MLS. You know you want it.
Consider this an extended and singularly-focused version of our weekly, "Who We're Buying a Beer For" (which, yes, we've been totally slacking on), but this time we should probably make it a six pack at the very least for our honoree.
If you're not a regular reader of
Jason Davis' work over at
MatchFit USA then please start as soon as possible. He's also the co-host of the
American Soccer Show on the
Champions Soccer Radio Network so if you can't read, you can receive his brilliance through your ears.
Jason is one of the many IIFs (Internet Imaginary Friends) that the Free Beer Movement has linked up with since our inception and he's been a great supporter of the cause, but the thing that makes him beer-buying worthy is his latest thought nugget about Major League Soccer and some Americans aversion to it.
On late March
episode of the "American Soccer Show" Davis was paired with Zach Woolsey (affectionately known as "Ginge") who, despite being a supporter of the Houston Dynamo, is extremely critical of Major League Soccer (sometimes constructively, sometimes not). On the March 29th episode Davis tells off Ginge proclaiming that "MLS is Awesome" and to get behind the league because for better or worse "it's ours". He then busted out
probably the greatest sound clip in the history of American soccer (click it... open it in a new tab... you'll love it)
We couldn't agree more.
Which of course brings us to something that Davis wrote for us a long time back, but never found the right time to publish it. We guess this would be a good time.
"Why American?", well, because I'm American. There's no simpler way to put it. I love my country, despite it's problems, and am proud to be from here. As I've fallen more and more in love with the game of soccer over the last few years, I've never found myself truly able to connect emotionally with the game abroad. Intellectually I understand the quality of play is better in the Prem, La Liga, Serie A, etc., I just can't find that part of me that can give myself over to actually caring about the results because it's all happening so far away and within the structure of a culture of which I'm not a member.
I reject, wholeheartedly, that's there's anything of which American soccer fans should be ashamed of. Appreciating the game as it's played in places where it has been as an intricate part of daily life for a hundred years does not mean the way we do things is wrong or substandard.
It took a very long time for American soccer to finally start to mature. After the aborted leagues of the early part of the century died, and immigrants left their love for the sport behind as they assimilated, soccer in this country barely existed. Things have changed, and the possibilities are endless; that alone is a reason to buy in and buy American.
How much fun will it be to watch American soccer grow and have the joy of the journey in our memories?
Davies wrote something along the same lines a week or so later when he proclaimed
that watching the weekend's MLS action was more fulfilling that the El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid. His main point: there's nothing wrong with supporting the game around the world, but why not our game as well.
We'll just add our two cents:
For better or worse Major League Soccer is out version of the "beautiful game". Long time fans of the sport of soccer grew up exposed to the greatness that is the European and South American leagues. Great. Love them, support them, but make room in your heart for American soccer.
If you are a true fan of soccer then you want it to take root in every corner of the globe and, especially, in your own backyard. We're at a critical time in our game's domestic development that requires a committed and continuous investment from soccer fans in THIS country. This period of growth in American soccer is TOO IMPORTANT for soccer fans in this country to be divided into factions of fans of MLS, Euro-snobs, USMNT-only, or Indian Premier League lovers.
It is rarely productive to sit back an criticize American soccer and MLS specifically while doing little to help make our version of the game on par with the rest of the soccer-playing world that one claims to look upon fondly. There are many avenues to solid future growth of soccer in this nation and the most productive one is taking our soccer dollars and investing them locally in Major League Soccer and the rest of the U.S. soccer pyramid (we're supporters and ticket holders of the local Austin Aztex and Houston Dynamo).
If you want European soccer then move to Europe. If you want European soccer here then invest in the league and the league's feature.
Last time we checked bitching and bullshit didn't fill seats, improve on-field play or get any closer to the laundry list of things we need to complete before American soccer is used in the same breathe as our worldy brethren.
We've been working on a series defining our love for American soccer, in all forms, for some time now and while it's not quite finished yet Davis' comments echo one of our main points (that you just got a preview of above).
Jason Davis is one of the few major soccer writers that is consistently and passionately defending the league and promoting investment in the future of our domestic game. If there's anyone the deserves a beer right now it's the brainpower behind "MLS is Awesome Pew Pew BOOM".
We ask our readers as well.... "Why American Soccer?" And if you've not convinced.... "As a Soccer Fan in America, Why Not American Soccer?"Leave us something in the comments section.
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