D.C. United is haunted; not by the dearly departed, but by those whose recent departures have left great voids in a once-great team floundering and flailing in search of points and answers.

On a night San Jose christened its temporary home in an environment that buzzed despite a lack of goals, MLS commissioner Don Garber answered questions about the team the new Quakes replaced and its struggles to find a new home.

Fortunately, both Vancouver and Portland are in the running for MLS expansion slots as we gaze at the horizon beyond 2009 entrant Seattle and 2010 rookie Philadelphia.

By beating San Jose 2-0 at the Meadowlands Sunday, New York further tightened a logjam atop the Eastern Conference standings and tilted more sharply the balance of power toward the Right Coast.

How tough a battle has it been for Chivas USA to carve out an identity in Southern California?

The two MLS Sunday matches offered the second- and third-place teams in each conference a chance to take over the top spot by winning, and in both cases, the home-field advantage meant nothing.

Well, after a week of routs and upsets, flameouts and comebacks, who’s to pick on in MLS? The weak have become stronger, the traditionally strong are stumbling yet far from beaten, and those in the middle are where they are on merit.

Revs coach Steve Nicol let loose a bitter tirade against referee Baldomero Toledo after he punished a clumsy tackle by Jeff Larentowicz with a straight red card in the seventh minute of New England’s 4-0 loss at Chicago last week [VIDEO].

Nicol ranted after the game, claiming such tackles don’t warrant reds anywhere else in the world.

I know we’re only two weeks into the 13th MLS season, and declaring detections of trends at this stage is a fool’s game, but I do see glimmers of a subtle yet critical phase in the maturation of America’s soccer league.

As poor crowds in Chicago, New England and Columbus for their opening games indicated, MLS isn’t anywhere near ready to move toward a schedule modeled along European lines.