This weekend David Beckham, the famous English soccer player, arrived in the states. He was signed by the LA Galaxy in the off season and the media is trumpeting him as the salvation of American soccer. I agree that he does give soccer a bit of boost in terms of interest and marketing but honestly the MLS needs much more than a soccer player who is well past his prime. Granted he is still a good player but hardly dominant. If he were still as good as people want him to be he would most certainly be playing in Europe and not in LA. But regardless, he could be the best player of all time and most Americans, myself included, would still not care about soccer.Let's face it, it's not the lack of star power or marketing that is holding soccer back in America; it is the game itself. It's slow, methodical and boring. Most games end with only 1 or 2 goals scored and that is simply not enough to keep the American public's interest. Instead of trying to sell the game via Beckham, the people running MLS should try tweaking the game to make it more American friendly. I can hear all the soccer purists complaining as I write this but how many actual soccer fans are there? Maybe five hundred nationwide.
Here is what I would do to fix the game. Get rid of the offsides so as to allow players to get more one on one chances to score. This is such a common sense change and I don't know why they refuse to do it other than tradition. Second, I would widen the field to give more room to maneuver. Third, I would change the substitution rules to allow players to get a break during the game and then come back fresh. There is nothing worse than watching tired soccer players try to finish a game. Fourth, I would get rid of the yellow/red card system and instead go to a hockey type power play system.
If they did all these things, I guarantee scoring would increase and so would American interest. Until then, it will be the same old, same old, with Beckham or without him.
2 comments:
Outside of kids who are soccer fans. I've noticed that people who like to watch soccer, don't really like game, as much as the like rooting for their national team. It's a huge sense of national pride - even more than the Olympics. I learned this being in a house full of Argentinians on night during some soccer game and in a bar full of "Irish" people (I use the term lightly, not sure how much 2nd and 3rd generation folks really count) in Chicago. No one was really paying attention to the game, but when their team scored they went absoutely crazy!
As far as the Beckham's go - Victoria needs to eat a sandwhich. I'm sick of their media hype already.
I like your tweaking ideas Jeff! I think that would make the game a little more exciting. I would want there to be a limit though of how many players could be "off-side". It should be limited to 1 or at the most 2 players.
I think there are several factors that contribute to soccer not being as popular in the U.S. as it is elsewhere. Here are a few...
1. American Individuality: We know that every other country in the world is crazy about soccer so we intentionally don't get into soccer because we want to be different!
2. Money, Money, Money: Soccer is the cheapeast game to play. All you need is a ball or a goat head. Children in developing nations don't have the opportunity to play football, baseball, hockey, etc. but they can play soccer. Kids here in the U.S. can play virtually any sport they want. Our resources are unlimited because we have more money. We can afford football, baseball, hockey, basketball, lacrosse, field hockey, paintball, skateboarding, snowboarding, motorcross, BMX, playstation's, x-box's, etc.
3. Americans are already in love with one slow, methodical and boring game... baseball!
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