Latte Brewing Rankings (May 16)

My MLS rankings. I put way too much thought into these.

1. Real Salt Lake - An uninspiring draw for sure, but not damaging enough to knock them from the top perch.

2. LA Galaxy - You know things are going well when Juan Pablo Angel scores.

3. New York - Three of last four goals allowed have come on set pieces.

4. FC Dallas - Wasn't losing David Ferreira supposed to be damaging? Hoops have been 3-0-1 without him - and overcame a 1-0 deficit on the road in the game he was hurt.

5. Seattle - Too bad they don't get bonus points for their tifo display.

6. Portland - Timbers haven't won on the road yet but overcoming a deficit at Qwest Field shows the team's ever-improving mental toughness.

7. Columbus - Ugly performance. San Jose had a lot to play for but Columbus showed nothing.

8. Chivas USA - This team's for real - believe it.

9. Philadelphia - Has it been all smoke-and-mirrors for Philadelphia?

10. Colorado - Back to being a middling team.

11. Houston - A much-needed shutout at Rio Tinto.

12. Chicago - Nice comeback; two goals for a team that has question marks up front is a good sign as well.

13. San Jose - Just when you're ready to write off the 'Quakes, Yallop's boys lay a 3-0 whipping on a good Columbus team.

14. New England - A win, yes, but this team is just so uninspiring.

15. - DC United - Davies is going to be gone one way or the other, either with the Gold Cup or injury. Doesn't bode well.

16. Vancouver - What happens when you prioritize the Canadian Championships - a miserable, ugly performance.

17. - Toronto FC - A tie that felt like a loss; at least Plata looks like he can be good.

18. - Sporting KC - Miserable performances from Harrington, Kamara, Zusi. Is there any hope for this team?

Late Blast Rankings (May 9)

1. Real Salt Lake - How long do they last at this spot without Morales?

2. New York - Very impressive at times, looked vulnerable at others.

3. LA Galaxy - See above.

4. Columbus - One goal - chance for draws; two goals - chance for win

5. Seattle - Did well to recover from midweek loss at DC United

6. Philadelphia - At some point this season, and soon, Philly's gonna have to start looking to go forward more often

7. Portland - Learning how to win close games at home; now we just need to see that on the road

8. FC Dallas - Gutted out a road shutout

9. Colorado - Slowly coming out of it; that it's without Casey is a good sign

10. Chivas USA - Mondaini's tackle = moronic; Chivas USA had chance for road draw

11. Houston - Looked good for a long stretch but was it for real?

12. Chicago - Draws could give some confidence for a team that needs it

13. Vancouver - Showed some resiliency in earning first road shutout

14. New England - Effort improved, but Revs are back to not scoring

15. - DC United - Snapped two-game, eight-goals-allowed streak with scoreless draw

16. - San Jose - 'Quakes got confidence-booster in USOC win over Portland

17. - Toronto FC - A win! Finally

18. - Sporting KC - It's not Sporting KC's year - they don't even play and drop into last place

Laser Blast Rankings (May 2)

Here are the latest rankings. The separation the top three had is still there but with more losses, even if they came on the road, it won't be for much longer.

1. Real Salt Lake - Had to figure the team was due for a letdown even though Portland is a tough place to play.

2. New York - Took the throttle off after one goal, but it was more than enough to silence KC.

3. LA Galaxy - Wonder if they'll chalk this loss up to bad weather?

4. Philadelphia - Overcame an early red card to win; takes a strong team to do that.

5. Seattle - No Zakuani, no White, no Rosales and they still get three goals.

6. Columbus - Two goals? In one game? Crew won't lost many times when that happens.

7. Houston - Will Bruin is finishing off goals that Brian Ching may not have.

8. FC Dallas - Survived the rain and lightning and got three well-earned points.

9. Portland - Stunning defeat against a team that hadn't lost an MLS game in a while.

10. Chivas USA - Thorough whipping of New England but real tests come soon - at RSL, at NY, vs LA.

11. Colorado - Casey is missed, badly, strange considering how well Folan, Amarikwa, Cummings looked; depth just isn't there.

12. Chicago - A gritty result, could have left Dick's with three points.

13. Vancouver - Salgado's first MLS goal only positive souvenir from Ohio.

14. New England - A horrible effort against Chivas.

15. San Jose - When you go up a man on the road, you're the team that's supposed to win.

16. DC United - Well, that was fun while it lasted.

17. Sporting KC - The offense was the only thing that's supposed to keep these guys in games, so if they can't score, they have zero chance.

18. Toronto FC - So much for that momentum from the win over Edmonton.

Little Buddy Rankings (April 25)

As if anyone is surprised, the gap between teams is starting to show. Of course, the top three are probably the top three many had slotted that high before the season started - New York, LA, Real Salt Lake.

The first two had impressive shutout routs, over bad teams certainly but in combining for seven goals the two teams showed why there was so much hype over them before the year began. There's a chasm between the next batch of teams and then the falloff continues. Perhaps it will even out at some point but for now the top three have a wide gap and, to be honest, the gap between 1 and 2 is still vast.

1. Real Salt Lake - Quite possibly playing the biggest game any MLS team has ever played in, Wednesday vs. Monterrey in the CCL Final.

2. LA Galaxy - Is there offense back or is Portland's defense just that bad?

3. New York - If Red Bulls play like they did against San Jose, DC, they will be tough to beat.

4. Philadelphia - Took one for the team and agreed to move RSL match from last weekend to September.

5. Seattle - Life after Zakuani begins vs. Toronto on Saturday.

6. Columbus - Finally, an opponent breaks through, but even then Crew only yields one.

7. Colorado - All respect for Mullan has vanished.

8. Houston - Boswell loves scoring in Chicago - perhaps Fire should consider dealing for him.

9. FC Dallas - Ferreira's loss a blow but team's initial response was encouraging.

10. Portland - Chara, Cooper, Perlaza, Nagbe, Alhassani... the makings of a strong attack; Timbers are still crud defensively, though.

11. DC United - Unfortunate that Henry picked RFK Stadium to really figure out how to score in MLS.

12. Chivas USA - This team is better now than many give them credit for, and will continue to improve as season goes on.

13. Vancouver - Leathers, a poor man's version of Mullan.

14. New England - Feilhaber showed his value in setting up Perovic early on. Could become a star in the league very soon.

15. San Jose - No heart, no desire, no ideas... no wonder Yallop was so incensed at his team.

16. Chicago - Losing streak halted but winless streak reaches four.

17. Sporting KC - You know things are bad defensively when New England drops three on you.

18. Toronto - Scored a goal but paid stiff price for it.

Week 5 Rankings

I can't have a blog and not do MLS rankings. So now that we've dusted this off and started anew, I gotta get back to my rankings.

I haven't done these in a while... we'll see how this goes.

1. Real Salt Lake: Could be one of the league's best-ever teams

2. LA Galaxy: Solved offensive problems.... by playing without Beckham, Donovan, Angel

3. Philadelphia: Dropped points at the death; should have done better to finish match

4. Colorado: Difficult midweek Rocky Mountain Cup setback

5. Seattle: Finally, a contribution from Montero

6. New York: Rodgers may have turned around Red Bulls' season

7. Columbus: Sporting KC's strong attack no match for Crew defense

8. Houston: Signs of life in southeast Texas

9. DC United: Charlie Davies, frontrunner for Newcomer of the Year

10. Portland: Too bad they can't play all their games at Jeld-Wen Field

11. FC Dallas: Felt the power of Jeld-Wen Field

12. San Jose: On the wrong end of a rout

13. Vancouver: Home field hasn't been an advantage of late

14. Sporting KC: Scoring goals wasn't supposed to be an issue

15. Chivas USA: Defense coming together - one goal allowed in last three games

16. Chicago: Misleading stat - Fire have scored in every game

17. New England: Goals are hard to come by for lowly Revs, and Lekic ain't the answer

18. Toronto FC: Bottom may have fallen out

Number One, By A Mile

I don't do MLS rankings. I probably will at some point. I got the itch to do some before the season started but didn't have a place to put them but now I do.

Had I been doing rankings, I would have started the season off with Colorado in the top spot. Defending champs and all, I feel they should start at the top since they left off at the top.

After Colorado lost to Dallas, they pretty much lost the right to remain at the top. And after Wednesday's loss to RSL, there really is no doubt who the best MLS team is right now.

Real Salt Lake should be numbers 1, 2 and 3, they are that much better than anyone else in MLS right now. There's an argument as to the second-best team in the league is, but whether you put in.... uh.... LA? Philly? Seattle? blech.... whichever one of those teams you put in at number two, there is a huge chasm in between RSL and LA/Philly/Seattle/someone-else.

What was more impressive than their victory over Colorado was their win over New England.

Yeah, the gawd-awful Revolution.

Look at RSL's lineup in that match - Reynish; Beltran, Schuler, McKenzie, Russell; Johnson, Alexander, Warner, Grabavoy; Alvarez, Paulo.

What other team in the league can field second-stringers and still get a road shutout?

Real Salt Lake has built up the league's best and deepest team. They can beat teams by overpowering them as they did against the Galaxy on March 26 or by playing solid defense as they did against Colorado. They're mentally strong too - their 2-1 defeat at Saprissa on April 5 is testament to that.

So when I get ready to do my rankings, as will inevitably be the case, the top might look like this:

1. Real
2. Salt
3. Lake