MLS: Post-Week 28 Notes

1) Shalrie Joseph for MVP? It seems like all the forces are converging and settling on him after his player of the week performance. Today alone, there were three articles touting his candidacy from Ives Galarcep (Soccer By Ives), Ridge Mahoney (Soccer America), and Kyle McCarthy (Goal.com). He has a lot of things going for him. The Revs were supposed to take a step backwards this year, and yet they look like a good bet for the playoffs. Then there's the injuries to Albright, Twellman, and now Ralston. He's unquestionably been the team's leader in the absence of their other stars, playing well no matter where he lines up on the field. Finally, there's the sense that Joseph should've won this award already in a previous year (perhaps 2005). Much like the Grammys have done in recent years, the voters may feel that it's simply time to honor him for his entire career. 2) You may have noticed Joe Cannon was nowhere to be found for San Jose on Sunday. Turns out he was simply rested by Frank Yallop; there's no injury or anything. That's newsworthy because he had played every single minute of the regular season going into the weekend (see the most recent OTFATT update). Now, we're down to only four such remaining players: Barnes, Busch, Hartman, and Onstad. 3) Shouldn't it be about time for Forbes to release their MLS team valuations for 2009? They put out their list last year on September 9th, the first time ever for the league. It's the only ranking of its kind, and I'm looking forward to it again. Are the Galaxy really going to be listed at $100 million again? I just hope that there isn't any real reason for the delay, and that they're actually going to do them on an annual basis. 4) Sporcle, the quiz site which has quickly become one of my favorite places to waste time on the internet, is now letting users design their own quizzes. I've taken the opportunity to create a couple of soccer related ones, so check it out: Can you name the members of every MLS Best XI (1996-2008)? Can you name the FIFA members that aren't countries? Plus, there's already some good ones in their sports category.