Can we blame Becks?

(I know I said that I had this 18-page paper due this week, and yeah, I'm definitely not finished, but I feel compelled to get this thought off my chest. )

I suppose we asked too much for a world-class footballer like David Beckham to play in a country that calls his trade "soccer" for five whole years.

After all, no matter how much money you throw at an athlete, footballer or otherwise, whether it be the league minimum or mega millions, the the deciding factor in a player's loyalty toward his employer almost always boils down to a single concept: happiness.

And it was clear that after a year-and-a-half of MLS, Becks wasn't happy. He was chained to a horrible club that missed the playoffs during both of his years. He chased down much too heavy crosses before waning crowds on plastic pitches. To him, this wasn't the kind of football he had in mind two summers ago. Which is exactly why he embraced an offseason loan to AC Milan.

No doubt, he surely enjoyed the challenge of proseltyzing the beautiful game here in America. Here was this handsome lad, with a world-class pedigree coming to the States to grab MLS and push it into the same limelight cast onto baseball, football and basketball. It was a noble - not to mention profitable - cause, not unlike the one Pele took up thirty or so years before Becks' arrival.

For the first few months, the spotlights shined brightly. The stadiums were packed. Talk shows were abuzz with - gasp! - MLS. The nightly news had features on the league's crown jewel. It was an exciting time for American soccer fans. This was going to be grand.

But then, reality bit. Hard. Becks' wasn't always fit. His club badly underachieved. So another superstar was brought in to manage. And Ruud Gullitt was equally horrible.

Before long, the feverish crowds, like the ones seen in 2007 when New York hosted Los Angeles before a sea of 65,000 fans became nothing more than recent memories. The American media's flirtation with soccer cooled. And Becks was still stuck on a poor team in a nascent league that was far removed from the blinding lights of European football.

And just like that, Beckhamania had folded up its tent. Gone were the hordes or media types at each match. Only slight bulges of interest remained.

That's not to say that Americans didn't like Beckham. I think most people generally had an appreciation for him, whether they liked soccer or were simply smitten over him. But I think that all the hype surrounding his arrival was just that: hype.

One man alone cannot alter the way Americans watch their sports. It was foolish to think this. It was preposterous to think that within five years, MLS could alter the landscape where the Big Four of American sports could add a fifth member. It was a noble attempt, sure, but one of pure fantasy.

And on the personal level, this whole grand experiment of increasing soccer's popularity all fell on the shoulders of David Beckham. I can only imagine that after eighteen months of injuries, lengthy transcontinental flights, and the stratospheric expectations, Becks, always the competitor, missed what it felt like to play big-time football.

Today, he plays with some of world's best players. The masses in Milan adore both he and his sport. His coach and new teammates love having him around. The owner is itching to write a check for a transfer. And David Beckham is finally happy.

And quite frankly, who could blame him?

Expansion and tradition meet

Well, that only took about 28 years.

After the Philadelphia Fury of the North American Soccer League took their final goalkick back in 1980, men's professional outdoor soccer has returned to Philly, with a 2010 slated kickoff for soccer in the city of brotherly love. The question is: what the heck took so long?

Funny thing, professional soccer in the States is. Generally, when a major pro sports league expands, it seeps into new, generally untested markets that had never been tapped into (see Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays of the MLB). In fact, it was only recently in which major sports leagues expanded into ready-made markets of cities that had lost franchises, leaving a gaping hole to which the replacement is an expansion franchise (see Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA and Houston Texans of the NFL). But MLS never had a club in Philadelphia, which is amazing considering the amount of soccer history Pennsylvania contains. Bethlehem Steel, Philadephia FC and the Philadelphia Atoms were all prominent soccer clubs during the ASL then NASL days.

I suppose that if history were a determining factor in awarding franchises, then St. Louis and Cleveland would have franchises by now. Obviously, you have to have investors convinced to put forward the money necessary to secure a franchise. MLS is moving very cautiously in order to avoid the same demise as the NASL, especially in a weakening economy like the one the country's currently mired in.

Philadelphia will be the 16th franchise in MLS, after Seattle was named as numero quince. One has to wonder when some investors in the St. Louis and Cleveland areas will finally get their acts together to bring back top-flight soccer back to their respective regions.

It's Almost 2008 Rant

So I was at the local supermarket today, and while waiting in line for the requested deli meats at the delicatessen, I sampled what appeared to be a Nilla Wafer topped with a mocha-chocolate chip dip. It was delicious.

With the ball dropping just over 24 hours, I suppose it's time to lean back in the rocking chair, bind my hands together, and reflect upon the soon-to-expire 2007.

*Of all of my undertakings this year, my most rewarding one was unquestionably my Soccer Odyssey, and I knew it would be. As a soccer junkie, I lovingly embraced the idea of scouting new places to watch, breathe, and ultimately, finding myself in my element. Although I didn't make to all of the venues I had originally planned on, I was able to rest my weary bones and recline at the following locations:

India Point Park (Providence, RI)
Gano Street Park (Providence, RI)
Stevenson Field (Providence, RI)
National Soccer Hall of Fame (Oneonta, NY)
Pierce Field (East Providence, RI)
RIC Soccer Field (Providence, RI)
Gillette Stadium (Foxboro, MA)
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (Annapolis, MD)
Westside Athletic Complex (Danbury, CT)
RFK Stadium (Washington, DC)
Bryant University Track and Turf Complex (Lincoln, RI)
Rentscheler Field (Hartford, CT)


The typical mortal would say "egads, I'm exhausted." Not at all. If there were a match going on right now, in the dead of a punishing New England winter, I would bring a cannister of hot cocoa, and take my place at the top rung of the brutally cold metal bleachers for the entire ninety while my extremities endure the accompanying frostbite. I'm crazier about this game than Tom Cruise is about Scientology.

*Most memorable match: Little to no inner debate on this one. Hands down, it had to have been the WestConn-RIC Little East semi-final women's soccer match at Western Connecticut State University. Aside from the emotional attachment to my alma mater, the fourth-seeded Anchorwomen provided their own "Rudy" story when they stepped out onto the pitch with only two subs available against the perennial Little East powerhouse. Overmatched? Not on this night.

Although WestConn had beaten them to the scoreboard in the first half, the Anchorwomen responded with two goals of their own going into the 85th minute with victory in their sights. But a questionable call on the right channel of RIC territory led to WestConn's equalizer off the ensuring CK, tying the proceedings at two apiece. An exhausted RIC side braved through nearly 14 minutes of OT before they watched WestConn clinch the game-winner after 104 total minutes, with RIC giving it their absolute all to upset their opponents.

*Toughest match to watch: Revolution-DC on August 5th. I don't know if it was because of the heat, or partying like rock stars the night before, but the Revs were flatter than Paris Hilton. Nothing was working, and when it wasn't working, DC's Luciano Emilio made them pay, with two goals en route to his club's 3-0 victory. Perhaps the most disheartening aspect of the loss was the fact that the Revs, who had stood atop the Eastern Conference pinnacle for most of the season, we simply outclassed for the first time all summer. It was not pretty.

*Most impressive players: Jeffrey Gonsalves (Rhode Island Stingrays) and Kerry Donahue (Rhode Island College).

After a disappointing spring in which he was drafted by his hometown Toronto FC side, the former Rhody Ram was soon out of a job when injuries limited him in preseason training. So when he returned to RI to finish off his studies at URI, he also came back to his former PDL side and dominated. Ten goals, five assists in 14 games for the 'Rays left little doubt that Gonsalves has got the stuff to play professionally.

Donahue, a senior defender at RIC, was already known for her stellar play in the back with an all-conference selection in 2006. But she turned her game up another notch by scoring three goals, including a start at forward. Yet, her best match yet came when during the final match of her collegiate career against WestConn, where she absolutely shut down the lethal WestConn attack. It's said that the best players save their best when the stakes are at their highest, and Donahue proved this saying true, as she finished off her career with an exemplary performance in CT.

You're probably wondering why I started off this piece with my supermarket experience. Well, the Nilla Wafer is a metaphor (literally and figuratively) for this year. Like many of the matches I attended, they were new to me, there for the taking, completely free. After tasting the cookies with its delicate topping, I came away from it wanting more, much like all of the soccer I saw this year.

Hey, what where you throw those tomatoes!

Happy New Year everybody!

MLS' take on Black Monday

Call it a veritable "Black Monday" in MLS, if you will.

Bruce "this Red Bull stuff is harder than I thought" Arena and Frank "curse that David Beckham" Yallop both handed in their resignation papers to the New York Red Bulls and Los Angeles Galaxy, respectively, on Monday, thus ending the tenures of high-profile MLS managers within the course of 24 hours.

Yallop's resignation was no surprise really, given the heightened expectations in the wake of David Beckham's arrival. A projected playoff club, the Galaxy grossly under performed, due in part to Beckham’s injuries, a porous back line, and a veritable scheduling gauntlet that racked up more frequent flier miles than Barack Obama.

Arena's departure from New York was somewhat surprising, although the former US Men's National Team manager failed live up to the expectations that accompany such a title. While he was able to get the club on roll toward the final weeks of the 2006 season, the club's early departure from the playoffs this season led many to question what direction the Red Bulls were charging into.

Of course, perhaps the most glaring aspect of both resignations is that both New York and LA went out and splurged on high-profile designated player allocation signings during the ’06 offseason. While LA went out and got Becks himself, New York signed not one, but two DPAs (one courtesy of a Chivas USA trade) in Claudio Reyna and Juan Pablo Angel. Even without the celebrity of the DPAs, both Arena and Yallop coached in two the league's biggest markets, and while Yallop will coast back down to San Jose, where he managed from 2001-03, to take the reigns in San Jose, Arena's future is a bit more uncertain.

Perhaps the most telling attribute of these resignations is that the MLS managerial position is coming under greater scrutiny as the stakes in MLS continue to rise. It isn’t enough to just “get by” when you have an iconic player on your side. Nor is it enough to simply make it to the playoffs. Certainly not while the bigwigs are doling out cash for the likes of Beckham, Angel, and Reyna.

Though neither gentleman was “fired”, you imagine both had to have felt enormous pressure from the front office to leave on his own terms rather than getting the ax. The profile of both managers probably lent itself to both being “escorted” out of their positions, rather than being “fired”, as was the case of Dave Sarachan, the former man in charge in Chicago. With two vacancies before the end of the postseason, how long will it be before their successors (Jurgen Klinnsman? Paul Mariner?) are named?