Under its current system, fans got a pretty great MLS Cup last night. Although the league would have undoubtedly benefited from a Galaxy victory, the game will be talked about favorably by those who watched it. (Legitimate Galaxy fans will concede that this was an exciting final.)

While the Galaxy dominated the first half and notched a goal courtesy of Mike McGee, Real Salt Lake turned it on in the second, pounding shot after shot at the Galaxy’s backup goalkeeper Josh Saunders. With David Beckham playing on a bone-bruised ankle, the Galaxy’s offense had trouble putting the pressure on Real and containing their lead. In the 64th minute, the ball bounced off multiple players in the Galaxy’s box until Real forward Robbie Findley knocked it into the net.

Real would continue to control the remainder of regulation play and then the two 15-minute intervals of extra time. Still, the Galaxy defense somehow prevented a deciding goal. Saunders, who saw hardly any action this season over the team’s exceptional starter Donovan Ricketts, was surprisingly confident between the posts. A mid-game addition for the injured Ricketts, Saunders was up to the task.

The game entering shootouts, I realized I wanted to turn off the TV. After 120 minutes of play, a team’s entire season was about to be decided in about five minutes. Now, I wasn’t rooting for either club. I just wanted an outcome that was best for the league — suffice to say, that wasn’t Real winning. If that Galaxy won, media outlets across the globe would discuss David Beckham’s success in three professional leagues. His supporters and haters would have no choice but to include the MLS in their rants. Instead, with a Real championship, nobody would care outside of Utah.

The MLS Cup Playoffs provided another nail-biter on Saturday as Real Salt Lake defeated the Chicago Fire 5-4 in shootouts to win the Eastern Conference Championship.

This time, Ned Grabavoy – a Chicago-area native and substitute in the final minute of overtime – scored the winning penalty kick in the seventh round as his shot went off the fingertips of Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch.

Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando made three saves in the shootout – all to his left – after stopping six shots through overtime.

The Fire have lost three consecutive conference finals, and fell for the second time on penalties this season. They lost the SuperLiga final 2-1 via the tiebreaker to Tigres of Mexico on June 27.

“It’s an empty feeling in your stomach right now,” Chicago coach Denis Hamlett said. “I think all season we worked hard and stuck together to get to this point and to lose the way we lost tonight; sometimes soccer is a cruel sport.”

On November 22, Real Salt Lake will make their first appearance in the MLS Cup finals when they meet the Los Angeles Galaxy at Qwest Field in Seattle. The game will be shown on ESPN2 at 8:30 PM ET.

I can’t remember the last time a major sporting event experienced a power outage. Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want — I do think Major League Soccer games are important. If you’ve seen any this year’s MLS Cup Playoffs, you’d have noticed the lively stadiums, packed with zealous fans pounding drums and swaying back and forth while chanting for their team. The players are likely aware that few, relatively, are watching (the games are buried on ESPN2 and the Fox Soccer Channel in inconvenient time slots), but that isn’t stopping them from going at each other’s throats as if it’s the last game they will ever play. Although the competition has been thrilling, I have to admit that I can’t wait till the center referee blows the final whistle. That’s when the losing team completely cracks and swarms their opposition with jersey-pulling and vehement threats. It’s highly entertaining, mostly because these players know they won’t get fined, so they come desperately close to cracking skulls.

Take it from me — the games are fun to watch. Given the time of year, you don’t have many options to placate your sportive appetite. You’ve got your college football on Saturdays, NFL on Sundays, NBA throughout the week, and NHL if you’re lucky. OK, so there are plenty of distractions, but that doesn’t mean the MLS Cup Playoffs aren’t worth you time.

Oh, yes — the blackouts. Occurring at the 19th and 51st minutes, the power failures accumulated to over a half hour of delay. It’s a shame, because both instances killed the game’s momentum. The Dynamo outplayed the Galaxy in the first half, keeping the pressure on LA goalie Donovan Ricketts. The Dynamo defense also managed to contain the league’s leading scorer, Landon Donovan, who didn’t have any shots on goal in this Western Conference final.

With the game still scoreless at the beginning of the second half, both teams increased the tempo and focused on making runs down the field. Unfortunately, another power outage six minutes in prevented either squad from finding a groove. Neither could rebound from the unwanted interval, and the game subsequently suffered from sloppy and fatigued play.