace for a playoff berth with six games left to salvage the season. Don't count 'em out.
8. Beasts of the East. Quick quiz: name the last time an Eastern Conference team other than Sporting KC or Houston appeared in MLS Cup. It hasn't happened in the last five years. But with the arrival of Orlando City SC and New York City FC in 2015, speculation is rampant that Sporting KC and/or the Houston Dynamo -- the only two teams west of the Mississippi River that play in the Eastern Conference -- could be switching conferences next year to balance out the table. Such a scenario adds an extra bit of spice to the Eastern Conference side of the playoff bracket if a return to the West -- where Kansas City played from 1996-2004 -- is indeed in the future.
9. Deja vu? MLS Cup on Dec. 7 -- the latest, and coldest, league championship ever held -- worked out pretty well for Sporting KC in 2013 and it's set for the same date in 2014. For those keeping count, that's 317 days since Sporting KC players reported to KC on Jan. 24 for entrance physicals. And it would be at least the 48th ticketed game in a span of 39 weeks since the season started on March 8 (34 regular season, 6 CCL, min. 5 playoff, 2 U.S. Open Cup and 1 international friendly).
10. The final four. In a dozen days, six of the 10 playoff teams will be eliminated from the postseason...followed by four weeks to crown a champion amongst the remaining four teams. The format isn't for everyone -- namely the followers of any of the 15 teams not competing in the Conference Championships -- but there's something to be said for giving the top four teams the spotlight for the season's final four weeks. Not to mention, Major League Soccer has a full month to prep three different potential sites to host MLS Cup.
