We tallied up our votes, and came up with our list of how the teams will finish, who will win MLS Cup and who will be the league’s MVP. No need to play the season, now. We have it all figured out.

The Whitecaps could not have had a worse opponent scheduled for the MLS opening of B.C. Place than the Portland Timbers. The Timbers not only, ahem. blessed the new Bell Pitch at B.C. Place with a 1-0 win in front of sold-out throng of 21,000, the Whitecaps’ Cascadia rivals had the chance to display just how wide the competitive gap is between the two teams that jumped from second division to MLS in 2011.

Perhaps all Toronto FC needed was to be back at BMO Field. A week after a disappointing loss in the season opener in Vancouver, a much-improved TFC side won its home opener by a 2-0 score over the Portland Timbers. Striker Javier Martina led the way with his first two career MLS goals, but perhaps even more important than Toronto's scoring was the lack of a goal from the other side. The Reds' back line stood up against a persistent Timbers attack and kept the clean sheet, just a week after allowing four goals to the Whitecaps.

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.