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Ahead of Saturdays MLS Cup, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber held his annual State of the League address on Tuesday and talked in depth about many of the issues surrounding the league including expansion, scheduling and how the league can improve. Over the last year, Major League Soccer has talked of its goal to become one of the top leagues in the world in a decades time. Theres no doubt that an increase in the standard of play is the main area that needs improving for MLS to have any chance of achieving that goal and Garber feels progress is being made, not just with the arrival of big-name Designated Players but also with top young talent being developed in a league where parity is important. "2013 was arguably our most competitive on the field to date," said Garber. ""Were very focused on competitive balance amongst our clubs. We believe we have one of the most competitive soccer leagues anywhere around the world. We should be even more committed to this vision that we want to be one of the top leagues in the world by 2022. It starts with an increase in quality in MLS play. We believe we have among the best American players playing in the league today." "It starts with a firm commitment to player development. Our commitment to player development totals over $20 million a year. Players like Diego Fagundez in New England, Real Salt Lakes Luis Gill and DeAndre Yedlin in Seattle have all emerged as key players in our league at under 20 years of age. We now have 90 homegrown players who started in MLS academies and are now playing in the first team. We want to be a leader in this. Going forward, you will see even greater commitments in this." Garber outlined four key areas that MLS needs to improve if it is to meet its goal of being one of the top leagues in the world. 1. Quality of Play: "As we continue to grow the league and revenues and systems so that we have the ability to attract the best players in the world, we will be able to have a quality of play that will be dramatically different." 2. The passion of our fans: "In order for us to grow what we have, we need to have a dynamic in our stadiums that will be different to other sports leagues in this country and soccer leagues around the world." 3. The relevance of our teams: "We need to have teams that are relevant and important in their market." 4. The value of our enterprise: "We need to have an enterprise that makes sense. It cant be about one or two teams, it has to have all clubs and markets successful." Other notable information from Garbers State of the League: • Garber says the league is "making progress" with David Beckham and his partners as they look to add Miami as an expansion franchise. He talked about the need for the right stadium deal to be in place for that to become a reality. He also made it clear that Atlanta is the other target market for team 22 or 23. That leaves a number of other cities fighting it out for the 24th and final expansion team in Major League Soccer including San Antonio, Minneapolis, Austin and St Louis. Garber said the ownership group and a downtown stadium are the two most important factors for successful expansion bids. • Garber admits the league needs to be more transparent in communicating the rules of the league and says they are "in the process of doing that," but he also admitted "as an emerging league, there are times when we are figuring out the rules as we go along and have the ability to be flexible and evolve." • Garber said if it was a horse race, he would "put money on" MLSE president Tim Leiweke fixing the problems at Toronto FC. "Id be encouraged if I was a Toronto FC fan. If anyone can figure out how to turn that team around, it is Tim Leiweke. He has never done anything other than succeed." • Garber says the league is "trying to figure out" a way to have the final round of regular season matches to be scheduled at the same time. • Major League Soccer will continue to look into the possibility of moving in line with the FIFA calendar, but that isnt something that will happen any time soon. "As a league, we have in the past looked, and continue to look, at a potential calendar shift. We went through a fairly comprehensive process this year looking at if we could manage a schedule change. It isnt just about whether to play games in cold weather markets, it is about what we would do with an extended break. We will continue to look at it. We looked at it more deeply this time than ever before, but it is not something we are going to do in the short-term." • MLS Cup will be distributed in 130 countries around the world. MLS Cup is live on TSN2 on Saturday at 4pm et/1pm pt as Sporting Kansas City take on Real Salt Lake at Sporting Park. NFL Jerseys For Sale . Former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds made his longshot request of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit upheld Bonds conviction in September. NFL Jerseys China .Y. -- Dwane Casey admitted hed been concerned about his young Raptors team who had zero experience playing in close-out games -- what awaited them with the vastly-experienced Brooklyn Nets, and how theyd react. http://www.nflwholesalechinajerseyscheap.com/.com) - Coming off a pair of tough losses last week, the Syracuse Orange will try to put an end to their first losing skid of the season when they pay a visit to the Maryland Terrapins at the Comcast Center on Monday night in Atlantic Coast Conference action. Cheap Jerseys . A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press the Steelers will part ways with the former Pro Bowler, a move that hardly serves as a surprise after fifth-year linebacker Jason Worilds agreed to accept a "transition player" tag last week. Wholesale Jerseys . "It feels good, Ive never had one before, not even in College," Hagelin said after the Rangers outgunned the Jets 4-2, behind some solid goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist following a pretty wide open first period.(SportsNetwork.com) - Generally you want to be the guy who replaces the guy who replaced the legend. Unless youre Andrew Luck that is. Peyton Manning did so much for the Indianapolis Colts that its almost surreal to think Luck is far ahead of the pace the future Hall of Famer set during his first three seasons in the Hoosier State. Whether the still emerging Luck, and perhaps more importantly his teammates, have progressed enough to take down the veteran Manning and the supremely talented Denver Broncos in the AFCs divisional round of the playoffs will be answered on Sunday afternoon. It was my hope and dream that this sort of situation would occur, Colts owner Jim Irsay said when taking about facing Manning. I feel blessed that it has. I think its going to be a great game and having these two great quarterbacks go against each other at this point in their careers is really exciting. Manning, the five-time NFL MVP, won 26 regular-season games during his first three NFL seasons with the Colts, throwing for 12,287 yards with two playoff starts, both losses. By comparison Luck has already won 33 in the regular season, tossed for 12,957 yards and won his second playoff game last week, a 26-10 drubbing of the banged-up Cincinnati Bengals. Manning didnt get his second playoff victory until 2003, his sixth NFL campaign. Manning, of course, was released by the Colts in March of 2012 and the divorce was hardly acrimonious. He was attempting to recover from four different surgical procedures on his neck, and Indianapolis was focused on its future and Luck. (Manning) said, Youve got to take Andrew (Luck), (in the 2012 draft) Irsay recalled during an interview with USA TODAY Sports. You have to. Youre crazy if you dont. The Colts proved they werent crazy and did draft Luck with the No. 1 overall pick after moving on from Manning, who subsequently signed with the Broncos after recording a 141-67 regular-season record for Indianapolis, passing for 54,828 yards with 399 touchdowns and a 94.9 passer rating as well as guiding Indy to the playoffs 11 times, including a victory in Super Bowl XLI. Manning hasnt slowed down a bit in the Rockies, leading the Broncos to three straight AFC West crowns and a conference championship last season while earning his record fifth MVP award. To be honest, even since Day 1 here, it hasnt been an issue, Luck said of the comparisons between he and Manning. I never came in saying, Oh, I have to replace a legend, one of the greatest of all-time. Professional sports people, they come and they go. Someones going to replace me eventually, hopefully later rather than sooner. At this rate, its going to be a lot later because Luck has quickly developed into one of the NFLs best quarterbacks. He picked apart Cincinnatis secondary last weekend, while the Colts defense did the rest in shutting down the banged-up Bengals. The Colts never trailed in this AFC wild-card mismatch as Luck finished with 376 yards and a touchdown through the air. Adam Vinatieri made all four of his field goal tries, Daniel Herron gained 141 yards from scrimmage and ran for a touchdown, and T.Y. Hilton caught six passes for 103 yards for the AFC South champions. We played great team football and were moving on to the next round, said Luck. Weve got a tall order playing Denver at Denver but were excited about that and up for the challenge. Tall order is a bit of an understatement. The second-seeded Broncos finished the regular season 8-0 at home, outscoring opponents 283-166 in those games. Over the past two seasons, including the playoffs, Denver has won 17 of its past 18 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Were excited and glad to be playing at home, said Manning. We know our crowd will be into it and be a big factor. Playing in Denver is obviously important for the Broncos but getting the extra week to prepare may have been more critical. Denver entered Week 17 of the regular season by listing over 20 players on its injury report and the 38- year-old Manning looked hobbled himself. The veteran sat out all of last weeks practices but returned Monday. It was much needed, safety Rahim Moore said of the Broncos rest. I needed it, our team needed it, especially guys like Peyton, whos been playing since I came out the womb. This will be the third time Manning has faced off with Luck and the Colts. He and Julius Thomas connected for three touchdowns during a 31-24 Kickoff Weekend matchup this season, avenging a Week 7 39-33 loss in 2013. Manning has thrown for 655 yards with six touchdowns against his former team, while Luck has piled up 598 yards and five scoring tosses in the previous two meetings. Its not the quarterback versus quarterback thing, Luck lamented. Were not on the field at the same time. I have a lot of respect for (Peyton), what he does, what he still does is amazing. Hes a stud. Ill worry about the Denver defense, thats what I worry about. This will be the third meeting betweeen the two teams in the postseason with the Colts taking the first two, a 41-10 win in the wild-card round on Jan.dddddddddddd 4, 2004 and a 49-24 triumph in the following year, again in the wild-card-round. Of course Manning was piloting Indianapolis in both of those wins. In the regular-season series Denver holds a 12-9 advantage. WHAT TO WATCH FOR The Indy offense is obviously the teams strength and finished third in the NFL with 406.6 ypg but was No. 1 overall in passing with 305.9 of those yards coming through the air thanks to Luck, who is just the eighth QB in NFL history to toss 40 TDs in a season. The Stanford product has 12,957 passing yards since entering the league in 2012, the most of any player in their first three seasons. Luck also has now thrown for at least 300 yards in three consecutive playoff games -- tied for the second-longest streak in NFL history. Hes one of those guys that you have to play a 60-minute game against, Broncos Pro Bowl pass rusher DeMarcus Ware said when discussing Luck. He has really good pocket awareness. Hes always one of those guys, just like Peyton, where he hits the open guy the majority of the time. He plays a fundamentally sound game. Luck has got a plethora of weapons starting with the speedy Hilton, who amassed a career-high 1,345 receiving yards with 1,159 of them coming after the first month. Hes also excels in the playoffs as Hilton has 496 career receiving yards in four postseason contests, the second-most in NFL history over a players first four playoff games. Meanwhile tight ends Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener each had eight TD receptions in the regular season. What Luck doesnt have, though, is a running game and the disappointing Trent Richardson has been benched in favor of the nondescript Herron. Defensively the Broncos were much-improved this season thanks to significant additions like Ware, cornerback Aqib Talib and safety T.J. Ward. Under Jack Del Rios auspices, the Denver D was tops in the entire AFC, allowing only 305.2 yards per game. Ware combined with Von Miller to give the Broncos a thunderous pass rush off both edges as Denver was one of only three NFL teams with two players amassing 10-or-more sacks. The plan will be to make Luck and the Colts high-powered offense as one- dimensional and predictable as possible. Manning piloted a unit that was just a tick behind Luck and Co. by averaging 402.9 ypg. The veteran, though, struggled late, throwing just three TDs versus six interceptions over Denvers final four regular-season games. Manning also gets a lot of criticism for his perceived failures in the postseason where he is underwater at 11-12 as a starter. He does, however, have 6,589 passing yards and nine 300-yard games in his playoff career, both tops in NFL history. Theyre a great football team and obviously theyve got a great, great quarterback, Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. Its always a huge challenge and at the same time, were going to embrace the opportunity, embrace the moment. Denver running back C.J. Anderson led the league with 648 rushing yards and eight TDs over the final six weeks of the regular season. A good game by Anderson usually foreshadows success for the Broncos, who finished 12-0 when compiling 88 yards-or-more on the ground. The biggest thing is stopping the run before you can get to (Manning), Colts defensive lineman Cory Redding said. We have to focus on that. Thats where all our attention is going to go. The Colts defense has lacked consistency this season, especially on the pass rush where they the club has missed Robert Mathis, who sat the entire campaign, first on a suspension and then with an Achilles injury. Veteran linebacker DQwell Jackson is the leader of the group in his first season since coming over from Cleveland, pacing the AFC with 140 total tackles. The defensive backfield is highlighted by Vontae Davis, one of footballs best man-to-man coverage corners as well as veteran safety Mike Adams, who led the team with a career-high five INTs this season. OVERALL ANALYSIS Denver is perfect at home this season and nearly perfect over the past two years. Meanwhile, Mannings passer rating in the Rockies is 117.5 versus a far more manageable 89.0 on the road. We realize its a really good Denver team and well have our work cut out for us, said Luck. Guys are excited and up for the challenge. The Colts are capable of answering that challenge but to do it, they will need to win a shootout so a 350-yard, four-TD performance from Luck or something close to that is almost a necessity. And thats just too much to ask at this point. Were excited and looking forward to the postseason, said Manning. This is always an exciting time for football. This is why you work so hard all season to get this opportunity. Playoff football takes on different twists and turns. Youre going to play some really good football teams. Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Broncos 30, Colts 20 ' ' '