Sometimes, the planets really do align for soccer in the USA in general and Major League Soccer in particular. At the same time that the Galácticos from Real Madrid were in the US to play a pair of exhibition games against MLS opposition, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) met in Austria to determine, among other things, the fate of Pluto and the official make-up of our Solar System. Should Pluto remain a planet or not? In a terrific coincidence, the IAU membership is currently debating increasing the number of planets to 12, with a series of other “Trans-Neptunian Objects” on a watch list of candidates to become planets.

The IAU discussions simply dovetail too perfectly with MLS and MLS expansion to not be featured in the AAXI header this week. The question is, which MLS teams correspond to which planets?

First, some background on the whole question of the planets. There are eight “classical” planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto is widely considered to be the ninth planet, but it is much smaller and has a much different orbit than the others, leading many to question its status. Astronomers used to consider Ceres a planet, but it was downgraded to asteroid status in the late 1800s (it is located between Mars and Jupiter). And over the past few decades, stronger telescopes have helped locate a whole host of other planetoids and plutons out past Pluto, leading to the question of whether Pluto should be downgraded or these newbies upgraded.

So, we’ve got eight classical planets, and eight original MLS teams still playing in their original cities (Colorado, Columbus, Dallas, DC United, Kansas City, Los Angeles New England, and New York) . A ninth “traditional” planet, Pluto, with an irregular orbit, and one MLS original franchise relocated to a new city (Houston). Three new planets as proposed by the IAU – Ceres, Charon, and 2003 UB313 - and three former expansion MLS teams (Chicago, Chivas, and Real Salt Lake). An IAU watch list of a dozen candidates for expansion – Hygiea, Ixion, Orcus, Quaoar, Pallas, Sedna, Varuna, Vesta, 2002 AW197, 2002 TX300, 2003 EL61, and 2005 FY9, matched with a similar number of expansion candidates and the soon-to-debut Toronto FC.

And it gets better. Planets can be rebranded, a la Clash-to-Earthquakes-to-Dynamo or MetroStars-to-Red Bulls. The IAU is working on an official name for 2003 UB313, although the working name of (seriously) Xena (Gabrielle being its moon!) has some marketability.

However, after additional consideration, we can’t very well post a list of which MLS teams correspond to which planets – the negative feedback from whichever team got assigned to Uranus would overwhelm us! Sounds like a good topic for the MLS Rivalries board at BigSoccer.com: which MLS team is Uranus?

Now on to the AAXI for weeks 19 and 20. The single game from All-Star Weekend and the full slate from week 20 were all considered, resulting in this week’s 6-2-2 – with both the midfielders on the list lining up as d-mids, we’re pretty heavy on the defensive end of things – but we can hardly help it if these are the Yanks who stepped it up this week:
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Matt Reis – (3)

The New England ‘keeper earns the nod in part for his work in stymieing Ante Razov in week 19’s draw with Chivas. But in particular, Reis played a terrific game in the scoreless draw against the Wizards in week 20. His seven saves were all crucial with nothing easy about any of them.

Eddie Robinson – (4)

The Houston back showed why there isn’t a Soccernet “cover” jinx to match the Sports Illustrated one. The same week he got the good press from Jeff Carlisle, he played the same kind of steady game he has all year long and helped shut down the Dallas attack. And if AAXI staff favorite Kenny Cooper ever goes crazy, don’t be surprised if he starts screaming “Eddie Robinson is everywhere” because Kenny couldn’t even spit on Saturday without Eddie being there to stop it. By shutting down Cooper, Robinson shut down Dallas.

Nick Garcia – (2)

With Jimmy Conrad out again - this time with a broken jaw - Garcia stepped up for the Wizards like he did earlier in the year. With Jose Burciaga storming forward and Shavar Thomas playing somewhat shakily, the main work to preserve the weekend shutout of Columbus fell to Garcia, who rose to the task. Then again, he wasn’t half bad while partnering with Conrad in the midweek shutout of New England.

Tim Regan – (5)

Regan has become the steadiest defender in the league this season. Although he didn’t particularly standout in the drab week 19 affair, he played well for the Goats in their controversial win at Chicago during week 20. In that game he exhibited a knack for going forward at the right times, while clogging the attack effectively as well.

Dasan Robinson – (5)

Robinson played well, moving over to the center of the field a number of times to cover for emergency center back Tony Sanneh. He is the reason that Chicago was still in the match at the end of the game. He is among a group of five or so MLSers who belie what it means to be a rookie.

Chris Albright – (3)

Albright kept the left side of Houston’s attack in check in midweek action, including introducing Stuart Holden to more physical defense than he’s probably seen since playing with the Sunderland reserves. Albright also had several good runs to contribute to the attack.

Craig Waibel – (2)

He is finally getting fully fit again and it’s shown in his improved play over the last few games. This week, he added a badly needed attacking dimension with better crossing from his position than Houston usually sees. He scored a header against Dallas, but his overall effort in the attack and keeping possession also helped Houston win that “damn cannon” given to the winner of the Houston-Dallas series. He continues to defend well in one-on-one situations, even against players who should beat him for speed.

Pablo Mastroeni – (3)

The World Cup veteran absolutely shut down Landon Donovan in Saturday’s 1-0 Rapids win. It was truly a vintage Mastroeni game, one more often seen for the USNT than in MLS. But this one got his MLS team three big points in what is shaping up to be an interesting Western Conference playoff race.

Jesse Marsch – (2)

Marsch scored a cracking goal from his d-mid position during the week 19 game against New England. In a funny game that should have shown MLS’s good side to the 90,000 people in the LA Coliseum primed to see the Barcelona-Chivas game that followed, Marsch was one of the only players who didn’t look like he was more prepared for an afternoon nap than to showcase his skills for the assembled crowd.

Santino Quaranta – (1)

The new Galaxy acquisition gets the nomination for only two touches, his first two in an LA uniform. Fox Soccer Channel commentator Allen Hopkins may have overstated it when he said that Q looked like a man who received a get out of jail free card, but he surely did look happy to be on the field when he came on and stole three points for the Galaxy.

Jeff Cunningham – (5)

RSL’s 4-1 win over the Rapids might just spark the team into doing something with this season. If it does, Cunningham’s performance will be a huge part of it. He was all over that field, making space and finding people. Over and over he was a threat. If it wasn’t for Joe Cannon in goal, this game might have been a “huge” blowout. And don’t look now, but not only does Cunningham lead MLS with 13 goals following his pair against Colorado, but he’s tied for the RSL team lead with six assists. Not bad for a “selfish” player.
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• Header by ismitje.
• List compiled and edited by ismitje, with input from all of the AAXI contributors.
• All typos and errors should be blamed on Justin Mapp.
• All typos and errors blamed on Justin Mapp are, of course, actually the fault of Shep Messing.