Revs put out Fire in joke-off's My inherited 'soccer team' Chicago Fire had their season extinguished on Thursday night when they lost to a spectacular overhead kick from Taylor Twellman giving New England Revolution a 1-0 victory at their Gillette Stadium in front of a paltry 10,317 crowd, almost 15,000 than Chicago's home average.

Captain Chris Armas announced he will call it a day this winter after being with Fire since they joined the league in 1997. I have always been impressed with Armas who in the games I saw was the driving force from defensive midfield but after the Eastern Conference defeat Armas said "My body is telling me that probably this should be it. Physically, with soccer I can still make all the plays I need to make. My knees have taken a beating over the years and my hips have some arthritis. I want to enjoy my family and function later on."

In the other game, the Western Conference final, last year's winners Houston Dynamo in only their 2nd year of existence beat Kansas City Wizards 2-0 and will meet New England in Saturday's final.

There was good news for the 'soccer' fans of Seattle today as it has been announced that Seattle will be the 15th team in Major League Soccer, after the addition of the 14th, San Jose Earthquakes, who will start next season. Seattle will start probably the season after.

Seattle has a good football tradition as it was home to the Seattle Sounders of the North American Soccer League from 1974 until 1983. In fact a team of the same name are the current champions of the USL First Division, the level below the MLS.

The MLS plans to expand to 16 teams by 2010 and could feature as many as 18 clubs by 2012. Rumoured to be on the horizon are start-up teams in Philadelphia, Portland and St Louis, a long time soccer area. In fact 5 of the 11 players that played in the USA's famous victory over England in 1950 were from St Louis.

The one flaw in the American game at the moment is the play-off's. It is a joke that all but 5 of the league teams make the extended season. The current system effectively renders a 30-game season of toil as virtually worthless. "There is no reward for busting your ass for half the year," a high-ranking MLS executive was quoted as saying recently before adding: "But the commissioner loves the playoffs and no one is going to take him on over this."

The attendances certainly don't do anything to encourage it and where is the reward for playing hard for 6 months travelling coast to coast in this huge nation? Having the most points after a long season earns anyone the right to be called the best team in the country and playing consistently week in and week out only earns you a stupid shield.

People who understand the game here get it, the people in the game get it but the idiots that run it and try to convince others of its viability don't. It needs to change otherwise soccer in the USA will continue not to be taken seriously by its peers and sports fans who are looking for ways to be converted to the game the rest of the planet calls beautiful.  ¶ 19:59