PARITY STANDS OUT IN MLS.

Byline: NICK GREEN

Parity may be the most debated topic in Major League Soccer.

MLS officials argue its low salary cap and single entity structure -- a matter of practical necessity designed to minimize the flow of red ink -- levels the financial playing field for all, and boosts on-field competition, too.

Critics brand the final product bland, with mediocre teams blunting the attractiveness of the game and giving Eurosnobs ammunition for extolling the virtues of (fill in the name of a foreign league here).

With the European season winding down and MLS cranking up, it's worth revisiting the issue.

This past weekend provided talking points for both camps.

Of the five games last weekend, four ended 1-0, as did the nationally televised Thursday night game.

The only weekend game with more than one goal was perhaps one of the best in MLS in recent seasons, an exciting 3-1 Super Clasico victory for the Galaxy over local rivals Chivas USA (last Wednesday's game between Toronto FC and the Kansas City Wizards ended 3-0, by the way).

Ho hum stuff for the most part, right?

Well, no and here's why (leaving aside the point for now that statistics mean less in soccer than virtually any other sport).

Thursday's game ended in a 1-0 victory for Eastern Conference leaders Red Bull New York over Western Conference leaders FC Dallas, a not particularly surprising tight score given where the two teams sit in the standings.

What's encouraging though, is that New York (a hapless team for so many years as the MetroStars) won away from home and are now undefeated in five games under coach Bruce Arena.

Similarly, the Crew beat D.C. United, 1-0, in Columbus.

Familiarity undoubtedly played a role in the Wizards' narrow 1-0 triumph over Toronto given that the pair had played each other just four days earlier.

But the final score wasn't indicative of the tense, entertaining games, with winless Toronto urged on by a roaring capacity crowd in its first-ever home game.

Chicago's 1-0 win Sunday over the Houston Dynamo meant the Fire -- a mediocre 13-11-8 last season -- beat last year's MLS Cup Champions away from home and now sit atop the standings in the East.

Finally, the margin of the Galaxy victory over Chivas USA was mildly surprising if you consider that L.A. came into the game sitting in the Western Conference basement with one goal in two games.

In contrast, Chivas USA boasted a 2-1 record, sat second in the West and had scored six while conceding just one.

"They got a little cocky," said Galaxy playmaker Landon Donovan. "This week it's been pretty evident they thought they were the top dog around here."

So were these MLS games examples of positive parity or dire dullness?

Given the back stories, I'd argue the former.

And what about overseas?

In Spain, where either Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia have won La Liga in nine of the past 10 seasons, all three remain in the top four with six games to go.

In the English Premier League, which only Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United have won in the past 10 seasons, there are no prizes for guessing who occupies three of the top four spots with just a handful of games left.

And let's not even talk in depth about Scotland, where just two teams, Celtic and Rangers, have had a stranglehold on the league title for, well, pretty much ever.

Compare that with MLS, where six teams (five if you consider the Dynamo, formerly the San Jose Earthquakes, as being the same team) have won the MLS title since its 1996 inception.

"If there is something better (about MLS) than the (English) Premiership, it's the parity," said Red Bulls defender Claudio Reyna, who spent his entire career overseas before this season. "I think a lot of fans in Europe are getting sick of these situations."

MLS fans who pine for the quality of overseas leagues should be careful what they wish for.

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Photo:

The Galaxy's Kyle Martino, left, goes for the ball as Chivas USA's Maykel Galindo kicks it forward Saturday. Galaxy won 3-1.

Sean Hiller/Staff Photographer