The defending champions are heading home, FC Dallas claimed the Supporters Shield and the Seattle Sounders second-half revival continued on an eventful final day of the Major League Soccer regular season.In the Western Conference there were four teams vying Sunday for the final three playoff spots beneath Dallas, Colorado and the Los Angeles Galaxy.The Sounders fired coach Sigi Schmid after a disappointing first half but climbed six spots in the West, capped by Sundays 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake. Seattle will host Sporting Kansas City in a knockout match on Thursday night. Sporting beat the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0.The last two results we had werent wins, and we needed to get into the playoffs on our own, so we didnt have to rely on anybody else, Seattle interim coach Brian Schmetzer said. We wanted to make sure we get the nice little bump and the confidence and everything that comes along with a win like this against a tough team to beat.Salt Lake will visit the Galaxy and unretired striker Landon Donovan on Wednesday night in the other knockout match in the West. Los Angeles played to a scoreless draw against Dallas, with Donovan making his second start since returning last month.The defending MLS Cup champion Portland Timbers were eliminated from the playoffs with a 4-1 loss at Vancouver. With the Columbus Crew already eliminated going into the final day, it marked the first time in league history that the finalists from the prior season did not make the playoffs.Dallas claimed its first Supporters Shield for highest point total by finishing 17-8-9 for 60 points. As the top seed, Dallas is assured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and for the MLS Cup match if they make it that far.With the Shield and a U.S. Open Cup trophy, Dallas is one trophy away from the historic treble if they can bring home the MLS Cup. No other team has claimed all three trophies in a single season.Now we have our next objective, and the next one is the playoffs, Dallas coach Oscar Pareja said. Obviously, that will make us feel that the treble is possible but this group of players has not put that as a priority. We always just go one at a time.Colorado, which finished at the bottom of the league last season, missed out on the Shield with a 1-1 draw against Houston. But the Rapids did earn the first-round bye with Dallas.Bradley Wright-Phillips of the New York Red Bulls won the Golden Boot award with 24 regular-season goals. Hes the third player to win the award twice, joining Chris Wondolowski and Jeff Cunningham.The Red Bulls finished in the top spot in the Eastern Conference, three points up on rival New York City FC. Both get opening-round byes.Toronto FC, which had already claimed a playoff spot, snapped a five-game winless streak with a 3-2 victory over Chicago, which was already eliminated. Torontos 53 points were a franchise best.Toronto will host Philadelphia in a knockout game on Wednesday. The Union fell 0-2 to the Red Bulls but claimed the sixth and final spot in the East because of New Englands 3-2 victory over Montreal. The Revolution fell out of playoff contention despite the win because of goal differential.If we can understand whats gotten us to this point, concentrate on every little detail, make sure that when the lights come on that every guy is ready to spill their guts onto the field. If were able to make the important plays at both ends of the field, then I think I like our chances, Toronto captain Michael Bradley said.The Impact will visit D.C. United in the Easts other knockout match on Thursday night. United fell 4-2 on Sunday to Orlando, which was already eliminated.NYCFC beat the Crew 4-1.The Whitecaps, already eliminated going into the final game against the Timbers, won the Cascadia Cup. The fan-created trophy goes to the winner of the three-way competition between the Sounders, Timers and Whitecaps based on points. Cheap Nike Zoom For Sale . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons. Cheap Nike Zoom Free Shipping . Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said. http://www.nikezoomcheap.com/ . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Wholesale Real Nike Zoom .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. Authentic Nike Zoom Basketball Shoes . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. There is a certain orderliness to Tiger Woods impending return date of Oct. 13, one that provides some balance and symmetry to his theoretical schedule. It comes nearly six months to the day before the final round of next years Masters Tournament.That should also serve as the first checkpoint at which we can judge his comeback.As difficult as it might be in todays society of instant analysis, we should place a moratorium on proclaiming Woods future successes or failures until hes been competing for these six months and until he gets past that next major championship.Thats all pie-in-the-sky thinking, of course.What is more likely is that Woods pushes his opening tee shot of the Safeway Classic right of the fairway, misses the green with his approach, then chips and two-putts for a fairly routine bogey -- and hes denounced as forever being stuck on 79 wins and 14 majors and should probably just ride off into the sunset while his body is still intact.Or hell pummel a drive right down the middle on that first hole, knock a laser-beam approach to 10 feet and easily roll in the birdie attempt -- and immediately recall the memories of his past exploits, with observers ready to hand him five more majors in this final chapter of his career.Although each of those scenarios sounds laughable, both are just as plausible, with the masses providing that need-it-now analysis after every swing.Thats a ludicrous way to judge any golfer, obviously, especially one returning after what will have been 14 months away from the game.Think of it this way: When a scientist is compiling data as part of an experiment, he doesnt take the first sample and simply multiply to create assumed conclusions. Instead, that data is culled from a larger pool to create an effective means of analysis.By the same measure, we shouldnt judge by the swing or the hole or the round or even the tournament. Woods himself is likelyy viewing these events as the equivalent to spring training, and while its perfectly normal to be intrigued by his return, we shouldnt base the guys future on some early at-bats.dddddddddddd Or reps, as he so often refers to them.No, six months feels like it will provide enough tournament starts -- if he indeed remains healthy and plays a full schedule -- to then begin making some long-term claims about his future performance level.At that point, we will have witnessed any ongoing tweaks to his ever-evolving swing; well know whether he has completely overcome those ugly chipping yips; well see how comfortable he looks and feels under the microscope once again; and, perhaps most importantly, well understand where he ranks against the competition.That was always going to be the biggest hurdle for Woods in this latest return. Even if hes healthy after three back surgeries, even if he finds a swing that works for him, even if he feels confident and doesnt show impatience, the biggest hurdle will be returning to a level at which he can beat the likes of Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.This doesnt need to happen on a weekly basis. Hell, nobody wins on a weekly basis. But if there are even a few times a year -- especially if those times are at the majors -- when his game stacks up favorably against the worlds best, that will be the greatest measuring stick for any progress he will have made.This wont happen with one swing, of course. It wont happen in one round, or even one tournament.Lets give him six months. This seems like a fair amount of time before proclaiming that Woods is excitedly back or sadly done. That will get him past those early reps and past that first major, and should offer us enough data to make a worthy observation. ' ' '