In our weekly peek around the league: the junior Rapids repeat, DC United turns it on after the break and Toronto FC fans can't be kept away from the BMO.

Week 28

Even as the senior team struggles to reach the postseason, the Colorado Rapids reserve squad continues to produce, clinching the title of MLS Reserve Division champions following a 3-0 trouncing of the Toronto FC reserves on Sunday night. Even though two games remain in the reserve schedule, Colorado's 7-0-3 record to date is good enough to lock up the honor, the second straight year they have done so.

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DC United forward and MVP candidate Luciano Emilio is a big admirer of Cuauhtémoc Blanco, apparently so much so that in recent days he has adopted Blanco's signature goal celebration of dropping to one knee and posing like the last Aztec emperor, Cuauhtémoc. While Emilio says he means no disrespect, the Brazilian forward also says he will think twice about doing it in front of the man himself, should he score in this Saturday's match-up versus the Chicago Fire, for fear of incurring the wrath of Blanco.

In a related recent event, Luis Arroyave's Red Card Blog revealed that Fire general manager John Guppy sent a facetious "cease and desist" email about the celebration to United counterpart Kevin Payne, who did not pick up on the joke right away.

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FC Dallas forward Abe Thompson has been named MLS Player of the Week for Week 27. His two-goal performance lifted the Hoops to a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Crew en route to clinching a playoff spot. It is the first time in his career that Thompson has snagged the honor and only the second time in 2007 that a Dallas player has been recognized, following Juan Carlos Toja's win in Week 15.

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Being tied for the lowest point total in Major League Soccer apparently hasn't hurt the loyalty of Toronto FC's rowdy fan base. With an average home attendance of 20,112 in their inaugural season - near 100% capacity for BMO Field - club officials recently said that they expect a 95% renewal rate for season tickets.

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DC United head coach Tom Soehn must have a way with words as it seems that whatever he tells his squad at halftime really fires them up. United has scored 14 goals in the opening fifteen minutes of the second half this season, far surpassing Chivas USA and the Houston Dynamo, who are tied for second with 10 each.

Conversely, Frank Yallop could use some motivational tips from Tony Robbins as his boys give up the most goals over the same period of a game, conceding 11 scores from minutes 46-60, worst in the league.

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Major League Soccer is riding the wave of Beckham-mania, at least in the attendance department. By way of several sell-out crowds that have shown up to see (or at least bought tickets in anticipation of seeing) David Beckham, MLS average attendance has risen to 16,547 this year, ranking them ninth-highest in the soccer world. Slotting in nicely between the Eredivisie and the Scottish Premier League, the USA domestic league still has a long way to go if it wants to reach the #1 spot, currently held by Germany's Bundesliga at 37,644.

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The Columbus Crew have finalized a four-year deal with ICI Paints that will see the Glidden logo emblazoned on all team jerseys beginning in 2008. The agreement makes Columbus the seventh team in the league to enter into such a partnership, meaning more than 50% of all MLS teams now have a jersey-front sponsor. ICI's corporate headquarters are located in Cleveland, Ohio. Several other teams have reportedly been actively courting companies for the space on their clubs' respective kits, most prominently Chicago and Colorado.