MLS making many inroads

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/11/2010 (5797 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Progress. It’s hard to measure, especially when you’re trying to find it on a day-to-day basis. Like your golf game, it’s best to assess improvement over a period of years. It’s best to plant a flag, and, sometime down the road, take a step back and evaluate the progress between the flag and the present.

For Major League Soccer, that flag was planted in 1996. Two years removed from the first, and so far only, World Cup to be hosted in the United States, the fledgling league was born out of the embers of several previous failed attempts at establishing a true first division in North America.

It was shaky ground, uncertain times. And in an attempt to be relevant in a sporting culture that had never really embraced soccer, MLS tried something different. They developed a product that only partially resembled the sport.

Clocks that counted up instead of down. Horns that blew to signal the end of a half — whether a player was on a breakaway or a corner-kick was in mid-flight. Spot-kick rules that allowed for dribbling. Playoffs to determine the championship.

It was all in an effort to strike a balance between the North American game-day experience and the sensitivities of soccer traditionalists. And it worked.

This season, 12 of Major League Soccer’s 16 teams played in soccer-specific stadiums that were typically at or near capacity. Most of the clubs have developed rabid, local support, complete with banners, chants and songs that, if you closed your eyes, could trick you into thinking a Premier League match was on TV.

The clocks now count up; referees add stoppage time at the end of each half, and penalties are taken from the 12-yard spot. Yes, the league still employs a playoff system, but that’s not about to change anytime soon.

The single match MLS Cup — such as the one that will be contested between FC Dallas and Colorado Rapids in Toronto on Sunday — is the league’s biggest publicity vehicle, a sort of mini Super Bowl. It’s a reality the traditionalists have come to live with, and even anticipate.

While there’s a lot to be said for the fairness and sensibility of a simple, home-and-away, regular season schedule to determine a championship, an event such as the MLS Cup will always be compelling because of the buildup, drama and instant-champion-gratification mentality so prominent in other North American sports.

Playoffs are something MLS won’t budge on, nor should they. If the last 15 years have proven anything, it’s that soccer — with a handful of North American quirks and foibles — can succeed, and even thrive, on this continent. One has only to look back to 1996 — to that initial, planted flag — so see how far the sport, and the league, has come.

In fact, now might even be a good time to plant another flag. Who knows? In 15 years we might be looking to find out how it happened that MLS became one of the most prominent soccer leagues in the world. We might be looking to, once again, measure progress.

SNbSjerradpeters@gmail.com

MLS CUP 2010

FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids will contest the 15th MLS Cup on Sunday in Toronto. Here are a few things to watch for:

FC DALLAS

Regular season record: 12-4-14

Key stat: Went on a 17-match unbeaten run from late May to early October.

Best player: David Ferreira, playmaker extraordinaire and MLS MVP

Road to Toronto: Beat 2009 champions Real Salt Lake in quarter-final and waxed Los Angeles Galaxy in semifinal.

Coach’s notebook: Have centre-backs harass Omar Cummings and Conor Casey, who combined for 27 Colorado goals this season.

COLORADO RAPIDS

Regular season record: 12-8-10

Key stat: 44 goals-for was second-best mark in regular season

Best player: Omar Cummings, led team with 14 goals

Road to Toronto: Beat 2008 champions Columbus Crew on penalties in quarter-final and edged San Jose Earthquakes in semifinal.

Coach’s notebook: Isolate Ferreira, who pulls all the strings for FC Dallas

Kickoff: Sunday, 7:30pm, TSN2