3rd Degree's Archives and History
 

Our Twenty Fearless Predictions. Some of which may even come true...
Actually 7 came true...

[ 1998 Jerseys ] [ 1998 US Open Cup ] [ 1998 Stats ] [ 1998 Results ] [ 1998 Predictions ] [ 1998 Letters ]

1. D.C. United will not win the MLS Cup.  They're still a great team but lost their key advantage: depth.
       Correct (1): Chicago was a surprise though. 

2. The first Florida Derby will draw less than 15,000. (Miami vs Tampa for you newcomers)
       Correct (2): 6,036 Official

3. Diaz Arce will lead the league in Goals.  Moreno will get twice the coverage with just Wegerle to draw the defense..     Incorrect: Diaz Arce tied with Lassiter with 18 goals for third place.

4. Miami will not finish last in the East.  Good D plus Valdarama makes any team good enough to beat NY.    Correct (3): finished in fourth place.

5. Chicago will finish last in the West.  They'll battle San Jose for last but Cerritos will get Clash over the top.     Incorrect: Ok, so we blew this one.  Who knew?

6. Chris Henderson (Col) will be the MVP for the West.  Colorado thrives on his energy and play Incorrect: Ok, there is no MVP of the West.  But since he was nominated for MVP Peter Nowak (Chi) must be it..

7. Valdarama (Mia) will be MVP of East. Incorrect. Etcheverry (DC) was MLS MVP.

8. LA will miss Campos.  not just his play, but his draw, flair and leadership.    Incorrect. Ok, maybe not, but they did get Hermosillo to fill the same role. Plus Hartman turned out pretty well.

9.   San Jose will trade Wynalda.  If not during the season, then after.  Probably right after they don't make the playoffs again. Correct (4). Sort of.  Don't know if he will be traded, but it looks like he won't be back.

10. Dallas will give up the lowest goals against in MLS.  Alverez & Dodd... enough said
    Incorrect. Zach Thorton 1.17, Dodd 1.71. Still pretty good.

11. Kansas City will score the most goals in MLS.  Ok, so that was an easy one.  Incorrect. Wow, this team got real bad, real fast.

12. Johnny Torres (N.E.) will win the Rookie of the Year.  As of now NE has no left midfield starter, it will be Torres by 1/3 mark of the season.  Incorrect. Ben Olsen was Rookie of the year.  Torres was good though.

13. Preki will score the goal to give K.C. the MLS cup over United 3-2.
    K.C. 2 games to 1 over Dallas in West Final, and D.C. 2 games to 1 over N.E. in East final. Incorrect. KC was awful.  Instead Chicago knocked DC out in the Final.

14. N.E. will lead MLS in attendance.   Best fans with a good team will go crazy. Incorrect. Second behind LA.

15. MLS attendance will be up over last year, but won't equal the first season. Correct (5). Finished up over last year.

16. Ronald Cerritos (SJ) will lead the West in scoring.  San Jose will still be bad with no real defense to speak of. Incorrect. finished fourth behind Cobi Jones, Welton, and Cienfuegos.

17. The US will finish 1-1-1 in World Cup first round play.  Win over Iran, Tie Yugoslavia.  Ok, so it's not MLS...  Incorrect.  Ouch... I don't want to talk about it.

18. Alverez (Dal) will lead MLS in Red Cards.  He and refs just don't get along. Correct (6). Alverez is tied with 6 others with 2. Led in Cautions by 2.

19. Brian McBride (Clb) will have a break through year.  Either Williams or Stern will draw enough defenders to give McBride some freedom. Correct (7) Nailed this one.

20. Lalas and Diez Arce will get in a fight when New England plays New York. 
    Incorrect. Ok, so they didn't, but it was a good bet.