Soccer Fans: EPL vs MLS

The US Major League Soccer (MLS) has come a long way since its inception 15 years ago.  It provides a league for young American talent to improve their skills while playing with and against past their prime stars from Europe and South America.  The league also has a significant number of Latin American players and Spanish speakers comprise a big part of the fan base.  While stadiums are far from filled, the MLS has carved out a niche in the US sports market and appears stable. The English Premier League (EPL) on the other hand is the most popular soccer league in the world.  Teams that are comprised of the best (and highest paid) players in the world entertain packed stadiums and English fans are incredibly loyal to their teams. 

When people compare the two leagues, quality of play is normally the topic of discussion.  The speed of play and skill level is certainly better in the EPL, but to me, the most striking difference is the behavior of the fans.  During my recent trip to London, I had the opportunity to see an EPL game live.  The match pitted West Ham, an East London club against Aston Villa from Birmingham.  West Ham’s stadium, a small, old structure tucked into a neighborhood, reminded me of Wrigley Field.  The stands were full even though both teams were near the bottom of the standings, and everyone knew their soccer and was glued to the action.  Fans applauded good passes and creative plays, part of the reason why high scores are not necessary for a game to be exciting.  There was a section of “over exuberant” fans who stood during the whole game and screamed obscenities at Aston Villa, but they were confined to one section behind the goal.  I wonder if a ticket in that section comes with a warning.

In contrast, I recently saw an MLS game between FC Dallas and DC United that was played at old RFK stadium here in Washington.  The game was pretty good and both teams had a few excellent players.  A contingent of Latino fans in one corner entertained the stadium, and mostly themselves with songs accompanied by a drum beat throughout the game.  The music and singing did add to the experience, and this is reflective of fan behavior in Central and South America.  The Latinos cared about their home team and this was evident in their songs. There were also other people like me, fans of the sport who were most interested in paying close attention to action on the field.  However a third group showed up shortly before half time.  This group of mostly twenty-somethings paid very little attention to the game, were constantly making runs to the concession stand, and treated the game like a social event. 

At the risk of sounding like a soccer snob, which I probably am, no one in England would have paid $32 to show up for half a game and then not pay attention.  I think some of baseball mentality has crept into MLS spectators.  Baseball is a slow game with interrupted action and it’s OK to miss a few outs or even an inning.  It’s like a sports soap opera where nothing changes quickly.  There’s usually a buildup to a game changing play and it doesn’t happen in the blink of an eye like it does in soccer.  Now MLS needs every paying customer that it can get so these nouveau fans are welcome.  I just wish they would take the time to learn the game and appreciate its nuances.  Watching soccer is like drinking dry red wine.  You have to acquire a taste for it, but once you do, you will appreciate and enjoy a game for the skill of the players, regardless of the number of goals scored.

Osama, Obama, and the SEALs

The death of Osama bin Laden provided a rare unifying moment among Republicans and Democrats in the fractious, partisan, political environment that we find ourselves in each day.  There’s a very small part of me that feels awkward about celebrating someone’s death, but mainly I believe that he had it coming and the world is a much better place with Osama “sleeping with the fishes” as Don Corleone would say.  The reputation of the Navy SEALs, already known as the elite among Special Forces units, has been further enhanced.  Upon reflection two weeks later, the brilliance of the operation is striking.

The SEALs obviously did a great job pulling off this very dangerous mission without losing a man.  They improvised when the helicopter went down outside the compound wall and had the presence to collect the central computer files of Al Queda after securing the house.  After hearing the initial reports of the raid I was puzzled by two things; the burial at sea and the care taken in the preparation of the body.  Why I wondered,  was this monster treated with such regard?  Now it seems like that was exactly the right thing to do. 

By following Islamic custom in preparing Osama’s body, the US sent a message to the world that we are not at war with Muslims.  We are at war with a dangerous fringe element of that faith.  I’m sure that most of the Islamic world is pleased that Osama is dead and we need the help of mainstream Muslims to defeat terrorism.  Disposing of the body at sea was also in retrospect, brilliant.  Now there is no body for any of his supporters to dig up for the purposes of proclaiming his martyrdom.  Also there is no physical evidence for any publicity hungry lawyer to use to fabricate a human rights claim against the US.  There is enough photographic, eye witness, and circumstantial evidence to prove bin Laden’s death and with his body now shark feed, he has vanished along with hopefully, his legacy.  President Obama also was right to not release the death photos to the public.  While it would have been perversely satisfying to see what kind of humor the Photoshop artists would have come up with, keeping the pictures private accelerates bin Laden’s transition to historical oblivion and shows respect to mainstream Muslims. 

The most surprising aspect of the raid is that the President approved it at all.  This was an extremely dangerous operation and any number of things could have gone terribly wrong.  We live in an age of instant global communication and the fact that someone in the Abbotbad neighborhood twittered during the event proves that outside communication was possible.  In years past, cutting the phone lines was sufficient, but no more.  The compound was a short distance from the Pakistani military academy and we gambled that if the Pakistani army heard about it, they would not be able to respond quickly enough.  Suppose we were wrong and a firefight between the SEALs and Pakistan, an ally, resulted.  How would Obama have explained that international incident?  The President, in his 60 Minutes interview last Sunday, admitted that they were only 55% certain that it was bin Laden in the compound.  It is very surprising that Obama, who is deliberate and cautious, approved the mission with those odds. 

But approve it he did and the gamble paid off.  Everyone connected with the operation from the President, the Secretary of State, the National Security staff, the military brass, and especially the SEALs deserve all the praise they have received.  This will probably be the high water mark of the Obama presidency but the approval rating bump will not carry over to the 2012 election.  Just ask George Bush Sr., who experienced a similar victory in the first Iraq war about that.  Kudos to the US for pulling off a major victory against Al Qaeda and for terminating a killer who lived too long.

Tornados and Floods

Mother Nature ravaged the South in the past two weeks with killer tornados from Mississippi to Virginia and record flooding along the Mississippi river.  The tornado that ripped through Tuscaloosa, AL garnered much national attention and hit home with me as well since my son is a student at the nearby University of Alabama.  He picked a good semester to study abroad however, and was not threatened by the storm from his dorm in Scotland.  To my knowledge, none of his friends were hurt, however several trees fell on the off campus house of two of his buddies and they escaped injury by riding out the twister in a storm shelter.

Tornados are a fact of life in the Midwest and the South and many occur each year.  They usually hit farm land and lightly populated areas because most of the US land is lightly populated.  When the statistics decide that it is time for a tornado to touch down in a large town like Tuscaloosa, the destruction can be extreme.  When a tornado “watch” is announced in north Alabama it means that weather conditions are favorable for tornado formation.  We go about our normal business with maybe a heightened awareness of changing weather conditions, but without fear.  If a tornado or a funnel cloud is actually spotted, the watch becomes a warning and sirens sound which means “get to a shelter”.  Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t.  Doppler radar and other weather forecasting technology are good at locating and tracking the path of storms and we can tell from the TV news which part of the county is threatened.  We should fear the tornado warning more and always go to a shelter, but the localized nature of these storms means that most of the time, they are just close calls.

I’m sure that anyone who has lived through being in the path of one of these storms must fear them more.  Over 200 people were killed in Alabama during this latest tornado outbreak and many are still missing.  My prayers are with all those who were affected.  I’m also going to get into the basement faster the next time I hear the storm siren go off.