So, Saturday’s road date in Seattle — one of the big boys in the West, and sure ro be inspired in its first game after losing midfielder Steve Zakuani thanks to a horror tackle from Colorado’s Brian Mullan — was arguably the first true exam of TFC’s credentials. And, it showed us the club has a long way to go. A long way. All of the pundits who have been placing TFC at the bottom of their MLS power rankings were proven right as the Reds stumbled to a 3-0 loss.

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.

But, anyone who tuned in to watch the Vancouver Whitecaps hang on to beat the Seattle Sounders 3-2 in the finale of the Cascadia Cup — or any of the 4,000 people who packed what’s normally a training pitch in Tukwila, Wash — got to see about as entertaining a MLS preseason game as you’re ever going to see.