I95 Corridor Cup Standings

Another round of that classic MLS rivalry between the Union and the Revolution kicks off on Saturday. These two fierce, historic foes will match up playing for that all important, all imaginary, I95 Corridor Cup!

Oh, Philadelphia, how I loathe, thee.

While clearly a manufactured MLS rivalry, there is something disconcerting about Philadelphia. Their arrival in MLS coincided with the drastic shift of less than mediocrity in Revolution land.

Even worse, those Union bastards are entering Saturday's game with Jack McInerney becoming a legitimate Golden Boot candidate, and sitting two points ahead of the Columbus Crew in the fifth and final playoff spot in the East (never too early to talk playoffs).

It is bad enough that another I95 team, New York, just embarrassed our backline. Now we have another Corridor Cup competitor coming to Foxboro.

Frankly, all the talk about Cups is overblown - especially when it is a make-believe cup, but if you will indulge me for a second, the idea of an I95 Corridor Cup has been around for some time. A Cascadia-type Cup (as all Cups in America strive to be), that would involve the Philadelphia Union, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, and D.C. United could, perhaps, give the Revs some pride. This would be something attainable, and something realistic to reach for. This is a competition that Revolution fans often get behind. Apparently, having a strong dislike for a team is not enough. Now we need silverware to go with that disdain.

Let's take a moment to look at the (fake) Corridor Cup table:

Let that sink in for a moment.

Ouch.

This is without playing DC, who is apparently equally as bad as we are in the league. And DC at least scores goals. With a win over Philadelphia, the Revs would jump DC in the (pretend) table. On the other hand, if they can draw or lose to Philly, they stay put in last place of this (made-up) cup competition. Meanwhile, the Union (if this were real) has a lot to play for, too. A win in New England could put them just one point behind New York for the (not real) Cup.

But this is about New England. This is about hope. Maybe, just maybe, if our offense clicks, we can imaginarily jump DC in this (artificial) competition. All it is going to take is some goal scoring (a task that is seeming more and more difficult as the season go by)! Then, maybe then, the Corridor Cup would be something to look into. As of right now, maybe we should stop all the talk about being underrated and under-appreciated by fellow I95 rivals (and I use the term rival lightly, because right now the team deserves to be taken lightly by the other teams), at least until we can score a goal of our own.