I will be the first to tell you that I am not a huge fan of the MLS. I started watching the beautiful game and saw nothing but European teams to start out with.
This spoiled the hell out of me.
The MLS is almost always touted in serious football circles as being a pansy league. Even with David Beckham trying to change that, it is unlikely that the MLS will ever reach great heights in the States, let alone worldwide.
You know what I figured I liked about MLS though? It's on during the summer — when the rest of Europe is taking a holiday from the sport. I get a game that has seen its level of quality increase slowly over the last five years.
It isn't La Liga, the EPL, or even the Australian leagues, but it is a perfect reprieve from the lack of European football in the off months.
That is a truly beautiful thing. There is always some incarnation of the beautiful game on at some time during the year. Granted most of it is on during the fall to spring, there is still football on.
American football, baseball, basketball, and hockey — none of these sports have counterparts that play on a yearly basis. Even if they do, the leagues and the competitions aren't wide enough to receive public acclaim.
There is always a championship going on somewhere in the world. It never fails. Be it the Copa Libertadores or one of the many global competitions that FIFA hold every year. As a football fan, you are never really in a drought when it comes to games.
While it might not always be the best football in the world, it's football none the less. I love the beautiful game not for the teams or the players but because of what it is — a simple game that can unite war-torn countries and restore national pride.
With its continuous schedules and its ability to keep me critiquing teams even when Chelsea is not on the pitch, this is why I love the beautiful game.
Part 4 will deal with the structure of the leagues, and why I love that aspect of the game.
9 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Maire Ofeire 9 months ago
The Eircom League of Ireland has changed to the summer months too :-) Not such a bad League, never seen an MLS game Is it true that attendances are higher for women's matches than they are for men's?
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Bela Trimmel 9 months ago
You might want to direct that question to Joe Guar. He works on the MLS roundtables. I would think that attendance for Womens National Team matches is higher though.
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Maire Ofeire 9 months ago
Will do that thanks, it was just a matter of curiousity more than anything
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Joe G 9 months ago
Maire,
I did a little digging, and couldn't find any recent attendance figures to help you out. I will say that the women's national team does a better job of drawing the young crowd and families than the men's team does. In my searching, I found WNT matches that have drawn close to 30,000, and some that have drawn under 2,000.
If there was a gulf, it's definitely shrinking now. The women don't have the iconic Mia Hamm or Michelle Akers anymore (but Abby Wambach is one of the world's best) while the men are just starting to come into their own on the world stage.
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Maire Ofeire 9 months ago
Thanks for the info Joe :-) I can remember hearing around the Mia Hamm era that women's football in America really outweighed men's football. Your probably right in that America has no real icon anymore, they used to pretty much dominate the sport but the power seems to be shifting to Brazil, they have one brilliant team with Martha as the standout and she's only 22.
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Joe G 9 months ago
Nothing like going to an MLS match in the lazy summer months, being able to sit in the parking lot and grill up some burgers without having to worry about bringing a jacket!
And summer brings some of the best matches of all: big international tournaments. The European Championships, World Cup Finals, Gold Cup, Copa America, etc...all of those take place in the summer and we get to see the finest football on display anywhere.
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Yoosof Farah 9 months ago
lucky you over in the states. here in england we have to suffer for 3 months when the epl and lower leagues aren't on. there's very little coverage of the mls over here as well, so we have to make do with pre-season friendlies. anyway good article bela.
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Stefan Vasilev 9 months ago
Thats why we go transfer crazy. :)
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Stefan Vasilev 9 months ago
Good article, Bela. I have watched a match or two from the mLs. Do they still take the penalties like in hockey?
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