Colorado Rapids captain Pablo Mastroeni is handed the Eastern Conference Trophy by MLS Commissioner Don Garber following Saturday's 1-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. (Photograph by Jessica Taves/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

Maddening, electriying, erratic, explosive, the Rapids have been all of these things in the past 33 games.

Now they hold a conference title and stand on the brink of an MLS championship.

Improbable? Yes. Possible? You bet.

After Kosuke Kimura’s cross turned into a goal on Saturday night and the Rapids held on to defeat San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 for the Eastern Conference title, anything is possible for the squad headed to the MLS Cup next weekend in Toronto.

For only the second time in franchise history, and the first time since 1997, the Rapids have a chance to claim a title. For a team whose trophy case lacks any big silver, and whose last playoff appearance was in 2006, it’s a monumentous moment.

Amazingly, it comes as the forward tandem of Conor Casey and Omar Cummings, which accounted for 30 goals in the regular season, have connected for only one tally in the past three games. However, the squad that played a season of nervy 1-0 matches seems well positioned to deliver one more of those games on the league’s biggest stage.

The team has done it with elan and unlikely heroes. Now, all that remains is one more match for a league crown. While chances melted away in July, this team came together, beat the clubs beneath it, took points off the teams in front and closed on a hot streak.

While the cup will be a tight affair, who’s to deny the Rapids?

Better Games: The MLS decision to take the top two teams from each conference and the next four best teams makes for some strange matchups (San Jose and the Rapids are each east of Hawaii and that’s about it) for conference titles, but it produces better games.

Who doesn’t tire of the U.S. gridiron scene where an 8-8 squad wins a crummy division while a 10-6 team stays home.

As the playoffs have demonstrated in the past three years, getting the best eight into the playoffs makes for a more meaningful competition.

A tip of the hat to the league.

Name Game: MLS guru Don Garber says a single table is not a possibility, so the conference alignment will continue. Supposedly this develops regional rivalries, but with the potential for shifting across boundaries, this notion seems spurious. Seriously, could Colorado and Columbus ever be rivals?

So, why not take a cue from the old NHL and rename the conferences for soccer players instead of compass directions?

I would love to see the champions of the Beckenbauer Conference meeting the Pele Conference in a final. Or, taking a cue from the league’s first goal scorer and its longest-tenure scorer, maybe the Wynalda champ taking on the winner from the Moreno side.

Don’t like that? How about the Wynalda-Harkes showdown? Or, maybe we should have the Arena Conference versus the Bradley Conference?

Or, since we are heading for 18 teams, maybe it’s time for three conferences. And, stealing from the NASL, maybe we need the Aztec Conference in the West, the Sting Conference in the Central, and the Rowdies Conference in the East? Just think of the possible headlines, and how fun it would be to be the top Rowdy.

Party time. The Rapids celebrate after capturing the Eastern Conference Championship on Saturday. (Photograph by Jessica Taves/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

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