MLS Cup at the sight of higher seeds? Could happen ...

How would everybody feel about an MLS Cup championship determined at the site of the highest seeded team involved?

Whispers around Seattle yesterday and today say things might be headed that way. For me, it sounds like the best idea since the stapler.

Logistically, it’s a real challenge for a lot of reasons most people don’t care about. Long story short, the days up to and around MLS Cup are heavy on sponsor schmoozing, and arranging all that pub and grub delight takes times. So, if the league has just a week to set things up, the schmooze and booze factor could be seriously watered down.

It’s also a challenge for media; as fewer are likely to travel it could slightly dilute coverage.  But the alternative is a somewhat sterile neutral site on many years.

Now, Seattle rocks as a championship site, as I’ve written all week. The town is engaged, as the Sounders and soccer long ago hugged it out and started a big ol’ bromance with the Emerald City.

But other years, well, not so much. Last year in L.A., for instance, Columbus and Red Bull played a nice match in front of a full house – but it just doesn’t have the big match energy when 80 percent of the crowd is neutral. They show up, they sit and watch, then they go eat Mexican food – and it all unfolds without much deeper involvement.

Deciding the title in the higher seed’s home would change all that. And it would provide even more incentive for teams to fight, fight, fight for those points in the regular season. It subtracts a little bit more steam from one of the enduring criticisms of MLS: that seven months of matches over a long regular season just doesn’t mean enough.

The league’s board of governors will continue meeting through the weekend, so keep an eye out for an announcement on this one.

Meanwhile, here's my piece on MLSnet.com about how much David Beckham and Landon Donovan are putting a little more sizzle on the grill when it comes to the MLS Cup final.