NEW YORK — One of the principles of sports has always been that meaning is conferred, not created. By point of example: It is the mutual loathing, or dislike, or even polite dismissal of various fan groups that tend to create the best sports rivalries. Narrow it down from “sports” to “soccer,” and the direct-line correlation becomes even clearer. Just Google “soccer tribalism” and you’ll get nearly 300,000 hits, the first of which is a piece from CNN pondering whether “a Cosmos comeback” could spark soccer tribalism here in North America. The author had obviously never been to The Home Depot Center on the day of the LA Superclasico. Or to the Pacific Northwest during a Cascadia Cup match. If he had, he would’ve known that soccer tribalism is here already. And it’s here to stay. Over the course of the past decade, various rivalries, some expected, some not, have pushed MLS slowly away from the “Big 4” professional sports model, where the regular season is, frankly, watered down, and toward the NCAA football model, where it’s an annual ritual to circle rivalry games on the calendar months ahead of time. With that in mind, here are five feuds I’m greatly looking forward to come March: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/armchair-analyst-five-rivalries-look-forward-2011
This is my first post on Big Soccer. Your post caught my eye because it hits the nail on the head as to just what will make U.S. soccer long lasting, viable and right up there eventually with some of the bigger U.S. sports. And that is as you say 'tribalism'. Hatred of your local rivals makes the football world go round. That is why it would be to the benefit of MLS to have as many two team cities as possible. My club is Hibernian ( Edinburgh ) better known as 'Hibs' or 'the Hibees' The unbridled hatred between us and our local rivals Heart of Midlothian or 'Hearts' as their deluded followers call them is right up there with any in the world of football. The Edinburgh derby is not as big as some in world football, but it is every bit as passionate as any of them I assure you. That is why, as you say, that tribalism is a good thing. So long as it doesn't spill onto the streets, which it sometimes still does in Scottish derby matches. What the MLS must try to avoid at all costs is the situation we have in Scotland where at least half the fans in this country support the two Glasgow giants, even though they have no connection with that city. I.E. they were not born there and have never lived there. The motto of the MLS should from the word go be ' support your local team '
