Wide Left: MLS Commissioner Don Garber Talks MLS Cup, Beckham, U.S. Soccer

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The MLS Cup between the LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo is Sunday night at 9pm E.T. on ESPN. In the middle of an extremely busy week, MLS Commissioner Don Garber takes the time to talk with us about the state of the league, its current TV deals, the tenure of David Beckham, U.S. Soccer's relationship with MLS, the NBA lockout, Sepp Blatter's recent comments about racism in the sport and a whole lot more.

The show ends with a question about Blatter, but we'll start with that here. I ask the commissioner for his thoughts on the head of FIFA telling the media that racist acts on the field come out in the heat of the game and can be settled "at the end of the game…we shake hands."

Understandably, Commissioner Garber is taking a diplomatic stance on Blatter's comments:

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"I didn't hear him say it. I read it…I have to say that FIFA has done a very good job in trying to create awareness for anti-racism programs, and everybody who is involved in the game knows that.

"The 'Say No To Racism' statements that are made before big matches and the discipline they will allow the officials to take if there are things that take place in the stadium in terms of canceling games and having shut-door matches, so I hope his comments were taken out of context.

"I won't say anything more than that—I know Sepp pretty well, and I think he might have been taken out of context. I certainly hope so."

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Garber and I talk a lot about the growth of MLS since he has been the league's commissioner. Some industry insiders consider him the best commissioner in American sports, leading me to ask Garber to assess his own performance on the job.

How healthy is the league, and how important is TV revenue for the future growth of MLS? Is he happy that his marquee event with the marquee franchise in the league—including players like Landon Donovan and David Beckham playing the finals—will be played on a Sunday night against a huge NFL game? (The answer, no, he is not, but he certainly understands his place in ESPN's hierarchy of needs and understands that needs to be fixed.)

Someone—not me, but someone—will write a story next week that the ratings for MLS Cup 2011, potentially Beckham's last match in America, will be far lower than the ratings for Beckham's first game in America, when he only played a few minutes in a meaningless friendly. That someone—not me, but someone—will make the case that the numbers indicate the league hasn't grown enough while Beckham was here.

Garber does think that the TV ratings need to get better for the league to grow, but we agree that it's unfair to think the league isn't more stable now than when Beckham came and the product on the field isn't markedly better than it was a few years ago. It may be hard for people to understand that, despite the potential ratings disparity, the league is actually much stronger than in 2007. 

One reason the league is stronger is because it smartly avoided a work stoppage two seasons ago, creating a collective bargaining agreement that seems to have worked for both the owners and players. Nothing is perfect, especially in a league where some teams are still losing money every year, but at least it's not the NBA. I ask Garber about the NBA lockout and if he sees that situation and breathes a giant sigh of relief that it didn't happen in his league.

We talk about the United States Men's National Team and the importance of keeping our great American players in MLS. Is it simply a matter of the level of competition overseas—you can't tell me the likes of Jozy Altidore have been playing in leagues with higher quality than MLS—or are there more financial considerations for players to leave America to play? Is there anything MLS can do to keep our top players stateside (Brek Shea, we're looking at you), or is that the current structure of how MLS is forced to operate?

It's a good listen, and I sincerely hope you do tune in. It's not often you get a one-on-one with the commissioner of a major American sport three days before his championship game, so I genuinely appreciate his time, and the effort of the MLS public relations office who totally understand the importance of spreading the game through new media, getting their message directly to people like you through people like me.

If you haven't yet, you can also check out my conversation with Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl, where we talk about a lot of these same topics. As always, leave your thoughts in the comments.