If I get time I’ll do a old fashion All Underpaid and All Overpaid team too.

Round two of the Cascadia Cup kicks off in Portland this weakend. (Getty Images)

Oh the Memorial Day weekend is here and it is the last weekend of May too. Hard to believe we are wrapping up the third month of the season and are heading into the fun summer months.

We have a jam-packed weekend ahead with nine games, a US friendly and a day off come Monday.

Saturday

LA Galaxy at Houston Dynamo: Funny to think that Dallas fans called FC Dallas Stadium/Pizza Hut Park ‘The Oven’ when it first opened. Now Houston fans are calling BBVA Compass Stadium the same. Honestly, both are ovens, just playing in Texas this time of year will make you feel that way. This MLS Cup rematch had a lot of promise coming into the season but now it looks like a dud. LA has no momentum what so ever at the moment while the Dynamo are likely to start their run up the Eastern Conference ladder.

WVH Prediction: Houston 1, LA 0

Philadelphia Union at Toronto FC: The Wooden Spoon Cup for the early part of the season hits Toronto. Everyone says that this is the game Toronto has to win or will win or needs to win. Whatever. I think after winning the Canadian Championship for a forth straight time, the league results will eventually take care of themselves.

WVH Prediction: Toronto 1, Philadelphia 0

Chicago Fire at Columbus Crew: Crew fans love pointing out that I never pick them to win and yes they are on a nice four-game unbeaten run. Kudos. They host an inconsistent Fire team that just picked up a win on Wednesday against Dallas. Chicago hasn’t won back-to-back games all season and I doubt they start now.

WVH Prediction: Columbus 2, Chicago 1

New England Revolution at D.C. United: Saer Sene has been a big help to the Revs’ attack this season but there are still some missing elements to Jay Heaps’ team. United are looking strong at the moment but the lack of Dwayne De Rosario (international call-ups) could present issues (DeRo leaves Sunday, so he’ll be in this one). These two always have fun matches, so I’d expected a few goals in it.

WVH Prediction: D.C. 3, New England 1

FC Dallas at Real Salt Lake: Dallas is on a major bender at the moment but they do get a RSL squad that will be missing about half of it’s lineup to injuries and call-ups. Could be good or it could just be more of the same for Schellas Hyndman’s group.

WVH Prediction: RSL 1, FCD 1

Montreal Impact at Colorado Rapids: I never like expansion clubs traveling to Colorado. The altitude plays a factor. The Rapids are dealing with some injuries of their own which could make this one tight. I still like where Oscar Pareja is taking this club though.

WVH Prediction: Colorado 1, Montreal 0

Vancouver Whitecaps at Portland Timbers: I fully expect the tough loss in Toronto to play a big part in this one for the Whitecaps. They’ll use it as motivation for sure but in the end, they will have some tired legs to deal with. Portland did have a midweek friendly but their main guys picked up some rest.

WVH Prediction: Portland 2, Vancouver 1

Seattle Sounders FC at Chivas USA: A very intriguing match to say the least. Two weeks ago this one wouldn’t even had been worth hyping but I think now it is. Seattle should field a frustrated club that saw three points go away from them at home on Wednesday. Chivas finally got a home win last weekend but they need to show consistency here – that is their next big step.

WVH Prediction: Seattle 2, Chivas 1

Sunday

San Jose Earthquakes at Sporting Kansas City: Big news for KC fans, midfielder Graham Zusi didn’t make the US roster for the upcoming games so he could be back for this one. They’ll need him as the Quakes have one of the better midfields going right now in MLS. The way these two clubs play, I’d expect a quick encounter with lots of back and forth action.

WVH Prediction: Sporting KC 1, San Jose 1

One is Dominic Oduro running fast through the grocery store, celebrating an orange going into a bag like a goal and just well, being fast.

The other is keeper Sean Johnson in the same grocery story. He’s showing off his ability to not let anything get by him. After seeing him stop Blas Perez on a PK last night, I don’t see much else getting by him for a while.

Each want the US Open Cup and they want to win it so bad. You can’t get too upset at these clubs wanting to take the US Open Cup seriously here.

All were originally slated to hit the road in the 3rd round of the 2012 US Open Cup. The new rules of the tournament stated that a both clubs in each early round have the chance to host as it is a draw that determine who hosts – not a bid like in previous years.

But the money talks.

I suppose there was no rule stating that MLS clubs couldn’t pony up the cash and considerations to the lower division clubs to host the games instead. It started with Portland, then RSL and Seattle joined in. All made a deal to get the games at their venue, something that definitely didn’t sit well with some fans of teams like the Atlanta Silverbacks or the Minnesota Stars.

Just how is it getting done? Simple it is a three way deal with the two clubs and the USSF. RSL’s GM Garth Lagerwey told MLSsoccer.com that they had to get a sign off from the USSF to do this.

“You certainly have to have US Soccer’s sign-off and approval to get that done,” Lagerwey explained. “It’s a business deal with all three parties: US Soccer, Minnesota and us.”

“Our ownership stepped up again, and through the hard work of Bill Manning we were able to get a deal negotiated to host an Open Cup game,” said Lagerwey. “I think that shows our commitment to winning. We literally did whatever it took to give our team the best chance to win just a first round game.”

Notice the commitment to winning. That is what this all boils down to. Each MLS side want to win this. I honestly don’t have an issue with how they are going about doing this. Sure, I’d love to see the little guys host the big kahunas of MLS but I’m also down with teams going out of their way to show they care about this tournament as well.

Some little fishes will move on after the third round, it almost always happens that way. The big thing to keep an eye out is how many more times MLS clubs have to pay their way to host games.

Again, at least it shows a commitment to winning and going all out to win this tournament. At the end of the day, that’s what we’ve all really wanted for this tournament all along – for MLS clubs to actually give a damn about it.

Marco Di Vaio adds plenty of scoring experience to the Impact. (Getty Images)

Montreal fans have been waiting for this since day one. A Designated Player to call their own.

The Impact officially announced the long-rumored signing of prolific Italian Serie A striker Marco Di Vaio. He will join the Impact once the summer transfer window opens for MLS at the end of June.

Di Vaio is the forth player on the Impact’s roster with ties to Serie A after Bernardo Corradi and defenders Nelson Rivas and Matteo Ferrari. Felipe Martins also played in the Italian lower divisions.

His move to MLS concludes a Serie A career that spanned 14 seasons and leaves him among the all-time goal-scoring leaders with 145 goals.

The dude may be a bit older but you can’t help but think he’ll come in and score for this club. The bigger question with this move though resides in the fact that he’ll have to adjust to the style of play in MLS – something that is never easy for newcomers.

The battle at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park this weekend should be a good one. (Getty Images)

Talk about a wild start to the week. Just like that Toronto FC won the Canadian Cup (yet they are still winless in league play), San Jose shocks LA on the road, and Columbus continues to improve as they won on the road in Seattle of all places.

Anything can happen on any given day in this league.

So what does this crazy start to the week have in store for the rest of the weekend? I’m sure tons of drama, goals, and all around craziness will be coming out way. We have nine games to look at this week with plenty of talking points as we end another month here.

1. No Donovan, No Keane, still the same problems. I’d be willing to say that the LA Galaxy played one of their better matches last night against San Jose. Both clubs put out a spirited effort for sure but in the end it was the same old story that has doomed this Galaxy squad since day one – their defense. Now LA must pick themselves up and head to Houston to play the Dynamo at the new BBVA Compass Stadium. While the Dynamo haven’t exactly set the Eastern Conference on fire lately they still will have a big advantage in this one – their defense. 

Yes this one is all about defense in my mind. Houston has it and right now LA does not. I do think LA has the better offense but in this league – one thing is certainly clear in the end – defense always wins out. Oh and that whole revenge factor for losing to LA in the MLS Cup last year doesn’t hurt to have either.

2. Worst clubs in MLS collide. Philadelphia may have eight more points than Toronto at this stage in the season but does anyone really think that matters right now? The Union didn’t exactly show anything great in Dallas to me last weekend and even though Freddy Adu will return for this one, Toronto does finally have a little momentum on their side after last night’s dramatic win in the Canadian Championships.

At some point Toronto will win a game this season. They will get a draw and this rut they are in will end. It is only natural for that to happen at some point this season. Right now they are five wins away from a playoff spot and in this league anything can happen.

But for the Union not all is doom and gloom. Yes, Peter Nowak has traded away every fan favorite up to this point. But games against the “worst club in the world” can spark something out of your club if you take advantage of the timing of the game. Philadelphia has to be mindful that getting an early lead on Toronto could spell three points. The longer they let Toronto hang around the tougher it will be to leave BMO Field with anything.

3. Salt Lake looks to add to FCD’s slump. Eight games. That’s how long it has been since FC Dallas saw three points. Believe me when I tell you it is much longer than it seems. Writing game previews on this club continue to get tougher with each loss or draw. Now this club heads to Salt Lake to face arguably the best club in the league. Yeah, three points won’t come easy in this one.

Here is the thing about Dallas. Their luck hasn’t been good for a while and when you shoot yourself in the foot every game, you just have little to no chance at winning. Simple as that. Dallas is a very strong side though when everyone is healthy and not suspended. Lucky for them after this match, they’ll only have two league games until July. With no players called up for any international duty the month ahead will be to focus on the US Open Cup and to getting healthy.

But in the meantime a trip to RSL sounds like it may be number nine once Saturday night comes to an end.

4. Cascadia round two. We got a nice look at the first Cascadia Cup game of the season last week and now we get another one, this time in Portland as the Timbers host the Whitecaps. Vancouver is coming off a tough loss in Toronto last night and will undoubtedly be trying to shake that off in this game. Portland is slowly turning things around here after a 2-1 win over Chicago last week (and for some reason they had a midweek friendly last night…). If last week’s match in Vancouver is any indication of where this series will go this season, you can bet this one will be a fiery game.

Portland sits four points back of the fifth spot in the Western Conference and just six points from the Whitecaps. This is certainly a good time for them to chip away at those points and play catch up. Can you imagine Seattle, Portland and Vancouver in the playoffs together? Talk about a pipe dream that someone in the front office in New York is having at the moment.

5. New look Goats host Seattle. Chivas got the win against LA and then a big draw in New York last night. I think it is almost safe to say that this team is turning that preverbal corner here and is starting to look like a dangerous club. Hosting a slumping Seattle squad this weekend on short rest could be a good test to see where this club is truly going. Robin Fraser has his defense improving in front of Dan Kennedy and now that Juan Pablo Angel is finally being his old self again, the offense is beginning to improve.

6. Game of the week on Sunday in KC. After last night’s dramatic win in LA, the San Jose Earthquakes now hit the road to Kansas City to play arguably the biggest game of the week. Who would have thought that at this stage in the season that the Earthquakes would be the top dog in the league? Not me, not you, not even most people in San Jose.

But can they maintain this for the rest of the 2012 campaign? That is the question everyone wants to know. They’ve passed a lot of big tests early on like winning in Seattle, beating Salt Lake, and winning last night’s game in LA. But going to KC is a different monster to tackle and one that could be very tricky to do on short rest. A win there signifies this San Jose club is indeed a front runner for the Supporters’ Shield, a loss just says they are human.

Some potential big matches include Seattle at Portland, Houston at Dallas, and Salt Lake at San Jose.

2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Schedule
FOURTH ROUND – Tuesday, June 5
New England Revolution (MLS) at New York Red Bulls (MLS): Red Bull Arena; Harrison, N.J.; 7 p.m. ET

OR

New England Revolution (MLS) at Charleston Battery (USL PRO): Blackbaud Stadium; Charleston, S.C.; 7 p.m. ET

OR

New York Red Bulls (MLS)/Charleston Battery (USL PRO) Winner at Harrisburg City Islanders (USL PRO): Hershey Park Stadium; Hershey, Pa.; 7:30 p.m. ET

—

Philadelphia Union (MLS)/Rochester Rhinos (USL PRO) Winner at D.C. United (MLS): Maryland SoccerPlex; Boyds, Md.; 7:30 p.m. ET

OR

Philadelphia Union (MLS)/Rochester Rhinos (USL PRO) Winner at Richmond Kickers (USL PRO): Richmond City Stadium; Richmond, Va.; 7 p.m. ET

—

Columbus Crew (MLS)/Dayton Dutch Lions (USL PRO) Winner at Chicago Fire (MLS): Toyota Park; Bridgeview, Ill.; 7:30 p.m. CT

OR

Columbus Crew (MLS)/Dayton Dutch Lions (USL PRO) Winner at Michigan Bucks (PDL): Ultimate Soccer Arena; Pontiac, Mich.; 7:30 p.m. ET

—

Colorado Rapids (MLS)/Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL) Winner at Sporting Kansas City (MLS): LIVESTRONG Sporting Park; Kansas City, Kan.; 7:30 p.m. CT

OR

Colorado Rapids (MLS)/Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL) Winner at Orlando City Soccer Club (USL PRO): Citrus Bowl; Orlando, Fla.; 7:30 p.m. ET

—

Houston Dynamo (MLS) at FC Dallas (MLS): FC Dallas Stadium; Frisco, Texas; 7:30 p.m. CT

OR

FC Dallas (MLS)/Charlotte Eagles (USL PRO) Winner at San Antonio Scorpions (NASL): Heroes Stadium; San Antonio, Texas; 7:30 p.m. CT

OR

Charlotte Eagles (USL PRO) at Houston Dynamo (MLS): BBVA Compass Stadium; Houston, Texas; 7:30 p.m. CT

—

Real Salt Lake (MLS)/Minnesota Stars FC (NASL) Winner at San Jose Earthquakes (MLS): Cagan Stadium, Stanford University; Stanford, Calif.; 7:30 p.m. PT

OR

Fort Lauderdale Strikers (NASL) at Real Salt Lake (MLS): Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah; 7 p.m. MT

OR

Fort Lauderdale Strikers (NASL) at Minnesota Stars FC (NASL): National Sports Center; Blaine, Minn.; 7:30 p.m. CT

—

Seattle Sounders FC (MLS)/Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) Winner at Portland Timbers (MLS): JELD-WEN Field; Portland, Ore.; 7:30 p.m. PT

OR

Cal FC (USASA) at Seattle Sounders FC (MLS): Starfire Sports Complex; Tukwila, Wash.; 7:30 p.m. PT

OR

Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) vs. Cal FC (USASA): Venue TBD; Time TBD

—

Chivas USA (MLS)/Ventura County Fusion (PDL) Winner at LA Galaxy (MLS): Home Depot Center; Carson, Calif.; 7:30 p.m. PT

OR

Chivas USA (MLS)/Ventura County Fusion (PDL) Winner at Carolina RailHawks (NASL): WakeMed Soccer Park; Cary, N.C.; 7:07 p.m. ET

The California rivalry highlights a busy Wednesday night. (Getty Images)

Can you believe it? We’re sitting at Week 12 already here this season. Things have been moving quickly but after this week things will settle down a little bit for June – which also means the summer friendly season is right around the corner.

Four games tonight along with the final game of the Canadian Championships. Oddly enough we get two rivalry games as well – I sure wish those came on the weekend instead.

Chivas USA at New York Red Bulls: Chivas has done well on the road this season, even better than their form at home. On the other hand they’re going across country on a short rest to play the league’s hottest team. Ouch.

WVH Prediction: New York 2, Chivas 0

FC Dallas at Chicago Fire: Dallas has never lost at Toyota Park and has really just dominated the Fire since about 2001. But given the fact that they have enough injuries and suspensions to fill a pretty decent starting XI, I’m thinking this is finally the Fire’s turn at keeping the Brimstone Cup. Just a shame this game had to be a midweek encounter for these two.

WVH Prediction: Chicago 2, Dallas 0

Columbus Crew at Seattle Sounders FC: Lately it seems Andy Gruenebaum has been the lone reason why Columbus is doing pretty well. But going to Seattle on short rest is no easy trick. Seattle is finally getting healthy in all the right places and Fredy Montero is as dangerous as we’ve ever seen him in this league.

WVH Prediction: Seattle 2, Columbus 0

San Jose Earthquakes at LA Galaxy: This one again should have been a weekend game. Bad scheduling and unlucky scheduling considering the big names missing (Chris Wondolowski, Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan) for international duty. It should still be a good game and one that will certainly tell us how good this San Jose team really is or if the Galaxy are going to be any better without two of their DPs.

WVH Prediction: LA 1, San Jose 1

THIRD ROUND – Tuesday, May 29 and Wednesday, May 30
Houston Dynamo (MLS) at San Antonio Scorpions (NASL): Heroes Stadium; San Antonio, Texas; 7:30 p.m. CT, May 29

Chicago Fire (MLS) at Michigan Bucks (PDL): Ultimate Soccer; Pontiac, Mich.; 7:30 p.m. ET, May 29

Orlando City Soccer Club (USL PRO) at Sporting Kansas City (MLS): LIVESTRONG Sporting Park; Kansas City, Kan.; 7:30 p.m. CT, May 29

D.C. United (MLS) at Richmond Kickers (USL PRO): Richmond City Stadium; Richmond, Va.; 7 p.m. ET, May 29

Dayton Dutch Lions (USL PRO) at Columbus Crew (MLS): Columbus Crew Stadium; Columbus, Ohio; 7:30 p.m. ET, May 29

Charlotte Eagles (USL PRO) at FC Dallas (MLS): FC Dallas Stadium; Frisco, Texas; 7:30 p.m. CT, May 29

Fort Lauderdale Strikers (NASL) at San Jose Earthquakes (MLS): Cagan Stadium, Stanford University; Stanford, Calif.; 7:30 p.m. PT, May 29

Rochester Rhinos (USL PRO) at Philadelphia Union (MLS): PPL Park; Chester, Pa.; 7:30 p.m. ET, May 29

New England Revolution (MLS) at Harrisburg City Islanders (USL PRO): Skyline Sports Complex^; Harrisburg, Pa.; 7 p.m. ET, May 29

New York Red Bulls (MLS) at Charleston Battery (USL PRO): Blackbaud Stadium; Charleston, S.C.; 7:30 p.m. ET, May 29

Chivas USA (MLS) at Ventura County Fusion (PDL); Ventura College^; Ventura, Calif.; 7 p.m. PT^, May 29

LA Galaxy (MLS) at Carolina RailHawks (NASL): WakeMed Soccer Park; Cary, N.C.; 7:07 p.m. ET, May 29

Colorado Rapids (MLS) at Tampa Bay Rowdies (NASL): Al Lang Stadium; St. Petersburg, Fla.; 7:30 p.m. ET, May 29

Cal FC (USASA) at Portland Timbers (MLS): JELD-WEN Field; Portland, Ore.; 7:30 p.m. PT, May 30^

Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) at Seattle Sounders (MLS): Starfire Sports Complex^; Tukwila, Wash.; 7 p.m. PT^; May 30^

Minnesota Stars FC (NASL) at Real Salt Lake (MLS)^: Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah; 7 p.m. MT^, May 29

^ Note: Changed from original May 16 announcement

I shuffled a couple tiers around, as the top group got one team bigger and the third tier got a few clubs larger. Really that third tier is just a bunch of mess that could either go up or down at this point. You could make your claim for any club being rated 11-17 here and I wouldn’t argue with it one bit.

Finally, the bottom tier is now a two team group. It is just sad down there.

Team	Rank (Last)	Record (W-L-T)	Comments
Top Tier (teams seen to be head and shoulders above the rest)
	1 (1)	8-3-2 26 pts.	Off this week and stayed at the top in the process. They lose Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando to national team duty but they get a struggling FC Dallas squad at home this week. Should be status quo when it is all said and done.
	2 (2)	7-2-3 24 pts.	They left it late but got a point at home against Columbus in a game they truly dominated in. Alan Gordon got his third of the season and is showing that this club has real depth for a change up top.
	3 (3)	7-2-2 23 pts.	Fredy Montero is heating up, which is nice considering he’s finally got his strike force behind him with Eddie Johnson, Alvaro Fernandez and Mauro Rosales all healthy again.
	4 (5)	8-3-1 25 pts.	It is hard not to like what the Red Bulls are doing these days. They are winners of five straight and have moved up a tier here. I’d still like to see this club take on a team above them here but we’ll have to wait on that.
Second Tier (teams expected to reach the post season but not quite on the level of the top teams)
	4 (8)	7-4-3 24 pts.	Nice to see their DPs play like DPs here. Hamdi Salihi is showing that he was worth the wait here to get going and now that he’s on the same page as Dwayne De Rosario, look out, this club will continue to surge up the standings.
	6 (4)	7-3-1 22 pts.	Nice to see Teal Bunbury put two in the back of the net but it was not great to see them conceed two goals off set pieces. Winless run moves to four games for Peter Vermes’ club.
	7 (7)	3-3-4 13 pts.	Two draws in the week keep them at bay for me here. The big home run is about to kick off though, I’d expect some points coming up for this team.
	8 (6)	4-3-3 15 pts.	Injuries in the back are creeping in for the Fire. But a lack of toughness should really raise a few questions about this club’s ability to compete with the clubs above them.
	9 (10)	5-3-3 18 pts.	The Whitecaps should have gotten three points against Seattle but at least we’re finally seeing this big offensive group come alive here.
Third Tier (middle of the road in the league, teams could go either go in the playoffs or miss it entirely)
	10 (9)	5-6-1 16 pts.	The 2-2 draw at home to KC was a better showing than the 2-0 loss on the road in DC. Their defense really needs some work done on it as four goals given up in one week just will not cut it against the elite in this league.
	11 (13)	3-6-3 12 pts.	Tough not to make a break through with a man advantage on your own turf. They need a big outting against Colorado before they go on a three-week break.
	12 (14)	4-6-1 13 pts.	Saer Sene is having a nice season so far in New England but everything else just seems like the same old Revs to me. Decent, improving but nothing to really get overly attached to.
	13 (15)	3-4-3 12 pts.	Andy Gruenebaum nearly stole three points away from San Jose, which would have easily lifted this side up the rankings more than the draw did. Still, even with the draw this side is improving.
	14 (11)	3-6-4 13 pts.	Another frustrating outing for Schellas Hyndman. No Brek Shea for the two other games this week and now no Hernan Pertuz for the next three to four weeks. The defense is good but in shambled since no one is healthy enough (or not suspended) to go from game to game.
	15 (16)	4-6-1 13 pts.	Danny Califf and Juan Agudelo gave the Goats exactly what they needed in the 1-0 win over their LA rivals. Don’t look now but this side could be on the way up here.
	16 (18)	3-5-3 12 pts.	A draw and a win is a pretty good week for any club. Things are looking up for this club and it may be at the right time too with Colorado, Dallas and LA all struggling.
	17 (12)	3-6-2 11 pts.	Ugh. It is hard to get overly excited anymore about this club. The star power just isn’t enough while the defense continues to be the main issue.
Bottom Tier (could be a long year for these teams)
	18 (17)	2-6-2 8 pts.	They drop more for the bad deals they continue to make than the result they produced on the road in Dallas.
	19 (19)	0-9-0 0 pts.	Just ugly at this point.