SpursFan1902 wrote:Yep, Lord Stanley for sure. I try the MLS every summer and the level of play is so far below what it is in the EPL (which is what I am used to), that it is hard to watch. But if I want it to get better I should support it. We had a team here in Tampa Bay, but they took it away, so I have no local MLS team to support. They took the Miami team too, so no Florida team at all. I will give it my annual go and see if I can get behind it.
I agree with you on the MLS - a different level of play entirely.
Here's my take on it in the USA (with a caveat for the sake of my post -- 'football'=American gridiron & 'soccer'=football):
It's similar to hockey in that it's an international sport (the #1 international sport), played in other countries, with a world-wide fan base. Unlike American football where the majority of players (with a few exceptions here & there) are American.
DC United is a great example -- years ago DC had a soccer team called the Diplomats (1974-1981 (thanks Wikipedia)). It was part of the North American Soccer League (NASL). Again, according to Wiki, the average attendance in 1981 was 16,106 in a stadium that holds 55,000. To add insult to injury, CBS Sports had a national television contract in the U.S. with the NASL. However, the ratings for matches were unacceptable even by weekend daytime standards and the arrangement was terminated. So now we have the MLS, founded in 1993. Jeez, that's only 16 years ago!
But soccer is so huge in schools, kid's recreation leagues and at the university level that its fan base is growing in the US. Additionally, as the Latino population grows, so does the attendance at games. There is now a larger fan base that understands and enjoys the game. Most of my siblings & I played on the local recreational team. One sister went on to play in high school and did very well. Now, we're grown & taking our soccer-playing children to games. It's the combination of these recent shifts in US sports culture and demographics that causes me to feel surprised that there isn't a team in Florida.
It's also blatantly apparent (IMO) that the US sports media is so invested in football (2 separate programmes on Sunday: "The NFL on Fox" for the NFC and "The NFL on CBS" for the AFC) and now Sunday night football and Monday night football.......hey TV people: there are
hockey games played in the Fall season too!!!! But unless you have cable television, you won't see it.
Heck, even the local media is football-crazy. When the Washington Capitals
won the Southeast Division, do you know what the lead sports story on the local news was? "Redskins Start Mini-Camp". WTF? But this town is all about the Redskins. Oh, and don't you just love to support a team with a name that's a racial slur and an owner who is a total prick?
With that said, in spite of the local media and its lackluster coverage on anything other than football, I will go to DC United soccer games and Washington Nationals baseball games to give my support. Otherwise, we lose the franchise.
I'd love to hear people's thoughts on my USA Sports Analysis.
Also, does anyone support any UK hockey teams? The UK men won the bronze medal at the IIHF World Championship (DIV I Group B) in April.
