By CHRIS RASMUSSEN
To many Americans, soccer is boring, foreign and, according to the National Review, a manifestation of the "Marxist concept of the labor theory of value."
I like watching international soccer, even when I don’t have a rooting interest and often while curled up on the couch reading a well-worn copy of Das Kapital. Nowhere else in sport does a famous manager use astrology to select his lineup, although Trey Hillman soon might feel a temptation to consult biorhythms when selecting bullpen pitchers.
I’m not alone. Millions of Americans wake up early on Saturdays and Sundays to watch the English Premier League or Serie A from Italy aired on stations positioned between obscure religious broadcasts and pornography on their digital cable channel guides.
The KC Wizards?
Soccer's great. The MLS isn’t.
It's the MLS league structure, not its players or their level of play, that's the source of my apathy. Nearly every game in European leagues affects the race for relegation, European qualification or the league championship. But each MLS team meanders through 32 games in the regular season, eliminating only six of the league’s 14 teams from the playoffs. Each game in Europe means something; no regular season MLS game means anything.
Further, the MLS lacks the greatest attraction of the international game: an atmosphere fueled by centuries-old resentments. Watch an English Premier League game or the Euro 08’ tournament and you'll find fans taunting their opponents with chants or songs in a patriotic or sectarian fervor that otherwise leads to uniforms and rifles. This week’s biggest controversy in Euro 08' involved a Polish newspaper depicting the beheading of German players on its cover. This was in bad taste, but we can all agree that a newspaper cover pales in significance compared to other historical events involving those two neighbors.
Who do I resent in the MLS? I am completely indifferent about the Columbus Crew, which is the name of an MLS franchise, not a cover band specializing in 1980s power ballads. I don’t hate anyone who follows Real Salt Lake, since living in Utah is “Real” enough and requires our pity.
Thanks, but the Royals provide a surplus of meaningless, listless games for this city. We don’t need imports.
Showing 1-22 of 22
Sombra and KCO:
I'm going to the next game after Sat's Crew matchup. I am persauded. And yes, I am watching the Crew game on the DVR when I get back home after a long drive.
(And if you don't think the *league itself* doesn't think the regular season occasionally lacks meaning, ask yourself this: why is it that MLS is the only league in the world that continues play even while many of its stars are playing for country during the summer friendlies/Euro08/WC qualifiers).
Because if a team loses ground while their gone, they won't be eliminated.
First off - props to you if you really get as involved in a game at home as you do in person. :)
As for what's at stake, I don't want to sound trite, but it's hard to really get away from in this case. Three points are at stake - same three points in an EPL/Serie A/Bundesliga game.
3 Points.
Now, the whole playoffs thing still isn't _that_ hard to get into, and most of us who follow MLS wait with bated breath for the day when they are - but don't forget that there _is_ silver given out for the highest point total in the [regular] season... the Supporters' Shield. Perhaps it doesn't get the highest billing when it comes to MLS trophies, but many supporters would rather win that than the MLS Cup.
There's also the Superliga to play for - only the top four regular season finishers (not sure if that is single table or two per conference, but it doesn't _really_ matter) get to play in that tournament as well.
Obviously there's still the playoffs to play for, and, as kco said, pride. That's not just the pride of winning the league or not being last... but pride in beating every team that you beat. Yes, many of us fans _actually care_ if we end up 3rd, 5th or 8th in the league. It may not even matter as far as the playoffs are concerned, but it matters to me.
Since you brought up the Royals, I guess I'll say that the Wizards game on Sat. could arguably be much more important than the Royals games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Those games are just two out of over a hundred, and _chances are_ that the Royals don't make the playoffs (though they seem to be getting better). And even though those two games probably won't affect the Royal's playoff eiligibility, I was still very upset when things went horribly wrong in them...
Basically, what's at stake is what you put into it. If you don't put anything in (emotionally), very little will be at stake for you.
What's at stake?
Is it 3 points? (when 1 point keeps you out of the playoffs it's a big deal).
Maybe Pride?
What about supporting your local club? You know, maybe showing a little passion?
Even hanging out with friends, living life, and having a good time?
If you're a proper football fan, do you really even need a reason?
Sombra:
"How often do you stand up, chant, sing songs, clap, hurl insults at opposing goalkeepers and argue bad calls on your couch at home?"
You haven't been to my home. Whooo. Although during Royals games I hurl insults at Royals bullpen pitchers.
In all seriousness, that was an excellent comment, as is Mike's.
To be clear, I want the league to succeed. And although some malign the quality of play, I don't -- it is actually quite good.
But I really want to know what precisely is at stake in Saturday's match, for example.
While I don't agree with some of your reasoning as to why MLS isn't 'great' - I do acknowledge that these are reasons which people are not so receptive to the American league.
Pro/rel - we all know that a pro/rel system would create a much more 'interesting' season, more emotional and important games - but we also know that even if we could find a good implementation for it, the US isn't ready for it yet anyways. Perhaps, in another 10-20 years, we might be...
Yes, the MLS also has it's problems in terms of the playoffs. It's easy to point to how many teams make it in the playoffs right now, but bear in mind that two teams were added in the last two years and two more will be added in the next two. _Eventually_ we will get to a system where making the playoffs is actually 'covetted'. That can only happen when we have more teams, though - and more teams will only come when the support for the existing ones is large enough to warrant expansion.
Ultimately, the reason I support our local team, the Wizards, is because it is a beautiful game and it's _so much better in person_. How often do you stand up, chant, sing songs, clap, hurl insults at opposing goalkeepers and argue bad calls on your couch at home? You have the opportunity to support a local team, to watch a very decent team (yes, MLS isn't the quality of the top Euro leagues, but it _is_ decent football) in a live environment and be a part of the game. There are many, many soccer fans across this country who don't have that opportunity - such as St. Louis and much of the Southeast.
As for the rivalries, teams don't need to be around for hundreds of years to start hating each other. Take a look at baseball today - the Boston Red Sox have been around forever, but the Devil Rays have not. Yet those two teams hate each other quite a bit. If you need someone to hate, ask people who have been around the league for a while. You're not gonna get involved in the rivalries watching from afar.
In any case, maybe MLS isn't for you, but there's no need for you to bash it. If you ever want to see top-quality soccer in this country, then supporting MLS (but not being complacent) is one of your best bets. If you can't possibly deal with the league with it's problems, at least don't discourage other people from trying it out - that's counter productive.
Like it or not, MLS is the 'best bet' to achieve an American soccer league which is close to the same level as the Euro leagues.
The single entity was also originally set up to help keep the league afloat and from losing owners left and right. Single entity is starting to lose it's usefulness, but unfortunately I see it sticking around until all teams have control of their own stadium (which at the rate it's going will be 2011 or so).
Playoffs are another one of those American stigma's that MLS has to work past, American's are used to their champion being decided in the playoffs. As for all the team's making it, not allowing as many teams into the playoffs would (in my opinion) make parts of the regular season less meaningful then they are now. You'd have more teams getting eliminated earlier, making more games at the end of the season less meaningful. Without relegation, the chase for the playoffs is the best thing to make more of the table interesting, at least in my opinion.
Mike:
The problem with breaking that stigma is that MLS -- in a clever legal way -- has not only created the franchise/cartel system, but it is a single entity (I think b/c they don't have to worry about antitrust exemptions).
And fwiw -- I don't mind the lack of relegation. What I mind is that every team makes the playoffs -- have two teams face off in a nationally televised home and home and that'd be cool.
Of course, franchise owners think playoffs = money and they might be actually right -- for every one of us who bitches, there's five who go to games without caring whether the games matter.
While that was a big controversy, arguably the biggest controversy was the first Holland goal against Italy. Caused a lot of controversy as well.
As for who you should resent? Well as a Wizards fan, I resent DC United for MLS Cup 2004. I resent the Galaxy, because who outside of Beckham fanatics and LA fans like the Galaxy? I laugh at Chicago because while we do nothing against them in the regular season, when we meet up in a championship game it's always gone our way.
I've been to Europe, I've seen games played in the Cathedrals of the game. I want something, anything close to that here in the United States, but we're not going to get that here in the US until people start to accept that our league currently isn't the greatest, and that it's going to take time to develop that. The best someone can do is support their local team, and help them to sell out games and to grow the supporters group that the team has. As that happens, more money will go into the league, better players will come, and the league will get better.
It's not something that will happen overnight though. We're not going to see something like relegation in the US in a long time, if in our life times at all. The structure of all leagues in the US are franchise based, and it's going to take a long time to break Americans of that stigma when it comes to a sport like soccer.
I agree with your assesment 100%. Do away with the crappy American-style playoffs and have a seperate cup during the season like every other good league. I'm a huge soccer fan, but the MLS is just filler for me until the EPL starts. If the regular season games mattered, I would be a lot more interested.
I agree with your assesment 100%. Do away with the crappy American-style playoffs and have a seperate cup during the season like every other good league. I'm a huge soccer fan, but the MLS is just filler for me until the EPL starts. If the regular season games mattered, I would be a lot more interested.
I agree with your assesment 100%. Do away with the crappy American-style playoffs and have a seperate cup during the season like every other good league. I'm a huge soccer fan, but the MLS is just filler for me until the EPL starts. If the regular season games mattered, I would be a lot more interested.
Elliott (and others):
I like writing about soccer. By leaving a comment, I understand now that people will actually -- I dunno -- read it.
So expect more in the future.
And Elliott -- I am a poseur. I just am a poseur who watches soccer frequently (FSN is like ESPN in the early 80s -- just *fun* without all the hypercommercialization).
Chris,
Thanks for the quick response. Sorry for being crass; your point about "meaningless" regular season matches has some merit. However, you buried that deep in the post.
You'll have to forgive me if I lost your central message between reading the title of the post and lines like this one:
"Soccer's great. The MLS isn�t."
I know you like the sport, Chris. So do I.
MLS continues to improve its onfield product and with two new teams (Philly and Seattle) coming into the league within the next two years, the playoff system you deride will become less reprehensible.
Thanks for the coverage, Chris.
It is enthralling.
But Derby County did play meaningful games throughout the season -- they were trying to stay alive (as you know, often the relegation chase is more interesting than who gets into the Chs league). And there are teams promoted from the Coca-Cola Championship that are successful -- Reading and Wigan's first year in the EPL, for example.
There is a particular problem when people try to judge a whole league through the performance of one team, this is magnified even worse when someone uses one game from one team.
Imagine if we all judged the quality of the Premier League by sides just promoted from the Championship....Derby County.....etc.
I challenge you to watch this match in its entirety and tell me it was anything less than entralling:
http://www.justin.tv/psn_1/125...
OK, PV, that's my point (and I can read the standings, too):
It is VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO ELIMINATE A TEAM. We're a third of the way through the schedule and the last place team has a chance to qualify for the playoffs and therefore to win a championship.
re: the meaningless of the regular season. Take DC United two years ago -- they barely lost throughout the season and won the Supporters' Cup with the best regular season mark.
DC United's reward? Having to start the whole damn thing over again in the playoffs -- with their previous success in the regular season rendered completely meaningless -- and lose in the first round (I think to NE, but I might be wrong).
Again, I like soccer. Really. I do own the MLS Package (one of three people in KC, I think) and do go to games. But c'mon -- we're 1/3 of the way through the season and no game matters until the playoffs.
Why should you care?
Well, if you are a KC or Columbus fan, because KC and Columbus are fighting for their playoff lives, that's why.
Kansas City is in last place in their conference, the same conference Columbus is in BTW. But they are not out of it, in fact, they are only three points back from a playoff spot.
If you aren't a fan of those two teams, look around the league. The top teams in the Western Conference are only three points ahead of the "drop zone". The "worst" team in the league, San Jose, is only 5 points behind a playoff spot.
Even league leader New England could have an alarming slump.
If you think regular season matches in MLS are meaningless, you haven't been paying attention to MLS.
Elliott and others:
Explain to me what is at stake in Sat's match. We're a third of the way through the season and I'm not sure why I should be interested until the playoffs begin.
Speaking of Marxists/Germans, did you know that the Wizards' next opponent, the aforementioned Columbus Crew derive their nickname from the "working class" makeup of Columbus, OH? Or that their "supporters unions" (fan clubs) sit in an bullpen area in their stadium called the Nordecke - in honor of Columbus' German heritage? Or that their current coach is... GERMAN!? Saturday, June 14 at Community America Ballpark shall be forever known as "The KCK Pinko Massacre". In all seriousness, this will be my first MLS game.
With respect to the MLS rules, etc. They don't claim to be a real sport. The major booster for the team (David Naster's brother) freely states to anyone who will listen that the Wizards are about "good, clean, family entertainment". And community revenue generation (see, e.g., the Bannister development).
So be there on Saturday as the Wizards provide good, clean family fun by punking out the working class ethos in general.
like
dislike
