What will make MLS more exciting?

Jose Luis Luviano · 06-17-2005, 10:12 AM

Fireworks did more to boost attendance than Billy. Fireworks sold more tickets than Campos, Hermosillo & Hernandez.

Shue was always willing to sign autographs for fans. 3rd hand information says that he worked hard in practice.

Supposedly, the oldest kid from "Home Improvement" played in a fairly advanced youth league.

Back in the late '90's, Paul Caligiuri organized a "Soccer For Santa" charity game. There were a couple of soap opera actors there, and they weren't half bad. My wife recognized them, I did not.

jcbaer · 06-17-2005, 02:34 PM

I know most of us want instant success, but I think that it is just going to take time.

One of the greatest assets that the US has is the college level. I know that other countries have clubs that go all the way to the youth level but here in the US we have college teams that give scholarships to players to come and get an education. There are quite a few international players in the MLS that have graduated or played for colleges here in the states. One example is a player that I love to watch, Andy Dorman (Revolution). Born in Wales, he has played for the Wales youth national teams for years, but he came to the US to go to college and get an education and see what would happen afterwards.

My whole point of this is that I would like to see more college programs implemented. I think title 9 is a great idea but men's soccer (or wrestling) was one of the first programs cut in many Universities. If the U or BYU and more Universities added men's soccer programs, more and more international talents would flock to the US and the MLS would gradually benefit.

Just my two cents.

RSLfrontrowfan · 06-17-2005, 04:35 PM

Can I play devil's advocate for a moment? :D :D :D

🙄 I think the question itself is faulty.

Absolutely nothing needs to be done to make the MLS more exciting. Long scoring doughts are a part of "the beautiful game". It's not just teams in MLS who suffer through them, teams from the EPL, Serie A, Bundesliga... they all have their droughts. This lack of scoring IMHO is the BIGGEST reason mainstream America is so averse to the sport. Dwelling on this point only perpetuates this aversion.

Lets face it American's want everything bigger, faster, more powerfull etc... The last few years have seen a decline (only slightly) in average scoring in the NBA so what did they do? They recently changed some rules to try and up scoring again. Is changing the rules of the game the answer? No, changing the rules changes the game, eventually the sport morphs into something totally different than the original. After all these changes why not just call the sport something completely different alltogether?!

FIFA is the WORLDWIDE governing body of the sport of soccer for a reason, to keep the sport pure! The game doesn't need to change and shouldn't change, America's percetion of the game is what needs to change. If this is a sticking point for some people I would suggest educating yourselves a bit more deeply on the history and worlwide appeal of the sport. If your financial situation permits go to Europe to see a game first hand and you'll never be the same again. You'll be smitten! Those who have had this opportunity will know exactly what I'm talking about. If you think the Loyalist section is fun/crazy/intense imagine that scene 100 fold.

Having said this the MLS will evolve. The talent pool will become deeper with more home grown players with more talent than before. Expecting this to happen overnight is non-sense. Look back at the history of basketball and the NBA. The game is played increasingly more above the rim as players have become stronger, faster and all around better athletes. Maybe I'm just a purist but my view is natural evolution of the game is fine and to be expected, but contaminating the game by changing rules to meet the ever increasing need of America for "bigger, faster, better" is wrong. The game shouldn't have to adapt to us.

StarsOnSunday · 06-17-2005, 05:59 PM

I think MLS would be more exciting if the game was played with two balls on the field. Pinball is more exciting in multi-ball mode, so why not soccer? I also think some random landmines and trap doors would make it exciting. Players should wear boxing gloves and be allowed to hit one another, and surrounding the pitch would be a ring of high powered super soakers to spray the players as they approach the edges of the field.

Stucki · 06-17-2005, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StarsOnSunday

I think MLS would be more exciting if the game was played with two balls on the field. Pinball is more exciting in multi-ball mode, so why not soccer? I also think some random landmines and trap doors would make it exciting. Players should wear boxing gloves and be allowed to hit one another, and surrounding the pitch would be a ring of high powered super soakers to spray the players as they approach the edges of the field.

That would be more exciting. Not better, but more exciting.

DadOf8 · 06-17-2005, 09:30 PM

I had a teacher in college that hated pointy ball. He suggested that NFL football players wear the same gear that rugby players wear and to arm the fans in the stadium with BB guns to prevent the oposing team from scoring.

He was kind of an interesting guy. He was a big soccer fan, actually. He said that soccer players are tougher than pointy ball players because they have to run for 90 minutes and they get tripped and kicked all the time. He said that NFL football players are wimps because they wear armor.

Having played both sports: I think that pointy ball took a bigger toll on my body simply because I was getting hit about 40 times or more in a game. Then if you count practices that tally would go up to about 100 to 200. I can't say that I ever got hit like that playing soccer. Although, I have seen it happen.

MLB has toyed with the idea of going to aluminum bats to increase scoring, but purists wont have it. I think that's what it boils down to in soccer, you have tradition. Why should we alter "the beautiful game" just because some Americans are too foolish to give it a chance?

Stucki · 06-17-2005, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DadOf8

I had a teacher in college that hated pointy ball. He suggested that NFL football players wear the same gear that rugby players wear and to arm the fans in the stadium with BB guns to prevent the oposing team from scoring.

He was kind of an interesting guy. He was a big soccer fan, actually. He said that soccer players are tougher than pointy ball players because they have to run for 90 minutes and they get tripped and kicked all the time. He said that NFL football players are wimps because they wear armor.

Having played both sports: I think that pointy ball took a bigger toll on my body simply because I was getting hit about 40 times or more in a game. Then if you count practices that tally would go up to about 100 to 200. I can't say that I ever got hit like that playing soccer. Although, I have seen it happen.

There are actually more serious knee injuries and concussions in soccer. You don't get the constant beating that shortens NFL players' lives. Yet another good argument for soccer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DadOf8

MLB has toyed with the idea of going to aluminum bats to increase scoring, but purists wont have it. I think that's what it boils down to in soccer, you have tradition. Why should we alter "the beautiful game" just because some Americans are too foolish to give it a chance?

They won't do it because pitchers and corner infielders would die. They are looking at graphite bats if they can get them to act more like wood withouth the shattering.