Aside from that bright orange jersey, the Houston Dynamo is arguably the least flashy team in MLS. There was no big-name designated player, no hot new foreign talent, or no brand new stadium for Houston this year, but the only result that matters stayed the same: the Dynamo, in beating New England 2-1 on Sunday, became the first MLS team to win back-to-back titles since D.C. United in 1996-97.

As Louis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune says, Dynamo kind of sounds like dynasty. Regardless, that's exactly what this team is. There would be little argument about Houston being the best team in MLS over the last two seasons, and on Sunday, the defending champ fielded a largely unchanged lineup from the team that beat New England a year ago.

Again, Houston played New England. Again, Houston had to come from behind, but the team, led by inspirational playmaker Dwayne De Rosario, responded accordingly. Fifteen minutes into the second half, De Rosario's searching cross found Joseph Ngwenya, who bungled the ball past Matt Reis to tie the score. Fifteen minutes later, Brad Davis' excellent cross was met by an equally excellent header from De Rosario. A few stunning saves later from goalkeeper Pat Onstad, and Houston was crowned MLS champion for the second year in a row.

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