Soccer in the U.S. is anything but a major sport. And there are hordes of reasons that I have heard for why it is not.
The game is too hard to understand – as opposed to the multitude of rules in Hockey, Basketball, Football, and BaseBall (pine tar??). Or that the scores are too low, or that the game is too slow (sprinting over a football field for 45 minutes at a clip is much slower than 10 innings of baseball right). The list of complaints goes on and on. But the honest answer is that America basically sucks at futbol (what the rest of the world calls soccer).
Still we have improved and gotten a bit of respect in recent World Cup showings. No longer are we the absolute laughing stock of soccer. Though we are definitely close to Canada in terms of world-wide respect for our abilities. And deservedly so.
But there is an effort to get that to change. With the MLS (Major League Soccer) performing slightly better than the WNBA – is that still around? – and having lasted longer than most detractors would ever have guessed it is gaining some attention. And the addition of David Beckham has done wonders for his bank accounts, while providing marginal improvements to the U.S.
Yet America needs something more. Something big to grab the attention of our incredibly fanatical sports fans. The MLS is definitely trying to figure out how to grab a slice of that pie. Fans of the caliber of say the chesseheads in Minnesota or the dog pound in Cleveland would assure success for generations.
Thus the Chicago Blackhawks decided to do what most American politicians want to do with the economy. They threw money at the fans. Not literally, but far more than figurative.
When Chicago’s right wing Mark Havlat scored a goal in the 71st minute (10 minutes into the second half), the only one of the game for Chicago, all the fans were subjected to a random competition. The prize was $1,000,000 for whomever was randomly drawn from the crowd.
The name of the winner is not known at this time. And the random drawing was sponsored by the Illinois State Lottery. Talk about having a dream. You go to the game hoping your team will win and you leave planning your next new home purchase. Tell me that won’t make a fan out of that someone.
Still I think the idea is flawed. Yes there is one family that will definitely go to every game the Blackhawks ever have at home, but that is not a fan base. Some people will show up at the next game hoping to win money as well, and a few might become fans, but that is not passion for the game motivating them.
Take the same million dollars and spend it on say having the top 5 state high school soccer teams go to 5 home games and 5 away games, all in the comfort of the VIP rooms. That will build fans. Especially if they get to take 1 parent with them. That’s getting people who are involved and dedicated a reason to get fanatical. It gives them all something to brag about.
Seem silly? Go to any small town in the mid-west and ask them about their football or baseball or basketball team. Without question they will brag about whichever team is the best for the area, and how well they did about whatever. And I bet that not one of the local games ever goes less than half full. Those are the fans U.S. soccer wants.
Soccer in the U.S. will always be marginally second-rate as long as we forget the fans. If I owned a MLS team I’d remember that big money is nice, but fans support whether you win or lose. And that is the real money. And the real success for Team USA.
No comments:
Post a Comment