I was in the middle of writing up a heartfelt rant about some MLS teams not participating in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup when I saw this on the top of the LHUSOC webpage. Apparently the idea that only 8 teams will participate in the Open Cup was not entirely correct. It seems that only 8 teams will be participating in the Open Cup proper, but those 8 slots will be determined by qualification matches:
. . . a source close to the organization of this year’s tournament told USOpenCup.com that “the teams participating in the [SuperLiga tournament] will be included, either as automatic entries into the tournament, or participating in stand-alone qualifying matches against other MLS teams for the right to compete in the tournament.”
This is wonderful news. Regardless of your perception of the Lamar Hunt Open Cup, it is 1) our domestic cup championship and 2) in honor of a great man who was pivotal in the development of soccer in the US. For any MLS team to simply pass on the Cup tournament (as was originally thought based on earlier reportage) in favor of some silly experimental SuperLiga money grab would be a disgrace and a slap in the face of the legacy of the recently deceased Lamar Hunt.
I should point out that usopencup.com is an unofficial site (an incredibly impressive one). I didn’t realized that myself until this morning. In all fairness, I should also mention that (per BS posters) in the past some MLS have not participated in the Open Cup. I think that sucks as well.