Football

I owe this blog (and its three readers, perhaps there’s one with a surname not “Chaparian”) a recap of the last four months of my working life, from when I started at Anomaly in December to the completion of a beautiful, inspiring ad campaign for Umbro on March 28th, but that will come later. I started working at Anomaly with zero interest in football  (ne soccer from my youth league disinterest) but knew I’d have to love it, on my own accord or not, to contribute to the Umbro team.

There was no strong-arming needed; I gradually became more interested in the game as I read more about it, watched more football, and spent time with colleagues who breathe football like I breathe baseball. I can identify a few reasons why it grew on me:

- The Premier League is one of the most competitive, engrossing, and textured leagues in sports, with teams playing for various goals, and others fighting for survival. It has four historically dominant teams (Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool), a number of talented squads just below that, and a spate of teams at the bottom of the table (this season: West Brom, Newcastle, Middlesborough) fighting just to stay in the Premier League and not be demoted to the Championship (the second-level field). This is a new and unique storyline for me to follow. The Boston Red Sox never have to worry about being demoted out of Major League Baseball if they have a bad season, and they’re also not playing for various league trophies or international tournament births while trying to win the World Series.

- I root for Liverpool, a team that happens to be having a fantastic season, has produced two classic 4-4 draws in the last week (one a heroic Champions League performance at Chelsea) and has traditions and spirited fans that strike similar to the Red Sox. Consider the congruous singing: Liverpool fans wailing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” before every match, and Red Sox fans singing Neil Diamond before the bottom of the eighth inning at Fenway Park. But I root for Liverpool because I lived with an English roommate my sophomore year of college, and he was a Liverpool fan.  That was the year that Liverpool completed a historic comeback in the 2005 Champions League final against A.C. Milan; that same school year, my boys came back from a 3-0 hole in the ALCS versus the Yankees.  Each was unfathomable (but the Red Sox comeback has to be considered the most unbelievable comeback in sports).

- The level of play in the Premier League is incredible. It’s hard not to be awed by good football, and plus, football players are admirable for their agility, endurance, and scene-stealing acting when trying to burn seconds of stoppage time.

- Being around colleagues and watching them love football. Two colleagues in particular, Johnny and Magnus, teach me new, but different, things about the game every time I watch it: Johnny more of the human element of the game, fans, stories, fables, and Magnus a more strategic approach, enduring my questions about the business of the game and league. I must be a nuisance.

- How can I not root for Shrewsbury Town in League Two?

It just so turns out that I’ve taken a liking to football that I know will outlive my (hopefully long) life at Anomaly. In fact, I actually stopped on an MLS broadcast on ESPN tonight and remembered that there’s pro football in the United States.

But apparently, I’m not alone. A lot of people are stopping and noticing. To wit:

- The New York Red Bulls are completing work on the $200 million Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ.  Teams in Dallas, Chicago, Denver, Toronto and Salt Lake have built new football-specific stadiums in the last five years, and new fields in Philadelphia and Kansas city are expected shortly.  Some of these stadiums come with dozens of youth/community football fields to spur the game’s growth.

- The MLS has a clear goal: they’re not trying to convert other sports fans to football fans, they’re trying to convince the already existing football fans to become MLS fans.  There are millions of entrenched football fans to target, and the MLS is happy to spend to get them: two more expansion teams, consideration of more international players, and a savvy web presence.

- The sport seems to be growing on Americans.  Seattle introduced a new team this season and sold every one of the 22,000 season ticket packages it marketed.

The recession noticeably impacted baseball this year, as the free agency period was easily the most thrifty in years, but surprisingly, the MLS  thinks the time is right to keep building and spending.  Yes: baseball is tightening the reins, but soccer is making it rain.

It’s surprising that more Americans don’t take to this sport, but I think the primary reason is the track young athletes take.  In Europe, the best young football players, in their early to mid teens, are poached by football clubs and built to become the next Wayne Rooney.  In the United States, there’s still no such path for a young soccer star; the most lucrative offer for a young athlete is a college scholarship, and that comes through football, baseball and basketball.  The NCAA is, no doubt, an elephant’s leg on the game’s trachea.

But if the competition in Europe (and in England) continues its renaissance; if more and more supermoguls buy Premier League teams and spend spend spend to bring in players, build a fanbase, and vacuum more revenue; if the MLS continues its expansion, building modest, but beautiful stadiums with youth pitches; it’s entirely possible that the world’s game could ourtank a more American sport in ten years.