It’s become obligatory for every sports journalist to provide season previews for the league he or she covers. It’s automatic, and a great space killer! In that vein, The 11 presents its “waited until the last possible second before the regular season” season preview! Why the wait? Because it’s hard to figure out the East. The West? Wow, a lot of power and depth there. As for the East? Last season, New York and Columbus and six other mediocre to bad to awful clubs were in the conference. New York and Columbus left them all in the dust.

If his preseason is any indication, 2011 is going to be a busy year for Dejan Jakovic. The 25-year-old central defender had been in camp with D.C. United for a two-week stretch before receiving the call to join up with Canada for the Feb. 6 friendly over in Larissa, Greece. Jakovic went 90 minutes in the 1-0 loss to Greece, and the hectic travel schedule required him crossing half the globe and back as his club team continued MLS preparations in Florida. However, after a couple of days off, he jetted out to Oxnard, Calif. well rested, where he’ll spend this week continuing to prepare for the 2011 MLS season