Ladies and gentleman, children of all ages. Step right up.
Tonight in Denver we have the sporting event you'll alllllllllll been waiting for -- the Sierra Mist MLS All-Star game. Where your Lemon-Limers take on defending Scottish Premier League Champion the world-renowned (Glasgow) Celtic.
In a nice, tidy nutshell, the MLS's insistence on an all-star affair encapsulates everything wrong with the 12th year league. And almost all those problems are off-the-field issues.
Say what you will about the on-field quality of MLS, it's not that bad. Honest. Is in the English Premier League, La Liga, etc? No. But is it any worse than say, the Ukrainian Premier League? (No offense, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Metalurh Zaporizhzhya fans.)
Honestly, very few times in the last few years have I watched an MLS game and moaned about the quality (gridiron lines on the field is another thing).
No, the bigger problem with MLS are stupid events like the All-Star Game.
My big question, are people clamoring for an MLS all-star game? (Well, I can't wait for this year's alt/emo/pop-rock band to perform at halftime.)
On the flip side, who doesn't want to see how new Celtic signing Massimo Donati, formerly of AC Milan, fare in the Hoops midfield. I'm getting chills already. Yeah, and Juan Toja's mullet is a sight to behold, too.
I guess it's nice for the fans in Colorado and a showcase for Dick's Sporting Goods Park (THE DICK, heheh). Other than that, it's pretty much a waste. Put it this way -- if the MLS all-star game never happened, would anyone notice. The old tree falls in the woods argument. It's not like the American public cares all that much about the MLB all-star game anymore, saying nothing of the Pro Bowl.
It made some sense when they had the whole weekend to do skills competitions and the like. On a Thursday night? Especially when two days later is that Beckham game against Chelsea, which ESPN will probably just use the all-star game as a platform to promo it to death anyway. (WWL company mandate -- one Beckham reference every 98 seconds! ... Wouldn't it be great if Becks can't play in that game? John Skipper's head my explode. Me, I'm more interested to see how Flourent Malouda meshes with the Blues and if they go back to 4-3-3, and those neon yellow away shirts...yikes.)
More importantly, MLS sides have fared decently and even defeated some touring European squads on their own -- without donning some sugary soda drink uniforms. In fact DC United thumped Celtic 4-0 last summer if my memory serves correct. United also gave touring Chelski a good run last summer, too.
What exactly a selection of the MLS's XI best under the guidance of Steve Nicol do is debatable. If they win, big deal. If they lose, so what? It's rather ludicrous to cobble together a collection of players to face a united, cohesive squad, right?
You'd have thought the league would have learned from its disaster two-ish years ago when they sent an 'MLS Select' squad to Spain, and were promptly thumped 4,5-0 by Real Madrid. Events like this do nothing to diminish the 'Mickey Mouse' perception of the league. In fact, it's a shame more people likely know about the waste of time All-Star game, as opposed to the 'SuperLiga' which kicks off this week. That's a worthwhile competition, no?
As much as I personally like Celtic (soon to Adu-du?), they're clearly not in the caliber of Chelsea, which an MLS all-star team defeated last summer 1-0. At least beating Chelsea, coming off back-to-back Premiership titles, was a feather in the cap, to a degree.
Arguably Celtic's best talent -- Shunsuke Nakamura -- or at least the best named on the team -- won't be in Colorado as he figures to still be with Japan in the Asian Cup. Japan does have a massive quarterfinal with Australia on Saturday.
Far too often, MLS seems to obsessed with following the North American pattern of professional sports than the world soccer model, which rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Far too often it appears the league wants to be insular with its ideas rather than looking at the rest of the world. Trust me, this isn't a Euro-snobbery point of view, either. I don't instantly dismiss the league and deep down would love it to thrive. Though a single table format only makes rational sense.
But think of it as a video game programmer with the advent of the Nintendo Wii.
Until the revolutionary product there were basically a locked-in amount of ways to make a video game, or what a game could be. With the Wii it seems anything can be a game and in different manner of ways. The MLS needs to grasp this freedom and look outside the North American sports paradigm (ie. drafts, conferences, all-star games, playoff nonsense, etc). Unlike the NFL, MLB, NBA, etc. the best, most talented players don't currently ply their trade in soccer stateside.
Let's put it this way, say you're the brains behind trying to run a baseball league in China. Are you going to follow the example of the Chinese basketball league or Major League Baseball? (Wait, since Bud Selig is involved, don't answer that.)
In a lot of ways you can look at Celtic and the SPL as a good point of comparison to MLS, especially since they're 13 MLS teams and 12 SPL. (A quick note on Celtic, the Hoops have won 41 Scottish League titles, which gives them 15 more 'championships' than the New York Yankees. Sorry Michael Kay.)
Over the last few Celtics the boys in green have established themselves as clear cut above their eternal Glasgow Rivals, both on the field and in the backroom. Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond is worth close to $3 billion dollars, and thanks to large crowds at Parkhead the Bhoys are basically printing money.
They're clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the Scottish league. Think of it as the Hoops as the USMNT and 'Gers as Mexico and the Falkirks, Dunfermlines, etc. as the rest of the CONCACAF minnows. Ok, maybe Hibernian are Costa Rica.
In turn, the SPL is probably the dullest league to follow -- unless you get wrapped up in Hearts chasing a UEFA Cup place. Celtic has run out to double-digit points leads a month or two into the season, rendering the race into a coronation. Around Scotland there are probably more Celtic fans in any given SPL city than the home club.
Yet, it doesn't stop close to 60,000 turning out to Parkhead to watch their beloved Hoops. And Thursday night, the bleachers at the Dick will be awash in redden-faces Bhoys in green. There is a passion ingrained in following Celtic that overrides the otherwise formality of the season.
It's a safe bet few MLS sides illicit that sort of passion, albeit an unfair comparison between an historic, European Cup wining club with over 100 years of history to a league with founders that thought "Clash" and "Mutiny" were good nicknames. To me, that reminds that biggest gap in making MLS more legit -- passion. Outside each team's hardcore supporter's group not too many people are living and dieing with the local MLS side.
The point I'm trying to illustrate is that when the Alexi Lalas's of the world point to MLS being not being the crap fest it's perceived as in most corners, he's pointing to the competitive balance/parity the league has. This is mainly due to the salary cap, which makes sure no team gets too stacked. (You wonder, with AEG down to two teams after selling the Fire and the Hunt Group only owning two, if the days of non-centralized player contract control are too far away.)
While the current structure of MLS keeps the playing field close, it also eliminates the Celtics of the world for springing up. Look at any European league, especially the secondary ones. Take the Ukrainian league, since its inception in 1992 Dinamo Kiev have won the league 12 times and finished runners-up the other three times.
Dominant, powerful clubs lead to more excitement, at least in the regular season. Perhaps David Beckham will make the Galaxy into this team, more from a PR perspective. Right now, there's not that much difference in beating any of the teams. As I've noted many times here, in its current form the MLS is a league that Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky, Chairman Mao, Fidel Castro, Elaine's boyfriend Ned Isakoff on 'Seinfeld' would appreciate. (It's a minor miracle no MLS side dresses in bland, drab, olive colored clothing.)
Nobody is too good. Nobody is too bad.
This mutes the excitement more than anything else. Parity is good in small doses, but MLS can't keep the kid gloves on forever.
Obviously it wouldn't be fun if there was a one, year-in, year-out powerhouse that kept a monopoly on the silverware but it's not the NFL where you need to keep rich owners like Jerry Jones from buying dynasties. Only 12 of the NFL's 32 teams gain the playoffs anyway. In the MLS its currently 8 of 13. Basically you have to avoid being out-and-out pitiful and you've got a chance at the postseason. (Hopefully this changes at the league expands.)
When a team in England defeats a Manchester United, a Chelsea, it's cause for celebration. When a team beats say, the Chicago Fire, well...
In the end, this all-star nonsense is just a launching pad to further hype that Beckham fellow's (possible) debut Saturday vs. Chelsea.
Let's just hope, nay pray, that after all these months Davey O'Brien doesn't call the team in green and white 'Glasgow United' as he famously did in that USMNT friendly vs. Poland in March of 2006. No, the 'petulant clique' will never forgive that one, pal. It's in the net! Scooooooore!
________________
** Looks like the Earthquakes or some kind of San Jose/Northern California team is coming back. Good news. San Jose got royally screwed when AEG ripped the quality side out of northern California and moved it to Houston and became the1836 errr, Dynamo.
** Twenty teams seems like an appropriate number of teams for the league to shoot for. With the reintroduction of San Jose in 2008, that leaves six open spots, my suggestions: New York (second team); St. Louis (historically good soccer town); Seattle (sorry Portland); Philadelphia (a mortal lock). The other two, I'm not so sure. Las Vegas has it's ups-and-downs, while in the long run I can't see Cleveland or Milwaukee flourishing, though they would create natural rivalries with the Crew and Fire respectively. If the league has learned anything -- avoid Flordia. Please.
** Not to pat myself on the back, but does Bryant Gumbel check out this site?
Tonight in Denver we have the sporting event you'll alllllllllll been waiting for -- the Sierra Mist MLS All-Star game. Where your Lemon-Limers take on defending Scottish Premier League Champion the world-renowned (Glasgow) Celtic.
In a nice, tidy nutshell, the MLS's insistence on an all-star affair encapsulates everything wrong with the 12th year league. And almost all those problems are off-the-field issues.
Say what you will about the on-field quality of MLS, it's not that bad. Honest. Is in the English Premier League, La Liga, etc? No. But is it any worse than say, the Ukrainian Premier League? (No offense, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Metalurh Zaporizhzhya fans.)
Honestly, very few times in the last few years have I watched an MLS game and moaned about the quality (gridiron lines on the field is another thing).
No, the bigger problem with MLS are stupid events like the All-Star Game.
My big question, are people clamoring for an MLS all-star game? (Well, I can't wait for this year's alt/emo/pop-rock band to perform at halftime.)
On the flip side, who doesn't want to see how new Celtic signing Massimo Donati, formerly of AC Milan, fare in the Hoops midfield. I'm getting chills already. Yeah, and Juan Toja's mullet is a sight to behold, too.
I guess it's nice for the fans in Colorado and a showcase for Dick's Sporting Goods Park (THE DICK, heheh). Other than that, it's pretty much a waste. Put it this way -- if the MLS all-star game never happened, would anyone notice. The old tree falls in the woods argument. It's not like the American public cares all that much about the MLB all-star game anymore, saying nothing of the Pro Bowl.
It made some sense when they had the whole weekend to do skills competitions and the like. On a Thursday night? Especially when two days later is that Beckham game against Chelsea, which ESPN will probably just use the all-star game as a platform to promo it to death anyway. (WWL company mandate -- one Beckham reference every 98 seconds! ... Wouldn't it be great if Becks can't play in that game? John Skipper's head my explode. Me, I'm more interested to see how Flourent Malouda meshes with the Blues and if they go back to 4-3-3, and those neon yellow away shirts...yikes.)
More importantly, MLS sides have fared decently and even defeated some touring European squads on their own -- without donning some sugary soda drink uniforms. In fact DC United thumped Celtic 4-0 last summer if my memory serves correct. United also gave touring Chelski a good run last summer, too.
What exactly a selection of the MLS's XI best under the guidance of Steve Nicol do is debatable. If they win, big deal. If they lose, so what? It's rather ludicrous to cobble together a collection of players to face a united, cohesive squad, right?
You'd have thought the league would have learned from its disaster two-ish years ago when they sent an 'MLS Select' squad to Spain, and were promptly thumped 4,5-0 by Real Madrid. Events like this do nothing to diminish the 'Mickey Mouse' perception of the league. In fact, it's a shame more people likely know about the waste of time All-Star game, as opposed to the 'SuperLiga' which kicks off this week. That's a worthwhile competition, no?
As much as I personally like Celtic (soon to Adu-du?), they're clearly not in the caliber of Chelsea, which an MLS all-star team defeated last summer 1-0. At least beating Chelsea, coming off back-to-back Premiership titles, was a feather in the cap, to a degree.
Arguably Celtic's best talent -- Shunsuke Nakamura -- or at least the best named on the team -- won't be in Colorado as he figures to still be with Japan in the Asian Cup. Japan does have a massive quarterfinal with Australia on Saturday.
Far too often, MLS seems to obsessed with following the North American pattern of professional sports than the world soccer model, which rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Far too often it appears the league wants to be insular with its ideas rather than looking at the rest of the world. Trust me, this isn't a Euro-snobbery point of view, either. I don't instantly dismiss the league and deep down would love it to thrive. Though a single table format only makes rational sense.
But think of it as a video game programmer with the advent of the Nintendo Wii.
Until the revolutionary product there were basically a locked-in amount of ways to make a video game, or what a game could be. With the Wii it seems anything can be a game and in different manner of ways. The MLS needs to grasp this freedom and look outside the North American sports paradigm (ie. drafts, conferences, all-star games, playoff nonsense, etc). Unlike the NFL, MLB, NBA, etc. the best, most talented players don't currently ply their trade in soccer stateside.
Let's put it this way, say you're the brains behind trying to run a baseball league in China. Are you going to follow the example of the Chinese basketball league or Major League Baseball? (Wait, since Bud Selig is involved, don't answer that.)
In a lot of ways you can look at Celtic and the SPL as a good point of comparison to MLS, especially since they're 13 MLS teams and 12 SPL. (A quick note on Celtic, the Hoops have won 41 Scottish League titles, which gives them 15 more 'championships' than the New York Yankees. Sorry Michael Kay.)
Over the last few Celtics the boys in green have established themselves as clear cut above their eternal Glasgow Rivals, both on the field and in the backroom. Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond is worth close to $3 billion dollars, and thanks to large crowds at Parkhead the Bhoys are basically printing money.
They're clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the Scottish league. Think of it as the Hoops as the USMNT and 'Gers as Mexico and the Falkirks, Dunfermlines, etc. as the rest of the CONCACAF minnows. Ok, maybe Hibernian are Costa Rica.
In turn, the SPL is probably the dullest league to follow -- unless you get wrapped up in Hearts chasing a UEFA Cup place. Celtic has run out to double-digit points leads a month or two into the season, rendering the race into a coronation. Around Scotland there are probably more Celtic fans in any given SPL city than the home club.
Yet, it doesn't stop close to 60,000 turning out to Parkhead to watch their beloved Hoops. And Thursday night, the bleachers at the Dick will be awash in redden-faces Bhoys in green. There is a passion ingrained in following Celtic that overrides the otherwise formality of the season.
It's a safe bet few MLS sides illicit that sort of passion, albeit an unfair comparison between an historic, European Cup wining club with over 100 years of history to a league with founders that thought "Clash" and "Mutiny" were good nicknames. To me, that reminds that biggest gap in making MLS more legit -- passion. Outside each team's hardcore supporter's group not too many people are living and dieing with the local MLS side.
The point I'm trying to illustrate is that when the Alexi Lalas's of the world point to MLS being not being the crap fest it's perceived as in most corners, he's pointing to the competitive balance/parity the league has. This is mainly due to the salary cap, which makes sure no team gets too stacked. (You wonder, with AEG down to two teams after selling the Fire and the Hunt Group only owning two, if the days of non-centralized player contract control are too far away.)
While the current structure of MLS keeps the playing field close, it also eliminates the Celtics of the world for springing up. Look at any European league, especially the secondary ones. Take the Ukrainian league, since its inception in 1992 Dinamo Kiev have won the league 12 times and finished runners-up the other three times.
Dominant, powerful clubs lead to more excitement, at least in the regular season. Perhaps David Beckham will make the Galaxy into this team, more from a PR perspective. Right now, there's not that much difference in beating any of the teams. As I've noted many times here, in its current form the MLS is a league that Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky, Chairman Mao, Fidel Castro, Elaine's boyfriend Ned Isakoff on 'Seinfeld' would appreciate. (It's a minor miracle no MLS side dresses in bland, drab, olive colored clothing.)
Nobody is too good. Nobody is too bad.
This mutes the excitement more than anything else. Parity is good in small doses, but MLS can't keep the kid gloves on forever.
Obviously it wouldn't be fun if there was a one, year-in, year-out powerhouse that kept a monopoly on the silverware but it's not the NFL where you need to keep rich owners like Jerry Jones from buying dynasties. Only 12 of the NFL's 32 teams gain the playoffs anyway. In the MLS its currently 8 of 13. Basically you have to avoid being out-and-out pitiful and you've got a chance at the postseason. (Hopefully this changes at the league expands.)
When a team in England defeats a Manchester United, a Chelsea, it's cause for celebration. When a team beats say, the Chicago Fire, well...
In the end, this all-star nonsense is just a launching pad to further hype that Beckham fellow's (possible) debut Saturday vs. Chelsea.
Let's just hope, nay pray, that after all these months Davey O'Brien doesn't call the team in green and white 'Glasgow United' as he famously did in that USMNT friendly vs. Poland in March of 2006. No, the 'petulant clique' will never forgive that one, pal. It's in the net! Scooooooore!
** Looks like the Earthquakes or some kind of San Jose/Northern California team is coming back. Good news. San Jose got royally screwed when AEG ripped the quality side out of northern California and moved it to Houston and became the
** Twenty teams seems like an appropriate number of teams for the league to shoot for. With the reintroduction of San Jose in 2008, that leaves six open spots, my suggestions: New York (second team); St. Louis (historically good soccer town); Seattle (sorry Portland); Philadelphia (a mortal lock). The other two, I'm not so sure. Las Vegas has it's ups-and-downs, while in the long run I can't see Cleveland or Milwaukee flourishing, though they would create natural rivalries with the Crew and Fire respectively. If the league has learned anything -- avoid Flordia. Please.
** Not to pat myself on the back, but does Bryant Gumbel check out this site?
Note on your post script about cities for new teams- Phoenix. This town could support an MLS team easy. I'm surprised more people aren't talking about a team here...
I will support you on one of your points. Last summer, some of my family and I spent some time in Scotland. During this time, we found ourselves stuck at the main Edinburgh train station. As I had lived in Scotland for a year earlier in life, I noticed all of the replica jerseys that I had not seen in years. I was surprised, however, to see how many people had on Celtic jerseys. Even in this rival sity to Glasgow, with 2 SPL clubs within the city, it was at least 5 to 1 Celtic jerseys to all other jersys combined. It was disgusting, to me at least.
BTW, if you follow the SPL, you should be looking for Aberdeen, not Hearts, to slide into the UEFA cup slot. [insert stupid winking emoticon here]
Wow. Rock on Bryant Gumbel.
Vancouver should be another one, especially when Seattle gets one
No they aren't Celtic, but DC United has pretty much always been good. And with 4 MLS Cups and 3 Supporters' Shields (including a runner up in both in 1998); I'd say they're the powerhouse of MLS. You could argue that they were the best team in the MLS five times over the last 12 years.
Also speaking of United, did you see that DC United lost to the Harrisburg City Islanders last week? I wonder if there is any way for MLS to show that one and for everyone to pretend that it's live. (and might as well plug the self: http://lifeonabench.blogspot.com/2007/07/last-wednesday-on-day-that-david.html)
MLS in Seattle would be a disaster.
The Sounders draw maybe 2K a game and have a weak fan culture. They barely chant, they don't travel, and as the attendance figure display - they don't even show up.
If the MLS sets up shop in the Emerald City be prepared for pindrop quiet crowds in a cavernous NFL stadium (no public money will go to a soccer specific). Guaranteed.
The only surrounding areas with land cheap enough to build new are Boeing towns, whose residents will not be interested. At all. Tacoma might be convinced, but it is 30 miles away, at which point it would be the Sea-Tac Sounders, and even fewer people in Seattle would give a sh*t.
Portland just happens to have good and integrated public transit (which Seattle does not) and a starved sports market (which Seattle does not). Portland can also draw an average of 5K per game and in excess of 10K for really important games or friendlies with foreign teams.
The MLS needs to go where the fans are and not where potential TV revenue is.
The common assumption is that Portland is just an extension of Seattle and that sports fans here support Seattle teams, which the generally don't.
The MLS, however, will likely make this mistake because the Northwest is never anything but an afterthought to the rest of the country.
It's the all-star game. It's marketing. Big woop. Get over it and write about something worthwhile. You sound like some guy who insists they are over they ex yet they won't shut up about her.
Sorry to be blunt; just trying to get to the point.
So if the Dynamo repeat, does that qualify them as a dynasty in Das MLS?
I've actaully watched them a couple of times this year and thought: "Wow, this team looks good enough to play in the EPL and miss relegation by 1 spot. Maybe 2."
Nice post, but generally the biggest fans of the sport in this country also seeem to be the biggest complainers. Soccer in the US is still very much a work in progress (remember when the MLS didn't have stoppage time?), but most things are getting better with time. It's just hard to be patient as a US fan when you can flip on the TV and see world class football from overseas most of the year.
Smitty,
Maybe more people would talk about Phoenix if at least a thousand people would show up for a match of Central and South American heavyweight clubs.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/0717copa0717.html
As a life-long Celtic fan, I'm pretty excited to watch this game. That being said, I don't think it really makes that much sense. It seems as though the MLS picked a random team that is normally much much better than any of their other teams, but aginst who their all-star team could put up a good fight.
I think if we sent our all-stars over to Parkhead or any of the other big stadiums on a tour it would get us some better recognition.
Good timing on your post as the Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that a $100 million soccer stadium is proposed for Chester, PA (which is about 20 minutes from Center City Philly). Here is the link http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20070719_Soccer_stadium_proposed_for_Chester_waterfront.html
I have no doubt that the tri-state area (Philly, NJ, DE) will support an MLS side. There is already a fan group in place called Sons of Ben (get it, SoB?). Support is growing and getting organized. As a lifelong resident of the area I would be thrilled to have a team to follow and support.
Ryan-
You are right, that was absolutely embarrassing, and i have no excuse for it. All i can say is that i was at the US-Mexico game in Phoenix a few months ago and it was electric. Best atmosphere for a sporting event i've ever been to. I realize that's an intense rivalry, but i still think MLS would thrive here. Count me as a season-ticket holder if we get a club...
I think in the future a more freewheeling league with a small number of dominant teams is OK. But until the league is really solid it would be bad for half the fanbases/ markets not give a crap because they know from the outset they're going to get creamed.
I really would like to see MKE get a team. Local amateur club Bavarians is consistently one of the tops in the nation -- there's got to be a way to leverage that. No NHL team, closest Big 10 / NFL teams are 80+ miles away. Last I heard stadium financing is a the big stumbling block.