The Pan-Pacific Championship panned

The reviews of the first ever Pan-Pacific Championship are in and we've got a flop on our hands. Even with David Beckham and hometown hero Brian Ching on the pitch, the combined attendance for the two double-headers was a mere 38,215. On top of that, the field turf was horrible.

So what to make of this tournament? There was no feeling of pressure to win like in SuperLiga matches, so it looked and felt like the pre-season it is. Perhaps the biggest thing to come out of it was the realization by many in the US that the J-League in general and Gamba specifically is a quality outfit, but I doubt that is the direction MLS's marketing arm SUM wanted the attention to flow.

But all is not lost. Perhaps the PPC could live on just not in Hawaii. A rotational system between nations involved would probably increase attendance and make it easier to find a quality stadium.

Or maybe it should shift into a MLS vs. J-League competition. This would make sense to me as both are in pre-season and both have a league winner (Supporters' Shield/J-League Champs) and Cup Winner (MLS/Emperor's Cup) so it would be easy to select four sides?

A final idea would be to move it to the middle of the season like SuperLiga, although I don't know if the J-League schedule would easily allow for such a thing.

In the end, I enjoyed watching the games because they let me see what LA & Houston are experimenting with ahead of the season and they gave me a chance to see two foreign teams in action that I normally only read about. However, as much as I enjoyed it, if MLS really wants this to be taken seriously, major changes need to happen.

One last thing, I wonder if this lack of an audience for a Beckham event is the sign of a struggle ahead or just a momentary glitch?

Houston to face Sydney in Pan Pacific Championships

The MLS Champions finally know who they will face in the inaugural version of the Pan Pacific Championships (PPC) next week in Hawaii as Sydney FC won the right to represent the Australian A-League after they were knocked out of the playoffs this past weekend.

Sydney FC is a tough team with some quality to it, however, they are in the middle of a major roster problem as they currently have only 16-players available for the trip. This along with their shock playoff defeat, should give the upper hand in the match to Houston, however the Dynamo are still in the early stages of pre-season and have some injury issues of their own to deal with.

The PPC will involve two semifinal games with the losers facing off for third place and the winners go for the cup. The other semifinal match will see Japan's J-League Cup winner Gamba Osaka take on the SuperLiga runner-ups LA Galaxy (Pachuca were invited as SuperLiga winners but turned it down).

All four matches will take place in Hawaii with kickoff times at 6pm HT (GMT -10)/11pm ET and 8:30pm /1:30am ET (semis 20 Feb, finals 23 Feb). I can't find anything definitive, but I read somewhere that ESPN Classic will air the games in the US. Update: It is official, Adrian Healy and Allen Hopkins have been handed the horrible assignment of February in Hawaii as ESPN Classic and ESPN360.com will indeed air the matches live in the US.

It will be interesting to see how the teams treat these games. With LA, Houston and Gamba in pre-season mode and Sydney lacking a bench, who knows what we will see out there. Then again, a trophy is still a trophy, so maybe everyone will step it up.

SuperLiga schedule and why you should watch

The first addition of the SuperLiga begins tonight with FC Dallas facing off against Chivas de Guadalajara followed by LA playing host to Pachuca. Perhaps none of these teams are your team, however if you are a fan of soccer in North America, you should take an interest in this tournament.

The short term goal of the SuperLiga is simple, 8 teams will play 15 matches to decide who gets the $1 million prize, but long term, those in charge are hoping to build this into a competition on par with the Champions League. Okay, such a day is a long way off, but it is good to have a dream.

Why this should matter to all MLS and Mexican league fans as well as other countries in Concacaf is simple, the more of a success this tournament is, the great the chance of increased money flowing into the various leagues (they hope to expand it to include other countries' leagues in the years to come). This money will be used to improve training facilities as well as bring in better players, thus making Concacaf a better stop for international players from all over the world.

The teams are divided into two groups playing a three game round-robin stage with the top two teams from each group advancing to a the knockout stage with the ultimate winner taking home the largest prize purse in North American soccer history.

All games will air in the US on TeleFutura as well as on the internet at MLSnet and the SuperLiga website (no word if there will be English or Spanish calls for the internet broadcasts).

Group A
Chivas de Guadalajara
FC Dallas
LA Galaxy
Pachuca

No.	Date	Time (ET)	Match
01	24 July	9:00pm	Chivas de Guadalajara 1-1 FC Dallas
02	24 July	11:00pm	Pachuca 1-2 LA Galaxy
05	28 July	8:00pm	Pachuca 1-1 FC Dallas
06	28 July	10:00pm	Chivas de Guadalajara 2-1 LA Galaxy
09	31 July	8:00pm	LA Galaxy 6-5 FC Dallas
10	31 July	10:00pm	Pachca 1-0 Chivas de Guadalajara in Denver

Group B
Club America
DC United
Houston Dynamo
Monarcas Morelia

No.	Date	Time (ET)	Match
03	25 July	8:00pm	Morelia 1-1 DC United
04	25 July	10:00pm	Club America 0-1 Houston Dynamo
07	29 July	8:00pm	Club America 0-1 DC United
08	29 July	10:00pm	Morelia 1-1 Houston Dynamo
11	01 Aug	8:00pm	DC United 0-1 Houston Dynamo
12	01 Aug	10:00pm	Club America 3-2 Morelia in Chicago

Semifinals
14 Aug - Houston Dynamo 2 (3)-(4) 2 Pachuca
15 Aug - LA Galaxy 2-0 DC United

Final
29 Aug - Pachuca vs. LA Galaxy - Location and time to be decided

All four Mexican teams are very solid, however most of them will be missing players due to recent international competitions plus their season ended almost two months ago, which should give the US teams a bit of an advantage (not to mention home pitch advantage). Still, this will be a good test for all those involved and should provide some fun viewing.

Which brings me to one last question, why isn't this airing on any English language stations as this seems perfect for ESPN or Fox Soccer Channel? It is an international competition that takes place over a short period of time with a major payout at the end. Seems like an easy sell to the casual fan. Hopefully next year it will be a little different story.

MLS drops playoff spots, rewards good play

In a 'major announcement' Major League Soccer has decided to make performance on the pitch more important in 2007 then in past years.

Starting with this season, the two conference champions along with four 'wild card' teams will make the playoffs. These four teams are selected by point total and regardless of conference. This is fantastic. First, they have reduced the number of teams making the post season from 8 to 6, thus insuring that, for the first time, less then half the league will make it out of the regular season. And second, by making the playoffs an open system, teams will need to focus on everyone, not just those in the conference.

By the way, even though it is not mentioned anywhere, the six team playoff schedule would seem to suggest that conference champions will get a bye for the first round. If so, this is another excellent decision as it rewards a team who worked hard all season with two-weeks off ahead of their first playoff match. I wonder were I have read something like this before (so modest).

Edit: My bubble has been bursted. Sometimes I read what I want to read, not what is actually there. Turns out that, as the always wonderful manly ferry pointed out, there will still be 8 teams in the playoffs as the top two teams in each conference and four wild card teams will advance. Add those up and you still have the same magic number of 8. Sorry about my poor reading skills.

But it is not just MLS playoffs that will see the best of the league perform as next year's four participants will be go to the top four point earners during the 2007 season. This year's teams for the initial SuperLiga were selected more for location and fan draw then points, but do to the timing of the announcement and other such factors, the choice was understandable. However, there was fear that this choice would not be a one-time thing.

I am pleased that MLS has made the correct choice and let the play on the field and not the votes in the office, decide the teams that get to compete for the $1 million SuperLiga prize.

Some other bits of news from the announcement (all of which are much needed):

• MLS has hired a full-time consultant based in South America to assist MLS teams in scouting and acquiring players from that talent-laden region.

• MLS is working with TV broadcasters to provide more camera angles of the action with better and timelier replays.

• U.S. Soccer has hired full-time referees for the first time. Jair Marrufo, Ricardo Salazar, Baldomero Toledo and Terry Vaughn will become full-time referees, enabling them to focus their professional abilities on preparation and training.

• MLS is actively exploring new, meaningful international competitions.

• In-stadium commercial PA announcements during play will be significantly reduced.

Many of us have complained about all the items mentioned in this post. It is wonderful to see that MLS has been listening and has acted. I've been looking forward to this season since, well November, but I must admit, this announcement has even increased my desire for the season to get underway.