MLS Stays Silent On Alan Gordon, Continues To Encourage San Jose’s Brutal Play

Update: MLS has finally released a Disciplinary Committee note for this week. A Crew player and Wilmer Cabrera were the only people punished, no mention of Gordon.

I hate MLS conspiracy theories. There are a lot of people out there who seem to think that MLS hates their particular team, or tries their hardest to hand trophies to the Galaxy, Sounders and Red Bulls, or some other such schlock.

That's stonewall. It's dangerous, it's to the head, it's off the ball, it's by the man who has committed more fouls than any other player in MLS over the past four seasons, and it should have been a red card at the time. That's the sort of thing that MLS has sworn up and down that they are for preventing. And the MLS Disciplinary Committee hasn't said a word about it.

But why is it that the Quakes escape this scrutiny? It's simple: MLS encourages it.

It's undeniable that MLS loves the San Jose Earthquakes, because they provide the league with their favorite thing: storylines. MLS was absolutely in love with 'goonie time' and the Bash Brothers that kept it going back in 2012, and Mark Watson only kept the mythos alive with a few more late wins and a mad rush towards a playoff spot in 2013. If Gordon is suspended, if Lenhart is suspended, you don't have the goonies. An elbow here and a shoulder there can be overlooked if it keeps the ink flowing and the views coming. Let's take a look at their preview from their Starting XI post this week:

There was, and still is, I think, a sense that 2012 wasn't a fluke, but their down year of 2013 was. Anyone who looked at the numbers and saw them play knows that's not true, and that 2012 was always unsustainable stuff. They're a mediocre team who pulled a miraculous season out of thin air, but every goonie-style win makes sure that there are still believers. MLS really, really want to be believers.

If you didn't already have a reason to root for the Quakes to go winless this season, there's one. Maybe if the idiotic myth of 'goonie time' finally says die, MLS will take the Quakes to task for playing the only game they seem to know how to play. I suppose that there's always a chance the MDC comes in very late into the game and announces something, but we're already gearing up for tomorrow's matches. It doesn't seem likely that a surprise announcement comes now, and it would seem reactionary if they did.