Playoff chase down to the wire

For weeks now, I've been receiving numerous press releases from MLS breathlessly detailing how the conference playoff races are shaping up -- the implication being that the chase just might go down to the last weekend of the regular season. Of course, that is exactly what has happened, which is about as surprising as Eddie Johnson getting suspended -- again. After all, the battle for the final playoff spot has gone down to the last game every year since 2002, and this year there is the added twist that the last position in each conference is still up for grabs. But rather than last-weekend drama, it is the subplots surrounding each team that are the most interesting.

Eric Schlueter/WireImage

The Wizards will lean on Scott Sealy at forward following Eddie Johnson's suspension.

Out West, the race has come down to two sides, Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids, whose sheer enmity for each other makes the "House of Carters" seem like "The Cosby Show." This development is a bit surprising, because at first the Rocky Mountain Cup seemed to be one of those feeble attempts to create a rivalry where none really existed. But back on Sept. 2, the training wheels came off and a real rivalry was born.

On that day, Colorado traveled to Salt Lake City and came away with a hotly contested 1-0 victory; the only goal of the game came from Rapids forward Nico Hernandez. Adding to Real Salt Lake's ire was the fact that Real's Mehdi Ballouchy went down injured during the buildup to the goal, and several RSL players had let up, expecting the Rapids to put the ball out of play. Then there were a slew of robust challenges that would have made Roy Keane flinch. To top it off, the game finished with Colorado's Pablo Mastroeni taunting the Real fans and RSL owner Dave Checketts getting in the face of the Rapids' midfielder, letting him know how he felt about such antics.

Checketts later told MLSNet that he was "outraged and embarrassed" by Mastroeni's display, but it's the kind of theater that MLS is in dire need of. The regular season is filled with games desperately searching for passion and personality, and on this occasion there was an abundance of both. For that reason, it's a pity the two teams won't be playing each other this weekend. Instead, Colorado will take its MLS-worst road record to Houston, while coach John Ellinger and RSL head to Los Angeles to take on Chivas USA, needing a win and a Rapids' loss.

The latter part of the equation seems simple enough, since Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching feasted on the Rapids to the tune of four goals on April 2; also, last week Colorado defender Mike Petke drew a postmatch red card from referee Brian Hall, which no doubt caused the hairline of Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo to recede even further.

Colorado's hopes rest on the fact that the game means everything to the Rapids and little to the Dynamo. Houston possesses the minor incentive of trying to lock down second place in the West, but even without that motivation, you can bet that any team coached by Dominic Kinnear will not lie down. Last year, the Kinnear-coached San Jose Earthquakes traveled to L.A. for a meaningless showdown with their in-state rivals (if there ever was such a thing). L.A. would have preferred to win the game, since it would mean avoiding San Jose in the first round. Instead the Quakes took apart the Galaxy 3-1, a result which many San Jose fans were cursing two weeks later after their playoff elimination at the hands of L.A.

The bigger question is: Will RSL get the result it needs against its expansion brethren? Given how banged up Chivas is at the moment, Real is certainly catching the Goats at the right time. Attacker Francisco Palencia is out for the season, and forward Ante Razov is listed as questionable for Saturday's match with an adductor strain. That counts as good news for Real's league-worst defense, but despite its vast improvement over last season, a must-win game on the road seems -- in the immortal words of Madness -- "one step beyond." This means that the Rapids likely will back into the playoffs and lord it over their bitter rivals all winter, regardless of how they fare in the playoffs.

In the East, it's déjà vu all over again, with Kansas City and New York once again vying for the last remaining spot. In 2005, a ghastly 0-4-4 finish by the Wizards allowed New York to nick in and swipe fourth place on the season's final day. This time the Wizards are in better form, having gone 3-1-3 in their last seven games, allowing them to leapfrog the Red Bulls and take a two-point lead into their season-ending showdown at Giants Stadium.

Considering that it was just three months ago that Kansas City parted ways with former head coach Bob Gansler, full credit must be given to new manager Brian Bliss for righting the ship. And Bliss' steadying influence has been tested in recent days with the announcement that star striker Johnson has been suspended for what can best be described as a bad attitude.

While it's tempting to think that such a distraction might sidetrack the Wizards' best-laid plans, removing Johnson from the picture is clearly a case of addition by subtraction. A hamstring injury sustained on Sept. 3 against the Galaxy had sidelined the U.S. national team player, but the Wizards hardly felt his absence, as the attacking trio of Scott Sealy, Josh Wolff and Dave van den Bergh began to heat up. Johnson had healed sufficiently to make a substitute's appearance against Real Salt Lake on Sept. 30, but considering the forward's huge struggles in front of goal this season (only two goals in 19 games), it seems likely that Bliss saw no reason to alter his starting lineup, and his star probably didn't take it well.

With Jimmy Conrad back from a broken jaw, and the team's future in Kansas City now secure, it would appear that not even Johnson's behavior -- which, according to published reports, saw him repeatedly jawing with teammates at practice -- can stop the Wizards.

But the Red Bulls are far from dead. They also have had a tumultuous year, enduring a change in ownership, a change in coach and Youri Djorkaeff's frequent trips to everywhere but Giants Stadium. Yet the Red Bulls are still in control of their own destiny. If they win, they're in.

Last year they found themselves in a similar situation, needing a road victory against Chivas USA to get into the postseason. This time, they not only are playing at home but also have an ace in the hole in the form of 16-year-old Josmer Altidore. The U.S. U-17 player had seen scant playing time up until about a month ago, but since then, he's been the anti-Johnson, displaying maturity and finishing ability well beyond his years.

Starting with his stunning 30-yard blast against the Columbus Crew on Sept. 16, Altidore has scored three goals, two of them game winners, and it's not a stretch to say that both tallies saved the Red Bulls' season.

Altidore's ability to excel under pressure will be tested once again this weekend, and his flair for the dramatic is a knack that his teammates would like to see under the increased pressure of the playoffs. But the Red Bulls' youngster hasn't done it alone the last four weeks. After months of indifferent play from midfielder Amado Guevara, the Honduran has re-emerged to become a force on the field and delivered a season-saving goal of his own last week against Colorado. New York will certainly need a repeat performance this weekend.

There has been talk that a team might be better off not making the playoffs, given the prize of an allocation and an early draft pick that awaits such a side. But if this season proved anything, it's that those assets are often not enough to drag a team out of the bottom half of the table. The teams that have struggled during the regular season this year are basically the same sides who were on the bubble last year, with Chivas being the lone exception. For that reason, you can bet that for the four teams still in contention, such thoughts will be the furthest thing from their minds come Saturday.

Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPNsoccernet. He can be reached at eljefe1@yahoo.com .