and Grant Wahl predicts....

loving the prediction... ummmm... how many actual man-hours have I put in at work today? a few anyway!

But his comments about the "us" sport... I've always felt this way about our fledgling league.

I remember picking up on the fact that Ralston's beginning salary was in the low 20's and thinking, finally a professional sports "star" who makes less the same as me. I was just a few years out of college and struggling to build a career path, and... pointe blanke sick of seeing 19 year old twerps getting recruitted by the "other" big leagues and receiving 6 figures plus marketing revenue in their first year.

And because of that, I was unable to pay the unbelievably astronomical prices for hockey, baseball or football season tickets. That's actually part of the reason I started buying Revs tickets... a team I could follow, and support and watch without giving up my rent money.

Unfortunately, I don't think it will last inevitably (short-term maybe). To keep budding stars here, and to recruit top talent from overseas, the caps have to (eventually) raise. One thing the league does now is build exposure... high school and college soccer athletes know there's a place for their talents in the professional leagues.

Twenty years from now, I wonder if we wind up with our own Cantonas, Becks, Keanes and Giggsies, flaunting their palaces on MTV's Cribs and only drinking Krystall at the finest clubs in NY???