Murray Wood: Western separation talk borders on the absurd
Western separation isn't new, as Murray Wood reminds us. From fringe parties in the 1980s to bizarre border ideas today,...
Major League Soccer is about to complete its current season, finally and hopefully just in time to start next season.
On Saturday the Seattle Sounders visit Toronto for the MLS Cup. Tickets for the game sold out in minutes. Maybe the fans are excited about finally seeing the end. It will have been 10 days since Toronto’s last game.
Herein lies one of the problems: Soccer never ends.
The 2016 MLS season started way back on March 6. More than 10 months later the league still hasn’t declared a champion. The finalists have played some sudden-death playoff games, some two-leg sets and now – for all the marbles – it will be one game at the start of a Canadian winter. Why not? The season has already dragged itself through spring, summer and fall.
MLS teams play 34 regular-season games. Only 34 games through 36 weeks! My goodness, who thinks a soccer team can play only once a week? They have huge rosters but can play only 11 players at a time. And soccer allows only 3 substitutes per game. Allowing more subs would let teams play more frequently and shorten the schedule so this season doesn’t overlap with next season.
