Real Salt Lake-Dynamo winner can take West's top spot

The first half of the Major League Soccer season has been riddled with parity out West. Nine points is all that separates first-place Los Angeles from last-place San Jose, and the top four teams are within three points of each other, led by the Galaxy's 21. In as much as the mediocrity has given every team hope for a Western Conference title, there's no way it can continue. Since Real Salt Lake joined the league in 2005, the Western Conference champ has finished with 64, 52 and 53 points, respectively. West-leading Los Angeles is on pace for 42 points, which was barely enough to earn a playoff berth last year, let alone a conference title. Of the seven Western Conference teams, someone is bound to get hot and pull away from the pack. Real Salt Lake and Houston are optimistic about becoming that team. Tied for second in the... [read full story]