MLS reserve league puts stock in the future

[AreliusII]

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/3538886?print=true

"The Americanization of soccer is officially over. Purists should rejoice at the way MLS has evolved by ironically doing things like just about everybody else in the world. In its tenth season, MLS is getting the vast majority of things right.

"For me, all of this became official with the launch of the MLS Reserve League last Saturday, something that I thought was completely unimaginable even five years ago. An added expense for MLS, that produces very little revenue in the short-term, but creates a solid foundation for the future. If this isn't a sign of progress and commitment for the American first division, then I don't know what is."

[Rover]

I hope American soccer can develop its own style. True soccer countries have that--everyone knows what you mean when you refer to the style of Brazil, Germany, Holland, England, Italy . . . and, yes, Mexico, among others. We're not there yet, but it will happen as we grow in the game.

But Wheelock is right--the attempts to change the game's basic rules and structure to fit some perceived need to package it to a reluctant sports audience was a bad idea from the beginning. We can all be grateful that MLS survived the "experiment," and that Uncle Don recognized that the game had to built from within and not changed to suit those who were never going to embrace it anyway.

By the way, I have to say that Sean Wheelock has developed into one of our better soccer columnists--and I wasn't impressed by his earlier stuff. But he's one of the more perceptive writers we have and the more of them we have, the better it is for the American game.

[Jim Umber]

Good article. Thanks for posting.