State of the Game

Greg Lalas has a great piece up on Sports Illustrated now about the state of American futbol.

Lalas's thoughts about the relationship between the MLS and the USL is of particular moment, as I have opened up the $1,200 bill that DC United is asking me to put down for my seats next season. I am still bitter about being held up for $240 for this pathetic run in the CONCACAF Champions League, even more so because I am happily giving up my tickets for the impending Cruz Azul debacle on Wednesday in good conscience as the Cubs NLDS series begins at about the same time. Season passes to The Valley would be cheaper and, worse, of late I had a better chance of watching decent soccer at UMBC with CP USA on the pitch than what United has presented at RFK. There are many good players toiling in the USL, both at the USL1 and USL2 level as evidenced by the immediate impact that Boyzzzz Khumalo has had on United. And yet, with injuries to DC's premiere players, the players coming off the bench to fill in are generally inferior to what USL supporters are treated to on a regular basis. If a structural problem is forcing players that are good enough to play in the MLS (and better than what currently resides in our "top" league) into lower divisions, that problem must be directly addressed. The performance of the MLS teams in the Champions League is a travesty and should be a wake-up call to the league that there is something very wrong with how the cap is structured and salaries are allocated.

Also, Craig Stouffer has a good article covering the Wake Forest - Maryland match up on his blog. Looking forward to Binghamton's visit tomorrow night.