Adu is a citizen
 

Freddy Adu, the "saviour of soccer" became a US citizen today. He is 13 years old and could already start for a MLS team. He turned down a million dollar contract from an Italian team side, Inter Milian.

He is suppose to make the game very popular in the US, similar to Tiger Woods.

Discuss.

Okay.........I think this kid will revolutionize the way people in the US dont watch soccer ......:-0

ROTF!

Does anyone watch golf who didn't before Tiger?

Boring sports will always be boring sports no matter who you put out there.

LOL

but did golfers date hot Swedish twins before Tiger?

Why would any great soccer player want to come to the US? Americans only care about soccer once overy 4 years, and then only untill the US is knocked out of the World Cup.

"but did golfers date hot Swedish twins before Tiger?"

Good point. :)

no we don't.

Would'nt you rather be paid in American $$ than Lira?

Maybe he is trying to change that. His only other option is to play with Ghania. Talk about a no-brainer.

Seriously, I think soccer will have more and more of a following in the US soon. It just takes explanation of the game. Once you learn the game, you see really what a great game it is. I was in the same boat a few years back, and now I cant get enough of the game.

If soccer ends up more popular in the U.S than hockey i will cry.:(

I think you can count on soccer becoming more popular than hockey. Hockey is real popular north but not in the south. Soccer can be popular everywhere.

If soccer can get a TV contract like hockey it will be in good shape. Hockey and soccer draw the same ratings, but hockey has commercials.

Americans don't have the attention span to watch games like soccer and hockey.

I dont think attention span is a problem. If so, baseball wouldnt be so popular. Again, I think it is just a matter of time....

"Would'nt you rather be paid in American $$ than Lira?"
It would depend on how many lira (actually it's euros now, but assuming the lira was still in place) and how many dollars were being offered. I would much rather 1,787,204,855 Lira than US $50,000

The lack of comercials in soccer will be a major hinderence for the game. Why should tv air it if they can't get the kind of revenue from the game that other sports (the ones with breaks) get from ads

Preach on.

As for the Tiger Woods comment, I'll bet I'm like a lot of people who weren't golf fans pre-Tiger. I watched the final day of his first Masters' win, but haven't watched but 5 or 6 HOLES of golf since then.

adu well i have read about him a couple times in soccer digest i sure am looking forward to actually watching him play at a camp he was there with players like donovan and donovan said the kid is better than his hype

I actually like soccer now. Damn CM turned me toward the dark side...

I wonder if he can kick a 50 yard field goal?

I'll listen to stories about him on ESPN just like I do with Tiger, but I will not watch soccer just like I don't watch golf. Oh, and uh, high school basketball.

I think MLS does some ESPN2 televising, right? If they were smart, they'd approach NBC, which is so desperate for sports coverage that they're televising Arena Football.

Soccer is a fine sport to play while growing up, but it just doesn't translate to a spectator sport once you're done playing. I don't see anything to change that fact. I'm 31 and played soccer growing up. People older than me played soccer growing up. Kids now are playing soccer growing up. So far, that fact has never changed our viewing habits once we hang up the cleats.

What's changed?

Like it or not, soccer is a rich man's version of volleyball, a poor man's version of tennis, in this country. Fun to play, not so fun to watch.

As for golf, I hate it, so Tiger Woods' involvement means nothing to me, at least in terms of me watching him or anyone else play golf. I think it would be cool if he became the Wayne Gretzky of golf, blowing records out of the water, but that's about as far as my interest goes. How he achieves his accomplishments is no less boring because he's Tiger than how Phil Mickelson blows his chances. It's still golf. Same principle applies with soccer.

I think soccer becoming more popular in this country is enevitable . With schools cutting athletic programs left and right the more expensive sports to equip (hockey, football) are in danger. Soccer is relatively cheap (buying some ratty soccer balls is even cheaper than buying aluminum bats for a team).

Based on the cost factor, I see soccer becoming more and more the sport of choice in schools. And since you can easily field guy and girl teams (unlike football and in most places hockey), you are doubling the participation of the youth. With more and more schools/kids playing I don't see how it cannot become more popular here (if anyone has ever driven around northern Virginia on a weekend in the summer, you'll know what I mean).

I just think that our generation (well most of us anyways) never got into it as kids, the way we did baseball, so we are a lost cause. Unless we become CM junkies.

Soccer, much like the Cleveland Browns, is nothing more than an adult excuse to sit in plastic seats and start fights.

Alf predicts : Soccer is going to be more popular in the US because the Hispanic population is growing, and they love soccer !

But the distinction here is over what is "popular" about the sport. Clearly, soccer is a "popular" sport to play. Equally clearly, soccer is not a very "popular" sport to either attend or watch on TV. Two different things.

I don't think it necessarily follows that because more kids will play it, more will watch it. That doesn't appear to have been the case over the past 20 years, or at least, to the extent the TV audience has grown, it hasn't grown nearly enough. Look at hockey - a decent-sized portion (I really have no idea how many, but there are a lot in my neck of the woods) of those who watch it never even played it - just the opposite of what's happening in soccer. So I don't think you can make predictions that playing will eventually equal watching.

Having said all of that, if there's nothing else on - and I mean nothing - I have been known to leave an MLS game on ESPN2 while I'm doing something else. I don't fully understand the game and never will, but I can enjoy it for what it is, even if it doesn't hold my interest. Not only did I play, but I kept score and announced for my high school girls and boys teams. So I've been exposed to the game. It's just that my idea of excitement isn't soccer - my idea of a "scoring opportunity" isn't a guy shooting wide of the largest goal in any sport I know. When there's not a reasonable chance of scoring (I don't care if they actually score or not), it's not exciting. 10 combined shots on goal for a 90 minute game is not excitement, at least when the other "scoring opportunities" aren't really opportunities at all.

Finally, someone expalining why soccer will become more popular. Everyone else just seems to think it will magically happen. I think it will overtake hockey within the next 10 years easily.

Ding Ding Ding Ding! Soccer will grow in popularity as the Hispanic population grows. It is inevitable (and welcome in my book).

Thanks guys : that was my useful post of the month :D

If so, I wonder if he's ever been to Indianapolis?

soccer in the usa
 

did you know that the mls sold out the new england pats building for the mls cup? did you know the mens national team have drawn over 6 figures for games, also on espn ranked usa's favorite sports and soccer was tied with hockey(9%) mls attendance is rising and it looks like most teams will actually make money this season based on last years attendance, you can say its never going to make it but people used to think football was too barbaric and its popularity is through the roof now. Anything can happen, and if you watch arsenal vs manutd tommorrow you will see a display of skill talent hardwork and a rivalry with two teams wanting to show they are the best, to alot of people(not americans except me) its going to be more exciting then even the super bowl.

Wait until the Americans start becoming soccer hooligans! Bullets will fly. Pipe bombs will burst. Buildings will burn. After all, we have to do everything bigger and better than everyone else, even if it is unoriginal.

I don't have any facts to back this up, but I'm going to guess that the interest in soccer today is growing. 20 years ago in the midwest, most people didn't even uderstand what the rules of the game were. What I'm trying to say is that I don't think the popularity will increase magically, but that it will continue to grow over time (as the youth generation who actually plays starts to take over for the older people who refuse to watch soccer).

I grew up watching/playing baseball and I understand the nuances of the game, so I still watch baseball (even though it can be incredibly boring at times). Likewise, if kids play soccer, they can appreciate the beauty of the passing even in a 0-0 tie.

Then again, there's also a possibility that in 20 years all of the popular sports degenerate into X-games style events. :(

Sadly, you may be right. The way the NHL is going, within ten years hockey fans will be craving the explosive offense and high-scoring action of soccer.

There's room in the US for all types of sports, and like nearly every sport in the past 20 years, surely soccer has and will continue to grow. But will it ever be accepted like the Big 3 or 4 is? I sincerely doubt it. What the growing Hispanic community does with their time doesn't affect most Americans, and to the extent that some of their enjoyment of soccer rubs off on the rest of us, it goes both ways. I can say that I bet the number of Hispanics who will watch hockey and basketball is probably going to increase over the next 10 years and I'll be right.

Now, if you want to argue that the crowds will be larger simply because a greater percentage of spectators will be Hispanics, I won't argue against that. I just don't see how that is going to affect the rest of us. That's not going to change how I or many other people view soccer in relation to the other sports. Soccer may grow simply because one of their key demographics is becoming more populous in this country, but how does that change the way, for example, die-hard football fans view soccer? If there's no growth in those areas, soccer will still be relegated to "second class sport" among a significant portion of this country.

I'm sure soccer will catch hockey in the US... even the XFL had better TV ratings than hockey.

Assuming there is a limited attention span, I don't think Football and Basketball are going to lose their audience. Hockey might be in danger of being passed by soccer.

The interesting one for me is baseball. It won't happen in our lifetime, but I keep hearing how kids aren't as interested in baseball because it takes too long, costs too much to take them to the games, the playoffs are on too late, etc. I'm wondering if there's any real stats to back that up (i.e. something to show the under 20 generation is less interested in baseball then their parents were).

I've always said, I'd be happy if baseball became a niche market and went back to 24 teams. As long as I can still see spring training games here in Florida and catch all of the games on DirecTV, I'm fine with baseball not being as popular as it once was. Of course, I'm not in baseball's revenue stream, so I have less of an interest than, say, the owners, players, and agents.

I think soccer needs one magical superstar to make the game explode in America. I think Freddy Adu will make kids in the intercity and in the suburbs alike want to play soccer. When Adu nails 3 goals a game in MLS at the age of 17, the vast majoiry of America will tune in. Then people will start asking questions about off side, one touch passing, creating space, etc and Americans will begin to understand the game and take up a passion for it.

Then MLS will see its popularity explode. Every kid will want an Adu jersey, and an Adu retro throw back jersey. Merchandise and TV Ratings will increase and as will TV ratings.

Oh yea, and I forgot to mention all this will be by 2010, when the US will most likely host the World Cup.

The superstar is there, the formula is there, and now all it needs its some marketing. Take my word, after the 2010 World Cup soccer will be a top 3 sport in this country.

Hmm... so if I buy an Adu jersey now, by like 2010 it will be a 'retro throwback jersey' and I'll be able to charge guys like Lebron James $500 for it. Hmmm...(calculates ROI)

Something like that. I can just see Allen Iverson showing up to a press conference with a 1950 US World Cup jersey with the name Adu on the back of it.

Also, a couple of other things.

Adu played with the U17 National team against the Chicago Fire (MLS side) and scored two goals. This is without the best of service. Sure its the offseason, but still that is impressive.

Also a Brazil National newspaper (the Brazlian New York Times) ran an article on Adu and called him the next Pele.

I like Donovan. I think for the first time you can point at someone on the US team and say "hey this guy can actually score". At least the couple of world cups I watched it seemed the US was happy to draw with anybody and this last one they went out and tried to attack. I thought they outplayed Germany even though they lost.

So if this Adu comes in, is that good and pairs up with Donovan we might do even better in the next world cup.

brian mcbride
 

well i pointed to brian mcbride since 96 when he was the crews first selection and said that guy can score he is already the best "target man" the usa has ever had and if you want to question his quality look at what he has done for everton in the english premier league.(and yes i have a brian mcbride jersey)

I really, really don't think so. Soccer will always (in the foreseeable future) be a second-tier sport at best. The reason is that we have more watchable sports ingrained in our national culture. Want to see the future? Take a look at what sports kids are playing one their consoles. This is why soccer is popular about everywhere else - most nations have no other sports, esp. one that has been around for any length of time. Soccer is all they have and therefore, a soccer superstar can be huge news. A soccer superstar here in this country will be just a sidebar on page 5.

I have nothing against soccer, and if it succeeds as is being predicted hee, great. But I can't help but agree with Anrhydeddu. There's just too many other things, even putting aside other sports, to keep people occupied in this country.

Plus, the general apathy, at least in off-years, about nationalist sporting events, is an even more important reason why no one will really care. In the US, we have professional leagues that are clearly Priority #1 to us. Here, playing in the Olympics or World Cup or World Championships is second to our leagues. In many other countries, even those with leagues, they are secondary considerations to international play. But by and large, we don't care about that here. If we win, great, we get big heads and care about something we otherwise wouldn't care about - for a couple of months. Then it's back to our leagues.

In other countries, fans can recite 20 year old international competition scores the way a basbeall fan can recite 20 year old world series scores. I couldn't tell you who we played last year in soccer, or who our Olympic basketball team beat for a gold medal - or even which years we won a gold medal!

Well, following that thought ... we had many ingrained watchable sports besides golf before Tiger came along, and look what he did to the popularity. Many more kids and adults alike who used ot find golf boring are tuning in to see him.

Having said that, I thin the difference in golf and soccer is that golf is an individual sport. People watch Tiger because he does something each and every time he goes out there. In soccer, even a superstar may not score (or even get many touches) in half the games. This may detract a bit from the 'one star' following.

Excellent example! I think this is one of the most important things when talking about soccer and olympics type events. For a lot of countries, that is all they have and therefore, quite defensive about the US not feeling the same way. I know the US can be bullies about sports but one cannot argue about our diversity of success. The rest of the world needs to accept that instead of taking pot shots at us not liking your little sport.

Don't forget to factor in many that used to find golf watchable but stopped watching because of Woods.

Personally...i watch both these sports because i like them...not for any specific player or team.

And with that, I bid you adu.

I seriously thought this was a thread about someone was named "Bid Adu". I was thinking that's kind of cool.. heh

Much Adu about nothing? :D

But I think you are overlooking the fact that America does have a domestic soccer league, and one of growing quality. It will have to be the center of soccer in the US, no doubt about it.

I have always disagreed with the "shove dwon your throat" style of approaching soccer. It is not how I learned to appreciate the game. Instead I think MLS should do a "Soccer 101" type thing during one of its brodcasts. Have announcers point out different things, have players say why a player did this or that, have a ref explain a call. It would all go to show the beauty of the game.

You mean like say, Pele playing for the New York Cosmos? ;)

I think soccer will become a little more popular, but it just doesn't have the history (no storied franchises, no legends, etc.) that some of the other sports have here in the US, and there are already so many other sports to follow. And the sport just isn't, well, American. I think it's worth noting that football (American style), baseball and basketball were all invented/developed in the US.

Correct me if I am wrong, but didnt Pele sell out Giants Stadium? And this was past his prime.

The greediness of its owners brought down the NASL before it had the chance to be a great. MLS has learned from those mistakes.

He very well might have. But I'm sure in the 70's soccer fans thought the same thing they do now, that the US was ripe for a soccer boom and that soccer would be huge in a few years. I know things take time and the MLS is doing ok, but I'm still skeptical that the US will ever be soccer crazy.

They did think that. Although I am not an expert on the NASL (someone may be), who wouldnt think that when your drawing 80,000 fans per game? But it became a forigener league and people just lost interest.

A picture of Mr. Adu....

The picture didnt work, you can download below if you want.

And some links to articles about him

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/socce...-focus-adu.htm

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ins...7/wahl_soccer/

http://www.msnbc.com/news/850564.asp?0cb=-71n5737&cp1=1

Blacky,

I'm with you. I'm turning to the dark side. I actually watch one or two games a week on Fox Sports World. I visit soccernet every few days to check out the scores and am actually taking a personal interest in some games. I'm afraid. Very, very afraid. It truly is CM's fault.

TroyF

Is anyone else reminded the Simpson's episode where they had all this hype around a soccer match, and then they went to the match and saw how boring it was, so they rioted. And the Mexican announcer was all into the passing of the ball back and forth between players...

Classic.

Any exposure is good exposure.

Dola.

Another link about Adu.

Here.

Lets all just come clean. Soccer sucks. Its a boaring boaring sport. The only reason it is so popular around the world is because ITS ALL THEY HAVE!!! If these 3rd world contries had enough money to buy more sporting goods then just 1 BALL they might be able to enjoy some real sports like Football, Basketball, Baseball and NASCAR. Maybe if they had TV's they could watch a fight on pay-per-view. Id'e like to know why a 13 year old kid who can probably be a superstar in some other country wants to come America where poeple wont even know his name. And personaly I could give 2 craps about him unless he decides to become a place kicker in the NFL.

Harsh. Very harsh.

Have you ever watched a soccer game? Have you seen any boars running around?

No, I dont watch soccer. But im sure the boars stand around an kinck a ball from time to time. The clock runs backwards, a riot breaks out and the game ends in a 0-0 tie.

There is nothing wrong with a 0-0 tie. In fact, I have seen some very exciting 0-0 ties.

I think we should take after the French in our sports. Its not about the offense. But then again, the French don't play D either.

jets80 i have never seen an american football game but the jets really suck i mean they run for 5 seconds and take the next 30 off how boring is that

(the above post was sarcasam)

jets80 you feel the need to say something sucks that you don't know about is just ignorant, i am not saying you have to like it but there is no need to put it down

At first I was never a fan of soccer, but a combination of CM and a trip to England this past summer completely changed my outlook on the game. I honestly can't say if the sport will ever hit it big here but that won't stop me from watching it. I think that if people gave it a chance and learned a thing or two about the game that they could see how exciting it can be.

Jets80 seems to feel like whatever he believes is always true. I've noticed that in several posts of his. He believes he "says the things everyone else is afraid to say."

Um, no.

Neuqua

That is the problem. Americans are vastly uneducated about soccer.

Apu is already a citizen. I saw the episode of The Simpsons where it happened.

-------------

I'm not going to rain on the parade of all the soccer fans out there by bashing the sport. But what I find fascinating about soccer is that EVERY kid in the country plays soccer until they are 12 or 13 and then only handful keep playing.

I have theories, most of which revolved around this formula:

Americans love high scoring games --> youth soccer games are high-scoring affairs --> as the kids mature, learn the rules and get better, scoring goes down --> as scoring goes down, more people stop playing/watching --> virtually nobody watches pro soccer in this country.

Yeah, if the U.S. pulls off the world's biggest miracle (or we get the fix in) and this country ever plays for a World Cup, everybody in the country will become a soccer fan for about four hours. After, party's over.

KC chief: I think you have totally hit on why American's don't like soccer. Every other major sport has adjusted their rules to make it easier to score more points. I was just watching Man U play last night in the dorm that I run (filled with foreign raised kids who love futball) and they were talking about how Manchester United was being dominated by Bolton. The score was 1-0. I just can't see how that is "dominating" Then Man. U. tied the game in the fianl minutes, and everyone was still saying how Man U had been "dominated". These kind of low scoring affairs will not entertain the American public.

I would argue that Soccer is much more of a sport than NASCAR.

I think since America is uneducated on the aspects of the game, they really don't understand it. Have no fear though, I am writting a book entitled "Soccer for the Average American."

Also what Jets80 does not realize is that soceer has out drawn all the sports he listed, except for the NFL, recently. Just food for your thought.

Umm ... would that be paid admissions? In the U.S. ?

Sorry for the misclarification.

What I meant was in terms of TV ratings. The World Cup soccer game between Germany and the US outdrew the NBA finals, MLB Wolrd Series, NHL final, and NASCAR. All this desptie being on at 8 AM!

But know that I think about, the MLS Cup drew 61,000+. That is more than any individual NBA final, MLB final, NHL final, and maybe even the Superbowl.

Now, I know what your saying. Those venues sold out and couldn't fit anymore people, but so did the MLS Cup.

Now, is the MLS Cup comparable to the SuperBowl? Of course not. But something to consider when you say soccer is not popular.

Like it or not, soccer is on an up-trend. All the evidence supports this. MLS had its highest tV ratings and its most gate money this past season. Teams are seliing season tickets at record-breaking paces.

I think its only a matter of time before soccer makes a big splash in America, and Freddy Adu will be a big part of that.

Just think, if you have young kids, what will you do when they say, "I want to be like Freddy?"

The US-Germany game was the most exciting sporting event I've watched since the World Cup of Ice Hockey that took place in 96 or 97.

It was a very exciting game. Some of my friends who have never watched soccer watched the game with me, and they moaned just like me whenever the US blew a chance. Like me they were also outraged when the handball was not called.

What was the final score? 1-0. My point is soccer can be exciting even if low scoring.

There isn't any player no matter how good they possibly may be that would get me to watch soccer. I'm sorry, it's just a very boring sport to me. It has nothing to do with not having the attention span for it. I watch and enjoy hockey and golf, soccer I cannot stand though.

OK, I only get testy when people start distorting facts or making them up.

From mysoccer.com

Yes, the biggest soccer event for the U.S. of the year BARELY outdrew the audience for the golf's Greater Hartford Open two days later. The ratings for that game are about 1/4 quarter the ratings for the World Series and the NBA. Heck, game 7 of the NBA Western finals drew a 16.9 rating.

The most-watch and highest-rated soccer telecast in the U.S. EVER didn't even outdraw the 2003 NBA All-Star game PREGAME SHOW (4.8 vs 4.36).

Did they pack 61,000 in for the MLS Cup? Sure. What were the ticket prices? The most expensive ticket for the Cup was $70. Tickets for the Carolina Hurricanes Stanley Cup trip last year were being scalped for $1,000. $70 would get you, however, a ticket in the outfield at face value in Anaheim for last year's World Series. $70 will get you a dog and a beer at the Super Bowl.

The moral of the story is for soccer fans not to try to build soccer into the greatest sport in America because it is not, and the facts only serve to make soccer the butt of jokes on talk radio and Internet message boards.

Soccer is and will forever be a niche sport in this country unless this country changes in a radical way. Don't let that bother you. Personally, I like a good pitcher's duel, but the people have spoken and they would rather see Luis Gonzalez pump his way to a 50-homer season.

Hockey is a niche sport. The WNBA is a niche sport. Feel free to boost soccer and feel free to jake jabs at other sports. God knows I'd rather watch a WNBA game before I watch the trash the NBA subjects us too, but it doesn't do the WNBA good for me to start talking about how more people saw the WNBA Finals than the Super Bowl, when it simply isn't true.

Keep in mind that the game was also shown on ABC in the bottom corner of what they were broadcasting. And I do believe that TV show saw a significt jump in ratings.

You also have to keep in mind Galavsion's ratings. When you combine those three ratings, the rating was something like a 10.

I will find a link later to support the evidence.

If you don't like soccer, great. I have never said soccer is the greatest sport in America, but I believe it deserves a chance in America's sport market. People look at soccer with a misunderstanding, because their local talk show host made a joke about it.

Until that changes soccer will not get a fair shake.

And many more people saw the World Cup final than the SuperBowl, if you look at it from a world view.

The reason why the ratings for the US vs. Germany game were so high was because the US was playing. As soon as the US lost no one even cared. Heck the ESPYs nominated the US soccer team for team of the year, and ignored Brazil entirely. People in America will care about any sport as long as their team is winning. I remember sitting around my USAF dorm in 98 watching Olympic Equestiran (sp?) and everyone was cheering because the US won it's first equestrian medal in years (perhaps ever?). After the event was over, none of us cared about equestrian. So using the US-Germany game as a guide to gage US interest is flawed. A better guide would be the Brazil-Germany final. Only real soccer fans watched that game.

Isn't that Hockey ? :D

The most amazing thing about this thread is that I am agreeing with kcchief and to the spirit of what Jets80 is saying, and not with my historical buddy, Golden Eagle. Go figure. :)

Maybe we can get involved with a historical discussion about soccer? :)

An article about Freddy on soccernet.com:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=261276&cc=5739

It was 1996. It was a great, great, great event. The final between US and Canada was fantastic. Mike Richter put on perhaps the best display of goaltending I have ever seen. He stopped some 50 shots from the likes of Gretzky, Lemieux, etc. Hull was great, as were the Hatcher brothers. The whole tourney was a delight. Great US-Canada fights. The US-USSR game in Montreal where the crowd booed the US team and the next day Don Cherry said "This is the first time I have ever been ashamed of being Canadian." And then went on a long diatribe about how the US defends the free world and was always there for Canada when the sh** went down. Good times... Good times...

I like soccer too. Living in Brussels it's all I have really, outside the internet radio. I adapted. When in Rome and all. It's good fun. The World Cup games were fantastic. I have adopted Everton (well, they were chosen for me) to support in the Premiereship. It's all good. Granted soccer is no hockey or football, but it beats the snot out of baseball or basketball.

soccer is popular in philadelphia the match with manutd and barcelona sold out the link in under 2 hours (50k+ areana)

Being low-scoring isn't necessarily a bad thing. It means that every goal is important in a way that isn't true in, say, basketball. As to the oft-repeated argument that us poor Europeans only like soccer because we don't have anything better, that's not true. We have cricket, rugby. . . OK, bad examples. Seriously, we do have a few other sports that haven't made it in the US and we also have basketball and hockey leagues. If I wanted to go to a basketball or hockey game, I could; I prefer soccer not because it's the only option, but because it's the best option.

Man U plays America in June here I believe. I think I'll be able to get on the field on a photographers pass

That would be awesome. Say hi to Becks for us.

Now if we can just get Liverpool to tour here ... then again, with their current style, their games wouldn't exactly improve the interest in soccer in the States.

(edited for spelling)

How the Hell is driving around a track for 500 miles more exciting than a soccer match? And Basketball? LOL, any sport where you can just watch the last 5 minutes of a game and not feel like you've missed anything doesn't qualify as exciting to me. Maybe if they made basketball games 5 minutes long? ;)

--

I think Adu is the 'player'. The guy that is going to bring the fans to soccer. I'll compare him to Magic and Bird in the NBA during 1980s. Basketball WAS a niche sport back then. People tend to forget that, but Magic and Bird came into the league... and then Jordan, and voila, success. Adu can be that player, and then we can build on that.

I think the Donovan and Beasely are going to be the first wave to bring soccer into America's consciousness, then Adu is just going to slam it home.

And with the increase in Hispanic population, it is almost inevitable soccer will pass hockey in 10 years. Basketball is next.

While I do think soccer will eventually pass hockey in popularity, I don't think there's any chance of it catching up to basketball. While many people may start to dislike the NBA because of its "me me me" players, events such as March Madness will always be a great American event. And also, basketball is just as easy as soccer to play so schools won't be dropping their basketball programs any time soon.

Soccer is great. But basketball is the greatest sport ever invented ( :D )!

There are more soccer fans than I thought on this board. Impressive.

Right, soccer is just the most watched sport in the world. Whether soccer takes hold in the US is debatable but saying it doesn't translate to a spectator sport is wrong. Perhaps you don't like watching it but that's not the prevailing view.

kcchief is right on and soccer fans should LISTEN. Other than the World Cup, soccer's TV ratings are poor. We are talking hockey poor. The MLS Cup really only sold out because New England made the championship this year and it was in Boston. Right now it is a comfortable niche with an underrated domestic league and it's own cable channel (Fox Sports World). Don't try to make it into something it's not though because there is no reason it's doing fine as it is. It's growing slowly and I would point to signs such as the absolutely gorgeous new stadium opening in LA this summer that it's here to stay.

Back on topic, I thought Adu was just a lot of hype but after seeing the highlights of the US under 17 national team qualifing games... Damn, the kid is special. SIGN HIM UP MLS!

I don't think anyone on here was trying to make MLS into the NFL or English Premier League. But they are people out there who do that.

Freddy has gone on record as saying he wants to play in MLS from 15-18 and then move abroad.