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Claiming that the local sporting scene is rough right now would be a bit disingenuous — I’m perfectly happy with two Super Bowl titles and one World Series title in a year — but things have hit a rougher patch than we’re used to around here. The Red Sox are flirting with .500, and missing half their pitching staff. The schizophrenic Celtics are still alive, but flirt with disaster every time they step on the court. The Patriots don’t kick off their season for another four months. Hell, the Boston Bruins don’t even exist. What’s a victory addict to do? Ladies and gentlemen, may I present your 2005 New England Revolution. Having grabbed the torch of dominance from their Gillette Stadium counterparts, the Revs are unquestionably the class of the league. What do you mean, what league? Major League Soccer is celebrating a decade of existence this year, which means it’s lasted nine years longer than any reasonable person could have expected it to. I still can’t believe the league didn’t flame out after a single season, XFL-style. We Americans tend to pride ourselves on being different and better than the rest of the world. So while most countries use the metric system, we stick with some kind of weird base-12 thing that doesn’t make sense. When most people say we shouldn’t invade another nation, we feel that’s the strongest possible evidence that we should. And when soccer is the single-most-popular sport on the globe, beloved by the snobbiest European elitist and the poorest African villager alike, then we assume it must be the crappiest game ever invented. Oh, every now and then the beautiful game briefly penetrates our collective consciousness. Like in 1998, when the US national team placed dead last in the field of 32 World Cup entrants. Iranians danced in the streets after their team defeated ours. Okay, bad example. But in the 2002 World Cup, even though games were aired live at two in the morning on ESPN2, you kind of got the impression people were paying attention. People seemed aware that we had defeated Portugal in the first round, and there was even some small recognition that doing so was an impressive feat. When the US team beat Mexico to advance to the round of eight, proving once and for all who was the dominant North American nation, people seemed almost happy. Then Germany bounced us in the quarterfinals, 1-0, and everyone started watching baseball again. Still, for a brief, shining moment, it seemed Americans were realizing something very important: soccer is not boring. This revelation is common among people who actually sit down and watch a game. An acquaintance recently discovered my affection for the game, and said to me, "You know, soccer’s not a sport." I was flabbergasted. "I can’t even have this argument," I said. "Because you know you’ll lose." Well, it’s impossible for me to lose that argument in the context of writing a sports column for BostonPhoenix.com, so here goes. Not a sport? Are you nuts? Name me another major sport in which athletes are on the field of play, in constant motion, for 45 minutes straight. In football they switch guys out between downs. Baseball has "left-handed specialists," pitchers whose job is to enter the game and get one batter out (a feat for which they get paid, at minimum, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year). Basketball players get swapped out more often than Paris Hilton’s boyfriends. In soccer, a team is allowed a total of three substitutions per game — three permanent substitutions. In fact, you rarely see someone come off the bench during a soccer game unless there’s a catastrophic injury. That’s something else that gets my goat. There’s this commonly accepted notion that soccer players aren’t tough, that just because they’re lithe and have long hair and are named "Clint" and "Landon," they must be playing a pretty sissy game. I admit, sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s happening on the pitch from a television broadcast, except that sometimes they make ballerina-looking moves that involve backflips. But believe me, these guys are kicking each other’s asses down there. I know of no other sport that so aggressively encourages kicking people in the shins with your spikes. Football may have the more jarring individual hits, but soccer is a nonstop, no-holds-barred slapfight that makes similar situations in pro basketball look like a catfight on Dynasty. Let’s assume that you are still not convinced of the quality of the game. You nonetheless owe it to yourself to check out the Revolution, because, like I said, they’re just that damn good — and who doesn’t love a winner? The lone unbeaten team a month into the MLS season, the Revs seem to have more firepower than an A-10 Warthog. The attacking trio of Clint Dempsey (last year’s Rookie of the Year and MLS Player of the Month for April), Pat Noonan, and Taylor Twellman is nearly unstoppable; the three have already accounted for 10 goals in five games. Plus, cagey veteran midfielder Steve Ralston has recently recovered from injury, and is another weapon in MLS’s most lethal arsenal. For the past several seasons, the Revs have stumbled out of the gates but eventually put together playoff drives. This could be the year they finally reach the next level. And if they do go all the way this year, why not go along for the ride? Whereas a Patriots game will cost you hundreds of dollars — that’s if you’re able to score tickets — and a Red Sox game requires that you sign over the rights to all your holdings, assets, and kin, Revolution tickets are relatively inexpensive. The team plays at the state-of-the-art Gillette Stadium, so paying just over $30 a seat to sit right by the field — while taking advantage of all the amenities for which Patriots season-ticket holders pay through the nose — seems almost unfair. Mark my words: season tickets now would be a solid investment. Sports fans are going to come around, and 10 years from now, Major League Soccer will be at least as big as the NHL was in its prime. The revolution is coming, and New Englanders will be right in the middle of it — because the Revolution are already here. "Sporting Eye" runs every Monday and Friday on BostonPhoenix.com. Mitch Krpata can be reached at mkrpata[a]phx.com |
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Issue Date: May 6, 2005 "Sporting Eye" archives: 2005 | 2004 | 2003 |2002 For more News & Features, click here |
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