After an extended break, the MLS playoffs return on Tuesday with the start of the conference finals.
Tuesday night’s festivities begin in Columbus as Toronto FC visits the Columbus Crew for the first leg of the Eastern Conference final (8 p.m., ESPN). The Supporters’ Shield winners enter Tuesday’s match shorthanded with both Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco out of action due to suspension, while the Crew possess a full complement of players after holding off NYCFC in the conference semifinal round.
Action then moves West as the Houston Dynamo play host to the Seattle Sounders (9:30, FS1). The Dynamo will look to build on an upset of the Portland Timbers while the Sounders will hope to continue their MLS Cup title defense with a push back to the finale.
If you will be watching today’s action, please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
I can’t believe playoffs are still going. The league wants to increase interest in playoff, but these games are lost in the public if you don’t listen to MLS-owned podcasts (i.e. ExtraTime)…
It’s a tough problem that the league has been dealing with since the beginning.
Do you cut the season short by 3 games (more likely 4) to try to get everything in before the international break?
Do you start the season earlier? After opening day, most stadiums have a tough time filling up for those first few games. It’s only going to get worse pushing it into February.
Do you play more mid-week games? Then you start running into scheduling issues with CCL, US Open Cup, international dates, etc.
It’s a tough problem to solve – which is why we’re still bitching about it more than two-decades in.