With first kick of First Kick barely an hour away – Philadelphia hosts Kansas City at 4 pm EST – there are a few topics on my mind before the action gets underway.
It’s been a hectic week, research and previews, writing and reading, to be honest, it has been hard to keep up.
Several omissions from my annual – or weekly – routine have been disrupted in the flurry of preparation that accompanies the season.
Where are the club media guides?
MLS usually provides such fancy pamphlets to preview the season, for those of us less in touch with the PR representatives, they are normally available for download, but this year, at time of posting, they are non-existent.
The injury report?
Though it is often too late – and occasionally misused - to be particularly helpful, they do provide a glimpse into the potential lineups that a side will trot out on a given matchday. It appears as though the league has, in conjunction with the clubs, decided that the central version is not necessary, opting instead to leave reporting up to the clubs to disseminate where and when they choose.
I have only found three individual reports – Toronto, Montreal and Seattle - and I generally think of myself as well informed on these matters.
Fantasy Leagues?
I normally don’t go in for this sort of thing, but it strikes me as counterproductive to be promoting and encouraging participation, while simultaneously not making the injury information – an essential tool to the process - easy to find in and reliable – to a certain degree.
The intent is not to criticize, with First Kick moving earlier and earlier, some things are bound to slip through the cracks and these oversights may be the victim of a rush to prepare for the start of the league, I myself have yet to finish my Western Conference Preview – it will come, probably after the weekend; a pointless exercise, but one must commit fully – but hopefully these features will make a return in the near future.
Enjoy the matches.
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