I flipped on Fox Soccer Channel this evening to get another footie fix, after being orgasmic over Chelsea's title-clinching performance this morning. I was greeted with the second half of the MLS contest between locals the San Jose Earthquakes and ... what the f@#$!!! ... Real Salt Lake?!?! I raised an eyebrow or two when the MLS was first created and one of the teams was named DC United, obviously in deference to English clubs like Manchester United and Newcastle United. Now they're paying homage to Spanish clubs? What's next, AC Albuquerque? PSV Syracuse? Olympique New Orleans? As if in answer to my question, the commentators began discussing FC Dallas's performance in an earlier match. Jesus freakin' christ. When the MLS first began, of course US soccer had to do something different and made the idiotic decision that no game should end in a draw, meaning any match could go to extra time and possibly penalties. But did they stop there? Of course not ... instead of a conventional penalty shootout they instituted this ridiculous hockey-esque penalty showdown where a player gets a one-on-one with the keeper with five seconds to score. Thankfully widespread disgust quickly did that in. I have no idea why the US sees the need to try to improve upon a game that is played all over the world with near universal rules.

The quality of the league is slowly improving. I remember watching an MLS cup final around 2001 and thinking "these are the two best teams in US soccer?!". Neither team could hold possession for longer than five seconds. No skill on the ball, horrible player spacing, no imagination whatsoever. The match today wasn't much better, certainly on the losing end when compared with the skill and pace on display in the Chelsea/Bolton match. However the league is inching towards credibility, attracting higher profile players (although usually ones past their prime looking for one last payday) and honing players for the US national team. This progress was apparent in the last World Cup, where the US team was denied a spot in the semifinals only by a goalline Oliver Kahn save.

My gripes aside, i'm contemplating buying a team-specific ticket for the US for Veronica and i for the next World Cup. It would give us a decent chance of getting tickets, and hey ... despite my anglophilic leanings i AM a yank.