I'm not really a fan of the New England Revolution, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed at their loss to United last night in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semi-finals. Why, you ask?
Because as few people have noted, the Revs had an opportunity for an unheard-of quintuple. Before last night, they were still in competition to win trophies in the SuperLiga, the Open Cup, MLS Cup, the Supporter's Shield (the trophy given to the team who leads the league at the end of regular season play) and the new CONCACAF Champions League.
And just as the rest of the country is enthralled with Michael Phelps' seemingly-unending pile of gold medals (are you ready for the inevitable Mark Spitz photo shoot with Phelps after the Olympics?), I'm enthusiastic about teams that win big and win often. Everybody likes a dominant team, unless they're the Yankees or Man. Utd. So the Revs slacked off in the Open Cup, further (sadly) ensuring that the competition becomes less and less relevant. No MLS team has yet won even a treble, so if the Revs win their remaining three competitions and bring in a record-setting quadruple, that would be pretty impressive. But I'll still be disappointed over the lost opportunity.
What do you think about the U.S. Open Cup results Tuesday night? Are you disappointed that the Revs fielded what was essentially a reserve team for this key match? What can be done to get MLS teams to take the historic Open Cup seriously? What would Lamar Hunt say (were he still alive)?
- Tom Meagher
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