This Is American Soccer, US Soccer, MNT, WNT, and MLS - Tackling the subject of Soccer in the US, and worldwide.

It’s back baby, it’s back. Even Dicky V and the N-C-double-blah-blah-blah can’t steal the excitement from my game. Spring has sprung and MLS soccer is only weeks away (and now with more German!). It’s time to take pause one last time and think about where we fit into the fandom.

Everyone approaches professional sports differently - from season tickets all the way over to television season passes - but in soccer there is a different proposition. Your fandom can affect the growth of the game, something that can’t be argued for the other American pro sports. So what are you going to do? One man has set a course, and we’re all going to get to witness him see it through.

Englishman in Chicago Thomas Dunmore begins his matriculation into our game, and he’s letting it unfold in front of TIAS readers as he examines his newfound commitment to MLS.

His first installment also marks the return of The Diary Project, which by the way is always open to your unique American soccer experiences. Send in your stories to see them in the bright backlighting of computers everywhere. Dunmore takes the stage after the jump.
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The new Glasgow Science Centre and Glasgow Tower viewed from the top of the Gilbert Scott Building, Glasgow University.

I’ve mentioned repeatedly how I’ve worked to include European viewpoints on American soccer, and more specifically how I’ve not been totally successful in that cause. I’ve long thought these outside-looking-in viewpoints could help give some perspective and context to the internal battle that I feel at times rages more often than not like some religious face-off, where opinions seldom if ever even stand a chance to change. All of which is why I’m happy to share with you an e-mail I received today from a stranger in Scotland. Peter’s thoughts on the state of our game are after the jump…
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Who the hell is he? Up there pontificating. I say it all the time; a part of my psyche not wanting to mature, or maybe I’m just keeping it real. Maybe you’re saying the same thing about me. It’s the way of the world: everybody thinks they know what’s best, what should go down under the lights of Friday night or whenever your favorite team takes the field. Every now and again, however, (read: always) it’s a good thing to simply listen. Even if you dislike what you hear, there is a lesson to be learned, perspective to be taken away and applied to your individual context. Nowhere is this truer than when it comes to that first enormous decision in most teenagers’ lives. It’s not what you’re thinking. No still means no, but with a little effort and salesmanship, they might come around. HEY – WAKE UP! We’re talking about soccer here, and if you want to make it, soccer is your forever lover.

You’re essentially deciding where your second home is going to be, although often times, it’s not you making the decision. At the very best, you are helping persuade that decision to fall your way. Yes, we’re still talking about soccer. Unless the one-night-stand of a pick-up game is going to fully satisfy you after graduation, you might want to begin figuring out how the system works and how you can make it work for you. Recruiting is not a perfect machine; it’s not even well oiled. It’s full of discrimination, quid pro quos, and nepotism. Just like in love, you need all the help you can get, but you want to make sure you are getting the advice from the right source. The Jim Rome’s aren’t looking out for you. It’s a scary world out there. A hitchhiker looking for a ride needs to know when, where, and how to position themselves in order to get that ride before someone else does. It’s a map I wish I had back in the day, and it’s a map I’m thrilled to share with you.

So who the hell is he? Well he is they, and they are a former Division 1 college player and the head coach of some of northern California’s best youth teams. After the jump, TIAS correspondent Jacy Weyer and coach Deejae Johnson have some advice reaped from decades of experience. So before you go do something brilliant like getting your favorite corporate logo tattoo’d on your ass, it’s time to listen - time to create your own brand.
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US WNT 2. Iceland 1. A narrow victory this weekend followed the drubbing handed to Chinese Taipai. One thing I love about international soccer is you never really know what’s going to happen. Especially in friendlies. Who plays, who sits, who cares? There’s plenty of factors, not the least of which is fan support, which at the Home Depot Center, didn’t seem to be a problem. Hannah Lee was kind enough to share her experience after the jump.
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It was down in Chinatown at my favorite field in the city, this little jail of a field that never ceases to be filled with games. It’s like going to heaven and knowing the doors will be open, as long as you don’t mind getting your ass kicked in heaven. Because the players on this pitch tend to know a thing or two about kicking that round ball around and they don’t mind showing it to you – make that shoving it down your throat – when you step onto the pitch. So, It was down in Chinatown at my favorite field in the city, when a group of kids were tying their shoes and getting ready to play. With a absence of tact, one of the kids said as he climbed to his feet, “ready crackers, these Mexicans are going to be beat our asses. We might have the authentic jerseys, but they have this game in their blood.” Said in jest, no doubt, and about people who clearly weren’t Mexican. Money can’t buy you love the cliché sends, and I think its safe to say it can’t buy you a national pastime either. Turn this artificial grass into parquet and this conversation might be different, but this is soccer, and the white kids with the EPL jerseys on were in the very least a little insecure about their skills.
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We’ve all heard it. If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Or rather, if the US WNT plays in Rochester and is televised nationally on ESPN2, does that make some noise? What about buzz? Is there buzz? Because that is what our newest contributor, James Weise, news director at Kick This!, is looking for? Read his first (of hopefully many) contributions after the jump.
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What’s yours? What will you make of it? Check in with one such dreamer after the jump as our Diary Project adds to the time capsule.
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—–Original Message—–
From: Wes
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2006 10:41 AM
To: This Is American Soccer [mailto:thisisamericansoccer@gmail.com]
Subject: Re: MLS

You have some valid points about Don Garber and “the league” as you call It, holding players here. Here are my points:
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I can’t be everywhere at once. That’s where Rusty comes in. It’s where you could come in too. Send me your soccer-related story ideas, adventures, and anecdotes, and we might use ‘em here at TIAS. We’re in the early stages of ramping up the site and will be looking for contributors to exact an exciting perspective that maybe I’ve missed. I can’t be everywhere, and that’s where Rusty comes in…
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So I have been wanting to do something with Soccer In The Streets for some time, and when I got the letter below from their director Jill Robbins, I finally had a peg. I had something written on the organization a long time ago, but after reading Jill’s letter, on top of my belief that whenever possible, the best way to tell a story is to let those whose story it is tell it, I decided I’d simply share her words with you.

My piece basically explained my belief that Soccer In The Streets is just about the greatest organization in the world of soccer. Then, Jason Longshore, their communications director, sent me some photos of the kids they work with, which made me replace the words ‘just about’ with ‘most definitely’.

Please follow the links to their homepage, and think about how you might be able to contribute to this great cause. Just as soccer is treated in the United States – that one time every four years that you stop and pay attention to something really really really great – more important things such as poverty, racism, and the overwhelming inequities of our societies are too seldom recognized, addressed and given the proper attention.

Jill’s letter is after the jump.
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