"... (1) Sport in general – and soccer in particular – will only be what we make it; we can only make of it what we can see. Thus, we can afford no soccer mythology, only organizational transparency. The next U.S. Soccer President must be a servant-leader in forging change in this area. The godfather of sport sociology, Jay Coakley of the University of Colorado, submits that three things make up what he calls the Great Sport Myth (GSM): The pervasive and nearly unshakable belief in the inherent purity and goodness of sport; That the purity and goodness of sport is transmitted to those who participate in or consume it; That sport inevitably leads to individual and community development. In the decade and a half since my thirty months with CONCACAF and FIFA, I have worked with investigative journalists, media outlets soccer fans and soccer critics to disabuse everyday people of the idea that soccer, on its own, generates good, pure outcomes. Soccer is run by human beings. By men, particularly. And their effort to date must be found wanting..." More here.