A fabulous 15 about MLS playoffs, which begin Wednesday

At some point today, SI.com editors will put the headlines, captions and final graphical flourishes on the lengthy MLS playoff preview I just put together. (Update: the piece is posted here now.)  You may, at this very moment, find yourself trembling in anticipation. Not to worry – you are not alone.  

Until that’s posted, to keep you sated, here are 15 great things I learned (or knew and thoughtfully re-considered) while putting that bad boy together. (Some of these you’ll see in some form within the preview … some you won’t).

• The Red Bulls have enough talent to be dangerous in the “second season,” no doubt. On the other hand, 10 goals conceded from corner kicks were most in MLS this year. And 16 conceded directly from set pieces was also a league worst. One word: alarming.
• Dominic Kinnear won his 100^th MLS game last night (while clinching second place in the East with a victory over a largely reserve Galaxy lineup). He’s just the fifth to get there – and two of the others are in this year’s playoffs. The list looks like this: Sigi Schmid (156), Bruce Arena (128), Bob Bradley (124) and Steve Nicol (112). Kinnear, 44 years old, is the youngest of the bunch by six years.
• Bruce Arena told me the other day (during our Soccer Today radio show) that his trusty left back, veteran Todd Dunivant, is finally getting the recognition he deserves. But young midfielder Juninho, he believes, is still among the league’s most underrated talents. So, watch for David Beckham’s central midfield running mate in the playoffs.
• Speaking of the Galaxy, raise your glass to the best side in MLS since 1999. Arena’s side is so statistically, at least, with 67 points, most in MLS since 1999.
• Sigi Schmid’s Seattle Sounders went 13-4-2 in all competitions since July. Two of the losses were in CONCACAF Champions League, as Schmid strategically distributed the first-choice minutes. (Translation, when the Sounders’ best 11 took the field, they were close to unstoppable.)

Read on for 10 more …

• Seattle’s 63 points are the third most in MLS since 1999 – a damn good number for a side just in its third year in Major League Soccer. Yes, Fredy Montero, Kasey Keller and Osvaldo Alonso form the hardened spine of this team. But bargain finds (Mauro Rosales), those valuable mid-level Europeans (Erik Friberg) and strong, mid-level American talent (Brad Evans) were the difference between a good season and a great one.
• Real Salt Lake’s six-game winless streak has manager Jason Kreis rightly concerned.  That’s hardly the way you want to go backing into the playoffs. On the other hand, when was the last time RSL’s best 11 started a match? Since Kyle Beckerman’s suspension coincided exactly with the return of Javier Morales to the starting lineup, the side’s best haven’t shared starting assignments since May.
• Brek Shea’s 11 goals were spread over 11 different games for FC Dallas. Translation, they tended to be important goals as the men of Pizza Hut Park made a habit of grinding out results in close matches.
• Just north of Texas, Kansas City rallied past that 1-6-3 start on the road (pending stadium completion) to go 12-3-9 from there, claiming an Eastern Conference crown along the way. That record is as good (or damn close to it) as anything the Galaxy or Seattle put together over that time.
• The hottest team going into the playoffs? Los Angeles? Seattle? Kansas City? Yeah, you could make a case for any of them. But did you know that Houston is unbeaten in six (4-0-2) as it heads into the second season?
• On the other hand, four Dynamo men shared the team scoring leadership with five goals each. A club that’s led by a foursome of five-goal scorers is a club missing a striker something fierce. Brian Ching was among the five-goal gang, and that’s his lowest output since 2001.
• Speaking of a team missing some striking power: Where would the Colorado Rapids be if the Pablo Mastroeni-Jeff Larentwowicz central midfield tandem wasn’t still running at high rev? Because Omar Cummings, good as he was last year, just didn’t get there this year. Compare this year’s totals (3 goals, 6 assists) to last year’s breakout season (14 goals, 5 assists)
• I don’t know if Philadelphia can make much headway in this year’s playoffs. But I am once again impressed when I look at all the young talent about to collect some valuable post-season seasoning. Some of the names I expect you’ll be hearing from for years to come: Freddy Adu, the Farfan brother (Michael and Gabriel), Kyle Nakazawa, Roger Torres, Danny Mwanga and Sheanon Williams.
• Columbus’ Andres Mendoza finished with 13 goals, which doesn’t look too bad for the Designated Player that I (and others) beat up pretty good earlier this year. On the other hand, take away five PK goals and that leaves just eight hits for the season (a season that included more than a few wholly underwhelming nights). Is that enough? I’m not sure, but maybe a few debates will roil in Ohio pubs this week.
• Is there a more perplexing right-sided tandem in MLS than what we have at New York? Dane Richards and Jan Gunnar Solli can certainly scare some teams in their ability to get forward. On the other hand, won’t teams look at Richards and Solli and think, “That’s where we’re attacking. Right there!