10 Bright Spots of Week 16: Guess what? Beckham didn't make it.

1. Guillermo Barros Schelloto – 2 goals in the span of 6 minutes allowed Columbus to take care of Toronto and to put a bit of a buffer between those currently out of playoff contention; the Crew were dropped last week by Chivas USA on an own goal and felt robbed, what they needed was to step up and regain the momentum; Schelloto did just that as the Crew now wait to head out to Chicago on August 4^th to take on the Fire
2. Brian Ching – who would have thought that, in the end, another Dynamo All-Star in Dwayne DeRosario would let Ching down; the target man put two close-range opportunities away in the span of 2 minutes to help Houston catapult to a 3-2 lead over the Revolution of all teams; unfortunately, the game was tied minutes later after DeRo palmed a restart allowing Shalrie Joseph to provide the equalizer from the spot; could this brace officially break Ching out of his funk?
3. John Wolyniec – the journeyman, when needed, always seems to come through; Arena placed him up front with Altidore and, often, this pairing doesn’t work out too well; this match, however, was against D.C. and everybody’s desire to play skyrockets a little – Altidore fed Wolyniec head-to-head and his goal stuck to lead NY back to the top of the standings; every goal Wolyniec AND Altidore have scored this year were eventual game-winners
4. Eddie Johnson – his 2 goals and performance against Colorado would normally get first on this list but he was stood up by Schelloto, Ching, and Wolyniec; his league-leading 12 goals looks pretty next to 11 appearances but, unfortunately, barely anyone was there to witness his scoring clinic
5. Cuauhtemac Blanco – yea, his first goal in a Fire jersey was during a friendly but he looked fit, skilled, and fired up for his debut; a semi-sea of Blanco Fire jerseys probably helped but Blanco refused to look 34 out there, even as Celtic defenders homed in on him, fouling him several times in the first half; Blanco responded with poise by taking his own self-pass, rounding Celtic GK Boruc, and putting it home; unfortunately, a Derek Riordan goal later in the game erased that 1-0 lead but the Fire held out for the tie
6. Abel Xavier – despite all the offensive tallies in meaningful play this week, we witnessed a remarkable performance from the conflicted Portuguese defender; Xavier literally got some extremity on almost every ball in the Galaxy’s penalty box; I think I counted 6 blocks which means he kept Chelsea’s shot total from reaching a ridiculous 30; between him and Ty Harden, the Galaxy saw improvement as they played somewhat well together – can it translate into Superliga success and, ultimately, MLS success?
7. Facundo Erpen – no, he didn’t have the best of games against Kansas City defensively but he did provide the equalizer when he challenged a Terry Cooke cross amidst many Wizard defenders, nodding it home past Bouna Coundoul; of course, this goal comes after a little bit of adversity in the form of being traded from the East Coast to Colorado and the Rapids’ needed that point
8. Tim Howard – he had a great game against Real Salt Lake which even Everton coach David Moyes expressed satisfaction towards; but he also gifted that first RSL goal to Carey Talley which in turn allowed the victory-challenged RSLers to cruise to a 2-0 win; oh yea, and Moyes made sure to point that out too
9. Taylor Twellman – coming back from international competitions and getting right back into the swing of things again is not easy, unless your Eddie Johnson; Twellman found a little bit of a groove again providing New England with a put-back goal and an assist on Pat Noonan’s opener in their 3-3 scorefest against Houston; Pat Noonan, after being assisted by Twellman for his 3^rd of the year, felt compelled to return the favor
10. Referee Tim Weyland – 9 cards issued in the game between Colorado and Kansas City; he also had to deal with Burciaga, Jr. who took a pot-shot at Rapids keeper Bouna Coundoul (but why was there no card for Bouna when he kicked both legs out at Burciaga?); regardless, this spot on the countdown is not for the quality of his refereeing but merely for the physical effort it takes to pull out 9 cards in one game – that’s tough.