Watson, who was one of two Eddies on the MVP ballot (the now-departed Chris Nurse was the other) got enough votes from the league’s eight head coaches, who select the season-ending all-star team.

“Before the game, I talked to (commissioner) Bill Peterson and I told him no way there’s going to be a trophy presentation tonight,” said Miller. “I told him ‘have you booked a flight for next week?’”

“No, there’s no way we want to see the trophy (presented),” said Miller after FCE’s training session Friday on the grass at Concordia College. “We’ve had a very good week, we’ve had to make one or two changes in personnel. And, anyone who is not motivated to go to New York and play the Cosmos, well that would be hard to believe.”

In soccer, enforced parity is deadly. You yourself say that "draws are the norm" in NASL. For the teams placed 2–7, that's more or less true, especially for two teams. Second-place Tampa Bay (five draws) averages 1.4 points per game. In the Bundesliga, that rate would put them in seventh place. NASL's seventh-place Edmonton (also with five draws) averages 1.1 points per game, a rate that's good for 15th place in the Bundesliga (an 18-team league).

Think about it. With a month to go in the regular season, we’re already talking about a second-place team being eliminated from the race. That’s how lopsided the NASL fall-season, ahem, “race” has become.

Daryl Fordyce scored twice, pacing the Eddies to a 2-1 win over the Carolina RailHawks. The big winners out of the weekend? The New York Cosmos. With Carolina’s loss, the gap between the Cosmos and the RailHawks (tied for second place) is now seven points.

Well, if there is any consolation for FC Edmonton out of its controversial 1-1 draw at home Sunday with New York, it was the fact that Cosmos midfielder Marcos Senna was named the NASL Player of the Week.

A 79th minute free-kick goal from the league’s most profile player, Spanish international Marcos Senna, allowed the Cosmos to salvage a 1-1 draw with FC Edmonton. The goal came after referee Sheena Dickson judged that FCE defender Albert Watson had handled the ball just outside the area. Replays indicated that the ball hit Watson in the FC Edmonton crest on his jersey.

Give FC Edmonton credit. When a team like the New York Cosmos comes to town, a lot of players would revert to cliches like "it's just another game." The Eddies didn't do that. They know the occasion will be special.

But, as we get ready for this weekend’s kickoff to the NASL spring season, the Rowdies and MUFC are the clear favourites to top the table.