Saturday's MLS games provided plenty of excitement, from D.C. United's stoppage-time winner to San Jose's big road win. But perhaps what most stuck out was the number of times the referees reached into their back pockets and pulled out the red cards. In fact, there were almost as many expulsions (seven) as there were goals (10) on Saturday. If you take out the scoreless (and red card-less) Wizards-RSL game, that's seven red cards in three games, an incredibly high number.

Red cards change games, and they certainly change the fantasy game. Even if you have a player that has a total stinker -- misses easy chances, can't connect a pass, gets burned defensively -- nothing is as bad as a player getting sent off. Why? Because having a stinker may be frustrating and may result in you missing out on some points that you think you should have, but receiving a red card will actually put you in reverse. In the Fantasy Pro game, red cards result in the docking of five points from your team.

Needless to say, I wasn't too pleased during Saturday's United-Fire thriller when Marcelo Gallardo and Brandon Prideaux got tangled up and sent for an early shower. I had the great misfortune of having BOTH players on my fantasy roster, so that's 10 points down the tubes. Luckily I also had Jaime Moreno to help ease my suffering a bit with a sliding finish. But if you have Brad Evans (Columbus), James Riley (San Jose), Bryan Namoff (D.C.), Alan Gordon (L.A.) or Facundo Erpen (Colorado) on your squad, you're also feeling the pain. Each saw the dreaded red on Saturday.

Is there a way to protect yourself from seeing points flushed down the toilet? Possibly, but there's obviously no way to guarantee it. Even solid, clean players sometimes are guilty of a couple of careless challenges in a game, but I do believe that there are certain players in MLS more prone to seeing red. It's not uncommon for supremely talented players to have a bit of a hot streak, as they are often the most passionate players and can have trouble controlling their emotions. That's definitely something to consider when picking those playmaking types. Gallardo is obviously one such player, as is Cuauhtemoc Blanco in Chicago. The latter's propensity to gripe and complain to referees does not at all endear him to the officials.

But while gifted attacking players can occasionally lose their heads and put their teams -- and your fantasy team -- at a disadvantage, the ones to really beware of are the hard-nosed defensive midfielders and fullbacks who rough people up for a living. Those include the likes of Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado), Danny O'Rourke (Columbus), Eddie Robinson (Houston) and Ricardo Clark (Houston). All have reputations for playing dirty at times, and those reputations are well earned. I can't tell you that their hot heads are reason enough to pass over them, but it's definitely something to keep in mind as you put your team together. I know I'll be considering it when I look for replacements for Gallardo and Prideaux heading into next week.

And now for a few tips for Week 12:

- Luciano Emilio (D.C. United) has three goals in his last three games, including Saturday's last-gasp brilliant effort to give the Black-and-Red a ginormous road win to emerge from the Eastern Conference basement. I think it's safe to say that last year's MVP and Golden Boot winner is back.

- Bullish forward Adam Cristman scored his second in as many games as New England took down FC Dallas Friday. The youngster is a steal at around $100K.

- Ronnie O'Brien's great service resulted in a pair of goals and a win for San Jose. Can he keep it up? More importantly, can his teammates keep finding the net with his swerving, dipping crosses?

- Since May 10, reigning MLS Cup champs Houston Dynamo have gotten at least one goal per game from either Dwayne De Rosario or Brian Ching. They combined to top Toronto on Sunday night in the Lone Star State. Not surprisingly, the club is moving on up in the Western Conference. Remember when they started the season with a six-game winless skid? It's easy to forget at this point.

- Don't forget, all of those red carded players mentioned above will be sitting on the bench next week. Joining them due to yellow card accumulation will be Jesse Marsch (Chivas USA) and Atiba Harris (Chivas USA).

- All 14 teams will be in action in Week 12, each with a single league match.

- The U.S. national team will begin World Cup qualifying Sunday. Several MLS players are sure to be called in. Visit ussoccer.com regularly to keep an eye open for the roster announcement from coach Bob Bradley.

WOW (Worst of the Week) Award - Taking the honor this week is your mom. Well, all of our moms -- Mother Nature. I suggested loading up on Houston and D.C. players for Week 11, since both had two games on the schedule last week. Mother Nature had other ideas and pounded them with a powerful thunderstorm Wednesday at RFK Stadium, resulting in the postponement of their match. So much for that plan...