The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 280

D14 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25. 1998 LOS ANGELES TIMES MLS Should Lose Post From Season AMIS gSk Hy cup 'here probably are nights when Doug Logan lies awake and wonders iiinn, i im iW LJ D.C. United vs. Chicago 12:30 p.m. PST today.

Site: Rose Bowl. TV: Ch. 7. A Look Back at 1998 Games May 2: Soldier Field Fire 1 (Frank Klopas, 9), D.C. United 3 (Roy Lasslter, 19; Marco Etchev- whether his great-greatgrandfather had as many people giving him advice.

That would have been Antonio Gonzalez de Mendoza, who in the 1870s was mayor of Havana, Cuba. Surely a mayor must get as many bits of unsolicited information tossed his way as the commissioner of Major League Soccer? Soccer GRAHAME L. JONES On the first weekend, there are eight games, the next weekend features four, the third has the semifinals and the fourth has the MLS Cup Final. Simple, clean and exciting. Every cup match is a must-win game.

Lose and your season is over. Much better than this best-of-three business. Lower travel costs, too. Each MLS team would play a minimum, of 23 games in the first year, with the two cup finalists playing a maximum of 26. When the league expands to 14 teams, the minimum goes to 27 and the maximum to 30.

(Only the A-League finalists would then take part in the cup.) At the optimum league size (by FIFA wish) of 16 teams, MLS clubs would be guaranteed 30 league games and still have from one to four cup matches. A-League teams no longer wouldbe involved. Unless, of course, the MLS powers-that-be want to pursue a really radical course. The dreaded relegationpromotion idea finally rears its no, not ugly, interesting head from the depths. Why not? Why not drop the worst MLS team into the A-League each year and promote the A-League champion? No one can tell me that the Rochester Raging Rhinos, ludicrous name and all, could not have cleaned the clock of, say, the New England Revolution this season.

And if the A-League's top flight was limited to 16 teams, with a guarantee of no relegation, how could it hurt? What it does, in fact, is add spice to both ends of the MLS table, with teams at the top battling for the title and those at the bottom fighting to avoid relegation. It spices up the A-League too. MLS is forever saying that its single-entity approach will never be abandoned, so it can't claim to be financially harmed if one of its teams drops down a rung on the competition ladder. Especially not if those same deep pockets who now fund MLS also were to invest in A-League teams, which could then become real minor-league affiliates charged with grooming players for the big time. One other thought: If the reduction in games bothers teams that are knocked out of the cup early on, staging a few international matches would certainly make up for it.

Perhaps the mayor of Havana can arrange some. I'll drop him a note. Ronald Cerrltos and company will be back in town a few weeks later. And if their team loses three or four or five games, so what? It has to be truly dreadful to miss the playoffs. The weekly fight for points then becomes a focal point of interest, and because there's only one chance to see Marco Etcheverry or Cobi Jones or Brian McBride come to town, attendance is more compulsory.

Such a system would, in the first few years, reduce the number of games, which is good because it means the season does not slop over into the frozen days of the New England winter, which is what will happen next year when MLS Cup '99 will not be played until the snow is knee-deep in Boston and fans are asking, "Was it this March or the one before when the season began?" It also will prevent the climax of the MLS season from clashing with the World Series, the NFL and college football seasons, the NBA, if it ever returns, the NHL and assorted other dreary events. Fewer games also mean that most, if not all, can be played on weekends, when attendance is demonstrably better. "But wait!" screams Sunil Gulati, MLS' deputy commissioner. "What about the money we will lose by having fewer games? What about the excitement of the playoffs? What about Again, the answer is simple. Take the MLS teams out of the U.S.

Open Cup and leave at least one national trophy for the A-League teams and other minor league sides to pursue. They deserve it. Create a real MLS Cup by having the league teams compete in a single-elimination, blind-draw, knockout tournament after the league season ends. It's a way to offer two bits of silverware for the price of one. There would be the existing Alan I.

Rothenberg trophy for the league champion and, well, the Copa Gulati or, forgive me, the Logan Shield, for the cup winner. Here's how it all could work next season: The 12 teams would each play 11 games at home and 11 on the road. No problem getting all those onto weekend dates. After the league championship is won, say by the end of August, four weeks of cup play begins. For the first year, the four A-League semifinalists (from the season before, if necessary) can take part in order to bring the number of participants to an even 16.

erry, 86; Ben Olsen, 88). A goal and an assist by Etch-everry In the final four minutes earned D.C. United the victory In front of 27,136. Etcheverry's goal was Intended as a pass but rolled past Fire goalkeeper Zach Thornton. Olsen secured the result with a diving header.

Chicago played a man short after winger Roman Koseckl was red-carded In the 65th minute. The first half was played in a thick fog. July 18: RFK Stadium D.C. United 4 Lassiter 53, 69, 90; Jaime Moreno, 78), Fire 1 (Jesse Marsch, 38). The game marked Fire goalkeeper Jorge Campos' return from the World Cup, but Lasslter, who had not gone to France '98, spoiled It with his second career hat trick, off a penalty kick, a header and a volley.

Moreno's goal came after a 50-yard sprint. Chicago was without injured playmaker Peter Nowak. A crowd of 16,779 saw D.C. United win Its fourth in a Chicago By the Numbers Well, at the risk of sounding like one of those New York cabbies who regularly tell Logan, 55, how to run his league, here's some more fodder for thought Call it a blueprint for MLS' future should John Kluge, Lamar Hunt, Philip Anschutz, Stua; Subotnlck, Robert Kraft, Ken Horowitz and the rest of the MLS money men ever decide to throw the restraints out the window and go for broke. To understand the solution, however, it is first necessary to comprehend the problem, which is this: MLS is competing for a small slice of a pie that by and large already has been dished out To get the attention of the American public, to get more of them than currently are doing so to part with their hard-earned dollars, to actually become the fifth major sport in the U.S., soccer needs to be radical.

Not radically different from the sport as it is played worldwide, radically different from the American sporting model. To begin with, get rid of the conference system and put all MLS teams in one division. Twelve now, 14 later, preferably no more than 16. Then have each team play the others home and away only once during the season. Award three points for an outright victory, two to the winner of a shootout (which sadly it appears impossible to abandon) and one to the loser.

Scrap the playoffs altogether. The league champion is the team that finishes atop the pile when it's all over. It's a simple, fair and easily understandable arrangement, one that has worked for decades in the rest of the world. What it solves, right away, is the problem of boredom as fans watch teams go through the motions of a largely meaningless regular season, knowing full well that if they miss seeing, say, the San Jose Clash this week, RECORD 20-12 PLAYOFF RECORD 4-0 GOALS SCORED 62 GOAL AVERAGE 1.94 GOALS ALLOWED 45 ALLOWED AVERAGE 1.41 TOP SCORER Ante Razov 1 0) D.C. United By the Numbers RECORD 24-8 PLAYOFF RECORD 41 GOALS SCORED 74 GOAL AVERAGE 2.31 GOALS ALLOWED 48 ALLOWED AVERAGE 1.50 MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER Officials Referee: Kevin Terry Assistant referees: Chip Reed and Laszlo Nagy Fourth official: Paul Tamberino Coaches Bruce Arena (Washington): Winner of five NCAA titles at Virginia, two MLS Cup victories, a U.S.

Open Cup and, this season, the CONCACAF Champions Cup, making D.C. United not only the top team in the United States, but also in all of North and Cen-tral America and the Caribbean. Bob Bradley (Chicago): Arena's assistant the, last two years with D.C. United and an assistant on Arena's 1996 U.S. Olympic team.

Led the first-year Fire into the championship game and was deservedly named coach of the year as a result. Previous Champions 1996 at F0XB0R0, MASS D.C. United 3 Galaxy 2 (OT) 1997 at WASHINGTON, D.C. D.C. United 2 Colorado Rapids 1 MLS Cup MVPs 1996: Marco Etcheverry (D.C.

United) 1997: Jaime Moreno (D.C. United) Award Winners MOST VALUABLE PLAYER 1998: Marco Etcheverry (D.C. United) asals) 1996: Carlos Valderrama (Tampa Bay Mutiny) SCORING CHAMPIONS 1998: Stern John (Columbus Crew) 1997: Preki (Kansas City Wizards) 1996: Roy Lassiter (Tampa Bay Mutiny) DEFENDER OF THE YEAR 1998: Lubos Kubik (Chicago Fire) 1997: Eddie Pope (D.C. United) 1996: John Doyle (San Jose Clash) GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR 1998: Zach Thornton (Chicago Fire) 1997: Brad Friedel (Columbus Crew) 1996: MarkDodd (Dallas Burn) COACH OF THE YEAR 1998: Bob Bradley (Chicago Fire) 1997: Bruce Arena (D.C. United) 1996: Thomas Rongen (Tampa Bay Mutiny) ROOKIE OF THE YEAR 1998: Ben Olsen (D.C.

United) 1997: Mike Duhaney (Tampa Bay Mutiny) 1996: Steve Ralston (Tampa Bay Mutiny) GOAL OF YEAR 1998: Brian McBride (Columbus Crew) 1997: Marco Etcheverry (D.C. United) 1996: Eric Wynalda (San Jose Clash) FAIR PLAY AWARD 1998: Thomas Dooley (Columbus Crew) 1997: Mark Chung (Kansas City Wizards) FAIR PLAY AWARD (TEAM) 1998: Kansas City Wizards 1997: Columbus Crew REFEREE OF THE YEAR 1998: Paul Tamberino 1997: Esse Baharmast No. Player Position 9 Jaime Moreno 14 Ben Olsen 24 Curt Onalfo 23 Eddie Pope 22 Tom Presthus2 GK 20 TonySanneh 19 Mike SlivinskP''M. 3 Carey Talley DM 16 Richie Williams 7 A.J. Wood y--- TOP SCORER Roy Lassiter 1 8) Chicago's Key Players Zach Thornton: Led MLS with a 1.17 goals-against average and was selected the league's goalkeeper of the year.

An intimidating 6 feet 3 and 210 pounds. His father was a tight end for Kentucky. Lubos Kublk: Former national team player for the Czech Republic was virtually an automatic choice as MLS defender of the year. Deadly on penalty kicks and free kicks. A 1990 World Cup veteran.

Peter Nowak: The Fire's answer to Etcheverry, he is a superb playmaker who roams all over the field, often starting moves from deep within Chicago's half. Poland national team captain and his country's player of the year in 1996. Qualified mechanic and fluent in five languages. Jerzy Podborzny: Another former Polish national team player lured to MLS from Spain. He plays as either a forward or midfielder and led Chicago with 1 4 assists, fifth best in MLS.

D.C. United's Key Players Marco Etcheverry: The league's player of the year and unquestionably its finest playmaker, ahead of even Carlos Vakterrama or Mauricio Cienfuegos. The Bolivian national team star, nicknamed "El Diablo," scored 10 goals and assisted on 19 this season. Jaime Moreno: Etcheverry's teammate with Bolivia and a superb finisher, he scored 16 goals and assisted on 1 1 to finish sixth in the league in '98. The spearhead of D.C United's attack, he has great dribbling skills and excellent quickness.

MLS top scorer in 1997. Roy Lassiter: A U.S. national team striker with the gift of speed and opportunism, he led the league in scoring in 1996, disappeared in '97 and then rebounded with a vengeance In '98. D.C. United Coach Bruce Arena predicted a 30-goal season.

So far, Lassiter has 28. John Harkes: The midfielder and former U.S. national team captain already has lifted two MLS titles and a third would be fair reward for a season in which he has overcome the disappointment of not going to France by almost certainly playing himself back into national team contention. No. 14 2 8 24 25" 19 41 11 "3" 5 22 Player Position Chris Armas C.J.

Brown Diego Gutierrez DM Dusty Hudock GK Zak Ibsen Josh Keller Frank Klopas Roman Kosecki MF Richie Kotschau Lubos Kublk Tony Kuhn Projected starter MLS Continued from Page 1 its first season and wearing red. That might offend Marco "El Diablo" Etcheverry, the Bolivian wizard who is the player of the year in MLS. It won't bother his opposite number, Peter Nowak, the Polish prince of the Chicago mid-field. Nowak is one of four players recruited from eastern Europe by the Fire. Fellow Pole Jerzy Podbrozny and defender of the year Lubos Kubik of the Czech Republic will be on the field today.

The fourth, gifted Polish winger Roman Kosecki, has a hamstring injury and likely will not play. Etcheverry and countryman Jaime Moreno both from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and both graduates of the famed Tahuichi soccer academyhave been the principal architects of Washington's three-year romp through the league. This season, they scored 26 goals and assisted on 40 as D.C. United went 24-8 in the regular season and 4-1 in the playoffs. Throw American striker Roy Lassiter's 28 goals in league and cup play into the mix and it's easy to see why Washington is favored.

MLS Commissioner Doug Logan sees nothing wrong with a D.C. dynasty, although some might dispute his viewpoint. "I've got no trouble with it," he said. "I think that playoffs are designed to create a win by the league's best team. The NFL has No.

Player Position 7 Manny Lagos 17 Andrew Lewis 15 Jesse Marsch 10 Peter Nowak 20 Francis Okaroh 0 9 Jerzy Podbrozny MF 12 Ante Razov ..6 Tom Soehn 18 Zach ThomtonGK 16 Josh Wolff F-Forward M-Midfielder had some very interesting dynasties. Is it bad for basketball to have Michael Jordan have six rings? Was it bad for baseball when the Yankees won everything in sight for a period of time? The answer is so I've got no problem with it." Arena's team comes into the game with more talent but less rest. After sweeping the Miami Fusion in the Eastern Conference semifinals, it was taken to three games by the Columbus Crew in the finals. It was a week ago today that the Crew swamped Washington, 4-2, in the rain in Columbus, Ohio. D.C.

United returned the favor on Wednesday with a 3-0 whitewash in Washington. All of which means that today's championship match is the team's third game in eight days. Chicago has had nine days' rest since sweeping the Colorado Rapids and then the Galaxy in the Western Conference to add a 4-0 playoff run to a 20-12 regular season. That won't make any difference, said both coaches. "We'll be ready to play," said Arena, who had Bradley alongside him on the D.C.

United bench for the first two championships. Now, the former assistant wants one of his own. The teams' styles are in sharp contrast Washington is an attacking team with speed in almost every position. Its passing game, when in form, is every bit as exciting and lethal as the Galaxy's. Chicago plays more of a counterattacking style, marking opponents man to man, staying deep in its half and moving its offense into gear No.

Player Position 12 Jeff Agoos 5 Geoff Aunger 25 Danny Care 33 Judah' Cooks 10 Marco Etcheverry 1 Scott Garlick 11 Mario Gori 6 John Harkes 8 Brian Kamler IS Roy Lassiter 18 Carlos Llamosa GK DM D-Defender GK-Goalkeeper only when a good opportunity presents itself. It does not have D.C. United's speed, but it does have a better player between the posts in MLS goalkeeper-of-the-year Zach Thornton. The difference in approach is reflected in goals: Washington scored 74 in the regular season and allowed 48; Chicago scored 62 and allowed 45. Chicago's perceived concentration on defense to the exclusion of all else has been criticized throughout the season.

At times, the comments have been cutting. "When it comes to playmaking," wrote Soccer America columnist Paul Gardner, "a colony of loboto-mized lemmings could have produced more creative initiative than we got from the Fire. As for anything that looked even remotely like artistry well, dream on." The game Gardner was criticizing was Game 1 of the Galaxy-Fire Western Conference finals at the Rose Bowl. Chicago won, 1-0, on a late goal by Jesse Marsch, but it was anything but a dull game because Los Angeles was constantly on the offensive. In fact, an argument might be made that defensive teams actually encourage creativity not by themselves but by the opposition.

The fact that the Galaxy did not win means that Coach Octavio Zambrano will either have to go back to the drawing board and design a few more plays or acquire some new players who can break down a disciplined defense. Today's game should offer a few Rebecca Perry Los Angeles Times clues along those lines. Chicago will stick to its strengths and that means D.C. will do most of the attacking. With players such as Etcheverry, Moreno and Lassiter up front, Washington has weapons aplenty.

Midfielder John Harkes and defender Jeff Agoos each have a hard shot and Eddie Pope is a danger on set plays and corners. Bradley admits the Fire will mostly be on the defensive. "Somebody asked me, 'How do you beat D.C.?' he said, "and I said, 'You have to play better than And that's a dumb answer, but the point still is that that's soccer. "You can't let Marco Etcheverry do everything he wants. You can't let Jaime Moreno do everything he wants.

But at the same time you still have to be able to be sharper yourself, good with the ball, able to produce plays going forward." Chicago can do that. Its forward line is only so-so, but former UCLA and Galaxy striker Ante Razov had a career year with 10 goals and nine assists. His partner in attack, former U.S. national team forward Frank Klopas, was less successful. The Fire's best hope, however, is in its solidity.

This is a blue-collar team with a lot of self-belief. It might be outmatched but it won't be intimidated. "This team has a bunch of guys who have tremendous character," Bradley said. "They've stuck together all year and are excited about having a chance to win it all.".