I agree intellectually, but I can't help having the yearly end-of-MLS-season letdown when the playoffs roll around. I thought it might be different this year, but I can't shake the feeling. The playoffs aren't quite as ridiculous as when 8 out of 10 teams used to make it, but they still have that nauseating vibe of being forced to watch a penalty shootout after a regular season game. I used to turn off the TV when MLS was pulling that shootout B.S. Don't get me wrong. I always enjoy the regular season, and this season has been the best by a mile. And yeah, if the Sounders don't get past RSL I'll be disappointed. It just feels too contrived, though. It's hard being a good trooper fan 16 seasons straight trying to force myself to get excited about the playoffs "for the good the league". The contrivance is that the playoffs are necessary from an "entertainment" standpoint. Personally, I think the competition should be the primary concern, and any "entertainment" should stem naturally from the competition. Not the other way around. Putting "entertainment" first gives MLS a WWE or Hollywood vibe instead of a serious sports competition vibe. I don't want to create yet another thread about how to fix the playoffs or whether they should exist at all. Rather, I just wanted to vent a frustration that I think is common among those of use who (rightly or wrongly) have felt the pressure to be "good fans" in spite of MLS continually getting the competition format wrong. The message from MLS HQ is always: "eventually the competition will make sense and set up in a way you can be proud of as a serious sports fan, but until then just hold tight while we grow the league." How much longer?
Just ignore the hype and enjoy the games. Not saying don't have your opinions on the league, its structure, the playoffs and their structure. But at some point you just gotta put all that BS aside and enjoy the games for what they are.
sounders call & repeat 64K edition http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/oct/28/david-beckham-thierry-henry-seattle-sounders
The games so far haven't been as exciting because A) They were in Dallas and Colorado, two of the teams with the lowest number of fans in the league, so there wasn't any atmosphere B) Four teams that just weren't very good teams heading into the playoffs, so the play on the field was inferior. This weekend's game are also probably going to be fairly boring simply because of the home/away aggregate style, but, in most cases, the attendance will be higher, so they'll at least be a little more exciting because of that. The on-field performance will be a fairly boring because the away teams simply have no reason to play flat out because as long as they keep the game close, they still have a good chance of winning the series on aggregate once they get home. They second games of the semis, the conference finals, and MLS Cup should be more exciting though.
The excitement is contrived before any games have been played. It isn't the games themselves, rather it is the lack of meaning behind the games. An extreme example is the Giants Cup. Did anyone really care about that tournament? Superliga also lacked meaning, but there was some cultural bragging rights there I guess. I never got into it. MLS wants the playoffs to be meaningful, but they consistently screw the pooch season after season, and then we the fans are left scrambling to get each other excited so that we can help MLS offer an "exciting" "product" for TV audiences. Every season, the meaning behind "MLS Cup champion" is diluted and obfuscated by some opposite-of-common-sense approach to the playoffs. Some fans are really good at year-in-year-out allowing themselves to be deluded "for the good of the game". But 16 years of this is starting to wear thin. In spite of where the league is at in terms of growth and staying power, MLS still can't get the most basic component of a sport league right: the competition format. It's always some embarrassing frankenstein that should be hidden away from light of day. And to make matters worse, every one of these past seasons goes into the history books along with the old 6-points-for-a-win leagues and all the other travesties of competition that the "powers that be" deem necessary for our "just-not-quite-good-enough-on-its-own" sport, and thus adds more cement to the foundation of the "American soccer as circus side-show" ethic. Either the MLS bigwigs lack the self-awareness to be ashamed of the embarrassing way they crown a "champion" every season, or they are shameless in the way they expect soccer fans to keep eating a shit pudding.
Well.. Good on you for thinking that. I completely disagree with you, but you're certainly entitled to your opinion.
Like I said Bright, have your opinions, but if you actually want to enjoy some Soccer games, put all the BS aside and just enjoy the games for what they are. Right now it just sounds like you are having a temper tantrum and refuse to go out and play with the other kids because they aren't playing by the exact rules you want. So instead you sit on the porch of your house pouting while watching all the other kids have fun out in the street right in front of you.
Excitement is contrived for every sporting event, even the historical rivalries. The sooner you figure this out and get over it, the happier you'll be.
You could say that all human sentiment is a contrivance and just be a nihilist. You don't seem like a nihilist to me, so there is some threshold for you where sentiment actually becomes meaningful, right? Sports leagues can be meaningful, and they have been in the past and present. But MLS seems to behave like the typical big business that engages its "customers" in a feedback loop of cowing and dilution of meaning. Until the "customers" just accept that its just "entertainment" and has no meaning, so why should anyone complain? Just buy the product and be happy. Year after year we are asked to wait a little longer until the league gets simple common sense things right. I don't understand what the hell is holding them back from implementing a common sense approach to crowning a "champion". It would be a lot better if MLS would just act like a serious sports league so that the fans wouldn't be put in the constant predicament of having to question our loyalty as soccer fans, and wrangle amongst each other to get everyone "on board" despite the obvious why-do-these-even-exist-in-the-first-place flaws that MLS keeps saddling us with. I feel like we carry this league in spite of the owners' glaring stupidity and lack of respect for us. I'm going to watch the game tonight. I like watching the Sounders play. I want them to win. I even watched the two wildcard games all the way through. That has nothing to do with me being upset at MLS and the powers-that-be over the years that continually make a mockery of soccer in the US by not implementing the competitive aspects in a serious manner.
I'm impressed, this is actually a really good question. You are right to say that I am not a nihilist. But my philosophy on sport is much different than a lot of people I think. My idea of sport is that two distinct population groups that are frustrated with each other play out their frustrations through the game. It's a release. If your team wins you get to throw it at the other group for at least a year, while they have to recall past glories to get an edge on you. It's a form of tribalism. Humans -need- tribalism to some extent and I think sports, in general, is a healthy way to express that. Now, of course there are instances where a few fans realize on some level that the game is just a replacement for that tribalism and they form hooligan firms and actually do battle outside the stadium. In this way, I believe that sports are a contrivance. Meant to fill the need of banding together with like-minded individuals that wear similar colors. Now, for the media, it PAYS for them to play up pretend rivalries because people outside the two "tribes" are more likely to pay attention if they label an event with the magical word "rivalry." But the media likes to blow everything out of proportion. That's why I could never be a news anchor. I'd have to pretend to be surprised when an athlete tests positive for a PED.