One thing that's struck me in reading the Oregonian's Timbers Fan of the Day feature is how many of my cohorts in Portland's Curva Nord focus their passions solely on the Boys In Green. Sure, everybody loves Sunderland because they brought the awesomest fans stateside six years ago, but no profiled fan has yet 'fessed up to following another domestic team. No, this is not a scientific sample, but I've found the Oregonian's responses intriguing. Based on the results, most hardcore Timbers fans follow one or two international teams, usually in the English Premier League, and really could care less about the state of Major League Soccer. If that's an unfair generalization, I'd love to hear some counter-examples. Essentially, we're OKC Thunder fans, but if basketball was born in Spain.
If you couldn't tell from where this was leading, I really feel almost 180 degrees the opposite. I'm thrilled about the oncoming MLS season for two reasons: the arrival of my Portland Timbers, and the chance to see the rest of the league in action. Since the Timbers have been stuck in soccer purgatory for the last ten years - let's be honest about NASL/USL/USSF/generic-bankruptcy-prone-acronym, shall we? - I followed MLS soccer more than any of the Timbers league opponents. I hate the Seattle Sounders like any good person, but I'm not ashamed to admit I didn't miss a single Flounders game from June on last year. And after a full season taste of MLS as a nonpartisan, there are a couple of teams I'm dying to see this season.
MLS boggles me for a number of reasons. It's a flawed league based on an idiotic premise that (surprise!) didn't turn out to work but has succeeded in spite of humbling missteps. Basically, my understanding of the original philosophical underpinnings of MLS is this: a) Soccer is growing; b) the NFL is successful; c) therefore numerous strategies that should make NFL more successful will make soccer in the US more successful. To anyone who's watched US club soccer in the last ten years, you will no doubt conclude that this line of thought led to embarrassing results.
What I think has worked for MLS - and I'll keep this brief- is its acceptance of soccer as a conservative game that thrives in conservative markets. No, not Houston or Amarillo- I mean conservative in an historical sense, where a highly traditional game finds the most fans possible who have an appreciation for traditional game. In that sense, uber-liberal Portland fits MLS like a glove. Thanks to Clive Charles it has a soccer tradition, which well complements a well-educated, younger demographic that doesn't mind being a test-tube experiment for US importing of European ideas. Mass transit, soccer, bikes and beer: there is nothing necessarily 'liberal' about any of these things. All four are deeply traditional Euro-centric enterprises that Portland have embraced. If Edmund Burke liked sports, he would shed a tear.
I want to be a part of where this league succeeds. I see MLS thriving in the places that are most amenable to the ideas sketched above - dense, modern, Euro-oriented- and stagnating (i.e. Frisco-ing, re FC Dallas) in the rest. The teams I'm most interested to see in 2011:
Vancouver Whitecaps. The Timbers' only real battle this year is against the Whitecaps. The default MLS expansion year is a shitshow. Timbers are going to strugg-a-lug to get to the right side of the table. Thankfully, we see Vancouver in August and again in October, at the tail end of our season. I think the respective approaches Timbers and Whitecaps have taken to roster building are fascinating. The Whitecaps have placed a real emphasis on their academy and defense, while Timbers have adopted a more immediately satisfying "find the best talent on the market" approach. I'm anxious to see how this one turns out in 2011, and will be in the North End on August 20th when Jay DeMerit and and Co. come to town.
(Footnote: MLS does away with any chance the Portland Trail Blazers ever had of acquiring Steve Nash. I love Nash and wish him well with Vancouver, but if the Cascadia Rivalry were 1/3 less exciting and Nash could play basketball for Portland, I'd probably take it.)
Chivas USA. I'm a big fan of ex-RSL assistant and new Goats coach Robin Fraser. I think Salt Lake is one of the most disciplined, exemplary teams in the country, and I unabashedly root for them in CONCACAF games. Chivas last year had some dominant defensive players, and it'll be very interesting to see how rookie Zarek Valentin fits in. Ex-OSU striker Alan Gordon has moved on to Toronto, but there's still plenty to like in Carson's second team. Plus, who ever argued with spending 90 minutes thinking about Corona beer?
DC United. This is sort of a default position, because as long as Steven Goff writes about DCU, this team is in American soccer's media capital. No other writer in American soccer makes his local side so relevant. If you want to know about American soccer, you read Goff, and if you read Goff, you know about DC United. As to the team itself, I'm not a big Charlie Davies fan- I think he's an immature jerk and an embarrassment for the USMNT side, frankly- but as he comes over from Sochaux for just under Designated Player pricetag, he should do wonders for the team that was almost outscored by Chris Wondolowski last year. As I watched DCU in 2010 I thought they were a decent team because of their defense, even if they were shit on a stick to watch. I remember thinking they were one or two strikers away from competing last year, and with another year of development of Andy Najar, and the addition of consensus-top rookie candidate Perry Kitchen, I'm betting on them making strides. My wife is due with our second child right around when DCU comes to Portland. I've already volunteered to miss that game, though you can bet I'll be following it online, probably with my oldest son on my lap from a maternity ward.
Red Bull New Jersey. Agudelo. Marquez. Ream. Lindpere. Henry. I'm rooting for them* to take home the Supporters' Shield, if only as an illustration of efficient market allocation. I really like their team, I really like how they spent their money, and I especially liked how coach Hans Backe called a spade a spade regarding MLS Cup idiocy. I'm rooting for Red Bull to give 'em hell in the East.
Question: Besides your favorite team, who are you excited to see in MLS in 2011?
*Rose City Miracle notwithstanding
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