It was the late, great Liverpool manager Bill Shankly -- or was it Jeff Spicoli? -- who once said, "If we don't get ourselves some new rules, pronto, we'll be bogus, too."

I forget.

But I thought of that famous line this week when the MLS Competition Committee decided this week to stand pat with the same playoff format the league used in 2000.

Bam, bam, bam! Hear that? That's my skull.

Once again, we'll have best-of-three "mini-seasons" in both the quarter- and semifinals. I say "mini-seasons" and not "series" because, if you recall, these three-game sets are decided by points (three for a win and one for a tie), just like the regular season. So, once again a team can win Game 1 and tie Game 2 and still have to come back for Game 3, needing at least a tie to put the "season" out of reach.

This format made little sense the first time around, but you could cut the Comp Committee some slack because it was, well, the first time around. You had to figure, though, they'd make an adjustment this year, because, for one thing, the format was widely panned, and for another, because Don Garber, the commissioner himself, was flabbergasted to see that those decisive Game 3's didn't draw even respectable crowds because the teams didn't have enough time to promote them.

Most everyone I spoke to agreed -- there should only have been a third game in matchups that were legitimately tied -- either a win apiece or a tie apiece -- after two games.

But noooooo.

Obviously, these guys on the CC didn't cruise history. Aloha, Mr. Hand.

Oh, how the Galaxy want Donovan

This week, according to a source within the Los Angeles organization, the Galaxy offered none other than the $4 million Mexican, Luis Hernandez, to San Jose for the right to acquire Landon Donovan as an allocation. The L.A. rationale was, San Jose needs crowds, Hernandez is supposed to be a drawing card ... but the Earthquakes said, "No thank you." That's a pretty strong endorsement for an 18-year old American kid who's never really played professional, first-team soccer.

"We're pretty excited about having him on our team," said new Quakes captain Jeff Agoos. "The more I've seen of him in national team camps, the more impressed I am. He's a very dangerous player who can score and set people up."

For a team that still has a few key acquisitions to make, San Jose already looks like a vastly improved team. In their exhibition match with Miami Tuesday night, the Quakes looked organized defensively and quite dangerous on counterattacks. Danish Import Ronnie Ekelund, who is a nice midfield distributor, has a chance to stick as a Discovery, which would still leave open an allocation for the playmaker coach Frank Yallop covets.

In-Fusion of talent

And speaking of rebuilding jobs, you have to applaud the work GM Doug Hamilton and coach Ray Hudson have done in putting an entirely new product on the field in Fort Lauderdale. With a few trades and a couple of acquisitions, the Fusion now have a situation where solid MLS players like Leo Cullen are fighting for positions.

"We're going to have some very pissed-off lads on our bench," says Hudson, "and they'll have every right to be pissed." Hudson did threaten that enigmatic striker Diego Serna could be one of those unhappy players. "If he doesn't start finishing his chances," Hudson says. "I'll leave him out. I love him, but he makes me insane."

Hudson does characterize his group as a "maverick team" and admits he's going to leave a lot of the sorting out of roles to the players themselves. On Tuesday, the Fusion played, effectively, without a right-sided midfielder. In the center of the park, they had Jim Rooney, Ian Bishop, Preki and Alex Pineda Chacon. To think that Jamaican Andy Williams, another central midfielder, may remain in Miami, you have to wonder how it's all going to look in the end. Says Hudson, "I like the possibilities."

Of all the moves Miami has made this offseason, expect the most important to be the acquisitions of Carlos Llamosa and Chris Henderson.

In tight space

· Columbus is now hot to acquire Robin Fraser in a trade with Los Angeles and would love to have Fraser and Tenywa Bonseu in the center of their new four-back alignment. The Galaxy, in the wake of Cobi Jones' new contract, are currently mulling their options to get back under the salary cap. Fraser is believed to be the most likely man out.

· Early reports on the MetroStars new midfielder, Pedro Alvarez, is that he's a very solid passer and a guy who likes to keep things simple, usually playing the ball with only a touch or two. Coach Octavio Zambrano currently has Alvarez playing in defensive midfield tandem with newly acquired Richie Williams. Those two will play behind either Tab Ramos or Clint Mathis in the Metros' 3-5-2 alignment.

· New Tampa coach Alfonso Mondelo caught an earful from Mamadou Diallo after he yanked the forward with about 10 minutes to go in their exhibition match Tuesday. Mondelo has been trying to find a forward who can form a partnership with Diallo, but said after the match he's not sure that player is currently on the team's roster. "I'm just concerned that the teams in this league know Mamadou too well at this point," Mondelo said. "We need to find another player who will pose a threat up front."

Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail jeff.bradley@espnmag.com.