For Real Salt Lake, being late worked just fine

SEATTLE — When I was a freshman in college, I was a noted slacker.

I would stall until the day before a term paper was due and then pull an all-nighter. I would tell my friend Boyd I couldn't hang out with him, I had a paper due, and he'd roll his eyes and say, "So what are you doing between 3 and 4 in the morning?"

Since I didn't really have an answer except "sleeping," he had me. We would play a couple of hours of basketball, then a bunch of us would hit a movie or get pizza. Before I knew it, 3 a.m. had rolled around and there I was, starting my term paper.

Little did I know I was following the model for success in Major League Soccer: You fool around for the biggest part of a 30-game season and then, at the last possible moment, you use a blend of determination, luck and outside help, and pull everything together in a flurry.

Voila! You're playing for the championship.

That's what happened with Real Salt Lake, which is strange; the club has never been convincing. For two straight years, it didn't even qualify for the playoffs until the final day of the season. It has never had a winning season.

If you want advance planning, call an estate lawyer.

But if you want unexpected thrills, call RSL.

Still, asked whether he recommends last-second qualifying, defender Nat Borchers said, "No! Honestly, from my stress levels — and I think I aged 10 years this season — we had so many ups and downs. ... I don't ever want to go through that again."

You mean going six weeks without a win is a problem?

RSL's rise to the title game, scheduled here Sunday, can probably best be described by headlines in the Deseret News in the last month. The Oct. 24 edition said, "RSL needs to win, then get some help." It sure did. Real and five other teams were in the chase for two wild-card spots.

To RSL's chagrin, all five had more points in the standings.

Yet due to a formula more complicated than the Hodge Conjecture, Salt Lake ended up in the playoffs.

On Nov. 1, the newspaper had this headline: "RSL beats Crew — barely."

Surprisingly, RSL won the first match of a total-goals series, 1-0.

"Comeback crew: RSL rallies to advance" was the headline on Nov. 6. Sure enough, Salt Lake had pulled off a shocking 3-2 victory, erasing a 2-0 deficit at Crew Stadium.

Faced with a road match against Chicago in the conference final, the odds didn't favor RSL. The Fire hadn't lost to Salt Lake since 2006. Real had never won at Toyota Park.

"A Real Sweet Victory: RSL advances on penalty kicks to MLS title game" said the Nov. 15 headline.