Several years ago I went to an NBA basketball game. Basketball isn't my favorite sport. Or my second. Or my third. Or my fourth for that matter. But I bought some tickets to a game and went. While watching the game I had a Chicago Bulls fan sitting behind me who spent much of the first half waxing poetic to his friend about how basketball was his favorite sport and how the Bulls were his favorite team. During the third quarter, after then Bulls player Andres Nocioni scored, the man said quite loudly in his Chicago accent, "That fucking Italian is my favorite player". I immediately looked at a friend of mine and shook my head. He too looked dumbfounded. Andres Nocioni is from Argentina. Not Italy. Something I knew without really following the sport that closely. Something a fan surely should know if the game was his favorite sport. Or the Bulls were his favorite team. Or if Nocioni was his favorite player. Or if he ever watched the international version of the game.
This past week I was privy to a conversation between a US soccer fan and two Mexican soccer fans. Trying to explain the US loss to Honduras in World Cup qualification, the US fan (he describes himself as such and wears a US jersey) stated that the US lost because it played two center backs who had never played before, they weren't very good, and that was why the US lost. He could not name the center backs. His analysis didn't get any more in depth or more accurate than that.
So, what was the point of these two stories? These people are not fans, they are a problem. Because this is an MLS blog, I'll leave the idiot Chicagoan alone, but instead focus on the idiot "US fan" and others like him.
I've come across many fans over the years who claim football (soccer) to be their favorite sport. They claim themselves to be US soccer fans, and claim that they want the sport to succeed in America, yet their actions do not support such comments. They wake up early to watch QPR play Reading, or WHU play Norwich in the English Premier League. They watch US matches when they are easily available on television. They do not however watch MLS. They are not fans. They are a problem.
How could a US fan not know who Omar Gonzalez is? How could they not know that he is fantastic on set pieces, strong, mobile, and able to build play from the back? How could a US fan not know Geoff Cameron? Formerly a center back and midfielder from Houston Dynamo, currently a right back and midfielder with Stoke City in the EPL? How? They don't watch MLS.
The future of the US team for the next World Cup and possibly more World Cups to come are players like Omar Gonzalez, Brek Shea, and countless others who begin their playing careers in the US. In MLS. If you do not support MLS, you do not support US Soccer. If you do not support the MLS, you do not support the US mens national team.
Clint Dempsey got his start with New England Revolution. Landon Donovan, much to the chagrin and mocking of US "fans" has made his indelible mark not just on US soccer, but in MLS. Michael Bradley got his start in MLS. Jozy Altidore got his start in MLS. Future US stars like Graham Zusi and Sean Johnson play in MLS.
How can anyone claim to be a US fan and not watch where the players come from? How can you be a fan and not know the strengths and weaknesses of your players? How can you know who the US should or will call in for the next friendly or tournament if you don't keep tabs on the players? You can't.
If you call yourself a USMNT fan, then you must want the US to succeed. For the US to be a success, then we need a strong league. We need to support MLS. We need to support the players who deserve it, and not just wait for a club in Europe to tell us the player is worthy of our attention, or wait for the US manager to call them up and start them in an important game. You won't know them.
I've heard many dry and ignorant reasons why people do not support MLS, even while calling themselves US fans. They range from derogatory comments about the style or quality of play, to the downright moronic and paradoxical claim that the passion for MLS just can't match that of QPR v Norwich.
Let's get real here. The standard of play in MLS has improved dramatically over the past few years. So much so that while it has less technical skill, it has more pace and more action than the Mexican League. It has more quality from top to bottom than the Scottish league. It has more parity than any of the "top" leagues. It has better attendance than the top flight in Brasil, Holland, Russia, Norway, Sweden, and countless others. But hey, it doesn't have the "passion" of one of the oldest and best leagues in the world where the bottom feeders are concerned. They admit that some matches have the same level of passion, but not every single match, and thus, the league just isn't of the right standard, and surely not ready for their full support. Some fans may take in match here or there, but if every second of the match isn't action packed, then it's not the league for them, ignoring that for the most part, nothing ever happens in QPR v Norwich. Or Stoke v Sunderland. Or Liverpool v Aston Villa. Ignoring that MLS is a high scoring league compared to many "entertaining" leagues.
And now if we could get even more real, your support for Real Madrid, or Inter Milan, or Manchester City does nothing to help or support the game in the US. Not even showing up for pre-season friendlies is truly helpful for the US sport. It gives the big club money, and gives the MLS players a nice memory. Nothing more. Your support for those clubs makes you feel good. You enjoy it. But it can't be the end of the conversation. For the US to make strides internationally, and for the sport to gain ever more traction in this country, you must support MLS.
One argument I've heard against MLS is that top players don't want to come here. (And surely US fans can only watch the best of the best with their delicate pallets.) To that I would say, they are simply wrong. Players do want to come here. (If you are a car thief, would you rather be a car thief in Moscow or in Miami?) They do want to live in the US. They do want to play in MLS. But they can't. The money isn't the same. The prestige isn't the same. The marketing engine telling them they need to play here isn't the same. If all things were equal, if US fans truly supported MLS, the money would come, the talent would come, and then more money would come, followed by more talent. And eventually top US players would stay in the US. Top players would come to the US at 20 and not 30 or older. Young foreign talent wouldn't come to MLS looking to be put in the shop window for a move to Europe. They would see MLS as the end game.
When it comes down to it, you can't say you support the USMNT and then not support the US league. If you do that, you are not a fan... you're a problem.
Until next time, get stuck in, because MLS Matters.
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