From the Bleachers by Neal Thurman - July 26, 2007 |
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I apologize for the delay in getting this posted, but what can you say about the last week in MLS? There's so much going on, it's hard to know where to start. In a league that has always struggled to generate headlines, the week showed just how far MLS has come this season. |
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| ▪ Johnson 50/50 for Weekend | |||
| ▪ MLS News Briefs - Week 17 | |||
| ▪ MLSU Power Rankings | |||
| Sure, maybe they were resting him after the U-20 tournament or didn't want to risk him getting hurt as they look to rebound in the second half of the season, but who are we kidding? This put the rumor mill into full motion, fueled further by the fact that Jason Kreis was in Argentina looking at an attacker and a midfielder. MLS Cup Re-dux/Preview? As columnist and Revs color commentator Greg Lalas chronicled on SI.com, there was a match of stunning quality in Foxborough this weekend. The match saw last years champions and runners-up battle to a 3-3 draw that didn't lack for scintillating offense. The Revs continued to rely on a diversified attack, getting goals from Noonan, Joseph and Twellman. On the other side of the ball, the Dynamo profited from the re-awakening of Brian Ching, who scored a brace, and Dwayne De Rosario, who scored Houston's opener. A match like this gives us all hope that, if there is to be a repeat of last year's MLS Cup this fall in Washington DC, that the quality of the match will be something that the league, its (growing number of) fans, and those from the press who haven't been paying attention can be captivated by. Opportunity Knocking? It's never pretty when someone looks to profit from the misfortune of others. That said, MLS is looking at a golden opportunity in the American sporting landscape right about now. If ever there was a crack in the armor of the "Big 3" professional American sports - the NFL, NBA and MLB - this is it. With Michael Vick creating an ugly picture of one of the NFL's poster boys, the integrity of NBA games being called into question by a betting/point-shaving scandal and MLB being haunted by the specter of Barry Bonds and his gigantic, (allegedly) steroid-enhanced head breaking the all-time home run record amidst raging criticism from, well, everywhere there is the opportunity for MLS to differentiate itself from the other choices out there. If they asked me, I would advise them to quickly create a campaign around the general decency of the league's players and their accessibility to the fans. This should be followed up with a push in each local market focused on the players being available after matches. Here in the DC area, the United players would often end up at the Capitol Lounge after home matches, and they were generally very accommodating to fans who wanted to say "hi" or congratulate them on a good match. Formalizing programs like this would go a long way towards creating an image of accessible players that fans can relate to in a sports landscape where "mainstream" athletes seem to have less and less in common with their fans. And I Think Some English Guy Kicked the Ball Obviously the story of the week for the rest of the media was Becks, the celebrities and the cameo appearance in a match that meant nothing to anyone who wasn't wearing a suit counting money. For me, the real story was the media coverage of the event. Despite the fact that soccer was actually dominating the on-field sports headlines while Michael Vick was dominating the police blotter, everyone in the newspapers and on sports-talk radio was spending time talking down the signing. I will give them credit: the argument against has become more sophisticated than it used to be. They used to just dismiss the game with a quick "but who cares, soccer is boring." The evolution of the argument now goes "I consider myself a pretty normal sports fan, and I can't see myself making time for soccer with all of the other sports I already watch - NFL, MLB, NBA, college football, college basketball, etc." While this argument is slightly less insulting, it boggles my mind that anyone buys into it for longer than 15 seconds. In a sporting culture where golf (fueled by Tiger Woods), NASCAR, Ultimate Fighting, Arena Football and "extreme sports" have all risen dramatically in profile in recent years without the media objecting to them because we as a sporting public "just didn't have enough time", soccer seems to enjoy unique status as a whipping boy. Would these geniuses (who I generally respect when it comes to commentary on other sports, I might add) have advised the people that created YouTube to close up shop because there's no way that people would use their site because they already have 500 channels of cable TV to watch? It's a lazy argument and not worthy of people who are paid good money to help lead the discussion of sports in this country. The lesson of the last 10 years should be that there is ALWAYS room for something new on the entertainment landscape. I'm not expecting that things will change because I point out some HUGE flaws in the argument. No, there seems to be an underlying fear that if we embrace soccer we will somehow lose our uniqueness as Americans and that we will be forced to give up baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet (and, much more importantly, the NFL). While we all know that isn't the case, it certainly seems to be the fear. |
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| Neal Thurman lives in the Nation's Capital and is not a lawyer. He blogs for Yahoo at http://fantasyepl.blogspot.com and you can email him at nthurman@americansoccerdaily.com | |||