Sunday, September 7, 2008

All quiet on the Southern front

If you're wondering how the Mexican league played out this weekend, wonder no more. The league was not in action, as many other leagues around the world were on Saturday.

The Mexican league ran things as they should run on international fixture dates and gave way for the national team.

Saturday, unfortunately, was status quo in MLS.

I got to the press box early to watch US-Cuba. At the same time as that game, Columbus-New England and New York-Chicago were going on. I felt bad for the fans who had to choose between club and country, especially season ticket holders. On the one hand, you want to go support your club. But at the same time, the US national team only plays meaningful games every now and then. After all, Saturday's game in Cuba was one of eight that really matter this year. And for season ticket holders, Saturday's home games were one of 15 games they paid money for.

And there's MLS, putting fans in a position to choose between club and country.

When I saw the Galaxy-Real Salt Lake lineup, I couldn't help but shake my head. MLS is willing to go forth with such a product, with the Galaxy starting six defenders because they were shorthanded, with Toronto having to sign players to one-day contracts and bring in a scout just to fill out their roster.

Let's be glad that MLS didn't schedule any games on Wednesday to go head-to-head with the national team.

3 comments:

CACuzcatlan said...

MLS erroneously said that the Mexican league had games this weekend in the "Commissioner Speaks" blog. I have emailed them informing them of the mistake, but perhaps one of you guys can mention their mistake if you have any upcoming articles regarding MLS scheduling.

http://web.mlsnet.com/commissionerspeaks/

Anonymous said...

can you say *bush* league?

Anonymous said...

bu-bu-bu-bush league, yeah I did it!