The US first division Major League Soccer is a league in search of identity. It's done a good job of establishing itself as a viable business. It's been invaluable in helping provide the US national team with unprecedented depth and quality. It's led the push to get soccer-friendly stadiums built so they don't have to play on hideous grass surfaces destroyed by gridiron football (or the even worse artificial turf).
But what it lacks is passion and intensity. Sure, a few of the matchs have them. And many of the fans do, but it's usually in small groups of diehards rather than stadium-wide. What helps is good rivalries. The challenge, of course, is that good rivalries don't arise overnight.
A 'classico' rivalry developed between Los Angeles and San Jose, but this was the result of time, circumstances and great matches at important times. It didn't magically become a 'classico' just because the league office slaps a corporate sponsor before that phrase. Unfortunately, the San Jose team moved to Houston so the rivalry died.
Clubs like Celtic and Rangers in Glasgow or Boca Jrs and River Plate in Buenos Aires developed rivalries of the course of several years, not because they were contrived by a bunch of suits. But unfortunately, MLS' lack of continuity hampers this evolution, an evolution critical to increasing the popularity of the league and helping the league's investors make more money.
Ten MLS franchises were part of the league's inaugural season only a decade ago. Of those, one no longer exists, one has moved to another city, three have changed their nickname and one their team colors. In that period, the league added four expansion teams, one of whom also ceased to exist.
Despite this, the league is on pace to break its record for average attendance, though it's still early in the season. The league, however, seems determined to stamp out any of the spontaneity and passion that makes the game so appealing elsewhere.
There was a little spat in last Saturday's match between Red Bull New York and DC United. Red Bull NY is sponsored by the energy drink of the same name. After DC forward Alecko Eskandarian scored the first goal of the match, his goal celebration involved running toward his bench, having a teammate toss him a can of Red Bull, him taking a sip and then spitting it out. It was clearly meant as a sporting jab at his team's opponent. The clever goal celebration obviously displeased fans of the Red Bulls.
And that's exactly the point: to add a little juice to the game, to the rivalry, to take a little jab at the metro NY fans.
This jab surely got those fans motivated to chant and sing and jeer. That's what soccer in this country needs more of.
In other countries, rivalries are expressed in fans being stabbed or sectarian chants or monkey noises directed at black players. As far as fueling a rivalry, a guy spitting out a mass-produced beverage is about as benign as you can get.
But the folks in charge of ensuring MLS matches have all the atmosphere of a funeral dirge got their panties into a twist over the incident. They fined Eskandarian 250 dollars for 'inappropriate conduct.'
As Matchnight's Ian Plendereith noted: Yes, the body that gave Hristo Stoichkov a minor telling off for breaking a college kid's leg in a preseason scrimmage while still in a rage about a goal he thought was offside, has now come up with a new category of soccer misbehavior more suited to condemning a couple caught kissing at the back of a meeting of the Christian Mothers' Temperance Union.
I'm sure the hypersensitive suits in charge of MLS were afraid that one of the league's most important sponsors might be offended. But Red Bull company (who also own a team in Austria) is surely run by big boys and girls who understand how both soccer and business work. In fact, they should be thankful for Esky's gesture. I expect that the next time DC visits New Jersey, a much larger crowd is on hand to make sure they give the opposition's #11 a piece of their mind. That's the sort of passion MLS needs to foster, not trample.
More butts in the stadium means more green for Red Bull. I'm sure that won't offend them.
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