Why are you a fan of MLS?

[Merrill]

I grew up playing soccer as a young man, but as soon as I reached high school age, I gave it up to play football. Football was always my first love. Soccer is definitely second and the other major sports fall somewhere behind that.

So, even though football is my favorite sport, I'm a huge fan of MLS and Real Salt Lake particularly. I think the reason I support MLS over the NFL is because I feel that MLS needs me. NFL has fans coming out of every nook and cranny. They don't need me.

I'm a little goofy that way. I've always supported those "other" football leagues...WLAF, and NFL Europe (I just couldn't support the XFL though)...I've never understood it until recently though. I do it because it's what I like to see, and these are the ones that need me. I love soccer, but I really could care less about European leagues, unless it's to see MLS teams play them, and hopefully beat them.

So that's why I like MLS. Oh, and it's also extremely fun to go to the games and cheer and clap and wave my flag.

So why do you like MLS?

[Jose Luis Luviano]

I'm a fan of MLS because the LA Salsa went out of business.

[the Bardguy]

I've never really followed soccer before, other than watching the last world cup at my brothers house with all the family at like 3:00 am.

I came to an RSL game after fuegote and alianza told me how cool it was to watch the game, to stand up and cheer, and to hang out with a bunch of cool guys who were willing to accept the amount of energy that we bring, which is, if you've sat with us, a lot. Most sports won't let us do that.

As an aside, I hate to admit this, but I was actually a yell leader my senior year in high school. <winces, wating for the tomatoes to hit.> So I'm naturally extremely enthusiastic and passionate about what I am following.

So, because of the experience that I originally had with the Loyalists that first game, I'm here. I have personally been responsible for 4 people (other than my family members) purchasing season tix, based on the experiences that I have had. I don't know if we are all going to follow MSL as much as the rabid MSL fan, but we will follow RSL as much if not more than more than anyone else.

I just hope that experience can continue.

[Jim Umber]

When I grew up, in Oregon, there was no soccer at all. At recess, we sometimes played Kickball (basically a free-for-all with the goal being to kick the ball under a bench which was the goal). I never even knew there was professional soccer. We had Baseball, Football and Basketball. I was lousy at all 3.

I got interested in Soccer when, as an adult my nephews wanted me to coach them. All the teams were full and the only way they could make another team would be if they found a coach. I reluctantly agreed, and life hasn't been the same since. I found the beautiful sport.

Like you, however, I don't really follow the European teams, or e the Mexican league, though I will watch a game now and then when there's nothing else on. I like soccer, but I love the idea of soccer in Salt Lake City. I am here to do my best to make it fly...and fly high.

I'm not normally a face painter, tattoo wearer, or drum beater. Under other circumstances, I would probably be the guy sitting behind us saying, "Are you going to stand there for the WHOLE GAME?" But I don't think that would add to the atmosphere and excitement. It wouldn't aid the cause. I'd rather RSL were winning, but losing...they may need me even more.

[fuegote]

Since the opener, I've actually watched a lot more soccer. WCQers (in spanish) and the MLS game of the week.

I love it. I love the MLS becuase of the players. They aren't premadonna's like the NFL's athletes, or the NBA's athletes. THey truely are greatful to make money for playing soccer, and it shows.

I love the fact I can cheer for two hours without getting told to be quiet. I love it. It is my #1 sport now.

[DadOf8]

I've a fan of MLS because it's good for Salt Lake City and what's good for Salt Lake City is good for me. Soccer is growing in popularity and soon it will be bigger than baseball. What this means is that the league will grow and this will bring advertising money and tourism to Salt Lake City.

Okay, that's not really why I love it. It's just so damn exciting. I can't say that about any other sport as much as I can about soccer. I love that there is constant action. In football you have a play and then the action stops while the teams huddle. In basketball there are too many time outs. Baseball is just too slow. NASCAR need to throw in a right hand turn once in a while. I'd rather play golf than watch golf.

People just need to give soccer a chance and they'll see what it's all about. My brother's big complaint was that he didn't understand the nuances of soccer so he didn't know what was a good play and what was a bad play. I told him that you just learn that as you go along. Some people just need to give it more time than others. I think I was hooked when I saw Brazil play Cameroon in 1990. MLS will eventually get up to the same level as the English Premier League. People will discover what a great game soccer is.

[the Bardguy]

Originally Posted by fuegote

I love the MLS becuase of the players. They aren't premadonna's like the NFL's athletes, or the NBA's athletes. THey truely are greatful to make money for playing soccer, and it shows.

You're right, I forgot about that. A while ago I studied the 2003 average salary amounts for the MLS based. It was a little under $90,000. There was actually someone on one of the teams who made $15,000. You don't find that in any major league sport.

[DadOf8]

Originally Posted by fuegote

Since the opener, I've actually watched a lot more soccer. WCQers (in spanish) and the MLS game of the week.

I love it. I love the MLS becuase of the players. They aren't premadonna's like the NFL's athletes, or the NBA's athletes. THey truely are greatful to make money for playing soccer, and it shows.

I love the fact I can cheer for two hours without getting told to be quiet. I love it. It is my #1 sport now.

This is a great post, Fuegote. I ran out of rep for the day, but you deserve it for this one. I agree, there are no primadonnas in MLS, other than Carlos Ruiz. 🙂

Some MLS players make less than I do, and I don't make all that much to begin with.

[Aerick]

Great post!

My reasons are similar to Snarf, Umber and Dadof8. Partially, it's a love for an exciting sport - although it's kind of lingered in the back of my mind for the past several years as opposed to in the forefront. When I heard that pro soccer was coming to SLC, something clicked. I got excited. When the first game against MetroStars was televised, I watched the first part of it and got even more excited. I had to go to the home opener. I went and became out of my mind excited!! This was something I enjoyed, and it was something that needed my support as well!

I feel strongly about supporting something that needs my support to stick around. Like Snarf, NFL, college football, NBA, etc. are all fun and kick butt, but they don't really need me. And since soccer is my #1 or #2 favorite sport, now, I want it to succeed in the US - and in SLC, and that means supporting RSL and supporting the MLS.

There's also this side of me, this "I want the US to be the best at everything" side of me that can't accept the fact that the the US isn't the best at the most popular sport in the world - call it my competitive nature. :D

Supporting RSL and the MLS will help us reach that state. And not just watching the games - going to the games, being a season tix holder, wearing RSL/MLS stuff, and generally spreading the good word until the goal is achieved. 🙂

There's also the re-awakening that's occurred as a result of "revisiting" the sport. I really enjoy it! I tend to watch FSC often at home, and it's great!

[Rover]

I support MLS because it's my country's top flight league. I've supported it from the beginning--I was at DC United's first game in RFK and have been attending games ever since in whatever MLS town I was living in.

My soccer background is a little different than what I've read so far on this thread. I played as a kid in California in the 60's (yes, the 60's) but got a complete education in the game when my family moved to London in 1973. We lived across the Thames from Hammersmith, not far from Fulham, QPR, and, of course, Chelsea. I went to school in St. Johns' Wood, and vividly remember Arsenal and Tottenham supporters flooding the area on their way to Highbury or White Hart Lane.

Living in London also gave me a view of World Cup 1974 I never would have received in the US. We also played in the neighborhood, and in school. A year later we had moved to Egypt, and I got to see the game from a much different perspective.

I didn't abandon other sports. I'm originally from Texas, so I grew up on Landry's Cowboys. I'm a big college football fan, and follow several other sports (cycling is another interest from my Euro days). But my experiences with soccer overseas left an impression that has stayed with me. I never truly adopted the NASL, although I rarely missed a broadcast. I finished high school in Salt Lake, so the lack of a team to follow made it tough to stay involved.

I was in college in Califonnia when the NASL folded, but I was also aware of the talent being developed there. Guys like Wynalda were making a name for themselves, and when Caliguiri fired the "shot heard round the world" in 1989 to qualify us for Italia '90, I felt we may finally be turning a corner. Four years later we were hosts and exceeded expectations, and MLS followed in 1996.

So my interest in soccer and the development of an American top flight goes back decades. That explains my patience and long term view of both MLS and RSL. I supported the Galaxy and Rapids from the beginning, but when a team was announced for Salt Lake a year ago I knew I finally had a team of my own. I knew Salt Lake would support the game if given the chance, and although I can't move back at this point it's been gratifying to see how it's gone so far.

I have to add that soccer is the one sport that everyone in my family enjoys. That includes my wife, who never got into football and basketball and didn't understood my interest in those games. But she's now coached, served as a certified official, run a big youth soccer tournament, and knows the game as well as anyone. And my kids grew up playing soccer and remain big fans. My daughter occasionally posts on this forum.

So soccer is simply a part of my life and always will be. To see how far we've come since my earliest experiences to the game is gratifying but also makes me want us to keep going--to get to an even higher level. I see no reason why we can't, and it's great to see it happening right before our eyes.

For US Soccer, MLS, and RSL, these really are the good old days.