Monday, November 10, 2008

America's Sports Step Child


Beyond Football, Basketball, Baseball and Hockey there are other sports that grace America's heartland.

Nascar is big and one of the biggest races of the year happened this past weekend in Phoenix. Golf is only interesting when Tiger Woods is in a Tournament but when he is, all eyes on him.
Other smaller sports like Tennis for instance will be watched by your average sports fan but only at certain times of the year. But perhaps the most interesting thing about American sports is that the most popular sport outside of the U.S., has no reign on American soil.
Futbol, or Soccer as we like to call it here in American plays fifth fiddle to all of the other major sports. The rest of the world adores the sport, treat the players like royalty and if they lose, spite them for ever living in the first place.
But here in America, Soccer has no such place in the hierarchy of athletic excellence. The MLS, or Major League Soccer, has tried it's absolute hardest to bring the culture of futbol to the states and so far has only made a little splash.
I bring this blog up because MLS is currently in the playoffs and its coming down to the wire but still if you ask the avid ESPN watcher, such as myself, who is in the playoffs then you would get the answer of "D.C. United" or "L.A. Galaxy" because those are the only teams that anyone really knows about.
Like Hockey, Soccer is the only sport that can bring people from other countries into the states like clockwork. Perhaps what may get Americans excited about soccer is if some of the big names would come and showcase thier talents. Not going to happen.
David Beckam tried to make some noise but the attention around the situation only lasted about 15 minutes.
Juan Pablo Angel is a great player for the New York Red Bulls and the Columbian born player is one of the many stars of the league. He was also the MVP of the 2007 MLS all star game.
Another player is Jaime Moreno, a Bolivian born player playing for those famous D.C. United. He has scored a total of 112 goals for the United in 10 years of service.

But these names are not enough to take our attention away from the Lebron James of the world, or the Kobe Bryant's. What would you do if you were GM?


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