It's Time For MLS To Get Serious About New England Revolution Mention the word contraction in American sports circles and many fans will shudder. It was this word that was mentioned in the mid-90s by Major League Baseball in hopes of dissolving teams in markets that made little money. However, MLB never contracted a team; rather, they expanded the league in Tampa Bay and Arizona. In Major League Soccer, contraction was put into action as the league dissolved two teams in the early part of the century. In 2001, after four seasons of play the league contracted the Miami Fusion and after six years of play the league contracted an MLS original in the Tampa Bay Mutiny. Terrible names aside, the league was losing money each season and was attempting to shake things up. People weren't coming out, and it wouldn't be until the US Men's National Team's successful 2002 World Cup that attendances increased around the league. One of the teams MLS didn't contract, rather, than two Florida/southeast based clubs was the New England Revolution though they may have had reasons to dissolve them at the time. In their first six years of existence the club was quite poor performance wise, though they boasted the likes of Alexi Lalas, Joe-Max Moore and John Harkes, and never progressed past the first round of the MLS play-offs. This was a time that MLS fluctuated between 10 and 12 teams, a far cry from what the league is today. As a matter