So, you want to know just exactly how RSL can still qualify for the playoffs? Well brace yourself. Here are all of the scenarios, straight from the front office.

But be warned -- it is a complex picture.

For starters, RSL must beat Colorado in the regular-season finale at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday. Otherwise, nothing matters, RSL is out. But if RSL does win, here's what it needs to reach the postseason again:

-- A Toronto loss or tie at New York on Saturday.
-- A DC United loss or tie at Kansas City on Saturday.
-- An FC Dallas loss or tie at Seattle on Saturday.
-- A New England loss or tie at Columbus on Sunday.

If any two of those teams wins, however, RSL is out, no matter what. But if only one of them wins, then things get even more complex. The team also can qualify if:

-- Toronto wins or loses and D.C. United, FC Dallas and New England all tie.
-- FC Dallas wins, Toronto and D.C. United both tie and New England loses.
-- New England wins, Toronto and D.C. United tie and FC Dallas loses.
-- Toronto wins, FC Dallas loses and D.C. United and New England both tie.
-- FC Dallas wins and Toronto loses and D.C. United and New England tie.
-- Toronto wins and D.C. United and FC Dallas lose and New England ties.
-- D.C. United wins, Toronto and FC Dallas lose and New England ties.
-- FC Dallas wins, Toronto and D.C. United lose and New England ties.
-- Toronto wins, FC Dallas and New England lose and D.C. United ties.
-- FC Dallas wins, Toronto and New England lose and D.C. United ties.
-- New England wins, Toronto and FC Dallas lose and D.C. United ties.

Things could also come down to goal differential. So if RSL beats Colorado by two or more goals on Saturday, it also can get into the playoffs if:

-- New England wins or loses and Toronto, D.C. United and FC Dallas all tie.
-- D.C. United wins or loses and Toronto, FC Dallas and New England all tie.
-- Toronto wins, New England loses and D.C. United and FC Dallas both tie.
-- Toronto wins, D.C. United loses and New England and FC Dallas both tie.
-- New England wins, Toronto loses and D.C. United and FC Dallas both tie.
-- D.C. United wins, Toronto loses and New England and FC Dallas both tie.

Got all that?

Technically, Real Salt Lake remains alive in the Major League Soccer playoff hunt — even after its 1-0 loss at Toronto FC today.

But man, does it need a lot of help.

Stuck in 12th place overall with 37 points, RSL first must defeat rival Colorado in the regular-season finale at Rio Tinto Stadium next weekend. Anything less, and it's all over.

But even if RSL does earn three points to pull into a tie with the Rapids on 40 points, it will reach the postseason again only by virtue of a long-shot series of other results.

The simplest way, at that point, would be to have Toronto, New England, FC Dallas and DC United — all tied with 39 points — all lose their final games.

That seems like a lot to ask, even though all four will be on the road. Toronto plays at last-place New York, for example, while DC United plays at Kansas City. The other games feature FC Dallas at Seattle — the Sounders clinched a playoff spot tonight — and New England at league-leading defending champion Columbus.

If two or more of those four teams wins, RSL is out.

If three of those teams lose and the other wins, however, that victorious team will secure the seventh playoff spot and force a tiebreaker between RSL and Colorado for the final position. That would come down to overall season goal differential, since the teams would have split their three regular-season games with a win, loss and draw.

In that case, RSL could win only if it beats the Rapids by two goals or more in the finale, since Colorado is plus-7 in goal differential and RSL is only plus-5.

It gets even more complicated if some of those teams tied with 39 points earn draws next weekend, joining RSL and Colorado in a tie with 40 points. In multi-team ties, the tie-breaking procedure begins by comparing the average points per game earned by each team, in only its games against the other tied teams.

And that's just too messy to try to figure out, at the moment.

Suffice it to say, the clearest route for RSL into the playoffs at this point is for it to beat the Rapids and hope everybody else of consequence loses next weekend. A tall order, for sure.

Want to watch the United States try to clinch a berth in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa?

Head downtown.

The G.O.A.L.S. for Greatness charity program's casino night fund-raiser at the Radisson Downtown hotel is the only place in Utah that will be showing the USA's game at Honduras tonight, because of the way Honduras sold the television rights in this country.

The "Margaritaville"-themed event begins at 6 p.m. -- the game kicks off at 8 -- and fans can join RSL players and coaches for dinner, dancing and casino games in addition to the game, for a $50 donation. For more information, visit www.GoalsForGreatness.com. The hotel is located at 215 W. South Temple.

The Americans, incidentally, can book their ticket to South Africa tonight three ways -- by beating Honduras, by having Costa Rica lose at home to Trinidad & Tobago, or by tying Honduras while the Costa Ricans lose or draw against Trinidad & Tobago.

Good news from the RSL medical tent ...

Trainers report that midfielder Ned Grabavoy does not have a broken bone in his left foot, as they had feared after he was hurt during the exhibition against Chivas de Guadalajara the other night, but rather a severe bruise. That means he stands a chance of being available when RSL takes on New York at Rio Tinto Stadium on Wednesday night, in the first of three games the team believes it must win in order to reach the Major League Soccer playoffs again.

“Our playoffs start now,” coach Jason Kreis said.

Same goes for midfielder Javier Morales, who suffered a sprained right ankle and a bruised right calf in the game. Though he limped off the field just before halftime, the focal point of the RSL attack is expected to be listed as “probable” to play against the Red Bulls, by the time the game rolls around.

Coach Jason Kreis was reasonably pleased with the way RSL played in its nasty 1-1 draw with Chivas de Guadalajara at Rio Tinto Stadium last night, except that the red card shown to defender Jamison Olave just before halftime “ruined some things” he hoped his team could accomplish.

“Our guys didn't have a whole lot of letdown,” Kreis said. “I think they wanted to make a statement in front of everyone ... that we're hard workers, that we don't have much quit in us. We showed a lot of what we can expect from the final few matches.”

Not everybody was so enthused.

Midfielder Will Johnson seemed particularly downcast about what the performance portends for the rest of the season.

While forward Fabian Espindola expressed confidence that RSL can win its last three regular-season Major League Soccer games and reach the playoffs — he scored RSL's only goal, in the 16th minute — Johnson worried about blowing the lead and the injuries suffered by midfielders Javier Morales and Ned Grabavoy.

“We've played good stretches of games all year long, and we've failed to put it together for 90 minutes,” he said. “And that's the case again tonight. Obviously, there's a lot of positives you can take out, but at the end of the day, we had a lead and we gave it up. If we do that one more time this season, our season is 100 percent over.”

Coach Jason Kreis wouldn't venture to guess how drastically the RSL lineup might change when it finally resumes Major League Soccer play against lowly New York next week.

But he did make clear that tonight's exhibition against Chivas de Guadalajara will play a big role in deciding who takes the field after two dispiriting losses on the road have left RSL with no margin for error.

The players “will provide us the answers,” he said.

In other words, play hard tonight, or forget about getting a chance in the games RSL absolutely must win in order to reach the MLS playoffs again. Team officials believe they must win their last three regular-season games in a row — RSL has won three straight only once in its history — to make that happen.

Many players will play 45 minutes, the coach said, as he seeks to find which players and combinations will work best for the rest of the season. Clearly, there has been something missing recently, with the team giving away easy goals early in each of its last two losses.

“Defensively, the intensity needs to be higher,” goalkeeper Nick Rimando said.

The coaches are not worried so much about winning as playing well, and Kreis has credited his players with responding well during some hard training sessions over the last week or so. Then again, he always says that in situations like these, and it doesn't always translate into good results.

“To be honest, I'd prefer not to be in this situation,” he said. “I feel like we've got to test some guys and we've got to push the fitness and basically start from square one. We've treated this break as a mini-preseason. I would love to not be in that position. I would love to have come off a win and said, 'OK, everything's good,' and have an enjoyable time. But desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Just learned that RSL's exhibition game against Chivas de Guadalajara will be televised, after all.

Team officials hadn't expected any local television for the game, but Fox Soccer Channel has decided to pick it up -- giving fans a chance to see how coach Jason Kreis tinkers with his lineup in search of a winning combination for the rest of the Major League Soccer season.

Kreis said he expects to use a lot of players in what is essentially an audition for starting positions, in preparation for the last three games of the regular season starting next week. The team figures it must win all three in a row -- a feat it has achieved only once in its history -- to reach the MLS playoffs again.

It might be a reason to either really cheer for owner Dave Checketts to succeed in his effort to buy the NFL's St. Louis Rams, or one to root hard against it:

Conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh is among his investors.

Limbaugh said today that he's among the group that is bidding to buy the football team, and that -- although he wouldn't name any of the other investors in the group -- he and Checketts would run it, if they succeed. The team has been valued at $929 million by Forbes magazine (and falling fast, if their performance on the field is any indication), and would add to the teams in the Checketts portfolio, along with the NHL's St. Louis Blues hockey team.

No word on a timeline for the sale; the family of former Rams owner Georgia Frontiere has hired the Goldman Sachs investment firm to review assets of her estate. Checketts has been pursuing the team since earlier this year.