Thecoffeecake
New member
I tried to follow NFL many years ago. LA Raiders were my team (chosen because I had friends there). The problem was you have franchises and didn't seem to have to local bonding that clubs have here. When they became the Oakland side I seemed to lose interest worrying that roots were being torn up. That said, I still look for their results.
Exactly, and that's ONE of the many reasons I don't support an MLS club. I totally understand that, and also one of the reasons I would never just pick a major club. Sports should be about community, period. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of people in certain colored shirts playing children's games. I'd rather be involved with a small club, so I can see how it's woven into the civic fabric of the place that they're from (and come on a place like this and chat with all you fine Brighton area folk, and read the banter about the area and the role the Albion play in it), even if I'm not from there, than just jump on the Man U or Arsenal bandwagon, and maybe never so much as speak to someone who grew up in Manchester or North London. I can get immensely closer to BHAFC, the heart and soul of the club, than I could a big club.
The franchise model of MLS stunted the growth of soccer in the United States, and we just saw the result. The scary thing is is that most MLS fans support the current model, and act like people who support a promotion and relegation open system are fantasy driven lunatics who just don't understand the complexities of soccer here. Well, we've spent the first 21 years of major professional soccer here rewarding mediocrity, and leaving out all but 16 or 17 markets in a country of 350 million people.
The minor rant aside, yes, your concerns are absolutely valid.