With just two weeks left in our predictions contest, it seems as good a time as ever to reveal the details of its conclusion.

On Saturday October 22nd, Black And Red United will be hosting a tailgate party in Lot 8 at RFK Stadium. Yes, that's the date of the final match of the DC United, and gawd I hope it still means something at that point. Anyway, we're still working out some final details, but its happening, and it will be your chance to meet the B&RU writers, and hopefully it will be our chance to meet you.

Week 29: Chest 5, AMT 5, Readers 5, Martin 3
Overall: Chest 126, AMT 117, Readers 114, Martin 106

Tuesday October 4, 8:00 PM: New York Red Bulls vs. Los Angeles Galaxy, ESPN2
Martin: LA, Chest: LA, AMT: LA, Readers: LA (C'mon, you know you would've voted for them.)

MLS is just going to keep trying to force this matchup down our collective throat. Thing is, no other American sport has LA-NY as their top rivalry, and they don't force it. Yankees-Red Sox; Celtics-Lakers; Cowboys-Redskins/Bears-Packers/Patriots-Earth. So please, MLS, just stop it with LA-NY. Instead, just remind us how many trophies they've won up in Jersey. (AMT)

Thursday October 6, 9:30 PM: Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Real Salt Lake
Martin: Tie. Chest: RSL. AMT: RSL.

I imagine Camilo scores a lot of goals in practice thanks to the disorganized Whitecaps defense. Well, with Fabian Espindola suspended, RSL will have their own pint-sized Brazilian (Paulo Jr.) stepping in to confuse Tom Soehn's squad. (Chest)

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We're nearing the end of our predictions contest, which means we're also nearing the date that AMT and I will likely be sharing some decent liquor with our pal Chest. All precincts haven't reported yet, but he's certainly the projected winner. When will this liquor exchange/celebration take place? Stay tuned for details.

Week 28: Martin 5, Chest 5, Readers 5, AMT 4
Overall: Chest 121, AMT 112, Readers 109, Martin 103

Wednesday September 28, 8:30 PM: Sporting Kansas City vs. Columbus Crew
Martin: Tie. Chest: KC. AMT: KC.

I wonder whether the spirit of Lamar Hunt just lost all of its mojo at the same time, or if there's some other explanation for why both Dallas and Columbus started falling apart at around the same time. I mean, it's probably the latter, but you can't prove that it's not Hunt's ghost, can you? (AMT)

Wednesday September 28, 9:00 PM: Real Salt Lake vs. Chicago Fire
Martin: RSL. Chest: RSL. AMT: RSL.

Jason Kreis is usually right, but his decision to send out the reserves at RFK was as much bizarre as it was a mistake. No one likes to lose 4-1, so I'm thinking the real Real will make things right against a Fire team that might be missing Sebastian Grazzini. (Chest)

Thursday September 29, 8:00 PM: Philadelphia Union vs. DC United, ESPN2
Martin: DC. Chest: Tie. AMT: DC.

We'll have much more on this over the next few days, but this is the biggest week of United's season. Two road games against two Eastern Conference playoff contenders. This is when we find out what this team is really made of. Oh yeah, and its also DCU vs. ADU, which should just be fun. (Martin)

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Wow, what a week for the readers. Proving that it pays to cheat (okay, not cheat, but that whole honor system thing clearly didn't work out), along with the apparent influx of Sounders fans voting for Seattle over D.C. in that poll, the readers made a major move up the standings.

We'll give you our predictions and sarcastic previews tomorrow, but vote now for this week's packed slate of matches.

Week 27: Readers 8, Chest 6, AMT 5, Martin 4
Overall: Chest 116, AMT 108, Readers 104, Martin 98

Wednesday September 21, 7:30 PM: DC United vs. Chivas USA, CSN
Martin: DC. Chest: DC. AMT: DC.

Robin Fraser added some speed after United exposed his glacial starting line-up on the 10th. Unfortunately, his plans were again ruined very early in the match, which underlines a different problem for the Goats. This game will not be as easy as our visit to the HDC - which was a bit deceptive - but it's still a bad match-up for Chivas. (Chest)

Wednesday September 21, 8:00 PM: New York Red Bulls vs. Real Salt Lake
Martin: RSL. Chest: RSL. AMT: RSL.

United fans will certainly keep their eyes on the score of this game with particular interest. Its our opponent on Saturday (with Javier Morales poised to return any week now) against our top rival both in the playoff race and in historical terms. Here's hoping RSL goes for broke in beating the Bulls and is too tired to play its best this weekend. (Martin)

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We're well into the home stretch of our predictions contest, and it would take a sudden collapse or streak of incredible luck to keep Chest's liver clean of our liquor at this point. But we do have a change at the bottom.

Week 26: Readers 4, Chest 3, AMT 3, Martin 2
Overall: Chest 110, AMT 103, Readers 96, Martin 94

Wednesday September 14, 7:30 PM: Columbus Crew vs. Houston Dynamo
Martin: Clb. Chest: Tie. AMT: Clb.

Okay. I'm late posting the predictions, which is becoming an all too frequent habit. All this means that it would totally be my own fault if you all ran and checked the score to the game before voting for your "prediction". Or we could just do this on the honor system and say that you should only vote if you don't already know the score. Whatever. (Martin)

Friday September 16, 11:00 PM: Portland Timbers vs. New England Revolution, Fox Soccer
Martin: Tie. Chest: Por. AMT: Por

How did we lose 2 games to the Revs? It still keeps me up at night. (Chest)

Saturday September 17, 9:00 PM: Seattle Sounders vs. DC United, Comcast SportsNet
Martin: DC. Chest: Tie. AMT: Tie.

The Sounders are currently the clear second-best team in MLS. But DC United has never lost in Seattle. Not even to Chelsea back before the Sounders invented soccer! (Chest)

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After a brief delay brought on by both illness, illpreparedness, and laziness, we resume our predictions. But not until after we take a quick look back at the shortened MLS schedule from last week.

Week 25: Chest 1, AMT 1, Readers 1
Overall: Chest 107, AMT 100, Martin 92, Readers 92

Wednesday September 7, 8:00 PM: Philadelphia Union vs. New England Revolution, Galavision
Martin: Phi. Chest: Phi. AMT: Phi.

This game already happened. None of us got it right. No one won. Or we all won, depending on how you look at it. The teams played to a 4-4 draw that was both entertaining and helpful to United's playoff chances. (Martin)

Friday September 9, 11:00 PM: Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Colorado Rapids, Fox Soccer
Martin: Tie. Chest: LA. AMT: LA.

Is it weird to anyone else that Adam Cristman can go from being part of one of MLS's worst-ever attacks in 2010 to emerging as a starter for the Supporters Shield favorites in 2011? Imagine how good LA would be if they actually had a half-decent target forward. (Chest)

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Last week I noted that second place in our predictions contest was still up for grabs, but the leader was all but decided already. So what happened? The guy in second place promptly had a great week, and the leader encountered a sudden streak of bad luck.

Week 24: AMT 3, Readers 2, Martin 1, Chest 0
Overall: Chest 106, AMT 99, Martin 92, Readers 91

Saturday September 3, 9:00 PM: Real Salt Lake vs. Philadelphia Union
Martin: Tie. Chest: RSL. AMT: RSL.

Philly is still trying to figure out how to fit things together, while RSL showed some mental strength by rebounding from Alex Dixon's stoppage time winner for the Dynamo by winning 1-0 over Chivas in LA. RSL isn't in their very best form, but they're closer to it than the Union. (Chest)

Monday September 5, 6:00 PM: Sporting Kansas City vs. Los Angeles Galaxy, Fox Soccer
Martin: LA. Chest: LA. AMT: LA.

Let no man say I underrate the Galaxy. Even when I say that the Gals are a counter-attacking team. They'll absorb the frenetic pressure the Sporks like to throw out at home, but when Kansas City inevitably has a pass go awry with their players in advanced position, look for LA to break. If the visitors can go a goal up in the first half (which I expect they will) they might even win going away. (AMT)

Our prediction contest is nearing its end, and the winner is all but assured. Second place still seems wide open though. So let's get to it.

Week 23: Chest 6, Readers 5, Martin 5, AMT 4
Overall: Chest 106, AMT 94, Martin 91, Readers 89

Wednesday August 24, 11:00 PM: Portland Timbers vs. Chivas USA, Fox Soccer
Martin: Tie. Chest: Tie. AMT: Por.

Chivas has been grinding out results on the road, but the narrow confines in Portland will hurt their possession-based approach. Here's hoping the game is exhausting and features numerous red cards. Sure we should beat Portland Saturday, but I'll take any advantage we can get at this point. (Chest)

Saturday August 27, 7:30 PM: DC United vs. Portland Timbers, Comcast SportsNet
Martin: DC. Chest: DC. AMT: DC.

Lots of reasons to pick los Capitalinos in this one. Charlie Davies and Dwayne De Rosario will be good and rested; Portland is coming off of a midweek game and a 3,000 mile flight; Benny Olsen might finally drop DeRo back into midfield. But mostly, this is a Timbers road game, which means it's probably a good bet to pick the home team, even one with as ambivalent a home form as United. (AMT)

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With two road matches against Eastern Conference opponents, this is a huge week for DC United. Will it also be a huge week in our predictions contest? With our leader cracking 100, its time to make a move.

Week 22: Chest 5, AMT 4, Readers 4, Martin 3
Overall: Chest 100, AMT: 90, Martin 86, Readers 84

Wednesday August 17, 8:00 PM: New England Revolution vs. Houston Dynamo
Martin: NE. Chest: Tie. AMT: NE.

They've done well enough to keep pace all year, but with a trip to Foxboro and a visit from RSL, I think this might be the week that we start to see the Dyanmo fade from playoff contention. (Martin)

Wednesday August 17, 8:30 PM: Sporting Kansas City vs. Portland Timbers
Martin: KC. Chest: KC. AMT: KC.

I've noticed a pattern for the Sporks of late: Good result (thump TFC), bad result (home draw vs. Revs), good result (2-0 over RSL), bad result (heartbreaking loss against Seattle). The pattern dictates that KC will ease to victory here, and also provides plenty of hope for D.C. on Sunday. (Chest)

Thursday August 18, 9:00 PM: Chicago Fire vs. DC United, ESPN2
Martin: DC. Chest: Tie. AMT: DC.

Actual series of tweets from my cousin (and Fire supporter) @ClayLaSoul this week (condensed): "#DCHateWeek Until about Friday or so. When Chicago draws with y'all. Yes, the best trash talk I have is a draw. Or Thursday. Whatever. WE ARE THE FIRE or something. We've drawn 14 times in 23 matches. It doesn't matter if it's FC Dallas or RBNY or the Milwaukee School for the Blind." I think it's time to put these fans out of their misery and let them start focusing on their top 5 pick in next year's Superdraft, like we were doing this time last year. (AMT)

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