WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 3, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- On a day when the MLS support is asked not to respond to a national column about their League, that same MLS support opts to take it personally.
All About Us
There are few things as predictable as soccer people hitting the freakout button whenever someone writes anything other than 'yeah, sport of the 00's, or whatever.' The latest would be Norman Chad, who - according to all red blooded American soccer supporters - is irrelevant. That irrelevance would include having one of the broadest syndicated sports columns in the business. But hey, if you're not one of us, who the heck are you?
It's the same logic MLS uses when telling us all about it's top tier investors, wise sports business leaders, and so on. Asking why that sage group can't break soccer into the mainstream paints you as a Chad-like basher, who simply doesn't get it.
What 'it' actually is remains open. If Major League Soccer isn't succeeding at a level that most North American sports fans would qualify as success, maybe 'it' is trying to manage that disappointment. If we're taking as a given that the current MLS investor/operators and management know what they're doing, 'it' becomes the definition of success.
Here's a hint. For most in American pro soccer management, 'it' is whatever is most flattering at a given moment. It's always subject to change, and usually not open to discussion.
Unfortunately for all involved, too many fans simply nod right along.
Add in the tired in the 70's point about soccer and youth culture, aging mainstream journalists and pundits, and a fan base who woke up one morning and discovered baseball is boring, football is too corporate, and hockey is ripe for the take down, and you end up with what too many hardcore American soccer supporters take as the point. We know better, and we will be vindicated.
Maybe, but in the meantime it's worth taking the sport as we have it. Mainstream? Not at club level and in an odd position when it comes to National Teams. Focus on the plural. There's not many places in the world where your country's biggest competitor is marketed in your country.
Unlike the old days when the big push was soccer over everything, I would argue the majority of MLS fans follow other sports. That's the way it's done in the United States. Taking a shot at the current quality of Major League Soccer in the Beckham era is not a sin. It's a point. There are others.
Angel In October
Juan Pablo Angel is Major League Soccer's Player of the Month for October, as determined by the North American Soccer Reporters. Since the regular season is over, that means no MLS player won Player of the Month more than once. That should give you some idea of the unpredictability of the media vote when it comes to Player of the Year. By which of course we mean Volkswagon MLS Most Valuable Player Finalists. That would be Mr. April, Mr. Mat, and Mr. August. Sorry, Mr. October.
2008 MLS PLAYER OF THE MONTH AWARDS
April: Landon Donovan - Los Angeles Galaxy
May: Cuauhtémoc Blanco - Chicago Fire
June: Luciano Emilio - D.C. United
July: Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
August: Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Columbus Crew
September: Darren Huckerby - San Jose Earthquakes
October: Juan Pablo Angel - New York Red Bulls
