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Power Rankings No. 6

Posted: Monday May 9, 2005 4:11PM; Updated: Monday May 9, 2005 4:11PM
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CLICK HERE FOR PART I OF GRANT WAHL'S COLUMN

MLS Power Rankings
Rank LW Team
1 1
New England Revolution (5-0-1)
It's still early, but the Revs are optimistic about their chances after getting off to the best start in club history. "We've all been together for a few years now, and we feel comfortable with each other," says Steve Ralston. "Everything's about the team. We have no superstars." Pause. "Well, Clint's [Dempsey] becoming a superstar, I guess. But nobody's got a big ego." Let's hope New England finally gets some decent weather for its next home game Saturday.
2 2
Los Angeles Galaxy (4-1-0)
It took two months to get out, but we'll go ahead and break the news here: Landon Donovan has replaced Freddy Adu as the highest-paid player in MLS. Donovan's deal will pay him a guaranteed $4.5 million over the next five years and includes several lucrative performance incentives. The league also holds three additional one-year options, which means Donovan should be in MLS through the end of 2012 (averaging seven figures annually over the full term) unless he discovers an urge to return to Europe full-time or makes like Bison Dele and goes sailing in the South Pacific. Say it together, kids: You can make money playing professional soccer in America.
3 3
FC Dallas (3-1-2)
One of these days somebody in Dallas will have to write a Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance-like ode with the names Johnson, O'Brien and Ruiz. (But what rhymes with Ruiz?) All three high-octane Hoops connected to save FCD in a 3-3 tie at Kansas City on Saturday. If Colin Clarke's crew can keep getting results on its killer road swing, look out. (Which reminds me, Eddie Johnson drove me past the construction site for Dallas' new stadium in Frisco last week, and while there seems like a ton of work left to do, I'll take the team's word that the stadium will be ready for its first FCD game on Aug. 6.)
4 5
San Jose Earthquakes (2-1-3)
Go figure: Brad Davis leads the league in assists (6), and by all accounts he's a good guy to have in the locker room. So why is he on his third MLS team at age 23? (He's clearly got a nice understanding going with Brian Ching.) The only question is whether they can keep the Quakes moving up with an enticing matchup at home this weekend against FC Dallas
5 4
Chicago Fire (3-3-1)
I got a first-hand look at Lubos Reiter's debut with the Fire in their 2-0 loss to New England on Saturday, but we'll have to wait for more information before we draw any conclusions. Chicago got blown away in the Nor'Easter at Gillette, but you know what they say: The best balm for a loss is the chance to play the MetroStars. The Fire meets their eternal whipping-boys this Saturday in Chicago.
6 7
D.C. United (2-2-2)
Young Fred got the start on Saturday and broke out in a big way against Columbus, providing a goal and two assists. The big questions: Do Adu and Jaime Moreno need to go to couples counseling? Could those guys have looked any less enthusiastic toward each other after they both scored last week? And will there be any point when the ongoing Spy-vs.-Spy game between Adu and the Crew's Frankie Hejduk ceases to be unintentionally hilarious? Stay tuned.
7 6
Kansas City Wizards (1-1-3)
No need to push the panic button yet, but K.C. is squandering a lot of points at home these days. Nice to see Chris Klein, one of the league's all-time good guys, get off to a fast start this season (4 goals).
8 8
MetroStars (1-2-2)
The only conclusion we can draw from Saturday's ugly 1-0 home loss to the Quakes is that Metro was serving some sort of suspension by FIFA and had to play in an empty stadium. Meanwhile, there's no truth to the rumor that notorious Cosmos squatter Peppe Pinton has acquired the rights to the name MetroStars ... for a dollar and a bag of balls.
9 9
Columbus Crew (2-4-0)
The league's most disappointing team has three consecutive losses, which means a home win against K.C. next Saturday is important if coach Greg Andrulis wants to stay off the hot seat. Gotta say I like what I see in young Dominic Mediate, who got a goal in his first start against D.C. United.
10 11
Colorado Rapids (1-4-1)
What keeps the Raps from the basement? Well, let's just say they gave L.A. a better game in the HDC than either Salt Lake or Chivas did. We try not to complain too much about the refereeing in MLS, but Jair Marrufo had no business whistling his third penalty in the last five minutes of Colorado's 3-2 loss to the Galaxy. The contact and the situation certainly didn't call for it. (And how ridiculous is it that the league has had two three-penalty games already this season?)
11 10
Real Salt Lake (1-3-2)
Glum times in the Wasatch, and injuries continue to make RSL miserable, not least the bad back that forced Clint Mathis out in the first half of Saturday's 1-0 loss to Chivas. Without anything else pertinent to say here, we'll relay the explanation of one agent that the fewer than 10 players making more than the "league maximum" salary like Mathis, Donovan and Adu are "like the Larry Bird exception" in the NBA. (We find it amusing that none of the players in Larry Bird country are actually making the Larry Bird exception, even though the Revs are the league's top team.) Anyway, the only purpose of the "league max" is to provide the arbitrary number for which each of those guys actually counts against the team salary cap -- although, as a developmental player Adu counts for nothing against D.C. United's cap. Got it?
12 12
Chivas USA (1-4-1)
All credit to the Goats for gutting out their first 'W' last week and saving Douglas Sequeira the indignity of wearing Él Me Odia (He Hate Me) on the back of his jersey. And yet the nonsense Sequeira started by wearing Douglas on the back of his shirt has extended to Columbus, where Mario "El Loco" Rodríguez now wears Loco on his yellow uniform top. We can only hope Loco's jersey starts selling well as a novelty item, joining the ever-popular Buffalo Sabres uniform of Miroslav Satan.

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