Within Reach: Soccer-Point USA

I'm beside myself that I didn't get to watch the LA Galaxy play the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium Saturday night. Yes it was a regular season Major League Soccer game. And no, it wasn't my hometown favorite: FC Dallas. This is the first time I remember ever being upset about not being able to watch a non-World Cup soccer match. I would have recorded it had it been available.

ESPN didn't pick up this duel in the Meadowlands. The ESPN programming heads must've been really disappointed that they opted out of the game. I don't have the Soccer Package on the Dish Network. That means no Fox Soccer Channel, no Fox Sports Espanol, no Gol TV, no Setanta Sports. (As a result of this, I'm seriously considering adding the Soccer package next season.)

This is a big indicator for me. "Soccer-Point" is the goal, the ultimate objective of Major League Soccer: to take the game to the top level of sports in the US and to be at the forefront of sports fans everywhere. We're talking big network television contracts, more huge sponsorship & naming rights deals and national & local coverage. I'm convinced that soccer has reached the same point that American Football reached in the late 60's in terms of national interest. You can feel it in the air.

Saturday night in the swamps of Jersey, soccer from an American professional league was the focal point. We're not talking about a preseason summer friendly between a visiting Real Madrid & Manchester United. In NYC, the LA Galaxy/New York Red Bulls game was the talk of the town. Beckham & 17-year old phenom Jozy Altidore toured soccer camps in Harlem on a goodwill tour. There was plenty of talk about the match-up before the game.

And then the game! What a shoot-out! Beckham had two beautiful assists. Jozy Altidore countered with 2 goals. Juan Pablo Angel, the Colombian Red Bulls striker scored. I'm so bummed I missed this game.

John Lopez over at the Houston Chronicle wrote a fine column on Friday ("Beckham only part of reason for league's higher profile") that sums up a lot of things that have been on my mind about the state of soccer in this country. In comparison to our big three sports:

"The big stars are not implicated in felonious crimes like dogfighting and triple shootings. It [this country] needs a sport where there is no taint from steroids. There are no puffed-up, record-breaking home run kings with dour moods and surly demeanors. There are no Tim Donaghys fixing games."

Having watched my share of soccer this summer thanks to the staggered ankle-injury delayed arrival of David Beckham, I am really enjoying uninterrupted play and getting into the flow of the game. I have grown to appreciate Abel Xavier's clutch defensive play. I envy Hawaiian Brian Ching's speed and swiftness for Houston (a tough loss tonight for the Hoops because of him!). Landon Donovan finally has someone to pass him the ball. Juan Toja & Juan Pablo Angel are two fine Colombians making their own potent impact on the American game.

I am closely following the rest of this great 2007 MLS season. A year after a disappointing showing for the US in the 2006 World Cup, it is the US pro league that is catching headlines and coming into its own. Well done, indeed!