MLS Playoffs Start Thursday...No Seriously

I've lost a lot of you already. Yes, i'm going to talk about soccer, more specifically the MLS. For those of you who don't know the MLS (Major League Soccer) is the U.S. professional soccer league, don't get mad people...some people honestly don't know that.

As a public service to those who don't understand how the MLS playoffs work, I will explain.

• The MLS is split into two conferences, Eastern and Western.
• Eight teams qualify for the playoffs at the end of the regular season.
  
• The top two teams from each conference qualifies for the playoffs.
  
• The remaining four teams with the highest point totals, regardless of what conference the team is in, qualifies for the final playoff spots
• The playoffs have two rounds before the championship, known as the MLS Cup.
• The first round of the playoffs aggregate goals over two matches determine the winner
  

As G.I. Joe used to say, "now you know, and knowing is half the battle." Of course, my pick is gonna be Cuauhtemoc Blanco and the Chicago Fire...hey it's a Chicago thing.

2007 MLS Playoff match-ups:

• Eastern Conference
  
• D.C. United(1) vs. Chicago Fire(4)
• Red Bull New York(3) vs. New England Revolution(2)
• Western Conference
• Chivas USA(1) vs. Kansas City Wizards(4)
• FC Dallas(3) vs. Houston Dynamo(2)