With Beckham mania sweeping America I have to say this is a pretty good time for MLS soccer. The crowds are growing. Ownership is more stable than at any other time. There are more and more soccer only stadiums in the MLS. The ignorant and intolerant anti-soccer sports columnists are retiring and are being replaced with open-minded and educated soccer aficianadoes. Don't count out the power of sports journalists to help boost a sport's popularity with the masses. Soccer stories used to be relegated to the back page...now they routinely get front page treatment even for stories other than Posh and Becks.The NFL is reeling from player's trashy behavior (ala Vick and Pacman). MLB is reeling from steroid abuse. The NBA is reeling from gambling allegations. The NHL has become irrelevant after a season long lock out and television purgatory on a cable station no one has heard of (Versus? C'mon!). The MLS could very well gain a lot from all these messes.
Remember the generation that first caught soccer fire from Pele and the New York Cosmos (or for me, the NASL Tulsa Roughnecks) in the late 70's is now taking over the wheel both in the stands and in the pressbox. Generation X is taking over and that's a good thing for America in general and soccer in particular (also for the state of the American church...but that's for another blog.).
So I was very happy when I read today that MLS's leading scorer and Kansas City Wizard forward Eddie Johnson turned down a multi-million dollar offer from an English Premier team to stay in the states. Soccer is the future baby so jump on the pitch and start rollin' with the jugadors.
