MLS' biggest crime in '05 will be righted this season

	Dwayne De Rosario (right) and San Jose were robbed in 2005. Will the team get its revenge in its new home this season? Victor Decolongon/Getty Images
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When last we tuned in to Major League Soccer, the best team in the league was being ousted, thanks in part to a faulty playoff system, while its vanquisher went on to capture the championship.

A long winter has done little to simmer the playoff controversy touched off when San Jose, Supporters Shield winners and the first-ever MLS team to finish a regular season unbeaten at home, fell to the Los Angeles Galaxy in the Western Conference semifinals. League officials might change the competition format, but any plan wouldn't take effect until 2007.

Nevertheless, MLS seems as strong as it has ever been. With Red Bull Company Limited energizing the league with its $100 million purchase of the MetroStars and a reported $1 billion undertaking at New Jersey's Rowan University, site of a proposed soccer-specific stadium and future expansion club, the league is progressing in its quest to reach financial stability.

MLS could have as many as 16 clubs by 2010, the majority of which would play in their own soccer stadiums.

By then, presumably, the league will have a different competition format. Deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis said that "every option is on the table," including a single-table format, which is popular in Europe, and even a two-seasons-per-calendar-year format, popular throughout Latin America.

But for this year, MLS will make do with its current format, which allows eight of 12 teams -- two thirds of the entire league -- into a playoff system that punishes the best regular-season clubs and rewards those who waited until September to turn on the jets.

When San Jose's '05 season unjustly finished in tatters, though, the league didn't have a knee-jerk reaction. Instead, it formed a technical committee that will address such issues as the competition format.

"We're getting to that point where we can't continue to change things every year," MLS commissioner Don Garber said. "Part of why we didn't make those key decisions this year was that we wanted to really take our time to make a firm decision that we think is right and stick with it."

So just who will stand to lose if last year's playoff fiasco is repeated? Well, one thing is certain: It won't be San Jose -- the Quakes are now the Houston Dynamo.

CONTENDERS: New England, Houston, Chicago. The Revolution have one of the most talented squads in the entire league. Last year's Cup run was no fluke. Clint Dempsey's stock is probably the fastest-rising in the entire league, and as long as he keeps his fists off his teammates, he will continue to yield great results.

Houston's "1836" disaster will be the club's lone roadblock this season. The bulk of the team that tore through MLS last year is still there, from head coach Dominic Kinnear and skipper Wade Barrett to superstar Dwayne De Rosario and scoring ace Alejandro Moreno. When Chicago's Bridgeview Stadium opens later this year, it could be the most picturesque stadium in the entire league, and fans will have a club that's equally pleasing to the eyes. With veterans Chris Armas and Zach Thornton alongside young stars Justin Mapp and Chris Rolfe, the Fire boast a strong side that will undoubtedly get a boost once their new stadium opens.

PRETENDERS: FC Dallas, New York Red Bulls, D.C. United. FC Dallas' brand-spanking-new stadium is quite a sight, so much so that MLS decided to hold the championship match at Pizza Hut Park for a second consecutive season. Locals, however, should not expect to see their beloved Hoops playing in the game. Carlos Ruiz returns, but Eddie Johnson is gone for good after missing much of last year with injury. Kenny Cooper and Roberto Miña won't make up for Johnson's talent, and the club's defense will suffer yet again.

In New York, it's a brand-new name but the same old bull. The only difference this time around is that a new billionaire owner will be disappointed at season's end. D.C. United's glory days are long over, as '04 is quickly looking like a fluke season.

SURPRISE CLUB: Chivas USA. Last year, Goats games all followed the same pattern: First, the scantily clad ChivaGirls paraded around the field. Then, inevitably, when the opponents started trouncing Chivas, you began to scan the stadium for the ChivaGirls in an attempt to salvage something from the game. This year, though, the focus seems to be on the pitch rather than on the honeys. With players like newcomer Ante Razov and rising star Francisco Mendoza, as well as full seasons from Francisco Palencia and Juan Pablo Garcia, this may be the best team in L.A. by season's end.