I'll start off by saying I'll watch any soccer that's on TV and I do watch quite a bit of MLS and I enjoy it. But last night while warming up for my game my teammates and I were talking about watching soccer after a friend of a teammate said he finds it boring to watch. Of course the first response is, "Well don't watch MLS! That shit is amateur hour." I'll agree some regular season games can be boring but that's true of any league out there. I guess the thing that bugs me the most is no one would ever say such things about inferior leagues like the SPL or Danish league. This mentality is all too prevalent and it's mostly due to ignorance. I'm not saying MLS is great but it's improving and it's certainly worth watching.
It's always been a little odd to me when people say that. It seems like if you don't want to watch your local team play, you're not really a "soccer fan", you're a "Prmier League fan". Even if MLS was amateur hour (and lord it used to be, and in many ways still is), it's still professional soccer that you can actually go to and experience. I think a lot of people in this country are used to us having "the best" as far as baseball, basketball, american football, etc. goes, so we just want to watch "the best". I'd venture it's more a symptom of the false notion that higher quality = higher entertainment value. To quote from The Count of Monte Christo - Mercedes: I know what you want, Fernand. Fernand: You do? Mercedes: Remember when we were kids and Edmond got that whistle for his birthday and you got a pony. You were so mad Edmond was happier with his whistle than you were with your pony. I’m not going to be your next whistle. I'm way happier going to MLS matches than I am watching other leagues from my living room. But ultimatly to each their own. I really have no interest in trying to convert any one to MLS, though I generally let my friends know if they ever want to come out to a match with me, their first ticket and first beer will be on me.
Who cares? The reason no one says such things about these leagues is that no one here get a chance to watch enough of either league to have an opinion.
Well to be fair we don't have a local team here in NE FL, but I would love to see Orlando move up. People that make disparaging comments about MLS rarely watch it. It's a good but not great league and there's nothing wrong with that. I've never heard anyone who is truly knowledgeable about the game totally dismiss MLS.
I shouldn't. But I do. I guess I just don't like ignorant people. Especially ones who can't help but try to pass it along.
So? There are plenty of people in Europe who don't watch Euroleague or domestic basketball because it can't compare to the NBA. They run around in their Kobe jerseys and LeBron hats; and don't give a bleep about whatever domestic league is in their country. In Tokyo, I saw mostly MLB hats being worn and very few of Japanese teams. Especially the Yankees and Dodgers. One day they will jump on the MLS bandwagon as more Americans start following it, but it is going to take some time Whatever the case, you should always have some pride in MLS as an American. I am not talking about MLS corporate HQ and their decisions. But just the entire league and what it stands for. That is how the soccer world views us. No matter what we accomplish, they will judge us on our league and how far it can go.
@OP, Brian McBride was MLS's first ever draft pick. He would go on to star at club n country and then move to the EPL. After leaving Fulham, their people thought so highly of the man they named a pub after him. The "entertainment" your friends seek/don't find in our MLS blinds them to the core power of what pro leagues from the Americas deliver to us soccer players and fans...remind them about our American dudes that get to play overseas just because they were boss in MLS. Also, on your friends thinking it is an inferior product not worthy of their precious time, that is them running down a cul-de-sack with such a weak argument as an American jock. Cuz in reality millions of Americans spend a lot of time and money on lower standard leagues in our nation. It is called college gridiron and basketball. College sports is big business with often bigger stadiums and attendance than the NFL. Nobody knocks college fans for following their inferior teams. Perhaps your soccer buddies need to get outta the house more.
Meh, could care less what they think of our league. In my eyes they're not real soccer fans to begin with. They usually don't even care about the leagues over in Europe anyway just the 12 or so super clubs. Bet if you ask them to name 5 Euro clubs outside of the super clubs most of them wouldn't be able to.
Very true. Most of them half heartedly follow EPL and watch whatever Barca or Madrid match happens to be on, but that's basically it.
Shouldn't the thread title be flipped: "When will soccer fans get respect from MLS?" That is the more pertinent question these days.
This. I don't have many people to talk soccer with, but if I find someone and they say something silly about MLS, I put them on my real life ignore list. More than not they are Man United/Barca fanboys so that tells you a lot. Not a coincidence of all soccer fans in the US MLS fans are the most informed.
When was it ever about soccer? It's about perception and people's desire to raise their own profile and self-image by association with "the best". We all do things like this in one way or another. Some people bandwagon with Man Utd and feel superior, whilst others congratulate themselves with their virtuous support of the Little Guy and feel superior. Bottom line: Enjoy what you like, and stop worrying so much about whether other people are right or wrong in what they like.
Horrendous analogy. Colleges have those followings because there's a genuine attachment to those colleges by hundreds of thousands of people who attended that college and associate the sports teams with a familiar and enjoyable time in their lives. Second tier professional leagues have none of that going for them.
If you think the majority of college sports fans attended or graduated from the teams they follow, you might want have your head examined.
Accuracy. This coming from a guy in KU territory... I have yet to meet a single person whose collegiate experience convinced them to root for KU. That's decided well in advance of (and often despite) college choice.
I would be one of those people who follow a collegiate sports team pretty closely without having attended said school. I am a pretty big Gonzaga Mens basketball fan. But I grew up in the area and there are some personal connections that helped create some bonds to the School/team even though I actually am biased against people who attend the school, based on similar type personal connections/interactions.